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‘Hamas Branch in Jerusalem Must Be Closed!’ Israelis Protest Outside UNRWA Office, Accuse Agency of Terrorism
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) briefs reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York City, US, on Sept. 21, 2023. Photo: John Lamparski/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Dozens of protesters on Wednesday gathered in front of the Jerusalem office of the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, accusing the UN body of supporting the Hams terror group and calling for the closure of the facility.
“The Hamas branch in Jerusalem must be closed now,” demonstrators chanted, along with similar slogans.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) — the global organization’s agency dedicated solely to the refugees and descendants of Palestinians who fled during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence — has long come under fire for promoting terrorism and antisemitism. Recently, agency staff have been accused of participating in and supporting Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
Earlier this month, for example, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), an Israeli watchdog group, published research confirming two elementary school teachers hired by UNRWA participated in the Hamas atrocities.
The findings came after Impact-se released a separate report in November revealing that at least 14 teachers at UNRWA-run schools had praised the Oct. 7 pogrom.
An investigation by UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO that monitors the UN, independently found that a group of 3,000 teachers working in Gaza for UNRWA glorified and celebrated the massacre in an internal Telegram group. According to the findings, UN Watch found “abhorrent antisemitism and support for jihadi terrorism by UNRWA staff on social media… Teachers … celebrated Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre while at the same time asking when their UNRWA salaries will be paid.”
UNRWA has fired 12 staffers who allegedly took part in the Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, although the agency has denied that it promotes antisemitism or terrorism, citing its efforts to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza. The UN agency has also accused Israel of forcing Hamas detainees to falsely admit connections to UNRWA, an allegation denied by Israeli authorities.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier this month that over 450 UNRWA members were affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group in Gaza.
Other reports have accused the UN agency of promoting incitement against Israel and Jews. For example, a 2023 joint report by Impact-se and UN Watch found that UNRWA employees had created classroom material celebrating the firebombing of a Jewish bus as a “barbecue party,” encouraging students to pursue jihad and martyrdom, erasing Israel from maps, and encouraging students to “liberate the homeland” with “their blood,” among other examples of incitement to radicalism.
Amid such scrutiny, several major donor countries to UNRWA have suspended payments to the agency. This included the US, the largest donor to UNRWA to which it gave over $371 million in 2023.
The White House and the US Congress this week reached a deal to halt funding to UNRWA until March 2025 — after November’s presidential election — as part of a military funding bill that allocated aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s leading 2024 candidate, cut funding to UNRWA in 2018 — a move that was ultimately reversed when current President Joe Biden took office. Biden is set to face Trump in the general election.
UNRWA’s future role in Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war ends has been a point of discussion in the Jewish state. Hebrew media reported recently that the Israeli government has outlined plans to root out the agency completely from Gaza following the war.
The post ‘Hamas Branch in Jerusalem Must Be Closed!’ Israelis Protest Outside UNRWA Office, Accuse Agency of Terrorism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran ‘Has No Proxies,’ Khamenei Says as His Allies Languish
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 2, 2022. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
JNS.org – The official X account of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, rejected the term “proxy” for Iranian-backed militias on Sunday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran doesn’t have proxy forces. If we decide to take action [against the enemy], we don’t need proxy forces,” read the text on Khamenei’s English-language account.
This statement follows setbacks for Iran’s terrorist proxies in the Middle East: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen, and the Assad regime in Syria. The text seems to distance Tehran from these events, amid economic struggles and speculation about the Iranian regime’s vulnerabilities.
“They say that the Islamic Republic has lost its proxies in the region,” a related post by Khamenei said. But “Yemen fights due to their faith. Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad fight because their beliefs compel them to do so.”
US forces attacked the Houthis in Yemen on Saturday, while Israel targeted power stations and Hodeidah port after recent rocket and drone launches on Israel. Hezbollah suffered significant losses and agreed to withdraw south of Lebanon’s Litani River. Hamas lost control of most of Gaza, and its leaders have been killed along with many of its fighters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel had “split [Iran’s] Axis right down the middle.”
Khamenei’s X account on Sunday appeared to counter. “The Zionists try to show they’re the victors. You wretched people! Where have you won? Have you won in Gaza? Have you destroyed Hamas? Have you freed your own prisoners? Is this victory to kill over 40,000 people without being able to achieve even one of your goals?”
Another post added, “You Zionists haven’t won; you’ve been defeated,” vowing that “the courageous, devout, young people of Syria will definitely expel you from there.”
The Iranian rial hit a record low last week, trading at 777,000 to the dollar. Internal protests over economic issues and religious coercion, including women’s dress codes, continue to challenge the regime. Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency may exacerbate tensions, especially after his campaign linked Iran to attempts to assassinate him.
The post Iran ‘Has No Proxies,’ Khamenei Says as His Allies Languish first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Reports: 90% of 3-Stage Ceasefire, Hostage Release Deal Completed
Israelis protest against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – A ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas is 90% complete, according to a report in the BBC on Sunday.
Egyptian media said that 34 Israeli hostages are set to be released in the first stage of a deal, although the terrorist organization is demanding additional compensation for male soldiers held.
A senior Israeli official said Jerusalem has received “signs of life” from the hostages, according to a report in the Times of Israel.
Outstanding issues includes lists of hostages slated to be released as well as which are living and dead, although Hamas has stated it does not know where every one of the captives taken in the terrorist onslaught of October 7, 2023, is being held.
Another issue is the question of Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip, with Hamas reportedly backing down on its demand that all IDF soldiers leave. Instead, the Israeli army will reportedly remain in the Netzarim and Philadelphi Corridors for the duration of the ceasefire, with a withdrawal planned for later stages, when a civilian authority takes over administration of the Palestinian enclave.
The post Reports: 90% of 3-Stage Ceasefire, Hostage Release Deal Completed first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany Confirms Saudi Warning about Perpetrator of Christmas Market Attack
A Saudi flag flutters atop Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 20, 2018. Photo: REUTERS File Photo
i24 News – German authorities confirmed on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had warned them last year about the suspect in the car-ramming attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg over the weekend.
The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany’s equivalent to the FBI), Holger Münch, told German media that his office received a tip from Saudi Arabia in November 2023, which led the authorities to carry out “appropriate investigative steps.” However, Germany decided that the warnings were not serious, as the perpetrator had no criminal background.
“The suspect, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, also published a large number of extremist posts online,” Münch said. “He was also in contact with various authorities, voicing insults and even threats. However, it is unknown if he committed any acts of violence.” He added that the warnings turned out to be non-specific. The Federal Office for Immigration and Refugees also reported on X that it had received a tip about the suspect at the end of last summer.
The incident began Friday evening, when the Saudi-German slammed into people with his BMW in a crowded Christmas market area in the city of Magdeburg, running over a large group of people. Five people were killed in the event, which German authorities have not yet defined as a terrorist attack. Today the name of one of the victims was published, a 9-year-old boy named Andre Gleissner. Abdulmohsen is reportedly a 50-year-old doctor with no criminal record who hailed from Saudi Arabia, but in later years became an atheist and spoke out against Islam. He had a permanent refugee status in Germany, for fear of persecution in Saudi Arabia.
The post Germany Confirms Saudi Warning about Perpetrator of Christmas Market Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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