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In-Depth Issues:
Iran's Supreme Leader Rejects Trump's Call for Nuclear Talks - Mohammed Tawfeeq ( CNN)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that calls for negotiations by the U.S. are aimed at dominating others, not resolving issues, after President Trump urged him to reach a nuclear deal.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will definitely not accept their demands," Khamenei said.
Trump Administration Ends Iraq's Waiver to Buy Iranian Electricity - Humeyra Pamuk ( Reuters)
The Trump administration rescinded a waiver on Saturday that had allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, as part of its "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, a State Department spokesperson said.
The decision "ensures we do not allow Iran any degree of economic or financial relief."
Lebanese Foreign Minister: Hizbullah Should Surrender Their Weapons "for One Year" ( MEMRI TV)
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told Lebanon's MTV on Feb. 27, 2025:
"The government policy statement says that the Lebanese government pledges to implement Resolution 1701 with all its provisions....Resolution 1701 talks about...the disarming of all the armed organizations in Lebanon."
"For 40 years, [Hizbullah] has been trying to liberate Lebanon. They have tried for 40 years, but it does not work. They should give us one year. They should surrender [their weapons] for one year."
Experts Question New York Times Accusation that Israel Targets Gaza Kids - Diana Bletter ( Times of Israel)
On Jan. 30, as Israeli and Thai hostages were being released from Hamas captivity amid chaotic mobs, Maj. (ret.) John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, noticed that the weapons held by Hamas gunmen were M16 and M4 rifles which use 5.56 mm bullets, the same rifles that Israeli soldiers use.
This cast serious doubts on the allegation made in the New York Times on Oct. 9, 2024, implying that Israeli soldiers were deliberately targeting children during the Gaza war.
The report included X-ray pictures appearing to show 5.56-mm rounds lodged in children's heads and necks.
Ahmed Shaddad Halmy Brikeh, 13, appeared on the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry's monthly fatality list as a victim of "Israeli aggression" in August. But Brikeh's cousin reported online that the teen was shot dead by Hamas gunmen while trying to obtain food from a humanitarian aid shipment.
"Hamas wants everybody and anybody who died to be counted as Israel's fault, including killing people themselves," Spencer said.
There have been no reliable direct accounts of Israeli soldiers deliberately targeting Gazan children.
Nonetheless, foreign doctors volunteering in Gaza have repeatedly accused Israeli soldiers of systematically targeting children, though they only had secondhand knowledge of the circumstances of the shooting.
Release of Hamas Murderers Reopens Old Wounds in Israel - Natan Odenheimer ( New York Times)
Hamas leader Ashraf Zughayer, 46, serving a life sentence in Israeli prison for murdering five Israelis and a British Jew in a Tel Aviv suicide bus bombing in 2002, was released in January as part of the ceasefire-hostage deal.
He rode through the streets of eastern Jerusalem on a truck festooned with green Hamas flags, surrounded by jubilant supporters, as Tova Sisso, whose mother, Rozana, a Holocaust survivor, was killed in the attack, watched with horror.
"Seeing him being celebrated like this tears open a deep wound all over again," Ms. Sisso said.
More than 200 of those freed were serving life sentences for murder and other offenses for their role in bombings and shootings that deliberately targeted civilians, while many Palestinians call them heroes.
Israel's Drone Unit Eliminated over 700 Hamas, Hizbullah Terrorists - Yoav Zitun ( Ynet News)
The IDF Sky Rider drone unit has evolved into one of the military's most lethal forces, responsible for eliminating more than 700 Hamas and Hizbullah terrorists since the start of the war.
Once primarily reliant on small surveillance drones, the unit now operates advanced attack drones, providing precision strikes to support ground forces while eliminating the need to wait for air force drones or attack helicopters working from remote bases.
The unit is now preparing to deploy an upgraded version of Elbit's Skylark drone, featuring vertical takeoff and high-speed horizontal flight.
