Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Government backs bill to form special tribunal for trying Oct. 7 terrorists |
2025-05-26 |
They need a tribunal for war crimes, like the Nuremberg trials. These were not Israeli citizens or subjects who merely committed aggravated robbery. 10/7 was an act of war by what was functionally a national army out of uniform — Geneva Convention stuff. ![]() The government on Sunday gave its backing to a bill that would establish a special tribunal to try and charge bully boyz who took part in the October 7 atrocities with acts of genocide against the Jewish people. The bill is co-sponsored by coalition MK Simcha Rothman, the head of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and by MK Yuli Malinowsky of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party. It was approved Sunday by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, meaning the legislation will be backed by the coalition when it comes to the Knesset for its preliminary reading. Israel captured hundreds of the Hamas ![]() -led bully boyz who participated in the October 7, 2023, massacre, but has yet to issue indictments against them due to the complications of trying such large numbers of people and the difficulties involved in trying them under regular criminal procedures. According to the Hamoked organization, there are currently 1,584 unlawful combatants being held in Israeli detention facilities, a category of prisoner that refers to bully boyz who crossed the border into Israel or who fight in Hamas’s terrorist militia. The new legislation seeks to establish a special tribunal, composed of 15 judges in total, which would hear cases in panels of three or five judges, depending on the type of indictment filed. Crucially, the bill enables the tribunal to "deviate" from the accepted legal processes and evidentiary standards in Israel’s regular courts, to effectively try the large numbers of bully boyz suspected of involvement in the atrocities. Israel’s Law for Preventing and Punishing Genocide from 1950 provides for the death penalty ![]() Hebrew media reported that the Attorney General’s Office opposes the legislation, saying it contravenes foundational principles of criminal law in Israel, and could harm the international legitimacy of legal processes that state prosecutors have already taken and will take against October 7 perpetrators. In April, prosecutors in the State Attorney’s office reportedly put together charge sheets against 22 bully boyz who took part in the massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz, to be filed as part of a single mega-indictment against hundreds of suspects. The new information that led to the consolidation of evidence against the 22 Nir Oz bully boyz apparently came from the Shin Bet following the military’s advancement into new areas 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... , where teams found incriminating evidence, Ynet reported. Some legal scholars have argued that a criminal process for the hundreds of bully boyz to be prosecuted could take decades. "When you prosecute under criminal law you get problems. It generates massive amounts of investigative material [for each defendant] and the defendants get numerous rights such as the right to see the material, the right to an attorney, and others," Yuval Kaplinsky, former head of the International Law Department at the State Attorney’s Office, told The Times of Israel last year. Instead, he proposed applying an administrative process for the terrorists, by amending Israel’s Law for Unlawful Combatants to allow long-term detention without trial, renewable every few years. This would create a situation akin to the manner in which the US has held bully boyz responsible for the September 11 attacks and other terror attacks in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Some legal scholars argue the contrary, however, insisting that putting perpetrators of the October 7 massacre on trial within the criminal law framework could help create "a historic narrative" for the invasion and atrocities. "This is a historic event. Our legal behavior must be in keeping with this historic vision," said conservative legal scholar Rafael Biton at a conference of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum in March 2024. He noted the strong impact the Nuremberg trials and the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel had on the narrative of the Holocaust. Biton proposed prosecuting the October 7 invasion as a "collective crime" through the passing of a law to try terrorist suspects on a collective basis, with a presumption that if they were caught by Israel’s security forces in Israel on or after October 7, they took part in the attacks, unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary. Treating the perpetrators in this way would remove many of the obstacles mentioned by Kaplinsky, including prosecuting each defendant on an individual basis and connecting their actions to a specific victim, with all the investigative work that requires. "This was a collective invasion to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, and crimes against Israeli illusory sovereignty. This was not a group of individuals, they didn’t gather together accidentally," said Biton. That’s why the legislation is needed — this is not a matter for standard issue state prosecution. They could have been holding drumhead court-martials after military intelligence and Shin Bet got through with them, then put them up against a wall with a last cigarette. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
NYT: US-registered Gaza aid group is ‘brainchild’ of Israelis, its funding is unclear |
2025-05-26 |
