[IsraelTimes] The administration of US President Donald Trump is stepping up work to uncover what it sees as malign foreign influence at US colleges and universities, officials say, as they announce that the US State Department will assist the Department of Education in that effort.
Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to universities over issues such as anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests against the war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, raising free speech and academic freedom concerns.
Trump, in April 2025, issued an executive order calling for enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires that colleges receiving federal funding report gifts or contracts worth more than $250,000 from any foreign source. In December, the Department of Education launched a new portal for universities to report that funding.
US colleges and universities disclosed 8,300 transactions totaling $5.2 billion in 2025 — which includes funding from governments as well as private companies and individuals, the Education Department said in a statement.
The largest source of funding last year was Qatar ($1.1 billion), followed by Britain ($633 million) and China ($528 million), it said.
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers says the State Department’s new role would “ensure an invigorated compliance assurance effort by the federal government.”
“The Department of State will be applying our national security expertise and our expertise countering foreign malign influence to bolster oversight efforts by the Department of Education,” Rogers told reporters in a briefing at the State Department.
Officials declined to spell out specific examples of how foreign funding had unduly influenced higher education institutions, and said they were primarily seeking to boost compliance by the universities and improve transparency.
[KhaamaPress] The United States has introduced a new directive empowering immigration authorities to detain migrants colonists who have not secured permanent residency status.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has directed immigration officers to detain migrants colonists who fail to obtain green cards within one year.
According to a report by The Washington Post, the directive was issued in a formal memo to Customs and Immigration forces, outlining new enforcement measures.
Under the order, migrants colonists who have not completed the legal process for permanent residency within a year could be taken into custody while their immigration cases are re-examined.
Reports indicate that those affected may be held for an unspecified period until a final review of their legal status is completed.
Authorities have not disclosed how many migrants colonists fall under the new rule, but the measure could affect thousands, including some Afghan nationals awaiting residency decisions.
Immigration experts say prolonged detention may raise legal and humanitarian concerns, particularly for individuals whose cases remain pending without a final determination.
Following the 2021 fall of Afghanistan’s former government, tens of thousands of Afghans were relocated to the United States under special programs, many still navigating complex immigration procedures.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expects to spend an estimated $38.3bn on a plan to acquire warehouses across the country and retrofit them into new immigration detention centers with capacity for tens of thousands of detainees, according to documents the agency sent to the governor of New Hampshire.
According to an overview of the plans, which were first reported by the Washington Post, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would buy and convert 16 buildings across the US into regional processing centers, each holding between 1,000 and 1,500 people at a time. Another eight large-scale detention centers would hold 7,000 to 10,000 people at a time and serve as “the primary locations” for deportations. Detainees would spend an average of three to seven days at the processing sites before being transported to the larger facilities, where they would be held about 60 days before being deported.
⭕️ New Armed Group Independence Front Announces Formation in Kabul
A new armed formation calling itself the Independence Front has publicly declared its existence in Kabul, marking another development in Afghanistan’s evolving security landscape.
⭕️ New Armed Group Independence Front Announces Formation in Kabul
A new armed formation calling itself the Independence Front has publicly declared its existence in Kabul, marking another development in Afghanistan’s evolving security landscape.
Noted. Let us look forward to discovering more about them than just their name,
According to a video message circulating online, the group claims to have established its presence in the capital and outlined its stated objectives.
قوات الدعم السريع تستلم العشرات من سيارات الدفع الرباعي"لاندكروزر"معززة بالسلاح والذخائر من خليفة #حفتر وتنشرها في معسكر"البويب" كما يظهر في الفيديو، والذي يتمركز فيها مقاتلو الدعم السريع،والذي يبعد حوالي 70 كم عن مدينة #الكُفرة، كمرحلة أولى تمهيدا لإدخالها إلى #السودان#ليبياpic.twitter.com/aYljNDpF13
Rapid Support Forces receive dozens of armed and ammunition-reinforced "Land Cruiser" four-wheel-drive vehicles from Khalifa #Haftar's successor and deploy them in the "Al-Buayb" camp, as shown in the video, where Rapid Support fighters are stationed, located about 70 km from the city of #Kufra, as a first phase in preparation for introducing them into #Sudan
[Breitbart] British Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer has been accused of overseeing a system which reportedly allowed suspected grooming gang child rapists to walk free with a warning during his time as the country’s top prosecutor.
Not just that he did so, but it was systemized, ie. intentional.
According to an investigation from the Express newspaper, at least 13,000 “Child Abduction Warning Notices” were sent out by police between 2008 and 2025 in a supposed effort to “disrupt” child rape grooming gangs. However, it is possible that the true figure is much higher, given inconsistent record-keeping by police forces.
