Free Republic

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, is expected to arrive off Israel’s coast and dock in Haifa on Monday, the latest addition to US reinforcements in the Middle East as Jerusalem and Washington gear up for a potential war against Iran. As part of the reinforcements, US tankers, as well as cargo and refueling aircraft, have arrived at Israeli airports and docks. The Ford carrier strike group, officially known as Carrier Strike Group 12, entered the Mediterranean after transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, a movement reported by multiple outlets tracking US naval deployments. The US Navy...

For years, the fight over Iran has centered on centrifuges, uranium stockpiles, and enrichment percentages. That framework may now be outdated. If the latest assessments are accurate, Tehran is not merely edging back toward nuclear capability but pairing advanced ballistic missiles with alleged chemical and biological payload potential. That is not incremental pressure. It is strategic escalation.Israeli military adviser Amir Avivi said the Islamic Republic is “continuing preparations for war and the production of ballistic missiles, including chemical and biological ballistic missiles, which are very, very dangerous and need to be dealt with.”Avivi, a former IDF brigadier general who now...

President Trump amplifies a message calling for the elimination of the Iranian regime. Following a foiled Mar-a-Lago plot, the President signals a "deal" is off the table, citing Iran’s history of nuclear violations. U.S. President Donald Trump sparked intense speculation regarding his administration's next steps today after reposting a fiery speech by conservative commentator Mark Levin on his Truth Social account. The speech, which characterizes the Iranian leadership as "Islamic Nazis," argues that a diplomatic deal with the current regime is impossible... Political analysts note that Trump’s decision to amplify this specific message, which explicitly states, "This regime must be...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has activated wartime succession planning, empowering a hardline loyalist to oversee national security operations and ordering layered contingency measures to safeguard the regime amid fears of U.S. military strikes and assassination attempts. A Sunday report in the New York Times citing senior Iranian officials and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, detailed that Ali Larijani — a former Guards commander and current head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council — has effectively taken control of national security operations as tensions with Washington intensify. Khamenei has reportedly directed aides to create multiple layers of...

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on Monday it was following up with “high interest and concern” on the maritime coordinates and map recently submitted by Iraq to the United Nations. The ministry said in a statement that the coordinates and map included infringement on areas adjacent to the Saudi-Kuwaiti divided zone, where both countries share natural resources in the area according to previous agreements between them. For more Saudi news, visit our dedicated page. The ministry added that the Kingdom rejects “claims” that any other side has the right to the divided submerged area between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It...

Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that it has designated the navies and air forces of all European Union (EU) member states as terrorist organizations, the Xinhua news agency reported. The move was described as a response to the EU’s recent decision to label Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, which Tehran called “unlawful and unjustified." In a statement, the ministry said the EU decision is “in contradiction with the fundamental principles and rules of the United Nations Charter and international law." The statement added that the Iranian government acted in accordance with a 2019 law, under...

Déjà vu. A new Palestinian security force is set to operate under the National Committee for Gaza Management (NCAG) and will receive training in Egypt, as part of a broader plan to stabilize the Gaza Strip. Simultaneously, an international stabilization force is expected to deploy across five sectors, eventually reaching around 20,000 troops, alongside a civilian policing force of up to 12,000 personnel, according to Idan Kowler’s report on Walla. Under the plan, all weapons in Gaza would be centralized under a new civilian authority as part of a full disarmament process, a prerequisite for reconstruction. The announcement did not...

Is there really a ceasefire in Gaza? While headlines speak of “Phase B” and a technocratic government, IDF forces continue daily clashes with Hamas operatives testing the boundaries along the yellow line. Smuggling attempts resume at the Rafah crossing, drones move weapons, and Hamas works to rebuild both militarily and politically behind the scenes. On the ground, Israeli reserve soldiers rotate through fortified positions, facing tunnel threats, civilian exploitation, and constant friction. As international plans for reconstruction stall and global attention shifts, one central question remains: Can Gaza move forward without Hamas truly being removed? Stay up-to-date with the latest...

New satellite imagery and flight-tracking data show a significant buildup of U.S. military aircraft at a key air base in central Jordan, as tensions rise over Iran's nuclear program, The New York Times reported Friday. Images captured Friday reveal more than 60 U.S. attack aircraft parked at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base — roughly three times the number typically stationed there.Flight data also indicate that at least 68 cargo planes have landed at the base since Sunday, suggesting a surge of personnel, equipment, and logistical support. More fighter jets may be positioned under protective shelters. The images show advanced aircraft, including...

