Netanyahu’s government could collapse over Israel’s ultra-Orthodox military draft law – AP Source Link Excerpt:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a vote to dissolve parliament Wednesday and key coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government.
Still, few think it’s the end of the road for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, who has been battling corruption charges for years, or his far-right government, still in power after presiding over the security failures surrounding the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
The move to dissolve, called by the opposition, will only pass if Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners break with him over the failure to pass a law exempting their community from military service, an issue that has bitterly divided Israelis, especially during the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas should think twice”: Late Sunday, a group of Hamas affiliates issued a call to action on Telegram, a social networking site they often use to coordinate their activities: “Resistance security is authorized to firmly confront anyone who cooperates with the enemy or its agents, and agents and mercenaries will be legitimate targets.”
They were talking about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the joint U.S.-Israeli aid effort formed with the help of private contractors to replace the Hamas-tied UNRWA. The terror groups lamented the “American aid distribution centers” for operating with the goal of ending “UNRWA’s mission.” They also warned Gazans that “any cooperation with bodies other than UNRWA is considered a contribution to the enemy’s plans.”
A senior U.S. official confirmed to our Adam Kredo that the Trump administration is monitoring the situation. “These reports of Hamas threatening the GHF and its workers, many of whom are Americans, are deeply concerning,” the official said. “Hamas should think twice. We are watching closely.”
The New York Times confirmed Sunday that Hamas operated a tunnel beneath the European Gaza Hospital weeks after casting doubt on its existence. Instead of condemning Hamas for using a hospital as a terror base, however, the paper framed the tunnel as a matter of clashing narratives.
“What we saw in that dark and narrow tunnel is one of the war’s biggest Rorschach tests,” Times reporter Patrick Kingsley wrote in a Sunday article after touring the site, calling it “the embodiment of a broader narrative battle between Israelis and Palestinians over how the conflict should be portrayed.”
“To Israelis, the location of an underground passageway highlights Hamas’s abuse of civilians,” the article’s subheading reads. “To Palestinians, Israel’s decision to target it highlights Israel’s own disregard for civilian life.”
The Times last month cast doubt on the tunnel’s existence, quoting the hospital’s director as saying such a tunnel was unlikely. Two weeks later, Muhammad Sinwar—the de facto leader of Hamas and younger brother of slain October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar—was killed inside the tunnel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
As discussed, the U.S-Iran nukes negotiations are futile. Iran will never give up enrichment through diplomatic means. How long will President Trump allow Iran to continue to lie, deceive, and stall before he walks away? Let Israel destroy Iran’s nuke sites.
#BREAKING: President Trump says #Iran‘s regime’s thoughts on the U.S. proposal are unacceptable, “they’re just not there.” He reiterates the U.S. position on zero enrichment and says there will be a meeting with them on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/kvmRmflZqH
#BREAKING: President Trump says #Iran‘s regime’s thoughts on the U.S. proposal are unacceptable, “they’re just not there.” He reiterates the U.S. position on zero enrichment and says there will be a meeting with them on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/kvmRmflZqH
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security meeting on Wednesday following his phone call with US President Donald Trump.
Israeli media says the call between Trump and Netanyahu lasted around 40 minutes, with the pair discussing a wide range of topics, from the war on Gaza to developments in the Iran nuclear deal.
Asked about his call with Netanyahu, Trump didn’t offer much detail, but insisted that the call with the Israeli premier went well.
“Very well. Yeah, we discussed a lot of things, and it went very well. Very smooth. We’ll see what happens. You know, we’re trying to do something with a country we just spoke about, Iran,” said Trump.
Trump however revealed that negotiations appear to be stagnant due to the Iranians being “good negotiators”. He also again warned that a violent US approach to Tehran is not off the table.
“Sometimes they can be too tough. That’s the problem. So, we are trying to make a deal so that there’s no destruction and death. And we’ve told them that, and I’ve told them that, and I hope that’s the way it works out. But it might not work out that way.”
Adalah, a legal rights group representing the activists, said at 10pm local time they had received confirmation that the group were being held at Ashdod port, just south of Tel Aviv, and were undergoing processing before being handed over to Israeli immigration authorities.
Demanding access to the passengers of the British-flagged yacht Madleen – which had sought to break the naval blockade on Gaza – Adalah said: “Unless they agree to leave immediately, they will be transferred to the detention facility in Ramleh.
“While authorities have indicated that those who consent to deportation may be allowed to fly out from Tel Aviv tonight, it’s unclear what conditions – such as signing documents or waiving rights – may be imposed.”
Earlier, organisers of the “Freedom Flotilla”, said there had been no contact with the 12 international activists for nearly 19 hours after the ship was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters at around 2am on Monday.
Israel strikes Beirut, targeting Hezbollah drone factories– www.channelnewsasia.com Source Link Excerpt:
“Following Hezbollah’s extensive use of UAVs as a central component of its terrorist attacks on the state of Israel, the terrorist organisation is operating to increase production of UAVs for the next war,” the military statement said, calling the activities “a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon”.
Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30km from the border, and dismantle their military posts to the south.
Israel was to pull all its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic” along the frontier.
The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south and removing Hezbollah infrastructure there, with prime minister Salam saying Thursday that it had dismantled “more than 500 military positions and arms depots” in the area.
Iran nuclear deal: US President Donald Trump declares he ‘will not allow any enrichment of uranium’ – Mint Source Link Excerpt:
US President Donald Trump on Monday said that the US will not allow any uranium enrichment as part of any deal with Iran under any deal the countries reach.
Trump made the comment in a social media post on Monday evening, without elaborating further. The US president has regularly signaled that he thinks a deal may be near, and said Iran could face military strikes otherwise.
Rally is held as British PM Keir Starmer calls Israel’s actions ‘intolerable’, addressing lawmakers in Parliament.
Pro-Palestine campaigners have rallied against Israel’s punishing war on Gaza, gathering outside the British Parliament in London and demanding a full arms embargo and that hard-hitting sanctions be imposed on the Israeli government.
Wednesday’s march, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), came as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took weekly questions from parliamentarians.
Thousands of protesters created a “Red Line for Palestine”, wearing red while encircling the building.
Starmer told Parliament that Israel’s actions in the besieged and bombarded enclave are “appalling” and “intolerable”.
“It is right to describe these days as dark,” Starmer said. “We have strongly opposed the expansion of Israeli military operations, and settler violence, and the blocking of humanitarian aid.”
Israel said that it will “act accordingly” to stop the Freedom Flotilla Coalition carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg, who is en route to the Gaza Strip.
Thunberg, 22, a Swedish eco-warrior, set sail this week aboard the Madleen hoisting a Palestinian flag with 11 other activists. It will try to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip to bring in some aid and raise awareness over the humanitarian crisis there.
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Thunberg said.
Greta Thunberg, with other activists from a human rights organization, meets with journalists in Catania, Italy. on Sunday ahead of their departure for the Mideast. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Wednesday that it was monitoring the flotilla.
“For this case as well, we are prepared,” IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told the Times of London. “We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.”
Israel has recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday meanwhile killed at least 13 people, including three local journalists, according to health officials in the territory.
Israeli military says it shelled targets in Syria in response to a pair of projectile launches.
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned an Israeli strike on the Syrian province of Deraa, saying that it caused “significant human and material losses”, the state news agency SANA reports.
The strike came after the Israeli military said that two projectiles had crossed from Syria towards Israel on Tuesday, and fell in open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, though the Syrian Foreign Ministry said these were “reports that have not been verified yet”.
The ministry reiterated that Syria has not and would not pose a threat to any party in the region.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the projectiles.
It is de rigueur today in certain circles to state as a matter of proven fact that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza. This is a lie. I’ll explain why below, but first I want to explain just how pernicious and awful that lie actually is.
Which explains the illegal alien Egyptian who firebombed Holocaust survivors in Boulder, and the pro-Hamas activist who tried to burn down a Jewish governor’s official residence, and another pro-Hamas activist who gunneddown two Israeli embassy workers at the Capital Jewish Museum. They thought they were fighting to end genocide. You see, to the men who perpetrated these crimes, they were entirely justified in what they did because their actions were moral, just, and necessary to end a “genocide.” There is a certain level of seemingly rational and moral thought there.
CNN persisted Tuesday in publishing fake news pushed by Hamas, claiming that “dozens” of Palestinians had been killed near an American-run aid side in Gaza, despite Israeli denials and a history of Hamas lies.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told journalists: “The IDF did not fire at civilians in, or near, humanitarian aid distribution zones.”
The story came a day after U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee demanded that CNN and other outlets retract false reporting of dozens of Palestinians being killed at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site Sunday.
CNN reported its story under the headline, “Dozens of Palestinians killed near Gaza aid distribution point, health officials say, in third day of shooting.” It cited the Gaza “health ministry” — without noting that the “ministry” is controlled entirely by Hamas and has a long record of false and sensational claims — and reported that “Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians as they made their way to the distribution site in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah.”
The Israeli military confirmed on Tuesday that it fired several rounds in the direction of Palestinians who were advancing toward troops after ignoring initial “warning” shots.
The Palestinian Red Crescent has reported that 13 people were killed in the incident, which the Israel Defense Forces said took place roughly 500 yards from an aid distribution site. Other reports have the fatality count much higher.
The standoff began when the Palestinian group started making its way toward the IDF, which identified the unit as a threat and fired warning shots for the group to stop advancing, according to the Israeli military. The IDF said that when the group “failed to retreat,” it fired rounds “directed near” several people who continued veering away from aid and toward Israeli troops.
“Earlier today, during the movement of the crowd along the designated routes toward the aid distribution site—approximately half a kilometer from the site—IDF troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated routes,” the IDF said. “IDF troops are not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites. The warning shots were fired approximately half a kilometer away from the humanitarian aid distribution site toward several suspects who advanced toward the troops in such a way that posed a threat to them.”