The warning letter system, the paper noted, was started in the wake of revelations concerning the predominantly Pakistani Muslim child rape gang scandals in Rotherham and Rochdale.
The investigation noted that the first instance of the term “Child Abduction Warning Notices” as a part of a national strategy to confront sexual abuse was in a 2011 report written by Sir Keir Starmer when he was serving at the helm of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
In one notable example, some 220 warning letters were reportedly handed out to suspected members of a Newcastle grooming gang as a part of Northumbria Police’s Operation Sanctuary.
Despite police forces using such warning letters for nearly two decades, there has never been any comprehensive study into their effectiveness in deterring child sex offenders or the likelihood of their issuance leading to prosecutions.
Former Manchester detective turned grooming gang whistleblower Maggie Oliver told the Express that she had witnessed police colleagues using the warning letters as a means of making investigations “go away”.
“I worked on a case where we had identified 97 child abusers that investigation should have led to serious charges of child rape on a pretty industrial scale,” she said. “I expected multiple charges of rape against possibly dozens of men. But [instead they] warned a couple of men under the child abduction warning notices. My opinion is they were used to get rid of a job.”
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said the report demonstrated that Prime Minister Starmer’s position is “completely untenable”, adding: “Instead of fighting for the full force of the law against vile grooming gang predators, Keir Starmer presided over a system that sent out weak and useless ‘warning letters’ to paedophiles.”
Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy added that “serious questions must be answered about the policies pursued by the Crown Prosecution Service during Keir Starmer’s tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions, and whether those policies contributed to this catastrophic failure.”
Questions have long been raised over Starmer’s potential role in the effective cover-up of grooming gangs during his tenure as the nation’s top prosecutor, with critics frequently citing the initial decision in 2009 not to prosecute a Rochdale grooming gang over the supposed unreliability of a victim. This decision was later reversed by Nazir Afzal, chief prosecutor for northwest England, an appointee of Starmer, who determined the victim to be credible.
Beyond Starmer, many in his left-wing Labour Party are believed to have been directly implicated in the failures to confront Islamic grooming gangs, with local officials in predominantly Labour-controlled areas of the country having been frequently found to have ignored child sex abuse for fear of appearing racist or stoking local ethnic tensions. Victims were often branded by local officials as “prostitutes” despite being under the age of consent.
Although Starmer initially opposed a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal, accusing those in favour of a public investigation of jumping on the “bandwagon of the far-right“ and even whipping his own backbenchers last year against voting for an inquiry, public pressure eventually forced the PM to backtrack and allow an inquiry to go ahead.
However, the controversy surrounding the issue has only continued, with prominent grooming victims accusing the government of a further cover up last month by scrapping the inquiry’s survivors advisory panel.
#4
The same people who deplored colonization of Africa and Asia then demanding decoloniztion, have no problem supporting colonization of the UK and Europe.
She's in the pay of the cartels? Of all countries, the Mexican president? How unexpected.
Anyone who defends the human traffickers is either compromised or implicated. No exceptions.
BREAKING - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says using force against cartels violates their civil rights, and any talk of engaging in "war" with the cartels is a right-wing talking point fueled by "fascism." pic.twitter.com/MpxBpA4jAA
The suspects include the brother of Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes — the brutal Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) leader who was killed by the Mexican army on Sunday.
The Justice Department said many of the 92 defendants released to the Americans had US extradition requests that were not honored during the Biden administration.
"As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs," Attorney General Pam Bondi said of the first round of transfers which kicked off last February.
"We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent mostly peaceful cartels."
The Mexican government elected to round up the dozens of wanted criminals after the Trump administration made clear it was taking these matters more seriously, the DOJ said.
"This is another landmark achievement in the Trump Administration’s mission to destroy the cartels," Bondi said of the latest round of handovers announced last month.
The alleged cartel members, "including gunnies from the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG, and others — will now pay for their crimes against the American people on American soil," she added.
Among the first tranche of narco-criminals flown into the US by Mexican military aircraft last February was Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, nicknamed Tony Montana after "Scarface."
He allegedly helped lead CJNG alongside "El Mencho," and he’s charged with cocaine and meth trafficking.
In January, the US took custody of Sinaloa cartel bigwig Pedro Inzunza Noriega, who along with his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, led one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world.
Together they were responsible for trafficking tens of thousands of kilograms of the deadly narcotic into the US.
In total the Mexican military has transported 92 dangerous runaways to the US in three batches starting last February. They are wanted for crimes ranging from human- and drug-trafficking to money laundering, racketeering and murder.
The cases will be prosecuted in 13 states and the District of Columbia.
Those convicted will serve out their sentences in the US before being deported to their country of origin, according to the Justice Department — though many of them are facing life sentences for their crimes.
