Free Republic

It’s hard to be optimistic about the future of Gaza. The cease-fire agreement brokered by the Trump administration is holding, but Israel continues to occupy more than half of the territory, and its forces have killed more than 350 Palestinians since the truce was reached on Oct. 10. Hamas, meanwhile, is resurging in Gaza—replacing key commanders killed in the two-year war with Israel; executing its Palestinian opponents; and hiding weapons and fighters in its tunnel system, more than half of which remains intact. So, where does that leave Palestinians and Israelis? And what does it mean for the rest of...

Far-right podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has taken aim at Israel again, accusing the Israeli government and its supporters of engaging in a campaign to promote fear of Islamic extremism and terrorism, while he downplayed the threat of violence by radical Islamic groups. On Friday, Carlson spoke by phone with Harrison Berger in an interview published by The American Conservative magazine. The magazine was established by former Republican strategist and presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan to promote his isolationist brand of paleoconservatism after he split with the Republican party. Berger, a correspondent for The American Conservative, is also...

Ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli officials are concerned that Washington may force a transition to Phase II of the Gaza agreement without the return of the last killed hostage, Israel Police Yamam special operations unit Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, and without firm commitments to Hamas’ disarmament and the demilitarization of the Strip. In Jerusalem, there is concern that the Americans will seek to move forward “at any cost,” potentially demanding further Israeli withdrawals and the opening of the Rafah crossing in both directions, while showing less interest in the facts...

Hamas is expected to elect a new leader within days or a few weeks, Saudi outlet Asharq reported Saturday, citing sources close to the Palestinian terror group’s leadership. However, the same sources also reportedly “ruled out holding general elections before the war comes to a complete end.” The two main candidates are former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal and current Gaza politburo chief Khalil al-Hayya, the report said. Their main immediate policy difference relates to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to the sources. Hayya, who is seen as close to Iran, was said to support the continuation of “armed conflict...

Anti-Israel demonstrators staged an unlicensed rally at a busy shopping mall/office complex in downtown Toronto on Friday, Boxing Day, with some chanting “We demand an intifada” into megaphones. The incident at the Eaton Centre, which ended without any arrests and closely followed the Dec. 14 massacre of 15 people by two alleged Islamists at a Chanukah party in Australia, prompted calls for Canadian authorities to shut down calls for violence against Israelis and Jews. The flash-mob protest began at 4 p.m., at the end of a holiday light show, and security and police “asked the individuals to leave the premises,”...

A video shows 42 year old Eli Rafael on October 7 as he drove into danger to rescue his sister Sharon. He was killed by Hamas during the attempt. Sharon was murdered shortly afterward. She was on the phone with him throughout, and the footage shows the moment he was confronted by Hamas from multiple camera angles.

...Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on Sunday that Israel "kidnapped" a terrorist from the Islamic Jihad organization from within Gaza City several days ago. According to the report, the terrorist was kidnapped in the area near Palestine Square, in the heart of Gaza City, and only about a kilometer from the Yellow Line. It was also reported that the terrorist is connected to the possession of the body of hostage Ran Gvili.

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Rain lashed the Gaza Strip over the weekend, flooding makeshift encampments with ankle-deep puddles as Palestinians displaced by the two-year war attempted to stay dry in tents frayed by months of use. Muddy water soaked blankets and mattresses in tents in a camp in Khan Younis and fragile shelters were propped up with old pieces of wood. Children wearing flip-flops and light clothing ill-suited for winter waded through the freezing puddles, which turned dirt roads into rivers. Some people used shovels to try to push the water out of their tents. “We drowned last...

Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – It only took a matter of minutes after the heavy overnight rain first began to fall for Jamil al-Sharafi's tent in southern Gaza to flood, drenching his food and leaving his blankets sopping wet. The winter rains have made an already precarious life worse for people like Sharafi, who is among the hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian territory displaced by the war, many of whom now survive on aid provided by humanitarian organisations. "My children are shivering from cold and fear... The tent was completely flooded within minutes," Sharafi, 47, said on Sunday....

