In some of the biggest news to come out of the war between Israel and Hamas in months, four hostages were rescued from Nuseirat, a "refugee camp" in the middle of the Gaza Strip. //

The operation to rescue these hostages happened despite a relentless effort by the Biden administration to force Israel into a "ceasefire" that would remove the IDF from Gaza. Given the success of this operation, Israel's resolve will likely only be strengthened to forge ahead until the mission is completed, and that includes the destruction of Hamas as a military and governing power.

Amid world outcry against an Israeli airstrike that took out two Hamas terrorist leaders but also reportedly killed dozens of Palestinian civilians, Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that the “small munitions” used in the attack simply could not have caused the fire that caused such devastation. They think a Hamas ammunition storage facility may be to blame:. //

If IDF turns out to be right, and they had an ammunition warehouse right next to a civilian compound, then that would show yet again that they care nothing for the Palestinian civilians. Certainly, the loss of life in this tragedy—and in this war—is heartbreaking, but the blame belongs on Hamas’ shoulders, not Israel’s.

This generation operates on the currency of virtue. The only way to get anything in life these days is to convince others of your noble heart. In reality, it doesn’t really matter if it’s true as long as you adequately satisfy the conscience of the audience. They are cheap dates and easy to please.

The situation with Rafah, as well as the entire Gaza conflict, should be common sense and nothing new. This isn’t the Western world’s first round of fighting terrorism. But then again, it’s always different with the Jews.

The conscience of the people is being perverted by biased news, outright lies, and careful manipulation. Hamas designed this strategy, and it’s working.

We are tired of this malice masquerading as humanity. Anyone who does not immediately call for the surrender of Hamas and the release of the hostages does not care about Palestinians or any civilians, Israeli or otherwise. Anyone who has spent time in the area of Gaza, even pre-war, should know how Hamas treats its own people. Where are the calls for freedom from the oppression of Hamas for Palestinians? Where are the calls for their leaders to value their safety above all else in their war campaign? Can anyone imagine if any Western country had put their people in harm's way the way that Hamas has? //

The only chance for this war to end is for Netanyahu and the IDF to apply strong military pressure. Israel has tried all of the things that the world has suggested — hard hand, soft hand, diplomacy, war, turning the other cheek, or standing their ground. They are tired of being everyone’s favorite guinea pig. The world has shown that the only thing Israelis can do that they like is die.

The culpability for Rafah falls on Hamas. The only way to fix an injustice is to hold the correct person accountable. Israel should do everything it can to protect civilian life. However, anyone who thinks that there is another way to end this conflict is either delusional or has malicious intent. //

Dieter Schultz > Ed in North Texas
4 hours ago edited

I don't understand why Israel held the IDF back from Rafah for so long, it gains Israel nothing on the so-called world stage and the drastically increased antisemitism around the US and Europe is proof (never mind the clowns at the East River Debating Society- aka the United Nations).
Nixon once said "We'll get into as much trouble if we send 3 planes or 100 planes to resupply the Israelis so send every plane we have!" When it comes to dealing with uncomfortable situations like opposition from your enemies, you have to loose your concerns about the amount of trouble you'll get into, doing too little or just enough, your enemies won't care about your restraint.

If your cause is just, and you believe that, then you, and Israel, need to stop caring so much that it stops you from doing what you need to do.

The indictments of the Hamas thugs are just window-dressing. The real target is Netanyahu and his government. Delaying the indictment of the Hamas "leadership" until now shows how deeply unserious Khan is about pursuing Hamas's crimes. Rolling the indictments together is a clever way of claiming there is no difference between Hamas and Israel. And accusing Netanyahu and Gallant of "crimes against humanity" is a not very subtle way of drawing a Nazi inference.

How this plays out in the long run is anyone's guess. If the ICC goes along with issuing arrest warrants, the countries harboring Hamas will ignore them, and Israeli government officials could be arrested when they travel.

John Hasson
@SonofHas
·
Follow
Last week: Biden Admin claims it can locate Hamas leaders, and it offers to give the locations to Israel to stop the Rafah invasion

Today: Biden Admin was wrong about Sinwar’s location, and its intel about Sinwar is roughly one month old
7:28 PM · May 18, 2024 //

That should leave people asking exactly what Iran, which uses Hamas as a proxy, has on the president. What else would motivate Biden to try this ruse on a long-time ally besides appeasing the Mullahs he's always bent over backward for?

I would think this has to be the end of Israel taking any council from Biden seriously.

I'm writing this on May 15th, and that means it's time for the yearly round of hand-wringing over the so-called "Nakba."

