We’re taking a break. Middle East Update will be returning in mid-September.
 
HOSTAGE UPDATE: 681 Days  
The remaining hostages "are in immediate danger."
→Netanyahu says partial hostage release deals are ‘behind us’ as Arab diplomat tells ToI that mediators are expected to push 60-day truce that will turn into a comprehensive ceasefire https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-may-dispatch-negotiators-to-doha-for-talks-on-freeing-all-hostages-ending-war/
→A ceasefire accompanied by the release of all hostages is a mirage—an illusion of Western projection. Hamas especially does not want an end: it wants the conflict to fester, for the hostages to rot underground, for the agony to last. By reversing the pressure—not on the hostage-takers, but on those trying to rescue them—they (Western democracies) legitimize blackmail. By recognizing a Palestinian state unconditionally, they turn a terrorist strategy into political capital.  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413384
 
MEDIA FAILS
→Journalistic Casualty:  Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif was the head of a Hamas cell and was responsible for rocket attacks. The only major newspaper to report this accurately was Germany’s Bild.
[Dr. Shany Mor: Al-Jazeera is laundered as a heavily quoted "news organization" by the West (which does not quote so freely Russian or Chinese organizations) precisely because of its highly effective dissemination of antisemitism, not despite it.] https://www.camera.org/article/los-angeles-discounts-hamas-documents-as-substantiation/
→Misinformation about Israel spreads fastest when it comes from unexpected sources. When it comes from figures trusted with children’s education, it’s even more dangerous. https://honestreporting.com/the-dangerous-direction-of-ms-rachels-pro-palestinian-misinformation/
→There were glowing profiles of Hamas-lovers in GQ and the New York Times this week.
 
AUSTRALIA
Anthony Albanese’s decision to prematurely recognise Palestinian statehood has now earned him open praise from Hamas
 
CANADA
The Toronto International Film Festival had uninvited the documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue from Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich, a documentary on a retired Israeli general’s successful attempt to rescue his family during the October 7, 2023, terror attacks by Hamas, from its lineup because filmmakers 'didn't receive permission from Hamas to use videos. After public pressure, TIFF reconsidered and will show the film 

https://deadline.com/2025/08/tiff-pulls-october-7-documentary-from-lineup-1236484968/

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/sharren-haskel-mark-carney-hamas

See also Hamas Livestreamed Its Massacre to the World - that's Public Domain (Times of Israel)
 
CHINA
China may be preparing to assist Iran in reacquiring and expanding its surface-to-surface ballistic missile program
 
CUBA
Middle East Forum Condemns Cuba’s Detention of Fellow Amine Ayoub -Detained while transiting through because of Israeli stamps in his passport. https://www.meforum.org/press-releases/middle-east-forum-condemns-cubas-detention-of-fellow-amine-ayoub
 
GERMANY
German arms maker, Renk, CEO: We will continue to export arms to Israel, citing its sense of “responsibility” to the Jewish state. https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/RENK-ISRAEL-b8d98105-a3a9-4eff-a24d-69d6ef8e0d0c
 
ISRAEL
→This Sunday, the entire state of Israel will come to a halt as local municipalities, businesses, and leading companies shut down, joining the call for the immediate release of ALL hostages and an end to the war. – Hostages and Missing Families Forum
→Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel's upcoming operation in Gaza is not about permanent occupation. The goal is to dismantle Hamas's war machine and, at the right moment, hand administrative control to reliable international partners — trusted Arab states that understand the stakes. See also Is Israel Occupying Gaza? https://substack.com/inbox/post/170670870
→A member of Hamas's elite Nukhba Force who invaded Israel during the October 7 onslaught and participated in the kidnapping of three soldiers, was killed in a strike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military announces. The IDF said the bodies (they were killed in captivity) of Ron Sherman and Nik Beizer were recovered by the military from north Gaza. Tamir Nimrodi, kidnapped at the same time, remains held in the Strip.
→The IDF is operating in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, the West Bank, and monitoring events in Iran.
→Israel is simultaneously increasing the military pressure on Hamas, working with America on a deal to end the war, and surging aid to Gaza civilians.
 
