Author: AFSI Staff

Arab media reported overnight Monday that dozens were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younes, in southern Gaza. According to the Qatari Al-Jazeera network, Hamas is feeling increasingly threatened.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told the cabinet: “Regarding Hamas in Gaza – the military pressure is working. It is working because it is simultaneous: on the one hand, it is pounding Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and on the other, it is creating the conditions for releasing our hostages. This is exactly what we are doing.

“Last night, the Security Cabinet convened and decided to increase the pressure, which was already increased, in order to further pound Hamas and create the optimal conditions for releasing our hostages.”

“We are committed to returning the hostages and we are working to return them. As of today, the combination of military and diplomatic pressure is the only thing that has returned the hostages and not any of the empty claims and slogans that I hear in the studios from the self-professed experts.”

Source:
Increased Military Pressure in Gaza Is Working, Hamas Begging ‘International Community’ for Help, by David Israel/Jewish Press, March 31, 2025

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday morning approved a bill proposed by MK Avichay Buaron, which stipulates that funds paid by the Palestinian Authority to terrorists or their families will be considered proof of endorsement of terrorist acts and will be deducted from the tax revenues that Israel transfers to the Authority.

The new law stipulates that payments made in memory of terrorists or to their families will be regarded as an action constituting “endorsement” of terrorist acts, thereby obligating the Palestinian Authority to compensate the State of Israel for damages caused by acts of terror.

The Lavi organization, which took part in drafting the bill, stated, “The Palestinian Authority incentivizes harm to Jews, and it’s time for the State of Israel to demand compensation for the severe damages to life and property. This is a necessary and important step toward justice and political accountability.”

If only monetary damages were enough to compensate for the terrible losses cased by terrorists. It is a step in the right direction.

Source:
The price of terror: Palestinian Authority to pay Israel for attacks, by Hezki Baruch/Israel National News, March 31, 2025

Leading US-based anti-Israel activist groups, including Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest and Within Our Lifetime and heads like Mahmoud Khalil, had prior knowledge of the October 7 massacre, a lawsuit filed last week by families of the Hamas-led attack’s victims alleged. The lawsuit is seeking damages from activists aiding and abetting Gaza’s terrorist organizations.

According to it, some groups, whom Hamas members reportedly saw as operatives, reactivated just before the massacre, and others issued protest and propaganda materials as the event unfolded in southern Israel.

After months of dormancy, Columbia SJP allegedly reactivated its Instagram account “three minutes before Hamas began its attack on October 7,” announcing a meeting and stating that supporters should “stay tuned.”

Eighty-three SJP chapters, including Columbia’s, signed and disseminated a statement in support of Hamas at midnight at the end of the day of the attack, leading the suit to insinuate that the content must have been drafted, reviewed, and signed by dozens of organizations “before and/or during the events of October 7 themselves.”

Source:
Anti-Israel groups aided Hamas on campus, knew of attack beforehand, Oct. 7 victims say in lawsuit, by Michael Starr/Jerusalem Post, March 24, 2025

The Judiciary Basic Law, which regulates the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, has passed its second and third readings in the Knesset and will now be added to Israel’s law books.

The proposal approved today is a crucial step in restoring the balance between the branches of government and returning decision-making power to the people of Israel.

Here are the significant changes to the composition and decision-making rules of the Judicial Selection Committee:

• Restoring balance between the government authorities – The most fundamental principle of a democratic system is that no authority should appoint itself.

• A fair and balanced judicial selection process – The new committee structure guarantees that judicial appointments require agreement between the coalition and the opposition.

• Removing Bar Association representatives from the committee – Given their inherent conflicts of interest, it was always necessary to exclude them.

• Improving the judicial system – This reform maintains a balance between judges who rise through the system and external candidates who will bring diverse legal perspectives.

We pray that this hastens an end to the juristocracy currently upsetting the balance of power and ignoring the will of the majority in Israel.

Source:
MK Rothman: These are the changes to the Judicial Selection Committee, by Israel National News, March 27, 2025

Demonstrations that erupted by Gazans in Beit Lahia against Hamas have entered their third day. Hundreds of Palestinian Arabs are voicing strong opposition to Hamas calling for an end to the ongoing war with Israel.

Amir Tsarfati commented on Telegram:

I don’t trust the Gazans. These are the same people who looted, murdered, raped, and kidnapped our people. However, if these protests from within will hasten the collapse of Hamas, that’s a good thing.

My only question is: Are these protests genuine, or are they staged by Hamas to demonstrate that Gazans must stay and elect new leaders—all in an effort to stop the war and prevent their displacement? After all, who can guarantee that these “civilians” aren’t the very same individuals who were wearing uniforms just two weeks ago?

They’re being paid by Qatar and/or Egypt to do this, creating the impression that not all of Gaza supports Hamas. This is a tactic to prevent their removal from the region. Many Hamas operatives are wearing civilian clothes and participating in these staged protests.

