Free Republic

Israel launched air attacks on Syria's central region as well as the coastal city of Baniyas, killing a child and injuring ten civilians, Syrian state media said on Wednesday citing a military source. "At approximately 19:30 pm, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of Lebanese territory, targeting a site in the central region and a residential building in Baniyas ... leading to the death of a girl, the injury of ten civilians," the source was quoted as saying. Syrian state media reported earlier on Wednesday that the country's air defences had intercepted "hostile targets" over Homs,...

Remember that catchy NYC tourism campaign, “I loooove New Yoork!” I can almost picture President Biden croaking out the catchy tune, but with one word changed: “I loooove Iraaan!”Iran is the number one state sponsor of worldwide terrorism. They call America the ”Great Satan,” and their stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map. But don’t tell that to Joe Biden, who doesn’t want to upset the Mullahs in case it might hurt his increasingly remote reelection chances. The befuddled octogenarian president actually is demanding that European countries concerned about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons program stand down and...

BERLIN—The Biden administration is pressing European allies to back off plans to rebuke Iran for advances in its nuclear program as it seeks to keep tensions with Tehran from escalating before the autumn’s U.S. presidential election, according to diplomats involved in discussions. The U.S. is arguing against an effort by Britain and France to censure Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s member state board in early June, the diplomats said. The U.S. has pressed a number of other countries to abstain in a censure vote, saying that is what Washington will do, they said. U.S. officials deny lobbying against...

Israeli lawmakers on Monday advanced a government proposal to designate June 1 as a day to commemorate the Farhud, the 1941 pogrom in Iraq coordinated by Palestinian leader Haj Amin al-Hussein. The Commemoration Day for the Farhud Events Bill, sponsored by Likud Party lawmaker Ofir Katz, was approved for first reading and will be discussed by the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee ahead of future votes. Katz’s bill calls for the pogrom to be commemorated in educational institutions across the Jewish state in order to preserve the memory of the events and the victims and pass it on to...

In mid-2022, Gazprom restricted gas flows to Europe in what was seen as a move by Putin to get both leverage against Kyiv's allies ahead of the winter season and retaliate against Western sanctions and support of Ukraine. But the EU managed to find alternative long-term sources of gas imports and free itself from most Russian piped-gas imports ... Gazprom's revenue fell by 41 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2023, while sales profits dropped 71 percent and gas production by 25 percent... The report said the company's upstream gas-production base is now isolated because infrastructure connecting its main...

The Biden administration is urging Arab states to join a "peacekeeping" force which would control Gaza once the war ends, the Financial Times reported. The initiative aims to fill the vacuum which would be created in Gaza once Hamas is toppled and until a "credible Palestinian security apparatus" could be established. Among the countries the US has been discussing its plans with are Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco, all of which are "considering" the initiative. The US has also spoken to Saudi Arabia about the plan, but the Saudis are unwilling to deploy their own forces to the...

Biden administration officials are said to be offering Israel exact locations of Hamas leaders in a bid to stop the IDF invading the Gazan city of Rafah. The president has reportedly offered highly-classified information that also includes the locations of Hamas' secret tunnels to try and stave-off what he fears could be a humanitarian catastrophe. The detailed and sensitive talks serve to illustrate the stakes facing Israel and the U.S. Rafah is the last city in Gaza that has not been bombed by Israel. According to the Washington Post, the U.S. is also proposing to assist in the construction of...

Terror group said to tell mediators it doesn’t have 33 living people who meet ‘humanitarian’ criteria of initial phase — after Israel agreed to lower previous demand of 40 people Hamas has said some of the 33 hostages it would release under the first phase of a prospective hostage deal with Israel would not necessarily be alive. In an announcement detailing the clauses to which it had agreed Monday in the latest proposal for a deal, the terror group said, “During the first phase, Hamas releases 33 Israeli detainees (alive or corpses).” The New York Times reported Tuesday that the...

The president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, traveled to Tehran on Monday to meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who warned him to prevent “anti-revolutionary elements” from getting too friendly with the autonomous Kurdish region. The warning appeared to be a threat intended to dissuade Kurdish cooperation with the United States and any potential cordial ties with neighboring Israel. The KRG maintains friendly relations with the United States and cooperates militarily with Washington, particularly against the Islamic State (Isis) jihadist organization. The KRG’s Peshmerga forces were pivotal in the ouster of the ISIS “caliphate” from...