[IsraelTimes] Gaza Humanitarian Foundation formed by businessmen, reservists with links to government; Haaretz: Key Israeli defense bodies bypassed in selection of security firm as contractor A 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... aid delivery project described as neutral and run by American contractors was conceived by several Israelis, including businessmen with close links to the government, raising concerns over transparency and neutrality, The New York Times ![]() ...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported Saturday. ”They’re not part of our black money, leftwing ecosystem — clearly a nefarious enterprise. Let’s get to digging until we can pull it out by the roots and put our people back in control of all that gorgeous aid money!” The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is a US- and Israel-backed aid organization that was established to manage a new model for distributing humanitarian aid in the Strip in a manner that does not allow its diversion by Hamas![]() It was built in close coordination with Israel amid mounting mistrust between Jerusalem and UN-backed aid groups that have been operating in the Strip to date, but the organization and US officials have maintained that it is an independent and neutral body. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the NYT report revealed that the project wasn’t simply built in coordination with Israel, but is "an Israeli brainchild." The idea was first proposed in late 2023 at "private meetings of like-minded officials, military officers and business people with close ties to the Israeli government" who believed the government lacked a long-term Gaza strategy, the report said. The report posited that the "project’s genesis" occurred when "hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians rejoined the military as reservists, many of them reaching positions of influence," following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks. This created "a huge cohort of Israelis with one foot in the military and another in civilian life, blurring the boundary between the two worlds." The group’s central idea was to bypass traditional aid channels like the UN by hiring private contractors to distribute aid in pockets of Gaza under Israeli control, thus weakening Hamas’s grip without formally assuming responsibility for Gaza’s civilian population. Key players in the new plan included venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg, who was not in the military, Yotam HaCohen, a strategic consultant who joined the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and later became an aide to the prime minister’s military secretary Brig. Gen. Roman Gofman, and Liran Tancman, a tech investor also affiliated with COGAT. By early 2024, Israeli officials had begun promoting Philip F. Reilly, a former senior CIA officer who trained Contra fighters in Nicaragua and served as CIA station chief in Kabul, as their preferred contractor. Reilly confirmed to the newspaper that he met with Eisenberg and Tancman and began discussing Gaza aid with Israeli civilians that year. Reilly’s S.R.S. security firm began operating in Gaza in January 2025, screening Paleostinian cars for weapons during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. According to a separate Haaretz report published Sunday, S.R.S entered Gaza without any prior security clearance from the Shin Bet as is the procedure. Gofman reportedly handpicked S.R.S. in a secretive process that bypassed standard procedures and excluded key defense bodies, including the Shin Bet, the IDF, and the Defense Ministry. Sources told the outlet that the process appeared pre-decided in favor of Reilly’s company and that the Prime Minister’s Office, especially Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a key Netanyahu confidant, played a central role in pushing it forward. Businessman Shlomi Fogel, also a Netanyahu confidant, was also named in connection but has denied involvement. Many within the defense establishment suspect personal and financial motives may be driving the operation, given the lack of transparency and the exclusion of official oversight bodies, Haaretz reported. UNCLEAR ORIGINS, MYSTERIOUS FUNDING Another key revelation of The New York Times report was that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was registered in the US, not Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... , as previously believed. Two entities — GHF and the private security firm S.R.S. — were registered in November 2024 by associates of Reilly. GHF, led by Jake Wood, will supposedly raise funds and hire S.R.S. to secure food distribution. Though Wood said the two groups now operate independently, they were registered by the same US lawyer and shared a spokeswoman until recently. Adding to the confusion, at least two other organizations named Gaza Humanitarian Foundation exist—one registered in the US and another in Switzerland. A front man for Wood’s foundation clarified that the Delaware-based GHF, established in February 2025, is connected to their operation. Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, there was another explosion... TRIAL International, a Swiss NGO, has asked Swiss authorities to investigate the Geneva-based GHF to determine if it complied with Swiss law and international humanitarian standards. The group filed two submissions on May 20 and 21, calling for regulatory scrutiny of the foundation’s activities. It’s also unclear who is funding the GHF, which claims to have more than $100 million in commitments from a foreign government donor but has not named the donor. Wood said it received a small amount of seed money from unnamed non-Israeli businessmen. The foundation said in a statement that a Western European country had donated over $100 million but declined to name the country, according to the Times. The foundation published a 14-page document detailing their distribution plan, including the names of those leading the project. Two American companies, Safe Reach Solutions (S.R.S.) and UG Solutions, were selected to serve as on-site contractors. Israel