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In-Depth Issues:
Israel Gathering Intelligence to Update Target Database in Gaza - Liran Aharoni ( Jerusalem Post)
Israel has recently intensified its intelligence operations, using drones to deploy espionage devices in Gaza to collect information on future targets, Asharq Al-Awsat reported, citing sources from Palestinian terror factions in Gaza.
Sources claimed that the newly deployed surveillance tools released by drones include cameras and wiretapping devices hidden in bags placed in remote areas, cemeteries, and even in densely populated neighborhoods.
Houthis Announce Renewal of Naval Blockade on Israel: "Until Aid Enters Gaza" - Lior Ben Ari ( Ynet News)
A spokesman for the Houthis in Yemen announced Tuesday that the maritime blockade on Israel would continue "until the crossings into Gaza are opened for humanitarian aid."
The Houthis specifically threatened to resume attacks on "Israeli ships," rather than firing missiles or drones at Israeli territory.
Still, the Israeli Air Force remains on high alert. Israel has struck Houthi targets in Yemen five times during the current war, the most recent on Jan. 10.
Stop Dealing with Terrorists and Let Our Allies Defeat Them - Daniel Greenfield ( Gatestone Institute)
U.S. hostage negotiators go to Qatar and leave brainwashed. The obsession with making a deal overshadows common sense about dealing with terrorists.
Hamas is not going to "disarm." Talk of a 10-15 year truce is a period of time during which Hamas rearms and prepares for another Oct. 7 attack, as they have told us over and over again they will do.
Hamas, not Israel or the U.S., will decide when the truce actually lapses, much like Hamas announced the ceasefire was over by attacking on Oct. 7.
The proposed deal that leaves Hamas in Gaza and has the U.S. rebuild Gaza is the worst deal imaginable for America and for Israel.
This is the problem when we start dealing with terrorists instead of letting our allies defeat them.
Our Choice between "Never Again" and "Again" - Amb. Michael Oren ( Times of Israel)
In proclaiming "Never again," many Israelis are no longer referring to the Final Solution, but to the onslaught of Oct. 7 and the hostages' enduring ordeal.
Restoring Israel's credibility as the guarantor of Jewish survival is our most fateful challenge today.
We must alter our strategic thinking. We must no longer permit terrorist armies to amass anywhere near our borders. On each, we must reestablish and significantly expand security zones.
We must re-instill the knowledge that murderers of Jews are nowhere safe.
Above all, we must act to prevent the enemies dedicated to our destruction from acquiring the means to achieve it.
Israel cannot co-exist with military-grade nuclear facilities in Iran.
The writer is a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy.
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New Documentary "October 8": Exposing U.S. Antisemitism after Hamas Attack - Hannah Brown ( Jerusalem Post)
The documentary "October 8" is about the wave of antisemitism that has swept the U.S., particularly on university campuses, since the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas and the outbreak of war.
Produced by actress Debra Messing, the documentary is a comprehensive and persuasive look at how widespread antisemitism has become and how it was fostered by Hamas, which planted the seeds of hatred of Jews and Israel years before the war.
"October 8" mixes interviews with Jewish leaders, political analysts, academics, authors, actors, and students.
Interviewees include Messing; former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg; Congressman Ritchie Torres; actor Michael Rapaport; Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a Hamas leader; Israeli actress and activist Noa Tishby; and Columbia professor Shai Davidai.
Start-Up Nation author Dan Senor summed up the situation on Oct. 8: "There were still Hamas terrorists in communities in southern Israel. There was still fighting going on. Israel was still counting the numbers of the dead, and the mutilated and the raped and the kidnapped."
"And there's a protest against Israel in Times Square....The outrage was being directed against the Jews for objecting to being slaughtered."
Mosab Hassan Yousef said, "Any Hamas win will not be only a threat to the State of Israel and to the Jewish people, it will be a threat against all civilized people who want to live in harmony, who believe in tolerance, who believe in peaceful dialogue with their neighbors, and who believe in diversity."
