Free Republic

Humza Yousaf, the left-separatist First Minister of Scotland, is taking a vacation in Qatar, the Gulf dictatorship that hosts the most senior leaders of the Hamas terror organization. Whether Yousaf, roughly equivalent to a U.S. state governor, intends to meet with the Qatari or Hamas leadership is unclear, but he has previously been reprimanded for holding unauthorized talks on the Israel-Hamas war with the President of Turkey. He has previously argued a peace deal should be brokered through the Qataris. While his official stance on Hamas is that their terror raid on October 7th was an “atrocity,” he vowed the...

As the UN commemorates World Day of Social Justice on February 20, we’re taking a look at one of the key challenges the world is facing in the coming decades: the gradual and largely irreversible shift towards an older population. According to the United Nations Population Division, the number of persons aged 65 and older is expected to double over the next three decades, reaching 1.6 billion in 2050. As the following chart shows, Asia is at the forefront of this trend, with Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan expected to have the highest share of people aged 65 and...

includes the shutting down of UNRWA ...In the immediate time frame: The IDF will continue the war until its goals are achieved: The destruction of the military capabilities and governmental infrastructure of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, the return of the hostages and the prevention of a threat from the Gaza Strip for a lengthy period of time...The rehabilitation of the Strip will only be possible after the demilitarization is completed and the de-radicalization process begins. The rehabilitation programs will be financed and led by countries that are acceptable to Israel

An Imam at the Belgian parliament last week began reciting a verse from the Quran that explicitly calls on Muslims to kill and take Jews captive. The Quran excerpt is verse 33:26 from the Al-Ahzab Surah (chapter). It translates to, “ And He brought down those from the People of the Book who supported the enemy alliance from their own strongholds, and cast horror into their hearts. You ‘believers’ killed some, and took others captive.” Within the Quran, Jews are referred to as the “People of the Book.” The event on Tuesday was not organized by the parliament, but rather...

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it had informed Israeli Ambassador Simona Halperin of its “negative reaction” to criticisms of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian policy in the Middle East made by the diplomat. The Israeli envoy was summoned to the foreign ministry earlier on Tuesday, a day after Russian authorities lashed out over what they called “unacceptable comments” made by the ambassador in an interview with Russian newspaper Kommersant published on Sunday. Halperin told the paper that Lavrov played down the importance of the Holocaust and and said Russia was too friendly with the Palestinian Islamist terror...

The Hamas terror organization stated that they appreciated Lavrov's comments, saying his comments "confirms Washington’s criminal role in the continued suffering of our Palestinian people." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, in an interview with Russian media on Thursday, that he doubted the conspiracy theory that Israel knew in advance of plans that Hamas were planning on committing a massacre on October 7. “A lot of conspiracy theories are now appearing. Just the other day, our television and social networks once again conveyed a message from Western media, Western journalists, and researchers that the Israeli leadership, a year before October...

After the ceasefire, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should take seriously its obligation to implement its resolutions on the establishment of a Palestinian state, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Speaking to the press after the meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Foreign Ministers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that he hoped that with the end of hostilities, Palestine and Israel would return to implementing United Nations (UN) resolutions. "We hope that after the ceasefire, everyone will take seriously the obligation to implement the UN Security Council resolutions on the establishment of a Palestinian state," he...

The revelations of UNRWA's perfidy and Joe Biden's decrepitude mark an inflection point in relations between the elites and the public. Every day the Israeli Defense Forces find more proof of the perfidy of the UN and UNRWA. Did you guess that the UN’s demand for a quick ceasefire was intended to conceal this? If so, you guessed right. This week, among other things, the IDF discovered Hamas Intelligence Headquarters and an enormous tunnel beneath UNRWA HQ in Gaza equipped with a huge server and data farm which was receiving its electricity from UNRWA sources. I’d hate to prejudge the...

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on Saturday night responded to the revelation of the terror tunnels under UNRWA's main headquarters in Gaza. In a series of bullet points posted on X, formerly Twitter, Lazzarini claimed, "UNRWA did not know what is under its headquarters in Gaza." "UNRWA is made aware of reports through the media regarding a tunnel under the UNRWA Headquarters in Gaza. "UNRWA staff left its headquarters in Gaza City on 12 October following the Israeli evacuation orders and as bombardment intensified in the area. We have not used that compound since we left it nor are we aware...

The Israeli Defense Forces say they have discovered a tunnel network that runs partly under UNRWA's Gaza headquarters. According to Reuters, the IDF says that this is evidence that Hamas has been exploiting the main relief agency for Palestinians amid the war. Last month, Israel initially accused 12 U.N. Relief and Works Agency staffers of participating in the Oct. 7 massacre. In response, multiple countries, including the United States, cut funding to UNRWA, at least temporarily. The IDF reports that the tunnel is 700 metres long with side rooms and an office space. “Everything is conducted from here," an IDF...

