Free Republic

I have been sitting here trying to figure out what to write about what we just witnessed. Just like October 7th, the shocking attack on Israel that just took place altered the course of history. This was the first time that Iran ever attacked Israel directly, and I was flooded with emails by readers that were concerned about World War III. So now that the Iranian attack is over, what will Israel do now? That is the big question. If Israel directly attacks Iran, the Iranians will inevitably respond and the conflict could spiral out of control. But if the...

Overnight, the Israel Defense Forces conducted a targeted operation in the Al-Fara'a refugee camp, located north of Nablus, resulting in the death of a terrorist named Mohammed Omar Daraghmeh. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that another terrorist was also killed, and four others were injured during the IDF's operation in the refugee camp near the Jordan Valley. Daraghmeh, associated with the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, had been sought by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority for several years. Known as "The Rock" in Tubas, a town in the West Bank, he was killed in his...

As expected, in retaliation for Israel’s killing of a top Iranian general and 7 other senior military leaders on April 1, all of whom were suspected of having Israeli blood on their hands, Iran struck back on Saturday night, launching roughly 350 drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles on Israel. This marked the first time that the Islamic Republic of Iran directly attacked Israel after years of murderous attacks by their proxies, in particular Hezbollah and Hamas. What will Israel do in response? And what does this mean for the region and the world?

The IDF releases footage showing Israeli Air Force fighter jets downing some of the 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles fired from Iran at Israel overnight.

For the first time in the State of Israel's history, Iran has begun a direct attack on Israel, launching dozens of UAVs toward the Jewish state. At 1:43 a.m. Israel time, sirens began to wail in the central Negev region, shortly followed by other regions across the country including the Jerusalem and Dead Sea areas, Golan Heights, Gush Etzion, Hebron, and Samaria. Live updates: Sunday, 2:43 a.m.: A senior U.S. official told ABC News that Iran has launched an additional 70 missiles. Sunday, 2:36 a.m.: Israeli sources claim to Ynet that "we intercepted 99% of the Iranian response, we prepared...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed three of the sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in an airstrike in Gaza. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh learns that three of his sons were killed and responds: “I thank Allah for the honor that my children and grandchildren have been martyred.” And therein lies the problem. A father should aspire for his children to live in peace, not die for jihad. pic.twitter.com/vUivLJH8hN — Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) April 10, 2024 In a statement, the IDF said: Earlier today (Wednesday), directed by IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF aircraft struck three Hamas military...

As a U.S. Navy veteran, I find it utterly disgusting and contemptible that the Biden administration is taking Israel to the woodshed over a mistaken and tragic drone strike that resulted in the deaths of food aid workers. Especially contemptible among President Biden’s rogues’ gallery of propagandists is John Kirby, former Navy admiral and current White House national security spokesman. Mr. Kirby chastised the Israel Defense Forces for the aid deaths while hypocritically downplaying similar accidental deaths by U.S. forces of innocent Afghans during President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021. Yet the simple truth remains: Israel has...

Fast food giant McDonald's is to buy back all its Israeli restaurants following a boycott of the brand in response to the Israel-Hamas war. The company said it had reached an agreement with franchisee Alonyal for the return of 225 outlets across the country employing 5,000 people. McDonald's was criticised after Alonyal started giving away thousands of free meals to Israeli soldiers. Sales in the region have slumped since the conflict began in October. On Thursday, McDonald's said a deal had been signed with Alonyal which has been running the chain of Golden Arches in Israel for more than 30...

https://youtu.be/_sijFzmPDXI?si=yBo-UQ5h-cKNJFz4

IDF and ISA troops have completed precise operational activity in the area of the Shifa Hospital and exited the area of the hospital. The troops killed terrorists in close-quarters encounters and located numerous weapons and intelligence documents throughout the hospital, all while preventing harm to civilians, patients, and medical teams. In the central Gaza Strip, an IDF helicopter directed by IDF troops struck a booby-trapped Hamas military compound from which terrorists observed IDF troops and an additional Hamas military compound. Over the past day, IAF aircraft killed terrorists who posed an immediate threat to IDF troops, including a sniper who...

The Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning in eastern Syria, targeting Iranian assets and operatives involved in a recent plot to smuggle advanced arms to West Bank terrorists, The Times of Israel has learned. More than 15 people were reportedly killed in the strikes in the Deir Ezzor and al-Bukamal areas, close to Syria’s border with Iraq. The strikes targeted assets belonging to Iran’s Unit 4000, the Special Operations Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Intelligence Organization, and the special operations unit of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria, known as Unit...

