Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Director of Nuseirat police among those killed in Gaza strike, 98 dead in past 24 hours
2025-07-20
[GEO.TV] The Interior Ministry 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...
reports that Colonel Omar Saeed Aql, director of Nuseirat police in the central governorate, was killed along with 11 of his family members when the Israeli army bombed their home, Al Jazeera reported.

The new "massacre" took place in the town of az-Zawayda in the central part of the besieged enclave, the ministry said, condemning it as a "heinous crime" in a statement.

"We renew our call to the international community and the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
to take a firm stance to stop the repeated Israeli violations against police personnel who perform civil duties and are protected from targeting under international law."

At least 98 Palestinians massacred in past 24 hours alone
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] During the past 48 hours, hospitals in 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...
Strip received the bodies of at least 98 civilians, as well as 511 people suffering from different injuries following Israeli attacks, according to Gaza's health ministry on Saturday morning.

Accordingly, a total of 7,938 people have been killed and 28,444 others have been injured since the Israeli occupation army resumed its genocidal war on Gaza on March 18, 2025.

The new fatalities increased the corpse count from the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, which started on October 7, 2023, to 58,765 deaders, including 891 aid seekers who were killed at or near US-backed distribution points, the health ministry said.

The ministry added that the total number of the maimed also surged to 140,485 people, including 5,754 aid seekers.

Meanwhile,
...back at the hanging, Butch continued with his last words, trying not to repeat himself too often......
efforts are underway to recover the bodies of more deaders who are still missing in different areas of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians say at least 26 killed near Gaza aid sites; IDF says troops fired warning shots
[IsraelTimes] Military says crowd approached troops in a way that ‘threatened’ them a kilometer away from food-distribution site, is investigating reports of mass casualties in latest deadly incident

At least 26 people were killed and more than 100 injured in shooting incidents near two 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...
aid sites early Saturday, Paleostinian officials said, accusing the Israeli military of opening fire on people trying to secure food. The IDF said that troops had fired warning shots and that it was investigating reports of casualties.

The Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
-run civil defense agency said 26 people were killed. The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, quoting witnesses and hospital officials, put the corpse count at at least 32. Neither toll could immediately be verified.

The two incidents occurred near food-distribution hubs operated by the Israel-and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Agency front man Mahmud Basal, who Israel has accused of being a Hamas operative, told AFP that 22 people were killed near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and four near another center northwest of Rafah, blaming "Israeli gunfire" for both.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was aware of reports of casualties after troops fired warning shots and that overnight, Paleostinians had approached Israeli forces in the Rafah area, "in a way that threatened the forces."

"Troops operated to prevent the suspects from approaching them, called for them to distance themselves, and after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots," the IDF said.

According to the army, the incident took place a kilometer away from the closest aid site and during the night, when it was not open for Paleostinians to collect aid packages.

The IDF said the incident is under further review.

The military also said Saturday that the Israeli Air Force had struck approximately 90 terror targets in Gaza over the past day, including buildings used by terror operatives and tunnels.

The strikes come as five IDF divisions, made up of tens of thousands of troops, continue ground operations across the Strip.

The Hamas-run health ministry said two Paleostinians were killed in an Israeli Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
in Gaza City.

’INDISCRIMINATE FIRE’
Most of Saturday’s deaths occurred as Paleostinians massed in the Teina area, around three kilometers (2 miles) away from a GHF aid distribution center east of the city of Khan Younis.

Mahmoud Mokeimar, an eyewitness, said he was walking with masses of people — mostly young men — toward the food hub. Troops fired warning shots as the crowds advanced, before opening fire toward the marching people.

"It was a massacre ... the occupation shot up us indiscriminately," he said. He said he managed to flee but saw at least three motionless bodies lying on the ground, and many other maimed fleeing.

Akram Aker, another witness, said troops fired machine guns mounted on tanks and drones. He said the shooting happened between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.