says it must take control of aid distribution, arguing that Hamas and other snuffies siphon off supplies and that some aid organizations have been infiltrated by terror groups. Aid workers deny there is a significant diversion of aid to terrorists, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. Aid groups have been pushing back on the GHF and Israel’s plans to take over the handling of food aid, saying it could forcibly displace large numbers of Paleostinians by pushing them toward the distribution hubs and that the foundation can’t meet the needs of the Paleostinians in Gaza. Related: Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: 2025-05-21 Israel allows UN to bring 93 aid trucks into Gaza as international pressure mounts Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: 2025-05-19 Huge protest in The Hague demands Dutch government draw ‘red line’ on Gaza war Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: 2025-05-18 Head of controversial Israel-backed Gaza aid group says ‘plan isn’t perfect, but feeds people’ |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
3 Arab-Israelis indicted for smuggling drugs and cigarettes into Gaza via drones |
2025-05-25 |
From a week ago [IsraelTimes] Police say smuggling is a security threat since drones could fall into Hamas’s hands; Danish authorities nab man for selling drones to terror group to be used in attackState prosecutors on Monday filed an indictment against three Arab Israelis, after they were arrested by security forces on suspicion of smuggling drugs into 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... Strip via drone. Police officers, Shin Bet agents and IDF soldiers arrested the three Negev residents — Muhammad Sarahin, Sharif Abu-Gardud, and Younes Abu-Gardud — in April. They were accused of carrying out multiple drug and cigarette smuggling operations from Israel to Gaza, leaving the drones in the enclave. Police said the smuggling posed a "direct threat to national security" given the worry that the drones, which can carry loads of dozens of kilograms, could fall into the hands of Hamas ![]() Officers requested to extend their detention until the end of legal proceedings. The three defendants "were involved in exporting dangerous drugs by drone to the Gaza Strip during wartime, while fully aware that the entity controlling Gaza is the Hamas terror group, which would be able to use the drones that the defendants brought to Gaza for terrorist activities," state prosecutor Assaf Bar Yosef said. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that cigarettes were regularly smuggled into war-torn Gaza via humanitarian aid ![]() Following the outbreak of the war with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack— when some 5,000 murderous Moslems invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages— Israel limited imports into Gaza to essential goods, a category that does not include cigarettes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the resumption of "basic" aid to the Strip on Monday, after a two-month ban following the collapse of a ceasefire-hostage release deal. Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia... a 28-year-old man was remanded in jug in Denmark on Monday on suspicion of purchasing drones to be used in a Hamas "terrorist attack," Danish intelligence said. Flemming Drejer, head of operations at Denmark’s PET intelligence service, said in a statement that the service believed that "this individual purchased drones intended for use by Hamas in a terrorist attack at an unknown location in Denmark or abroad." Appearing before a court on Monday, the man was remanded in jug until June 11. PET said the case has links to both Hamas and criminal gangs in Denmark, and is related to a number of arrests made in December 2023 as part of an operation to prevent a suspected planned "terrorist attack." Six people were ordered detained at the time, four in absentia, among them the 28-year-old man, who Danish media reports said was a prominent figure in organized crime in Copenhagen. According to public broadcaster DR, the suspect had been extradited from Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... over a separate double murder case. Terror groups have intensified efforts since October 2023 to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites in Europe. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
IDF chief of staff dismisses new Shin Bet appointee from military in meeting | |
2025-05-23 | |
[Jpost] An earlier IDF statement stressed that any communication by IDF personnel with the political echelon requires the approval of the chief of staff. The IDF on Friday clarified that Maj.-Gen. David Zini was not dismissed from the military during his meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir earlier in the day, adding that Zini is an appreciated and decorated officer. Zamir finalized Zini's retirement from the IDF after being summoned for a conversation in his office, following Zini's appointment as Shin Bet head, the military said. The conversation was intended to clarify whether Zini had conducted negotiations behind Zamir's back in light of the prime minister's announcement about the appointment. His retirement from military service is expected in the coming days, according to an earlier IDF statement. The earlier statement stressed that any communication by IDF personnel with the political echelon requires the approval of the chief of staff. According to military commands, an officer is forbidden from conducting discussions with the political echelon without the knowledge and approval of the chief of staff. APPOINTMENT AS NEW SHIN BET HEAD Zamir was notified of Zini’s appointment just minutes before it was announced publicly and did not take part in the decision-making process. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet on Thursday evening. Netanyahu's office's announcement was made despite a High Court ruling that the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar was unlawful due to Netanyahu's conflict of interest in the "Qatargate" affair, and despite the opposition of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