Well, retracts is too strong a word, at least so far. Instead they have memory-holed the story, removing it from their website without having to admit that they were wrong. Anybody familiar with the war in Gaza had a right to suspect that the story was fabricated, not because sexual assaults don't happen in war, but because the story had the stench of propaganda all over it. Al Jazeera forced to retract fabricated story of IDF troops assaulting Palestinian women.The story accused, without evidence, Israeli troops of s**ually assaulting multiple Palestinian women in Shifa Hospital.The Qatari owned media outlet has...

The former director-general of the Qatari Al Jazeera network, Yasser Abu Hilala, clarified that the allegations of rape against IDF soldiers operating in Shifa Hospital were fabricated. "It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Shifa Hospital was fabricated, Hilala wrote, adding that "The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood!" The woman who fabricated the rape libel, Jamilah al-Hasi, was interviewed last week by Al Jazeera. In the interview, she claimed that Israeli forces "raped...

Soldier killed during operation; military says it had ‘concrete intelligence’ terror operatives regrouped in Strip’s largest medical center; 200 suspects captured The Israel Defense Forces early Monday morning launched a raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, amid intelligence that senior Hamas officials were in the area and using the hospital to plan and carry out terror activity, the military said. During the operation troops killed a senior Hamas commander, according to the IDF. One Israeli soldier was also killed amid a gun battle with terror operatives in the area of the hospital before dawn. The raid was launched at around...

Back in 2000, two Jewish IDF reservists mistakenly drove through Ramallah and were detained by Palestinian police — and then brutally murdered in their jail cell by a crowd of savage, blood-hungry thugs, one of whom showed his bloodied hand in a now-infamous photo. That is, like so much of American “advocacy” for Palestinians, the pins are a wink-wink, nudge-nudge endorsement of violent terror against Jews. It’s no coincidence that these stars are hard leftoids: Institutional antisemitism is now part of the American left’s core DNA. Ruffalo is an empty-brained Sanders fanatic, despite being a millionaire many times over himself:...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...One should beware of any group in the West which is advocating for the reinstatement of funds to UNRWA. Hamas and UNRWA are intertwined, as UNRWA’s Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini has indicated: “Our employees are part of the social fabric in Gaza and its ecosystem. And as part of the social fabric in Gaza, you also have Hamas.” As more information comes to light to expose the Palestinian propaganda war against Israel, in a rare move, Israel has chosen to release actual audio recordings of UNRWA staff who participated in the savage October 7 attacks,...

Before sharing what really happened in Gaza this week – and it is quite tragic – and without minimizing for a moment the very real suffering of the people of Gaza, let me share with you an Instagram post commenting on the event shortly after it took place. (I’m not linking to the comment since I have no desire to draw attention to the individual who posted it for quite a few reasons. It was sent to me by a pro-Israel pastor.)

You've probably seen some of the same reports I have about a "massacre" that Gaza claims happened early this morning when the IDF opened fire on civilians waiting for food. At this moment, most of the US news outlets reporting on this say it's still not clear what happened because each side is telling a very different story. The basic outline is that sometime around 4 am local time a large number of trucks carrying food were moving north toward Gaza City along a road that runs along the ocean. What happened next is disputed but there doesn't seem to...

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited northern Gaza today (Thursday) and commented on the IDF's readiness to engage in an operation in Hamas' last stronghold in Rafah. “We are closing in on Hamas. We are preparing to act in Rafah, as well as in the central camps, in order to reach the next stage which we will decide according to our priorities,” Gallant said. He added, “We use the information we captured from the Hamas archives. There are huge amounts of information that we brought from the places we reached, computers, hard drives, servers and other things. All this information is...

Over the course of the IDF’s operations in Gaza, 8 UNRWA employees have been arrested over alleged connections with Hamas, and in some cases, full participation in terrorist activities. Maariv obtained a secret report available to the IDF detailing terrorist ties of UNRWA workers, and the information is being investigated by Israeli officials. In response, UNRWA has reached out to Israel and has requested communication and access to those who have been arrested. In addition, the UN organization has demanded information including where the individuals are being detained, why they have been arrested and if any direct ties with Hamas...