"They encircled us and started firing directly at us," he said. He said he saw many casualties lying on the ground.

Sanaa al-Jaberi, a 55-year-old woman, said she saw many dead and maimed as she fled the area.

"We shouted: ’food, food,’ but they didn’t talk to us. They just opened fire," she said.

The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 25 bodies, along with dozens maimed.

Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of meters (yards) north of another GHF hub in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the hospital said. The corpse count was also reported by the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Dr. Mohammed Saker, the head of Nasser’s nursing department, said it received 70 maimed people. He told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that most of the casualties were shot in their heads and chests, and that some were placed in the already overwhelmed intensive care unit.

"The situation is difficult and tragic," he said, adding that the facility lacks badly needed medical supplies to treat the daily flow of casualties.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?

Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.

If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...

Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service in northern Gaza, confirmed the two deaths in Gaza City. He said an airstrike hit a tent in a camp sheltering displaced families in the courtyard of the Development Ministry. There were no further details on the target of the strike.

MOUNTING TOLL NEAR AID SITES
The reported casualties are the latest in a series of incidents over recent months, during which hundreds of people have been reported killed in repeated incidents of shooting near aid centers run by the GFH.

The GHF, which employs private armed guards, says there have been no deadly shootings at its sites, though this week, 20 people were killed at one of its locations, most of them in a stampede. The group accused Hamas agitators of causing a panic, but it was not possible to verify GHF’s claims regarding the affiliation of the agitators or what sparked the crush.

In videos obtained by the AP earlier this month from an American contractor working with GHF, contractors were seen using tear gas and stun grenades to keep crowds behind metal fences or to force them to disperse. Gunshots could also be heard.

GHF began operations in late May as Israel lifted a nearly three-month aid blockade on Gaza, amid a renewed offensive there that seeks to take over 75 percent of the Strip with the aim of defeating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages seized by the terror group during its October 7, 2023, attack.

The GHF has faced harsh criticism from the UN and other aid organizations, which called the aid group’s model "inherently unsafe" and charged that it fails to meet the needs of Gaza’s population.

While the GHF claims to have distributed millions of meals to hungry Paleostinians, local health officials and witnesses report that hundreds of people have been killed by army fire as they try to reach the distribution hubs.

The IDF, which is not at the sites but secures them from a distance, has said it only fires warning shots if crowds get too close to its forces.

Israel, which accuses Hamas of hoarding aid, has accused the terror group of attacking Gazook aid seekers near GHF sites and falsifying corpse counts. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
Israel has also acknowledged that "several" Paleostinian civilians have been killed near GHF aid distribution sites.

Two reservists seriously wounded by roadside bomb in Gaza
[IsraelTimes] Two reserve combat engineers were seriously wounded by a roadside bomb in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military announces.

The troops include a reserve officer in the 710th Combat Engineering Battalion and a reservist in the 749th Combat Engineering Battalion.

They were taken to a hospital for treatment, and their families were notified, the army says.

According to an IDF probe, the soldiers were hit by an explosive device while driving in a Humvee

IDF set to begin ground operations in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for first time
[IsraelTimes] The IDF issues a new evacuation warning for Palestinians residing in the southwest of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, as it is set to begin ground operations in the city for the first time since the start of the war.

“The IDF continues to operate with great force to destroy the enemy’s capabilities and terror infrastructure in the area, as it expands its activities into an area where it has not operated before,” says the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, on X.

Civilians are instructed to head south to the Mawasi area on the coast.

It marks the first time since the beginning of the war that the IDF has issued an evacuation warning for the Deir al-Balah area, one of the few locations in the Strip where the military has not operated with ground troops.

The IDF has avoided ground operations in areas where it believes Hamas to be holding hostages, in order to not endanger them as the terror group has vowed to execute captives if troops near.

