[IsraelTimes] Well-known anti-Israel influencer Hasan Piker
…maybe Jairong knows who he is. Apparently known for commenting on games and issues of the day from a socialist perspective, he has 2.9 million followers on Twitch and thick, wavy hair …
Piker's uncle is Cenk Uygur, a Turkish born Kommie, who operates the Kommie podcast, The Young Turks.
I have watched parts of Piker's podcast (so you don't have to), and the conclusion I have about the boy is that his go-to charge versus his political opponents is "stupid."
Yes, he is quite wealthy by virtue of his intensive anti-capitalism tirades, which is delivered to huge numbers of young (and likely under 18) chatters.
tells Variety that actress Gal Gadot “serves an important role in normalizing Israel as not a fascist ethno-state, but instead a place where a lot of beautiful women come from.”
”Good God, man, by the time she’s done the droolers will have persuaded themselves that Joooooos are as human as you and me!”
In an interview on his activism against the Jewish state, Piker adds: “And those beautiful women happen to serve in the IDF, because there’s also this weird sexualization of the forces as well that takes place, and it plays another role in normalizing Israel and its activities and actions, and whitewashing it.”
He also attacks Jewish journalist Bari Weiss, saying: “Bari Weiss is everything that I despise about access journalism brown-nosing to institutionally powerful people and a major advocate for Israel as well. A person that has spent her entire career decrying woke or identity politics while simultaneously using her identity as a shield. Like, ‘I’m a lesbian woman. I can’t be intolerant.’ And also even using your identity as a Jewish woman to say, ‘Identity politics sucks unless we’re talking about Jewish people.’”
[BBC] South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says there will be an investigation into the "mysterious" arrival of a chartered plane carrying 153 Palestinians from Gaza into the country.
The group arrived at OR Tambo International Airport but were initially refused entry and were stuck in the plane for more than 10 hours as they "did not have the customary departure stamps in their passports", local authorities said.
Most were eventually allowed in after intervention from a local charity and because of the government's "empathy [and] compassion", Ramaphosa said. "and our exposed hypocrisy"
The circumstances of their departure from Gaza and travel to South Africa remain unclear.
South Africa has maintained strong support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
Ramaphosa said the group "somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi" and flew to South Africa, reports the News24 site.
Israeli military body Cogat, which controls Gaza's crossings, said in a statement: "The residents left the Gaza Strip after Cogat received approval from a third country to receive them." It did not specify the country.
According to the Palestinian embassy in South Africa, the group left Israel's Ramon Airport and flew to the country via the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, "without any prior note
…reportedly organized by al-Majd, their second trip from Gaza to South Africa in the past two weeks. The first trip went smoothly…
or coordination".
A statement from the embassy said "an unregistered and misleading organization [had] exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner".
The BBC has asked the Kenyan government for comment.
Of the 153, 23 managed to fly on to other destinations, leaving 130 who were admitted into the country, South African authorities say.
Ramaphosa, speaking during an event in Johannesburg, said he was informed of the unfolding crisis by the home affairs minister.
In response, the president said "we cannot turn them back", according to News24.
"Even though they do not have the necessary documents and papers, these are people from a strife-torn, a war-torn country."
The president also told reporters the South African government would carry out a "proper evaluation" of the matter and update the public on "what is happening and how this matter came to be where it is", according to public broadcaster SABC.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said that while Palestinian passport-holders qualified for 90-day visa-exempt access to South Africa, the lack of departure stamps, return tickets or accommodation addresses in some of the travellers' documentation resulted in the initial refusal to let them into the country.
Once it was established that the absence of this information "did not indicate that the travellers wished to apply for asylum" and their accommodation was confirmed, they were granted entry.
"All of the travellers are in possession of valid passports and, at present, none of them have applied for asylum," he said.
South African charity Gift of the Givers has said it will provide the group with accommodation in the country.
Civil societies in South Africa have called for investigations into the conditions the Palestinians had fled in Gaza and the exact route of the aircraft.
One of the Palestinians who spoke to local eNCA TV expressed his relief to be in South Africa, describing it as a country of "peace, laws and justice".
"We came from Gaza where we've faced death on daily basis. We have survived a war of two years and we are lucky to be here," said one man who had fled with his wife and two children.
Gift of the Givers has since called for Ramaphosa to investigate the home affairs ministry and border authority for the "humiliation they've caused" the Palestinians.