The Jew Hunt in Amsterdam Last November Was Even Worse than We Thought - Brendan O'Neill ( Spiked-UK)
In November 2024, visiting Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv were "hunted" by mobs of mostly Arab men in the streets of Amsterdam.
More details about this pogrom emerged during the latest court cases last week. They called their rampage a "Jew hunt." They incited each other to violence, saying "[we] may never get this chance [again] to beat up some Jews."
They called for a city-wide "rage" against "cancer Jews." They shared information about the arrival of a "train full of Jews" and said everyone should be there to greet it.
In the WhatsApp group in which the violence was incited and organized, there were calls to drive your car "into those people." "Hit them hard." There must be "at least one death."
You will search in vain for coverage in the non-Dutch press of this latest development.
Gangs of men said, "We carried out a Jew hunt!" and Western leftists essentially replied, "No you didn't. You were just protesting. Bless."
Autonomous Flying Cowboys Manage Livestock More Efficiently - John Jeffay ( Israel21c)
Noam Azran is a cowboy who spent a decade on horseback patrolling vast cattle ranches in California and Argentina.
Now he heads an Israeli tech startup that uses drones to monitor the welfare of millions of cows, transforming the way beef cattle are farmed, he says.
9 of 10 cows are bred for meat, not milk. "I'm working with beef cattle, which can mean two or three thousand animals spread over many, many square km."
Azran shows me live feeds from drones, showing the precise GPS location of every single cow. "I can check my fences, I can check my water troughs, I can check my water infrastructure."
The research and development team at BeeFree Agro developed artificial intelligence, machine learning, and image analysis that provides livestock managers with all the data they need.
In terms of technology, Azran says BeeFree is five years ahead of its closest rivals. "We've just started with our first paying customers. But these are the biggest customers in the world."
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Rubio: Revoking Columbia U. Graduate's Green Card Is "Not about Free Speech"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday, referring to Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil: "When you come to the United States...on a visitor's visa...we can deny you that [visa.] If you tell us when you apply, 'Hi, I'm trying to get into the United States on a student visa, I am a big supporter of Hamas, a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages.'"
"If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us when you apply for your visa, 'And by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, antisemitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities' - if you told us all these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa. I hope we would."
"If you actually end up doing that once you're in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it. And if you end up having a green card - not citizenship but a green card - as a result of that visa while you're here and those activities, we're going to kick you out. It's as simple as that."
"This is not about free speech. This is about people that don't have a right to be in the United States to begin with...being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down and being complicit in what are clearly crimes of vandalization, complicit in shutting down learning institutions....And if you do it once you get in, we're going to revoke it and kick you out." (U.S. State Department)
- U.S. Is Correct to Deport Jihadi-Supporting Agitators - Jake Wallis Simons
On Tuesday, all hell broke loose in the U.S. when the Trump administration took into custody Syrian-born Mahmoud Khalil - who spearheaded virulent anti-Israel rallies at Columbia University and distributed leaflets bearing the Hamas logo - with the intention to deport him. The group to which Khalil belonged made its ideology clear in a post on Instagram last August. "We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization."
The episode drew outrage from civil rights groups and free speech advocates who accused the administration of silencing freedom of speech. These people seem to think that supporting jihadism equates to reasonable criticism of Israel.
For years, British society has been riddled with Hamas activists, sympathizers and attendant useful idiots who have been subverting our values from within. For years, Whitehall looked the other way while charities linked to Hamas raised millions of pounds a year, which - according to Israeli intelligence - was funneled into the terror group's coffers.
The streets of our major cities are hotbeds of sympathy for Hamas, with hardened jihadi activists marshalling the support of hordes of self-righteous students on many Saturdays. Several of the leaders of the marches have links with Hamas; some have been photographed meeting terror chiefs in Gaza and several have openly expressed support for the group. This is against British law, since Hamas was placed on the terrorist blacklist in 2021.