The unit now includes five all-female teams, in addition to mixed-gender teams.
U.S. Army Integrates Israeli Spike Missile on Apache Helicopter ( Army Recognition)
On March 5, 2025, the U.S. Army's 101st Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) successfully piloted an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter integrated with Spike Non-Line of Sight (NLOS) missiles, setting the stage for future operational combat use of the system.
The U.S. Army's decision to adopt the Israeli-made Spike missile system in 2020 significantly bolstered the firepower and operational flexibility of its Apache helicopters.
This extends the attack helicopter's operational range to up to 32 km., allowing Apache pilots to neutralize high-value targets at distances far greater than traditional missiles and reducing the risk of exposure to enemy air defenses.
Cyprus' Israeli-Made Air Defense System Now Fully Operational ( Knews-Cyprus)
Cyprus' Barak MX anti-aircraft defense system, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), is now fully operational.
The Barak MX is a multi-layered defense system capable of intercepting a wide range of airborne threats, including helicopters, drones, cruise missiles, airplanes, and ballistic missiles, effectively creating a No Fly Zone over Cyprus.
Poll: 1.7% of U.S. Adults Say They Are Jewish - Gregory A. Smith ( Pew Research Center)
A new survey in 2023-24 found that 1.7% of U.S. adults say they are Jewish when asked about their religion, the same as in 2007.
62% identify as Christians, while 1.2% are Muslim.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Hundreds of Civilians Killed by Government Forces in Syria, War Monitors Say - Raja Abdulrahim
Three days of clashes between fighters affiliated with Syria's new leaders and those loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad have left hundreds of civilians dead, according to war monitoring groups. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday that more than 1,000 people had been killed in the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia, including 700 civilians, most killed by government forces.
The Observatory said most of the civilians killed were from al-Assad's Alawite religious minority. Scores of combatants on both sides were also killed. The unrest - the bloodiest outbreak of violence since the Assad regime was ousted in early December - raised the specter of a larger sectarian conflict in Syria.
The clashes began on Thursday after Assad loyalists ambushed a Syrian police patrol in the coastal town of Jableh, near the city of Latakia, and killed 16 government security personnel in the deadliest attack yet on Syria's new security forces. The government responded by deploying thousands of security forces from other parts of the country to the coast. (New York Times)
See also Israel: New Syrian Leadership Reveals Jihadist Face in Atrocities Against Alawite Civilians -
Lior Ben Ari
Following reports of executions of Alawites by the security forces of Syria's new regime, Israeli
Defense Minister Israel Katz shared a graphic video on his X account showing the bodies of men who had been shot. Katz wrote that the new Syrian leader al-Julani "has removed the mask, revealing his true face: a jihadist terrorist from the al-Qaeda school, committing atrocities against the Alawite civilian population."
"Israel will defend itself against any threat from Syria. We will remain in the security zones and Mount Hermon and protect the communities of the Golan and Galilee. We will ensure that southern Syria remains demilitarized and free of threats, and we will protect the local Druze population - anyone who harms them will face our response." (Ynet News)
- U.S. Negotiating with Hamas on Number of Palestinian Prisoners to Be Released - without Israel's Consent - Barak Ravid
Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer held a contentious call on Tuesday with U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler after learning that the U.S. discussed with Hamas the number of Palestinian prisoners who would be released from Israeli jails in exchange for the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, 21, and the bodies of four deceased American-Israeli hostages - something that Israel hadn't agreed to.
In February, the Israelis advised the U.S. not to engage directly with Hamas, particularly not without preconditions. The U.S. moved ahead anyway, with Boehler meeting in Doha, Qatar, with Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas's negotiating team. (Axios)
- U.S. Backs Gaza Aid Freeze - State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce
State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on March 6 that Gaza
"aid can only be delivered in a safe framework; so as long as it is something that is unsafe or we can't guarantee the safety of something moving in, that is going to be stopped."
