Free Republic

War Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Friday that the United States has launched airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Syria, which he said was in response to American soldiers who were killed in the country last week. The attacks were on ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in Syria. "This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance," Hegseth said on X. "The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people. As we said directly following the savage attack, if you target Americans — anywhere in...

Nationals of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria also banned, plus 12 countries already on list; US was already reportedly rejecting Palestinians’ visa requests US President Donald Trump on Tuesday expanded a travel ban by barring Palestinian Authority passport holders from entering the United States, along with banning five other nationalities. In a social media post, a White House account said that Trump, who has long campaigned to restrict immigration, was acting “to protect the security of the United States.” The policy announced Tuesday will go into effect on January 1, 2026. In June, Trump had announced that...

Sometimes member of Julani security detail dood it. Julani says he went rogue. Also says he was strictly ISIS, not affiliated with him. Whatever. Trump doesn't want to depose him, because that would strengthen the IRGC and Iran in Syria, and would lead to an endless non-linear war. But Julani sucks, even if he does look good in a suit and tie, and his beard is neat and trimmed. Julani doesn't want to fight the USA, because he knows that would end badly for him. Transcript linked below video.

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News there have been multiple injuries after American service members were ambushed in Syria on Saturday. The official added that some of the injuries were serious. Two local Syrian officials earlier told Reuters that a convoy of U.S. and Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State terrorist group was targeted while on patrol in the central town of Palmyra.

When deadly clashes erupted last July between Bedouin and Druze militias in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, some members of the Druze community living in Israel crossed the border to protect their kin. For Safi Ibrahim, an IDF colonel from the community, the crisis sparked genuine solidarity and brought emotions to the surface. As part of the events, he participated in a military operation in Syria – a mission that became deeply personal for him, fusing his military service with his identity. snip Unlike the Druze of the Galilee and Carmel – who serve proudly and prominently in the...

At first glance, Mike Waltz’s visit to Israel this week may look like a new UN ambassador’s routine orientation tour – a series of meetings, border briefings, and handshakes meant to signal continuity. But nothing about the timing or the choreography of this particular visit suggests anything routine. Waltz’s first major foreign trip since taking office is not just a symbolic gesture. It is the operational rollout of the Trump administration’s Gaza plan, carried out under the umbrella of UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which the US drafted and pushed through. And the visit comes just days after the UN...

US President Donald Trump warned Israel via social media on Monday against destabilizing Syria and its new leadership, shortly before holding a phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, days after a deadly operation by Israeli forces in the south of the country. Trump said he was “very satisfied” with Syria’s current performance under former Islamist rebel President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who made a historic...

Special forces went into hostile village of Beit Jan in Syria to arrest two known terrorists, ambushed, six IDF injured, three badly. 16 jihadis killed, two terrorists arrested. Airlifted, and lost humvee blown up on the way out to prevent it being taken by enemies. Footage from conflict. Friend of Ashkar, fellow vet, speaking from party similar to Burning Man. Transcript linked below video.

Nov 18 (Reuters) - Hamas rejected the United Nations Security Council passing a U.S.-drafted resolution endorsing U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, saying it fails to meet Palestinians' rights and demands and seeks to impose an international trusteeship on the enclave that Palestinians and resistance factions oppose. "Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the occupation," the group added.

Nothing that seems to make any sense on the surface or would appear to be what's commonly known as a 'next logical step' follows when you're talking about the mess that is the German government. Chancellor Friederich Merz's shaky coalition has only gotten wobblier in the past few months as Alice Weidel's Alternativ for Germany (AfD) party constinues to gain in popular support.After just six months in power, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition is facing infighting, policy deadlock and sliding poll ratings, undermining its efforts to take on the rising far right.It marks a difficult start for the conservative politician...

The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US plans for the presence in the Syrian capital, which have not previously been reported, would be a sign of Syria's strategic realignment with the US following the fall last year of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran. The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarized zone as part...