The Prime Minister is correct to spend more on defense. But there is no point in making such moves to protect our way of life if we do not get serious on the enemy within.
Now is the time to get serious. The U.S. has shown the way.
The writer is editor of the Jewish Chronicle-UK.
(Telegraph-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Struggle over Hamas Disarmament Delays Hostage Deal - Danny Zaken
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have resumed in Qatar through mediators. However, the core obstacle to ending the war remains Hamas's refusal to disarm and relinquish its military and civil control over Gaza. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the PA consider Hamas's disarmament a fundamental condition for any post-war arrangement.
Khaled Abu Toameh, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs specializing in Palestinian politics, warns that any reconstruction effort without Hamas's disarmament would replicate the Lebanese model, where a terrorist organization holds real power while an impotent government exists only on paper.
Hamas is actively replenishing its ranks, funded by money accumulated from U.S. and international aid, as well as from the black-market sale of humanitarian supplies it has seized.
New recruits receive a large food package, a $50 grant, and a monthly salary of up to $100.
A senior Israeli official confirmed that Israel's primary focus is securing the release of as many living hostages as possible. If it becomes evident that further hostage releases cannot be secured through negotiations, Israel will have no choice but to resume military operations.
(Israel Hayom)
See also Without Increased IDF Pressure, Hamas Won't Agree to Partial Deals - Peled Arbeli
Eyal Ofer, a former government adviser and an expert on Hamas economics, said Sunday that Hamas will hold on to their only bargaining chip - the hostages - until they receive greater concessions. "I don't see them agreeing to release half the hostages at this point. Maybe they will trickle out one to four live hostages in exchange for a few months of extension" of the ceasefire. "The only thing that could likely change this picture is an Israeli military operation that shifts the balance for them." (Jerusalem Post)
- Israeli Man Shot while Driving near Ariel in Samaria - Emanuel Fabian
An Israeli man, 18, was shot in the arm while driving near Ariel in Samaria on Wednesday evening.
The victim said the shooter used a laser to temporarily blind him before opening fire. (Times of Israel)
- Photos: IDF Seizes Palestinian Weapons Cache - Idan Blumhof
Acting on precise intelligence, troops found a Palestinian weapons cache hidden in two adjacent apartments in the village of Al-Ram near Ramallah. The raid uncovered M-16 rifles, a Glock pistol, a Ringo firearm, a 7.62mm sniper rifle, a hand grenade, explosives, a remote detonation device, thousands of rounds of ammunition, cash and gold jewelry. (Ynet News)
- Israel Cracks Down on Foreign NGOs Advocating Boycotts and Oct. 7 Denial
A new Israeli government directive, effective Monday, drafted by an interministerial team, will regulate the registration of international humanitarian organizations operating in Palestinian areas, allowing Israel to deny or revoke permits for groups engaged in boycotts, delegitimization, or denial of the Oct. 7 massacre. Currently, 170 international humanitarian NGOs operate in Israel and the West Bank with free movement, tax benefits, and Israeli bank accounts. (Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
The Gaza War
- Blame Hamas for Israel Halting Aid to Gaza - Arsen Ostrovsky and Mark Goldfeder
On March 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would halt the entry of all goods and supplies to Gaza. This decision came after Hamas rejected a framework proposed by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff intended to continue the hostage-ceasefire talks.
Critics soon started accusing Israel of the war crime of starvation, with vague references to "international law."
For the record, international law is very clear: Israel is not obligated to provide aid that will be used by an enemy in time of war, and anyone who argues differently is either illiterate or willfully ignorant. Britain and the U.S. were not expected to provide aid to Nazi Germany during WWII. Blockades are a lawful military tactic in the course of war.
Article 23 of the 4th Geneva Convention is very explicit in allowing the free passage of humanitarian supplies only if there are no serious reasons to believe these supplies are being diverted from their destination or used for military purposes. Both the U.S. Defense Department Law of War Manual and the UK Joint Service Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict mirror Article 23.