August’s roundup included Kevin Gil Acosta and Martin Zazueta Perez, leaders of the security apparatus for the Chapitos, a powerful faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that engages in prolific fentanyl trafficking.
Both men have led sicarios armed with military-style weapons like M-16s, AK-47s, AR-15s and grenade launchers in attacks against the Mexican government and military.
The US Marshals Service, which usually handles retrieval of cross-border crime suspects, praised Trump and Bondi for their efforts in getting Mexico to turn over the runaways.
At least 73 people were killed in the operation to take down El Mencho and the subsequent attack from the cartels, including 25 Mexican National Guard troops.
The agency’s director, Brigadier Gen. Maurizio Calabrese, said the task force used its military experience fighting terrorist groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State to study and map out the cartel’s network.
The agency ultimately compiled a detailed target package on El Mencho, who was located in the rural town of Tapalpa.
A shelter in place was issued for Puerto Vallarta, a resort town west of Tapalpa, with cartel violence running amok in the state.
At least 25 members of the National Guard were killed in Jalisco during the rampage, along with a prison guard and an agent with the state prosecutor’s office, Mexico Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said.
“All operations, from their planning onwards, are the responsibility of the Mexican federal forces,” Sheinbaum clarified.
The president is taking a different approach to her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who had been accused of protecting members of the Sinaloa cartel, another narco-trafficking operation, for years, even though they represent the same Morena political party. According to a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) report, Obrador received millions of dollars from Sinaloa leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman for his unsuccessful 2006 campaign for president.
“[Obrador] was protecting the Sinaloa cartel because he was in on it,” claimed Almonte.
He added it was his presidential predecessor, Enrique Pena Neto, who had asked for the US to help capture and extradite notorious kingpin El Chapo, who was convicted of murder and drug trafficking in a Brooklyn federal court in 2019 and is currently serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado.
CJNG was originally an offshoot of the Sinaloa cartel, formed sometime between 2007 and 2009 by Oseguera — an ex-police officer – his brother, and others.
Sunday’s mission was directed by Omar Garcia Harfuch, Mexico’s Secretary of Security, who had narrowly survived his own assassination attempt by CJNG six years ago. He was attacked in Lomas de Chapultepec, one of the wealthiest “colonias” in capital Mexico City. Such areas are where both high-powered government, civil officials and narco bosses all live, generally considered to be off-limits due to a “pacto de narco” — an agreement not to attack. At the time of the ambush, which left him with three bullet wounds and two police officers dead, Harfuch, 44, vowed to crack down on narco terrorists.
Following El Mencho’s death, the CJNG cartel is likely to be led by one of El Mencho’s family members, according to Almonte.
The leadership could go to Juan Carlos “Numero 3” Valencia Gonzalez, his son-in-law. El Mencho’s older brother, Abraham Oseguera Cervantes, who co-founded the cartel, was captured by Mexican security forces last year.
Oseguera’s son, Ruben “El Menchito” Oseguera Gonzalez was extradited to the US to face drug trafficking charges in 2020.
Other cartel experts say that Oseguera’s wife, Rosalinda Gonzalez Valencia, might also be a possibility to take over. Gonzalez Valencia, know as “La Jefa” or The Boss, is in charge of the cartel’s finances, and was convicted of financial crimes in 2023, but granted early release in February 2025, according to Mexico’s Secretariat of the Interior.
Numbers for how many people are involved in these secretive gangs across Mexico are tough to estimate, but a study published in Science magazine in 2023 estimated between 160,000 to 185,000 across the country, making them “one of the country’s top employers.”
Crisis response group Grey Bull Rescue has launched operation "Condor Reach" to help Americans trapped in Mexico evacuate amid the Jalisco New Generation cartel’s violent unrest after the death of leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, otherwise known as "El Mencho," on Sunday.
The veteran-led nonprofit founder, Bryan Stern, a multiple-tour combat veteran, told Fox News Digital the operation is "war-zone level" and nuanced, with team members deployed on Monday.
Actively cooperating with the US and Trump against the drug terrorists is probably a quick path toward getting assassinated and the people you care murdered.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Russian authorities strongly urge the United States to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
That’s nice. Enjoy your posturing.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky made this statement on February 23at a meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter in Geneva. No doubt the pretentious name of the thing lasted longer than the meeting.
"We strongly urge Washington to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. We steadfastly advocate for respect for Venezuela's sovereignty and a peaceful resolution of all disputes," Lyubinsky said.
The diplomat emphasized that Russia unconditionally supports the legitimate authorities of Venezuela in their steps to protect the country's sovereignty and national interests.
