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In-Depth Issues:
Poll: 77 Percent of Americans Support Israel over Hamas ( Center for American Political Studies-Harvard University)
77% of Americans support Israel over Hamas, including 85% of Republicans, 76% of Independents, and 69% of Democrats, according to a Harvard-Harris poll conducted on Feb. 19-20, 2025.
79% believe Hamas must release all remaining hostages without any conditions or face serious consequences, while another 78% say Hamas should not be allowed to govern Gaza.
76% say Iran's nuclear facilities should be destroyed, and 57% think the U.S. should support Israel in airstrikes to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons facilities.
U.S. House Foreign Affairs Chair Instructs Staff to Call West Bank "Judea and Samaria" - Ben Samuels ( Ha'aretz)
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) instructed committee staff on Tuesday to refer to the West Bank as "Judea and Samaria" in all official correspondence, communication, and documentation moving forward "in recognition of our unbreakable bond with Israel and the inherent right of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland."
"Jewish roots in this region span centuries and we must recognize that fact in both word and deed."
"Long before Hamas killed Americans and Israelis on October 7, we saw vile acts meant to dehumanize Jewish people throughout the world and shatter Israelis' rights to live in peace."
"As a committee and as representatives of the American people, we must do our part to stem this reprehensible tide of antisemitism and recognize Israel's rightful claim to the cradle of Jewish civilization."
Trump Administration "Insisted" Israel Vote Against Ukraine at UN - Lahav Harkov ( Jewish Insider)
The Trump administration pressured Israel to vote against a UN resolution on Monday affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity and condemning Russia's invasion of the country.
"There was a lot of pressure from the U.S., they really insisted," an Israeli official told Jewish Insider on Tuesday. "It came at all levels, at the UN, in Washington and in Israel."
The vote, the first time Israel voted against Ukraine and with Russia since the beginning of the war, "wasn't easy for us.... We preferred to avoid this situation. We had no choice but to take a side."
The official said that Israel "could have abstained, but I think because we asked for a lot from [the Trump administration] in recent weeks and days, the decision was to go all the way with them."
Jerusalem declared its support for Kyiv in the first days of the war and sent humanitarian aid, including the first field hospital in Ukraine.
However, Israel drew criticism from Ukraine in the early months of the war for not sending military aid.
Israel maintained that it could not be more active in backing Kyiv because Jerusalem needed to communicate with Moscow about its presence in Syria and to keep an open channel to the Jewish community in Russia.
Ukraine has not voted with Israel once in the last decade on UN resolutions targeting the Jewish state.
It voted against Israel 75% of the time, abstaining the rest of the time, according to UN Watch.
IDF Halted Defeat of Hamas to Spare Hostages ( Jerusalem Post)
The IDF was capable of concluding the war against Hamas but refrained from striking nearly a third of Gaza to avoid harming hostages, Dr. Harel Chorev, a senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, told the Combat Antisemitism Movement on Feb. 18.
He added that the IDF has achieved a level of operational freedom in Gaza that allows it, even to this day, to be able to cross the enclave within hours.
Israel has two significant areas of leverage over Hamas, he said. "One is obviously the military, once we decide to go back to war; desirably, without the hostages, or at least with very few of them."
"And the second leverage is what Gaza, and Hamas particularly, needs for reconstruction; all the resources for reconstruction."
While Israel allow necessities such as food and water into Gaza, it would not permit resources to enter such as cement, iron, and other materials that could be used by Hamas to rebuild its military infrastructure.
Furthermore, regional donor countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also unwilling to send these materials into Gaza. "Without them forgoing their weapons, nothing will be advanced," he noted.
He said the most likely replacement for Hamas as the governmental entity in Gaza would be other Palestinians, albeit not the Palestinian Authority. "The PA doesn't enjoy any legitimacy in Gaza."
"We hear all kinds of commentators saying [deradicalization] is a fantasy....I want to say loud and clear, deradicalization is a process that we see in many, many places, including in the Arab and Muslim world. And it's necessary."
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BBC Edits Hamas to Be More Palatable - Miri Weissman ( Israel Hayom)
The BBC repeatedly mistranslated the views of Palestinians in its recent Gaza documentary.
On at least five occasions, the words in Arabic "Jew" or "Jews" were changed to "Israel" or "Israeli forces," or were removed from the subtitles altogether.
When a Gazan woman tells the cameraman: "The Jews invaded our [area]," the BBC subtitles quote her as saying: "The Israeli army invaded our area."