LEBANON
→Hizbullah Chief Says 5,000 Fighters Killed and 13,000 Wounded in War with Israel (Reuters)
→Israel, U.S. Oppose UNIFIL Renewal, Citing Failure to Prevent Hizbullah Infiltration in South Lebanon - (Jerusalem Post)
→Unprecedented Shift In Lebanon's Attitude Towards Iran: Our Government's Decision To Disarm Hizbullah Stands; We Will Not Tolerate Your Intervention In Our Internal Affairs; Relations With Lebanon Must Be Conducted Via State Institutions, Not Via Hizbullah, (MEMRI)
→Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem threatened today that there would be "no life in Lebanon" if the Lebanese government moves forward with a U.S.-backed plan to disarm the Iranian-backed terror group.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-chief-threatens-no-life-in-lebanon-if-government-tries-to-seize-weapons/
 
 
PALESTINIANS/GAZA/WEST BANK
→GHF Myths and Facts https://ghf.org/myths-vs-facts-about-ghf-setting-the-record-straight/
Remember back in June when Hamas hijacked their bus and murdered 9 workers, the 20 surviving workers were dropped at Nasser Hospital were Doctors Without Borders refused to treat the injured workers, leaving them to die in the courtyard.
→ Hunger in Gaza Has Many Authors, but Israel Isn't One of Them  (Washington Post) The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has delivered over 120 million meals to date, including more than 1.5 million on Wednesday alone.
→Israel identified a convoy of cars labeled as belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK) that was comprised of armed terrorists. The IDF, after identifying the terrorists and confirming with WCK that the vehicles were not part of its operations, struck the convoy. https://x.com/WCKitchen/status/1955316399846437138
→Video Hamas forces riding trucks of supplies directly into tunnels under Gaza! https://www.facebook.com/reel/789719070271783
→This is an amazing resource. https://www.hamaskillsgaza.com/
→Hamas Will Not Surrender Control over Gaza without Being Forced to Do So - Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp (Telegraph-UK)
→Hamas's Plan to Undermine America's Arab Allies (Gatestone) https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21827/hamas-undermining-america-arab-allies
→British Commander, Colonel Richard Kemp: "I Was in GAZA — Hamas Caused EVERY Death I Saw” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AACdh8FmX3c
 
SUDAN

Hamas terrorists recently got Sudanese diplomatic passports. https://www.meforum.org/middle-east-quarterly/sudan-civil-war-and-genocide
 
SYRIA
→112 Druze Women and Girls Are Still Being Held Captive by Islamists in Syria  (Jerusalem Post)
→FBI Affidavit Reveals Turkey as Conduit for ISIS Financing while Syria Frees ISIS Captives https://www.meforum.org/mef-online/fbi-affidavit-reveals-turkey-as-conduit-for-isis-financing-while-syria-frees-isis-captives
 
UK
British Outlets Bury Terror Affiliation of Anas al Sharif
https://camera-uk.org/2025/08/11/british-outlets-bury-terror-affiliation-of-anas-al-sharif/
 
USA
→DSA delegates voted in favor of officially adopting and promoting an explicitly anti-Zionist stance: The DSA has agreed to give the National Caucus the ability to censure and expel members (and I believe dissolve entire branches) if they see them as being insufficiently devoted to the cause of antizionism. This includes voicing public support of groups like J Street. NOTE: members of DSA include US Representatives AOC and Tlaib, and NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani They’ve introduced a similar resolution for adoption by the Democrats. https://demmajorityforisrael.org/media/press-release/statement-on-proposed-divisive-dnc-resolution/
→Adelphi University has placed its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on disciplinary probation for creating a hostile environment toward Jewish students through inflammatory social media posts.
→ ‘Global intifada’ – Thousands march at New York anti-Israel rally 8/16. The rally was organized by several far-left and anti-Israel groups, including the ANSWER Coalition, the Democratic Socialists of America, CodePink, the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, and CAIR.
→CEO Of F-35 Manufacturer Lockheed Martin: "If We Can Work With Saudia, Qatar And UAE On Really Bolstering Their Air Superiority Capabilities… There'll Be Really Significant Opportunity For The Company"
 