Left-wingers and terrorist supporters across the globe will spend the day decrying the alleged "ethnic cleansing" of Arabs from "Palestine." As the Nakba narrative goes, evil "Zionist" Jews randomly marauded across the land in 1948, completely unprovoked. In their wake, they left a trail of death and destruction, violently expelling "Palestinians" from "their lands." //

what is the truth of the supposed Nakba, which means "disaster" in Arabic? Putting aside the absurd contention that the Jews, who were woefully outnumbered in 1948, somehow physically carried out an "ethnic cleansing," we need to start with how the Israeli War of Independence began. //

Why were they attacking Jewish cities and settlements on the Israeli side of the partition, which at the time was a small fraction of the former British mandate, with the Arabs being given almost all of the land, including all of modern-day Jordan? The simple answer is that having previously allied with Adolf Hitler during World War II, they were trying to prevent the creation of a Jewish state for very obvious reasons.

On that note, did the Jews just randomly show up after World War II to claim land given to them by the UN? Certainly, some Holocaust survivors did make their way to what would become Israel, but much of the original Israeli state was composed of land that was legally bought in the early 1900s. For example, Tel Aviv was developed on land that was deemed largely useless at the time. In other words, the Jewish state was set to be formed on a small sliver of land deemed to be of no real value to the Arabs.

That plan was never allowed to come to fruition, though, because the Palestinians and their Arab allies (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia) attacked on May 15th, 1948, the day after Israel declared its independence. Their express intent? To drive the Jewish state into the sea, murdering as many Jews along the way as possible. That's where the genocidal chant "from the river to the sea" originates.

So why did so many Palestinians leave in what is now called the "Nakba?" The answer is that the Grand Mufti, the Palestinian leader in exile who had allied with Hitler, ordered them to. At the time, it was thought that an Arab victory was imminent given how outnumbered and outgunned the Israelis were. Palestinians voluntarily left in droves with the expectation that they'd be able to return after a glorious victory.

Further, the Israelis told the Palestinians that they could remain in their homes if they laid down their arms. The Grand Mufti rejected that offer and ordered the war to move forward. //

The expectation at the time was that the Palestinians displaced due to the war they lost would be absorbed into the neighboring Arab states, including the Palestinian-majority state of Jordan. At the same time, Israel was left taking in nearly a million Jews who had been expelled from Muslim nations. That never gets talked about, though, because it doesn't fit the Nakba narrative. //

The fact that "Nakba Day" is on May 15th, the day the Arab alliance declared war on Israel gives the game away. They aren't upset about a supposed "ethnic cleansing" that occurred the day after Israeli independence. They are upset that they got their clocks cleaned and lost territory in the process. Perpetual victimhood omitting their self-destructive actions is the Palestinian way. That's the truth of the Nakba narrative.

The UN just made an embarrassing adjustment to their estimated number of deaths in Gaza. They just halved the number of women and children previously estimated to have been killed. //

Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer
·
Replying to @HillelNeuer @UNOCHA and 2 others
In Ukraine, the UN has a defined methodology using individual records of civilian harm, requiring a reasonable grounds standard of proof. As a result, the UN states that the actual death toll is likely higher, because their count is careful & cautious. /4 https://ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/two-year-update-protection-civilians-impact-hostilities-civilians-24.pdf

Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer
·
Yet when Israel can be blamed, it’s the complete opposite. For Gaza there is no method or standard of proof. The UN simply parrots Hamas numbers, the source laundered by the UN as “Gaza Ministry of Health” or “Government Media Office.” In fact, both are run by terrorist Hamas. /5
6:34 PM · May 12, 2024 //

Joe Scarborough @JoeNBC
·
UN halves estimates of women and children killed in Gaza. Apparently, the Hamas figures repeatedly cited are false.

jpost.com
UN halves estimates of women and children killed in Gaza
1:52 PM · May 12, 2024 //

You would think they would be happy that the number of women and children estimated to have been killed had fallen. But instead, they were mad that people who pointed out the numbers were being questioned. It doesn't help their narrative. //

anon-ubkk
5 hours ago edited
The number may well be half again and
closer to 5000 noncombatants killed according to Mark Levin and his sources. Trouble is, the UN has helped stoke anger around the world and in the US with non suspecting college students (not the paid agitators) and the naive population who keep calling the necessary IDF military operation "genocide". The UN for the most part has been useless, but they have turned out to be the propaganda arm of dangerous Islamists, Marxists, anti Israeli and anti American interests. The UN should be dismantled. //

JimboCA
3 hours ago
It's not the Fog of War that has lead to wildly inflated numbers. It's the Fog of Propaganda.

That Biden is now saying it out loud is more evidence that his attempt to court the radicals in Dearborn has backfired.

