Free Republic

BERLIN (AFP) — Germany on Monday deported to Iran an alleged Iranian secret agent who was jailed for life in 1997 for murdering four Kurdish dissidents in Berlin, officials in the German capital said. Kazem Darabi's Lebanese accomplice, Abbas Rhayel, has also been freed after serving 15 years in jail and was deported last week, prosecuting authorities told AFP. A lawyer close to the case had earlier said that both men were to be deported on Monday night. Darabi, 48, and Rhayel, a suspected member of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia movement, were jailed for life for the 1992 murder...

A Cornell student activist who hounded the Ivy League school’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, in a parking lot following an Israel-Palestinian debate has been banned from campus. Aiden Vallecillo is prohibited from attending any events at the Ithaca institution for one year after he was a part of a larger group of students who surrounded and filmed Kotlikoff, demanding to talk with the administrator as he walked to his car on April 30, according to WBNG. Vallecillo, who graduated from the elite upstate university in May, was labeled a persona non grata by university police at his off-campus apartment on May...

Ramzy Baroud Palestine Chromicle & Hitler's Mein Kampf. Screenshot after "comments are closed," the (Aug 17, 2024) propaganda for 'Mein Kampf' claiming it's truth, is still on at PalestineChronicle when archive (archive[DOT]is/EaAPO) saved it May 23, 2026. Comments are moderated.Quote by regular commenter Boston Kronik Denny: kronikdenny says: Cowards! Mein Kampf is still available, and equally as harmless. When did a book listed under the category, ” History ” become dangerous enough to be removed?? i thought only the Nazis did that…oh, wait! yes, they STILL do. because Zionist c#nts rule [sic]the world, and they said take it down. But...

Inside a tiny prison cell in Iran, an expert on disaster medicine and a citizen of Sweden named Ahmadreza Djalali is dying. At least, what is left of him is dying. This innocent man has spent four months in solitary confinement on a daily ration of 100 grams of bread. His possessions consist of a thin blanket and a picture of his wife and their two children. A prison photo of Djalali resembles a survivor of Nazi concentration camps. Djalali’s jailers have made it clear to his family that he will die unless Belgium agrees to swap him for Assadollah...

Reza Amiri Moghadam, an official of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, is wanted for questioning based on his alleged involvement in the abduction, detention, and probable death of retired FBI Special Agent Robert A. Levinson: https://t.co/3jdNl5splA pic.twitter.com/WHvvTGo7kM— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) July 15, 2025

— American Dennis Coyle was released Tuesday from detention in Afghanistan, where he had been held for over a year. “Our family is overjoyed to announce our brother Dennis Coyle is free from the Taliban. Thank you for breaking this story first,” the family said in a statement to NewsNation.

The remains of the final Israeli hostage being held in Gaza has finally been recovered following a dramatic last-ditch effort, Israel said Monday — well over two years after the Israel-Hamas war broke out. Police officer Ran Gvili’s body was located and identified following a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza over the weekend, according to Israel’s Defense Force. “There are officially no more hostages in captivity in Gaza,” the IDF confirmed in statement in X. Gvili’s body will now be returned to his family in the Jewish state for burial, officials said. Israeli teams started combing through...

Antony Blinken, Joe Biden’s former Secretary of State, tried to claim that the Biden administration deserved credit for the Israel-Hamas peace agreement, arguing that Donald Trump’s success wouldn’t have been possible without the groundwork that Biden’s team supposedly laid. That’s pure fantasy. Hamas surrendered because Trump backed it into a corner with decisive pressure, not because Biden’s diplomats pulled off some behind-the-scenes miracle.Hamas surrendered its last living hostages, giving up the only leverage it had left in this mess they started two years ago. This wasn't some breakthrough negotiation. It was a complete capitulation, and Hamas knew it was their...

(Hostages and Missing Families Forum) Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg drew criticism Tuesday after sharing a picture of an emaciated Israeli hostage in a social media post about alleged mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centers. The post, which was made in collaboration with several pro-Palestinian activists, included graphics with statistics and pictures of Palestinians in Israeli detention, and was meant to call attention to “the suffering” of those in custody. “The suffering of Palestinian prisoners is not a matter of opinion — it is a fact of cruelty and dehumanization. Humanity cannot be selective. Justice cannot have...

During an IDF operation in Gaza City, forces spotted a man carrying a white flag and calling for help. This unusual sight raised suspicions that he might be an Israeli hostage, prompting additional forces to be deployed to the area. According to a report by Channel 12 News, after focused searches, it was determined that the individual was not a hostage but a terrorist attempting to deceive the forces. The IDF believes this was an attempt by Hamas to lure soldiers to a specific location for the purpose of setting off explosives or other devices. The IDF spokesperson stated, "During...

