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In-Depth Issues:
Israel Is Eliminating the Perpetrators of the October 7 Massacre - Yoni Ben Menachem ( Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Following the murder of Israeli athletes by the Black September organization at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the Mossad launched a long-term operation to eliminate those responsible.
After the October 7, 2023, massacre, the Israel Security Agency (ISA) formed a dedicated task force, "Hamal Nili," to map, locate, and eliminate those who participated in the massacre.
Israel has already eliminated dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who participated. A senior ISA official emphasized that the task force will remain active until all the perpetrators are neutralized.
The "Hamal" has compiled a detailed list of perpetrators using intelligence gathered from various sources, including interrogations of captured terrorists.
The ISA's systematic pursuit seeks to ensure that no perpetrator escapes accountability.
Gaza Was Thriving Economically before Oct. 7 - Col. (ret.) Yigal Carmon ( MEMRI)
On Jan. 18, NBC reported that new U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said: "If we don't help the Gazans, if we don't make their life better, if we don't give them a sense of hope, there's going to be a rebellion."
But what he needs to know is that before Oct. 7, 2023, Gaza was thriving economically.
Hamas was willing to sacrifice all of this in pursuit of its goal of annihilating Israel and the Jews.
MEMRI's reports on Gaza prior to Oct. 7 present videos, photos and data on life in Gaza from non-Israeli media sources.
They provide a picture of Gaza's residential areas and tower blocks, its universities, health facilities and hospitals, its banks and financial institutions, its malls and markets, its recreation facilities such as the water park, music center, and zoo.
It also presented data on standards of living, income, and infrastructure such as a water desalination plant.
The writer, former counter-terrorism advisor to two Israeli prime ministers, is founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute.
President Trump's Initial Israel-Related Actions - Ariel Kahana ( Israel Hayom)
President Trump took hundreds of actions on his first day in office, including some directly or indirectly related to Israel.
Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, released ammunition and arms that Biden had delayed, and lifted sanctions on dozens of Israeli citizens and organizations that had been imposed by the Biden administration.
He also ordered a 90-day suspension of U.S. funding to UNRWA and all U.S. aid budgets, in order to reassess them.
Samaria Is "Flooded with Iranian Weapons" ( Walla-Jerusalem Post)
"The northern West Bank is flooded with Iranian weapons," former Israel Security Agency official Yossi Amrosi told Radio 103FM on Wednesday.
"If Hamas in the West Bank had the same tools as the terror group in Gaza, what happened in Kfar Aza on Oct. 7 could have happened in Kfar Saba (near Tel Aviv)."
He warned that the release of terrorists as part of the hostage deal could encourage acts of terror in the area.
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Survivor of Nova Massacre to Represent Israel at 2025 Eurovision - Amy Spiro ( Times of Israel)
Yuval Raphael, 24, a survivor of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, will represent Israel at the 2025 Eurovision song contest in Basel, Switzerland, in May.
The amateur singer was with friends at the Nova festival when it came under attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
She survived by hiding under piles of dead bodies inside a roadside bomb shelter for eight hours.
Out of more than 40 people packed inside the shelter, only 11 emerged alive. Raphael still has shrapnel embedded in her head and leg.
Time to Call Out Hamas and Demand Red Cross Access to Hostages - Angela Epstein ( Daily Express-UK)
Not once has the Red Cross visited the Israeli hostages in Gaza, despite the fact that their very mandate is to visit innocent kidnapped individuals and ensure their well-being.
Now is the time for the Red Cross to launch a voluble, deafening protest at the continued refusal to allow them access to the remaining hostages.
They need to roar that they have as much right to provide succor to the captured Israelis as the trucks of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
Given that the ceasefire deal promises to release only 33 hostages of the 94 in the next 42 days, there is ample scope to do their job.
Every day the hostages spend in captivity is a day too long.
Bad enough they could do nothing for the many hostages who have already been killed, but if the Red Cross doesn't act for the living, then what use are they at all?
Netherlands Restricts F-35 Parts to Israel, but Buys Israeli Weapons Systems - Oded Yaron ( Ha'aretz)
The Dutch Defense Ministry has chosen Israeli company Elbit Systems to supply it with electronic warfare and self-protection suites to defend against anti-aircraft missiles in a deal worth $175 million.
The deal was closed even though a Dutch court has been restricting the supply of spare parts for Israel Air Force F-35 jets since February 2024.
