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In-Depth Issues:
Trump Is Determined to Implement His Vision for Gaza - Tzachi Hanegbi ( Ynet News)
In Sep. 2025, after Trump's envoys presented Israel with the president's plan to end the war in Gaza, the Americans assured Israel that "the leaders of the mediating countries, Egypt and Qatar...are convinced that Hamas will not torpedo the agreement."
In the months since, it became clear to Israel and the U.S. that Hamas remained determined to preserve its jihadist identity.
Hamas was not even considering transforming itself into a political movement as it focused on rebuilding its military capabilities.
Trump believes the implementation of his Gaza peace plan will change the fate of the region for the better. Hamas's veto challenges him, but does not diminish his determination to bring his vision to life.
This is how his approval of the deadly Israeli strike on the hideout of Hamas Gaza's No. 1 leader should be understood, even though the ceasefire remains in effect.
Since the plan's central anchor, the disarmament of Hamas, cannot now be carried out, Gaza's initial reconstruction will begin in areas under IDF control.
Large areas will be cleared of ruins and infrastructure will be built for Gazans who move to live there, free from Hamas's brutal regime.
Israel will be given a free hand to renew its military activity in the territory still controlled by Hamas, in coordination with the U.S.
In the first stage, intensified strikes against Hamas will likely be carried out from the air. Later, as IDF resources are shifted away from the Iran and Lebanon fronts, ground operations may also become possible.
The writer served as Israel's National Security Advisor from 2023 to 2025.
Survey: Nearly 80 Percent of Gazans Are Open to Emigrating - Amichai Stein ( Jerusalem Post)
Nearly 80% of Gazans are interested in emigrating from Gaza, according to a recent survey by the IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
Nearly 80% said they were interested in receiving information about mechanisms for relocating to a third country.
Prospects for reconstruction and long-term change remain remote as Hamas refuses to disarm.
Hamas's Internal Cracks Are Becoming Impossible for Gazans to Ignore - Mohammed Altooll ( Jerusalem Post)
After the recent killing of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, commander of Hamas forces in Gaza, what drew attention inside Gaza was the silence that followed.
In previous years, funerals of senior Hamas commanders often turned into massive public displays of loyalty and defiance.
Many Gazans noticed that this time, the turnout appeared smaller, public enthusiasm seemed weaker, and social media reactions revealed exhaustion and indifference.
Some of these reactions appeared to come from individuals previously associated with Hamas's own social environment. Many revived old conversations about internal rivalries, repression, and the atmosphere of fear that has shaped life in Gaza for years.
After years of war, blockade, displacement, and economic collapse, priorities have changed for many Gazans.
People increasingly want electricity, safety, freedom of movement, jobs, and education more than revolutionary slogans.
Today in Gaza, many residents no longer feel genuinely represented by any political faction. Even those who do have become more willing to criticize their own leaders openly or indirectly, especially after the recent war.
I still remember meeting Haddad in Jabalia after the "We Want to Live" protests. He told me then: "You want to overthrow a movement blessed by God?" I replied: "If the results of your rule were truly a blessing, people would already be thanking God for them."
Eurovision Proves the British Public Rejects Crazed Israelophobia - Gareth Roberts ( Telegraph-UK)
Bulgaria won the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday. British voters gave Bulgaria a maximum 12 points.
But we gave our second place to Israel, whose entry "Michelle" came a close third in the overall public vote.
The vote demonstrated, for the third year running, that the British public do not share the crazed Israelophobia of the elites.
They see right through the fig leaf of "anti-Zionism" to the antisemitism bubbling not very far beneath.
Abbas Complains that Funds Withheld by Israel Are Needed to Pay Terrorist Salaries - Danielle Greyman-Kennard ( Jerusalem Post)
During a speech at the Eighth General Conference of Fatah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas admitted that tax funds being withheld by Israel would be used to fund Palestinian terrorists. The comments confirm that the PA has not ended its pay-for-slay policy.
Palestinian Media Watch director Itamar Marcus told the Jerusalem Post that Abbas's admission must have "significant international implications."
