| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Shin Bet says it foiled 85 Iranian cyberattacks, including phishing attempts posing as Israeli official |
| 2025-05-30 |
| [IsraelTimes] The Shin Bet announces that it has thwarted 85 Iranian cyberattacks since the beginning of 2025, aimed at high-profile Israeli civilians, including security officials, politicians, academics and journalists. The cyber campaigns, largely phishing attempts, sought to gain access to victims’ digital devices and accounts to collect sensitive personal information. According to the Shin Bet, Iran’s goal is to use this intelligence to carry out targeted attacks within Israel, possibly through locally recruited operatives. The phishing attempts often came via email, WhatsApp or Telegram, using fake Google Meet links or disguised apps to steal credentials and install spyware. A security official says that while these attacks are sophisticated, they are preventable. “The public is urged to remain vigilant and cautious, as these cyberattacks can be prevented before they occur through awareness, caution, skepticism and responsible online behavior,” the official says, emphasizing the importance of avoiding unfamiliar links. In one case, an Iranian operative posed as Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs in an attempt to lure an Israeli citizen. However, the individual’s vigilance and quick report to security authorities thwarted the attack before any damage was done, the Shin Bet says. |
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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Israel's New Counterintelligence Chief: Predicted Hamas Attack, But Wasn't Heeded | |
| 2025-05-29 | |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov [REGNUM] The months-long saga of appointing the head of the Israeli General Security Service (Shabaq) is nearing its end. General David Zini, who foresaw the Hamas breakthrough six months ago, is tipped to replace counterintelligence chief Ronen Bar.  Despite the fact that Zini does not cause much anger among the opposition, they are trying with all their might to disrupt his imminent appointment. Or at least to delay it. Otherwise, the victory in the protracted struggle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Shin Bet could be officially awarded to the former.
General Zini's career path is not much different from the stories of his colleagues in the craft. Behind him is service in the elite anti-terrorist unit "Sayeret Matkal", specialized infantry and armored units; leadership of reserve brigades and training units. In addition, shortly before his invitation to the Shin Bet, Zini oversaw an army project to increase the military conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews - one of the most sensitive and controversial in the history of the Israeli army. However, the average person will remember the future chief of counterintelligence not for his management and command skills, but for his foresight. In March 2023, more than six months before Hamas broke out of the Gaza Strip, Zini prepared a report for the Gaza Division command on the results of the division's combat readiness. The conclusion was negative - the soldiers serving near the danger zone relied too much on advanced technology and were hardly prepared to stop serious incidents. The threat of a breakthrough existed in almost all areas entrusted to the military. Although the central command ignored Zini's report, considering that the "old commando" was exaggerating, subsequent events confirmed that he was right. Moreover, Zini’s forecast served as one of the arguments for his transfer to the Shin Bet – the Israeli leadership needed a person who could take a fresh look at the “battlefield” of the Iranian and Israeli intelligence services, where Tel Aviv is currently primarily in the position of being attacked. SUPPORT FOR THE "HAWKS" Conservative and right-wing forces in the Israeli government were very happy about Zini's move to the Shin Bet. The "hawks" saw in him an "offensive officer" and a man who would "reboot" the agency and lead it out of crisis. The ruling coalition's support for Zini's candidacy for the post of head of counterintelligence was unanimous. Of course, the process was not without its incidents. Prime Minister Netanyahu was so keen to keep the decision to appoint Zini a secret until the very end that he forgot to consult with Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, to whom the latter was directly subordinate. And although the "tank general" ultimately accepted the prime minister's position, recommending that Zini retire to the reserves in a timely manner, the decision and behavior of his subordinate clearly hurt him. Especially since after the purges and reshuffles in the General Staff initiated by Netanyahu, there were not many trusted officers left around Zamir. Moreover, the prime minister's desire to reach into the army's personnel reserve with every appointment, without taking into account the interests of the military, deepens the contradictions between the General Staff and the government, which plays even more into the hands of the opposition. Almost half of the Knesset dreams of luring Zamir to their side. OPPOSITION AGAINST It is worth recalling that Zini is not the first candidate for the high post. Before him, the laurels of Shin Bet chief were tipped for Vice Admiral Eliyahu Sharvit, whose appointment was agreed upon at the end of March and then just as quickly recalled by the prime minister without explanation. And while the opposition, albeit reluctantly, approved Sharvit’s candidacy, Zini’s figure caused more controversy in the Knesset. Not all Israeli politicians considered the choice of prime minister adequate, especially considering that the future Shin Bet chief's previous experience was exclusively in the army, without any contact with counterintelligence work. The opposition rightly notes that the new head of the department will have no one to rely on: under pressure from the prime minister’s office, his