[IsraelTimes] Joshua Levy, 18, who suffered minor injuries, says attacker accused Israel of ‘murdering children’ before punching him; police say antisemitism suspected
Ya think???
An 18-year-old Australian wearing a yarmulke and Israeli flag was allegedly assaulted at a Scouts camp on Saturday by a teen who accused Israel of “murdering children.”
Around 2 p.m. on Saturday, Joshua Levy was walking in the park at the event in Lardner, southeast of Melbourne, when a teenage boy approached him, according to Victoria Police and the Anti-Defamation Commission.
Levy told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the teenager asked him, “Why are you wearing that?” and accused Israel of “murdering children.”
Levy said he responded, “Because I support Israel.”
Later that night at a party at the event, the teenager allegedly approached Levy again and struck him three times in the face.
“I get a tap on my shoulder, and I feel knuckles on my face,” Levy said of the assault at the crowded event.
“I was really just terrified at that moment, and I ran out, and I was shaking. I ran out, and the first thing that came to mind was saying to a leader that I got punched for being Jewish,” he said.
Levy said he was checked by a doctor on site for his minor injuries and told that he could not leave the area due to apparent fears of further assault from the alleged perpetrator’s friends.
The incident left Levy “scared and sad that I’m not free to express my culture and religion freely,” the Australian Anti-Defamation Commission quoted him as saying. “I always heard about antisemitic attacks, but never thought it would happen to me.”
Levy and his father reported the incident at Caulfield Police Station on Sunday.
An Australian police spokesperson said that a 17-year-old had been interviewed and was expected to be summoned to appear before a children’s court.
Police believe it was a targeted attack, saying, “Victoria Police understand incidents of antisemitism can leave communities feeling targeted, threatened, and vulnerable. There is absolutely no place in our society for antisemitic, racist, or hate-based behavior, and such activity will not be tolerated.”
According to The Australian, Scouts Victoria said the organization was aware of an incident and said “one of the youth involved was sent home immediately.”
“The young person removed from camp is remorseful for his actions and has apologized in writing to everyone involved,”
…sorry he was caught and punished, apologized in the hope the punishment would stop, not because he was truly remorseful, I suspect…
executive manager Jon McGregor said. “The safety and well-being of all young people in our care is our highest priority. Scouts Victoria is an inclusive organization that does not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or violence.”
Anti-Defamation Commission Chair Dvir Abramovich condemned the assault, calling on police to pursue the case with the full weight of the law.
“This is not 1930s Germany. This is Australia in 2026,” Abramovich said in a statement. “Bondi was supposed to be a wake-up call. We have reached a point where too many people in this county believe that anyone who is associated with Israel, who wears a yarmulke, who stands openly as a Jew, is fair game for violence or worse.”
Saturday’s assault was the latest in a string of antisemitic attacks in Australia — the Jewish community has long complained that authorities have not taken sufficient action on the matter.
This time they did.
THE AUSTRALIAN SCOUT LAW Be Respectful
Be friendly and considerate
Care for others and the environment
Do What is Right
Be trustworthy, honest and fair
Use resources wisely
Believe in Myself
Learn from my experiences
Face challenges with courage
An 18-year-old has been bashed in an antisemitic attack while at a camp east of Melbourne. Police have laid charges, but the victim says he is willing to sit down with his attacker to explain why crimes like this need to stop. @KristyMayr7pic.twitter.com/tdObRaMPui
[KhaamaPress] Greece said it is working with Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Denmark to establish migrant "return centres" outside the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , likely in Africa.
Thanos Plevris, Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum said the facilities would host migrants colonists whose asylum claims have been rejected and whose countries of origin refuse to readmit them.
He said the five countries have already held meetings and technical teams are due to convene next week, adding: "We are no longer speaking theoretically, but moving into practical action."
Plevris did not specify potential host countries, saying Africa is not mandatory, and larger European states are holding direct talks with possible partners.
He described the centres as a deterrent for those with limited chances of receiving asylum and said a preliminary plan could be ready within months.
Greece has adopted a tougher migration stance in recent years, as it remains a key entry point into the EU for migrants colonists from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The European Union last week approved new migration policies allowing member states to reject applicants from "safe" countries or transfer them to third countries for asylum processing.
Greek authorities say irregular arrivals fell 21% in 2025 compared with the previous year, with around 13,000 fewer entries, and dropped 40% in the past five months.
Athens says it will now focus on increasing returns of rejected asylum seekers, as broader European efforts intensify to curb irregular migration.
A brilliant idea. Not to mention that the staff will throughly enjoy eating the evidence.
[TheHill] Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth jokingly said any surge in takeout deliveries to the Pentagon — a phenomenon that has accurately predicted the start of major geopolitical events — could be him ordering pizza “just to throw everybody off.”