An estimated 350,000 Palestinians are residing in all of central Gaza, according to IDF estimates from May. It is unclear how many are in the newly evacuated zone.
Related:
Nuseirat: 2025-07-14 Gaza war, regional updates
Nuseirat: 2025-07-09 Israel Attacks in Gaza Kill 78 More Palestinians; IDF confirms death of 10/7 terrorist last week in Khan Younis
Nuseirat: 2025-06-28 Israeli military issues new evacuation orders in central and northern Gaza
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza daily round-up: Muhammad Nasser Ali Kanita, who held Emily Damari hostage in his home, was eliminated
2025-07-15
[X]

The Israeli army says its warplanes have attacked Gaza more than 100 times in the past 24 hours
[GEO.TV] The Israeli army says its warplanes have attacked Gaza more than 100 times in the past 24 hours, claiming “terrorist organisations” are the targets, reported Al Jazeera.

It added that ground advances are also continuing across the besieged enclave, especially in the north.

Israeli attacks kill more than 50 people across Gaza
[GEO.TV] Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed at least 51 Palestinians since dawn, Al Jazeera reported quoting medical sources.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 58,030 people and wounded 138,520 since the beginning of war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Children among over 700 Gazans killed waiting to get water
[GEO.TV] The government media office 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...
says attacks on people waiting in line for water have killed more than 700 Paleostinians as part of a ''systematic thirst war'', Al Jazeera reported.

The Israeli army has targeted 112 freshwater filling points and destroyed 720 water wells, putting them out of service. This has deprived more than 1.25 million people of access to clean water, the office said in a statement.

''We affirm that this racist policy constitutes a full-fledged war crime under the Geneva Conventions, and a grave violation of international humanitarian law and human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
law.''

The office said Israel has prevented the entry of 12 million litres of fuel monthly, the amount necessary to operate the minimum number of water wells, sewage treatment plants, garbage collection vehicles and other vital services. This ban has ''caused near-total paralysis of water and sewage networks and worsened the spread of diseases, especially among children'', the office said.

Three IDF troops killed, officer seriously wounded in northern Gaza fighting
[IsraelTimes] After initially suspecting tank was hit by Hamas RPG fire, army increasingly believes deadly blast was caused by a malfunctioning shell that detonated inside the turret

Three IDF troops were killed and an officer was seriously wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the military announced.

The slain troops were named as:

  • Staff Sgt. Shoham Menahem, 21, from Yardena

  • Sgt. Shlomo Yakir Shrem, 20, from Efrat

  • Sgt. Yuliy Faktor, 19, from Rishon Lezion

They all served with the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion.

According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were in a tank that was hit by an explosion in northern Gaza’s Jabalia at around noon Monday. The IDF initially suspected the tank was hit by Hamas RPG fire. However, in the hours following the incident, the military increasingly came to believe the explosion may have been caused by a malfunctioning shell that detonated inside the turret. Other causes of the explosion were being investigated, the military said.

Their deaths raised the Israeli toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 454 soldiers. The figure includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.

The announcement of the soldiers’ deaths came shortly before two rockets were launched from the central Gaza Strip at southern Israel, which the military intercepted. Sirens did not sound in any towns, but alerts were activated in open areas near the Gaza border. There were no injuries.

In Gaza, meanwhile, footage circulated Monday on social media showing dozens of Palestinians lying on the ground as prolonged gunfire is heard around them.
That sure sounds like a classic Paliwood production to me, rather than something that actually happened as described. Especially since we know that Hamas has been killing those who dare take advantage of donated supplies that aren’t controlled — and sold at siege prices — by them.
Based on the location in the video, the incident appeared to have occurred near one of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution centers, specifically in the Rafah area.

The IDF stated that “the details of the video are under review. At this stage, there are no known casualties from IDF fire at the distribution center in Rafah today.”
More from the Times of Israel:
A Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 onslaught and held hostage Emily Damari in his home was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month, the IDF announces.

Nasr Ali Quneita was targeted in Gaza City on June 19, according to the IDF.

