Free Republic

There is no gnashing of teeth in Western nations, or even in Arab countries, and certainly not in the United Nations human rights commissions and committees, about the hundreds of thousands of Arab civilians killed by other Arabs in modern Arab-on-Arab Middle East conflicts. The American administration continues to apply immense pressure on Israel to stop its defensive war against Hamas in Gaza, and to pivot to a “diplomatic option” under which it would negotiate with Hamas and agree to a “two-state solution” which would impose on Israel yet another hostile Arab state. This “second state” would present a long...

It began without warning. “Planes were bombing. Tanks were firing. Quadcopter drones were shooting. People were running and screaming. It felt like Judgment Day, as if we were living our last moments.” This was the scene at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 8 in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. Aerial bombardment, as described by a journalist in the camp who preferred to remain anonymous, was accompanied by the entry of dozens of Israeli military and police special forces personnel who emerged from aid trucks. “We couldn’t understand what was happening,” the journalist added. As later became clear, a major...

BEIRUT (AP) — He is among the very last survivors of his Gaza family, a clan so close they knew without thinking how blood and marriage bound them across generations and city blocks. Then, branch by branch, 173 of Youssef Salem’s relatives were killed in Israeli airstrikes in a matter of days in December. By spring that toll had risen to 270. Bones and flesh strewn over the ruins of family homes. Blond curls of a young cousin peeking through bricks. Unrecognizable bodies piled on a donkey cart. Lines of burial shrouds. These images are what survivors are left with...

In Deir Al-Balah, a city in the Gaza Strip, Marwa Al-Hasanat has found a way to bring some joy to her community amid the destruction and hardship of war in the form of a roadside bookstore. Al-Hasanat, 22, a lifelong lover of books inspired by her grandfather who authored three of his own on the Arabic language, started an online bookstore in June 2022 called Marwa.Book. But since the war began on Oct. 7, Al-Hasanat has not been able to purchase books to sell online from Gaza City, where she used to get her supply. The intermittent internet connection throughout...

A Jewish-American Army Major has resigned from his post in protest at US support for Israel's 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians that has starved and killed 'tens of thousands of civilians'. Major Harrison Mann told CBS that Israel's response to the October 7 attack has 'turned the whole world against it' and imperiled the security of both Jews and Israel. The Defense Intelligence Agency analyst offered his resignation in November as casualties mounted in Gaza following Israel's invasion, and spoke out on Tuesday as he formally stepped down after 13 years. 'I'm confident saying it's certainly some measure of ethnic cleansing,'...

There is much about the war against Israel to which the mainstream media pays scant attention. That journalistic failure is discussed here: “What mainstream media isn’t reporting during the Israel-Hamas war – opinion,” by Andrea Samuels, Jerusalem Post, May 24, 2024:In general, from watching MSM [mainstream media], we have the impression that the IDF is killing innocent children, unopposed, and there is no mention of the ongoing rocket attacks on Israel apart from the Iranian attack which was portrayed as a harmless gesture,” explained Paul Martin Gurnett from Britain….The rocket attacks launched by Hamas into southern Israel, and by Hezbollah...

Television host Piers Morgan backed a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war Monday morning, saying in a string of social media posts that a recent Israeli strike in a Rafah “safe zone” that killed more than 40 people was too far. “The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific,” Morgan wrote on the social platform X. “I’ve defended Israel’s right to defend itself after Oct 7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible.”

As Townhall reported — and anyone not blinded by rabid anti-Israel and pro-Hamas hatred presumed — the number of women and children killed in the Gaza Strip since Hamas launched its massacre on October 7 is far less than the United Nations or its terrorist sources reported. The UN's Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) quite quietly and without an announcement matching the breathless outrage at and coverage of previously reported (and literally unbelievable) numbers, halved the number of women and children it previously claimed were killed in Gaza amid the war. The more than 14,000 children it said...

The United Nations seemingly halved the estimated number of women and children killed in Gaza, according to UN data published on May 6 and 8. The UN published the number of fatalities reported by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The Government Media Office in Gaza and Israeli authorities provided a disclaimer below the data: "The UN has so far not been able to produce independent, comprehensive, and verified casualty figures." On May 6, the UN published data showing that 34,735 people had reportedly been killed in Gaza, including over 9,500 women and over 14,500 children. On May 8, the...

The United Nations has significantly adjusted Palestinian casualty figures for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, halving the number of women and children previously reported killed. While more than 9,500 women and 14,500 children were reported among the fatalities by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on May 6, two days later that number was revised significantly downward. Today, under 5,000 women and 8,000 children are now officially listed by the UN as casualties. David Adesnik, director of research at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told the National Post he suspects the...