"To justify continued funding of the PA, Western countries have been denying PMW findings that pay-for-slay continues, and have accepted Abbas's lies that it stopped funding terrorists in September 2025," he explained.
"Israel will be wise if it uses this video to put pressure on the Western countries to stop funding PA terror and to withhold their recognition of a Palestinian state, which France and others conditioned on the PA's promise to end pay-for-slay."
$156 million was paid out to terrorists and their families in 2025, according to a U.S. State Department report published in April 2026.
The Unique Burden of the Israeli Soldier - Ran Bar-Yoshafat ( JNS)
Since Oct. 7, 2023, some Israel Defense Forces soldiers have served hundreds of days in actual combat.
In terms of cumulative combat mileage, the Israeli fighter sits at the apex of the global hierarchy, mainly due to the continuation of fighting as part of the army reserves.
Very few combatants in the Western world possess operational experience that spans 20 years at such consistent intensity. The Israeli is a "professor of combat," accumulating battle days throughout his entire adult life.
In the IDF, while the conscripted, regular units act as the tip of the spear during immediate escalations, it is the reservists who constitute the primary maneuver force.
These civilian veterans bring a more calculated, cautious approach to the battlefield, utilizing decades of cumulative tactical wisdom to navigate the complexities of modern urban and open field warfare.
Despite the immense pressures, motivation remarkably remains at an all-time high.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Trump Delays Iran Strike to Give Talks More Time - Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
President Donald Trump said Monday that he had tentatively called off plans for the U.S. military to attack Iran on Tuesday after the heads of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE asked him to give negotiations more time.
Trump told reporters that the leaders had asked him to hold off on an attack for "two or three days - a short period of time."
Trump said the Arab leaders told him negotiations were on the brink of a breakthrough that "will be very acceptable to the United States" and that will ensure Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons. (Washington Post)
See also Tehran Refuses to Back Down on Trump's Demand to End Nuclear Program in Latest Peace Proposal - Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Iran has rejected Donald Trump's demand that it end its nuclear program in its latest peace proposal, in a signal that both sides remain far apart. Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that Iran's revised proposal emphasized the country's "right to enrich and enjoy peaceful nuclear rights" and called for an end to the U.S. blockade.
On Monday, the U.S. president said he had called off planned strikes on Iran following a request from Washington's allies in the Gulf. (Independent-UK)
- Syria Becomes Oil Route to Bypass Hormuz - Raja Abdulrahim
When the war that engulfed the Middle East in recent months blocked the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq and Gulf states including the UAE have begun to transport oil and other goods overland to ship from Syria. On some days, more than 400 tanker trucks cross the Iraq-Syria border.
For Syria, it was a much-needed economic opportunity. The country charges transit fees and handling fees at its ports. In the longer term, Syrian leaders are hoping to persuade countries and companies to invest in rehabilitating and rebuilding its infrastructure. (New York Times)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Israeli Navy Begins Takeover of Turkish Gaza Flotilla - Elisha Ben Kimon
Israeli naval forces took control Monday of vessels from the new Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail for Gaza last Thursday from Turkey. The interception took place near Cyprus. Activists detained during the operation were transferred to a "floating jail." About 50 vessels and 500 activists were taking part in the flotilla. The IDF has taken control of at least 39 vessels. No aid had been found on the intercepted boats.
Israel's Foreign Ministry warned Monday: "Once again, a provocation for the sake of provocation: another so-called 'humanitarian aid flotilla' with no humanitarian aid. This time, two violent Turkish groups, Mavi Marmara and IHH, the latter designated as a terrorist organization, are part of the provocation. The purpose of this provocation is to serve Hamas, to divert attention from Hamas's refusal to disarm, and to obstruct progress on President Trump's peace plan." (Ynet News-Ha'aretz)
- Board of Peace Tells UN: Progress on Gaza Peace Blocked by Hamas's Refusal to Disarm - Shirit Avitan Cohen
The Board of Peace report submitted to the UN Security Council on progress in implementing the Trump ceasefire agreement places the blame for blocking Gaza reconstruction on Hamas. The report says, "The main obstacle to full implementation of the agreement is Hamas' refusal to disarm, which prevents the transition to civilian reconstruction in Gaza."