Gaza’s Hamas-controlled civil defense agency said Israeli strikes on Monday killed at least 22 people, and the Islamic Jihad terror group shared footage that it said showed its fighters firing missiles at an Israeli command and control center in the Strip.

The fighting comes as five IDF divisions, made up of tens of thousands of troops, continue to operate across Gaza.

According to Israel, the IDF’s targets on Monday included operatives, buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, tunnels, and other terror infrastructure.

The military said that in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, troops of the Givati Brigade located and destroyed a tunnel, while forces of the 99th Division directed airstrikes on operatives who tried to plant bombs on a road.

In the nearby town of Jabalia, the IDF said troops of the 401st Armored Brigade and elite Multi-Domain unit killed several more operatives, including by directing strikes, and destroyed terror infrastructure.

In the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah, troops of the Nahal Brigade killed additional operatives, and the 98th Division operating in the neighborhoods of Zeitoun and Shejaiya directed strikes on operatives and destroyed buildings used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the IDF added.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad terror group which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, released footage that it said showed its fighters firing missiles at an Israeli army command and control center near Shejaiya.

Gaza’s civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that 10 Palestinians were killed in three separate airstrikes in various parts of Gaza City on Monday, with 12 more people killed in attacks on the southern area of Khan Yunis.

The agency, which is governed by Hamas, does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties, and its figures are not independently verified.

AIRSTRIKE LAST WEEK KILLED 10 TERRORISTS RELEASED IN SHALIT DEAL
The IDF and Shin Bet announced Monday that an airstrike in Gaza last week killed 10 Hamas terrorists who had been among the 1,027 security inmates released from Israeli prisons in 2011 in exchange for abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Most of those killed were members of Hamas’s so-called West Bank headquarters, a unit involved in recruiting terrorists and advancing attacks against Israel from or within the West Bank, the Shin Bet said.

Among those killed were Riyad Assila and Bassem Abu Sanina, who were accused of murdering Israeli civilian Haim Karman in a 1998 stabbing attack in Jerusalem.

Assila served as a member of Hamas’s West Bank headquarters, specifically involved in recruiting terrorists from East Jerusalem, the Shin Bet said.

Also killed in the strike was Mohammed Saria, who the Shin Bet said was charged with killing IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Ehud (Udi) Tal in a stabbing attack at the Dotan Civil Administration facility in the West Bank in 1996.

Seven more members of Hamas’s West Bank headquarters were killed in the strike. The Shin Bet said the seven were all convicted during the Second Intifada of involvement in deadly terror attacks and were given life sentences, before being exiled to Gaza in the Shalit deal.

After their exile, the Shin Bet said, the operatives held roles in the West Bank Headquarters, “within which they operated in regional committees responsible for advancing attacks in the Judea and Samaria areas, including by transferring weapons and funds to terrorists.”

IDF issues evacuation order for Gaza City, Jabalia, saying fighting ‘is spreading westward’
[IsraelTimes] The IDF calls on Palestinians residing in Gaza City and Jabalia in the Strip’s north to evacuate amid an ongoing offensive against Hamas.

“The IDF is operating in the area with increased force to destroy the enemy and terror organizations. The fighting is spreading westward toward the city center,” says the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee on X.

The warning calls for civilians to head south to the Mawasi area on the coast.
Link


Good Morning
2025-07-12



Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive directive requiring federal agencies to provide detailed information on raids conducted in the city
Saturday 07/12/2025

Jean_harlow_1019
Caribbean-Latin America
Haiti: UN reports over 3,000
people killed since the start of the year
Africa Horn
Somalia: Intelligence agency NISA says at least 13 al-Shabaab militants, including senior commanders, were killed in coordinated operations
Africa Horn
Danab Commando Force -- U.S.-backed Somali
elite unit leads 80% of all offensive operations in 2025
Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF has found and destroyed another underground tunnel in Gaza, measuring 500 meters long and 13 meters deep, in Khan Yunis
Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Two Palestinian Authority police officers who trained in Qatar returned to Israel and murdered an Israeli
Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Joint IDF-ISA operation ELIMINATED Fadl
Abu al-Ata, the Islamic Jihad's Shejaiya sector commander
The most well-paid engineer in the world? Meta poaches AI researcher from rival with $200 million pay offer