Subterranean facility for terror group’s intelligence needs, beneath UN complex in upscale Rimal neighborhood, discovered after interrogations of Palestinian prisoners. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Beneath the Gaza Strip headquarters of the controversial United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known commonly as UNRWA, the Hamas terror group hid one of its most significant assets, the Israeli military has revealed. The subterranean data center — complete with an electrical room, industrial battery power banks and living quarters for Hamas terrorists operating the computer servers — was built precisely under the location where Israel would not consider looking initially, let alone target...

The Israeli Army in the Gaza Strip slaying thousands of Muslim Brotherhood brothers (Hamas) came upon evidence of UNRWA employees participating in the satanic events of October 7, which should not surprise because UNRWA has been a major player in the antisemitic fantasy of a “Palestinian people” whose homeland was allegedly stolen from them by the Jews, the lie that justifies the very existence of UNRWA in support of the “victims of Zionism.”UNRWA’s brief for 75 years has been supporting millions of “Palestinian refugees” when, truth be told, there is nothing Palestinian about these people. And neither are they refugees.The...

UNICEF is warning that military escalation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah would mark a “devastating turn” in the war between Israel and Hamas, as Israel moves toward an expected ground invasion in the area. “An escalation of the fighting in Rafah, which is already straining under the extraordinary number of people who have been displaced from other parts of Gaza, will mark another devastating turn in a war that has reportedly killed over 27,000 people – most of them women and children,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement Thursday. UNICEF said 600,000 children are among...

The news that some members of the UN Palestinian aid fund allegedly took part in the Hamas attacks against Israel has sent shock waves through the international community. Despite this revelation, the Spanish Government has renewed its commitment to continue making its contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), despite allegations involving some of its staff in a Hamas-led attack against Israel. Foreign Affairs Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, made this announcement, highlighting Spain’s nuanced position amidst international tensions. Spain’s response to UNRWA investigation ‘We will not modify our relationship with UNRWA although we are...

Britain’s former Prime Minister, now returned to frontline politics as the nation’s top diplomat, is again talking about recognising a Palestinian state despite Israel rejecting the idea, but this time adding the condition it would have to be without Hamas. The United Kingdom would recognise a Palestinian state, but only once Gaza is no longer controlled by Hamas, Britain’s Foreign Minister Lord David Cameron said in Lebanon on Thursday. Per a Guardian report on the remarks Britain legitimising a Palestinian state could come even before the end of futuretalks between Israel and “Palestinian leaders”. No moves could be made until...

The meeting highlights Biden's desperate bid to repair his standing with a reliably Democratic voting bloc. Arab-American support for Biden fell from 59 percent in 2020 to just 17 percent after the Hamas attack, according to one poll. That's especially worrisome for Biden in a swing state like Michigan, which voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and went for Biden by just 3 percentage points in 2020. Michigan has more than 300,000 residents with Middle Eastern or North African ancestry, the largest concentration of any state.After Hamas's attack on Israel in October, Siblani organized an event in Dearborn where a...

The leader of a Baltimore nonprofit got an up-close and personal look at the destruction caused by the war in Gaza. Sean Callahan, CEO of Catholic Relief Services, said the devastation and desperation there is clear. “In the morning, afternoon and night, you have jets buzzing overhead. You hear bombing in the distance. You have drones and helicopters over you. You have these poor people that have moved around and it’s very difficult,” he said. Callahan toured the area and visited the group’s office there to get a better idea of what assistance they need, as many civilians have been...

Russia on Tuesday denounced the suspension of humanitarian funds by several Western countries to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), describing it as a “collective punishment” for the Gaza population. At least 16 Western countries, including the United States, suspended funding to the UN agency last week, after Israel accused some of its staff members of involvement in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli territory. During a press conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the Western countries’ “wrong decision” as a “collective punishment” against the Gaza residents, which is “prohibited” by international humanitarian law.

Press Release 01.24.24 Media Contact 202-226-8467 Washington, D.C. – The Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability and Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations will convene a joint hearing entitled, “UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures” on Tuesday, January 30 at 2:00pm ET. What: Hearing – “UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures” Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2024 Time: 2:00pm ET Location: HVC-210 Witnesses: Richard Goldberg Senior Advisor Foundation for Defense of Democracies Marcus Sheff Chief Executive Officer IMPACT-se Hillel Neuer Executive Director UN Watch Mara Rudman Schlesinger Professor University of Virginia Miller Center PDF

Summary -Multiple donors have cut funds to UNRWA after accusations. -Israel says 190 agency staff belong to militant groups. -Some staff took part in Oct. 7 rampage - intelligence dossier. JERUSALEM/GENEVA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - An Israeli intelligence dossier that prompted a cascade of countries to halt funds for a U.N. Palestinian aid agency includes allegations that some staff took part in abductions and killings during the Oct. 7 raid that sparked the Gaza war. The six-page dossier, seen by Reuters, alleges that some 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. It has names...