Free Republic

'Israeli hostages may be the only people purposely starved in Gaza'. Dan Perry says that there is "clearly hunger in Gaza". You cannot deny that there is hunger in Gaza, according to Dan Perry, former head of the Associated Press Africa, Middle East, and Europe desks. “There clearly is hunger in Gaza,” Perry said last week on the ILTV News Podcast. “Half of Gaza has been flattened, the economy has been destroyed. It's not by any means self-sufficient. It's blockaded from all sides — from the sea and from the air. It's under very severe military assault. I don't think...

Israel’s security cabinet met Thursday night to debate whether to approve a full military conquest of the Gaza Strip, as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that such an operation would endanger the lives of hostages still held by Hamas. Zamir, addressing ministers during the high-stakes meeting, repeated his support for a strategy of encirclement and said advancing into densely populated areas would make it impossible to ensure the hostages’ safety. He also warned that a full conquest would come at significant cost to the military’s strength and readiness. Outside the meeting, hostage families and former captives...

Natasha Hausdorff – barrister and legal director at the UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust – is the latest guest on The Brendan O’Neill Show. Natasha and Brendan discuss Bob Vylan’s vile chants at Glastonbury, the horrors Israel faces in Gaza and how the Holocaust is now weaponised against the Jews. Transcript linked below video and links.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff told hostage families on Saturday that President Trump wants to "shift" the Gaza policy from trying to get a partial and phased Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal to reaching a comprehensive deal that ends the war and returns all remaining hostages at once, according to a statement by the families and recordings from the meeting. Behind the scenes: Two members of the hostage families who were in the room said Witkoff listened for a long time to every family member who wanted to speak. "We never have these meetings with senior Israeli government officials," one...

Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon, and former deputy IDF chief Matan Vilnai on Sunday announced they had sent a letter to US President Donald Trump requesting that he compel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the current war. This information was provided to The Jerusalem Post ahead of other media. These top officials, along with top former police and foreign ministry officials, lead the Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) group – which now makes up over 600 former senior security officials – in making that call on Trump to intervene. 'Stop the Gaza War'...

he Hamas terror group is, concerned about the possibility of indirect cooperation between the United States and Israel, as well as potential military action to free the hostages, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. The Saudi newspaper cited Hamas field sources who said that the terror group is taking enhanced security measures to uncover any attempt by Israeli special forces or others to reach locations suspected of holding hostages. According to the sources, members of Hamas' military wing have been instructed to monitor any suspicious movements, including those of collaborators with Israel, in order to uncover any new attempts to track locations where...

President Trump announced in a tweet on Wednesday that he will name Robert O’Brien to succeed John Bolton as his national security adviser. “I am pleased to announce that I will name Robert C. O’Brien, currently serving as the very successful Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department, as our new National Security Advisor​,” the president said. “I have worked long & hard with Robert. He will do a great job!​”​ ​The announcement comes a day after Trump released the five finalists on his list and called O’Brien “fantastic.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed criticism regarding the negotiations for the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip. In response to claims that the government is refusing a deal, Netanyahu criticized the news channels that have published such claims, saying, "They always echo Hamas propaganda, but they are always wrong. We accepted the deal, the Witkoff deal, and then the version proposed by the mediators. We accepted it, Hamas rejected it." According to Netanyahu, Hamas "wants to stay in Gaza. They want us to leave, so they can rearm and attack us again and again. I will not accept this;...

Middle East specialist Andrew Fox joins The Winston Marshall Show for a haunting, firsthand account of the horrors unfolding in Gaza—and the global narratives that refuse to face the truth. Fox describes scenes of unspeakable brutality—massacres, ch*ld soldiers, and war crimes ignored by much of the international press. He explains how Hamas manipulates both civilians and the global media to fuel its propaganda war, while using human shields to mask its operations. They discuss the international community’s moral double standards, the weaponisation of victimhood, and the psychological toll on those who witness the atrocities firsthand. All this—media distortion, humanitarian tragedy,...

The United States Mission to Yemen reported on Wednesday that the Houthi terrorists have kidnapped many surviving crew members of the Greek-owned Eternity C cargo ship after they attacked it earlier in the week. "We call for their immediate and unconditional safe release. The Houthis continue to show the world why the United States was right to label them a terrorist organization," the mission wrote in a statement. On Monday, the Houthi rebels in Yemen launched an attack on the merchant vessel in the Red Sea near the city of Hodeidah. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that the...

