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The Day After…
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks to members of the Security Council during a meeting to address the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US, April 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
JNS.org – There was no way to write about the latest depravity before it happened. We thought we knew, but we didn’t.
Now we do.
The short form is that they staged a raucous celebration with children singing and dancing as four coffins moved along. They provided keys to the Israel Defense Forces for unlocking the coffins—keys that didn’t work. Propaganda material was in each coffin. One held a person that it turns out was not Shiri Bibas, mother of Ariel and Kfir, wife of Yarden.
In the aftermath, people have had a lot to say.
What friends and supporters of Israel are saying and writing is wrenching but not unexpected. Among them are friends that Israel and Jews can count on, including Col. Richard Kemp, a retired British Army officer; Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.); Karoline Preisler, a lawyer and politician based in Berlin; John Spencer, the chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute; and Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
An amazing number of public voices suddenly found their outrage.
The biggest fraud in this was U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. “I condemn … Under international law … They must comply … Respect for the dignity of … .” And so on and so on.
Who cares? More than 500 days ago, 1,200 people were killed in Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, in what we thought then was the most horrific manner conceived by the human brain. (We might have been wrong. What happened to those who have and had been held captive by terrorists inside the Gaza Strip may have been worse.) More than 500 days ago, more than 250 people—some still living, some now deceased—were dragged from southern Israel into Gaza as hostages in violation of “international law,” which clearly applies in only certain cases, none involving Israelis or Jews.
The deafening silence by Guterres about murdered and mutilated Jewish men, women and children (babies!), coupled with his loud, ongoing condemnation of Israel’s defense and support of Hamas will be his legacy. Along with the lunatic propaganda that came out of U.N. agencies over which he presides.
The BBC reported, “Once again, there was a stage, flanked by huge posters highlighting the catastrophic consequences of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the Palestinian determination to stay put.” They missed the graphic showing the Bibas family—all of them—on the banner with a vampire-like image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his mouth dripping with blood, standing behind them, and missed the Nazi chants.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is waiting “in agony.”
Amnesty International was reminded of the “urgent need to immediately release the civilian hostages and Palestinians arbitrarily detained.” Amazing how the bodies of babies murdered by hand remind Amnesty of the need to release Palestinians detained and tried for terror activities in the court of a democratic country.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which failed to visit a single hostage, deliver any medicine or ensure that the hostages were treated according to international humanitarian law, was worried about bodies. “We have unequivocally clarified that any release—of living hostages or ones that are no longer alive—must be carried out respectfully and privately.”
“Privately” is a euphemism for not letting the world see the degradation imposed on people, living and dead, by Hamas.
Palestinian voices were interesting.
After 500-plus days of moaning about (fake) genocide, (fake) famine and (fake) hideous brutality of Israel in Gaza, now (now!) they are jumping over each other to say, “No, it wasn’t me, and yes, it was them, and yes, I’m so upset about the Bibas children.”
One wrote, “Seeing my feed with so many Palestinians who stood and loudly stated that Hamas should never have abducted the hostages makes me very proud. We shall never forget the crime they committed against the Bibas family.”
Another, “My feed is full of Palestinians condemning the kidnapping of the Bibas family &and children. No one with a conscience can justify such a crime. We must uphold our values and speak up for the victims, the innocent and the unheard—no matter who the perpetrators or victims are.”
Not about the women raped, the parents who watched their children die, and the children who watched their parents die on Oct. 7, in addition to the torture, rape, and murder of adult hostage inside Gaza? Just the babies?
Um, no.
Palestinians should be reminded that the government of Israel announced large rewards and safe passage for Palestinian civilians who gave information about the hostages to the IDF. Not one single person came forward. Some hostages were at times imprisoned in “civilian” spaces—forced to cook, clean and watch after Palestinian children in homes in Gaza—including UNRWA spaces, Mr. Guterres. And still, crickets.
For those who say, “Well, the Gaza ‘civilians’ were oppressed by Hamas, so they were afraid to speak out,” note that in every hideous country of Europe during the Holocaust, brave and threatened civilians hid Jews, fed Jews and sheltered Jews. The Garden of the Righteous Among Nations at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem tells their stories of bravery and decency. There will be no Palestinian counterpart.
There were Arab voices, and herein lies hope.
Even before the Abraham Accords were signed in the fall of 2020, there have been voices in the Arab world calling sincerely for coexistence and friendship between Muslim Arabs and Israelis, including its Jewish and non-Jewish population. It is an amazing group of people who stayed the course, even after Oct. 7.
Amjad Taha, political strategist and analyst from the United Arab Emirates; Luai Ahmed, a Yemeni and Swedish journalist, columnist and influence; Hayder Alasadi, the founder and CEO of the Iraqi-Israeli Association of Peace; Bassam Eid, a Palestinian who comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Israeli TV and radio; and a few others (not many) can have a garden. They were joined Friday by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, who said, “What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah.”
So, now what?
Bible study. Deuteronomy. “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.”
Vengeance is His, but the instrument of His wrath is likely here on Earth.
The post The Day After… first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
The post Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
The post Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
The post US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.