There has been indisputable and overwhelming evidence that Hamas systematically steals the aid, and uses it to advance their military goals. The New York Times, the Palestinian Authority, and the UN have reported on this for years.
Israel's actions in halting aid are entirely just and legitimate under international law.
Those who seek a resumption of further aid into Gaza would be well advised to direct their outrage and pressure toward Hamas.
Arsen Ostrovsky is a human rights attorney and CEO of the International Legal Forum. Mark Goldfeder is a law professor and CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center. (Newsweek)
- The Language of the Arab Initiative for Gaza's Reconstruction - Prof. Kobi Michael and Dr. Yoel Guzansky
An analysis of the official Arab League statement on March 4 in Cairo regarding the Arab initiative for Gaza's reconstruction reveals a highly problematic declaration. While Egyptian officials have made it clear that Hamas would not be permitted to play a role in Gaza's reconstruction or its governance, the final statement reveals that this stipulation regarding Hamas is entirely absent. The statement does not reference Hamas at all or the need for its disarmament.
In the unofficial English translation, Israel is referred to merely as the "Israeli entity," whereas Palestine is consistently designated as the "State of Palestine." The declaration calls for the internationalization of the conflict, essentially reinstating the UN's central role. This would involve revitalizing UNRWA - an institution that perpetuates the Palestinian refugee status - and pursuing ongoing legal actions against Israel in international tribunals, accusing it of war crimes. At the same time, the declaration implicitly glorifies Hamas by exalting the resilience of the Palestinian people in Gaza against what is described as Israeli criminal aggression.
It seems that neither the Egyptian initiative nor the Arab League summit will lead to any meaningful progress - let alone a positive outcome - unless a mechanism is established to dismantle Hamas as a governing and military entity in Gaza. The language of the statement underscores the Arab world's failure to internalize the fundamental shifts that have taken place since Oct. 7. The Cairo summit adheres to the lowest common denominator among Arab League members - vilifying Israel, branding it a war criminal, and portraying it as an oppressor of innocent Palestinians.
The writers are senior researchers at INSS. (Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University)
- The IDF's Job in Gaza Is Not Over - Gil Troy
The Gaza war vindicated the military theorists who teach that in an age of total war with totally evil enemies, the only way to fight is to fight to win. Seeking a managed outcome, trying to keep the war in proportion, is an immoral position that only sounds virtuous. Once you go to war, fight full throttle - otherwise you risk your own troops, and drag out everyone's suffering.
Israel may start fighting in Gaza again. This time, for everyone's sake, Israel should seize territory and hold it, crush Hamas unapologetically, and deprive Hamas of the humanitarian aid shipments the terrorists keep stealing. Such an assertion of power won't be pretty. But it will end the war - and the suffering - far faster than the on-again, off-again dithering that somehow has been cast as the right way to fight urban warfare against this evil enemy. Israel needs American support to do what it needs to do and what it should have done already.
The writer, a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University, is a Senior Fellow in Zionist Thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute.
(Jerusalem Post)
Syria
- Israeli Army to Set Up New Posts in Syria to Prevent Regime Military Buildup along Israeli Border - Yaniv Kubovich
The IDF is creating new "security zones" in Syrian territory to counter the armed forces of the new regime in Damascus. The Israeli army already controls the buffer zone, from the border fence to 5 km. (3.1 miles) into Syria. In addition, the army has defined the area 15 km. (9.3 miles) from the border as a security zone.
In accordance with government directives, the IDF has been tasked with preventing Syrian forces from stationing long-range weapons like launchers and missile within 65 km. (40 miles) from the border with Israel, though it intends to allow police forces to enter the area 15-65 km. (9.3-40 miles) from the border.