The talks are still alive. Just. Iranian and US diplomats, engaging indirectly through Omani intermediaries, have yet to make any substantive progress towards a framework of understanding that governs further talks – as Kafkaesque as that might sound – but they are talking, and that is the best that the diplomats can hope for right now. What separates Iran and America is a vast chasm between their respective red lines, and beyond that, the very substance of the talks themselves. The US is not willing to countenance an Iran that enriches uranium, has a ballistic missile programme and arms proxies...

The band also included a pro-Palestinian song in the group of six new songs, titled “The Tears of Things,” ripping Israel for putting violent Hamas terrorists “into a cage” and hinting that the band thinks Palestinian “rage” is justified. “If you put a man into a cage and rattle it long enough,” Bono sings, “A man becomes the kind of rage that cannot be locked up.” Irish rockers U2 have released a short album on Ash Wednesday titled Days of Ash, with a track celebrating radical anti-ICE activist Renee Good and ripping Trump supporters as “the people of the lie.”...

Global energy markets were put on alert after Iran temporarily restricted movement in parts of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most strategically important oil transit routes on Earth. The move came as Tehran simultaneously engaged in sensitive diplomatic talks with the United States over its nuclear program, underscoring how quickly geopolitical tensions in the Middle East can ripple through global markets. While the disruption was limited and short lived, investors, energy traders, and policymakers immediately focused on what the action signals about regional stability, oil supply risks, and the broader geopolitical chess match between Iran and the West....

The 162-article draft "constitution," however, shows that, if and when the Palestinians have a state of their own, it would actually not be different from the two mini-states they have had for the past two decades: the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank. Both Palestinian regimes have miserably failed their people, mainly by depriving them of international aid, democracy, opportunity, free elections, and freedom of speech. Notably, the new "constitution" repeats and reaffirms the long-standing and familiar positions and policies of the PA and Hamas, especially towards Israel and Jews. These...

Hamas’s military wing began sending coded emoji messages on WhatsApp to operatives’ phones just hours before the October 7, 2023, attack, using the symbols as an agreed signal to mobilize terrorists to mosques for last minute instructions.

The Jerusalem Post @Jerusalem_Post: Editorial: For the first time during the war, a major international organization has publicly recognized the presence of armed groups operating within a Gaza hospital.

Over a year has passed since the world saw the terrified face of Arbel Yehoud forced to walk through a baying mob of Hamas terrorists to freedom. Only now does the 30-year-old feel strong enough to reveal that this sickening spectacle was just the last act in a monstrous campaign of abuse unleashed throughout her 482 days held in Gaza.

Nickolay Mladenov, the head diplomat in charge of the Board of Peace's subcommittee on the Gaza ceasefire, stressed on Friday that all armed groups in the Gaza Strip must disarm. Mladenov was responding on social media to a post by Aaron Goren, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who wondered why Mladenov refused to respond to a question on whether reports that Hamas will only be partially disarmed as part of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan are accurate. “I've made it very clear that all militants in Gaza need to be disarmed and there is...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., alleged at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that U.S. aid to the Jewish state enabled a genocide by Israel. AOC’s attack on the Jewish state in Munich unfolded in the birthplace of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi movement that carried out the worst genocide in human history. During the town hall event in Munich, the Squad member said, "To me, this isn't just about a presidential election. Personally, I think that the United States has an obligation to uphold its own laws, particularly the Leahy laws. And I think that personally, that the idea of completely unconditional...

PORT ORANGE, Fla. — A Florida couple was arrested after a game of pickleball escalated into a fight, authorities said. According to Volusia County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Anthony Edward Sapienza, 63, and his wife, Julianne Sapienza, 51, both of Ponce Inlet, were arrested on Feb. 8. ... While five people on the court were directly involved in the fight, it was unclear how many other witnesses participated. The affidavit stated that 20 people were involved.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot tells lawmaker the French government demands UN Rapporteur's resignation after her latest hateful rant against Israel. “France unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks made by Ms. Francesca Albanese, which are directed not at the Israeli government, whose policies may be criticized, but at Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable," Barrot said. He stated that Albanese's remarks “target not the Israeli government, whose policies can be criticized, but Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable," and that they "add to a long list of...