Israeli fighter jets during the night shot down a drone that was heading toward Israel from “the eastern direction,” the military says. The IDF says the aircraft had been tracked throughout the incident, and there was no threat to civilians.

The media in America is destructive, inhumane, utterly immoral, and has no conscience as a group whatsoever, and they are tearing this country apart through their lies and projection. Donald Trump has been the greatest friend Israel and the Jewish people have ever had in the Oval Office, and the only president to have a Jewish family, but to people who don’t like him, he is Hitler. Democrat media outlets like Media Matters and people like Joe Scarborough make a mockery of the Holocaust by calling their political opponents Hitler as they do to Donald Trump, while they repeat Hamas...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a utopian plan for a rebuilt Gaza on Friday called “Gaza 2035.” In a PowerPoint file apparently published by the Prime Minister’s Office, and available (in Hebrew) on the Ynet news website, the Israeli government envisions a future for Gaza as a thriving center of trade and innovation under a Palestinian administration that is de-radicalized and focused on economic growth rather than on terror and hate. The “Gaza 2035” plan seeks to capitalize on Gaza’s historical role as a crossroads on the east-west route between Cairo and Baghdad on the one hand, and the...

After Abu Marzouk claims good relations with Amman, veteran Jordanian diplomat responds that country ‘has closed the book on Palestinian cells’ Jordan on Tuesday quickly dispelled the idea that Hamas leaders would be welcome to set up their offices on their territory after a senior Hamas official suggested the terror group’s political bureau would move to the kingdom if it was forced to leave its current home in Qatar. It was reported earlier this month that Hamas’s political chiefs are exploring moving their base of operations out of Qatar, as the Gulf state faces increasing pressure over its influence with...

CNN’s Dana Bash confronted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Sunday over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN)’s visit to Columbia University, where she gave a statement about the pro-Palestinian protests. Omar’s own daughter was suspended from Columbia-affiliated Barnard College last week after being arrested at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the Morningside Heights campus. Omar was recorded saying, “I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe and that we should not have to tolerate anti-Semitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.” Bash asked Sanders,...

A father has started legal action against UK oil giant BP over the death of his 21-year-old son. Hussein Julood alleges the burning off of gas at a BP-run oil field in Iraq - a practice known as flaring - caused his son Ali's leukaemia. A BBC investigation in 2022 found Ali's village, which lies within the field, had high levels of cancer-causing pollutants known to come from flaring. BP said "we understand the concerns" and are supporting change. The case is believed to be the first time an individual has started legal action against a major oil firm over...

MOSUL, Iraq, April 21 (Reuters) - At least five rockets were launched from Iraq's town of Zummar towards a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters. The attack against U.S. forces is the first since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against U.S. troops.

We could call this A Tale of Two Facilities. Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel in retaliation for the targeted strike on IRGC and Hamas commanders. That attack did little damage despite a volley of well over 300 missiles and drones, thanks to the regional defenses and the several hours of lead time necessitated by Iran's launch from its own territory.That demonstrated the facility Iran has for offensive operations in the region. Israel responded by demonstrating its facility, and as the New York Times hears from officials in Iran and the West, the result shocked the Iranians:An Israeli...

Seven were injured by a direct hit by an explosive UAV in a communal building in the settlement of Arab al-Aramshe in the Western Galilee. in the artillery for the launch sources. Ader Gitsis | Branu Tegene | N12 | Published 13:34 17.04.24 Seven injured, two of them in a serious condition, from a direct hit today (Wednesday) in a populated community center in Arab al-Aramsha in the Western Galilee. Another injured is in moderate condition, and four are in light condition. MDA teams, along with IDF medical teams, evacuated the seven to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched missiles and drones on an Israeli military facility in Arab al-Aramshe on Wednesday, in response to the Israeli killing of Hezbollah members and commanders in Lebanon. This escalation comes as tensions between Israel and Iran are reaching new heights after a series of strikes and counterstrikes.

Something extraordinary happened above Israel over the weekend. It wasn’t that Israel repelled a massive Iranian rocket and drone barrage, although that was sufficiently miraculous. Nor was it that amazing that Saudi Arabia helped defend Israel against Iranian incursions because it’s been rumored for decades that Saudi Arabia occasionally lends a hand in those matters. What was truly extraordinary was that Saudi Arabia openly admitted to helping Israel fight back against Iran’s attack. It shows the truth of the ancient proverb that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Many people are pointing to President Trump’s Abraham Accords as...