key deputies are planning to resign following the disgraced Bar. The leader of the "generals' opposition" Benny Gantz decided to go even further and actually suggested that Zini ask to resign even before he was officially confirmed in office. And thus make a public demarche with the aim of sobering up the prime minister. Otherwise, Gantz believes, the Shin Bet will become mired in political squabbles, turning into a punitive instrument in the hands of the prime minister. The opposition is echoed by the government's legal adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara. According to her expert opinion, the appointment cannot be considered legal, since it contains a clear conflict of interest. By choosing the most loyal figure from among the security forces, Netanyahu may well try to collapse the case of corrupt ties between Israeli officials and Qatar (“Qatargate”), in which he himself is a suspect. However, Netanyahu has already managed to overcome the “legal veto” more than once. Earlier, he returned Itamar Ben-Gvir to the post of Minister of National Security in a similar manner. After his demonstrative exit from the ruling coalition, he came under the attention of the financial police and could not apply for a high post until the end of the investigation. Zini's appointment is apparently proceeding in the same way. There are a little more than two weeks left until the official "changeover" of the Shin Bet chiefs. During this time, Bar will have to settle the bureaucratic formalities and also hand over the affairs to his successor. And although Zini continues to appear in all official counterintelligence releases as a “candidate,” few doubt his assertion any more. Everyone expects the new boss to make quick and precise decisions. At least in those matters that affect the image and position of the prime minister's office. | |
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| New Gaza aid body starts operating, pans Hamas threats toward those cooperating with it, 170 trucks entered Gaza | |
| 2025-05-27 | |
| [IsraelTimes] GHF doesn’t reveal how much aid so far delivered, but says amount will increase each day; group names new CEO after previous one resigns due to concerns over Israeli restrictions 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... Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said it commenced operations in the Gaza Strip on Monday, delivering truckloads of food to newly established distribution sites, from which the supplies were then distributed to a number of Paleostinians. The announcement followed Hebrew media reports claiming that the US- and Israel-backed GHF did not manage to begin operating in Gaza on Monday as initially planned. The GHF statement did not specify how much aid was distributed, but it did include photos of a number of Gazooks picking up boxes of aid from a distribution site. It said more trucks will be delivered on Tuesday and that the flow of aid will increase each day. The foundation made a point to condemn what it said have been Hamas  ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...death threats against aid groups who have agreed to cooperate with GHF, as well as efforts to block Paleostinians from reaching distribution sites. "It is clear that Hamas is threatened by this new operating model, and will do everything in its power to see it fail," GHF said. GHF also announced that John Acree has been named its interim executive director, after its previous chief resigned on Sunday and indicated that Israeli restrictions were preventing the initiative from being able to adhere to humanitarian principles. Acree is a "senior humanitarian practitioner with more than two decades of global field experience in disaster response, stabilization programming, and civil-military coordination," GHF said. While technically an American company, GHF was established earlier this year in close coordination with Israeli authorities who felt existing aid distribution mechanisms led by the UN and other international organizations were insufficient in preventing the diversion of aid by Hamas. Israel wanted to create a small number of distribution sites where pre-selected familial representatives would be able to pick up a heavy box full of food for their families in a zone secured and operated by American private contractors. GHF still needs support and cooperation from existing humanitarian organizations, as it seeks to gain credibility on the ground. That backing has yet to come, though, with the UN and many other international organizations in Gaza vowing not to cooperate with the GHF, arguing that its aid initiative violates humanitarian principles by requiring Gazooks to walk long distances in order to retrieve aid and limiting distribution to southern Gaza, in what would forcibly displace the Paleostinian population. UN officials have also raised concerns that the organization could be used to "weaponize" aid by restricting who is eligible to receive it. A small number of lesser-known organizations have agreed to cooperate with the GHF thus far, including the US-based aid group Rahma Worldwide, whose logo was seen in the photos of boxes being distributed to Gazooks on Monday. GHF says it is made up of former humanitarian, government and military officials. It has said its distribution points — three in southern Gaza and one in central Gaza — will be guarded by private security firms and that its aid will reach a million Paleostinians — around half of Gaza’s population — by the end of the week. Under pressure from allies, Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid  into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering since March 2. Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meet mounting needs.Hamas warned Paleostinians on Monday not to cooperate with the new aid system, saying it is aimed at furthering those objectives. Earlier Monday, Hamas executed four men it claimed had looted some of the aid trucks that have begun entering Gaza, according to sources familiar with the incident.