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF has found and destroyed another underground tunnel in Gaza, measuring 500 meters long and 13 meters deep, in Khan Yunis
2025-07-12
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Nobel Prize Missed: Why Trump and Netanyahu Didn't Reach an Agreement
2025-07-11
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has completed a working visit to the United States. His July trip to Washington took place largely behind the cameras, and information about the results of the meetings was given to the press in extremely measured doses.

There were also no promising public statements, without which no major visit by an Israeli prime minister has taken place before. Netanyahu left Washington virtually incognito, without holding a major press approach on the White House lawn.

And while Israeli officials are calling the visit "historic and groundbreaking," both Washington and Tel Aviv appear to have remained unconvinced.

"GREAT VICTORY"
One of the main topics of the Israeli Prime Minister's conversation with US President Donald Trump and other high-ranking American officials was summing up the results of the June "Lion Force" operation against Iran.

Netanyahu expressed gratitude to the Republicans for their determination in the fight against the “Iranian threat” and, as a sign of gratitude for their contribution to the “great victory,” presented Trump with a symbolic gift: a mezuzah (a scroll with text from the Torah in a decorative case for hanging on a door frame. — Ed.) in the shape of a B-2 bomber, made from a fragment of an Iranian ballistic missile.

In addition, the Israeli Prime Minister announced his nomination of Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, with the wording “for his significant mediation efforts in resolving the conflict between Iran and Israel.”

This is already the third nomination for the Republican in his new term (previously, the Pakistani government and Republican member of the US House of Representatives Darrell Issa expressed similar intentions ) and the second on the Middle East track; the American leader is already among the favorites in the informal rating of candidates - at least, this is what the Western press is convinced of.

Tel Aviv has found an elegant way to thank the White House for its timely intervention in the recent conflict.

At the same time, Israel felt it necessary to convey its concerns to the United States: the rate of restoration of Iranian nuclear facilities damaged as a result of the joint bombings turned out to be an order of magnitude higher than initially predicted, which means that new preemptive actions may soon be required.

Here, Netanyahu tried to draw attention to himself, convincing Trump to allow Tel Aviv to act against Iran and its regional allies unilaterally, without coordinating new operations.

The US responded to the request in a very vague manner.

On the one hand, Trump praised the Israelis for their persistence and willingness to defend the existing balance of power, promising “full support” and protection.

On the other hand, Washington is well aware of the growth of revanchist sentiments in Iran - the growing public demand for nuclear weapons and attempts by individual clerics to legitimize the "vendetta" against the initiators of the June campaign. And therefore the White House has not made any specific promises to the public.

The question of whether Netanyahu secured Trump's consent behind the scenes also remains open.

FRIENDSHIP OUTLINE
It is noteworthy that during the extensive work program, the topic of normalizing Israel's relations with Arab countries was barely touched upon, although it was previously considered the "calling card" of the Trump administration. There was almost no talk about new expansions of the "club of friends", limiting themselves to pleasantries addressed to Morocco and the Arabian partners - Bahrain and the UAE.

Neither Washington nor Tel Aviv want to bring the issue to the forefront, since Syria is considered “first in line” for normalization.

The transitional government of Ahmed al-Sharaa is actively making contact with the Israeli authorities and, judging by the latest leaks, is even ready to give up the Golan Heights in exchange for stabilization of the situation.

In support of these aspirations, the US and EU countries have even loosened the sanctions noose around Damascus's neck. However, the general instability of the new Syrian regime and internal strife are preventing rapid progress in the negotiations.

Other potential candidates for a reset – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman – have maintained a marked neutrality and are in no hurry to get closer to Israel even under US pressure for fear of falling into Tehran’s crosshairs.