UN
→Over 200 NGOs urge UN to work with GHF https://www.christianpost.com/news/over-200-faith-groups-ngos-call-on-un-to-support-ghf.html

→NGOs are objecting to Israel’s demand for basic vetting - including whether their staff have ties to designated terror organizations. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA OPT)’s Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), representing 200+ NGOs, published a statement today claiming that Israeli requirements would “prevent them from providing critical, life-saving humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.” In fact, the only thing “preventing” aid delivery is the UN/NGO boycott of Israel.

Israel’s measures are intended to increase transparency among international NGOs operating in Gaza and the West Bank. OCHA’s objection reflects a coordinated effort to resist accountability and continue operating without meaningful oversight of personnel linked to designated entities. On Oct. 7th, we all saw the results of such disastrous policies. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNEeGXRBd20/?igsh=Nm00N2RnOHBxcnM5
→UN Watchdog Lowered Bar to Declare Gaza Famine https://freebeacon.com/israel/un-backed-famine-watchdog-quietly-changed-standards-easing-way-to-declare-famine-in-gaza/
 
YEMEN
→U.S.-aligned Yemeni forces have intercepted 750 tons of weapons, including chemical weapons, being smuggled to the Houthis by Iran in recent months.
→The Houthis continue to fire missiles at Israel. Today, the Houthis fired during the protests, they’re always aiming to hit civilians.
 

Will more people recognize the emotional manipulation and anti-Israel propaganda/journalistic fraud? The New York Times offered a timid correction of a faked photo; BILD, Germany’s largest newspaper, finally gave a cover story to how Hamas has been staging photos; anyone can do a reverse image search showing the reuse of photos from other conflicts; the Washington Post finally posted a story about Israel feeding Gazans; and the UN admitted that 88% of their aid trucks (since May) have been looted.  Please be vigilant - this week, hours after Hamas released repugnant videos of tortured and starved hostages, including of Evyatar David forced to dig his own grave, someone uploaded horrifying fake videos of Gaza made by A.I. to actor Michael Caine’s X account with over 800,000 followers and the AP went out of its way to show empathy for injured Hezbollah terrorists.

“Rather than pushing a two-state mirage – again, just ticking boxes that people feel they must reflexively check – the EU would be better off talking about how the EU can help disarm terrorists in Gaza and the West Bank and what role it can play in a deradicalization process inside those territories.” Herb Keinon

Europe and the UK sabotaged the hostage/ceasefire negotiations. Within 48 hours of the 22-member Arab League, plus the European Union and another 17 countries (including Canada), at a UN conference signing a declaration condemning Hamas’ October 7 massacre, calling on Israel to immediately stop the war in Gaza, announcing they would recognize a Palestinian state, and demanding the terror group Hamas disarm and relinquish power to the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip, Hamas abandoned ceasefire talks and released grotesque hostage videos. Additionally, in April, the UK (secretly/discretely) signed a Memorandum  of Understanding with Northern Ireland and the Palestinian Government where “The Participants underline the importance of maintaining commitment to the PLO principles.”
→Secretary of State Marco Rubio Slams Countries Recognizing a Palestinian State (U.S. State Department)