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, "This report exposes what has long been clear to everyone: Hamas has lied and continues to lie every step of the way....Those who continued to echo Hamas propaganda instead of fighting it strengthened a murderous terrorist organization that is holding Gaza and its residents hostage." (Israel Hayom)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran
- How to Break Iran's Stalling Game - Ron Ben-Yishai
Since the days of founder Ruhollah Khomeini, the regime in Tehran has viewed the restoration of Shiite Islam to what it sees as its rightful place in the Muslim world as a sacred mission. Its ambition is to export the revolution.
The U.S. is demanding that Iran give up the main tool for carrying out that mission: its nuclear program, which is intended both to protect Iran and to provide a security umbrella for exporting the revolution and for Shiite proxies acting on its behalf across the Middle East. Beyond that, in the Shiite ethos, surrender is humiliation, which is worse than death.
Experts and security officials in the U.S. and Israel believe the regime will be forced to soften its position only if it faces a combined campaign of siege, economic sanctions, and destructive kinetic strikes on sensitive infrastructure such as electricity and oil. But that assumption is not necessarily justified.
The regime's senior figures act to a large extent out of a sense of religious mission, and are not particularly sensitive to the suffering or economic distress of the people. Moreover, the regime has built powerful defense mechanisms with the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij militia, which have already shown they have no problem killing thousands of civilians to suppress protests and unrest.
In addition, the Iranian regime believes it can withstand several more months of the American economic siege, while believing that Trump will be unable to withstand opposition to war in the U.S., rising fuel and food prices, and the need to justify a global energy crisis. The Iranians also believe that they can inflict heavy casualties and material damage on the Americans, Arab oil producers and Israel using the missiles and drones they can still operate. This leads the Iranians to think that time is working in their favor.
In light of this, instead of a short and powerful strike on essential infrastructure, what may be required is an intensive and broad joint military operation by the U.S. and Israel lasting one to two weeks across almost all of Iran, while avoiding harm to civilians as much as possible. The goal would be to expand the damage to what remains of Iran's launch and production sites for missiles and drones.
The feeling that Iran is exposed and suffering losses without the ability to respond is what led Ayatollah Khomeini in 1988 to accept the UN ceasefire terms, which effectively amounted to surrender in the war against Iraq. (Ynet News)
- Iran's Hormuz Blockade Redraws Global Energy Power Dynamics - Ella Rosenberg
For years, China relied heavily on discounted, illicit oil shipments from Iran to feed its massive independent refining sector in Shandong province. In the wake of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, China's imports of Iranian crude have fallen by nearly a third, sending shockwaves through its domestic refining industry. Every dollar added to the price of a barrel of oil acts as a direct tax on Chinese manufacturing, eroding export competitiveness and stoking domestic inflationary pressures.
India faces an equally severe economic crisis. Unlike China, which possesses significant domestic coal reserves and a network of cross-border overland pipelines, India is almost entirely dependent on maritime imports to meet its domestic energy needs, importing over 80% of its crude oil.
The macroeconomic toll on India has been immediate and severe, manifesting in a widening current account deficit, intense pressure on the rupee, and a sharp escalation in domestic fuel and fertilizer prices. This has resulted in an unprecedented surge in Indian imports of Russian Urals crude, transported via northern maritime routes and the Black Sea, completely transforming India's energy map.
The writer is an Iran and financial terrorism expert and a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Center. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
- The Underground Financial System Keeping Iran Afloat amid War, Sanctions - Ahmad Sharawi
While the Trump administration is ramping up its economic warfare against the Islamic Republic of Iran, a parallel system continues to move cash beyond Washington's reach. For more than a decade, Iran has been cut off from much of the global banking system. Iran has adapted by relying on exchange houses, brokers and informal networks across the Middle East, mostly in Gulf Arab states. This centuries-old system is called "hawala."