The organisation's founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said this treatment included being forced to wait for hours on the tarmac at the airport, being denied food provided by the group and "using every excuse in the book to prevent these passengers from disembarking".
South Africa has been highly critical of Israel's military operation in Gaza.
The country's sympathy for the Palestinian fight for an independent state goes back decades, particularly the early 1990s when anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela pledged support for the Palestinian cause.
Large pro-Palestinian marches have been held around South Africa since the conflict began.
Smaller pro-Israel marches and rallies have been held in the country, which hosts the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2023, the South African government filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide in Gaza. Israel has strongly rejected the South African claim, calling it "baseless".
[IsraelTimes] University College London summons police after lecturer tells anti-Israel student group that Jews mix gentile blood into matzah
University College London, a prominent UK university, said on Thursday that it had launched an investigation and banned a researcher who taught an antisemitic blood libel in a lecture.
The researcher, Dr. Samar Maqusi, shared the libel with the campus branch of Students for Justice in Paleostine on Tuesday.
The blood libel is an age-old anti-Jewish myth that falsely says Jews murder non-Jews to bake their blood into Passover matzah. The libel is one of the most notorious antisemitic falsehoods and has caused repeated violence to Jews in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and elsewhere.
Maqusi’s lesson centered on the Damascus Affair, an incident in Syria in 1840 during which a monk disappeared and the Jewish community was falsely accused of murdering him to use his blood for Passover ceremonies. Eight leading members of the Jewish community were tortured into confessing.
Maqusi said the monk, Father Thomas, had disappeared during a "Jewish feast," which she identifies as Sukkot, apparently confusing the holiday with Passover. She also misstated the date of the incident, saying that it took place in 1838.
"During this feast, they make these special pancakes, or bread, and part of the holy ceremony is that drops of blood from someone who’s not Jewish, which the term is ’gentile,’ has to be mixed in that bread," Maqusi said, according to an audio recording shared by the advocacy group StandWithUs. The group said one of its members went to the event and recorded the lecture.
"The story is that a certain investigation was undergoing to find out where Father Thomas is. He was found murdered and a group of Jews who lived in Syria said that, admitted to kidnapping him and murdering him to get drops of blood for making the holy bread," she said, without mentioning the torture.
"Do investigate, draw your own narrative," she said.
The campus branch of Students for Justice in Paleostine had advertised the Tuesday event as part of a lecture series called "Paleostine: From existence to resistance." Maqusi’s talk was called "The Birth of Zionism."
The university president and provost, Dr. Michael Spence, said: "I am utterly appalled by these heinous antisemitic comments."
"Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our university, and I want to express my unequivocal apology to all Jewish students, staff, alumni, and the wider community that these words were uttered at UCL," Spence said in a statement shared with The Times of Israel.
Spence said the researcher was not a current university staffer, that the university reported the incident to police, and that the lecturer had been banned from campus, without naming Maqusi.
The university has launched a "full investigation into how this happened and have banned the student group which hosted it from holding any further events on campus pending the outcome of this," he said.
"Regrettably, like many UK universities, we continue to confront incidents of antisemitism and are committing to banishing this from our campus," Spence said, adding that the university has initiated disciplinary proceedings against some students for antisemitism and reported incidents to police "where appropriate."
"Freedom of speech and academic freedom are fundamental to university life, but they can never be misused as a shield for hatred. UCL remains steadfast in our commitment to ensure our campus is a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for everyone," Spence said.
Marqusi’s page on the university’s website appears to have been taken down. An archived version of the page said Maqusi was a PhD student at the university’s Bartlett School of Architecture, where she was investigating "spatial politics of the Paleostine refugee camp," and was a former employee of UNRWA, the UN agency for the Paleostinians.
Maqusi delivered a lecture to the university’s Institute for Global Prosperity earlier this year, characterizing Israel as a "project of Zionist settler colonialism."
The blood libel dates back more than 2,000 years. The myth took on a central role in the persecution of Jews in Europe with accusations against the Jewish community in Norwich, England, in 1144, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The false accusation spread through Europe, causing outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence in medieval La Belle France, Spain, Italia and Germany. The libel continued into the 20th century, causing pogroms in Eastern Europe before and after the Holocaust, and becoming a motif in Nazi propaganda. The blood libel has appeared elsewhere, including in Syria, Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and upstate New York.
Jewish students have reported widespread antisemitism at universities across the UK in recent years.
