Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference on Wednesday, during which he criticized the executive order signed by US President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on four Judea and Samaria residents accused of violence against Palestinian Arabs.

“This order is a very severe and inappropriate thing which harms an entire population of law-abiding citizens, among whom are soldiers who fell in the fight to eliminate Hamas. If they were using it equally- they would have imposed sanctions on Palestinians as well,” the Prime Minister said when asked on the matter.

The Prime Minister opened his statement by proclaiming: “We are on the road to complete victory. It is in reach – it is a few months away, not years.”

When asked about an Israeli agreement to release terrorists as part of a hostage deal, he answered: “We have not committed to anything, not the crazy things that Hamas is demanding, not the nature of the terrorists, and not the inflated numbers. There is supposed to be a negotiation process through mediators, but from Hamas’s reaction, as I see it, they aren’t there.”

Regarding the humanitarian aid, the Prime Minister stated that “according to one of our security officials – up to 60% of the humanitarian aid that enters Gaza is taken by Hamas. I instructed the IDF to find solutions that would reduce Hamas’s takeover of humanitarian aid.

The facts about the “violent and extremist Israeli settlers” and the real percentage of humanitarian aid that reaches Gaza’s legitimate needs are not reaching far enough. That Netanyahu publicly addresses this is obviously good. That the wider public audience doesn’t hear it due to suppression, demonization, and politicization continues to hurt Israel. Israel is long overdue for a true public relations campaign to mass communicate to the world. If the IDF can carry out a mass communication campaign to warn residents to leave Gaza in advance of the IDF going, then Israel surely can develop a true public relations department informing the world daily on the truth about what really goes on.

WATCH NETANYAHU’S FULL ADDRESS

Source:
PM Netanyahu: ‘US sanctions severe and inappropriate – harms law-abiding citizens’, by Israel National News, February 7, 2024

Israeli forces seized cash and financial documents from an underground compound in Khan Yunis showing direct Iranian financial support for Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces disclosed on Tuesday night.

“We found official documents from 2020 detailing the funds transferred by Iran to Hamas between the years 2014 and 2020 and to [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahyah] Sinwar. More than $150 million were transferred from Iran to Hamas,” said IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

The intelligence indicated a “direct connection from Iran to Hamas—and more so to Yahya Sinwar,” he added.

The IDF released photos of envelopes of U.S. dollars, Israeli shekels and Jordanian dinars intended for Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 massacre.

“In the same subterranean space, we also found a safe with banknotes and bags containing more than 20 million shekels in cash. These amounts join tens of millions of shekels we located during the war in Hamas tunnels,” said Hagari.

Hagari said the intelligence would be shared with international partners. This information also needs to be widely disseminated among the many media outlets that refuse to report on the truth about Israel.

Source:
Amid Gaza offensive, IDF seizes docs proving Iran-Hamas links, by JNS, February 7, 2034

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered IDF Chief of Staff Major General Herzi Halevi to come up with alternatives to relying on UNRWA in the Gaza Strip in everything related to the transfer of humanitarian aid, which is currently being transferred directly to the UN agency.

According to intelligence reports examined by The Wall Street Journal, at least 12 UNWRA employees were linked to Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. Additionally, approximately 10% of the agency’s Gaza staff are reported to have connections to Islamist terror groups.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner stated in an interview today that, UNRWA “exists for the sole purpose of keeping the war of 1948 open until the war ends the way that the Arabs initially intended: for there not to be a Jewish State. UNRWA exists so that the refugees from that war, the Arab refugees, will continue generation after generation, never settling.”

Since UNRWA neither perpetuates nor contributes anything productive to its own people, it’s time to close it down. With so much fact emerging in the news about who they really are and what their goals are, the decision to close it should be easy to understand.

Sources:
Netanyahu Orders IDF to Replace UNWRA Distribution System in Gaza by Next Week, by David Israel/Jewish Press, February 6, 2024

Former MK: ‘UNRWA exists to keep the 1948 war going’, by Yoni Kempinski/Israel National News, February 8, 2024

Police have served a summons for a hearing before the imposition of an administrative restriction order to Yinon Levi, a husband, father, and farmer near the town of Michmas in the Binyamin region. The order comes from General Yehuda Fox, who is appointed over the IDF’s Central Command.

As part of the restrictions imposed on him, Yinon is forbidden to enter Judea and Samaria, including his house and farm, for four months, of which two have already passed. He is also forbidden to contact several dozen of his friends, has been dismissed from reserve service in the IDF, and his personal firearm confiscated at the direction of the Shin Bet, and against the advice of military officials in the area. The confiscation of his firearm has left the farm effectively defenseless.

A military source claimed that the orders are unconnected to the sanctions imposed by President Biden against four “settlers,” and added that the order had indeed been signed months ago, but that the responsibility for serving it lay with the police.

Just the other day, Bank Leumi notified Yinon, one of four Israelis who were targeted last week by US sanctions, that his accounts in Israel have been frozen.

The Israel Postal Bank has sequestered and closed the account of David Chai Chasdai, one of four Israelis who were targeted by US sanctions for claims of violence against Arabs in Judea and Samaria. The account is shared with Chasdai’s wife. “The fact that a government bank decides to sequester the accounts of settlers because of pressure from far-left organizations and the hostile American government is unfathomable, but the fact that it is happening under a right-wing government a moment after the worst massacre in history is a national embarrassment,” he stated.

Go ahead and make us believe this is unconnected to Biden’s recently signed executive order against Israeli “extremist settlers. We’ve seen this scenario before and it’s very obvious as to WHY this is happening now. This is clearly a theatrical performance to appease Biden. The fact that it’s taking place while a right-wing government is at war with terrorists is appalling.