For 2nd time, IDF demolishes home of gunman who killed soldier at checkpoint in 2023 |
2025-05-22 |
[IsraelTimes] In a rare move, the IDF demolishes the home of a Palestinian gunman who killed an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint near Jerusalem in 2023, after the home was rebuilt following its first demolition last year. Overnight, IDF troops operated in the West Bank city of Hebron to demolish the home of Abdelqader Qawasmeh. Qawasmeh was one of three members of the Hamas terror group who attacked the “tunnels” checkpoint on the West Bank’s Route 60, south of Jerusalem in November 2023, killing Cpl. Avraham Fetena, a Military Police soldier. As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly attacks. Rarely does Israel re-demolish homes that are rebuilt. Israel defends the practice of razing the family home of attackers as a deterrent against future assaults. Over the years, a number of Israeli defense officials have questioned the efficacy of the practice, and human rights activists have denounced it as unfair collective punishment. IDF to demolish home of Hamas gunman who carried out terror shooting on West Bank bus last year [IsraelTimes] The Israel Defense Forces announces it will demolish the home of Hamas terrorist Samir Hussein, who injured a number of civilians in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement city of Ariel last year. Hussein’s home is located in the West Bank village of Einabus, near the city of Nablus. Ten people were wounded, three of them seriously, when Hussein opened fire at a civilian bus. He was shot dead by security forces. Hussein, a member of Hamas, was previously jailed by Israel for his activities in the terror group, according to the Shin Bet. His family can appeal the decision to demolish the home, but such attempts rarely succeed. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
West Bank: Hamasnik killed Saturday confirmed murdered pregnant mom headed to hospital, his busy cell arrested along with a mastermind and an ISIS cell |
2025-05-22 |
IDF: Hamas member killed in West Bank on Saturday was behind deadly terror shooting [IsraelTimes] Naael Samarah killed Tzeela Gez, 30, while she was headed to hospital to give birth, also wounded her husband; baby, born in emergency C-section, named Ravid Haim, which she chose The military said Wednesday it confirmed that a Paleostinian suspect killed by troops in the West Bank town of Bruqin over the weekend carried out last week’s deadly terror shooting in the area. In the attack on May 14, near Bruqin and the settlement of Bruchin, a Paleostinian terrorist opened fire from the side of a road on Israeli motorists, killing Tzeela Gez, 30, and wounding her husband. Gez had been heading to a hospital to give birth. Beilinson Hospital staff conducted an emergency C-section to save the newborn, who remains at death's door. He was named Ravid Haim, a name Gez had chosen, a statement on behalf of the family said Tuesday. As troops were searching the area on Saturday, a suspect with a backpack ran toward them while shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest). He was then rubbed out. Following an investigation led by the Shin Bet, police, and Israel Defense Forces, it was revealed that the suspect, Naael Samarah, carried out the shooting attack, a joint statement said. Samarah, a member of Hamas ![]() , was previously tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! for his activity in the terror group. He was released in 2010 and tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! again for several days in 2019 for online incitement, according to the military. The IDF said that in his backpack, troops found an assault rifle and other equipment used to carry out the terror attack. His home, near Bruqin, was mapped by IDF troops ahead of its demolition on Wednesday, the military said in a statement, in accordance with Israel’s policy of demolishing the homes of Paleostinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks. Several additional Paleostinians suspected of involvement in the attack have been arrested, including one accused of being the head of a terror cell that Samarah was part of. The cell, according to the IDF, carried out three other shooting attacks in the area in recent months, including one near Ariel on March 12, in which an Israeli civilian was moderately maimed. The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel from 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... Strip ignited the war there. Since then, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 950 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or gunnies carrying out attacks. There has also been a significant increase in settler violence against Paleostinians since the start of the war. During the same period, 52 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank. IDF says it has arrested Palestinian behind deadly January West Bank terror shooting [IsraelTimes] The IDF says it detained a Palestinian accused of directing a deadly terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq in January. The suspect was arrested overnight in Jenin’s western neighborhood, the IDF says. The attack on January 6 — carried out by three gunmen who have all since been killed — killed off-duty police officer Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein and civilians Rachel Cohen and Aliza Raiz. Additionally, overnight, the IDF says it detained a five-man cell of Islamic State-affiliated terror operatives in the town of Qabatiya. Related: Bruqin: 2025-05-18 West Bank: IDF kills Palestinian who charged at troops, may be linked to murder of pregnant woman Bruqin: 2025-05-16 Busy in the West Bank: 5 PIJ gunnies toes up in Tamun, emir and #2 tied up in Tubas, the hunt for the mother-killer continues Bruqin: 2025-05-15 Woman en route to hospital to give birth killed in West Bank terror shooting |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Two Israelis suspected of collecting intel for Iran near defense minister’s home |