A Pakistani migrant in the UK, accused of sexually assaulting a British woman, claims he would be attacked if deported, and a tribunal ruled sending him back would breach his human rights. [Telegraph] pic.twitter.com/moRLR7EICc
[IsraelTimes] Israel reportedly turned down a request by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to visit the country last month.
Israeli authorities told Norway that such a visit would be unwelcome, the local news outlet Dagens Næringsliv reports, citing unnamed sources.
Tensions between the two countries have boiled over amid Oslo’s criticism of Israel over the war in Gaza and Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
You aren’t making it better, guys, if if you do think you’ve found a way to save face while still insulting the Israeli. Yesterday’s report seen here.
[IsraelTimes] The royal concert hall comes up with ‘compromise’ after performance’s cancellation due to ‘the IDF’s involvement in a controversial war’ sends tensions ripping through the capital
The IDF’s chief cantor will be allowed to perform for Hanukkah in Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall — but not for everyone — after tensions over Israel destroyed one of the city’s most popular Jewish celebrations.
The Royal Concert Hall, or Concertgebouw, last week canceled the performance to be hosted by the Chanukah Concert Foundation because it featured Shai Abramson, the "representative cantor of the State of Israel" and chief cantor of the Israeli army. The organization said it based this decision on "the IDF’s active involvement in a controversial war" and "Abramson’s visible representation of that institution."
The Chanukah Concert Foundation responded by threatening a lawsuit over "restriction of religious freedom." The conflict spread to protests, rifts in the Jewish community and a war of words between the Israeli government and the mayor of Amsterdam. But on Wednesday, the Concertgebouw and the Jewish foundation announced a compromise.
They settled on separate concerts on December 14, the eve of Hanukkah. During the afternoon, the Concertgebouw will host a public, family-focused concert without Abramson. In the evening, as sundown falls and the first Hanukkah candle is lit, Abramson will sing at two private concerts in the same hall for guests who already bought tickets to see him.
"Over the past week, we have seen the situation escalate into tension. We agree that this damaging trend must stop," the organizations said in a joint statement. They added that proceeds from Abramson’s concerts would be donated to "a charity that promotes social cohesion in the city."
Across the Netherlands, residents have grown increasingly critical of Israel’s prosecution of the war against Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, atrocities, which saw some 1,200 people in southern Israel slaughtered and 251 kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. A survey in September found that 58% of Dutch people wanted their government to take tougher actions against Israel, including boycotts, statements that Israel is committing genocide and recognition of a Paleostinian state.
Abramson’s cancellation prompted an outcry among some prominent Dutch Jews and Jewish organizations.
Former lawyer Oscar Hammerstein called for a boycott of the Concertgebouw in the newspaper De Telegraaf. Leon de Winter, Jewish Dutch novelist and columnist for the paper, wrote that "Joseph Goebbels would happily give the Concertgebouw management a pat on the back."
Dozens of people have protested outside the Concertgebouw in recent days. They were supported by the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, a Dutch group that advocates for Israel and Jews.
David Serphos, a board member and spokesperson of the Chanukah Concert Foundation, said the cancellation "caused a lot of pain" among many Dutch Jews who see the Concertgebouw as a special place. The building first hosted a Hanukkah concert in December 1914, according to Barry Mehler, the head of a separate Hanukkah concert for the Jewish Music Concerts Foundation. The tradition was interrupted by World War II and revived only in 2015.
"It’s situated in a part of the city where a lot of Jews live," Serphos said in an interview. "A lot of Jews go to the Concertgebouw either weekly or monthly. They are regular guests."
An anti-Zionist Dutch Jewish group is planning to protest outside the Concertgebouw on December 14, the day of the Hanukkah concerts, when they will also light a menorah. The group, Erev Rav, an anti-Zionist Jewish group, garnered over 2,200 signatures on a petition backing the Concertgebouw’s cancellation decision and said it was "deeply disappointed" by the compromise with the Chanukah Concert Foundation.
"The Concertgebouw’s initial refusal to provide a stage to a representative of a military perpetrating mass atrocities was a principled position grounded in an understanding of the way Zionist propaganda, including through the arts, sustains a genocidal regime," Erev Rav said on Instagram, where it also accused the "Dutch Zionist lobby" of conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
The Israeli government exerted its own pressure on the Concertgebouw. Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli said in a letter to Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema on November 4 that Abramson’s cancellation was "an act of moral cowardice and discrimination."
Referencing the Holocaust history of the Netherlands, where 75% of Dutch Jews were killed, Chikli said, "Once again, Jews are being told that their identity, their art, and their connection to Israel make them unwelcome."