In another clip, a boy says, "the Jews came, they destroyed us," which was translated in subtitles as "the Israelis destroyed everything."
A woman interviewed about Oct. 7 says: "We were invading the Jews for the first time," while she is quoted as saying that was the "first time we invaded Israel."
A woman describes Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as "engaging in resistance and jihad against the Jews," but BBC quotes her as saying: "He was fighting and resisting Israeli forces."
Alex Hearn, the co-director of Labour Against Anti-Semitism, said the BBC "sanitized" the views expressed "and instead presented a more acceptable version for a Western audience."
"It is this whitewashing that keeps viewers ill-informed about the nature of Hamas, and promotes sympathy for their deadly ideology."
Orly Goldschmidt of the Israeli embassy in the UK said the "intentional mistranslation...excuses racism...[and] does not allow viewers to see how children, and Palestinians at large, have been taught to hate Jews from a very young age."
Moreover, omitting the word " jihad" from the translations "downplays the threat of terrorism that Israelis face on a daily basis."
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- IAEA: Iran's Stock of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium Grows Sharply - Francois Murphy
Iran's stock of uranium close to weapons grade has jumped since it announced a dramatic acceleration in enrichment in December, according to two reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency released Wednesday. The IAEA said, "The significantly increased production and accumulation of high-enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern."
The reports showed that the stock of 60% material grew by 92.5 kg. in the past quarter to 274.8 kg. That is enough in principle, if enriched further, for six nuclear bombs.
Before its latest acceleration, Iran was producing 6-9 kg. of uranium enriched up to 60% per month; now that figure is 35-40 kg. (Reuters)
- Dispute over Disarming Hamas Blocks Efforts to Extend Gaza Ceasefire - Gerry Shih
The first 42-day phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is set to expire on Saturday, but the parties appear far from reaching an agreement to proceed to the second phase. Israel has demanded that Hamas lay down its arms and leave Gaza as a precondition to ending the war.
For Hamas, giving up its weapons would contradict its stated purpose of waging armed struggle against Israel until it withdraws from all Palestinian territories. Hamas officials have recently said they are open to sharing power with other Palestinian factions in Gaza, but they insist on retaining fighting capabilities - a role similar to the one played in Lebanon by Hizbullah.
Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro, a senior official at the State Department and the Pentagon during the Biden administration, said, "I don't think Hamas yet feels like they have to give up the weapons and tunnels, which of course they will have to do."
Regarding the emerging Arab proposal for the future of Gaza, Shapiro said, "So far, it doesn't sound like the Arab proposal goes deep on demilitarization or on ensuring Palestinian technocratic governance that would deliver for the Israeli side by preventing Hamas from being the power behind the scenes, like Hizbullah was for many years in Lebanon, and still posing a threat to Israel." (Washington Post)
- Hamas Prepares for New Fighting with Israel - Summer Said
Hamas is regrouping its military forces for a return to fighting with Israel in Gaza. Arab officials who talk with Hamas say it has started repairing its underground tunnel network and is training new fighters to use weapons to mount a guerrilla war against Israel. Hamas is also repurposing unexploded ordnance into improvised explosive devices.
(Wall Street Journal)
See also Hamas "Plants Bombs and Spy Cameras" in Northern Gaza - Henry Bodkin
Thousands of Hamas fighters have re-entered northern Gaza and are building up their military capability to fight Israel again, returning to their former stronghold of Gaza City under the cover of civilians returning home, Israeli security officials have said. Military officials say Hamas is once again taxing the local population - including a levy on humanitarian aid - to pay their fighters. They are also planting bombs and installing surveillance cameras in preparation for a renewed IDF offensive.
An IDF official told Yediot Ahronot: "Every day of ceasefire helps Hamas mobilize operatives and commanders and to pass on orders." (Telegraph-UK)
- Hamas TV Tours Gaza Supermarkets: "Stores Are Well Stocked, Prices Better than Before the War"
Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV toured supermarkets in Gaza in a report on Feb. 25, 2025. Shoppers said, "Everything is back to normal." They said shops are well stocked with all the products that were on offer before the war and that prices are even better than they had been before the war.