... KABOOM!... as they were working to prevent gang members from hijacking aid trucks. Aid groups have said that deliveries have been hampered by looting, claiming Israel is to blame for creating a situation in which hundreds of thousands of people have been driven to desperation by aid blockade. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, and says aid needs to be tightly controlled to prevent it from helping the terror group. Israel says 170 aid trucks entered Gaza today, containing food, medical equipment, drugs [IsraelTimes] The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announces that 170 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip today. Israel resumed near-daily aid deliveries to Gaza last week, after a pause since March 2. Since then, 665 trucks of aid have entered the Strip. COGAT says the aid delivery comes “following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon.” Today’s trucks include food, medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs, COGAT says. The aid underwent an inspection by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing. COGAT does not comment on whether the trucks headed for the new aid distribution sites in Gaza, which according to reports, did not begin operations today as planned. Lapid suggests Israel funding foreign ‘shell companies’ distributing Gaza aid; PM spokesperson denies [IsraelTimes] Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses the government of secretly funding humanitarian aid for Gaza through two foreign “shell companies,” an assertion quickly denied by the Prime Minister’s Office. He really is a vile little man. Are any in the opposition not? “Our job is to ask the government tough questions, and with such a question I take the podium today: Is the State of Israel behind two shell companies established in Switzerland...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... and the United States, GHF and SRS, to organize and finance humanitarian aid in Gazoo?" Lapid asks from the Knesset rostrum ahead of a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s office confirmed this morning that the distribution of assistance under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had begun, launching a system that Israel says is meant to keep aid from being diverted to the Hamas  ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...terror group. While technically an American company, GHF was established in close coordination with Israeli authorities. Aid groups and the UN have refused to cooperate with the new initiative, saying it would create even more displacement of the Paleostinian population, fail to meet local needs, and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance. GHF has published a 14-page document detailing its distribution plan, including the names of those leading the project. Two American companies, Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) and UG Solutions, were selected to serve as onsite contractors. According to The New York Times  ...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , the project wasn’t simply built in coordination with Israel, but is "an Israeli brainchild" proposed during a 2023 meeting of "like-minded officials, military officers and business people with close ties to the Israeli government." According to a separate Haaretz report published yesterday, SRS entered Gaza without security clearance from the Shin Bet, as is the procedure. In a swift reaction, Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri says: "Israel does not fund the humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. Israel and the United States are working in full coordination and through various channels to cut off aid from reaching Hamas." Related: GHF: 2025-05-26 NYT: US-registered Gaza aid group is ‘brainchild’ of Israelis, its funding is unclear UPDATE: GHF CEO quits UPDATE 2: GHF gets to work anyway GHF: 2025-05-21 Israel allows UN to bring 93 aid trucks into Gaza as international pressure mounts GHF: 2025-05-19 Huge protest in The Hague demands Dutch government draw ‘red line’ on Gaza war | |
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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| 3 arrested on suspicion of planning terror attacks in Israel for Islamic State |
| 2025-05-27 |
[IsraelTimes] The Shin Bet and Israel Police announce the arrest of three residents of the northern town of Ar’ara — two adults and a minor — on suspicion of planning terror attacks in Israel on behalf of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... (ISIS). According to Sherlocks, the suspects swore allegiance to ISIS, received guidance from the group’s operatives in Syria, Oh? and conducted test explosions in open areas with the intention of building a powerful bomb to target Israeli security forces.The Haifa District Attorney’s Office has filed "serious indictments" against the suspects and is seeking their detention until the end of legal proceedings. Officials warn of a growing trend of Arab Israeli minors becoming involved in terrorism, with the Shin Bet vowing to continue efforts to prevent attacks and protect public safety. |
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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Jordan condemns Ben Gvir’s visit to Temple Mount |
| 2025-05-27 |