THE STUMBLING BLOCK CORRIDOR
The situation in the Gaza Strip was much more actively discussed: the parties were unable to finally agree on the outlines of a deal to cease fire in the enclave. Although the White House clearly expected to make a statement about the deal at the end of Netanyahu's visit.

The stumbling block, as expected, was the “Morag Corridor” – a strategic security strip built by Israeli troops along the Egyptian border south of the Palestinian Khan Yunis.

The US is convinced that the deployment of the army in close proximity to Palestinian areas hinders the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave and, moreover, endangers American NGO workers, who are now the majority in Gaza, and therefore Israel should leave Morag as a gesture of goodwill.

Tel Aviv does not want to repeat the mistakes of the “first deal,” which was concluded with the mediation of Joe Biden, and counters that “Hamas terrorist agents” will immediately flood into the abandoned security corridor.

The continued presence in the Gaza Strip is explained by the role of “volunteer gendarme” that the Israeli authorities have taken on: they will be ready to reduce the contingent only if the entire leadership of the Palestinian resistance leaves the enclave, and the new leaders undergo “preliminary filtration.”

For these purposes, Tel Aviv is even ready to build a “city within a city” in the Rafah area for interned Palestinians (there are currently about 600 thousand of them). Neither Washington nor its Arab partners from among the “trustees” of Gaza like this option, but no one has yet dared to present an alternative.

"HOME" QUESTIONS
However, some uncomfortable questions got to the Israeli prime minister even in Washington. For example, on the sidelines of a gala reception for leaders of Jewish and Evangelical communities, Netanyahu was asked several times whether the government was going to free the hostages remaining in Hamas captivity.

To which Netanyahu, in his usual manner, reported on “significant progress” and the “imminent release” of the remaining Israelis from captivity.

There is indeed hope for an exchange. American sources regularly announce the imminent trip of Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff to Qatar to give the necessary guarantees to Hamas and monitor the transparency of the deal.

However, given that Whitkoff's trip has already been postponed several times, the White House still has no confidence in the parties' ability to reach an agreement. And three meetings between Netanyahu and Trump (one of which was closed) have not changed the disposition.

A more pressing question was also asked - about the prospects for adjusting the law on the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Israelis (Haredi) into the army. Especially since the authorities announced increased penalties for those who dodge service, including a ban on leaving the country and administrative arrests.

This has increased unrest in the ranks of the conservative parties, which continue to threaten to break up the ruling coalition. The future of the Haredi law is unclear, and Netanyahu has failed to explain in detail how exactly Tel Aviv intends to emerge from the crisis.

Overall, it is noticeable that the Israeli Prime Minister is still more focused on the “external contour,” where he clearly understands the priorities and goals for the near future, while he is not yet ready to closely deal with issues of an internal nature.

This means that Tel Aviv will continue to actively promote stories related to foreign policy (primarily the confrontation with Iran) in order to distract the population’s attention from problems within the country.'

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas says it is ready to ''immediately engage'' in negotiations, Bibi says Hamas changes not ok
2025-07-06
[X]
What's this? The 78th time?
They like negotiations when Israel is forced to stop attacking them for the duration, so they can come out into the sunlight. And there is always the hope that Israel will be forced to give up the fight.



…Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to.

The negotiating team will depart tomorrow for talks in Qatar.



PM’s office says Hamas seeking unacceptable changes to hostage deal proposal
[IsraelTimes] According to a source involved in the mediation efforts, Hamas wants three core changes. It wants the agreement to say that talks on a permanent ceasefire will continue until an agreement is reached; that aid will fully resume through mechanisms backed by the United Nations and other international aid organizations; and that the IDF withdraw to positions it maintained before the collapse of the previous ceasefire in March.

Courtesy of badanov:
Netanyahu to Discuss Hostage Release Deal with Part of Cabinet
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a narrow session of the Israeli government. This was announced on July 5 by Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the office of the head of the Israeli Cabinet.

