Over 200 mortars fired at Israel from Gaza on Saturday, by Monday a truce or cease-fire. Flaming kites continue to be launched from Gaza and 11 new fires were ignited in Israel on Thursday. 

While Israel targeted terrorist infrastructure, (in response to an  IDF officer being wounded by a grenade during a Gaza border riot and with incendiary devises continuing to cause havoc) the response of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups was to indiscriminately launch over 200 mortars and rockets at Israeli towns and villages in the border region. Four residents of Sderot were injured and tens of thousands of Israeli civilians were forced to hunker down in bomb shelters and reinforced safe rooms over the weekend. (Honest Reporting)

Jihadists Are Trying to Take Over the Sahel (Economist-UK)     As the American and other allied troops who helped crush IS are quietly heading home, a form of IS' brutal ideology is taking root in and around the Sahel, the arid, sparsely populated belt of land that runs along the southern fringe of the Sahara desert. Last year the jihadists in Africa killed some 10,000 people, mostly civilians. That compares with about 2,000 civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria.  Jihadists connected to al-Qaeda and IS have attacked Western embassies, hotels and oil facilities in the Sahel.

Boko Haram Overruns Nigeria Military Base (AFP)

Analysis: America’s Gulf allies still sponsor hate preachers - Andrew Weinberg (FDD's Long War Journal) America’s Gulf allies -- Qatar, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- still sponsor hate preachers during Ramadan.

Argentina Freezes Assets of Hizbullah Fundraising Network (JTA) Argentina has frozen the assets of the Barakat Clan - a criminal organization linked to Hizbullah operating near the border with Brazil and Paraguay.  The Financial Information Unit of Argentina said Friday the Barakat Clan is involved in smuggling, falsifying of money and documents, extortion, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering and terrorist financing.

Iranian Assassins in Europe and Africa - Borzou Daragahi (Daily Beast)

Talk Show Producer (in New Zealand) Tweets Hooey and Why It Matters - Pesacg Benson (Honest Reporting) 

Hizbullah and Shi'ite Militias Integrated into Syrian Army (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center) At least two Iraqi-Shi'ite forces - the Dhu al-Fiqar Brigade and the Abu Fadl al-Abbas Brigade - are part of the campaign currently waged by the Syrian army in south Syria.

Saudi Journalist: We Must Advance Peace with Israel (MEMRI)  In several recent reports, MEMRI has noted an increasing number of Saudi intellectuals, journalists, and commentators expressing public support for Israel and calling for peace and normalization with it.

Are the Saudis Playing a Double Game with Israel? - Dr. Edy Cohen (BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University)  The Saudis are playing a double game. Behind the scenes, they send the Israelis the message that Tehran is a common enemy and goad it to fight Iran and Hizbullah. At home, they say the enemy is first and foremost the State of Israel, followed by Iran. These statements penetrate deep into the Arab consciousness and increase their existing hatred towards Jews and Israel. 

Swiss Observer Expelled from Israel for Slapping Jewish Boy in Hebron - Alexander Fulbright (Times of Israel) See also: European Monitor Filmed Puncturing Tires of Israeli Vehicle in Hebron - Yotam Berger (Ha'aretz)

British media pummel Israel with some of the most biased headlines since 2014  - Adam Levick (UK Media Watch)

  

U.S. Report Finds Only 20,000 Palestinian Refugees - Ariel Kahana  (Israel Hayom) Sources who have seen a State Department report compiled during the Obama administration on Palestinians who became refugees during the 1948 War of Independence say the report indicates that only 20,000 of the 700,000 Arab refugees are still alive and displaced from their homes. Members of Congress are demanding the State Department make the report public. UNRWA, the UN agency which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, asserts that there are 5.1 million Palestinian refugees worldwide.

UPDATE from JTA
The State Department said on Thursday it is working with Iraq to extend the stay of a trove of Jewish artifacts from the country, after a bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution recommending that the items not be returned as planned in September.

Environmental Impact of War (Honest Reporting Video)

Germany Sending 300 Million Euros in Cash to Iran - Nikolaus Blome and Antje Schippmann (Bild-Germany)

South Korea Suspends Iranian Oil Imports - Jane Chung and Osamu Tsukimori (Reuters)
French Shipping Firm Ends Iran Operations due to U.S. Sanctions (Reuters)

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Suspending Flights to Tehran (Sputnik-Russia)

Irish Boycott Bill Could Create Huge Problems for U.S. Companies Like Apple - Orde F. Kittrie (Fortune)

Israel Condemns Irish Boycott Vote (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Former Irish Justice Minister Slams Proposed Ban on West Bank Trade (The Journal-Ireland) He accused the Fianna Fail party of "losing their moral compass" by supporting the bill, which is due to pass in the Dail next week. Shatter asked whether the legislation will also apply to goods produced in places such as Russia-occupied Crimea, China-occupied Tibet, or Turkey-occupied northern Cyprus. Shatter noted, "It was Fianna Fail governments that closed the doors of the Irish state to Jews attempting to flee Nazi Germany and also to concentration camp survivors." He asked if "Northern Ireland could be designated as an occupied territory under the bill" or if it was "just an anti-Semitic measure intended to only target Jews."  