Sources:
Day after US sanctions: Farmer served administrative restriction order, by Israel National News, February 2, 2024

Israeli bank freezes accounts of farmer targeted by US sanctions, by Israel National News, February 4, 2024

Joining US sanctions | Israel Postal Bank closes account of David Chasdai, by Israel National News, February 5, 2024

Bank Leumi has informed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that its account has been blocked following the detection of “unusual activity.”

Among other things, the bank suspected the funds in the account were being used for terrorist purposes against the State of Israel, and that funds were being transferred from the account to terrorist elements in Gaza.

This is a long overdue action that Israel should be taking. This is helpful and meaningful unlike the disgraceful actions we noted in the previous article against Israel’s “settlers.”

Source:
UNRWA Account Blocked by Bank Leumi, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, February 4, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday met with the delegation of United Nations ambassadors visiting Israel led by Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan.

“The UN is not a stellar organization when it comes to dealing with Israel. It has a UN so-called human rights commissions that devotes an enormous part of its resolutions against Israel, and nothing against Iran or Yemen or arenas of savagery,” the Prime Minister told the ambassadors.

Netanyahu told the ambassadors that they should care because “Israel is fighting the war of civilization against barbarism. Because Israel is responding to unbelievably brutal and unprovoked attacks. Because it’s doing so with the greatest effort by any army to minimize civilian casualties.”

He continued, “And we have discovered in the last few weeks, that UNRWA officials were complicit in the massacre. I think it’s time that the international community and the UN itself understand that UNRWA’s mission has to end.”

Source:
Netanyahu to UN ambassadors: ‘The world must understand that UNRWA’s mission has to end’, by Israel National News, January 31, 2024

Israeli soldiers discovered an underground tunnel running beneath the Bani Suheila cemetery in Khan Yunis, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday. This cemetery was one of many that IDF was accused of desecrating in recent Western media reports.

“While investigating the tunnel, the forces came across explosives, sliding doors, and blast-proof doors, and eliminated terrorists who were inside,” the IDF statement said.

“Inside the tunnel route, the forces located an office from which a Khan Yunis Brigade battalion commander managed the attack on October 7th, an operations room, a command-and-control center, and the living quarters of senior officials of the Hamas terrorist organization. The tunnel was also used by Hamas to command their attacks against IDF forces both above and below ground.”

The IDF said the shaft was one kilometer long and 20 meters below the cemetery, adding that it was part of a larger underground network.

Source:
Hamas command center uncovered under Gaza cemetery, by Pesach Benson/TPS via World Israel News, January 30, 2024

A plan for military control of Gaza which would gradually lead to a Palestinian state and Saudi Arabia’s normalization of relations with Israel was reported in Ma’ariv on Tuesday.

The first phase of the plan is a military government that will oversee humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians during the transition period.

The second phase will usher in rule of Gaza comprised by a coalition of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, the UAE, and Bahrain.

Included in the second phase is a normalization agreement that will create a new Palestinian Authority not involving Hamas or Fatah.

Israel will be allowed security control over the area similar to Judea and Samaria.

With the establishment of a new Palestinian Authority, reforms will be put in place to prevent the pro-terrorist indoctrination that characterized education in Gaza prior to October 7th.

The plan is expected to take four years and at the end of that period, a successful outcome will see the recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state.

This is only one of several plans that have been proposed concerning the governance of Gaza after the war. While nothing is set in stone and the word “state” is a highly charged word in this context, we hope we can see an alternative without a Palestinian “state.”

Source:
Netanyahu aides propose demilitarized Palestinian state, Saudi normalization, by Vered Weiss/World Israel News, January 31, 2024

The United States is suspending additional funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East temporarily as it reviews charges that 12 UNRWA employees took part in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.

“The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations,” stated Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman. Miller added that the United States is reviewing “the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with António Guterres, UN secretary-general, on Jan. 25 “to emphasize the necessity of a thorough and swift investigation of this matter,” Miller stated on Friday.

“We welcome the decision to conduct such an investigation and Secretary General Guterres’s pledge to take decisive action to respond, should the allegations prove accurate,” Miller said. “We also welcome the UN’s announcement of a ‘comprehensive and independent’ review of UNRWA.”

While this may be a “better late than never” scenario, there was significant evidence that UNRWA has been a problem for many years. Reports are coming out now that 10% of UNWRA employees have ties to terrorism. Though we would like to trust that a “thorough and swift investigation” will uncover the truth and that proper action will be taken to put a full stop to UNRWA funding, we will have to wait and see.

Sources:
UNRWA Ties to Oct. 7 Massacre Exposed – US Suspending Funding, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, January 27, 2024

Report: 10% of UNRWA staff affiliated with terror groups, by Israel National News, January 29, 2024

An estimated 5,000 people and a dozen Israeli government ministers attended a conference in Jerusalem on Sunday calling for the re-establishment of Jewish communities in Gaza.

Speaking at the conference, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pointed out that many of the soldiers fighting in Gaza were forcibly removed 19 years earlier when Jewish communities on the Gaza Strip were dissolved. Smotrich said, “We knew what that would bring and we tried to prevent it. Without settlements, there is no security.”

“We yelled and we warned,” Ben Gvir said. “If you don’t want another October 7, we need to return home and control the land.”

Source:
Israeli ministers demand Jewish resettlement of Gaza at Jerusalem conference, by Vered Weiss/World Israel News, January 28, 2024