2025-05-21 |
[IsraelTimes] Authorities have reported a growing number of Iranian-directed spy plots inside Israel, often carried out by citizens in exchange for small sums of money Authorities announced on Tuesday the arrest of two Israeli citizens suspected of conducting intelligence-gathering missions on behalf of Iran ![]() spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan.The abbreviation IRGCis the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either Duceor Führeror maybe both. They hate in the town of Kfar Ahim — where Defense Minister Israel Katz resides — in what officials say is the most recent case in a widening Iranian espionage campaign inside Israel. In response, Katz thanked security services for "foiling an Iranian plot to harm me as defense minister of the State of Israel." Roy Mizrahi and Almog Atias, both 24 and residents of Nesher near Haifa, were detained in late April following a joint investigation by the Shin Bet and the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit. According to reports, they were recruited in a Telegram group for swingers. Officials say Mizrahi maintained contact with Iranian operatives throughout 2025 and carried out a series of security-related missions — some alongside Atias — fully aware they were acting under Iranian direction. One mission included transferring a bag that was buried in the ground, believed to contain an bomb, from one location to another at the instruction of Iranian handlers. Mizrahi reportedly used a newly acquired phone and an encrypted messaging app to maintain covert communication with his contacts. The Central District Attorney’s Office is expected to file serious indictments against the two in the coming days. "This case joins a series of recent incidents that point to persistent efforts by hostile terrorist and intelligence entities to recruit Israeli citizens to carry out missions intended to harm the security of the State of Israel and its citizens," a security official said. Earlier this week, 18-year-old Moshe Attias of Yavne was charged with spying on former prime minister Naftali Bennett while the latter was hospitalized. Attias allegedly filmed the cardiology department at Kfar Saba’s Meir Medical Center, documenting the area where Bennett was being treated, and carried out additional missions at the behest of Iranian operatives. Additionally, in January, authorities said they arrested two IDF reservists — Yuri Eliasfov and Georgi Andreyev, both 21 — for allegedly passing sensitive material about the Iron Dome missile defense system to Iran in exchange for payments as small as $50. Those cases are the most recent in a two-year trend of Iranian intelligence operatives ramping up efforts to recruit ordinary Israelis as spies in exchange for money. Last December, police arrested nearly 30 Israelis, mostly Jewish citizens, for espionage activities on behalf of Iran. In most of those cases, the suspects began by carrying out small, innocuous tasks that gradually grew into more serious offenses, like intelligence gathering and liquidation plots. Authorities have repeatedly urged Israelis to avoid any contact with foreign operatives and warned of severe legal consequences for those who cooperate with hostile intelligence services. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Child Spies: Israeli Secret Service Confused by Triple Agents |
2025-05-21 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov [REGNUM] The "intelligence war" between Iran and Israel continues. This time, a 16-year-old teenager, who was under investigation by both the Iranians and the Israelis, has come under counterintelligence's scrutiny. The incident has sparked heated debate. The defense and prosecution versions of the double agent differ dramatically, and it is not entirely clear from them whether the young man acted entirely independently or became a “collateral damage” in an ill-conceived operation by Israeli security forces. However, while the investigation into the youngest spy was underway, a blow to Israel’s security was dealt by those whom the country’s intelligence services had considered their shadow allies for several years. THE SPY FROM SHEPHELAH In mid-May, the Israel Security Service (Shabaq) reported the arrest of a 16-year-old teenager from Shefela, accused of working for Iranian intelligence. According to the investigation, the Iranian handlers assigned the youth simple operations to equip hiding places, photograph city objects and prepare propaganda materials. Moreover, the Iranians even tried to organize a face-to-face meeting with the new agent on the territory of a third country in order to deepen contact, but these plans were thwarted by counterintelligence. The plot of the case, at first glance, is not much different from other similar cases. The teenager became the eighteenth person involved in a large-scale campaign to combat Iranian agents in Israel and even carried out the same tasks as other Iranian "pawns". However, there are some specific features. For example, at some point the teenager himself informed the authorities about contacts with representatives of a hostile state and even allegedly received instructions from operatives on how to safely interrupt communication with the recruiter. However, as noted by the Shabak, the young man did not heed the advice and continued to interact with his Iranian curator, for which he was soon detained. The prosecution insists that the arrested man acted “solely out of selfish motives,” flaunting