IDF said to threaten major action if Gaza incendiary balloon attacks persist  (Times of Israel) Over 60 new fires started by Thursday

Israel Court Orders Confiscation of Gaza Flotilla Ships to Pay Terror Victims - Yael Friedson (Ynet News)  The Jerusalem District Court issued a temporary confiscation order Wednesday for two Norwegian ships set to partake in a solidarity flotilla to Gaza in the coming weeks.   The court order allows for the ships, worth 75,000 euros, to be used for monetary compensation for victims of Hamas terrorism.

Arab Press Praises Gaza Kite Terror Which Causes Heavy Damage, Threatens Lives Of Israeli Civilians (MEMRI) Articles in the Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian press describe it as an ingenious and effective form of "non-violent protest" 

For our Spanish readers: Análisis de las últimas Marchas del Retorno, con Tamar Sternthal (Radiosefarad.com) 

The Gaza-Egypt Smuggling Tunnels Are Still Operating - Hana Salah (Al-Monitor) 

BDS Is Morphing into an Attack on the Rights of Jewish Students - Kenneth Waltzer (Fathom-BICOM-UK)

Taliban's Best Fighters Being Trained by Iran - Anthony Loyd  (The Times-UK)

Analysis: Pentagon continues to underestimate al Qaeda, downplay ties to Taliban - Bill Roggio (FDD's Long War Journal)

Courtesy of JIMENA: The U.S. government has been signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) agreements between the US and foreign governments that blockade the entry of art and cultural property to the USA and deny Jews from Arab countries the rights to their historic heritage. The signing of MOUs with Middle Eastern countries validates those countries' confiscation of Jewish property and heritage and simultaneously denies the rights of Jews and other religious minorities to their cultural patrimony. Algeria action required NOW. See this link and this link for more information and how to take action...

Submitted by one of our French readers: L'imam de la nouvelle Grande mosquée de Toulouse, un habitué des prêches violents et antisémites - Hadrien Mathoux (Marianne) An article explaining that the imam of the great mosque in Toulouse is an antisemite, calling to kill Jews in his sermons.  Translated here.

Terror attacks in France: From Toulouse to the Louvre (Telegraph) From students being killed in Toulouse to ...

Iranian Commander Accuses Israel of Stealing Iran's Clouds and Causing Drought - Tariq Tahir (Daily Mail-UK)

State Department Outlines U.S. Strategy on Iran  (U.S. State Department)

Iran Diplomat Arrested over Plot to Attack Iranian Opposition Meeting in France  (Reuters-Telegraph-UK) The two suspects in Belgium, Amir S., 38, and Nasimeh N., 33, were intercepted by Belgian police on Saturday with 500 grams of TATP explosive and a detonation device. A diplomat at the Iranian embassy in Vienna who was linked to the case was arrested in Germany.

Iranian Hackers Impersonate Israeli Security Firm - Ionut Arghire (Security Week)

Terrorist family with the highest PA paid salary about to get a raise-  Maurice Hirsch and Itamar Marcus (PMW) The PA has turned the Palestinian mother of five murderers of Israelis into a role model.

24 Fires Caused by Incendiary Balloons and Kites from Gaza on Saturday - Matan Tzuri  (Ynet News) Palestinians in Gaza caused 24 blazes in Israel on Saturday using incendiary balloons and kites.

British Air Force Bombed Pro-Assad Forces Last Month - Mark Hookham and Tim Ripley (Sunday Times-UK)

After hours of absence, warplanes and helicopters re-target Daraa province which witnessed and death of more than 400 civilians, fighters, and members in 18 days of escalation (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

The Man Who Has the Assad Torture Pictures - Karina Mossbauer (Bild-Germany)

Jordan, Saudis and Palestinians Warn Israel: Erdogan Operating in East Jerusalem Under Your Nose -Amir Tibon and Yaniv Kubovich (Haaretz)

June 2018 Corrections (CAMERA)

The Horrors of Honor Violence: Terrorism At Home - Abigail R. Esman (IPT) This is not just a story about domestic abuse. It is a story about cultural mores, institutionalized violence against women and girls (and occasionally young men) in the name of family honor. And it happens to thousands of them every year, not just in places like Afghanistan and Somalia and Iraq, but in America, England, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, France, and elsewhere across the Western world.

SPLC statement regarding Maajid Nawaz and the Quilliam Foundation - Southern Poverty Law Center pays $3.4 million in  legal settlement and issues apology