UPDATE: In typical fashion, Hamas is operating in bad faith and manipulating the terms of the agreement. BREAKING: Israeli official says Hamas approved a "softened" ceasefire proposal that is "not acceptable" to Israel - SKY— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 6, 2024BREAKING: Senior Israeli official to Ynet: This Hamas agreement to the deal is a deception. It is a one-sided deal without any Israeli involvement or agreement. This was meant to make Israel look bad when they refuse.— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) May 6, 2024BREAKING: Two Israeli officials confirm to me that Hamas has NOT accepted the deal that was on the table.—...

Northern Gaza is experiencing a “full-blown famine”, the head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said, and warned that it is “moving its way south”. In an interview with NBC News set to air on Sunday, Cindy McCain said that her remarks are based on what the WFP has seen and experienced on the ground. UN officials and aid agencies have for months warned of such a scenario. “It’s horror. It’s so hard to look at and it’s so hard to hear,” McCain told the US broadcaster’s Meet the Press programme. “What we are asking for and...

The United Nations’ human rights office reported on Tuesday the discovery of mass graves outside of two hospitals in Gaza with hundreds of bodies, including some who were found with their hands tied and stripped of their clothes. “Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands… tied and stripped of their clothes,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, citing local Palestinian authorities.

<p>At least nine protesters were handcuffed and loaded into police cruisers at a peaceful, pro-Palestinian protest Wednesday at the University of Texas hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a registered student group and a chapter of the national Students for Justice in Palestine. And several more were arrested at the university's South Lawn.</p>

Twitchy's parent site TOWNHALL posted an excellent story about a MAJOR Hamas announcement please take a minute to run over and read it and come back here so we can talk about some of the comments on the X posts promoting the story. Hamas Just Made a Major Announcement...And the Media Is Nowhere to be Found https://t.co/JGlp2gvpQs — Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 13, 2024 YUP. You read that correctly. Hamas admitted that the numbers the mainstream media has been shoving down your throat about the Gaza death toll are inflated. It seems that most people were not surprised about the...

Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Program and wife of the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the situation in Gaza had become dire. Anchor Jake Tapper said, “Israel has also approved opening the Erez Crossing from Israel into northern Gaza to get this desperately needed aid in. How important is opening that crossing for you and your workers with the World Food Program? Will that help hold off this famine that you’ve said is imminent?”

The former director-general of the Qatari Al Jazeera network, Yasser Abu Hilala, clarified that the allegations of rape against IDF soldiers operating in Shifa Hospital were fabricated. "It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Shifa Hospital was fabricated, Hilala wrote, adding that "The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood!" The woman who fabricated the rape libel, Jamilah al-Hasi, was interviewed last week by Al Jazeera. In the interview, she claimed that Israeli forces "raped...

A Palestinian-American teenager, Tawfic Abde Jabbar, was killed in the West Bank on January 19, allegedly after an altercation with armed Israelis. More on his death, and how it was differently reported in its English and Arabic language versions, can be found here: “A Tale of Two Narratives: English-Language & Arabic-Language Reports Differ on Palestinian-American Teen’s Death,” by Chaim Lax, HonestReporting, January 25, 2024:On Friday January 19, 2024, a Palestinian-American teenager, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, was killed in the West Bank, allegedly following an altercation with armed Israelis.The Israeli inquiry into this matter is still ongoing.However, an investigation by the Jewish...

An Egyptian investigative journalist who exposed the acquisition of a luxury villa by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy’s mother-in-law in El-Gouna has been found dead, according to a report on Friday by El Mostaqbal. The independent journalist, Mohammed Al-Alawi, reported on the purchase of the villa for $4.85 million in August by Olga Kiyashko, leaking alleged documents as proof of his claims. The report raised questions of corruption and misappropriation of US financial aid to Ukraine by the Zelenskyy family. Al-Alawi’s body was discovered in the Red Sea city of Hurghada, with fractures and bruises found on the body. The cause...

The New York Times ran an op-ed Sunday by Hamas’ handpicked Gaza City mayor — prompting outrage on social media from Israel supporters who slammed the Gray Lady for amplifying “Jew hate.” The essay by Yahya R. Sarraj published on Christmas Eve comes amid fury over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s social media post that denounced Israel as a violent occupying force and likened Jesus to Palestinians. Sarraj’s op-ed — titled “I Am Gaza City’s Mayor. Our Lives and Culture Are in Rubble” — condemned Israel for “caus[ing] the deaths of more than 20,000 people” and for destroying or damaging “about half...