Now what? My general feeling is that it's too late. Biden's political fortunes continue to collapse precisely because he's an indecisive, weak leader whose first instinct is to capitulate to crying Islamists. That he's now trying to do a gentle backtrack is not fooling anyone. He's typecasted at this point, and he better hope Israel eliminates Hamas sooner rather than later because if this festers too much longer, it's only going to get worse for him.

The message Biden is sending here is that it's willing to abandon one of its greatest allies at the 11th hour in a war it had no choice but to fight, abandon American hostages, and abandon any sense that America is serious about eliminating its enemies and punishing those who would dare harm its people.

Biden has not only made us look weak, he's made us look untrustworthy. If ever our allies are in need, Biden has told them that we'll buckle if the going looks like it's going to get a little too tough.

Moreover, this isn't just a message sent to our allies, this is a message sent to our enemies. We just told them that America will fold under the right circumstances. The tiger is made of paper.

Biden, and his handlers, have to go. Not just because he's severely mucked things up here in the States, but because it's clear that he poses a clear danger to the international community.

So not only is he threatening them by holding up weapons, he's providing weapons to their enemies, including Lebanon where they have Iran terror proxies who are even now attacking Israel.

Biden is something other than a senile old man who wouldn't know the truth if it punched him in his botox-stretched face.

Joe Biden is objectively evil. //

It's cliche to call something astonishing, but it's truly mind-blowing to see a U.S. president side with a terrorist group over a multi-generational ally. Never mind that Hamas continues to attack and is still holding dozens of hostages, including some Americans. Yet, Biden has decided he doesn't care about any of that, instead choosing to prioritize his electoral prospects (and committing an impeachable offense in the process).

Do you know what you call someone who throws an ally to the wolves for cheap personal gain? You call them evil, and Biden is just that. He's also a moral coward who is so terrified of his own shadow that he can't even speak clearly about genocidal maniacs. //

RNC Research @RNCResearch
·
BIDEN: "It made sense to go get bin Laden..."

REMINDER: Biden opposed the raid on bin Laden — and counseled Obama against it.

7:22 PM · May 8, 2024. //

This should be the final straw for American voters. Biden can not be allowed to remain the President of the United States. We are well past the point of these just being simple policy disagreements. What is coming from the White House is simply evil.

In addition to a craven attempt to shore up his crumbling electoral support, Biden is showing our allies and enemies that America, under his failed leadership, is not a reliable ally. Just as he has withheld arms from Ukraine to prevent Russia from suffering a battlefield defeat, he's now withholding weapons from Israel to save Hamas's bacon. This is not unnoticed in Tehran, Beijing, Pyeongyang, and Moscow. It is also noticed in Brussels, London, and every other friendly capital on the globe. //

Louise1 houdini1984
2 hours ago
https://townhall.com/tipshe... quotes an X tweet by David M Friedman at https://twitter.com/DavidM_... :

The weaponry that America appears to be withholding from Israel is very precise and accurate. It will assist Israel in minimizing civilian casualties in Rafah when it begins its battle to eradicate the four Hamas battalions that continue to threaten Israel and its citizens. What is the US hoping to achieve here? It is elevating political points over human life!

Yet, he didn't say anything at all that he would do or the DOJ would do to address the criminal actions or the people behind the chaos. He also didn't address the reports that some of his mega-donors were involved in the funding that ultimately helped the campus actions.

So how much are any of his words worth now? Not a lot.

Also, Biden admin ‘guarantees’ Hamas a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Saudi newspaper says.

When World War I ended, the Ottoman Empire was no more. Jews began returning to the land of their biblical forefathers, given to them by God, as foretold in Scripture. The British government promised to create a new Jewish state in 1917 (the Balfour Declaration).

International organizations like the UN intervened in drawing up boundary proposals for the new state. Jews agreed to all, Palestinian Arabs agreed to none. Unlike in Arab lands where Jews were being deported, the new Israel welcomed Palestinians and invited them to be part of a nation reborn. Anticipating a war, Palestinian leaders implored their people to leave their homes and fight alongside their Arab brothers. Many Arabs did, leaving their homes, hoping to come back when the new nation was aborted. Five Arab nations invaded, but lost. The Arabs that left their homes wanted back, but Israel said, ‘Not so fast.’ No nation with any sense would allow enemies to return and take root. Thus, Israel was born in 1948, taking up about 0.2% of the Middle East, the size of New Jersey. And yet, there are groups that want to further divide Israel.

No private property was ever confiscated from an Arab. Every piece of private property obtained from Palestinians was purchased. //

Hamas was founded in 1987. They are an Islamic fundamentalist group, and by the very core of their being, they will never accept a Jewish state.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza, giving the Palestinians their own land. Some will remember news broadcasts of Israeli soldiers, sometimes forcefully, moving fellow Israelis out of their homes around Gaza and the West Bank.