Asked about the “Pentagon Pizza Report,” an account on the social platform X that tracks activity at local pizza joints near the U.S. military hub, Hegseth said he was aware of the account.
“I’ve thought of just ordering lots of pizza on random nights just to throw everybody off,” he said Sunday on Fox News. “Some Friday night when you see a bunch of Dominos orders, it might just be me on an app, throwing the whole system off so we keep everybody off balance. We look at every indicator.”
The Pentagon Pizza Report tracks “popular times” data on Google Maps for pizzerias near the Pentagon and other major military installations under the idea that sudden surges in evening or late-night activity suggest high-level officials are working later than usual — an indication of potential or current military action around the world.
Hours before news broke on Israel’s major attack on Iran on June 12, for example, Pentagon Pizza Report noted a surge in Google Maps activity from four pizza places near the Pentagon around 7 p.m. — a signal military leaders were staying in place to monitor unfolding events.
#3
I'll have pizza with gRAPE soda, extra walnut sauce.
-- John Podesta, DNC chairman, from the Wikileaks emails.
The adrenal gland is described by doctors as walnut-shaped. The sauce inside? Adrenochrome, like Hunter S. Thompson wrote about. Supposed to be the ultimate drug.
A gold-plated Pentagon and they don't have a mess hall that can make pizzas? We are finding out, over and over, just how incompetent and unsuitable these people are. They just luxuriate in their untouchableness and a few thousand random native-born Americans could do better.
#6
This man's Youtube channel is great! Highly recommended, please subscribe and like. My favorite was when he reviewed the legendary Four Fingers of Death.
#9
I was stationed at the Pentagon in 1971. At the time, there was a shopping mall. I don't remember if they had restaurants. There was also the Officer's Athletic Center, which did have a restaurant.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli tech entrepreneur spearheading project to set up a US dollar-pegged cryptocurrency for use in the enclave, where shekels have become scarce, FT reports.
A new and improved version of scrip for the company store?
[IsraelTimes] Video aired by Channel 13 shows terror group’s military brass, including its current leader, in ‘war room,’ planning assault by land and sea to secure release of security prisoners, saying Israel is ‘confused’
[IsraelTimes] American refueler and cargo planes were spotted at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Monday, amid a massive US buildup of military forces ahead of a potential attack on Iran.
There was no comment from Israeli authorities regarding the American military deployment at Israel’s main civilian airport.
The Boeing KC-135 refuelers and C-17 Globemaster cargo planes had arrived at Ben Gurion over the course of the preceding day. It was unclear whether they were in the country temporarily as part of a stopover.
At least two refuelers had arrived from Al Udeid base in 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... — the biggest US base in the Middle East — according to analysts monitoring open-source flight tracking information.
Around the same time, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was seen arriving at Crete’s Souda Bay, likely as part of a supply stop at the US Naval Support Activity base located there.
US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... ordered the carrier strike group to the Middle East earlier this month to join another carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, that is already deployed to the region.
The US is holding talks with 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... over its nuclear program, but has threatened to attack if they do not bear fruit. Trump also vowed to help anti-government protesters in Iran, before the regime killed them en masse last month.
According to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity, more than 85 fuel tankers and over 170 cargo planes have headed into the region since mid-February.
It is the largest buildup of American military forces in the Middle East since the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, though that buildup dwarfed this one, and included a major ground force, which this one does not.
USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrives at Souda Bay on the island of Crete, Greece, February 23, 2026. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas pic.twitter.com/1wVMm4lwKg
[IsraelTimes] Documents show terror group moving armed-wing chiefs into civil roles that will let it hold power via technocratic administration, while also girding for fresh round against Israel
US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... is pushing full steam ahead with his vision for a post-war 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... that is not ruled by Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... . But evidence seen by The Times of Israel shows how Hamas is moving effectively to subvert him.
The terror group is preparing a shadow government, and working to insert military commanders into civil roles once the Paleostinian Authority-linked technocratic leadership begins its activities in Gaza, documents seen by The Times of Israel indicate.
At the Board of Peace meeting in Washington last week, Trump won commitments for around $7 billion toward the rebuilding of Gaza, and has five countries pledging to send troops to the nascent International Stabilization Force, meant to replace Israeli troops in the enclave.
To prepare for that fight, Haddad is believed to have reorganized Hamas’s top military council last week. He appointed new intelligence chiefs, regional commanders, and heads of weapons manufacturing and propaganda, The Times of Israel has learned.
There are also some signs of progress closer to the war-torn territory. The technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, meant to manage day-to-day civilian affairs in Gaza, is now operating, though only from Cairo, with no date yet set for entering the Gaza Strip. NCAG is also recruiting candidates for a transitional police force meant to serve as Gaza’s civil law enforcement agency.