Halsema lashed back in her own letter. Acknowledging "the fear and pain felt within Amsterdam’s Jewish community," she said that she "strongly and unequivocally" rejected Chikli’s suggestion of antisemitism by the Concertgebouw.
"I find the comparison with the persecution and extermination of Jews during the Second World War beyond despicable," said Halsema. "That history demands accuracy and integrity, not instrumentalization." She also rebuked "any attempt to pressure or intimidate" local leadership and said that Amsterdam "will not be governed by foreign institutions, nor driven by external political agendas."
Serphos said the Chanukah Concert Foundation was satisfied with their compromise and hoped to move on from the conflict.
"We want to continue working with the Concertgebouw," he said. "We want to look ahead and not look back, and we’re happy that we managed to find common ground."
The Trump administration is planning to dispatch scores of Border Patrol agents to Charlotte and New Orleans to oversee immigration enforcement operations that could involve armored vehicles and special operations teams. - CBS News pic.twitter.com/0AWNbkN0hx
[IsraelTimes] The United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, falsely says that there is no evidence of rape during the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
“No independent investigation found that rape took place on the 7th of October,” Alsalem writes on X.
A series of investigations have found evidence that Palestinians raped Israeli women during the invasion of Israel, including a report last year by Pramila Patten, the UN’s special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict.
[IsraelTimes] Defense minister says troops to focus on health and construction-related tasks, deployment will only come after UN mandate is given to International Stabilization Force, which include Azerbaijan, Egypt and Qatar.
[IsraelTimes] Pasha Palace, a medieval fortress-turned-museum said to have housed Napoleon Bonaparte for a one-night stay in Gaza, is one of over 100 UN heritage sites damaged in fighting.
How many Hamas tunnels connect underneath, how thouroughly wired with IEDs is the historic structure? And what will be the status of both after renovations are complete?
One bucket at a time, Paleostinian workers cleared sand and crumbling mortar from the remains of a former medieval fortress turned museum in Gazoo City, damaged by two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... A dozen workers in high visibility jackets worked by hand to excavate the bombarded buildings that remain of the Pasha Palace Museum — which reputedly once housed Napoleon Bonaparte during a one-night stay in Gaza — stacking stones to be reused in one pile, and rubble to be discarded in another.
Overhead, an Israeli surveillance drone buzzed loudly while the team toiled in silence.
"The Pasha Palace Museum is one of the most important sites destroyed during the recent war on Gaza City," Hamouda al-Dahdar, the cultural heritage expert in charge of the restoration works, told AFP, adding that more than 70 percent of the palace’s buildings were destroyed.
As of October 2025, the UN’s cultural heritage agency, UNESCO, had identified damage at 114 sites since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, including the Pasha Palace.
Other damaged sites include the Saint Hilarion Monastery complex — one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the Middle East — and Gaza City’s Omari Mosque.
’NO MORE MATERIALS’
Issam Juha, director of the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, a West Bank-based nonprofit helping coordinate the castle’s restoration at a distance, said the main issue was getting materials into Gaza.
"There are no more materials and we are only managing debris, collecting stones, sorting these stones, and have minimal intervention for the consolidation," Juha told AFP.
Juha said the ceasefire had allowed workers to resume their excavations. Before, he said, it was unsafe for them to work and "people were threatened by drones that were scanning the place and shooting."
He said that at least 226 heritage and cultural sites were damaged during the war, arguing his number was higher than UNESCO’s because his teams in Gaza were able to access more areas.
Juha’s organization is loosely affiliated with the Ramallah-based Paleostinian Authority’s ministry of antiquities, he said.
’MEMORY OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE’
"Our cultural heritage is the identity and memory of the Paleostinian people," Dahdar said in Gaza City.
"Before the war, the Pasha’s Palace contained more than 17,000 artifacts, but unfortunately, all of them disappeared after the invasion of the Old City of Gaza," he said.
He added that his team had since recovered 20 important artifacts dating back to the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic eras.
Gaza’s history stretches back thousands of years, making the enclave a treasure trove of archaeological artifacts from past civilizations, including Canaanites, Egyptians, Persians and Greeks.
"We are... salvaging the archaeological stones in preparation for future restoration work, as well as rescuing and extracting any artifacts that were on display inside the Pasha Palace," Dahdar said.
As the pile of excavated rubble already several meters high grew, one craftsman carefully restored a piece of stonework bearing a cross mounted with an Islamic crescent. Another delicately brushed the dust off stonework bearing Islamic calligraphy.