"The President certainly has been tweeting about certain situations with Hamas and the nature of what was expected, and has been repeated continually, that all the hostages have got to be released. They need to be released now. The bodies they are holding, everything, everyone needs to be released. And without doing that, there is no path forward."
"Secretary Rubio has made clear that as long as Hamas...are a factor in Gaza and exist, there is no way forward. It is an impossible situation. It is monsters who are controlling and destroying Gazan lives and the lives of people around the region."
"It has to be a new approach, and that is what President Trump has said from the beginning, that we've got to think differently....But one thing stays the same and is unmovable here, and it is [that with] the existence of Hamas as a factor on the ground in that region, it will be impossible to continue." (U.S. State Department)
- Trump Administration Cancels $400 Million in Grants and Contracts with Columbia University over Antisemitism
The Trump administration said Friday that it's canceling $400 million in grants and contracts with Columbia University because of the school's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus.
"Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus," said Education Secretary Linda McMahon. Columbia vowed to work with the government to try to get the money back.
Columbia/Barnard Hillel Executive Director Brian Cohen said he hoped it would be "a wake-up call to Columbia's administration and trustees to take antisemitism and the harassment of Jewish students and faculty seriously." Other colleges that have come under new federal antisemitism investigations include the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; Northwestern University; and Portland State University. (AP-CNN)
See also Columbia Professor Who Praised Hamas Massacre to Teach Course on Zionism - Mathilda Heller
Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad, who called the Oct. 7 massacre "astounding," "awesome," and "incredible," will be teaching a Spring course on the development of Zionism and the "peace process between the state of Israel and the Arab states and the Palestinian national movement." (Jerusalem Post)
- State Department Revokes Visa of Foreign Student Linked to Pro-Palestinian Protests - Louis Casiano
The State Department said that on Wednesday "we revoked the first visa of an alien who was previously cited for criminal behavior in connection with Hamas-supporting disruptions. This individual was a university student. ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will proceed with removing this person from the country."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is launching an AI-fueled "Catch and Revoke" effort to cancel the visas of foreign students who appear to support designated terror groups.
"Those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security," he wrote on X. "The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists." (Fox News)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- IDF Destroys Weapons in Targeted Raids in Southern Syria - Emanuel Fabian
The IDF said Saturday it had carried out several targeted raids in southern Syria over the past week,
destroying rifles, ammunition, rockets, and other military gear. Syrian media reported that Israeli forces were operating in the Daraa Governorate, at a military post belonging to the former Syrian regime, 13 km. (8 miles) from Israel's border. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli troops will remain deployed at nine army posts in southern Syria's buffer zone "indefinitely." (Times of Israel)
See also Israel Strikes Terrorists in Northern Gaza
An Israeli air force aircraft struck several terrorists who were seen planting an explosive device
near IDF troops in northern Gaza, the IDF announced Friday. (Jerusalem Post)
See also Israel Air Force Strikes Hizbullah Terrorist in Southern Lebanon (Jerusalem Post)
- New IDF Chief Approves Gaza Attack Plans - Yoav Zitun
New IDF Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir approved new offensive plans for the likely resumption of fighting against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has been using the ceasefire to reorganize, and once hostilities resume, the conflict could escalate rapidly. Over the past month, multiple IDF divisions, including reserve brigades, have been preparing for a ground offensive in Gaza, combined with heavy aerial strikes.
Hamas has been reinforcing its positions in anticipation of renewed fighting. It is believed to have learned lessons from previous battles, planted dozens of new explosive devices, redeployed thousands of operatives to Gaza City from the south, recalibrated rocket launchers, and restructured its combat units. (Ynet News)
- Israel Has Finalized Arrangements to Enable Thousands of Gazans to Leave Daily - Ariel Kahana
Israel has completed the necessary preparations to enable the migration of Gaza residents, provided countries are found willing to accept them. Under the direction of Defense Minister Israel Katz, a mechanism has been established that would allow 2,500 Gazans to leave the Strip daily.
