Free Republic

UNRWA provides far more than humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. In this impoverished enclave, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees acts almost like a state, providing essential services such as health care, education and even psychological support. That’s why there was an outburst of dismay from Palestinians, countries around the world and aid organizations when Israel’s parliament voted to outlaw any contact between itself and UNRWA — a move that will severely hamper the embattled humanitarian agency. Israel says the organization has been infiltrated by Hamas "widely and deeply," accusing its staffers of taking part in the Oct....

“I carried her because she couldn’t walk.” Still barefoot but no longer wearily hauling her younger sister over her shoulders, 6-year-old Qamar Subuh has a straightforward explanation for an act that many felt underscored the impact felt by Palestinian children amid Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip. Video of Qamar carrying her injured sister to a hospital and back in central Gaza was shared widely across social media recently. An NBC News team spoke to the sisters and their family Saturday. Qamar said she and Sumaya Subuh, 5, were on their way to sell boxes of biscuits near the Al...

Let’s all give thanks to the Israeli Defense Forces for the operations have that not only gutted Hezbollah, but at long last took out the thugs most responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that slaughtered 220 Marines and 21 other US service members. Seven US presidents had failed to bring that basic justice. Bigger picture: Israel’s steady flow of deftly targeted attacks have eviscerated Hezbollah’s leadership and its rocket stocks — and back-footed the civilized world’s ultimate enemy in this conflict, the cabal that controls Iran. It’s also exposed the fatuousness of all the Western “friends” of Israel who...

Asked by reporters whether an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon is inevitable, US President Joe Biden responds, “It’s time for a ceasefire.” On Friday, a senior Israeli official briefing foreign reporters on the IDF strike targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Jerusalem took the step with the hope that it would allow it to avoid having to launch a ground invasion.

8.28.24 On CNN, Isa Soares interviews Khaled Elgindy of the Middle East Institute. First, she avoided mentioning all the attacks by Arab Palestinians in these months. Even before the hammer attack 10 days earlier in Kedumim. Including foiled attacks, failed massacres. This is what was publicized on Aug 1: Judea and Samaria saw more than 500 Palestinian terrorist attacks each month on average in the first half of 2024, according to figures Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria). In the first six months of this year, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his visit to the Middle East due to security uncertainty and the possible Iranian retaliation, Walla reported on Tuesday. This follows earlier reports by Axios that Blinken was scheduled to travel to the Middle East on Tuesday amid high tensions in the region. His visit was reported to include Qatar, Egypt, and Israel. Blinken has previously visited Israel and the region to quell tensions, threats of regional war, and forging a deal to return the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In June, along with traveling to Israel, he visited Egypt,...

The blistering rash on 7-month-old Sobhia’s skin is the result of bacteria from polluted water, doctors told her mother. The infant, who was born a few months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, is one of many young children in Gaza coming down with ailments associated with drinking or bathing in contaminated water, according to families, doctors and humanitarian groups in the area. Common issues include hepatitis and skin infections. Humanitarian groups have tried to help repair infrastructure, install septic tanks and distribute clean water and chlorine tablets, but their access to the enclave is extremely limited. So inhabitants...

Hitler’s initial plan had been to relocate the Jews, but by 1942, at the Wannsee Conference — after the Germans realized that no one would take the Jews in — the Germans planned for industrial genocide.

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have uncovered a treasure trove of Hamas intelligence, consisting of stacks of documents, files, and computers, including guidelines on what to do if someone is suspected of being part of the LGBTQ community and a phrasebook of Hebrew words to help terrorists communicate in Hebrew, which included phrases such as "Take off your clothes." Among the findings were operational tables, equipment lists, classified maps, and instructions on what to do if captured, leading to the conclusion that Hamas's military wing has transformed into a professional army right under the nose of Israeli...

Russia’s war in Ukraine has dominated the world’s attention since it began on Feb. 24, 2022. Western governments and journalists alike provided a constant flow of information and updates as the war unfolded, documenting every war crime, military gain, and loss. Leaders kept alive the unwavering support for Kyiv’s fight for its freedom. That all changed on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel. The world’s focus switched in an instant to a war that grows more dire with each passing day as thousands are killed, with no end in sight. “We just got enough attention of...