(MEMRI)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages Returned by Hamas - Jonathan Lis
Israel received the bodies of four Israeli hostages Wednesday night after they were transferred by Hamas to the Red Cross. Israel's Institute of Forensic Medicine confirmed the identities of Shlomo Mantzur, 86, from Kissufim; Tsachi Idan, 50, from Nachal Oz; and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, and Itzhak Elgarat, 68, from Nir Oz. In exchange, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
(Ha'aretz)
- Saudi Arabia, UAE Demand Hamas Disarmament - Egypt, Qatar Oppose - Danny Zaken
Saudi Arabia and the UAE refuse to participate financially or practically in Egypt's plan for Gaza's reconstruction unless it is guaranteed that Hamas will not be part of the governing body and will surrender its weapons, Arab and American sources say, following discussions in Riyadh on Thursday and Friday.
The Saudis and Emiratis say that Hamas is responsible for the war and its devastating consequences for Gaza's residents. As a result, they will not fund any reconstruction plan that does not include the full demilitarization of the Strip. One official stated, "Not a single rifle or bullet should remain in the hands of Hamas in Gaza, because otherwise, the Strip will be destroyed over and over again, even after it is rebuilt."
Egypt attempted to argue that integrating Hamas members into governance could help "tame" the group, but they were met with the question if they succeeded in "taming" the Muslim Brotherhood, el-Sisi's main opposition in Egypt.
(Israel Hayom)
See also Hamas Hostage Ceremonies Angered U.S., Spurring Pressure to Push Group Out - Jacob Magid
The elaborate propaganda-filled hostage-release ceremonies that Hamas has been holding throughout the first phase of the ceasefire have undercut the group's chances to remain in power in Gaza, senior Arab and EU diplomats said. Hostages have been paraded on stages surrounded by heavily armed masked gunmen, given "release certificates," and made to wave to crowds of civilians brought in to watch the spectacle and thank their captors.
The diplomats said the performances have led the Trump administration to massively ratchet up its pressure on its Arab allies to advance a plan for the post-war management of Gaza that sees Hamas removed from power.
(Times of Israel)
- IDF Strikes in Syria, Will Not Allow Another Southern Lebanon - Corinne Baum
Israeli planes targeted a group of military vehicles in Kisweh south of Syria's capital as well as the southern province of Daraa on Tuesday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes were to ensure that Syrian regime forces or other terrorist groups did not infringe on the IDF buffer zone in southern Syria. "We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon," he said Saturday. "The Air Force is currently conducting powerful strikes in southern Syria as part of our new policy of demilitarizing the region." (Jerusalem Post)
- Druze in Syria Establish Militia Separate from Regime - Neta Bar
Several Druze militias in the Sweida region of Jabal al-Druze announced Monday the formation of a joint operations room, establishing themselves as a military force separate from the Syrian army.
This development reflects concerns among Druze in the region about potentially losing their current autonomous status. The Druze now aim to prevent new regime forces from entering their communities. (Israel Hayom)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Hamas
- Hamas's Oct. 7 Massacre Is Part of Its Jihad to Destroy Israel - Khaled Abu Toameh
Some are demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza, as if Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack was just another round of fighting with the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group. Hamas did not attack Israel because it wanted to release Palestinian prisoners or improve the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza. The attack was part of Hamas's Jihad to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamist state.
For Hamas and other Islamist organizations, the conflict is about Israel's very existence in the Middle East. The aim is to murder Jews and obliterate Israel. With the help of Iran and Qatar, Gaza became one of the largest bases for Jihad and terrorism in the Middle East.
President Trump would do well to designate the Muslim Brotherhood, the font of all the Islamic jihadist organizations, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Such an act would make it difficult for those countries that promote and finance jihadi terrorists to keep on doing so.
There is no alternative to eradicating Hamas. Anyone who believes that Hamas would abandon Jihad as a result of a ceasefire agreement is engaging in extreme self-deception. Hamas has not yet accomplished its mission of destroying Israel. In a civilized world, a terrorist group that is openly hell-bent on genocidal destruction has forfeited its right to exist.
The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. (Gatestone Institute)
- The Deadly Misconception of Hamas - Dror Eydar
The conception that led Israel to October 7 was that our enemies think similarly to us. This misconception was the soul of the Oslo Accords, which assumed that at the heart of the conflict there are two national movements, and if each movement gets half of what it wants, we will achieve peace. We thought the other side also wants a good future for their children. We assumed that
if we just talk, convince, and explain, we can compromise and reach peace and coexistence, which blinded us from seeing the cruel reality clearly.
