i24 News – Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that Iran’s nuclear program had been “wiped out,” describing it as a turning point in Israel’s security posture and regional diplomacy.

Cohen claimed that Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities had been eliminated following joint Israeli-American strikes earlier this year.

“Iran is in a very different position,” he said. “They can no longer enrich uranium at present.” He echoed former US President Donald Trump’s earlier remarks that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “wiped out” during the operation.

Calling the strikes a “great success,” Cohen said the mission sent two messages to Tehran: that Israel could carry out such large-scale operations in coordination with the United States, and that it was prepared to strike again if Iran sought to resume uranium enrichment.

“We destroyed their air defenses, their Revolutionary Guard bases, and hunted them down even into their bedrooms in Tehran and other cities,” Cohen said, describing the extent of the offensive.

Turning to regional diplomacy, Cohen credited the Trump administration for its role in both the strikes and broader mediation efforts in the Middle East. He said the recent ceasefire between Israel and Gaza could open the door to a “reconstruction of relations” across the region and renewed peace talks inspired by the Abraham Accords.

Cohen also mentioned Saudi Arabia’s growing engagement, noting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected to visit Washington soon for discussions with US officials. “Not only is this visit important for him, but also for us in the region,” he said.

He added that other Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, had shown interest in potential peace initiatives. “We should expect to see more peace treaties in the near future,” Cohen said. “I believe we will witness a better Middle East.”

Hamas handed over bodies of three hostages on Sunday, even as the Palestinian terrorist group traded blame with Israel for violations of the tenuous truce that has mostly halted two years of war.

Israeli forces in Gaza received coffins carrying the bodies of three hostages, conveyed through the Red Cross, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. The remains will be transported to Israel for identification.

The bodies are expected to be those of three of the 11 hostages whose remains Israel is seeking from Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire. Israel has said Hamas has been too slow in delivering them; Hamas says it is working as quickly as possible under difficult conditions.

The issue has been just one of the disputes holding up full implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire in place since October 10.

Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed one man in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said its aircraft had struck a militant who was posing a threat to its forces. Al-Ahli Hospital said one man was killed in the airstrike near a vegetable market in the Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.

“There are still Hamas pockets in the areas under our control in Gaza, and we are systematically eliminating them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Hamas released what it described as a list of violations of the ceasefire by Israel. Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, denied that Hamas fighters had violated the truce by attacking Israeli soldiers.

VIOLENCE NOT COMPLETELY HALTED

The ceasefire has calmed most fighting, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. Israel has withdrawn troops from positions in cities and more aid has been allowed in.

Hamas released all 20 living hostages held in Gaza in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees held by Israel.

Hamas also agreed under the ceasefire to hand over the remains of 28 dead hostages in exchange for the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed in the war. Before Sunday it had turned over 17.

Meanwhile, violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 236 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce, nearly half of them in a single day last week when Israel retaliated for an attack on its troops. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed and it has targeted scores of fighters.

The ceasefire was mediated by the United States, and both sides have appealed to Washington to halt violations.

The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, met on Saturday with Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir during a visit to the region to discuss Gaza, the Israeli military said.

Netanyahu said any Israeli action in Gaza is reported to Washington. Hamas said the United States was not doing enough to ensure Israel abides by the ceasefire agreement.

About 200 US troops have set up base in southern Israel to monitor the ceasefire and help make plans for an international force to stabilize the enclave, as foreseen in later phases of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.

There has been little sign of progress on the next stages so far, and major obstacles still lie ahead, including the disarmament of Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

LAS VEGAS — There were a number of villains at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit here this weekend.

Tucker Carlson, who recently hosted avowed antisemite and white nationalist Nick Fuentes on his show, was lambasted by speakers as not being part of their MAGA movement. The phrase “Imagine if Kamala Harris were president,” said with relief, was uttered more than a few times.

But the name that drew the loudest boos the entire weekend was one that, a year ago, would have been completely unknown to the room.

“Take a look now at Zohran Mamdani, who represents the absolute worst of the worst,” said Norm Coleman, the RJC chairman and former senator.

“The extreme of the party is now the mainstream of the Democratic Party,” he added, a sentiment that was echoed widely, including by the Jewish congressmen Mike Lawler and David Kustoff.

Coleman invoked Mamdani to emphasize the importance of maintaining a Republican majority in Congress, using Mamdani as an example of how the Democratic party will “enact the most progressive, radical, leftist agenda this country has ever seen” if they can take control.

Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and favorite to be elected this week as mayor of New York City, is opposed to Israel’s government and existence as a Jewish state and subscribes to democratic socialist politics that are anathema to the RJC’s values.

Several of the speakers lambasted Mamdani’s 2023 comments, resurfaced this week, accusing the Israeli army of being the cause of problems within the New York Police Department.

The summit came at a moment of growing concern about antisemitism in conservative circles. But by casting Mamdani as the new face and direction of the Democratic Party, RJC speakers were able to acknowledge the existence of antisemitism on the right, while still pointing to the Democrats as having a far bigger, less controlled problem.

“The antisemitism problem exists in both parties,” Ari Fleisher, an RJC board member, told reporters. But, he continued, “Republicans have a cold. Democrats have a fever.”

“The Democrats have a growing socialism problem,” Fleisher continued. “And mark my words, the future is playing out before your very eyes at this meeting: What statement got the biggest reaction from the crowd? It was any reference to Mamdani. He’s not even elected yet.”

Fleisher said he expects Mamdani’s ascension to be “the new animating force that’s going to drive a lot of Republicans” into action.

“They’re adding to their fever, and his election will singularly tip that fever into a red-hot area that’s going to be hard for the Democrats to recover from,” Fleisher said.

The comments comes amid speculation that Republican leaders are in some ways eager for Mamdani’s election in New York, where the current mayor’s tolerance of the Trump administration has fended off some of the targeting that the president has directed toward other large cities this year. A democratic socialist at the helm of the city, long an avatar for conservative anxieties about crime and diversity, gives the Republicans a punching bag for attacks on the Democratic Party and, party strategists hope, boosts Republican odds in upcoming downballot races.

Fleisher was far from the only speaker to call out Mamdani.

Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick said antisemitism is “running wild on the progressive left,” and that “the leaders of the Democratic Party are not confronting it, with their new star, Mamdani.”

Florida Rep. Randy Fine, one of four Jewish Republicans in Congress, called for Mamdani to be deported.

“The only thing I want to see Mamdani running for is his gate at JFK on the deportation flight to Uganda,” Fine said to cheers.

“Lord help us and pray for the people of New York City,” said conservative CNN commentator, Scott Jennings.

Emily Austin, a social media influencer who’s behind the group Hot Girls for Cuomo, said “extremists both abroad and here at home are committed to dismantling” a set of “Western values” that includes ”freedom, individual rights, democracy, capitalism.”

“And nowhere is this clearer than in my home, New York City,” she said.

“He is being elevated as a serious voice, potentially the next mayor of the biggest city in the world,” Austin said. (That title actually belongs to Tokyo; New York is 49th in population.) “Just think about the absurdity of that.”

Rank-and-file Republican Party donors in attendance who’d already been worried about a Mamdani mayoral administration felt their fears confirmed by speakers’ warnings and condemnations.

“I have two sons that work on Wall Street and I’m extremely concerned about their safety,” said Valerie Greenfeld, who moved to Israel from Washington, D.C., in 2021 but remains active with the RJC, in an interview.

“They assure me that they’re fine and all of this, but given everything that I’ve heard today, I know that I’m right,” Greenfeld said. “They’re not fine.”

She added, “Coming to the RJC today has helped me realize what I’ve known for quite some time.”

Speakers’ criticisms of Mamdani ranged from his socialist views (“Maybe he should go down to Cuba and see what it’s like to see a bread line,” said Sen. Rick Scott) to harping on the Queens assemblymember’s Muslim faith. Sid Rosenberg, the Jewish shock jock who quipped about Mamdani cheering for a second 9/11 — which Mamdani’s challenger, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, played along with on the air — doubled down on that comment.

Rosenberg then explicitly shared his thoughts about Mamdani’s ascendance as a Muslim politician, suggesting that he was emblematic of a wave that he finds threatening.

“I believe there’s, what, 200 elected officials [in the country] that are Muslim, maybe 800 by the end of the year,” Rosenberg said.

“I don’t beat around the bush and I don’t care what you think about me — I don’t want Muslims running this country,” Rosenberg said, drawing applause.

“Now I’m not saying every Muslim’s a bad person,” Rosenberg said. “But when you preface something with something like that, the odds are — a lot of them are, right?”

He added, “When they take over New York City, which they’re about to do in four or five days, the rest of the country gets a heck of a lot easier.”

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