RSS
Under Cover of its Proxy War Against Israel, Iran’s Nuclear Program Is Rushing Ahead
Military personnel stand guard at a nuclear facility in the Zardanjan area of Isfahan, Iran, April 19, 2024. Photo: West Asia News Agency via REUTERS
JNS.org – Iran appears to be exploiting the ongoing war of attrition between its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, and Israel to make rapid progress on its nuclear program.
“There is no doubt that Iran is taking advantage of the Israeli, the American, and the entire international community’s focus on the war in Gaza and on the northern border to advance its nuclear program as much as possible,” professor Eyal Zisser, vice rector of Tel Aviv University, told JNS.
Tehran’s goal, he said, is “reaching a threshold state without actually crossing the line and conducting a nuclear test.”
Asked whether a dual-front confrontation involving a simultaneous strike on Iran’s nuclear sites and Hezbollah’s strategic missile stockpiles could be an option for Israel, Zisser said Jerusalem might not have a choice.
“The government’s policy for now is to focus on Gaza and keep the northern border on a low flame,” he said. “This [the dual front conflict] requires the mobilization of society and the military, and international support—these things are not present now,” he added.
However, he said, “The option of a military move should be on the table—and in any case, it is likely that if Israel attacks Iran, Hezbollah will join as well.”
Asked if Israel was relying too much on the international community to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Zisser disagreed.
“I don’t think anyone relied on the international community to do anything,” he said. “There were expectations from the United States—but Trump left and Biden came, and it seemed clear from the beginning that Biden would not go all the way against Iran. The question is whether Trump would if he is elected,” he added.
US support would be critical in any confrontation with Iran, he said, adding that on this matter, both Biden and Trump “are committed to Israel but will hesitate on the question of whether to go to a forceful maneuver with Iran because of Israel. So it is not clear that the elections will change anything.”
Ephraim Asculai, a former senior official at the Israel Atomic Energy Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), recently provided a detailed analysis of Iran’s advancements in uranium enrichment.
Speaking to journalists on a call organized on July 3 by the Jerusalem Press Club, he explained, “I can say very briefly that the capacity of Iran to enrich uranium to weapons grade, which is 90% enrichment, is multiplied by many, many times.”
Asculai added that Iran now possesses, according to data provided by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, the capability to enrich uranium to weapons-grade level within a few weeks, in quantities that would be enough for “several nuclear warheads.”
He noted that while enrichment is the most difficult aspect of producing nuclear weapons, it isn’t the only one.
“There are two additional parts to the development of nuclear weapons. The second is the design and production of the nuclear explosive mechanism, and the third is the delivery system. And each has its own problems,” he said.
However, most of these two stages can be completed in parallel with the enrichment process, he added. Based on intelligence gathered by the Mossad in 2018 on the Iranian nuclear program up to 2003, Iran had already at that time advanced “quite nicely” with respect to the nuclear explosive mechanism.
“I think that it is assumed that the Iranians received the design of the nuclear explosive device from Pakistan from the late unlamented doctor Abdul Qadir Khan, and thereby they know what to do,” he said.
The post Under Cover of its Proxy War Against Israel, Iran’s Nuclear Program Is Rushing Ahead first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.