"When you think of Israel, we’ve done the biggest thing of all," said Trump in his address to the Board of Peace. "We have peace in the Middle East right now."
But despite the international efforts and optimistic statements at the Board of Peace and elsewhere, what are understood to be internal Hamas documents seen by The Times of Israel show that Hamas has no intention of giving up control over Gaza in practice, even if it does so in name.
A NEW ROLE FOR HAMAS COMMANDERS
Some four months into the Gaza ceasefire, Israel still holds over half of the Strip, but nearly all 2 million residents of the enclave are in areas that continue to be held by Hamas.
Under the deal that ended the war, Hamas is supposed to hand day-to-day governance of Gaza to the NCAG. The 15-member technocrat committee is headed by former Paleostinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath, who will operate under the auspices of diplomat Nikolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s High Representative overseeing the Gaza transition.
While refusing to give up its arms, Hamas has gone out of its way to give the impression that it is cooperating just enough with regard to giving up civil control of Gaza to keep the key mediating states happy.
"Protocols are prepared, files are complete, and committees are in place to oversee the handover, ensuring a complete transfer of governance in the Gaza Strip across all sectors to the technocratic committee," Hamas front man Hazem Qassem told AFP last week.
Hamas is indeed preparing to hand over its records and files on its ministries, The Times of Israel has learned.
But according to the documents seen by The Times of Israel, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who replaced Muhammad Sinwar after he was killed last May in an Israeli strike, has issued orders for Hamas members to make copies of any files handed over to the new government.
This allows the group to maintain a record of babus government employees who can potentially be threatened or pressured if needed.
The Israel Defense Forces have warned the government that Hamas is adapting to the emerging situation in Gaza by making sure its members are in key roles.
"Hamas is advancing steps on the ground meant to preserve its influence and grip in the Gaza Strip ’from the bottom up’ by means of integrating its supporters in government offices, security apparatuses, and local authorities," the military said in a document presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late January.
The documents seen by The Times of Israel also show that the group in recent weeks has focused on moving members of its military wing into civilian roles that are set to become part of the NCAG governing apparatus.
The documents seen by The Times of Israel also show that the group in recent weeks has focused on moving members of its military wing into civilian roles that are set to become part of the NCAG governing apparatus.
Written orders, apparently from Haddad, include specific instructions about moving commanders from Hamas’s armed al-Qassam Brigades into civilian roles so that they will be ready to work with the new technocratic government.
Two Paleostinian sources with direct knowledge of Hamas’s operations told Rooters last week that the group had named five district governors, all of them with links to the al-Qassam Brigades. They also replaced bigwigs in Gaza’s economy and interior ministries, which manage taxation and security, the sources said.
A new deputy health minister was shown touring Gaza hospitals in a ministry video released this month.
"Shaath may have the key to the car, and he may even be allowed to drive, but it is a Hamas car," one of the sources told Rooters.
Hamas’s internal intelligence apparatus appears to be intact as well. The Times of Israel viewed a written order from a Hamas brigade commander ordering his forces to increase surveillance at several sites, including at hospitals, and to report any suspicions to local commanders.
THE COMING CLASH
There is evidence that Hamas believes another high-intensity military clash with Israel is only a matter of time, The Times of Israel has learned.
That prognosis represents a rare area of agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Last month, a senior Israeli security official said that it was looking increasingly likely that the Israel Defense Forces would have to act militarily against Hamas to disarm it, since Hamas would not agree to give up its weapons willingly under the ceasefire agreement.
Senior Hamas officials have said as much publicly. "Criminalizing the resistance, its weapons, and those who carried it out is something we should not accept," said Khaled Mashaal at a conference in Doha earlier this month.
"As long as there is occupation, there is resistance. Resistance® is a right of peoples under occupation... something nations take pride in," said Mashaal.
Hamas is willing to place its "heavy" weapons — rockets and explosives — in warehouses guarded by the IDF and Egyptians, an Israeli source said.
It is also willing to hand over maps of its tunnels, but sources said that Hamas would likely not report on all of its tunnels.
The IDF believes that at least 60 percent of Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza are still intact, though the percentage could be higher, as the army does not know how many it has not yet found.
An Israeli security official told The Times of Israel that Hamas was determined to keep both its AK-47 semi-automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, but stressed that Israel would not allow such a scenario under any circumstances.
The only weapons Israel will allow Paleostinian forces to keep, said the official, are handguns, but only in the hands of a new Gazook police force and not Hamas.
Hamas is widely understood to fear thon the lam anti-Hamas clans in Gaza will seek to take Dire Revenge after years of brutal repression should they hand over their rifles.