The IDF is establishing a coordination unit run by COGAT, which is in charge of government activities in the territories. The unit will focus on establishing connections with the Druze population in the Syrian villages close to the border. Starting next Sunday, Israel will allow several hundred Syrian Druze in the area controlled by the IDF to work in Israel. The IDF is also working to improve water lines and access to medical services in these Druze villages. Some 40,000 Syrian citizens, mostly Druze, live in the area under the IDF's control.
(Ha'aretz)
See also Report: Syria Secures Agreement with Druze - Shachar Kleiman
Al Jazeera has reported that Syria's new leadership has reached an agreement with officials in the predominantly Druze province of Al-Suwayda, guaranteeing that the provincial police force will be composed exclusively of local residents - primarily Druze. The Syrian government has also committed to appointing a governor and police commander from among the region's inhabitants.
On Monday, the Damascus government signed a formal agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls substantial territory in Syria's northeast.
(Israel Hayom)
- Druze Autonomy in Syria Is in America's and Israel's Best Interest - Khalifa Khalifa and Brett Kaufman
The events of the past several weeks in Syria represent a once-in-an-era opportunity for the Free World. Druze militias in southern Syria announced unification under a new "military council of Suwayda," which prompted other armed Druze groups to join as well. The Druze are Arabs who split off from Islam about a thousand years ago and are considered heretical to Islam. Muslims have persecuted the Druze as infidels for centuries.
In Israel, the Druze have been embraced as allies and full citizens, serving in the highest positions in the Israel Defense Forces and government. The integration of the Druze of Israel is a testament to the Western liberal pluralism of Israeli society.
The Druze homeland of Jabal al-Druze ("Druze Mountain") lies in territory within the Suwayda, Quneitra and Daraa governates of the Hauran region. The majority of Syrian Druze are avowedly pro-Israel and have resisted Islamist attacks for years.
With Bashar Assad's blessing, Islamic State terrorists attacked Suwayda on July 25, 2018, taking dozens of women and children hostage, and beheading all the captured men and a teenage girl. More than 250 Druze were slaughtered in the attack. In 2015, HTS members massacred the Druze of Idlib in northwestern Syria.
Predictably, the world is outraged over Israeli self-defense incursions into Syria while ignoring Turkish seizures of Syrian territory in the north. The U.S. should recognize Druze autonomy, publicly state that the Syrian army must stay out of their homeland, and fund and arm the Druze without committing American troops on the ground.
Israel has already demanded that Syrian leader Julani's jihadist army stay out of southern Syria.
The Druze will remain second-class citizens under Arab or Muslim rule. Supporting an autonomous Druze zone - populated by ideologically motivated anti-jihadists who want to fight for their own freedom and keep Syrian, Turkish and Lebanese Islamist autocrats in check - is greatly in the American interest.
Khalifa Khalifa is a Druze Middle East policy analyst who has served as an adviser to the IDF on Palestinian affairs. Brett Kaufman is assistant professor of the Classics at the University of Illinois. (JNS)
Iran
- Iran Could Lose Iraq - The Axis of Resistance Is Primed to Take Another Hit - Michael Knights and Hamdi Malik
Ever since its revolution in 1979, Iran has cultivated a network of proxies and friends throughout the Middle East. But events over the past year have upended the regional order. Iran-backed Iraqi militias attacked U.S. forces and Israeli targets regularly throughout 2024, killing three U.S. soldiers in a drone strike in March of that year. But these militias appear to have changed course. They have not launched a strike since early December - a sign that they are growing more fearful of attracting Washington's attention.
Iraq's politicians also seem more eager than usual to appease the U.S. Iraq's government, led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, is a coalition closely allied with Iran. But Sudani's team in January removed an arrest warrant on U.S. President Donald Trump for ordering the killing of terrorists in Baghdad during his last administration; agreed to release Princeton researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who has been held hostage by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia; and passed a vital budget amendment long sought by Iraq's Kurds, the segment of Iraqi society with the closest ties to Trump.