Hostage Update:
Over 671 days have passed since October 7^th. A hostage who was in a tunnel with Evyatar David, says terrorists holding him have A/C, cable TV and plenty of stolen food.  Another hostage, Roni Krivoi, was held hostage by Hamas for 51 days and lost 20 pounds. "We were inside a very, very small cage. Honestly, about a meter and a half by a meter and a half, no height, no toilets, no food." Hostages continue to suffer in captivity. Starved, tortured, and still alive; they are symbols of why Israel is still fighting.
Demand Their Release | After the release of devastating videos, there is no doubt: time has run out. Urge your elected officials to pressure Hamas to release every hostage held in Gaza now. Send your email here
 
AUSTRALIA
30,000 march in support of terrorists https://x.com/MaralSalmassi/status/1952161597729755541
 
CANADA
Despite its terrorist designation, Corporations Canada has neglected to dissolve Samidoun‘s not-for-profit corporation. Samidoun was designated as a terrorist entity in Canada for its role in advancing the interests of other listed entities, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a violent terrorist organization responsible for hijackings, bombings, and murders. Since being listed, Samidoun has continued to operate in Canada, organizing protests, glorifying terrorism, and spreading hate on Canadian streets. https://www.bnaibrith.ca/samidoun-letter-writing-campaign/
 
EUROPE
→Resolution calling for release of hostages snatched during Hamas' October 2023 attacks on Israel was among several emergency motions passed at EPP Valencia congress, but seven delegates declined to support it. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/05/01/seven-epp-congress-delegates-refuse-to-call-for-hamas-hostage-release
→Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, told Israel it “owes the Palestinian Authority over $2 billion,” referring to tax revenues Israel has collected on behalf of the authority but refused to disperse to compensate for the stipends that the Authority uses for their pay-to-slay program.
→Leaders from the European Union, Britain, France, and Germany have denounced recent propaganda videos released by Gaza terror groups, call on Hamas to disarm https://www.timesofisrael.com/european-countries-slam-videos-of-emaciated-hostages-call-on-hamas-to-disarm/
 
IRAN
→Bissan Barghouti, Executive Committee Member Of 'Masar Badil' – Affiliate Of Terror Designated PFLP And Samidoun – Meets In New York With Iranian Mission To The UN To Express 'Full Solidarity' With Iranian Regime, Congratulate It On 'Victories In The Face Of Aggression' https://www.memri.org/reports/bissan-barghouti-executive-committee-member-masar-badil-%E2%80%93-affiliate-terror-designated-pflp
→Tehran's Infrastructure to Finish a Bomb Is Shattered  (Washington Post)
→The United States, United Kingdom, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden released a joint statement today condemning "the growing number of state threats from Iranian intelligence services in our respective territories."
→Iran-Backed Groups Planning Attacks from Southern Syria  (Israel Hayom)
  
ISRAEL
Elie Aloni (former hostage): The rallies and demonstrations continue all over the country…. So the world sees the photos of the child from Gaza, but doesn't give a damn about the starving hostages. No question that Israel failed dreadfully on the media front... Nation after nation are announcing they will support a declaration of a Palestinian State in the upcoming UN convention, making sure Hamas will achieve its goal, and Oct. 7 is totally forgotten...Bibi has surely succeeded in destroying every part of Israel - security, education, high tech sector, economy (you can't imagine the cost of living and food prices are now probably the highest in the world, except for Gaza...), judicial system, the army, wherever you touch there is total inefficiency and corruption…The war needs to end NOW and all the hostages need to come home NOW!
→Netanyahu rejects bid to cut Israeli supply of electricity, water to Gaza https://worldisraelnews.com/netanyahu-rejects-bid-to-cut-israeli-supply-of-electricity-water-to-gaza/
→The Bloody Clash in Sweida: Strategic Dilemmas for Israel https://www.inss.org.il/publication/israel-syria-druze-conflict/
→B’Tselem’s New Report on Gaza: A Manipulative Attempt to Delegitimize Israel (Honest Reporting)
→Oct. 7 victims and families sue Meta for over $1 billion - Enabling Hamas’ livestreaming of their atrocities on social media violated their privacy and facilitated terrorism, the plaintiffs charged.
 