Trump convenes 8 Arab, Muslim leaders to present Gaza future planThe terror organization Hamas sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump proposing a two-month ceasefire in exchange for releasing half of the Israeli hostages it is still holding captive in Gaza, Fox News reported on Monday. Citing a senior Trump administration official and a source directly involved in the negotiations, the report stated that the letter is in Qatari hands and will be transmitted to Trump this week. Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that a Hamas leader might personally sign the letter before it is sent to Trump. The...

Despite grappling with fears for a son held hostage in the middle of a deadly war zone, Yehuda Cohen still holds onto hope. "I have three children, I'm going to have three children until the last day of my life," he said. "Nimrod will come back and complete our family." It is a sentiment which is obviously fuelled by a father's love, but it is also borne out of necessity — a sense of purpose, even as the window of opportunity for his family to be reunited with one another seems to be getting narrower by the hour. A photo...

U.S.-Russian dual citizen Ksenia Karelina, a former ballerina, said she’s been “really, really happy” since she was released from Russia in a prisoner exchange in April. Karelina was arrested in February 2024 in Yekaterinburg after returning to Russia to visit her family. A Russian court convicted her of treason for donating just north of $50 to a U.S.-based Ukrainian charity, and she was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The State Department, which previously determined Karelina had been wrongfully detained, announced in April that President Trump had “secured her release” and that she was “on a plane back home to...

In a chilling and grotesque act of psychological warfare, Hamas released a disturbing video showing Israeli hostage Evyatar David—visibly emaciated and barely able to stand—being forced to dig what appears to be his own grave in a tunnel beneath Gaza. The 24-year-old hostage is seen crossing off days on a calendar, holding a nearly empty can of beans, and stating he hasn’t eaten in days. “This can is for two days… so that I don’t die,” he says. “This is the grave I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.” The nearly five-minute video, released Friday,...

Look at the arms of Evyatar David — an Israeli hostage, starved to the edge of collapse. Now look at the arm of his Palestinian Hamas captor — strong, well-fed, offering a can for show. So who’s really being starved in Gaza?

Why not just say "no deals" with Hamas at all? That seems to be Hamas' position now that France, Canada, and the UK have decided to recognize a Palestinian state while Hamas continues to hold hostages. In fact, Hamas has stopped talking at all, save with one entity:There is growing pessimism in Israel over the possibility that Hamas will show flexibility and return to the negotiating table, an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.The feeling within the government is that the talks are nearing collapse, an Israeli official said. “It now seems that an expanded military operation in...

Hamas is calling on Gaza residents not to accept food from the new Israeli aid mechanism that began operating today. Hamas’s Interior Ministry warns Gaza residents against cooperating with the new Israeli food distribution mechanism, claiming its purpose is “the occupation’s takeover of aid distribution in the Strip.” The Hamas ministry adds: Israel is funding the mechanism through the “Gaza” aid fund and is violating international law by operating it. Gazans have the right to receive aid at their place of residence under international law. Cooperating with the occupation’s mechanism threatens the work of international organizations. If the mechanism fails,...

SNIP During the interview, Shem Tov also explained why members of Hamas were allegedly rooting for Kamala Harris to win the presidency: SHEM TOV: Yes, it’s him. He got me out. He got the hostages out. Before we we felt like nothing is happening; I remember there, for me there, ever since he came into into the road, they were very scared of him. They wanted - GOLODRYGA: Who? SHEM TOV: Terrorists. GOLODRYGA: Were afraid of Trump? SHEM TOV: Yeah. They wanted Kamala to be chosen. GOLODRYGA: You talked politics with them? SHEM TOV: Yeah, yeah, yeah. They wanted Kamala...

Going Entebbe on the hostage-taking dictator, right in front of his patron, Vladimir Putin. For Venezuela's fraudulently elected Nicolas Maduro, in Moscow to pay tribute to his patron Vlad Putin, yesterday was kind of embarrassing for both of them. Way under the radar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been busy, figuring out a way to make both of them look like weaklings, and with perfect timing, he succeeded: The U.S. welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas. Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on U.S....

Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina was released from Kremlin custody in a prisoner swap with the United States on Thursday morning. Karelina was freed in exchange for German-Russian Arthur Petrov at a swap in Abu Dhabi, the Wall Street Journal reported. “American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans,” he added. The dual-citizen spa worker was accused of treason against the Russian government...