Free Republic

The New York Times ran an op-ed Sunday by Hamas’ handpicked Gaza City mayor — prompting outrage on social media from Israel supporters who slammed the Gray Lady for amplifying “Jew hate.” The essay by Yahya R. Sarraj published on Christmas Eve comes amid fury over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s social media post that denounced Israel as a violent occupying force and likened Jesus to Palestinians. Sarraj’s op-ed — titled “I Am Gaza City’s Mayor. Our Lives and Culture Are in Rubble” — condemned Israel for “caus[ing] the deaths of more than 20,000 people” and for destroying or damaging “about half...

The Israeli military unleashed a series of precision airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday morning, destroying nine miles of terrorist tunnels and the homes of Hamas commanders. The latest attacks killed a local Gaza leader of the Islamic Jihad militant group, according to the Israeli military, which blamed him for some of the thousands of terror rocket attacks launched at Israel and now entering their second week. AP reports Gaza’s mayor, Yahya Sarraj, told Al-Jazeera TV the strikes had caused extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure. “If the aggression continues we expect conditions to become worse,” he said....