Migration to destination countries could be carried out via sea, with passage through Israel at Ashdod port. An additional route by air would be through Ramon Airport in Eilat. This route has been operating for several months for wounded Gaza residents. In the vast majority of cases, those who left Gaza were absorbed into Arab countries, but there are also those who have already migrated to Romania and Italy with the intention of not returning.
(Israel Hayom)
- Trump Middle East Advisor Meets Jerusalem Center Officials in Washington - Ariel Kahana
Massad Boulos, President Donald Trump's daughter Tiffany's father-in-law who was appointed as senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, met with Dr. Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, and Center vice president Dr. Aviram Bellaishe in Washington on Wednesday. A Lebanese-born lawyer and businessman, Boulos served as Trump's liaison to Arab and Muslim voters during the presidential campaign.
Boulos stressed that he considers Israel's security a critical and central issue. He voiced complete support for Trump's Gaza evacuation and reconstruction plan, asserting his firm belief that Hamas must be removed from the territory. "The atrocities and terrorism of October 7 must be eradicated," he emphasized.
On Lebanon, Boulos said the Lebanese government must prove itself by dismantling Hizbullah's military arsenal, insisting that the complete elimination of its military capabilities should be the ultimate goal. He also highlighted the importance of preventing Iran from re-establishing influence in Syria or elsewhere in the region.
Diker told Israel Hayom that Boulos's "approach to Israel and the Abraham Accords was very positive. He welcomed our viewpoint as Israelis and made it clear that he strongly supports Israel as a native society in the greater Middle East." (Israel Hayom)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
The Gaza War
- Israel Draws Up New War Plans to Pressure Hamas - Dov Lieber
Israel has drafted plans for a series of escalatory steps to ratchet up pressure on Hamas now that talks to extend a seven-week ceasefire have stalled, plans that could lead to a resumption of hostilities in the 16-month war in Gaza. The steps kicked off in the past week with Israel blocking the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza. Ultimately, Israel could re-invade Gaza with far more military power than it has deployed so far while it attacks the remnants of Hamas.
"There's a determination to go back in and finish Hamas no matter what happens," said former Pentagon official Michael Makovsky, now president of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America in Washington. "I think Israel will go in tougher and stronger."
Israel wants Hamas to release the dozens of hostages it still holds, something Hamas has said it would do only if there is a permanent end to the fighting, which Israel won't agree to. Israel also wants Hamas to relinquish power and disarm, which the U.S.-designated terrorist group refuses to do. Hamas is insisting on opening talks about an end to the war and refuses to discuss disarming.
Israeli security analysts say the country is in a much better position to go into Gaza than it was at the beginning of the war. Its ammunition stores are replenished, the limits and pressure imposed on it by the Biden administration have been lifted, and it no longer needs to keep large numbers of troops pinned down on its northern border to guard against an attack by Hizbullah.
(Wall Street Journal)
- Arab Plan for Gaza Ignores Existence of Hamas - Elliott Abrams
In reaction to President Trump's proposal for Gaza, Arab leaders held a summit meeting in Cairo on March 4. They produced a 100-page plan that managed never to mention Hamas or the massacres of October 7, 2023, that began the Gaza war. In fact, the Arab plan is weakest when addressing (or avoiding) the hardest question about Gaza, which is who will provide security and prevent Hamas from replicating the conditions that led to the October 7 attacks.
The Arab plan might work on another planet but certainly not in Gaza. It is useless as a guide to what comes next for Gaza. It suggests that if we all just recommit to the "two-state solution," security issues will magically fade away. The Arab plan insists that the Palestinian Authority should run Gaza very soon.
As has been very clear for decades, the goal of Palestinian terrorist groups is not at all and never has been to build a Palestinian state or restore Palestinian "legitimate rights." Their goal is to destroy Israel. Indeed, the Palestinian Authority itself under both Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly walked away from Israeli proposals for Palestinian statehood. The U.S. rightly rejected the new Arab plan.