his status as an agent of several countries and counting on rewards from both Iran and Israel. This is hardly entirely true. The Iranians clearly did not place a serious bet on the teenager (due to his inexperience and difficulty in control), but they could well have tried to use him to briefly divert counterintelligence attention from larger and more important figures in the spy network. And this bet partly justified itself - the case of the "spy from Shefela" really did push aside other scandals for a short time. FALSE TRAIl The Shefela "double agent" is far from the only one to stir up the Israeli public. Much greater damage to the reputation of the Jewish state's intelligence services was caused by a large-scale intelligence failure in the Gaza Strip, which developed according to a similar scenario. Shortly before the start of Operation Gideon's Chariots in Gaza (May 2025), the Israeli press, close to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made a sensational statement: it turns out that the wide network of Palestinian agents created in Gaza before the conflict, considered the "eyes and ears" of the Israeli intelligence services in the enclave, had in fact been working for Hamas all these years and misinforming official Tel Aviv. The agents not only concealed Hamas' plans to break out of Gaza on October 7, 2023 (which effectively caught the intelligence services and the army off guard), but also disrupted Israeli operations to eliminate the movement's functionaries several times. Thus, these agents only pretended to work for the enemy, i.e. they were no longer double, but triple agents. For example, thanks to them, Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, who is now tipped to become the head of Hamas, escaped the IDF's attack in mid-2024. The Israelis still cannot figure out his new location. In addition, Hamas actively used the services of “Israeli” agents to provide official Tel Aviv with false information about the mood in the enclave and among the movement’s command staff, about the number and combat readiness of the underground and the condition of the hostages. The “game” became especially active on the eve of new rounds of negotiations, which partly explains the extraordinary flexibility of the Israeli delegation on a number of issues – for example, their readiness to support the ceasefire regime introduced in the enclave in January 2025. However, in the case of false agents in the ranks of Hamas, Israeli security officials eventually managed to rectify the situation by involving less senior, but more reliable sources in the case, including representatives of competing Palestinian factions. As a result, by the start of Operation Gideon's Chariots, the security services and the army had managed to inflict a number of painful defeats on the Palestinians, including the elimination of Hamas leader Mohammad Sinwar and a number of his associates. DARK PLACES Although the aforementioned spy scandals fit well into the logic of the current “intelligence war” in the Middle East, they contain many controversial points. Thus, in the case of the teenager from Shefela, the picture of the situation presented by the Shin Bet is strikingly different from the arguments of the lawyers. The defense insists that the teenager agreed to cooperate with foreign intelligence under pressure from circumstances—anonymous recruiters knew his home address and information about family members. The law enforcement officers to whom he complained about the persecution were unable to guarantee him protection and preferred to “pass the buck” to their colleagues from counterintelligence. At the same time, the Shin Bet also decided not to disrupt the recruitment, preferring to use the potential Iranian agent “in the dark” to reach out to other potential agents of the network, which is at odds with the statements of counterintelligence agents about the “extensive briefing” of the arrested man. And by doing so, they de facto pushed the teenager to cooperate with the enemy. As a result, the young man found himself drawn into a dangerous game in which he was left on the receiving end. The situation partly echoes the “Hoffman affair,” which thundered across the country in 2024. At that time, military intelligence colonel Roman Hoffman (now a general and military secretary to the prime minister) and several of his subordinates recruited a 16-year-old Israeli to carry out controlled leaks of classified information through his Telegram channel. However, after counterintelligence intervened, the military distanced itself from the newly minted agent, and he spent almost a year in prison on charges of disclosing classified information - more than 44 days of which were spent in interrogations by the Shin Bet. It is highly likely that the current spy story was also the result of excessive self-confidence on the part of some operatives. The hype surrounding the case of the “Hamas triple agents” appears to be man-made and serves a more obvious purpose. In particular, the repeated refrain that it was the re-recruited Hamas agents who “blinded” counterintelligence damages the reputation of the outgoing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, with whom the Israeli authorities have had a protracted conflict. It was Baru who is credited with the initiative to massively convert former Hamas supporters in order to have eyes and ears in the most remote parts of the enclave. It is quite possible that when developing the operation, the Shin Bet chief was guided by the successful experience of recruiting Musab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the founders of Hamas, especially since he subsequently supplied Tel Aviv with valuable intelligence for more than ten years. However, due to the lack of sufficient leverage over the newly-minted agents, the attempt failed. If the matter goes beyond newspaper attacks and escalates into a court case (as Israeli hawks are gradually calling for), it will finally knock not only Bar out of the saddle, but also his closest associates. And in the future, it will allow the Prime Minister’s office to lobby for a convenient candidate for the high post and thereby finally purge counterintelligence of old opponents. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