While we recognized the Palestinian nationality - although it was invented to wage war against us - the other side never recognized Jews as a nationality, as a people entitled to national self-determination in their historical homeland. And we're not talking just about Hamas but about the Palestinian Authority. Article 20 of its charter states that Jews are not a nation but a religion.
No economic rehabilitation will solve the problem. The moment they can, they will try to slaughter us again.
The writer is the former Israeli ambassador to Italy. (Israel Hayom)
Hizbullah
- Hizbullah's Strategy Now Lies in Ruins alongside Its Leader Nasrallah - Michael Young
Hizbullah's ceasefire agreement with Israel in November was no less than a surrender, and claims by the party's new secretary general, Naim Qassem, that Hizbullah won the war sound absurd.
It is increasingly apparent that Hizbullah will have great difficulty continuing to justify retaining its
weapons. The mood in the country is largely hostile towards Hizbullah. Moreover, since the fall of its ally the Assad government in Syria, Hizbullah would have no way of resupplying itself.
A major problem for Hizbullah is that Iran today is nowhere to be seen in Lebanon.
The Iranian economy is in such crisis that it cannot spare money to help rebuild destroyed Lebanese Shiite areas. The contract between Iran and its Hizbullah allies has been seriously undermined, amid a perception among many in the Shiite community that they were used by Tehran as cannon fodder, for no advantage to themselves.
The writer is a senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. (The National-UAE)
- Hizbullah Is Headless - Makram Rabah
Israel was not only able to kill its cult leader and legendary secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, but it also destroyed Hizbullah's narrative of being a protector of the Lebanese and the Shia community. Perhaps more clearly, it exposed its archaic, defunct Iranian arsenal for what it really is - a joke. Israeli precision airstrikes dismantled Hizbullah's fortified positions in the southern villages and wiped out their rocket launch sites with surgical efficiency, demonstrating the obsolescence of their weaponry.
Furthermore, Israel also killed Nasrallah's heir apparent, Hashem Safieddine, head of Hizbullah's Executive Council and the leader of its hardline faction. In addition, Israel killed enough of the senior command to leave only Nasrallah's deputy, Naim Qassem, whose lack of charisma poses a more direct threat to Hizbullah than to Israel.
Iran, contrary to its claims, will not bankroll the reconstruction of the Shia areas, nor will it invest heavily in reconstructing Hizbullah. There is already evidence of growing resentment within the Shia community itself. Residents of southern Lebanon and parts of the Bekaa Valley lament that Hizbullah brought nothing but ruin to their towns, while promises of aid from Iran remain empty. (Al Arabiya)
Iran
- What Tehran Thinks about America's Moves in the Middle East - Aviram Bellaishe
President Donald Trump's regional policies and Israel's response to the attacks against it suggest an intention to reshape global dynamics - an assessment echoed by leading Iranian commentators. They contend that the U.S. is planning a direct takeover of Gaza and Lebanon as part of a broader strategy of intervention in the Middle East extending to Iraq, Yemen, and even Iran itself.
America envisioned normalization agreements that would transform Israel into a gateway for Western powers into the Middle East. From this perspective, Hamas's "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation disrupted these plans by exposing Israel's limitations in controlling Gaza.
Tehran recognizes that if Gaza is not integrated into a reconstruction framework, it could become an unpredictable and volatile force, potentially triggering renewed escalation and a significant counterstrike against both Israel and the U.S.
The writer, vice president for strategy, security, and communications at the Jerusalem Center, has served in senior government positions for over 25 years. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Palestinian Arabs
- Palestinian "Pay-for-Slay" Rises Again - Editorial
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received media praise this month for his decree that the PA would revoke its "pay-for-slay" salaries for terrorists. Now we learn that wasn't true.
Abbas told his Fatah party's Revolutionary Council last week: "Even if we have one penny left, it is for the prisoners and martyrs. I will not agree, and you will not agree, to reduce any obligation, any interest or any penny given to them. They must receive everything, as it was in the past."
He's talking about Palestinians who drive cars into Israeli crowds or stab and shoot Israelis on the streets. The men who planted bombs on Israeli buses last week will go on the PA payroll, joining the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 massacre. Rather than end its terror stipends, the PA has moved them to a new entity.
(Wall Street Journal)
- "Palestine" Has Proven Again It Is a Death Cult of Lies - Melanie Phillips
What kind of people would want to murder a baby and a toddler? What kind of people would exult over their coffins, as they cheered in a grisly open-air carnival of murderous hatred? Such behavior is not confined to Hamas. Palestinian Arabs in general have systematically targeted Jewish children and adults for barbaric and sadistic slaughter and mutilation.