LEBANON
→Israel continues to target Hezbollah positions in Lebanon
→The Lebanese government moves to disarm Hezbollah - how Hezbollah’s disarmament would be carried out in light of the group’s refusal to cooperate is still a question. 
https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-ministers-walk-out-of-cabinet-meeting-as-beirut-approves-us-disarmament-plan/ see also Hizbullah Rejects Lebanese Government's Disarmament Plan (France 24)
 
PA/HAMAS
→Images of Gaza Show the Reality of Urban Warfare, Not Genocide - Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp (Telegraph-UK)
→Peace isn't possible until PA stops paying terrorists to kill 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/01/10/palestinian-authority-terror-payments-holocaust-survivor-israel/77543726007
→US sanctions PA following PMW report to Marco Rubio https://palwatch.org/page/37229
→Crime boss, traitor, looter — or Gaza’s best hope? https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/israel-hamas-war/article/gaza-palestinian-militia-leader-yasser-abu-shabab-7hfnrm2cb
→PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced elections for the Palestinian National Council (PNC) will take place by the end of 2025. This will be the first vote since 2006.
→The Palestinian Authority's goal to destroy Israel and turn it into "Palestine" hasn't changed. https://palwatch.org/page/37217 Not once has the PA condemned Hamas' murder, beheading, rape, and torture of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023
→The Shocking Truth About Gaza’s Children You Never Saw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1vH2H6oIo4
→PA Summer Camp teaching terror against Israel - The Mennonite Central Committee, an American-Canadian Christian community and European fan football clubs support the NGO running the camp https://palwatch.org/page/37220
→Hamas is proud of how many Palestinian lives they sacrifice
https://bsky.app/profile/kristinmreid.bsky.social/post/3lvk4vt6aik2d
 
QATAR
Qatari state-backed charities have poured millions into Canadian Muslim organizations, some with alleged ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, a shadowy web of influence is growing. https://honestreporting.ca/videos/qatars-quiet-grip-on-canada-will-the-media-wake-up/
 
RUSSIA
Russian courts have sentenced 135 people to prison for their roles in the October 2023 mob attack on Makhachkal Uytash Airport in Dagestan (attempted lynching of Jews)

SYRIA
First-Hand Accounts from Syria https://www.meforum.org/mef-online/the-current-situation-in-al-suwayda-interview-with-a-local-druze-faction
For more info on the conflict visit the blog https://updateonmiddleeast.blogspot.com/2025/08/syria-fighting-is-still-going-on.html
 
TURKEY

→Turkey is pushing to rejoin the F-35 program despite owning Russia’s S-400 missile system, which threatens U.S. aircraft and risks exposing sensitive F-35 technology to Russian intelligence. 

Action: Letter to Congress https://middle-east-forum.quorum.us/campaign/F35/
→Senior Editor Of Indian Daily: 'India Has Reason To Worry As Turkish Intelligence Agencies Are... Extending Financial And Logistical Support To Islamist Factions In Bangladesh',(MEMRI)
 
UK
→Former UK Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn launches new anti-Israel party Far-left MP, who was ousted from Labour over antisemitism, says Your Party will be committed to ‘mass redistribution of wealth and power’ and a ‘free and independent Palestine’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oejxKEVEAxY
→This is the darkest day in British foreign policy since the invasion of Iraq
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/29/darkest-day-british-foreign-policy-palestine-starmer/
→1,500 Breaches of Editorial Guidelines: BBC Excoriated in Scathing Report on Israel-Hamas War Coverage https://honestreporting.com/1500-breaches-of-editorial-guidelines-bbc-excoriated-in-scathing-report-on-israel-hamas-war-coverage/
→The Telegraph printed a chart of casualties from a Hamas press release with just one big number designed to mislead. https://x.com/HonestReporting/status/1953075780847640585
→BBC Arabic’s network’s ongoing pattern of platforming figures who promote violence and bigotry.
https://www.camera.org/article/press-release-rola-azar-adds-to-bbc-arabics-long-record-of-platforming-hate/
→Yahya surges to top 100 UK baby names - the same first name as the Hamas leader who orchestrated the October 7, 2023, atrocities. Yahya is a name rising fast across Europe, especially among Muslim families, alongside Muhammad. https://worldisraelnews.com/yahya-surges-to-top-100-uk-baby-names-post-october-7/
→Britain continues to run espionage flights over Gaza from Cyprus using spy plans to try and locate the hostages through signal intelligence.
 