The writer is Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the CFR. (Council on Foreign Relations)
Palestinian Arabs
- The Israeli Disillusionment with Palestinians - Dr. Ori Wertman
In the three decades since the Oslo process began, Jewish-Israeli society has undergone a disillusionment regarding Palestinians. Disillusionment began in the early 2000s with the outbreak of the Second Intifada, when it became clear that the Oslo process had not brought hoped-for peace. The Palestinian refusal at the Camp David summit to accept Israeli proposals that promised Palestinians a state in almost all areas of the West Bank and Gaza, and the outbreak of the violent campaign that Palestinians launched against the Jewish state, made it clear to Jewish society in Israel that peace would not come.
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, it became clear to the Jewish public in Israel that the conflict with the Palestinians could no longer be managed and that they could not be allowed to establish a semi-state terrorist entity. As of late 2024, only 35% of Jews in Israel express support for a diplomatic process with the PA, while 88% do not believe negotiations will lead to a peace agreement. Only 25% support the two-state idea.
The writer is a research fellow at the Israel Center for Grand Strategy. (Israel Hayom)
American Jewry
- American Jewry's Moment of Reckoning and Renewal - William C. Daroff
Since Oct. 7, the Jewish people has faced an unprecedented reckoning. The barbaric attack by Hamas, which took the lives of 1,200 innocents and led to the kidnapping of more than 250 into Gaza, shook us to our core. The reverberations continue, along with a surge of antisemitism worldwide.
Yet, amid this darkness, extraordinary resilience has emerged. The Jewish people - across Israel and the Diaspora - has united in unprecedented ways. American Jewry stands unwavering in its commitment to Israel's security and sovereignty. The U.S. and Israel share a moral foundation built on democracy, freedom, and the pursuit of peace.
Today, the threats to Israel remain existential. The war in Gaza extends beyond Hamas; it seeks to ensure that Israel's children do not grow up under the constant threat of rocket fire. It aims to prevent Iran's proxies from tightening their stranglehold on the region. It reinforces the principle that no nation should be forced to tolerate the kind of terror inflicted on Israel on Oct. 7.
When it comes to Israel's right to defend itself, there can be no equivocation.
The writer is the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. (Jerusalem Post)
Observations:
- While Iran has suffered significant blows in the past year with Hizbullah, in Syria and Gaza, and in Iran itself with targeted Israeli attacks on air defense systems and military assets, Tehran has not abandoned its long-term vision of jihadist expansion.
- The regime does not view these setbacks as a turning point but as temporary tactical challenges that must be navigated before resuming their broader objectives. Iran remains committed to its ideological war against Israel and the West.
- Iran's strategic doctrine has long emphasized patience in achieving its objectives. Wherever Iran detects societal fissures, political fragility, or governance failures, it moves in to cultivate influence from the ground up, establishing deeply embedded networks that subvert sovereign authority and advance its long-term regional ambitions.
- Iran is exploiting regional vulnerabilities to destabilize Jordan's pro-Western monarchy and establish a contiguous anti-Israel network. In the wake of the October 7 attacks, Iran has intensified its use of Iraqi militias to infiltrate Jordan, often under the guise of religious pilgrimages or commercial activity. Iranian-backed operatives have established logistical hubs in Jordanian cities.
- Tehran is also bolstering Palestinian factions, including small extremist groups in Jordan and Judea and Samaria, with weapons, financial support, and tactical training. Iran is reactivating dormant Islamist groups within Jordan, particularly factions of the Muslim Brotherhood, to weaken the government's authority.
- Intelligence suggests that Iranian-backed operatives have contemplated operations against Jordanian leadership, including potential threats to King Abdullah II. Jordanian security forces have intercepted numerous Iranian-backed weapons shipments destined for Judea and Samaria.
The writer, a former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad, is a researcher at the Jerusalem Center.
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