In 2000, two Israeli soldiers took a wrong turn and drove into Ramallah in the West Bank. They were dragged into a police station where they were murdered. One of the bodies was then thrown out the window to the mob that had gathered outside, which tore the body to shreds.
In 2004, Arab terrorists opened fire on the Hatuel family's car near their home in Gaza when Jews still lived there. They murdered at close range Tali Hatuel, who was eight months pregnant, and her four daughters, ages 11, 9, 7 and 2. In 2011, five members of the Israeli Fogel family, including 11- and 4-year-old boys and a 3-month-old baby, were massacred in their beds by two terrorists from a neighboring Arab village.
In 1929, Arab mobs massacred more than 70 Jews in Hebron. Albert Londres wrote of how these mobs behaved toward 50 of those Jews who tried to find refuge inside a bank.
"They cut off hands, they cut off fingers, they held heads over a stove, they gouged out eyes....They mutilated the men. They shoved 13-year-old girls, mothers, and grandmothers into the blood and raped them in unison." The same kind of utterly depraved behavior is regularly exhibited by the Islamists of ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Islamism is a death cult. So is its "Palestinian" offshoot. Inverting truth and lies, victim and aggressor, the West is unable to see the Palestinian cause for the evil that it is. As the West's cultural elites undermine and hollow out their own civilization, the Islamist death cult is moving in for the kill - with the Palestinian Arabs creating the Trojan Horse of the Middle East.
The writer is a columnist for The Times-UK.
(New York Post)
Weekend Features
- Anguish as Israelis See Palestinians Who Killed Their Loved Ones Freed - Ruth Eglash
Hillel Fuld, whose U.S.-born brother Ari's murderer is among hundreds of Palestinian prisoners earmarked for release in exchange for the Israeli captives, said, "It's like a punch in the gut. On the one hand, we're releasing hundreds of monsters for every single Israeli hostage. It's just tragic, it's horrible. On the other hand, we see these hostages being reunited with their families. How could we not pay that price? Who could look a mother in the face and say we're not going to bring your daughter back from the dungeons of hell?"
Since the truce took effect on Jan. 19, Hamas has released 25 living hostages in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners. "It's a horrible feeling," said Micah Avni, whose father, Richard Lakin, a school teacher and peace activist, was murdered by Palestinians on a Jerusalem bus in 2015. His father's killer is also set to be freed. "Of course I thank God that these people's lives were saved," he said, referring to the Israeli hostages. "But it's a national tragedy." (AFP)
Observations:
- The idea that the Arabs and Palestinians never really lost in 1948, 1967, after the Second Intifada, or now after the disastrous Oct. 7 fiasco permeates many facets of Palestinian political life, leading some to believe that somehow, one day, conditions will allow for the full liberation of Palestine, the return of millions of refugees and their descendants to mainland Israel, and the end of the Zionist project that created Israel.
- While Palestinians are not monolithic, and many wholeheartedly understand that Israel is here to stay, political leadership has lacked the courage to update the expectations of the public and to tell the Palestinian people the uncomfortable truths that they don't want to hear.
- The right of return is a fantasy; perpetual refugee status for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is a hindrance to nation-building; armed resistance continues to be an epic failure and a massive waste of resources and lives that result in more loss of land and opportunities; a Jewish state is a permanent part of the land and must be accepted for the Palestinians to have a free, prosperous future; and political adventurism and suicidalism can no longer be tolerated given the massive implications they pose to the average Palestinian.
- Palestinian leaders must not only recognize their failed approaches and crimes against their own people. But they must also apologize for their role in perpetuating a vicious cycle that, while beneficial to a narrow group of people who enriched themselves, has made a mockery of millions of Palestinians who deserve better lives and leadership.
- Palestinian statehood cannot be achieved in spite of Israel; it cannot be imposed upon Israel; it cannot be screamed at Jews and Zionists around the world. Instead, it requires winning over Israelis and convincing them that Palestinians are willing partners to the Jewish people, able to cast aside their historical grievances in the pragmatic pursuit of a better future.
- Change and transformation must begin from within. The problem is deeper than just Hamas; it is about transforming the collective mindset to undo decades of external interference, regional negligence, and internal incompetence. It's time to reclaim Palestinian agency and responsibility.
The writer, a Palestinian-American blogger, is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
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