It is important to note that every time Israel gave Palestinians land, it became a base of operations to attack Israel. It would be like giving Michigan to terrorists, then ducking missiles from Dearborn.

In 2006, the Palestinians voted, giving Hamas much more power than they had, a clear plurality. The Fatah Party of Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, was losing its grip on the people. In 2007, Hamas launched a bloody campaign against Fatah and took complete control over Gaza. Since then, Palestinians haven’t held an election.

Hamas began conducting terrorist attacks in Israel, killing 506 and wounding thousands. //

We know the history of Germany in 1938. Think it can’t happen here? It can, and it is. Eisenhower warned that this could happen. Turn around and observe what our political parties, globalists, bureaucrats, media, academics, distant parents, corporate scum, and unlimited government types have created. Then you will understand.

“I’m always confused why we’re not talking about that more…Why are we protesting? I can’t end that war. Joe Biden can’t end that war. Netanyahu can’t end that war. But Hamas could end it right now immediately. They could release the last hostage, and they could surrender. All of the misery and the death and the destruction ends right there, too. For a true peace, you cannot allow Hamas to allow it to function. They’ve been very clear. They’re proud of what we’ve done, and we’re going to do it again and again. It’s very reasonable to make sure that Hamas needs to be neutralized.”

We have to stop antisemitism because antisemitism is the canary in the coal mine. It always precedes larger confrontations that engulf the entire world. So I ask all of you, Jews and non-Jews alike, who are concerned with our common future and our common values, to do one thing. Stand up. Speak up. Be counted. Stop antisemitism. Now.

While Israeli media are talking about the "Rampage" air-launched cruise missile, the range of that missile is a fraction of that needed to hit Isfahan without overflight, including refueling, of Syrian and Iraqi airspace. //

John Ridge 🇺🇸 🇺🇦
·
Apr 19
@John_A_Ridge
·
Follow
So my initial gut feeling was correct, it was not UAVs. The IAF carried out a standoff attack from Syrian airspace with Sparrow, likely Blue Sparrow, air-launched ballistic missiles released from F-15Is.

Booster wreckage was recovered in Iraq //

John Ridge 🇺🇸 🇺🇦
@John_A_Ridge
Clarification: based on input from @orfialkov, this wreckage may be from Rocks specifically.

Rocks is the purpose-designed ALBM derivative of Sparrow produced by Rafael. This would expand the potential launch platforms from F-15A/B Baz and F-15I Ra’am to include F-16I Sufa.
10:37 AM · Apr 19, 2024 //

The message sent was clear. Israel doesn't need to launch hundreds of weapons that violate the airspace of neighboring countries. Israel can cut its way through what passes for an air defense system in Iran and dump ballistic missiles on a very specific target deep in Iran. Thursday, that target was an S-300 surface-to-air missile system. Tomorrow, it may be something a little more precious.

Was the message received? I think so.
...
Khameini didn't mention Israel's counterattack.

Message received.

Indeed, some seemed to think that Ukraine was the 51st state, with Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA) even declaring that while “Some say, well, we have to deal with our border first. The Ukrainian Russian border is OUR border!" That's how off the rails these folks are now. //

If Connolly wasn't enough, you also had Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) with an unreal move. I'm not sure how he has the number of Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines, but here he is, allegedly calling them, telling them they were going to get the money. //

Where's his call to our Border Patrol agents, saying they are going to provide real security for the border? Whoops, sorry, money for Ukraine is their priority. Where is their excitement and desire to defend America? Can we talk about how disgusting these folks are? They celebrate taking your money, waving it in your face. //

Caitlyn Kim
Apr 20
@caitlynkim
·
Lauren Boebert yelled at Democrats who are waving Ukrainian flags during vote on Ukraine aid.

Caitlyn Kim @caitlynkim
·
Chair says its a violation to wave flags on the floor. Still some being waved.
1:51 PM · Apr 20, 2024

Reports from Israeli media indicate that U.S. State Department officials have confirmed that it is preparing to sanction the Israeli Defense Forces' Netzah Yehuda battalion, marking the first time the U.S. government has targeted an IDF unit directly and sparking immediate opposition from Israeli political leaders, including Netanyahu.

The Netzah Yehuda battalion, part of the Kfir brigade, was established in 1999 to accommodate recruits from ultra-Orthodox and national religious communities, including those from reportedly "extremist settlements." It has historically been primarily deployed in the West Bank. //

DonttreaDonme
4 hours ago
send 10s of billions of dollars to the worlds leading sponsor of terrorism, a nation that specifically targets civilian men, women and children, kidnaps, rapes, tortures and murders it's victims at will, then sanctions the nation they perpetrate these humans rights violation upon, the country they're threatening to wipe off the map. Understood.