16-year-old accused of spying for Iran |
2025-05-20 |
[IsraelTimes] State attorneys have filed an indictment against a 16-year-old suspected of spying on Iran’s behalf, after he was arrested Friday by police. The defendant is thought to have carried out missions for his handler, who he contacted over Telegram, over the course of several months. They began corresponding a few months after October 7. According to the indictment filed this morning, the suspect received NIS 1,600 from the agent for printing incendiary posters and taking pictures with it near public buildings. He is said to have taken photos and videos of eight public buildings in Rehovot, including the Magistrate’s Court, Tax Authority office, police station and others. Prosecutors add that the agent asked the teenage defendant, a resident of the Judean foothills area, to set fire to a forested area near Rehovot during large wildfires that broke out west of Jerusalem earlier in May. He never carried out the act, however, due to a dispute over the amount he was to be paid. He is charged in the Lod District Juvenile Court with contacting a foreign agent and providing information to the enemy. Over the past two years, Iranian intelligence operatives have ramped up their efforts to recruit ordinary Israelis as spies or saboteurs in exchange for money, according to Israeli law enforcement. Just yesterday, police officers and Shin Bet agents arrested 18-year-old Yavne resident Moshe Attias on suspicion of contact with “Iranian terror elements” and carrying out several missions on their behalf, including spying on former prime minister Naftali Bennett when he was hospitalized. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Another Israeli teen arrested for spying for Iran on former PM Bennett during hospital stay |
2025-05-19 |
One has to wonder if Shin Bet has known about these people for a while, and just waited to pick them up — tracing back to their handlers and beyond in the meantime… [IsraelTimes] 18-year-old documented floor on which ex-premier’s bodyguards were located, police say, alleging he knew it could harm Israel’s security, but did so for moneyThe police and Shin Bet last month arrested an Israeli citizen suspected of spying for Iran, including on former prime minister Naftali Bennett during a hospital stay. In a joint statement Sunday, the Israel Police and Shin Bet said Moshe Attias, an 18-year-old resident of the central Israeli city of Yavne, was "in contact with Iranian terror elements and carried out a large number of different missions on their behalf." Attias did so "with the understanding that [the missions] could harm the security of the state," and did so for money, the statement said. Among other tasks, Attias is suspected of "gathering intelligence in the cardiology department of a hospital in central Israel," presumably Kfar Saba’s Meir Medical Center, where former prime minister Naftali Bennett was hospitalized last month, undergoing a cardiac catheterization. "He documented, at the request of an Iranian operative, a floor in the hospital containing a room with guards protecting the former prime minister," the statement said. Police said that Attias carried out other missions for his Iranian handlers, but did not elaborate on the additional suspicions. Bennett’s office said in a statement Sunday that the former premier was "confident in the Shin Bet, in the IDF, and in all the security bodies, and is continuing his tours and meetings with the Israeli public all throughout the country." "Iranian attempts to assassinate world leaders have failed and will fail here too, and will certainly not deter Bennett from continuing his activities for the sake of Israel’s security," the statement continued. His office also called on Israel to take a more aggressive position towards Iran, insisting that "Tehran, not Tel Aviv, should be on the defensive." The former premier is expected to re-enter politics ahead of Israel’s next elections, which must take place next fall at the latest, with polls showing Bennett potentially pulling ahead of Netanyahu. Last month, he announced the formation of a new party, with the temporary name "Bennett 2026." LATEST IN SERIES OF SPYING CASES Over the past two years, Iranian intelligence operatives have ramped up their efforts to recruit ordinary Israelis as spies in exchange for money. There have been several recent cases — including one on Friday — in which Iran ![]() spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan.The abbreviation IRGCis the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either Duceor Führeror maybe both. They hate was revealed to have recruited Israelis to conduct various activities, from spreading propaganda and photographing sensitive sites to arson and even the attempted liquidation of bigwigs. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
16-year-old Israeli arrested for carrying out tasks on behalf of Iranian agents |
2025-05-17 |