But it also wants to make sure it is ready to fight the IDF again, as it is convinced that Israel is going to reinvade Hamas-held areas, according to a message the group’s Gaza leadership has sent to its politburo in 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... , The Times of Israel has learned.
To prepare for that fight, Haddad is believed to have reorganized Hamas’s top military council last week. He appointed new intelligence chiefs, regional commanders, and heads of weapons manufacturing and propaganda, The Times of Israel has learned.
Israel has been making the case to Trump that in order for his vision of Middle East peace to be unlocked — and perhaps for him to win a Nobel Peace Prize — Hamas must be disarmed, a source with knowledge of Israel’s thinking told The Times of Israel.
The only way that will happen, Israel has told the White House, according to the source, is for the IDF to go back into Gaza. Israel made the case that an operation would be much quicker and more aggressive than previous operations, as there are no more hostages in the Strip, and Israel can operate everywhere and at full strength.
[Rudaw] Syrian authorities have closed the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) after transferring all of its residents, ending years of controversy surrounding the facility that housed families and relatives of suspected 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.... (ISIS) fighters.
"All Syrian and non-Syrian families were relocated," Fadi al-Qassem, the government-appointed official overseeing the camp, told Agence La Belle France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday. He added that security forces were combing through tents to ensure no one remained. "The camp’s residents are children and women who need support for their reintegration," he said.
The camp, situated in the desert of northeastern Hasake province, had been the largest site in Syria for families linked to suspected ISIS members. It was previously managed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but control shifted to Damascus last month as government forces attacked areas under the SDF control.
The camp held about 24,000 people, the majority Syrians and Iraqis, along with more than 6,000 foreign nationals from around 40 countries. Over the years, the camp drew international criticism over deteriorating humanitarian conditions and fears that it had become a breeding ground for extremism.
In January, amid festivities between Syrian government forces and the SDF in the area, Kurdish forces withdrew from the camp.
Upon withdrawal, the SDF said that "due to the international indifference toward the issue of the ISIS terrorist organization and the failure of the international community to assume its responsibilities in addressing this serious matter, our forces were compelled to withdraw from al-Hol Camp."
Authorities began evacuating remaining residents earlier this week, transferring many to a camp in Akhtarin in northern Aleppo province, while others were moved to undisclosed locations, according to AFP.
A source from a humanitarian organization that had operated inside the camp told AFP: "We evacuated all our teams working inside the camp, dismantled all our equipment and prefabricated rooms and moved them out of the camp".
Despite the relocation of al-Hol camp residents, the mid-January attacks by the Syrian army and allied gangs on the SDF triggered ISIS prison breaks, prompting the transfer of over 5,700 prisoners to Iraq under the US military supervision.
On Sunday, Iraq’s National Security Advisory said that ISIS detainees transferred from Syria will not remain in the country permanently, stressing that Baghdad is working to return them to their home countries.
"The presence of ISIS prisoners in Iraq is not permanent, and the government is working to return them to their countries," Saeed al-Jiyashi, Strategic Affairs Advisor at the National Security Advisory, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA). He added that those transferred belong to more than 67 countries.
The Iraqi official stressed that the operation was completed without error and under strict oversight. "Iraq took all necessary security measures with the participation of all security agencies, as well as oversight from the Supreme Judicial Council," he said.
The advisor noted that Iraq had warned for years that instability in Syrian detention facilities posed a threat to Iraqi security. Housing the detainees inside Iraq under the control of Iraqi security forces and the judiciary, he said, was preferable to leaving them in what he described as an "open and unstable environment" that could lead to future festivities.
Baghdad continues to call on foreign governments to repatriate their nationals detained over ISIS links, warning that prolonged uncertainty over their fate remains a regional security challenge.
[Rudaw] Roj camp, which houses families of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters, will be fully closed in the near future, a northeast Syria (Rojava) official said on Saturday.
Sheikhmous Ahmed, who supervises refugee and IDP camps in Rojava, told Rudaw that a joint decision has been made with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to empty the camp.
“For this purpose, coordination has taken place with the High Commissioner for Refugees regarding their transfer,” Ahmed said, adding that Syrian families will be returned to their original areas at the request of Hasaka governor and their relatives.
Roj camp remains under the control of the Autonomous Administration and is guarded by Asayish security forces. Ahmed stressed that the area around the camp is stable and free of ISIS cells, and that aid organizations continue to provide services on a daily basis.
The camp currently houses 730 foreign families from around 42 countries. In addition, 15 Iraqi families and 11 Syrian families remain at the site. In total, approximately 2,225 people live in the camp, according to the Kurdish official.
Ahmed noted that repatriation efforts will now be conducted through direct coordination between the Autonomous Administration and the countries concerned.
