Free Republic

When war once again came to Gaza in late 2023, Palestinian photographer Fatma Hassona began documenting all aspects of life: death, displacement, destruction, children celebrating during Eid, relief as people were allowed to return to northern Gaza during a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas this year. Despite the challenges she faced, the 25-year-old was planning for the future: She was engaged to be married this summer and received news last Tuesday that a documentary about her life in Gaza during the war had been accepted to Acid Cannes, which runs alongside the Cannes Film Festival in France. A day later,...

Dramatic night as Saudi sources now claims Iranian intel ship Zagros (SIGINT) was sunk by U.S. forces at the same time the IDF conducts wide-ranging strikes in Gaza after Israel discovers Hamas was plotting another major Oct 7 style attack. Gaza ceasefire officially over, according to the Prime Minister’s office. Reuters is also reporting ballistic missile movement at IRGC bases in Iran. There were also reports from Yemen (video) that several senior IRGC members were eliminated in US attacks on Houthi targets.

Iran has responded to US President Donald Trump's warning that Tehran must end its support for the Houthis in Yemen. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media on Sunday that the US government has no authority to dictate Iranian foreign policy, and it must stop killing Yemeni people. The spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baqaei, said in a statement released on Sunday that the brutal airstrikes by the United States had resulted in the martyrdom and injury of dozens of people, including a number of innocent Yemeni women and children. He said the US military...

A Palestinian activist who led the disruptive anti-Israel protests at both Columbia University and Barnard College has been arrested by ICE agents at his campus apartment, according to his lawyer. Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student who got his undergraduate degree in Beirut and completed his studies at Ivy League Columbia in December, also reportedly faces having his visa revoked and his green card canceled following President Trump’s crackdown on unrest at colleges. He was inside his university-owned apartment a few blocks from campus Saturday night when ICE agents entered the residence and took him into custody, attorney Amy Greer...

UK Lawyers for Israel says use of inaccurate data, inconsistent methodology, potential bias led to false assertions that were utilized by ICC when charging Netanyahu with war (sic) crimes. A review conducted by the UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) organization into allegations by international famine review bodies that famine and severe malnutrition were widespread and prevalent in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas has found that famine did not break out in the territory according to the figures of the very organizations making the claims. The report noted severe problems with the reports these organizations issued, due to...

The United Nations rights chief said the parading of bodies in Gaza is abhorrent and flies in the face of international law. [...] Gilad Erdan, former Israeli ambassador to the UN and the US, compared the Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazis in an X/Twitter post. “Even in Nazi Germany, there were Germans who saved Jews. Not a single Gazan saved a single hostage.” Erdan continued, “Many, many ‘innocent’ Gazans took part in the kidnapping & murder, and many more came out today and on October 7 to celebrate the return of Jewish babies in coffins.

February 21, 2025 . A woman holds a mask depicting the faces of Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel. (AP/Oded Balilty) In a revelation that should shock the conscience of humanity, Israeli authorities have confirmed that Kfir and Ariel Bibas—just 10 months and 4 years old—were choked to death with the bare hands of Hamas terrorists. IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari made the grim announcement: “Kfir and Ariel Bibas were brutally murdered by the terrorists. They murdered them with their bare hands. We collected forensic findings and intelligence information.” “Contrary to Hamas’ lies, they were not killed in an...

Following President Trump's executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC, the Treasury has added the court's prosecutor to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.

Israel’s defense minister has ordered the Israel Defense Forces to devise a plan for Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for how the devastated territory would be administered. "I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to enable voluntary departure for Gaza residents," Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday, adding they could go "to any country willing to accept them." Katz said the plan "will include options for exit and land crossings as well as special arrangement for exit by sea and air." Katz welcomed what he characterized as Trump's "bold plan" for...

One can’t help but see the grim irony in a United Nations event on human rights being held in Hangzhou, a major Chinese city known for its technological hubs, co-hosted by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Perhaps the invitations were printed on forced-labor cotton paper, and the keynote address brainstormed over a surveillance feed of political prisoners. Leave it to the UN to turn hypocrisy into a high art. This past December, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the PRC co-hosted the Hernán Santa Cruz Dialogue on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights...