Iran’s president declared they were in a “total war” with the US, Israel and Europe, just as Tehran looks to rebuild its nuclear capabilities and strengthen ties with Hamas. Masoud Pezeshkian made the bold statement in an interview published in state media Saturday, Barron’s reported. “In my opinion, we are at total war with the United States, Israel and Europe. They want to bring our country to its knees,” Pezeshkian said. “This war is worse than the one launched against us by Iraq. On closer inspection, it is far more complex and difficult,” he said, in reference to the 1980-88...

Supplies, including infant formula, discovered by Gaza opposition to Hamas.

00:00 – Why Hamas Is a Religious Movement, Not a Nationalist One 08:05 – Why Islam Claims Land Can Never Leave Muslim Rule 13:20 – Why Western Leaders Misread Hamas’s Intentions 14:45 – October 7: What Hamas Was Trying to Achieve 16:55 – Why Western Media Repeats Hamas Casualty Claims 18:58 – What Jihad Really Means in Islamic Doctrine 23:40 – Demographic and Cultural Jihad in the West 25:10 – Qatar’s Role in Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood 27:25 – How Qatar Became a Global Islamist Power Broker 29:40 – Iran, Hamas, and the Sunni–Shia Alliance Against Israel 30:35 – Debating...

Facebook parent company Meta responded to legal threats by the European Union over its attempts to regulate misinformation related to the Israel war by launching an operating center. Meta released an updated content monitoring action plan on Friday detailing its approach for handling misinformation arising out of the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. The plan arrived in response to a letter from EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who threatened legal action against them over the Digital Services Act, a law that tightens the region's content moderation laws. The EU has already launched an inquiry into X, formerly known...

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign on Monday, accusing him of engaging in the cover-up of the Qatargate affair, which Bennett called “the most serious act of treason in Israeli history.” The statement from Bennett, who is running against Netanyahu in next year’s election, follows new revelations about the scandal. The affair involves allegations that top aides to the prime minister were acting as paid lobbyists for Qatar, where Hamas’s leadership is based, while simultaneously working for Netanyahu. On Sunday, i24 News reported that communication between the suspects showed they had fabricated information,...

A group of Senate Democrats say American citizens “have an obligation” to give amnesty to potentially millions of foreign nationals living in the United States who they say have “earned the right” to be in the country. After House Democrats and seven House Republicans passed an expansive amnesty to any illegal alien claiming to have arrived in the U.S. as a child, Senate Democrats are now demanding the Senate do the same. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) are urging the GOP-controlled Senate to pass their amnesty plan, which gives nearly...

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) announced Sunday that he suffered a minor stroke over the weekend and is currently being hospitalized. The 63-year-old senator was delivering a speech in western Maryland over the weekend when he started to feel light-headed, he said. He sought medical attention following his speech and soon learned that he experienced a minor stroke.

@ChrisVanHollen Netanyahu is restricting aid trucks into Gaza—the best way to get food to starving people there—so Jordan is delivering some with air drops. The Jordanians said @SenJeffMerkley & I could join one of those flights to see the devastation, but Israel denied authorization for our scheduled flight.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to brief US President Donald Trump that any expansion of Iran’s ballistic missile programme could pose a threat requiring swift action, NBC News reported on Saturday (Dec 20). The report said Israeli officials believe Iran may be rebuilding nuclear enrichment sites bombed by the United States in June, and are preparing to present Trump with options for renewed strikes targeting Iran’s missile capabilities.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have presented a $112 billion reconstruction plan to Gulf officials to build a “high-tech metropolis” atop the remains of Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The 32-page PowerPoint presentation labeled "sensitive" and titled "Project Sunrise" was developed over 45 days and reportedly presented to officials from Qatar, UAE, Egypt, and Turkiye. The plan envisions turning the Gaza Strip into a "high-tech metropolis" over the next two decades with four phases of reconstruction beginning in southern Gaza. It also calls for turning Rafah into Gaza's new "administrative center," housing over 500,000...

Bondi Beach is meant to be neutral ground. A place without history. A democratic beautiful stretch of sand where politics dissolves into sunlight, surf, and families pushing strollers toward the water. That illusion died when Jews gathered there to light Hanukkah candles—and were slaughtered for it. The massacre belongs to a broader pattern that has accelerated since Oct. 7, 2023: Jews targeted far from any battlefield, in the ordinary spaces of civic life. Synagogues, campuses, cafés, city streets—and now a beach—have become killing fields aimed not at a state, but at a people. The mass murder at Bondi did not...