“Previously, contacts were conducted through the [US-led] global coalition and the SDF’s foreign relations office,” he said. “Now, any country wishing to repatriate its citizens must directly contact the Autonomous Administration, and we are ready to provide all necessary facilitation.”
Roj camp is located in Hasaka province and is one of the last remaining facilities housing families linked to ISIS in Syria.
[IsraelTimes] Dozens of trucks, some carrying armored vehicles, depart base in Hasakah province; last US troops expected to leave country within 20 days, ending 12-year presence
US forces began pulling out of their largest base in northeastern Syria on Monday, two Syrian military and security sources said, part of a wider departure as the US-allied government in Damascus consolidates control.
Dozens of trucks, some carrying armored vehicles, departed the base at Qasrak in Hasakah province on Monday morning, witnesses said. Rooters footage later showed the trucks moving along a highway on the outskirts of the city of Qamishli.
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
A full withdrawal from Qasrak would still leave the US-led coalition with a base in Rmelan, also known as Kharab al-Jir, near the Iraqi border.
Qasrak has been a main hub for the US-led global coalition fighting 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.... in Syria, where US troops deployed over a decade ago, partnering with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the jihadist group.
Kurdish forces agreed last month to integrate their institutions with Damascus.
Neither the Syrian defense ministry nor the SDF responded to requests for comment.
US forces will complete their withdrawal from Syria within a month, three sources told AFP on Monday.
The withdrawal comes as Syria’s government expanded its control to the country’s northeast, previously controlled by US-allied Kurdish forces, and formally joined the coalition against ISIS.
American forces have already withdrawn from two other bases in the past two weeks, al-Tanf in the southeast and Shadadi in the northeast.
"Within a month, they will have withdrawn from Syria and there will no longer be any military presence in the bases," a Syrian government official said, with a Kurdish source confirming the timeline.
The officials who spoke to AFP for this story all requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media.
The United States has about 1,000 troops still deployed in Syria.
It had intervened in the country in 2014 to fight ISIS, which had taken over swathes of Syria and Iraq in a lightning offensive.
With Kurdish forces at the forefront, ISIS was territorially defeated in 2019 but retains sleeper cells and called on jihadists on Saturday to fight Syrian authorities.
’END THEIR PRESENCE’
A diplomat from a country allied with both the United States and Syria said the withdrawal should be completed within 20 days.
The US may still carry out Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Syria from other bases in the region, he said.
The Kurdish source said "the international coalition forces will end their presence, which has lasted for about 12 years, in northern and eastern Syria within a period of three to five weeks."
"Over the coming days, successive military convoys will transport logistical supplies, military equipment, radar systems, and missiles from the two remaining bases," he added, referring to Qasrak and Kharab al-Jir, also in Hasakeh province.
The withdrawal comes as the US, which long backed the Kurds, considered their mission against ISIS to be "largely" over, as Syria joined the international coalition against the terror group.
After the Syrian authorities’ deployment in the northeast last month, the US military said it transferred thousands of ISIS suspects, including many Syrians but also Westerners, to Iraq, after they were held in Kurdish-run prisons for years.
Syrian authorities had transferred remaining families in al-Hol, the largest camp housing relatives of suspected ISIS fighters, to another site in the north.
Thousands of family members of foreign jihadists had previously fled the camp and they remain unaccounted for.
[RedState] For years, the fight over Iran has centered on centrifuges, uranium stockpiles, and enrichment percentages. That framework may now be outdated. If the latest assessments are accurate, Tehran is not merely edging back toward nuclear capability but pairing advanced ballistic missiles with alleged chemical and biological payload potential. That is not incremental pressure. It is strategic escalation.
Israeli military adviser Amir Avivi said the Islamic Republic is "continuing preparations for war and the production of ballistic missiles, including chemical and biological ballistic missiles, which are very, very dangerous and need to be dealt with."
Avivi, a former IDF brigadier general who now counsels the Israeli government, described active discussions within Israel’s defense establishment about these unconventional capabilities.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
02/24/2026 00:45 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1792 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Israel Now
@neveragainlive1
·
56m
Iran: a huge explosion at a power station in Tehran a short time ago. Half of Tehran have no electricity.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2026 2:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Better get the design finished quick. Everybody in Pompeii Pham plans too.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2026 6:12 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Since regime change seems to be very much on the table the Iranian leadership has very little to lose by using chemical and biological weapons. If they lose power, they are dead or in exile in Moscow, if Putin will even allow them in.
If a chemical or biological weapon lands in Israel, Iran is going to get nuked, which will kill a lot of the protesters that want the regime change. The Iranian leadership is backed into a corner with no good options for them other than how badly can they hurt their enemies.
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.
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
...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 
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...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 
...