[IsraelTimes] Teen hid money, photographed sites and printed inciting flyers in exchange for money, officials say Police and the Shin Bet security service said Friday they’d arrested a 16-year-old this month for allegedly carrying out activities on behalf of Iran ![]() spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan.The abbreviation IRGCis the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either Duceor Führeror maybe both. They hate that harmed national security, in exchange for money. Authorities said in a statement that the teen, a resident of the Judean foothills area, was asked by his Iranian handlers to purchase a new phone and download an application where they could communicate. The suspect carried out tasks including hiding money, photographing certain locations and printing inciting flyers. Police said that when the suspect traveled abroad, the agents suggested a meeting, but they did not confirm whether the meeting took place. According to the statement, the suspect at one point informed Israeli authorities that he was in contact with the Iranian agents, but then continued his activities. SMART A security source recommended that "parents brief teenagers about the dangers of using the internet and maintaining contact with strangers who approach them with requests for information or offers to carry out activities and tasks in exchange for monetary compensation." Over the past two years, Iranian intelligence operatives have ramped up their efforts to recruit ordinary Israelis as spies in exchange for money. There have been several recent cases in which Iran was revealed to have recruited Israelis to conduct various activities, from spreading propaganda and photographing sensitive sites to arson and even the attempted liquidation of bigwigs. Late last month, a man was handed a 10-year prison sentence for contacts with Iranian agents that included discussions of a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In March, the State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment at the Beersheba District Court on charges of treason against Eduard Yusupov, a 65-year-old resident of Netivot, for having allegedly conducted spying activities on behalf of Iran. In January, prosecutors charged two IDF reservists serving in an air defense unit with spying for Iran. Last December, police arrested nearly 30 Israelis, mostly Jewish citizens, for espionage activities on behalf of the Islamic Theocratic Republic. In most cases, the suspects began by carrying out small, innocuous tasks that gradually grew into more serious offenses, like intelligence gathering and liquidation plots. In October 2024, seven Israelis were arrested for allegedly photographing and collecting information on IDF bases and facilities, including the Nevatim and Ramat David air bases, which were targeted by both Iran and Hezbollah in 2024. Police have cautioned Israeli citizens and residents against "engaging in contact with foreign operatives and carrying out tasks for them," and have vowed to take harsh legal action against those involved in such activities. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan | ||
Busy in the West Bank: 5 PIJ gunnies toes up in Tamun, emir and #2 tied up in Tubas, the hunt for the mother-killer continues | ||
2025-05-16 | ||
Islamic Jihad confirms five members killed by Israeli forces in Tamun [IsraelTimes] The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group announces the deaths of five members who were killed by Israeli commandos in the West Bank this morning. Troops of the Duvdevan unit had encircled a house in Tamun where the gunmen were holed up, and exchanged fire with them, killing five and detaining one, according to the IDF. Islamic Jihad names its slain terror operatives as Saher Basharat, Ibrahim Odeh, Reza Odeh, Islam Odeh and Wadih Odeh.
In Tamun, commandos of the Duvdevan unit exchanged fire with a group of gunmen holed up in a building, according to military sources. Five gunmen were killed, and one suspect was detained. The troops also located several assault rifles and other military equipment, the military says. Meanwhile, in Tubas, police say undercover Border Police officers raided an apartment where the head of a local terror network was hiding, following intelligence of his whereabouts provided by the Shin Bet. The commander and another prominent operative were detained, police say, adding that the pair worked to arm other operatives and were planning terror attacks. The officers seized six assault rifles, a handgun, four grenades, and other military equipment during the raid, police add.
Other military operations are being carried out this morning in Tubas and Barta’a, where forces have located weapons, the official says. The IDF is also searching for the Palestinian terrorist who carried out last night’s deadly shooting attack. Defense Ministry security guard lightly hurt after vehicle accelerated at southern West Bank checkpoint [IsraelTimes] A Defense Ministry security guard was lightly injured after a vehicle accelerated during a security check at the Meitar checkpoint in the southern West Bank. According to the ministry, a vehicle that arrived from the direction of Beersheba was stopped by a security guard. During the screening, the car accelerated while the guard had his upper body inside the window of the car. The guard was lightly injured and the car fled back toward Beersheba, it adds. IDF believes deadly West Bank shooting was carried out by lone terrorist who fired from side of the road The murderer of pregnant mother -of-three Tzeela Gez, shot to death as her husband was driving to the hospital to deliver their fourth child. [IsraelTimes] The IDF believes that yesterday’s deadly shooting attack in the West Bank was carried out by a sole terrorist, who opened fire from the side of the road on motorists. Because of this assessment, the IDF says it is reorganizing its deployment near Bruchin and working to defoliate the area from which the gunfire was carried out.The IDF continues to surround the nearby Palestinian towns of Bruqin and Kafr ad-Dik, amid the manhunt for the terrorist. During efforts to save Gez’s life, doctors performed an emergency C-section to deliver her baby. The newborn boy — the couple’s fourth child — is in serious but stable condition. “A couple of parents were driving to the happiest moment that a parent can experience and the wife is killed on the way. It’s a horrific incident,” Ben Yosef says. | ||
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