Trump signed an Executive Order withdrawing U.S. support from the UNRWA. Some UNRWA employees took part in Hamas' Oct 7th attack and helped Hamas hold hostages including American citizens.. Biden funded terrorists. Trump is defunding them. ... UNRWA is Hamas ... onald Trump is once again doing what should have been done years ago—cutting off U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding terrorism. The UNRWA has long been a corrupt, pro-Hamas operation masquerading as a humanitarian organization, and now it’s confirmed that some of its employees actively participated in Hamas’ October 7th attack. This isn’t just negligence—it’s direct complicity in terror. Biden,...

President Donald Trump signed a set of executive orders on Tuesday withdrawing from one United Nations body, defunding another, and ordering a review of U.S. involvement in others. As Breitbart News reported: Trump … signed executive orders withdrawing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council, defunding the terror-linked United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), ordering a review of U.S. involvement in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and a review of U.S. ties to the United Nations generally. Trump also signed an executive order restoring his “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, which he said he...

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order on Tuesday withdrawing the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council and prohibiting funding for the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, a White House official said on Monday. Trump has already previously ordered U.S. withdrawals from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement since taking office on Jan. 20 …

After 16 months of sheer hell, freed Hamas hostage Daniella Gilboa finally reveals what happened in that shelter on October 7th. In a heart-wrenching first public message that has reverberated across social media, Daniella Gilboa - who survived the October 7 attack and subsequent captivity - has shared her story of faith, survival, and gratitude. Speaking directly to a nation that held its breath for her return, Gilboa reveals the raw, powerful moments when she chose prayer over despair in a shelter under siege, and describes the profound emotion of finally reciting the traditional survivor's blessing in synagogue. "Hi loved...

Mandy Damari, mother of Emily Damari who was freed after 470 days in captivity earlier this month, revealed on Friday that her daughter was held in UNRWA facilities in Gaza during her captivity. Damari made the revelation during a conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Mandy and Emily are British citizens. The mother posted to X a picture of she and Emily speaking to Starmer and wrote, “Thank you Keir Starmer for calling us today and all your support in getting Emily home. Hamas held Emily in UNRWA facilities and denied her access to medical treatment after shooting her...

Perhaps Hamas is the party guilty of genocide - of the Palestinian people?Genocide is defined as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:(a) Killing members of the group;(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Let's focus on...

According to media reports, President Trump has removed the entire leadership structure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), previously run by Samantha Power.This is not necessarily a domestic issue. Those who walk the deepest political weeds well understand that USAID is the cover agency for the interventionist efforts of the CIA. USAID is the agency silo that coordinates the meddling in foreign elections, organizes the revolutions and political opposition of those deemed out of alignment with global democratic norms, funds the NGOs who do the ground operations, and generally seeks to replace foreign leaders.President Trump has just...

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon officially informed the members of the UN Security Council today (Tuesday) that UNRWA has 48 hours to end all operations in Jerusalem and leave Israel's capital. “Within 48 hours, the State of Israel will cease its cooperation with UNRWA. UNRWA must cease its activities and evacuate all its facilities in Jerusalem," he said. Ambassador Danon elaborated, "The legislation prohibits UNRWA from operating within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel and prohibits any contact between Israeli authorities and UNRWA. In addition, the organization is prohibited from maintaining any representative office, service...

Promoting terrorism, in the heart of Israel: When the state lost patience with the absurd The "Afshaa Al-Salaam" committees were closed down due to being an arm of the Islamic Movement, on the recommendation of the Military Intelligence Service and after the presentation of well-founded and unambiguous intelligence information collected on their activities. Alon Hachmon. 01/28/2025. The police, Shin Bet and the Ministry of Defense announced that after prolonged activity by the Israel Police, Shin Bet and the Headquarters for Combating Economic Terrorism (MATL), the "Afsha'a Al-Salam" committees have been outlawed. This morning (Tuesday), as part of the combined national...

Netanyahu: ‘Hamas are the new Nazis’. "The core of new antisemitism is the attempt to ... undermine [Israel's] right to self-defense," Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said. JNS Staff. (Jan. 27, 2025 / JNS). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called on the “civilized” world to up its effort to combat Jew-hatred, while labeling the Hamas terror group the “new Nazis.” “On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I call on all civilized nations to confront antisemitism wherever it appears—on college campuses, city streets or international forums like the [International Criminal Court],” Netanyahu tweeted. “Founded in the shadow of the Holocaust, the...