Free Republic

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – The Swedish government said Wednesday that it will donate 13 billion kronor ($1.23 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, in the largest package of assistance Sweden has so far donated. “It consists of equipment that is at the top of Ukraine’s priority list,” Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said. It includes air defense, artillery ammunition and armored vehicles. Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonsson reiterated that the country has ruled out for now sending any Swedish-built JAS 39 Gripen jets to Ukraine, saying the focus on the Ukrainian side is on implementing a F-16 fighter jet program.

Heavy seas tore four U.S. Army vessels from their moorings Saturday while they were trying to assist humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. Two vessels are beached along Israel’s coast near Ashkelon while the other two are anchored on the beach near the temporary pier built and put in place by the U.S. military, U.S.Central Command announced. No U.S. personnel were injured by the stormy seas, CENTCOM said, while Israel Defense Forces are assisting in recovering the vessels, and the pier remains fully functional.

Most of the aid being delivered to Gaza via the new “floating pier” constructed by the U.S. military is being stolen, according to reports. The pier, announced by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address, was completed last week, and the Pentagon said Tuesday that 569 metric tons of aid had been brought ashore thus far. However, the Pentagon is unable to say how much, if any, of that aid has actually reached the organizations that are supposed to distribute it, as reports have emerged of Palestinians simply seizing aid from the back of delivery trucks.

IDF drone footage shows “a Hamas terrorist firing at Palestinian civilians trying to get aid at an UNRWA compound east of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.” As Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pushes deeper into the Rafah terror stronghold, more evidence of collusion between terror group Hamas and the United Nations’ Palestinian aid agency (UNRWA) comes to light. The IDF on Wednesday released drone footage showing Hamas terrorists using UN marked vehicles, which enjoy protection in a combat zone. The clip also shows Hamas gunmen apparently shooting at unarmed civilians in and around the UNRWA humanitarian aid depot in Rafah. The...

Following President Joe Biden stating that he would withhold certain weapons from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, Republicans were confronted on Sunday over former President Ronald Reagan's similar stance to leverage military aid to Israel. On October 7, 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, launched an attack against Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. In the months that followed, Israel's offensive has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the Associated Press reported, citing local health officials. On Wednesday, Biden warned he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons like bombs and artillery shells if Israeli...

A United Nations watchdog organization published a series of chat room posts by Palestinians purportedly accusing U.N. Relief and Works Agency staff members of stealing humanitarian aid intended for civilians and selling it or hoarding it in their homes. On Wednesday, the Geneva-based non-governmental organization UN Watch published posts from a chat room run by former UNRWA employee Haitham al-Sayyed, who continues to run the chat rooms.The NGO, accredited in special consultative status to the U.N. Economic and Social Council and affiliated with the American Jewish Committee, reported that al-Sayyed was fired after he publicly criticized the agency for hiding...

Sal Mercogliano - a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses the Joint Logistics Over the Shore Operation preparing to start over the beach in Gaza.

Hamas fired rockets Friday at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, one of several points at which humanitarian aid enters the Gaza Strip from Israel. It was just the latest such attack, after a barrage of rockets hit the crossing last weekend, killing four Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and wounding others. The IDF released a statement: Following the sirens that sounded earlier today (Friday) in the area of Kerem Shalom, one launch was identified crossing from the Rafah area into Israel. The launch was successfully intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array. A short while ago, sirens again sounded in...

On Wednesday, a UNWatch report revealed that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency staff have been stealing humanitarian aid materials meant for Gazan civilians, and reselling the materials at a profit. UNRWA staff are stealing aid and selling it for profit, while those who report it face reprisals, according to numerous reports published by Palestinians in an UNRWA-related chatroom.The posts expose a deep frustration by employees that senior UNRWA employees are engaged in the abuses, and that the agency is doing nothing about it. This comes amid a recent call by UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini for countries to increase...

Hamas opened fire near the Keren Shalom crossing that had been used to bring in aid to Gaza. The attack was predictably launched from near a civilian shelter in Rafah. Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, whose employees have been shown to be Hamas, again and again, accused Israel of blocking aid. Every UN and international aid body in the region keeps claiming that there’s famine in Gaza. As they’ve been claiming for the past 6 months. Except that the famine is always on the verge of arriving, but never quite does. Israel has not only moved aid through...