UN
UN refuses to cooperative in distributing aid as reported hunger grows in Gaza
https://www.fdd.org/in_the_news/2025/07/26/un-refuses-to-cooperative-in-distributing-aid-as-reported-hunger-grows-in-gaza/
 
US
→After 20 months of war, one in four Americans now say the war is unjustified. Many key constituencies do not view Hamas as a terrorist group, and nearly half are unaware that hostages remain in Gaza. https://boundlessisrael.org/polling-insights/israel-at-war-with-hamas
→Mapping Project Promoter Calla Walsh Now in Tehran https://www.israellycool.com/2025/07/17/mapping-project-promoter-calla-walsh-now-in-tehran/ The Boston Mapping Project includes Jewish sites statewide in Massachusetts as well as police departments; it is considered very dangerous in light of - two Chabad centers suffered arson, a rabbi stabbed in daylight in Boston, and the level of Jew hate in the state's esteemed universities.
→National Educators Camouflage Antisemitism and Holocaust Education Distortion as Social Justice The NEA, the largest U.S. teachers’ union, has distorted Holocaust history by describing it as affecting “12 million victims of different faiths,” omitting the central fact that the Nazis’ “Final Solution” was the organized genocide of 6 million Jews for being Jewish. It is also offensive that the NEA refers to International Holocaust Remembrance Day as a “celebration,” when it is a day to mourn, commemorate, and educate about the atrocities committed. The handbook also promotes Nakba education, portraying Israel’s founding as “violent displacement,” while ignoring that Jews accepted the 1947 two-state solution rejected by Palestinian leaders who chose war. The NEA’s explicit assertion that “anti-Zionism is not antisemitism” is not only false, but dangerous. See for yourself. This is the handbook: https://vinnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nea_handbook_online_2025.pdf
→In a resounding statement of bipartisan support for Israel, the amendment to cut $500 million for U.S.-Israel missile defense programs lost 422-6.  Representatives Al Green, Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee, and Thomas Massie, joined Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ilhan Omar in voting to cut funding for programs like Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow. https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025207
→Columbia University punished more than 70 students for the parts they played in antisemitic rioting on campus over the last year. (CBS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXEg8iu0G1w
→UCLA Settles Lawsuit with Jewish Students https://www.jns.org/ucla-reaches-6-13m-settlement-with-jewish-students/
→Reports indicate the US will offer to fund the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip in exchange for Hamas dropping its weapon and leaving. The goal? To encourage civilians to topple Hamas. Qatar strongly opposes it
 
YEMEN
General of Yemen’s Anti-Houthi Forces: Iran’s Axis ‘Can Be Stopped Here’ https://www.meforum.org/mef-online/general-of-yemens-anti-houthi-forces-irans-axis-can-be-stopped-here
Houthis continue to fire missiles at Israel
 

SYRIA

The fighting is still going on!

Competing narratives in the attack upon the Druze.