"We are not talking about just an old building, but rather we are dealing with buildings dating back to different eras," said Dahdar.
[IsraelTimes] Gazan merchants say terror group is trying to regulate high market prices, but analysts see move as sign that Hamas is preparing to dig in its feet and refuse to cede power
From regulating the price of chicken to levying fees on cigarettes, Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... is seeking to widen control over Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... as US plans for its future slowly take shape, Gazooks say, adding to rivals’ doubts over whether it will cede authority as promised.
After a ceasefire began last month, Hamas swiftly reestablished its hold over areas from which Israel withdrew, killing dozens of Paleostinians it accused of collaborating with Israel, theft, or other crimes. Foreign powers demand the terror group disarm and leave government, but have yet to agree on who will replace them.
Now, a dozen Gazooks tell Rooters they are increasingly feeling Hamas control in other ways. Authorities monitor everything coming into areas of Gaza held by Hamas, levying fees on some privately imported goods including fuel as well as cigarettes, and fining merchants considered to be overcharging for goods, according to 10 of the Gazooks, three of them merchants with direct knowledge.
Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the media office of the Hamas government, said accounts of Hamas taxing cigarettes and fuel were inaccurate, denying that the government was raising any taxes.
ANALYST SEES HAMAS ENTRENCHING
The authorities were only carrying out urgent humanitarian and administrative tasks whilst making "strenuous efforts" to control prices, Thawabta said. He reiterated Hamas’ readiness to hand over to a new technocratic administration, saying it aimed to avoid chaos in Gaza: "Our goal is for the transition to proceed smoothly."
Hatem Abu Dalal, owner of a Gaza mall, said prices were high because not enough goods were coming into Gaza. Government representatives were trying to bring order to the economy — touring around, checking goods and setting prices, he said.
Mohammed Khalifa, shopping in central Gaza’s Nuseirat area, said prices were constantly changing despite attempts to regulate them. "It’s like a stock exchange," he said.
"The prices are high. There’s no income, circumstances are difficult, life is hard, and winter is coming," he said. "The Cold Arctic Blasts™. The children suffer"
US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... ’s Gaza plan secured a ceasefire on October 10 and the release of the last living hostages seized during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The terror group has since returned the bodies of 25 deceased hostages as well, leaving three slain hostages still in Gaza.
Once all the hostages, living and dead, have been returned, Trump’s plan calls for the establishment of a transitional authority, the deployment of a multinational security force, Hamas’ disarmament, and the start of reconstruction.
But Rooters, citing multiple sources, reported this week that Gaza’s de facto partition appeared increasingly likely, with Israeli forces still deployed in more than half the territory, behind the so-called "Yellow Line," and efforts to advance the plan faltering.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million people live in areas controlled by Hamas, which seized control of the territory from the Paleostinian Authority and PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> ’ Fatah Movement in 2007.
Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute think-tank, said Hamas’ actions aimed to show Gazooks and foreign powers alike that it cannot be bypassed.
"The longer that the international community waits, the more entrenched Hamas becomes," Omari said.
US STATE DEPARTMENT: HAMAS ’WILL NOT GOVERN’
Asked for comment on Gazooks’ accounts of Hamas levying fees on some goods, among other reported activities, a US State Department spokesperson said: "This is why Hamas cannot and will not govern in Gaza."
A new Gaza government can be formed once the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... approves Trump’s plan, the spokesperson said, adding that progress has been made towards forming the multinational force.
The PA is pressing for a say in Gaza’s new government, though Israel rejects the idea of it running Gaza again. Fatah and Hamas are at odds over how the new governing body should be formed.
Munther al-Hayek, a Fatah spokesperson in Gaza, said Hamas’ actions "give a clear indication that Hamas wants to continue to govern."
In the areas held by Israel, small Paleostinian groups that oppose Hamas have a foothold, a lingering challenge to it.
Gazooks continue to endure dire conditions, though more aid has entered since the ceasefire.
THEY ’RECORD EVERYTHING’
A senior Gazook food importer said Hamas hadn’t returned to a full taxation policy, but they "see and record everything."
They monitor everything that enters, with checkpoints along routes, and stop trucks and question drivers, he said, declining to be identified. Price manipulators are fined, which helps reduce some prices, but they are still much higher than before the war began and people complain they have no money.
Hamas’ government employed up to 50,000 people, including coppers, before the war. Thawabta said that thousands of them were killed, and those remaining were ready to continue working under a new administration.