| [IsraelTimes] Jordan condemns a visit by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to the Temple Mount. “The practices of this extremist minister and his continued incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque… do not negate the fact that East Jerusalem is an occupied city over which Israel has no sovereignty,” says a statement from the foreign ministry of Jordan. The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism, where two biblical Temples once stood, and Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest shrine in Islam, making the site a central flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s Old City from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. However, it allowed the Jordanian Waqf to continue to maintain religious authority atop the mount. Under their 1994 peace treaty, Israel recognized Amman’s “special role… in Muslim holy shrines in Jerusalem.” Ben Gvir says Jewish prayer, including full prostration, permitted at flashpoint Temple Mount [IsraelTimes] National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declares that Jewish prayer, including full prostration, is allowed on the Temple Mount as he pays a Jerusalem Day visit to the contested holy site. Flanked by Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and MK Yitzhak Kroizer, both members of his ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, Ben Gvir says that “many Jews are flooding the Temple Mount.” “Today, thank God, it is possible to pray on the Temple Mount, to bow down on the Temple Mount – we thank God for that,” the far-right minister declares — adding that he and his colleagues had come to “pray for the safety of the hostages” and “for victory in the war.” A photo apparently shows Kroizer prostrated on the Mount alongside other Jews as a police officers look on. Meanwhile, MK Zvi Sukkot, of the far-right Religious Zionism party, was filmed walking across the holy site with an Israeli flag, repeatedly declaring “the Temple Mount is in our hands.” Ben Gvir has long rebuffed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated insistence that the decades-old status quo, which bans Jewish prayer on the site, remains in force. The Prime Minister’s Office says it is looking into the matter. Ben Gvir says he also prayed for the success of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious pick to head the Shin Bet security agency, Maj. Gen. David Zini. “And I pray for the success of the new head of the Shin Bet: that he will pursue our enemies, that he will mow down our enemies, as he has done throughout his years – to be professional, and to distinguish between an enemy and a friend: those who love are embraced, and enemies are mowed down,” he says. Ben Gvir last visited the Temple Mount in early April, eliciting criticism from the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox members as Haredim believe it is forbidden to tread in the holy site due to its sanctity. Jews are not officially allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, but the Israel Police, which comes under the purview of Ben Gvir’s ministry, has increasingly tolerated limited prayer there. Ben Gvir has said repeatedly that his policy is to allow Jewish prayer there, drawing rebukes from US and international officials, as well as warnings from the security establishment that conflict over the site poses a risk to national security. |
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| Envelope containing ‘suspicious powder’ sent to office of coalition whip Katz |
| 2025-05-27 |
| [IsraelTimes] Knesset guards are examining an envelope containing a suspicious powder sent to coalition whip Ofir Katz’s Knesset office, a Knesset spokesperson announces. “In accordance with the security procedures for such events – an update has been forwarded to the Israel Police and the envelope and the suspicious material inside will be forwarded for further examination by the authorities,” the Knesset says in a statement. Just under a week ago, another envelope “containing a suspicious powder” was sent to Health Minister Uriel Busso’s Knesset office, the second time in under a year that Busso’s office had been targeted in this manner. Last month, Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman also said he had received a “suspicious envelope” and accused the Shin Bet security service of falling down on the job. Also last month, police announced that they were investigating several threatening letters that had been sent to elected officials and their families. According to Channel 12, these included Likud MK Shalom Danino and United Torah Judaism lawmaker Moshe Roth. |
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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas authorities say at least 23 killed in strikes across Gaza; IDF doesn’t comment |
| 2025-05-26 |
| [IsraelTimes] Medics say local journalist, senior rescue service official and a pregnant woman among dead; army says soldier seriously injured in altercation with a comrade in north Gaza Israeli military strikes killed at least 23 Paleostinians across 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 on Sunday, including a journalist, a pregnant woman, and a senior rescue service official, according to local Hamas  ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...-controlled health authorities. The Israel Defense Forces did not comment on any of the strikes. The latest deaths in the campaign resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north, and Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, medics said. Israel has stepped up its air campaign in Gaza in recent days, saying on Saturday that it struck 100 targets across the territory, targeting terror operatives and sites. The military says it takes steps to minimize harm to civilians, while noting that terror groups operate from within Gaza’s civilian population. In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, a strike hit a tent housing displaced people, killing a mother, her two children and another relative, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Civil defense front man Mahmud Bassal said five people were killed in a strike on a home in Jabalia, in the north. He added some people were still under the debris, as "the civil defense does not have search equipment or heavy equipment to lift the rubble to rescue the maimed and recover the deaders." Also in Jabalia, local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an ... KABOOM!... that hit his house earlier in the day, according to the Hamas-run civil defense agency. According to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, Abu Warda’s death raised the number of Paleostinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 220. Israel has repeatedly alleged that journalists killed in strikes were actually terror operatives who posed as news hounds; it maintains that Hamas uses hospitals, schools, shelters, and aid infrastructure as cover for terror activities. Given that the IDF collected Hamas’s HR file cabinet contents ages ago, if they say so