Free Republic

When President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, it was not merely another state visit - it was a statement of purpose. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, two key pillars of the Turkic world, reaffirmed their shared vision for a future built on unity, connectivity, and strength. The visit symbolized the natural deepening of economic and cultural integration among Turkic nations, while sending a clear message that regional cooperation can serve as the foundation of global influence.As the strategic ties between Baku and Astana strengthen, Israel naturally perceives new opportunities for economic and security engagement across Central...

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), a German public-service television broadcaster, published a clarification on Monday regarding claims that the IDF struck an employee of a Palestinian Arab production company that worked in collaboration with the network A week ago, ZDF reported that an employee of the Arab company and the son of another employee were killed as a result of an IDF strike on Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. The network wrote in a statement that it reached out to the IDF to demand answers regarding the circumstances of the deaths, and that the IDF provided unequivocal proof that the...

Hamas terrorists released under the Gaza peace deal are staying in a five-star hotel alongside unsuspecting Western tourists. Experts warned of a radical new threat to global security after the Daily Mail tracked down more than 150 of the highly dangerous extremists to a luxury hotel in Cairo. Israel was forced to empty its prisons of nearly all its most feared jihadists held on life sentences as part of Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Some 154 of the 250 fanatics who were freed are currently staying in the Marriott’s five-star Renaissance Cairo Mirage City Hotel in the Egyptian capital, a...

Late-night host Bill Maher is questioning where all the college anti-Israel protesters went as the terror group Hamas continues its wave of violence, turning weapons against Palestinians in Gaza. On Friday’s episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," the comedian asked his guest, billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, where "keffiyeh-wearing college kids" went now that Hamas is "shooting everybody." "Where are the protesters?" Maher asked Cuban. "Suddenly, the keffiyeh-wearing college kids are very quiet," the HBO host noted. "Shooting everybody," Cuban answered and Maher repeated the sentiment. His comments come after months of student-led anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses across the country....

President Trump succeeded in getting phase one of his peace plan enacted. That meant a ceasefire in which all of the 20 living Israeli hostages were returned to Israel in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. (Hamas was supposed to return the deceased hostages as well but it seems that is going to take a bit longer to accomplish.) But the big question has been whether or not Trump's team could move on from a successful phase one of the plan to phase two, which everyone agrees is the tougher part....

To recap the past week: Hamas films themselves executing over 100 Palestinians. The media is silent. Hamas launches RPGs at Israeli troops, murdering two. The media is silent. Israel responds by striking a Hamas commander. The media says Israel violated the ceasefire.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will use talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to formally request that Moscow hand over Bashar Assad to face trial over alleged crimes against Syrians, two Syrian sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Sharaa, who once headed the Syrian branch of al Qaeda and who toppled predecessor Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally, late last year, was speaking at the start of Kremlin talks with Putin on his first visit to Russia since coming to power. Sharaa's visit was sensitive. Russia had used its military muscle to back Assad for years against Syrian rebels, and Moscow granted...

Ocasio-Cortez Calls for Trump to Be Impeached over U.S Strikes on Iran Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a town hall gathering on May 2, 2025 in NewDavid Dee Delgado/Getty Images Elizabeth Weibel21 Jun 20258 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called for President Donald Trump to be impeached over the United States launching strikes on several nuclear sites in Iran. In a post on X, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Trump’s decision to “bomb Iran without authorization” was a “grave violation” of the U.S. Constitution. “The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional...

Hamas appeared to renege on key demands of President Trump’s cease-fire deal just hours after the world celebrated the end of the Gaza war — with a top official saying the terror group will not give up its arms or control over the Gaza Strip. Spokesman Hazem Qassem claimed Monday that Hamas has no need to abide by every word of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, including calls for the terror group to lay down its arms. “We do not need to limit ourselves to the Israeli terms and definitions related to weapons,” Qassem told the Al-Arabiya news channel. “We will...

Antony Blinken, Joe Biden’s former Secretary of State, tried to claim that the Biden administration deserved credit for the Israel-Hamas peace agreement, arguing that Donald Trump’s success wouldn’t have been possible without the groundwork that Biden’s team supposedly laid. That’s pure fantasy. Hamas surrendered because Trump backed it into a corner with decisive pressure, not because Biden’s diplomats pulled off some behind-the-scenes miracle.Hamas surrendered its last living hostages, giving up the only leverage it had left in this mess they started two years ago. This wasn't some breakthrough negotiation. It was a complete capitulation, and Hamas knew it was their...