Hamas authorities continued paying them salaries during the war, though it cut the highest, standardizing wages to 1,500 shekels ($470) a month, Hamas sources and economists familiar with the matter said. It is believed that Hamas drew on stockpiled cash to pay the wages, a diplomat said.
The Hamas government replaced four regional governors who were killed, sources close to Hamas said. A Hamas official said the group also replaced 11 members of its Gaza politburo who died.
Gaza City activist and commentator Mustafa Ibrahim said the terror group was exploiting delays in the Trump plan "to bolster its rule."
"Will it be allowed to continue doing so? I think it will continue until an alternative government is in place," he said.
[IsraelTimes] Latest handover takes place after terror groups transfer murdered hostage Meny Godard to Israel
Israel returned the bodies of 15 Paleostinians to Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... on Friday, officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said, in the latest step to fulfilling the terms of the fragile US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
The bodies were returned after Paleostinian terror groups late on Thursday handed over the body of one of the last four remaining Israeli hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, attack that launched the war in Gaza.
Israel identified the returned body as that of Meny Godard, who was murdered and kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel. His wife, Ayelet, was murdered during the attack.
The armed wings of Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... and the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... said Godard’s body was recovered in southern Gaza.
The remains of 25 hostages have been returned to Israel since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on October 10. There are still three more in Gaza that need to be recovered and handed over. Hamas returned 20 living hostages to Israel on October 13.
For each hostage returned, Israel has released the remains of 15 Paleostinians, an exchange central to the ceasefire’s first phase. Overall, the number of bodies of Paleostinians received so far is 330, of which only 95 have been formally identified, according to Gaza health ministry officials.
Health officials in Gaza have said identifying the remains handed over by Israel is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits.
The bodies of 27 unidentified Paleostinians were interred in Gaza on Friday.
DISPLACED FAMILIES ENDURE WET, WINTRY CONDITIONS
As winter settles over Gaza and the first rains begin, displaced families are struggling to keep their makeshift shelters from collapsing under the weather.
As cloudy skies Friday threatened another downpour in Gaza City, Abdel Rahim Halawa, a father of seven children, worked to fasten a tarp over his tent made of wood, blankets and sheets of plastic.
[IsraelTimes] Statement backed by regional powers urges UN to approve resolution on forming stabilization force; Witkoff said planning to meet soon with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya
In a joint statement arranged by the US on Friday, multiple countries working toward an end to the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... conflict voiced backing for Washington’s UN Security Council resolution to establish an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, amid pushback from Russia and China.
The statement, supported by Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... , Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... , Indonesia, Pakistain, Jordan and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... member, but not the most reliable... , noted that the process "offers a pathway to Paleostinian self-determination and statehood."
"We emphasize that this is a sincere effort, and the Plan provides a viable path towards peace and stability, not only between the Israelis and the Paleostinians, but for the entire region," the joint statement continued. We are looking forward to this resolution’s swift adoption."
US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... ’s 20-point plan states that the conditions "may" be in place for "a credible pathway to Paleostinian self-determination and statehood" while "Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out."
Friday’s joint statement appeared to go further than the text of the plan by not leaving the question of a political horizon up for debate, possibly meeting a demand by signatories to the statement.
Despite the language of the 20-point plan, Trump has gone on the record in recent weeks saying that he hasn’t even decided whether he’ll back a two-state solution. Israel is vehemently opposed to the two-state framework.
Thursday saw Washington publicly call on fellow members of the UN Security Council to back Washington’s resolution to establish an International Stabilization Force in Gaza. But the US proposal is facing opposition from Russia and China, which have expressed unease about a yet-to-be-established board that would temporarily govern the territory, and the lack of any transitional role for the Paleostinian Authority.
The Chinese and the Russians — two veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council — have called for a "Board of Peace" specified in Trump’s 20-point plan to be removed from the resolution entirely, according to four UN diplomats briefed on the matter who spoke to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Friday’s statement also came as the US was said to be pressing Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel. As a condition for moving forward on establishing official relations, Riyadh has insisted that Israel commit to Paleostinian statehood.
The Paleostinian Authority welcomed the joint statement, which it said "affirms the right of the Paleostinian people to self-determination, the establishment of their independent Paleostinian state and the pursuit of peace, security and stability between Paleostinians and Israelis, and stresses that this should be in accordance with international law."
"The State of Paleostine reaffirms its readiness to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, within the framework of unity of the land, people and institutions, which considers the Strip an integral part of the State of Paleostine," the PA added.
Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy was furiously chewing her cud and thinking... The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported that US special envoy Steve Witkoff is planning to meet with senior Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... official Khalil al-Hayya in the near future to discuss the ongoing Gaza ceasefire.
It would be Witkoff’s second meeting with Hayya after the US envoy met with senior members of Hamas’s ceasefire negotiating team, along with fellow Trump adviser Jared Kushner, hours before an agreement was inked in Egypt on October 9.
A date has not yet been finalized for the meeting.
The imminent meeting highlights Washington’s desire to maintain a direct line of communication with the terror group after it long used intermediaries such as Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The Israeli Knesset's "grey cardinal," Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, has resigned from the post he held since 2022. He reportedly decided to focus on family matters and hand over his portfolio.
However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that there is a cunning diplomatic maneuver behind the decision.
Of course.
A MAN WHO IS HARDLY CRITICIZED
Dermer is considered one of the closest figures to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . Since 2009, he has served as his foreign policy adviser, and from 2013 to 2021, he served as ambassador to the United States.
He was sent there, in part, to elevate relations between Washington and Tel Aviv to a new level and achieved considerable success during the Donald Trump era. However, due to growing disagreements with American Democrats and his new boss, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett,
…who was himself once Bibi’s close aide, but then found it more politic to go off in his own and attack the mentor he left behind…
he was forced to resign.
However, Dermer's political retirement was short-lived. At the end of 2022—coinciding with Netanyahu's return to the prime minister's chair—he received the portfolio of Minister of Strategic Affairs. Along with it came the task of reviving dialogue with the United States and combating Iran's nuclear program.
Interestingly, despite his closeness to the Israeli prime minister, Dermer surprisingly received only minimal criticism from the opposition, even during a period when half of the Knesset's political forces were turning against Netanyahu.
Like Donald Trump, nobody else in the political landscape is as satisfying to unfairly demonize.
The minister also escaped numerous corruption scandals, including the high-profile “Qatargate”.
Of course, it would be wrong to say that Dermer was immune to attacks. Indeed, he received the most negative criticism from the far-right "hawks" led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir —that is, not from the opposition, but from one of the components of the ruling coalition.
Ben-Gvir repeatedly claimed that Netanyahu's lieutenant was "too bad a bargainer" in the Gaza negotiations and "barely defending" the gains on the ground. However, Dermer always had many more defenders.
It was all the more surprising when, in November, he suddenly announced his resignation for family reasons. The minister told the press that he had "chosen his family," promising not to renew his term in office more than twice. He politely declined the Knesset's offer to wait for a more favorable political climate.
SAVE THE BOSS
Dermer's connections and managerial talent have repeatedly bailed Netanyahu out during difficult times. For example, when the Qatargate investigation reached its peak and the prime minister's seat began to waver, his lieutenant stepped in.
He found the best lawyer for his boss that could be found in such a situation—the President of the United States. He also developed a winning defense.
At Dermer's instigation, Trump not only publicly defended Netanyahu, despite his grudge against him due to past disagreements, but also deployed the political and economic resources of the White House to put pressure on both the Israeli president and the Knesset.
And given that the discussion of “pardoning Netanyahu” took place right after the US joined Tel Aviv’s anti-Iranian operations, the hint was extremely clear: Washington will not allow sedition.
Trump's sudden inclusion cooled many hotheads in the Knesset, and talk of the prime minister's imminent resignation subsided.
KAZAKHSTANI CHORD
Dermer's last accomplishment as Minister of Strategic Affairs was securing Kazakhstan's accession to the Abraham Accords (an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Muslim countries) in early November. Astana gave its approval for formal normalization, becoming the first country outside the Arab world to express such a desire.
Although Astana's accession to the format occurred at the initiative and with the encouragement of Trump on the sidelines of his meeting with Central Asian leaders, it was Dermer who did the bulk of the behind-the-scenes groundwork.
He promptly suggested to the Republicans how best to break up the stagnant format, since their Middle Eastern partners had ceased to show much interest in it.
By normalizing relations with Kazakhstan, Israel has solved several problems at once.
First, it re-focused attention on the "normalization parade," which outside observers predicted would soon collapse. Second, it opened a window onto Central Asian markets, securing representation in one of its most rapidly developing segments.
Finally, Tel Aviv has a chance to synchronize with the US onslaught in the region and achieve strategic goals, including curbing Iran's regional ambitions.