“This evening, the prime minister will convene a meeting of the narrow cabinet, at which the issue of the speedy release of all our hostages will be discussed, including sending a negotiating team to Doha,” he told TASS.

According to the Ynet portal, mediators are negotiating a new round of indirect talks between the parties in Doha, the Qatari capital, on July 6 following the response of the Palestinian Hamas movement to the ceasefire proposal in the Gaza Strip. It is claimed that Israel has received a response from Hamas to the latest ceasefire proposal in Gaza. Now its details are being studied.

As reported by Regnum News Agency, on May 29, Al Arabiya TV channel announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip for 60 days. Later, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt confirmed that Israel had signed the proposal of US Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and US President Donald Trump for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. The proposal was then sent to Hamas.

In early June, the Israeli military found and returned the bodies of two hostages during an operation in the Gaza Strip. They were found in the Khan Yunis area. It is noted that the captives were killed on October 7, 2023, after which their bodies were taken to the Gaza Strip. The deceased were a married couple.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Qassam commander Bilal Abu Aassi (Abu Sohaib) and his entire family no longer require oxygen
2025-07-03
[X]
Yank the family tree out, roots and all
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Another massive Hamas underground terror tunnel in Gaza has been found and destroyed by the IDF, connecting Rafah and Khan Yunis
2025-07-03
[X]

To be fair, in addition to digging tunnels, they did also kidnap and kill Jews from time to time, Also shot off rockets, and remember the fire balloons that they did for several summers in a row? Really, the Gazans didn’t have time to catch their breath, they were so busy jihading their little hearts out.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Golani Brigade seals tunnels under Gazan hospital
2025-06-17
[IsraelNationalNews] Dozens of trucks and cement mixers sealed the tunnel by pouring approximately 250 cubic meters of concrete in. The operation in the area was carried out with precision and care to avoid damaging the hospital

Over the past two weeks, the Golani Brigade, commanded by the 36th Division, cooperating with special forces units and guided by the Intelligence Directorate, conducted a targeted operation to locate and map out large-scale underground Hamas infrastructure in the area of the European Hospital in Khan Yunis.

This is the complex where the body of Mohammed Sinwar was found.

After the tunnel routes were mapped by the Yahalom Unit and additional units, the route was dismantled in a complex logistical and engineering operation.

In an effort led by the Golani Brigade’s engineering battalion and with the division’s logistical support unit, dozens of trucks and cement mixers sealed the tunnel by pouring approximately 250 cubic meters of concrete in.

The operation in the area was carried out with precision and care to avoid damaging the hospital building.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Publishes Footage of Hamas Leader's Body Dragged from Beneath Hospital
2025-06-09
[Breitbart] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published video on Sunday of the body of Hamas military leader Muhammad Sinwar being dragged from a cavern beneath a hospital in Gaza where terrorists had established their lair.
Related:
Muhammad Sinwar 06/08/2025 UNCOVERED: An underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza
Muhammad Sinwar 06/03/2025 IDF says it is expanding Gaza ground offensive as troops reported to move on Khan Younis
Muhammad Sinwar 06/01/2025 They meant business: Air Force dropped over 50 munitions in 30 seconds in strike that killed Muhammad Sinwar 2 weeks ago, IDF says

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
UNCOVERED: An underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza
2025-06-08
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

IDF believes it found body of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar in tunnel under Gaza hospital

[IsraelTimes] Sinwar was killed in May strike; 12 reported killed in Khan Younis tent camp, 6 killed near aid site

The Israel Defense Forces believes it may have located the body of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli strike on a tunnel system last month, military officials said Saturday.

IDF troops operating in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis located the bodies of several terror operatives in the past day who were killed in the May 13 strike on a tunnel beneath the European Hospital, the military officials stated.

The IDF believed that one of the bodies may belong to Sinwar.