Billions of dollars in Iran-linked funds move through the Arab Gulf states each year. In Tehran's Ferdowsi exchange district, brokers don't hide what they do, openly advertising how easily money can be sent to and from Europe or the U.S. - all, of course, in violation of UN and U.S. sanctions. As long as these networks operate openly in the Gulf, Washington's economic wall around Iran will remain incomplete.
The writer is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
(The Hill)
Hizbullah
- Hizbullah Waging War of Attrition Against IDF in Lebanon - Yoni Ben Menachem
Officially, a ceasefire remains in effect between the IDF and Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. In practice, however, the situation appears very different. The IDF Spokesperson announced on May 13 that since the ceasefire understandings came into force, the Israel Air Force has struck more than 1,100 Hizbullah targets and eliminated over 350 operatives.
Senior Israeli security officials confirm that Hizbullah has shifted to a "war of attrition" against the Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon. Hizbullah's strategy is aimed not only at inflicting casualties on the IDF, but also at undermining the Israeli home front's sense of security.
Hizbullah's recent operations indicate a transition from isolated rocket launches and sporadic drone attacks to coordinated and sophisticated strike formations. After an initial strike using an explosive drone or precision fire, rescue, evacuation, and reinforcement forces arriving at the scene are then targeted in subsequent attacks. Simultaneously, Hizbullah has expanded its use of coordinated attack drone swarms operating at the same time.
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
- Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire a Dangerous Fiction in the War Against Hizbullah - Herb Keinon
The U.S. State Department's Friday announcement - following another round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington - extending the ceasefire between the two countries is something of a fiction. It is not the government of Lebanon, but Hizbullah, that decided to wage war against Israel, first on October 8, 2023, and then again on March 2, 2026.
A ceasefire with Lebanon doesn't mean much, since their armies aren't fighting one another.
It is Hizbullah that is firing drones at Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, there to prevent it from once again setting up a base of operations directly on Israel's border, with the expressed intent of launching an Oct. 7-style invasion of the Galilee.
The ceasefire is by no means a harmless fiction because it ties Israel's hands. The current restrictions on Israel's use of force in Lebanon effectively take Beirut out of the game and establish a maximum price Hizbullah knows it can tolerate. Israel is not using its full force and sending fighter planes to strike Hizbullah strongholds in Beirut or in the Bekaa Valley because of the understandings surrounding the ceasefire.
Negotiations detached from the realities on the ground do not end terrorism. Rather, they create space for the terrorists to adapt, regroup, and strike again. (Jerusalem Post)
Israel and the West
- A Miscarriage of Journalism at the New York Times - Judge Roy K. Altman
Nicholas Kristof's recent essay in the New York Times about supposed Israeli sex crimes against Palestinian detainees is a travesty - not simply because it's wrong as a matter of fact, or because it regurgitates long-debunked blood libels against the Jewish state at a time of rising antisemitism around the world. It's a travesty because it embraces the erosion of democratic norms.
We assume that our citizens will be prepared to discern truth from fiction. We feel comfortable in that assumption because we've devised a system of laws - based on evidence, burdens of proof, and a time-tested set of rules - to help us assess the veracity of contested claims. Today, this whole system is being undermined by the proliferation of false information, especially on the internet.
It's one thing to have our geopolitical and ideological enemies pushing unverified claims about our closest allies into our cell phones. It's another thing entirely for the New York Times to offer a story that - in its disregard of basic evidence-gathering norms, its unwillingness to investigate the opposing side's position, and its inversion of common sense - violates the fundamental rules of fairness and due process that serve as the bulwark of our democracy.
Kristof accused Israel of using sexual violence against detained Palestinian prisoners as a kind of "standard operating procedure." His claim is not merely that a few rogue Israeli prison guards sometimes behave illegally, as happens in all Western democracies, including our own.
Whether in civil or criminal cases, we have for hundreds of years rejected the technique of allowing anonymous witnesses to advance salacious claims in secret. But Kristof's article relies mostly on anonymous sources whose credibility - much less their political or ideological affiliations - cannot be tested. Moreover, his reliance on anonymity ensures that no one can ever prove him wrong.