Iraq is a cash cow for Tehran. Iran avoids sanctions by moving its oil into Iraq's waters so it can be falsely labeled as Iraqi and exported to world markets. Iran-backed militias in Iraq, such Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah - both designated by the U.S. as terrorist organizations - steal Iraqi oil by pilfering it from wells directly or by creating fake companies that unfairly receive government-subsidized fuel.
In 2014, the Popular Mobilization Forces, a consortium of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, was brought under the nominal control of the Iraqi government. The PMF now receives more than $3 billion of Iraqi government funding each year, much of it in the form of salaries for its 250,000 militiamen. Many of these fighters fire rockets at U.S. bases and fought in Syria at Iran's request. Sudani has allowed the PMF to establish its own economic conglomerate, the Muhandis General Company, which partners with Chinese and IRGC-run companies to receive oil and construction contracts from Iraq's government.
Tehran has control over Baghdad when it counts, such as when a prime minister is picked, when an IRGC force wants to transit Iraq, or when Iran wants to fire a drone at U.S. military advisers from Iraqi soil. Washington can disrupt this pattern. Over the past decade, the U.S. government developed a habit of backing Iraqi prime ministers even if they were Iranian puppets. But Washington should do away with such an approach.
ISIS militants are no longer banging on the doors of Baghdad. The vast majority of Iraqis have little allegiance to Tehran or Washington. Instead, they simply react to incentives. Sanctions and tough diplomacy could help Washington improve its position with Iraq. After the fall of Assad and the weakening of Hizbullah, U.S. officials may be able to further dismantle Iran's regional proxy network.
Michael Knights is a senior fellow and Hamdi Malik is an associate fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (Foreign Affairs)
Observations:
- Despite Hamas's portrayal of a "victory," internal Palestinian discourse is characterized by widespread criticism and intense anger toward Hamas. While on Oct. 7, the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank celebrated what they saw as Hamas's "defeat" of Israel, more than 500 days of intense war have dramatically shifted this perception.
- Today, few in Gaza describe the events of Oct. 7 as a victory. The prevailing sentiment is that Hamas brought an unprecedented catastrophe upon Gaza and its people, the worst disaster in Palestinian history. Images of destruction, displacement, and death, broadcast globally by the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera, have left a deep impression on Palestinians and the broader Arab world.
- The devastation in northern Gaza has profoundly affected West Bank Palestinians, many of whom fear a similar fate. The vast majority of Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camp residents fled as soon as Israeli forces entered, fearing they would be buried under rubble. The traditional core Palestinian ideology of sumud (steadfastness) has weakened significantly, and public pressure has mounted on the militant groups to halt the fighting.
- The social media discourse in Gaza reveals that many Gazans now see Hamas's use of civilians as "human shields" as illegitimate. It also suggests a widespread preference for the return of the PA's rule. However, this does not indicate support for PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is widely viewed as a traitor. Instead, it reflects a desperate longing for stability - a return to a livable reality where people do not have to beg for food and water.
- One of the most repeated sentiments in the Gazan discourse is: "We wanted to return to Haifa and Acre, and now we are begging to return to Beit Hanoun and Jabalia [in Gaza]." Many see their displacement as the ultimate proof of Hamas's failure. There is also a growing realization among Palestinians that Arab states no longer wish to involve themselves in their cause. No Arab country is willing to accept released Palestinian prisoners or refugees.
- About 20-30% of Gaza's population remains steadfast in its support for Hamas and its ideology, regardless of the devastation. In the West Bank, however, public discourse indicates a sharp decline in support for Hamas and other militant factions. Many fear that Gaza's fate could befall them as well. This explains the absence of pro-Hamas demonstrations or social media campaigns calling for a new intifada. Calls from mosques urge people to avoid joining militant groups or participating in protests.
The writer, a research fellow at INSS, is the former co-editor of the Israeli Foreign Ministry website in Arabic.
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