RSS
Gal Gadot Condemns Silence Over Hamas’ Sexual Violence: ‘The World Has Failed the Women of Oct. 7’
Gal Gadot seen outside the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ studios in Los Angeles. Photo: Cover Media via Reuters Connect
Israeli actress Gal Gadot blasted the international community for its silence about rape and sexual violence that Israeli women experienced by the hands of Hamas terrorists during the deadly massacre that took place in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, the Wonder Woman 1984 star said “the world has failed the women of Oct. 7” and called for the immediate release of every female hostage seized by Hamas during the terror group’s onslaught.
“We say we believe women. Stand with women. Speak out for women,” she wrote in her statement. “Within hours of the Oct. 7 attack, the first blood-chilling video emerged of Shani Louk being paraded naked and defiled by her proud assailants. Yet two months later women are still hostage to these rapists and the world has failed to call this situation what it is: an urgent emergency that demands a decisive response.”
Gadot concluded by saying that “women and allies of women” need to act and demand the release of all female hostages taken by Hamas to Gaza after the terrorist organization murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others during its invasion last month.
“I am beseeching all those who have done so much for women’s rights globally — from the UN, to the human rights community to please join in the demand that Hamas release every single woman hostage immediately — not after the next round of international mediation,” Gadot said. “Not after another day. These women cannot survive another moment of this horror.”
Earlier over the weekend, United Nations Women — the UN agency for gender equality and women’s empowerment — released its first statement about the Hamas kidnappings, more than 50 days after they took place. UN Women denounced the Hamas attacks and “the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence” that took place on Oct. 7. It also called for all accounts of gender-based violence that took place “to be duly investigated and prosecuted, with the rights of the victim at the core.”
A new report from The Sunday Times in the United Kingdom included chilling testimonies about sexual violence, including gang rape, that Hamas terrorists carrying out on their victims during the Oct. 7 attacks. Israeli forensic teams who examined the bodies of those murdered by Hamas that day said they found multiple signs of rape and torture. Haim Outmezgine, a senior member of of volunteer rescue group ZAKA, also took the British publication that after seeing the bodies first-hand, “it was clear [Hamas terrorists] were trying to spread as much horror as they could, to kill, to burn alive, to rape — it seemed their mission was to rape as many as possible.”
In October, Gadot joined hundreds of Hollywood figures and executives in signing an open letter, addressed to US President Joe Biden, that called for the release of all those kidnapped by Hamas earlier that month.
The post Gal Gadot Condemns Silence Over Hamas’ Sexual Violence: ‘The World Has Failed the Women of Oct. 7’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.