Another Hezbollah terrorist killed while gathering intelligence on Israeli troops in the area. A commander of Hezbollah’s terrorist Radwan Force was taken out in an Israeli strike earlier today in southern Lebanon. “The IDF on Monday struck and eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Ali Hadid, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force in the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon,” Arutz Sbeva/Israel National News reported. The 2500-strong Radwan Force, trained and armed by Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC), spearheads Hezbollah’s terrorist campaign on Israel’s border with Lebanon. 🔴 ELIMINATED: Muhammad Ali Hadid, a commander in Hezbollah’s “Radwan Force,” in the Nabatieh area, southern Lebanon....

A shocking poll shows that two years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre that murdered more than 1,200 Israelis, a majority of Palestinians still say the terror group was right to launch the attack — and, equally disturbing, an overwhelming 86 percent deny that Hamas committed the well-documented atrocities against civilians. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), 53 percent of Palestinians say Hamas’s decision to launch the October 7 assault was correct; support is strongest in the West Bank at 59 percent, while 44 percent in the Gaza Strip back the attack — a...

When President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, it was not merely another state visit - it was a statement of purpose. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, two key pillars of the Turkic world, reaffirmed their shared vision for a future built on unity, connectivity, and strength. The visit symbolized the natural deepening of economic and cultural integration among Turkic nations, while sending a clear message that regional cooperation can serve as the foundation of global influence.As the strategic ties between Baku and Astana strengthen, Israel naturally perceives new opportunities for economic and security engagement across Central...

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), a German public-service television broadcaster, published a clarification on Monday regarding claims that the IDF struck an employee of a Palestinian Arab production company that worked in collaboration with the network A week ago, ZDF reported that an employee of the Arab company and the son of another employee were killed as a result of an IDF strike on Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. The network wrote in a statement that it reached out to the IDF to demand answers regarding the circumstances of the deaths, and that the IDF provided unequivocal proof that the...

Hamas terrorists released under the Gaza peace deal are staying in a five-star hotel alongside unsuspecting Western tourists. Experts warned of a radical new threat to global security after the Daily Mail tracked down more than 150 of the highly dangerous extremists to a luxury hotel in Cairo. Israel was forced to empty its prisons of nearly all its most feared jihadists held on life sentences as part of Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Some 154 of the 250 fanatics who were freed are currently staying in the Marriott’s five-star Renaissance Cairo Mirage City Hotel in the Egyptian capital, a...

Late-night host Bill Maher is questioning where all the college anti-Israel protesters went as the terror group Hamas continues its wave of violence, turning weapons against Palestinians in Gaza. On Friday’s episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," the comedian asked his guest, billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, where "keffiyeh-wearing college kids" went now that Hamas is "shooting everybody." "Where are the protesters?" Maher asked Cuban. "Suddenly, the keffiyeh-wearing college kids are very quiet," the HBO host noted. "Shooting everybody," Cuban answered and Maher repeated the sentiment. His comments come after months of student-led anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses across the country....

President Trump succeeded in getting phase one of his peace plan enacted. That meant a ceasefire in which all of the 20 living Israeli hostages were returned to Israel in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. (Hamas was supposed to return the deceased hostages as well but it seems that is going to take a bit longer to accomplish.) But the big question has been whether or not Trump's team could move on from a successful phase one of the plan to phase two, which everyone agrees is the tougher part....

To recap the past week: Hamas films themselves executing over 100 Palestinians. The media is silent. Hamas launches RPGs at Israeli troops, murdering two. The media is silent. Israel responds by striking a Hamas commander. The media says Israel violated the ceasefire.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will use talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to formally request that Moscow hand over Bashar Assad to face trial over alleged crimes against Syrians, two Syrian sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Sharaa, who once headed the Syrian branch of al Qaeda and who toppled predecessor Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally, late last year, was speaking at the start of Kremlin talks with Putin on his first visit to Russia since coming to power. Sharaa's visit was sensitive. Russia had used its military muscle to back Assad for years against Syrian rebels, and Moscow granted...