The few sources Kristof does name underscore why anonymity is so problematic. Kristof relies heavily on a report by Euro-Med, an organization with known ties to Hamas. Its leader, Ramy Abdu, has advocated publicly for "a million October 7ths," and has repeatedly peddled the allegation that Israel "harvests organs."
When a reporter in our supposed "paper of record" advances a series of allegations that are this severe and pernicious, against an entire nation, we should demand that he produce evidence to match the gravity of his assertions. Kristof has fallen well short of this standard.
The writer is a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. (Free Press)
Antisemitism
- Antisemitism Is an Ability to Believe Stories that Could Not Possibly Be True - Nicole Lampert
We are living in a new age of insanity. But sometimes, something is alleged that truly takes your breath away. Training dogs to rape. The Hamas-adjacent NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor first published a report alleging that dogs were being used to sexually assault prisoners and detainees in Israeli facilities. But now it is in the New York Times. Numerous experts have come out and said it is technically impossible to train dogs to rape men. I now know more than I could have ever wished about the private parts and mating habits of dogs.
In 1945, George Orwell, quoting people who had issues with the Jews while insisting they weren't antisemitic, concluded: "Antisemitism is an irrational thing. The Jews are accused of specific offenses which the person speaking feels strongly about, but it is obvious that these accusations rationalize some deep-rooted prejudice. To attempt to counter them with facts and statistics is useless....People can remain antisemitic while being fully aware that their outlook is indefensible."
Orwell asserts: "One of the marks of antisemitism is an ability to believe stories that could not possibly be true." (Jewish News-UK)
- The Duty to Speak Plainly about Jew-Hatred - Barton Swaim
What makes antisemitism in the 2020s so menacing is its expression by gullible journalists and kaffiyeh-wearing postgraduates using big terms they don't understand: "Zionism," "genocide," "occupation." The zeal with which a sizable part of the electorate fixates on the Jewish state - a sliver of a country on the other side of the world - defies explanation. Why the obsession with Israel but not Myanmar or Sudan? Why such expressive pity for the Palestinians but none for the Uyghurs?
That so many in America's chattering classes claim to fear the onset of "fascism" but consistently ignore or euphemize antisemitism - historical fascism's vilest component - is one of the saddest ironies of our age.
(Wall Street Journal)
Observations:
- The elimination of Hamas military leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad is a move with profound strategic significance. Al-Haddad, one of the most hardline and extremist voices within Hamas, strongly opposed any framework that included the organization's disarmament or the establishment of an alternative governing authority. Removing him from the equation weakens the uncompromising camp within Hamas and could create new, more favorable conditions for negotiations. Israel's message is clear: those who reject all compromise and glorify a perpetual war of attrition are not immune.
- In the Middle East, weakness is perceived as an invitation to aggression. When Israel makes clear that everyone involved in planning, murdering, and kidnapping will pay a personal price, it strengthens its ability to survive in a hostile region.
- Targeted killings alone cannot defeat Hamas unless they are integrated into a broader strategic framework. Eliminating the organization's veteran command structure forces Hamas to hand the reins to a younger, less experienced, and less authoritative generation, leading to operational erosion. However, this is only half of the equation. To bring about the complete collapse of Hamas and prevent its rehabilitation, Israel must immediately implement a comprehensive operational strategy.
- First, Israel must make clear that every day Hamas refuses to disarm is another day in which it loses territory for an indefinite period.
- Second, a new and far stricter political-security framework must be established with Cairo concerning the management of the Rafah crossing, in order to completely block Hamas's lifeline, prevent large-scale weapons smuggling, and deny the organization control over the movement of people and goods along the southern border.
- Third, a dedicated mechanism, entirely separate from Hamas, must be created immediately to manage, distribute, and process humanitarian aid entering Gaza. Hamas's control over food and supplies is the oxygen sustaining its rule.
- Fourth, a strict and clearly defined timetable must be set for the full disarmament of Hamas by the end of the year. No Hamas operative may be integrated into future security mechanisms, civilian administration, or governing institutions in Gaza.
The writer, former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad, is a researcher at the Jerusalem Center.
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