In an Arutz Sheva interview, Oded Eilam, former head of the Counter-Terrorism Division in the Mossad was asked if the protests are real or fake. He said, “You can say that it’s both. On the one hand, there is an authentic element, mainly because of the military pressure that Israel is again applying. The Gazans have gotten used to a time of relative quiet, especially during Ramadan, which leads to a certain feeling of well-being with tables full of good things. However, the end of the humanitarian aid, even if there isn’t a total shortage, since a lot of supplies are in Hamas’s storehouses, there has been an increase in food prices and a feeling of distress on the Gazan street.”

Trust with the Gazan and PA Arabs does not exist and we should be cautious about praising these protests. As Eilam stressed, let’s not jump to conclusions and think that suddenly the Gazan and PA Arabs are truly turning against Hamas and/or Fatah.

Source:
Are the protests in Gaza genuine? Former Mossad agent explains, by Shimon Cohen/Israel National News, March 27, 2025

A Palestinian Authority terrorist was arrested Tuesday after attempting to murder an Israeli Police officer near the Jerusalem suburb of Ma’ale Adumim, along the Jerusalem-Ma’ale Adumim Highway, in the second such terrorist attack in two days.

The terrorist vehicle subsequently reached another police checkpoint, where the driver again tried to escape. He was shot by the police, according to Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach.

No other injuries were immediately reported.

Source:
Israeli Security Personnel Targeted in Ma’ale Adumim Terror Ramming Attack, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, March 25, 2025

The Security Cabinet on Saturday night approved the proposal of the Minister in the Ministry of Defense, Bezalel Smotrich, to authorize the splitting of 13 communities in Judea and Samaria from their adjacent communities and to work toward recognizing them as independent communities.

The move, led by Minister Smotrich as part of the work of the Settlement Administration under his responsibility, is taking place against the backdrop of the approval of tens of thousands of housing units in Judea and Samaria and constitutes another significant step in the process of normalization and regulation of the settlement enterprise.

Until now, these communities were formally considered part of their “parent” communities, sometimes for decades, which caused numerous difficulties in their day-to-day management. Recognizing each of them as an independent community in practice is an important step that will greatly assist in their advancement and development.

Minister Smotrich said, “We continue, with God’s help, to lead a revolution of normalization and regulation in the settlement enterprise. Instead of hiding and apologizing – we raise the flag, build, and settle. This is another important step toward de facto sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”

Source:
13 Judea and Samaria communities to be recognized, by Israel National News, March 23, 2025

Israel is committed to defeating the Hamas terror group everywhere, including in Judea and Samaria, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir charged during a security assessment in the territories on Thursday.

“When we talk about defeating Hamas, it means defeating Hamas everywhere, including here in Judea and Samaria. Continue the ongoing counterterrorism operations alongside robust defense,” Zamir added.

“Because while we are waging an intense war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, we are aware of the possibility that a larger and more intense front could open here in Judea and Samaria,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to the Border Police’s Mista’arvim undercover special-forces unit for the region. He also pointed out that a more intense front could open in Judea and Samaria amid the resumption of combat with Hamas in Gaza.

Source:
IDF chief: Defeating Hamas includes Judea and Samaria, by JNS Staff, March 21, 2025

Eli Sharabi who survived Hamas captivity and whose family was murdered during the October 7th Massacre, briefed the ambassadors of the United Nations Security Council last week and recounted his experience in captivity.

“I saw what happened to [the] aid. Hamas stole it. I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with the UN and UNRWA emblems on them into the tunnel. Dozens and dozens of boxes, paid by your government, feeding terrorists who tortured me and murdered my family. They would eat many meals a day from the UN aid in front of us, and we never received any of it.”

Ambassador Danny Danon stated in response: “No one can dispute the testimony of a hostage survivor who saw with his own eyes Hamas benefiting from UN humanitarian aid. You can no longer turn a blind eye – UNRWA supports Hamas’ murderous terror enterprise that is starving our hostages and perpetuating the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.”

Eli Sharabi is a brave soul for giving his riveting testimony and so soon after his release from the hell he endured. The United Nations needs to stop hiding its head in the sand while it protects Hamas and its atrocities. The UN must condemn them for the terrorist entity they are.

Source:
Eli Sharabi: ‘Where was the Red Cross when we needed them? Where was the UN?’, by Israel National News, March 20, 2025

The ceasefire is over, with Israel putting an end to the games played by Hamas with its “mediator” supporters, Qatar and Egypt, at the negotiating tables in Doha and Cairo.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to “take strong action” against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza following a late-night situation assessment at the IDF Kirya Headquarters in Tel Aviv.

“This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators,” Netanyahu said in a statement released at 3:00am Tuesday.

“The IDF is, at this time, attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased.”

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu added.

Military sources revealed that the plan to resume hostilities was developed and kept highly classified to create an element of surprise and tactical deception that Hamas was unprepared to counter.

Sources:
Ceasefire Officially Over: IDF Returns to War in Gaza, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, March 18, 2025

Under cover of darkness: Israel’s planned return to Gaza war, by Lilach Shoval/Israel Hayom, March 18, 2025