When I wrote on Saturday that the foreign policy establishment is in utter shambles, I'm not sure I expected them to respond with such utter shamelessness. Yet, here we are, with former Secretary of State Antony Blinken giving Joseph Robinette Biden credit for the recently negotiated Gaza peace deal. No, I'm not kidding, and that's not even the worst of it. As RedState reported, the deal will see the release of the remaining hostages, with Israel not having to vacate Gaza. Instead, they'll pull back to a predetermined line inside the territory, forming a buffer zone to ensure the disarmament...

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In a stunning and unprecedented public rebuke that signals a deep and potentially significant crack in the facade of the "Axis of Resistance," a prominent and historically influential Iranian newspaper has declared that the Hamas-led "Al-Aqsa Storm" operation of October 7, 2023, was a "costly mistake" and a "definite mistake from the beginning" that has wasted decades of effort and brought nothing but devastation to the region.The scathing assessment, published in a detailed editorial by the Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper on Sunday, argues that the two-year war sparked by the attack has produced no winners, but has instead...

Trump’s bold Gaza peace plan achieves a historic first step—cease-fire, hostage release, and Arab-Israeli cooperation few thought possible.Yesterday, at noon Egypt time, Israel and Hamas agreed to implement the first stage of President Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan by implementing an immediate cease-fire, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the release by Hamas of 48 Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel also agreed to release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including about 250 who were serving life sentences, primarily for terrorism-related charges. As I explained in my October 3 American Greatness article, Trump’s peace plan...

Two year ago today, Hamas carried out a horrible war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250 more.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he may travel to Egypt this weekend as his negotiators seek to seal a Gaza hostages-for-ceasefire deal. Trump said at the White House that a deal is "very close," and that he may depart Saturday for the region. He spoke after talking to his team about the talks. Negotiators have been meeting in Egypt to try to complete an agreement. As Trump held an event, Secretary of State Marco Rubio entered the room and handed Trump a note. Trump read it and then described what the note said.

“Dogs are eating the bodies of the dead... is there anything worse than that?” says F, a 60-year-old resident of Gaza. This is not a metaphor – it’s a glimpse into the daily nightmare now unfolding in the Gaza Strip two years after the designated terror group Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel. After two years of war, residents of the Palestinian enclave, like F – who spoke to The Jerusalem Report on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals from Hamas – are still struggling to fully grasp what their lives have become after the militant group’s devastating decision...

After two years of war, there is a chance of a deal that will end the killing and destruction in Gaza and return the Israeli hostages, living and dead, to their families. It is an opportunity, but it is not certain that it will be seized by Hamas and Israel.It is a grim coincidence that the talks are happening exactly two years after Hamas inflicted a trauma on Israelis that is still acute. The 7 October attacks killed around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, and 251 were taken hostage. The Israelis estimate that 20 hostages are still alive and they...

Israel and Hamas will begin indirect talks in Egypt on Monday after Hamas said it would accept parts of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including releasing all remaining Israeli hostages. I spoke with my colleague Josh Keating about what we know about the deal and its chances of succeeding for Vox’s daily newsletter, Today, Explained. Our conversation is below, and you can sign up for the newsletter here for more conversations like this. What happened on Friday? Is the war actually about to end?On Friday, Hamas issued a response to the 20-point Gaza peace plan, which had been put...

The terror group’s sudden openness to Trump’s peace plan is the product of his decision to flip the diplomatic script: advancing peace by negotiating with Israel’s Arab neighbors.The Middle East could be on the verge of a major turning point. On Friday, Hamas signaled openness to Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. On Monday, mediators will convene in Egypt to facilitate indirect peace talks between Hamas and Israel. On the table: the possible release of all remaining Israeli hostages, the transfer of control over Gaza away from Hamas, and a permanent ceasefire. But Hamas’s conditions for...

Sir Keir Starmer will warn students not to take part in “un-British” protests marking the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre and accuses those who call for violence against Jews of a “total loss of empathy and humanity”. Writing in The Times, the prime minister says that Britain has become indifferent to antisemitism, posing a profound threat to the nation and its values. He accuses those taking part in the protests of a lack of respect for others and urges the police to use the “full force of the law” against those who call for violence against Jews. “This...