As a dual American and an Israeli, July 4 has always had a dual special meaning. That is, since 1976, America’s bicentennial. Like many American children, the year leading up to and during the bicentennial was a period of sharing national pride in all that America stood for, and its history. Growing up in a town with a famous revolutionary war battlefield, the reenactment of that battle made things extra vivid. As an Israeli, it is remarkable to me that after 200 years, the U.S. was able to celebrate its independence by reenacting the war in which it fought to...

Swedish diplomat accused of spying for Israel Photo credit: amnesty.se Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus, imprisoned in Iran, is being used as a pawn in a political manoeuvre, his sister Ingrid Floderus said. Floderus, was detained at Teheran airport in April 2022 following a visit to a friend working for the Swedish embassy in Iran, accused of spying for Israel and “corruption on earth” which carries the death penalty under Iran’s Islamic laws. Floderus is one of many EU and Western citizens detained on trumped-up charges to obtain concessions from their governments in return for their release. In this case, his...

For 40 years, Iran’s relentless hostility toward the U.S. has fueled proxy wars, terror attacks, and nuclear ambitions. Now, after diplomatic overtures were rejected, America’s decisive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites signals a historic turning point in the Middle East power struggle. For 40 years, Iran has reverberated with the menacing chant of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” a rallying cry born from the 1979 Islamic Revolution under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Last night, Saturday, June 21, 2025, that decades-long hostility faced a decisive response when President Donald Trump authorized a U.S. military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities at...

Police have identified the suspect who opened fire at a Walmart store in Amarillo this afternoon as Mohammad Moghaddam, 54. Mohammad Moghaddam, an immigrant, came to Amarillo with his family eight years ago from Iran. Immigrant services from Amarillo would not discuss with reporters whether they helped relocate the family to the Amarillo area. Police say Mohammad was upset he was passed over for a promotion so he took his manager and another person hostage. He was shot dead by police.

Hitler's Muslim Nephew Comes to New York September 24, 2007 FrontPageMagazine.com Kenneth R. Timmerman What was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinking? Apparently the former Democrat believed that escorting Iran’s Hitler-wannabe president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the site of the September 11 memorial at Ground Zero would generate a terrific photo op. “Here I am with world leaders,” that type of thing. After all, Bloomberg has already made his appearance at the “World Leaders Forum” at Columbia University, so he was in the zone. And last year, U.S. News & World Report crowned him as one of America’s “best leaders.” But...

Israel has retrieved the body of a Thai national taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack in October 2023, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says. He said the body of Nattapong Pinta was retrieved during a special operation in the Rafah area of southern Gaza on Friday. The 35-year-old was working as an agricultural labourer in southern Israel when he was kidnapped. Mr Nattapong is likely to have been killed during his first months of captivity, an Israeli military official said. Before the operation, it was not known whether he was dead or alive. It comes after the Israeli army recovered...

The bodies of two elderly US-Israeli hostages who had deep ties to New York and were abducted by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack have been recovered over a year after they were confirmed to have been killed in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of Judi Weinstein, 70, and Gadi Haggai, 73, were recovered during a “special operation” conducted by Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, and Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip. “Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. Our hearts ache for...

Paperwork with the word "USAID" was found in the car of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who's accused of allegedly throwing explosives at a group in Boulder, Colorado, peacefully protesting for the release of Hamas' hostages. The incident happened on Sunday as the pro-Israel group "Run for Their Lives" was protesting on Pearl Street. Boulder police said eight people were injured in the alleged terror attack, adding that they initially received reports of a man setting people on fire. According to an arrest affidavit, law enforcement officials found paperwork with the words "USAID" inside Soliman's 2015 silver Toyota Prius. Other paperwork with...

A hate-fueled suspect launched a “targeted terror attack’’ in Colorado on Sunday — setting at least one woman on fire as he screamed, “End Zionists!” and lobbed molotov cocktails at people commemorating Israeli hostages still in Gaza, officials said. Video footage captured the alleged attacker — who law-enforcement sources identified to The Post as Mohammed Soliman — in the middle of a tirade about Palestine and calling for death to “Zionists” before he tossed the fiery containers. “They are killers! How many children you killed?” he shouted. “End Zionists!” It’s unclear how many people in total were hurt, but cops...

Omer Shem Tov, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, tells Bianna Golodryga how he survived starvation, isolation and mental abuse in Hamas tunnels until his release in February. 24:13 min interview.