The security cabinet approved regulations that would allow the government to close foreign broadcasters who broadcasts harm national security, KAN reported early Monday morning. The decision comes as Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi pushes for the Qatari Al-Jazeera and Lebanese Al-Mayadeen networks in Israel to be closed.

Washington -- US President Joe Biden has said that he is convinced that one of the reasons why Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel was because of the recent announcement during the G-20 Summit in New Delhi on the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that integrates the entire region with a network of railroad. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive against Hamas after unprecedented attacks by the militant group on October 7 killed more than 1,400 people. Biden told reporters at a joint news conference with the visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that his analysis is based on...

WASHINGTON — President Biden received a $200,000 check in 2018 from his younger brother James on the same day that he received the same amount from a US hospital chain by promising to secure a Mideast investor, bank records obtained by Congress show. “This summer, Joe Biden said: ‘Where’s the money?‘ Well, we found some,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a video posted Friday afternoon to X. Comer said James Biden wrote his check to his powerful brother as a “loan repayment,” without providing further context. “Even if this was a personal loan repayment, it’s still...

While the Arab states make a hue and cry about Israel’s wrongdoings in Gaza, they themselves are not doing anything to help Palestinians in distress US Presidential aspirant, Nikki Haley has put the cat amongst the pigeons by asking some straight questions. She stated, “You're going to hear all those Arab countries vilify Israel for what's about to happen. You're going to hear all of them say, how dare you not do more for the Palestinian people?” and then posed bluntly, “But where are the Arab countries? Where are they? Where is Qatar? Where is Lebanon? Where is Jordan? Where...

Screengrab from a video shot as revellers realize Hamas gunmen are attacking. Girls were raped beside the corpses of their friends. In 2021, we were part of a grassroots team which rescued 400 women from Afghanistan. We have all, together and separately, worked on a range of feminist issues including rape, sex trafficking, honor killing, child marriage, and forced veiling. Together with thousands of other women, we have signed countless petitions and resolutions calling for freedom, justice, and safety for women globally. We cannot understand the feminist silence about what is happening to civilian Israelis in general and to Israeli...

President Biden's decision to drain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to its lowest level in decades is back in the spotlight amid the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has caused oil prices to surge. On Monday, the Brent crude index, the worldwide oil benchmark, and the U.S. WTI index both surged more than 4% and inched closer to $90 a barrel as a result of volatility created by the Middle East crisis. According to analysts, the conflict — triggered over the weekend after a series of unprovoked attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis — may lead...

The US says it has carried out air strikes on facilities in eastern Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC). President Joe Biden ordered the strikes "to defend and protect US forces" in Syria following several attacks on them blamed on Iran-backed groups. About US 1,000 troops are operating out of the bases, without the permission of the Syrian government, as part of the US-led global coalition against the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). Wednesday's US strikes were conducted by two F-15 and two F-16 jets, military officials told US media. The plan had been...

Outspokenness has always been former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s signature move. Despite having fallen from grace in Iranian political circles he’s still using it, but this time directed against the regime itself. His new status as a de-facto opposition figure has been a long time coming. He began falling out of favour with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei towards the end of his second term as President, over a series of disputes about his cabinet. In 2009, shortly after Ahmadinejad’s election, his Vice President of choice and close friend, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, was forced to resign on Khamenei’s order. Mashei is a curious...

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on the capital and a strategic Red Sea city, officials said Saturday. At least seven people were killed. The overnight airstrikes on Sanaa and Hodeida — both held by the Houthis — came a day after the rebels attacked an oil depot in the Saudi city of Jiddah, their highest-profile assault yet on the kingdom. Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the strikes targeted “sources of threat” to Saudi Arabia, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency...

Doha (AFP) – Germany has committed to "fast track" the construction of two liquefied natural gas terminals as part of a new long-term deal with Qatar as it looks to reduce dependence on Russian gas, the Gulf state said Sunday. Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck secured the accord during talks in Doha with its emir and energy minister who have been pressing European nations to strike long-term deals to guarantee their supplies. European states have been forced to turn to Qatar in recent months as they seek an LNG alternative to Russian gas in the wake of Moscow's invasion of...