Hamas terrorists claimed credit for a rocket attack on Sunday targeting the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza near the Egyptian border, the main entry point for humanitarian aid headed into the enclave. Sirens sounded in Kerem Shalom, southern Israel. pic.twitter.com/OIKEkHSOKq— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) May 5, 2024Photos taken just after the attack show clouds of black smoke rising from the port of entry used to ensure weapons and other terrorist supplies don't make it into Gaza. At least three IDF soldiers were killed and more were injured in the Hamas attack which was launched by the Iran-backed...

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released the first photos of the pier under construction off the coast of Gaza which is intended to provide a means of getting aid to the war-torn region. "Construction of the floating JLOTS pier in the Mediterranean is underway," they wrote Monday:Pier-building beginsConstruction of the floating JLOTS pier in the Mediterranean is underway.The pier will support @USAID and humanitarian partners to receive and deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. @USTRANSCOM and @USEUCOM support the movement of of #humanitarianaid. pic.twitter.com/tC9J12wz4Z— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 29, 2024JLOTS stands for "Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore."The pier was announced...

A Fatah TV anchor reported that Hamas had attacked aid workers, stolen food and water and caused food prices to skyrocket in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian political faction Fatah charged on air that Hamas had deliberately killed aid workers, stolen aid and manufactured a food crisis in Gaza, according to a Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) investigation published on Sunday. A Fatah TV anchor reported that Hamas had attacked aid workers, stolen food and water and caused food prices to skyrocket in the Gaza Strip – which PMW said constituted a triple crime. “Hamas’ persecution of any party who is...

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Friday that the US is sending Ukraine its largest aid package to date — worth $6 billion — that will include munitions for Patriot missile defense systems that Kyiv has said could change the course of the war, but not the systems themselves. The massive package comes just two days after a separate $1 billion tranche for Ukraine was announced upon President Biden signing a $95 billion foreign aid supplemental funding bill into law. “The announcements this week underscore America’s enduring commitment to Ukraine’s defense,” Austin said after a meeting of the Ukraine...

Apparently taking the example of Washington, London committed Tuesday to deliver more military hardware and another £500 million in aid to Kyiv as UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned that Vladimir Putin will seek to expand further into Europe if Ukraine loses to Russia. Britain will supply Ukraine with 60 boats, 400 vehicles, over 1,600 missiles, and nearly four million rounds of ammunition as well as £500 million in additional military funding, in the largest single aid package from the UK since the Russian invasion of 2022 and taking the country’s total contributions to £3 billion during this financial year,...

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he voted against additional aid to Israel to oppose a “blank check” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Khanna was one of the 37 Democrats who voted against sending more funding to Israel on Saturday amid its ongoing war in Gaza. The House approved a long-awaited foreign aid package on Saturday that includes more funding for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on this week’s broadcast on “Fox News Sunday” that Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) aid package that included for Ukraine would not have passed the House without help from former President Donald Trump. Graham said, “The Ukrainian military, with our help, has killed about 50% of the combat power of the Russians. This is the year of more. They’re going to have more weapons, but we also want them to have new weapons, ATACMS to knock the bride down between Crimea and Russia. They are going to have F-16s. So, this idea give up on Ukraine...

Fatah, the “moderate” ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, has admitted on live television that Hamas steals humanitarian aid and kills aid workers in the Gaza Strip. The admission, captured by Palestinian Media Watch, confirms what Israel has been saying all along — and goes further, stating that Hamas is not only responsible for endangering aid workers by hiding among them, but also asserts that Hamas has been killing aid workers directly. Palestinian Media Watch reported (original emphasis):

On Saturday’s “CNN Newsroom,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) stated that none of the Israel aid in the package passed by the House earlier in the day “should be used for any offensive operations in Gaza until the hostages have [been] released, massive humanitarian aid flows into Gaza, and an understanding about what, if any, operations would be commenced with respect to Rafah.” Host Alex Marquardt asked, “[Y]ou’ve also been quite vocal about the war in Gaza, saying the death toll is way too high. In terms of this new aid for Israel, would you have wanted to see more conditions...

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the House to approve further funding for his nation, arguing it is needed to support Ukraine’s war losses and guarantee a win against Russia. “We hope that this week, [the] House will support one of the drafts, no matter for us which one. We need support for yesterday, not for today or tomorrow, for yesterday,” Shmyhal said Thursday during an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. INTERNATIONAL Ukrainian PM stresses urgency of aid: ‘We need support for yesterday, not today’ BY MIRANDA NAZZARO - 04/18/24 3:39 PM ET SHARE POST Video Player is loading....