it’s because they have proof. Two more people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in an attack targeting tents that sheltered displaced people around Nuseirat in central Gaza, Bassal added.Also in Nuseirat, medics said that an airstrike killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory’s civil emergency service, and his wife in their home. The Israeli military did not respond to request for comment on any of the airstrikes in Gaza on Sunday, but did say that a recent strike in the Strip killed a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught. The IDF said Ahmad Osama Hassan Al-Lahouni, who served in Hamas’s naval commando unit, was killed in a strike carried out jointly by the Southern Command, Israeli Air Force, Intelligence Directorate, Navy, and Shin Bet. Lahouni had infiltrated the Kerem Shalom area on October 7, according to the IDF. ATTEMPTS TO LOOT HUMANITARIAN AID TRUCK IN GAZA Later on Sunday, media outlets in Gaza published footage showing dozens of people attempting to loot a truck carrying humanitarian aid in downtown Gaza City. The video showed crowds trying to unload aid from the vehicle before gunfire is heard, prompting the crowd to disperse. Whether the truck ultimately reached its intended destination or was looted remains unclear. A similar incident was reported Saturday in Khan Younis, where, according to reports, dozens of people surrounded another aid truck and took its contents. On Saturday, a UAE-affiliated aid organization announced that of the 24 trucks it had sent into Gaza in recent days carrying humanitarian supplies — primarily flour and baking materials — 23 were stolen and never reached their intended destinations, such as bakeries or storage warehouses in the Strip. The armed wing of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in separate statements Sunday that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza. The military did not refer to any such incidents. The military has stepped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it has described as a renewed push to destroy Hamas, calling for the evacuation of civilians from large swaths of the enclave, including the entire city of Khan Younis in the southern Strip. Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday that at least 3,785 people had been killed in the territory since the latest ceasefire collapsed on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,939 — a figure that cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 420. Red Cross says 2 of its members killed in strike on Gaza home How close to 100% probability that both were also middle management on the Hamas payroll? And that they were doing something warlike at the time they were airstruck? [IsraelTimes] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announces that two of its staff members, Ibrahim Eid and Ahmad Abu Hilal, were killed in a strike on their home in Khan Younis yesterday.According to a statement from the ICRC’s delegation in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Eid was employed as a weapon contamination officer, while Abu Hilal was a security guard at the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah. “We extend our profound condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues. Their loss leaves a deep hole in our hearts,” the statement reads. The ICRC condemns the rising civilian death toll in Gaza, describing the killings as “intolerable” and reiterating calls for a ceasefire. They also demand the “protection of civilians, including medical humanitarian relief, and civil defense personnel.” The IDF has yet to respond to a request for comment on the incident. Hamas-run authorities say 20 killed, dozens wounded in strike on Gaza City school-turned-shelter Translation: The IDF destroys yet another Hamas command-and-control center with built-in human shields. How many of the shields were being held there at gunpoint versus the number of Hamas relatives who thought it a perk until that moment? [IsraelTimes] Hamas-run health authorities in the Gaza Strip say at least 20 people were killed and dozens were wounded when an Israeli strike hit a school housing displaced people a short while ago.Medics say the dozens of casualties in the strike on the school, at Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, included women and children, although these figures could not be verified. Some of the bodies were badly burned according to images circulating on social media, which Reuters cannot immediately verify. There is no immediate comment from the IDF. |
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| 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.  [IsraelTimes] AG’s office said to oppose legislation on the grounds it could harm the international legitimacy of Israeli prosecutors’ legal action against perpetratorsThe 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  ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...-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  for anyone found guilty of violating its provisions.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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| NYT: US-registered Gaza aid group is ‘brainchild’ of Israelis, its funding is unclear UPDATE: GHF CEO quits UPDATE 2: GHF gets to work anyway | |