The IDF on Saturday confirmed that troops were operating inside Hamas tunnels in the area of the European Hospital, publishing footage of one of them.

“During the activity, IDF troops reached an underground route that was struck three weeks ago, where Muhammad Sinwar and other terrorists were located. Bodies of terrorists who have not yet been identified were located in the area,” the military said.

The IDF said it also located several findings “that prove the cynical use made by the Hamas terror organization of the hospital as a shield for its operations.”

The military said the tunnel featured command and control rooms, weapons, and other intelligence materials. The tunnel was used by the terror group as one of its main command centers during the October 7 onslaught, the IDF said.

“Throughout the war, the IDF has repeatedly exposed the use of hospitals across the Gaza Strip by the Hamas terror organization for terror activity and as hiding places for senior members of Hamas’s military wing,” the military said.

The IDF said the tunnel “is located directly beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis and was also built by Hamas.”

The IDF published on Saturday the identities of two Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives killed in an Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza City on Thursday, saying the pair were “operating under the guise of journalists.” The strike on Thursday hit a press compound in the courtyard of the Al-Ma’amadani Hospital, also known as Al-Ahli, killing journalists Suleiman Hajaj, Samir al-Rifai, Ismail Badah, and Ahmed Qaljah, according to Palestinian media. The IDF said Thursday that the compound was used by Islamic Jihad operatives to plan and carry out attacks on troops and Israeli civilians. Hajaj, according to the IDF, was a deputy commander of an Islamic Jihad engineering cell, and al-Rifai was also a member of the terror group. The military does not comment on the other two reported fatalities.

12 REPORTED KILLED IN OVERNIGHT STRIKE ON TENT CAMP
Palestinian media reported Saturday that 12 people were killed and some 40 were wounded in an overnight strike on a tent camp for displaced Gazans in the Khan Younis area. The reports cited a medical source at Nasser Hospital.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike.

Separately, Hamas-run civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at around 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT), “six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout.”

Gazans have gathered at the roundabout almost daily since late May to collect humanitarian aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Fund aid center about one kilometer (a little over half a mile) away. AFP was unable to independently verify the tolls compiled by the agency or the circumstances of the deaths it reports. The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired “warning shots” at individuals that it said were “advancing in a way that endangered the troops.”

Samir Abu Hadid, who was there early Saturday, told AFP that thousands of people had gathered near the roundabout.

“As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid center, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armored vehicles stationed near the center, firing into the air and then at civilians,” Abu Hadid said.

The GHF said it wasn’t able to operate on Saturday due to Hamas threats targeting its staff. The group’s statement didn’t provide any further information on the threats, but a GHF spokesperson said they were directed at the foundation’s drivers and the local Gazan staff helping operate the distribution sites.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli military finds bodies of two hostages in Gaza
2025-06-06
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum]. Israeli military forces have found and returned the bodies of two hostages during an operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"During the operation of the General Security Service and the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip, the bodies of two hostages, Gadi Hagai and Judy Weinstein, were returned to Israel," Netanyahu said.
Elsewhere spelt Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein, due to the vagaries of transliteration between three alphabets.
The bodies were found in the Khan Yunis area, the IDF said. The prisoners were killed on October 7, 2023, and their bodies were taken to the Gaza Strip. The deceased were a married couple.
They were an elderly married couple, out for their daily constitutional. Such brave, brave Lions of Islam to murder them and take their bodies hostage.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated in October 2023. On May 18 of this year, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a large-scale ground operation, Gideon's Chariots, in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip.
Related:
Gadi Haggai 06/05/2025 Shin Bet grilling of Gazan detainee led IDF to hostages found in overnight raid: the American-Israeli couple’s bodies held in Khan Younis by same group that murdered Shiri Bibas and her sons
Gadi Haggai 05/15/2025 Edan Alexander’s conditions improved after Trump returned to office, says family
Gadi Haggai 05/12/2025 Hamas set to free US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander Monday in goodwill gesture to Trump

Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More