1.    Has Legitimizing HTS Opened The Door To Violence Against The Druze? Just days after U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack stated that federalism does not work in Syria and emphasized the need for one army, one nation, and one government, armed groups affiliated with the military and security forces under Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus launched a brutal attack against the Druze minority in Suwayda, a southern province of Syria. These attacks have been carried out under the direct orders of the transitional president, Ahmad Al-Shara (Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani), and his cabinet ministers, as if they are apparently interpreting Mr. Barrack's statements as a green light to subjugate the remaining components of Syrian society. (MEMRI)

2.    From Hussain Abdul-Hassain, a research fellow at FDD: This is a planned Islamist Jihadist onslaught planned, funded, and logistically supported by three of Jolani's henchmen: Chief of Intelligence Hussein al-Salamah, HTS Senior Commander and Under Minister for Foreign Affairs Youssef Al-Hajr, both from the same Ugaydaat tribe, and Muhammad Jassim, aka Abu Amsheh, famous for murdering Alawites 4 months ago, head of Turkey's Suleiman Brigade, and now head of 25th Brigade in Hama. All three are from the northeast of Syria and not remotely connected to the clans and Bedouins of south Syria.

3.    The declaration of jihad against the Druze in southern Syria followed their attempts to impede a Bedouin drug smuggling racket. They have been trying to halt Bedouin attacks and murders which have been claiming the lives of hundreds of Druze civilians. Despite pronouncements by al-Julani, the Syrian leader, that protecting the Druze is his priority, regime personnel have been heading off to join jihad against the Druze. Syrian media also reported that mobs of students hunted for their Druze’ classmates at Aleppo University.

 Note: The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is the official name of the national army. SAA is a component of the broader "regime forces". The US Envoy to Syria: Al-Julani’s forces are behind Sweida massacres, not SAA; at the same time, officials in Damascus admitted that several “uncontrolled units” were involved.

Is NY Times giving Syrian Druze the Israeli Jews treatment? https://www.camera.org/article/is-the-ny-times-giving-syrian-druze-the-israeli-jews-treatment/

In Syria’s Sweida, the stench of death still lingers days after sectarian bloodshed https://apnews.com/article/syria-sweida-sectarianism-ahmad-alsharaa-druze-fighting-e1cec070de22805a492c9151c0ec6fd1

Syria for Beginners: Five Sources to Follow https://tcf.org/content/commentary/syria-for-beginners-five-sources-to-follow/

→→Action Alert: Urge Congress to Protect Syrian Minorities from Sunni Islamists

Renewing sanctions against the HTS-led government would pressure it to halt abuses and protect minorities. https://middle-east-forum.quorum.us/campaign/Druze/

 

The unrelenting anti-Israel screeds - omitting Hamas rejection of a ceasefire, ceaselessly blaming Israel - (in one day, the NYT had seven articles and one letter in on this one subject; a sample of news coverage), the constant repeating “60,000 Palestinians killed” during the conflict and calling it ‘genocide’ without noting that over half that number were terrorists, fighters, Hamas or PIJ; without noting how many Hamas is responsible for killing; without noting natural deaths is inflaming the public and the result is attacks upon Jews worldwide. The avalanche of anti-Israel propaganda is starting to overwhelm even the most committed of Israel's supporters.

In Yemen, at least 150,00 have been killed in conflict and over 227,000 have died due to famine and lack of healthcare. Close to 20,000 civilians, including 2300 children, have been killed by coalition airstrikes. https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/yemen/

In the US war in Afghanistan there were over 100,000 casualties.

In the US war in Iraq the Iraq Body Count (IBC) project has documented about 200,000 violent civilian deaths. 

I’m not even sure why we were in either of these wars, but I know Israel is at war because of the unprovoked invasion by Palestinian terrorists on 10/7/23 who are still holding, starving, and torturing hostages captured at a music festival.

The IDF has achieved the lowest ratio of civilian deaths to combatant deaths (1:5:1) ever seen for fighting in a densely populated area like Gaza, a feat that is most remarkable because Hamas deliberately embedded its extensive network of terror tunnels amid the Gaza populace to essentially guarantee that any Israeli response to Hamas attacks on Israelis would result in Gazan deaths despite the IDF's many efforts to avoid harming civilians. (John Spencer, Urban War Institute) Further, John Spencer reminds us that Israel’s supply of humanitarian aid to an enemy population has no precedent in the history of warfare.