Gaza warehouse broken into by ‘hordes of hungry people’ says WFP– www.bbc.com Source Link Excerpt:
Watch: AFP footage appears to show a people removing sacks from UN warehouse in Gaza
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says that “hordes of hungry people” have broken into a food supply warehouse in central Gaza.
Two people are reported to have died and several others injured in the incident, the programme said, adding that it was still confirming details.
Video footage from AFP news agency showed crowds breaking into the Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah and taking bags of flour and cartons of food as gunshots rang out. It was not immediately clear where the gunshots came from.
In a statement, the WFP said humanitarian needs in Gaza had “spiralled out of control” after an almost three-month Israeli blockade that was eased last week.
Chaos erupted on the second day of aid operations by a new U.S.-backed group in Gaza as desperate Palestinians overwhelmed a center distributing food on Tuesday, breaking through fences.
Nearby Israeli troops fired warning shots, sending people fleeing in panic.
An AP journalist heard Israeli tank and gunfire and saw a military helicopter firing flares. The Israeli military said its troops fired the warning shots in the area outside the center and that “control over the situation was established.”
At least three injured Palestinians were seen by the Associated Press being brought from the scene, one of them bleeding from his leg.
The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah had been opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.
Iran has now announced, through its nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, that Tehran “will reconsider accepting American inspectors through the agency (if)… an agreement is reached, and Iran’s demands are taken into account.” They have, however, stuck to their guns on their insistence they are NOT interested in stopping their nuclear enrichment program, denying that it is intended for nuclear arms.
Iran says may allow US inspectors from nuclear watchdog if deal reached– economictimes.indiatimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Iran on Wednesday said it may consider allowing US inspectors with the United Nations nuclear watchdog to inspect its facilities if a deal is reached with the United States.
Iran has long been accused by Western powers of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran has consistently denied, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful, civilian purposes.
Tehran and Washington have in recent weeks held five rounds of talks focused on the issue, their highest-level contact since the US in 2018 withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal during Donald Trump’s first term.
IDF Eliminated Hamas Leader Muhammad Sinwar, Netanyahu Confirms– freebeacon.com Source Link Excerpt:
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces eliminated Muhammad Sinwar, the de facto leader of Hamas and younger brother of slain October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar.
The IDF killed Muhammad Sinwar as part of a May 13 airstrike targeting “Hamas terrorists in a command and control center” beneath the European Hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, according to a report earlier this month by Jewish News. Hamas “continues to use hospitals in the Gaza Strip for terrorist activity, demonstrating its cynical and brutal use of the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings,” Jewish News noted at the time. That report went unconfirmed until Wednesday, when Netanyahu announced to the Knesset that the strike had killed Sinwar.
Sinwar’s death comes after the IDF in October killed his older brother Yahya Sinwar, a longtime leader of Hamas who orchestrated the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Muhammad Sinwar effectively took over the leadership role following Yahya Sinwar’s death, according to reports.
It seems quite clear that Iran’s leaders do not believe that President Trump will ever order a military strike on their nuke sites. While we don’t know all of the details of the U.S-Iran nuke negotiations, some of what is being reported is quite concerning. We are going to have to wait and see what happens. If Iran is allowed to enrich uranium, it will be able to build several nuclear bombs. Which it would surely attempt to do when President Trump is out of office. If not sooner.
Khamenei will consider all this as he contemplates the most serious decision of his tenure: whether finally to cross the nuclear threshold. How scary does he think America is under Trump? Everything hinges on the answer to that question, write @FDD@ReuelMGerecht and @CFR_org Ray… pic.twitter.com/OhFWMx77s0
The idea that Iran should never have nuclear *weapons* is a repeat of the Obama-Biden policy, famously exposed in the Biden-Ryan VP debate in 2012. The Republican position, which remains sensible, was that Iran should not have any nuclear enrichment at all https://t.co/o7aG6rbjaM
TEL AVIV—Seven lawmakers from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition say the latest Gaza war plan does “not reflect a serious intent to defeat Hamas and achieve victory,” according to a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
In the two-page letter, sent to senior Israeli officials on May 5 and not previously reported, the lawmakers called for “a basic change in the military’s operational plan” in the Gaza Strip, warning that the current strategy is “flawed in conception, disconnected from the real capabilities of the enemy, and based on assumptions that will cost many lives before achieving questionable results.” “Only through total defeat of Hamas can we restore deterrence and win the war,” the lawmakers added.
Amit Halevi, Ariel Kallner, and Hanoch Milwidsky of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, Ohad Tal and Michael Woldiger of Religious Zionism, and Limor Son Har-Melech Otzma Yehudit addressed the letter to military chief of staff Eyal Zamir and copied Netanyahu, defense minister Israel Katz, and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein.
The letter—sent just hours before Israel’s security cabinet approved Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the recently launched phase of the military campaign in Gaza—is a signal of growing internal skepticism about government and military leaders’ commitment to wrest control of Gaza from Hamas. At the same time, the leadership faces mounting domestic and international pressure to end the war.
Subscribe Now
Support our work and SUBSCRIBE right now! CLICK HERE