Google Sold AI Tools to Israel's Military after Hamas Attack - Gerrit De Vynck ( Washington Post)
Google worked to provide Israel's Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces with access to the company's latest artificial intelligence technology from the early weeks of the Israel-Gaza war, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.
Israel's military has for years been expanding its AI capabilities to speed up processing of surveillance imagery and selection of potential military targets.
The Term "Judea and Samaria" Is More Historically Accurate than "West Bank" - Yisrael Medad ( JNS)
U.S. President John Quincy Adams wrote to Mordechai Noah on March 15, 1819, "I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation."
The 1946 Palestine Survey uses Judea and Samaria in multiple instances. One of the six administrative districts of the Mandate area was Samaria.
The UN 1947 Partition Plan delineates the borders of the projected two states, noting,
"The boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River."
Multiple official documents from the British Mandate period and UN deliberations all employ "Judea" and "Samaria," as well as those in the British Parliament debates from 1923.
Throughout the centuries, maps of Palestine included the names "Judea" and "Samaria" - with "West Bank" quite lacking.
The term "West Bank" made its appearance in political lexicons only in 1950, when Jordan's Parliament approved King Abdullah's assertion of the "unity between the two banks of the Jordan [River], the Eastern and Western, and their amalgamation in one single state."
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- UN Ambassador Nominee Pledges Support for Israel at Confirmation Hearing - Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Rep. Elise Stefanik pledged to be an unwavering supporter of Israel at her confirmation hearing for U.S. ambassador to the UN on Tuesday. She echoed complaints that the UN takes advantage of the U.S. - its largest funder - and is biased against Israel.
Stefanik lambasted the UN for failing to appropriately condemn Hamas's Oct. 7 attack and that its resolutions against Israel were baseless. "If you look at the antisemitic rot within the United Nations, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country," she said. "We need to be a voice of moral clarity...for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel."
Asked if she agreed with the view that Israel has a "biblical right to the entire West Bank," Stefanik said she did. (USA Today)
See also UN Nominee Slams UNRWA's "Terrorist Ties" - Jacob Magid
Rep. Elise Stefanik, nominated to be UN ambassador, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during her confirmation hearing, "We should never tolerate any U.S. taxpayer funds going toward terrorism. I was one of the members that voted to defund UNRWA....We can look to organizations within the UN which are proven organizations such as UNHCR [and] the World Food Program which...don't have the terrorist ties that UNRWA had that were exposed during October 7." (Times of Israel)
- U.S. Secretary of State Rubio Speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to underscore that maintaining the U.S.' steadfast support for Israel is a top priority. The Secretary congratulated the Prime Minister on Israel's successes against Hamas and Hizbullah and pledged to work tirelessly to help free all remaining hostages held in Gaza. The Secretary also said he looks forward to addressing the threats posed by Iran and pursuing opportunities for peace. (State Department)
- Hamas's Tight Grip on Gaza Complicates Plan for Lasting Peace - Nidal Al-Mughrabi
In neighborhoods levelled by 15 months of war with Israel, Hamas officials are overseeing the clearance of rubble in the wake of Sunday's ceasefire. The group's gunmen are guarding aid convoys, and its blue-uniformed police once again patrol city streets, sending a clear message: Hamas remains deeply entrenched in Gaza and its hold on power represents a challenge to implementing a permanent ceasefire.
(Reuters)
See also Video: Hamas Fighters Emerge to Claim Leadership in Gaza - Ahmed Abd al-Salam
Fighters from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas on Sunday emerged from their tunnels beneath Gaza and made an open appearance in Deir al-Balah, where they interacted with local children. Young boys were seen posing with rocket launchers and other weapons as parents encouraged them to take souvenir photographs. Families attended the event in large numbers.
On the same day, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade forces held a public parade in Gaza City. Fighters, traveling in white Toyota pickup trucks, displayed missiles, drones, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and Russian-made Kornet missiles. (Media Line)
- President Trump Redesignates the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order redesignating Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) as a foreign terrorist organization. President Trump designated the Iranian-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2021. Within one month of taking office, the Biden administration reversed the Houthis' designation.
The Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times, launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure in partner nations, and attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb more than 100 times.
It is now the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate the Houthis' capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and thereby end their attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea.
Following the Houthis' re-designation, the executive order also directs USAID and the Secretary of State to review UN partners, NGOs, and contractors operating in Yemen in order to end USAID's relationship with entities that have made payments to the Houthis, or which have opposed international efforts to counter the Houthis.