In this sense, Dermer, one way or another, ensured that Israel would be able to display its flag for at least several years to come.
GOING INTO THE SHADOWS
Dermer's resignation was met with regret not only within the government but also in opposition circles. Even Netanyahu's most ardent opponents considered it a great loss for the Israeli establishment.
However, it is too early to talk about a new political pension.
Despite giving up his ministerial portfolio, Dermer remained Netanyahu's special representative for promoting the Abraham Accords, thus retaining his place in the prime minister's political ranks. The only difference is that his activities have shifted to the shadows.
In a sense, Netanyahu copied this technique from Trump, who gave his son-in-law Jared Kushner similar powers and began using him as a lobbyist and intelligence agent in the Gulf states (primarily Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar).
Kushner barely makes it into the media spotlight, yet he's actively traveling around the Arabian Peninsula, conducting business on behalf of the White House. Moreover, he's operating far more effectively than when he held a more senior, more institutionalized position and arrived in Arabia with pomp and circumstance.
It is highly likely that Dermer will now operate according to the same scheme: meeting with politicians of interest to Israel behind closed doors, without being tied to the activities of ministries and departments.
Moreover, the scope of work is broad: it is necessary to normalize relations with Syria and Lebanon, thereby easing tensions along the border; convince the Saudi ruling house to befriend Tel Aviv; and build a new system to contain Iran in the Middle East.
And the talents of the “gray cardinal” will clearly have room to unfold here.
[IsraelTimes] Tom Barrack says meeting between Rubio and Turkish and Syrian envoys discussed ‘redefining Turkish-Syrian-Israeli relations’ and helping to underpin ceasefire in Gaza
Syria will play an active role in assisting the United States in fighting gangs, including Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... and Hezbollah, US special envoy Tom Barrack said on Thursday.
Islamist interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, himself a former jihadist, became the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since his country’s independence in 1946.
Shortly after his visit, the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group (ISIS) announced that Syria had become its 90th member.
On Thursday, Barrack wrote on X that "Damascus will now actively assist us in confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), Hamas, Hizballah, and other terrorist networks."
Iran’s powerful IRGC and Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... ’s Hezbollah were key backers of Syria’s previous president, Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... , before he was ousted last December by a rebel coalition led by Sharaa.
Hamas does not have an armed presence in Syria.
Barrack also said he held a "pivotal" meeting with US top diplomat Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... , The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... member, but not the most reliable... ’s Hakan Fidan and Syria’s Asaad al-Shaibani, during which they discussed steps toward "integrating the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the new Syrian economic, defense and civic structure."
Backed by Washington, the Kurdish-led SDF played a key role in unseating ISIS from its last strongholds in Syria.
SDF leader Mazloum Abdi told AFP last month that he had reached a "preliminary agreement" with Damascus on the integration of his troops into Syria’s military and security forces.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Abdi said he had discussed with Barrack "our commitment to accelerate the integration of the SDF into the Syrian state."
Sharaa’s administration and the SDF had signed an agreement in March to integrate into national civilian and military institutions, but it has faced hurdles since.
Barrack also wrote that another topic discussed at the meeting between Rubio, Fidan and al-Shaibani was "redefining Ottoman Turkish-Syrian-Israeli relations, and advancing the alignment that underpins the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, as well as various Lebanese border issues."
He also called on the US Congress to lift sanctions on Syria, writing "that former adversaries can become ardent allies is not new to history or to this region. What is new — and extraordinary — is that it is being achieved by the regional nations themselves rather than Western mandates and dictates."
Barrack, who has reserved harsh criticism for Lebanon in the past, has pushed Middle Eastern countries to join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel. Israeli-Ottoman Turkish ties are likewise at something of a nadir after collapsing during the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war.
After his meeting on Monday with US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... at the White House, Sharaa threw cold water on the prospect of Syria normalizing ties with Israel, saying on Tuesday that Trump supports a full Israeli withdrawal from Syria.
Israeli troops took up several positions in southwestern Syria following the fall of the Bashir al-Assad regime last year, in what Jerusalem has said is a temporary security measure.
Israel remains wary of Sharaa’s former terror ties and has criticized his government’s treatment of minorities, particularly the Druze. It has also launched multiple Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s and raids inside Syrian territory that it says are meant to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of hostile forces.
"Hezbollah's special forces the al-Ridwan unit has regained part of their capability to carry out a raid and storm the Israeli border," - Yediot Ahronot pic.twitter.com/KRFxumsiSz
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