| 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..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...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. In blow to Israel-backed Gaza aid effort, CEO of group tasked with managing it resigns [IsraelTimes] Future of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation uncertain after CEO Jake Wood says project doesn’t abide by humanitarian principles; Trump suggests truce talks moving in right direction The CEO of the new Israeli- and US-backed organization that was supposed to begin managing the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza in the coming days has resigned. “I am proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion, and complement the work of longstanding NGOs in Gaza,” Gaza Humanitarian Foundation CEO Jake Wood said in a statement on Sunday. “However, it is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon,” he added. GHF was created earlier this year as Israel tried to advance a new mechanism for distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza, while preventing its diversion by Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid, hoarding supplies, and selling it in markets to pay its operatives. Israel wanted to create a small number of distribution sites in southern Gaza where pre-selected family representatives would be able to pick up a heavy box full of food for their families in a zone secured and operated by American private contractors. While technically an American company, GHF was established in close coordination with Israeli authorities in order to manage the new aid initiative. However, GHF still needed support and cooperation from existing humanitarian organizations as it sought to gain credibility on the ground. That backing has yet to come, though, with the UN and other international organizations in Gaza vowing not to cooperate with GHF, arguing that its aid initiative violates humanitarian principles by requiring Gazans to walk long distances in order to retrieve aid and limiting distribution to southern Gaza in what would forcibly displace the Palestinian population. There were also questions about GHF’s funding, which has not been transparent, along with a memo it sent out to potential donors that named two individuals on its leadership who said they weren’t involved in the initiative and admitted to only being able to initially feed 60 percent of Gaza’s population. Wood, a former Marine and social entrepreneur, tried to dispel concerns when he announced that Israel had agreed to GHF’s demands to allow for the establishment of additional distribution sites throughout Gaza and to restart the distribution of aid through existing mechanisms last week until GHF is operational on the ground. A senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel last week that GHF’s target date for beginning operations was this weekend, but that did not happen. Further complicating matters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said last week that in the third stage of Israel’s aid operations, distribution would be limited to a small area in southern Gaza secured by the IDF — in what would go against Wood’s assertion that he would not limit distribution to one part of the Strip. Wood said he was approached about leading GHF two months ago due to his experience in humanitarian operations and stressed that he sought to “establish it as a truly independent humanitarian entity.” “Like many others around the world, I was horrified and heartbroken at the hunger crisis in Gaza and, as a humanitarian leader, I was compelled to do whatever I could to help alleviate the suffering,” he said. Wood’s resignation marks a major blow to Israel’s effort to resume aid in Gaza on its own terms, and it’s unclear whether GHF will be able to march on. Among other challenges, Wood’s resignation is likely to bury chances for GHF to be able to fundraise from countries abroad, as the reasons he gave for stepping down appeared to echo fears voiced by the UN and international organizations already operating on the ground that were asked to cooperate with the foundation in order to ensure its success. The American security contractors that GHF is working with arrived in Israel earlier this month in order to enter Gaza and begin managing the distribution sites. While Wood appeared willing to work within the strict provisions set up by Israel, his resignation statement indicated that his flexibility had reached a limit. “I urge Israel to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms, and I urge all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion or discrimination,” he said. “I continue to believe the only sustainable path for the long-term is for Hamas to release all hostages, for there to be a cessation of hostilities, and a pathway for peace, security, and dignity for all people in the region.” Wood’s resignation from GHF came days after Israel announced last week that it would start allowing a limited number of aid trucks to enter Gaza under the pre-existing mechanisms after more than two months of a total aid blockade. Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says will begin delivering aid today, expresses regret over CEO’s resignation
“We were disappointed to learn of Jake Wood’s sudden resignation as Executive Director of GHF. He has been a passionate advocate for the need to safely deliver humanitarian assistance to Gazans without diversion or delay, and achieved real progress for the entire humanitarian community in the short time he was involved in this effort. The fact that aid is beginning to trickle back into Gaza is a testament to his work,” the board says in a statement. “Unfortunately, from the moment GHF was announced, those who benefit from the status quo have been more focused on tearing this apart than on getting aid in, afraid that new, creative solutions to intractable problems might actually succeed,” the statement reads. “We will not be deterred. Our trucks are loaded and ready to go. Beginning Monday, May 26, GHF will begin direct aid delivery in Gaza, reaching over one million Palestinians by the end of the week. We plan to scale rapidly to serve the full population in the weeks ahead,” GHF says. There is no immediate comment from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which coordinates the supply of humanitarian aid into 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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| 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 ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...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 trucks, having been placed there by UN and Israeli accomplices. Once past inspection and inside Gaza, the aid trucks were targeted by both smugglers retrieving their goods and other criminals hoping to get to them first, drawn by the contraband’s sky-high prices.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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| 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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