(White House)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Five Injured in Stabbing Attack in Tel Aviv - Lior Ohana
At least five people were injured Tuesday in a stabbing attack on Nahalat Binyamin Street in central Tel Aviv. The attacker, Kaddi Abdelaziz, 29, a Moroccan man who is a U.S. permanent resident, was eliminated by IDF soldiers passing by. He arrived in Israel three days ago.
(Ynet News)
- Israel Seeks U.S. Support to Extend IDF Presence in Southern Lebanon - Jonathan Lis
Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog told Israel's Army Radio that Israel is holding discussions with the Trump administration to extend the IDF's presence in southern Lebanon beyond the upcoming Sunday deadline set by the ceasefire agreement. "The agreement included a 60-day target for completing the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese Army to take its place, but it isn't set in stone and was phrased with some flexibility," Herzog said.
"We are in discussions with the Trump administration to extend the time needed to enable the Lebanese Army to truly deploy and fulfill its role under the agreement....The incoming administration understands our security needs and position." (Ha'aretz)
See also IDF Requires to Stay Longer in Eastern Part of Southern Lebanon - Lior Ben Ari
Hizbullah-affiliated Al-Akhbar reported Thursday that the IDF approached the committee overseeing the ceasefire in Lebanon and said it required to stay in the eastern part of the country "for an additional while." The military said it would withdraw from the central and western sectors in Lebanon in the next three days. (Ynet News)
See also IDF Says Troops Still Finding Weapons, Hizbullah Infrastructure in Southern Lebanon - Emanuel Fabian (Times of Israel)
- Jenin: Israel's New Battlefront - Seth J. Frantzman
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday, "On the directive of the Security Cabinet, the IDF, the ISA and the Israel Police have today begun an extensive and significant military operation to defeat terrorism in Jenin" in the northern West Bank. He said this was linked to the new goal of bolstering security in the West Bank.
The terrorists are active in Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Nablus and many villages in the northern West Bank, using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and with a large number of rifles in the hands of terrorists. The prisoners being released as part of the hostage deal could also fan the flames in the area.
(Jerusalem Post)
See also IDF Strikes Terrorists Planting IEDs in Jenin - Elisha Ben Kimon
The IDF eliminated a terrorist cell with a drone strike in Jenin on Tuesday as they were planting explosive devices.
(Ynet News)
See also IDF Kills 13 Terrorists in Jenin, including Perpetrators of Attack which Killed Three Israelis - Yonah Jeremy Bob
The IDF and Israel Security Agency killed 13 terrorists Wednesday in and around Jenin, including two directly involved in murdering three Israelis and wounding eight others on Jan. 6 near Kedumim.
A senior IDF official said the mission of neutralizing the main terror cell in Jenin
has led to changes in the rules of engagement, combat engineering efforts, and the use of air power.
IDF soldiers are allowed to be more aggressive against fleeing terrorists, combat engineers could be more aggressive in clearing dangerous areas, and far more drones and helicopters could be involved.
(Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Observations:
- For the incoming Trump administration when it comes to Middle East policy, one clear principle is to treat friends better than our enemies, because strong friends who project power both secure American interests and reduce their reliance on constant investment of American power. The most marked feature of this is strong support for Israel.
- The trauma and vulnerability Israel suffered on October 7, 2023, drove the country into a defensive crouch and what it believed was its second war of independence - a desperate battle just to survive with little or no latitude for compromise, goodwill, or tolerated vulnerability. Israel was in its own battle of civilizational survival against absolute evil.
- It is a vital American interest to allow Israel to restart the war in Gaza and complete the destruction of Hamas, and also to allow Israel to enforce unilaterally UN Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1559, which are embedded in the Lebanon ceasefire.
- If Hamas emerges with a story of victory in any form, not only will Israel face another Oct. 7 soon, and not only will antisemitism explode exponentially globally, but cities all over the West will suffer from a newly energized and encouraged global jihadi effort.
- After the last hostage Israel can hope to still retrieve has been liberated, Israel will have to finish the war in a way that results in an unambiguous, incontrovertible, complete victory. This is a view widely held by perceptive and serious senior figures in Israel and in America.
- The CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Mark Dubowitz, said, "If you think Israel will let Hamas's murderers, rapists, and torturers escape justice, you don't understand post-Oct. 7 Israel. Justice will come, and it will be decisive."
- Only a devastating defeat of regional radical threats will deflate global jihadi confidence and momentum. It will restore an era of peace through strength and make America safe again.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington and at the Misgav Institute for Zionist Strategy and the Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs in Israel.
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