Category: Articles

Calling its members “Nazis,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday rejected the idea that Israel will transfer tax money to the Palestinian Authority, putting a kibosh on reports of an agreement to do so the day before.

“If there is anyone who thinks that we will hand over a shekel to the Nazis in Ramallah so that they can hand it over to the Nazis in Gaza—he doesn’t know where he’s living,” Smotrich said.

Source:
Smotrich: No tax money will go to PA ‘Nazis’, by JNS Update Desk, December 18, 2023

Yemen-born journalist Hussein Alwaday has suggested that to defeat Hamas Israel must kill every last member of the terrorist group, because of what he dubs the “Palestinian delusional disorder.” Simply put, according to Alwaday, “As long as one Hamas terrorist remains alive, he will stand in front of the whole world and declare, We’ve won.”

The IDF’s moral superiority renders it inferior when facing an enemy that has no scruples at all and takes pleasure in displaying wanton cruelty. In the end, what will define a victory in this war?

Source:
As IDF Braces Israelis for Disappointment in Gaza, Victory Will Stem from Occupation, by David Israel/Jewish Press, December 14, 2023

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan dramatically held up a poster bearing the phone number of Hamas’ central office on the United Nations floor Tuesday and urged other members to call if they want a “real ceasefire” in Gaza.

Erdan made the impassioned plea shortly before the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.

“I honestly don’t know how can someone look in the mirror and support a resolution that doesn’t condemn Hamas and doesn’t even mention Hamas by name. But you know what? I have an idea. If you want a real ceasefire, here is the right address,” Erdan said before whipping out the sign.

Source:
Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan holds up poster with Hamas’ number, urges UN members to call it for ‘real ceasefire’, by Katherine Donlevy/New York Post, December 12, 2023

A rocket launch post used to fire at the Israeli city of Sderot was struck by the IAF, as the IDF operations against Hamas in Gaza continue.

Since Monday, the IAF has hit a number of launch posts used to fire rockets at Israelis across the country from inside the Gaza Strip. IDF troops in Jabalya identified a post launching rockets toward the city of Sderot. In response, the forces directed an aircraft that struck the launch post.

This is great news to have found the source of rocket attacks against Sderot. While the terrorist threat has not been fully eliminated – yet – we pray the residents of Sderot can rest a bit easier now.

Source:
IDF takes out rocket launcher used to fire towards Sderot, by Israel National News, December 12, 2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated today in the discussion of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee and referred to the continuation of the war against Hamas and the possibility that another front would open in the north.

“First of all we will win in the south and then we will deal with the north. As a first step, we will push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River and later we will also have to take care of the organization itself. If we open two fronts we can find ourselves not winning decisively in either of them,” Netanyahu stated.

In his opinion, the Palestinian Authority cannot in any way be considered to be a solution for Gaza the day after the war. “Oslo was the mother of all sins. The difference between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is only that Hamas wants to destroy us here and now and the PA wants to do it in stages. We cooperate with them against Hamas when it serves their interest and ours up to a certain limit. We decided a few months ago that we don’t want them to collapse so that Hamas does not rise up in Judea and Samaria as well.”

Netanyahu stated that the State of Israel will have sole responsibility for security in Gaza the day after the war. “Only the State of Israel will be responsible for the demilitarization of the Strip. The Gulf countries will invest in reconstruction and we will have to build an entity that does not want to destroy us, that will manage the civil administration there. We will allow anyone who wants to go out to do so. Today, Hamas does not allow this.”

We would certainly look forward to a large measure of peace for Israel upon the successful completion of this war. Now, as we read about talks of rebuilding “Gaza” and the potential for peace…all of this needs to be become a reality.

Source:
Netanyahu: First we’ll win in the south, then we’ll deal with the north, by Israel National News, December 11, 2023

Israel’s Cabinet on Sunday approved the outline for a strategic multi-year plan to rehabilitate and develop the Gaza Strip-adjacent “Tekuma” region and its population.

The plan constitutes a broad budgetary framework for five years (2024-2028) of up to 18 billion shekels ($4.9 billion) intended to lead to the rehabilitation of the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “In the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip at the start of the war, we established the Tekuma Authority.” (Tekuma means “revival” in Hebrew.)

“We provided a massive budget to rebuild the communities and to ensure that nobody will be left behind,” he added.

Source:
Israel to rebuild Gaza frontier towns destroyed in Hamas invasion, by World Israel News via JNS, December 11, 2023

As Israel wages its righteous war against Hamas, it is important for the United States to be wary of Qatar, which is already attempting to establish itself as a mediator.

Qatar is not a neutral agent, despite its attempts to portray itself as such. Time and again, it has supported the region’s most radical nations and paramilitaries, all to the detriment of American and Western interests.

In an interview published over the weekend, Eyal Hulata, formerly Israel’s National Security Advisor, said that Qatar had funded “military operations in the military branch [of Hamas], and they’d done so while colluding with the Iranians.”

Time and again, Qatar has supported the region’s most radical nations and paramilitaries, all to the detriment of American and Western interests.

Source:
The U.S. Should Beware Qatar, by Gregg Roman/JNS, December 7, 2023

One of the largest weapons depots in the Gaza Strip was found this week near a clinic and school in the northern Gaza Strip by the IDF’s 50th Battalion of the 460th Brigade.

The depot contained hundreds of RPG missiles and launchers of various types, dozens of anti-tank missiles, dozens of explosive devices, long-range missiles aimed at central Israel, dozens of grenades, and UAVs.

“We are in the heart of a residential neighborhood,” the Commanding Officer of the 50th Battalion, LTC Tomer, pointed out. He added that nearby, “One can also see a very large school campus.”

All of the terrorist infrastructure was found close to civilian buildings in the heart of a civilian population — proving once again, for the umpteenth time, Hamas’ cynical use of the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields.

Sources:
IDF Soldiers Uncover One of Gaza’s Largest Weapons Depots, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, December 6, 2023

Nahal Brigade troops find weapons in mosque, school, by Israel National News, December 6, 2023

‘Today, every citizen in the State of Israel knows that to restore security to the South…there is no choice but to reassert full control over Gaza.’

As the US, Arab nations and Israel discuss the future of Gaza after the war, there is a vocal movement that believes Israelis should return and settle the Gaza strip.

Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech said, “Today, every citizen in the State of Israel knows that to restore security to the South, to remove from common parlance the words ‘rocket’ and ‘red alert,’ to give back to each and every child a sense of security, there is no choice but to reassert full control over Gaza.”

For the Jewish people to return to live in “Gaza” would be a dream come true. While it will never erase the horrific memories of the 2005 expulsion (see photo in this article), it would bring back Jews to their rightful land. Security must be first. We will be watching developments on this very closely and pray the photo in the article turns to one of joy upon the resettlement of Jews to the land that is rightfully theirs.

Source:
Movement to resettle Gaza gains support during Hamas war, by Vered Weiss/World Israel News, December 5, 2023

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led a group of 15 Republican AGs who sent a joint letter warning officials at the New York Times, Associated Press, CNN, and Reuters that federal law bars providing “material support” to terrorist organizations, and notes that it is illegal under their states’ laws as well. The letter puts the four news organizations “on notice.”

In the letter, Bird and the other 14 Republican state attorneys general suggest the four news outlets may have provided “material support to terrorists” by purchasing photographs from Gaza-based journalists with known ties to Hamas.

AFSI applauds these Attorneys General for their brave and very necessary action to help to. better protect Israel.

Source:
15 AGs Warn NYT, AP, CNN, Reuters that Employing Hamas ‘Journalists’ Supports Terrorism, by David Israel/Jewish Press, December 5, 2023