Europe's Illegal Land-Grab: Part III - Karys Rhea

 

by Karys Rhea

The EU would never allow an external entity to abridge the sovereignty of one of its own member states in this way, nor would it endorse such behavior anywhere else.

 

• The international community continues to conspire against the reality of Israel's existence by testing the limits of its sovereignty and threatening the Jewish right to self-determination and self-defense.

• The EU would never allow an external entity to abridge the sovereignty of one of its own member states in this way, nor would it endorse such behavior anywhere else.

• "To think that the Palestinians are only enraged about settlements is also fatuous nonsense. Talk to the 15-year-olds. Their grievance is not just with Israeli settlements, but with Israel. Most Palestinians simply do not accept that the Jews have any authentic right to be here." —Thomas Friedman, New York Times, October 31, 2000.

• The progressive international public has fervently bought into the red herring of Jewish settlements while hypocritically remaining silent regarding settlement activity in Western Sahara, northern Cyprus, Ceuta and Melilla, Tibet, Kashmir and the Falkland Islands.

• The mainstream media and cultural apparatus conveniently ignore the history of these Jewish "settlers," many of whom are indigenous to the region but whose parents or grandparents were forcibly expelled from the West Bank or parts of Jerusalem in 1948 when Jordan seized and occupied territory. Instead of acknowledging them as descendants of refugees merely returning home...

• Those who understand the scope of this have witnessed how the plan of former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is part of a much bigger strategy of illegal land use that extends to the Negev Desert in the south and to the Galilee in the north, all driven by a European-supported narrative that replaces Jewish history with the 20^th-century fiction of Palestinian-Arab nationalism.

Those who understand the scope of this have witnessed how the plan of former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is part of a much bigger strategy of illegal land use that extends to the Negev Desert in the south and to the Galilee in the north, all driven by a European-supported narrative that replaces Jewish history with the 20^th-century fiction of Palestinian-Arab nationalism. Pictured: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas President Mahmoud Abbas (R) meets with Fayyad during a meeting on April 13, 2013 in Ramallah. (Photo by Thaer Ganaim/Palestinian Press Office via Getty Images)

The international community continues to conspire against the reality of Israel's existence by testing the limits of its sovereignty and threatening the Jewish right to self-determination and self-defense. Palestinian-Arab society, among the most antisemitic in the world (long before Jewish communities in the West Bank were part of the picture), in which Palestinian Authority government-controlled television, media, textbooks and mosques encourage violence against Jews, praise Adolf Hitler, characterize Jews as "apes and pigs," and deny the Holocaust, use Jewish "settlements" as a smokescreen to distract from their real agenda based on a single belief held for centuries: Jews do not belong.

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, who can hardly be accused of being a pro-Israel commentator, understood this upon visiting the region in 2000. "To think that the Palestinians are only enraged about settlements," he wrote, "is also fatuous nonsense. Talk to the 15-year-olds. Their grievance is not just with Israeli settlements, but with Israel. Most Palestinians simply do not accept that the Jews have any authentic right to be here."

The progressive international public has fervently bought into the red herring of Jewish settlements while hypocritically remaining silent regarding settlement activity in Western Sahara, northern Cyprus, Ceuta and Melilla, Tibet, Kashmir and the Falkland Islands. Talking heads seem infatuated with reporting on Jewish population growth, but consistently fail to differentiate between natural growth through births, and new housing through active expansion. In conflating these two, they are overlooking that Jewish settlement activity has actually been decreasing. And all new construction approvals in the Jewish sector are within existing municipal lines.

The mainstream media and cultural apparatus conveniently ignore the history of these Jewish "settlers," many of whom are indigenous to the region but whose parents or grandparents were forcibly expelled from the West Bank or parts of Jerusalem in 1948 when Jordan seized and occupied territory. Instead of acknowledging them as descendants of refugees merely returning home, pundits, politicians and protestors self-righteously invoke the Fourth Geneva Convention, disregarding its lack of application to Israeli settlers, who have never been coerced into moving or been forcibly relocated to the West Bank. "Jewish-only" roads that critics of Israel are keen to disparage as "racist" or "right-wing" are, in fact, a form of protection, constructed by Israel to bypass Arab towns where Palestinians continue to attack Jewish drivers in terror attacks such as shootings, firebombings and lynchings.

The Oslo Accords makes it explicitly clear that Area C is administered by Israel, and the Palestinian Authority leadership has made it clear that it no longer considers itself bound by that framework. The EU would never allow an external entity to abridge the sovereignty of one of its own member states in this way, nor would it endorse such behavior anywhere else. In bankrolling and assisting Palestinian construction in Area C, moreover, the EU undermines its stated purpose of supporting peace negotiations. That Israel has not only looked askance but is aiding and abetting this unilateral activity is utterly scandalous and borders on pathological. Israel's decades-long failure to formulate policy in the West Bank has turned life for Jewish and Arab inhabitants of Area C into a bureaucratic nightmare, what Israeli NGO Regavim calls a "black hole of law and order."

Palestinians frequently speak of the year 2030 as an end point, and have plans, vision, spirit, money and international support behind them. Maps used by the PA throughout the West Bank in textbooks and official documents completely erase the State of Israel, referring to the whole region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as "Palestine." Those who understand the scope of this have witnessed how the plan of former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is part of a much bigger strategy of illegal land use that extends to the Negev Desert in the south and to the Galilee in the north, all driven by a European-supported narrative that replaces Jewish history with the 20^th-century fiction of Palestinian-Arab nationalism. If Israeli authorities do not lift their heads from out the sand, they may one day find that their Land of Israel has been swallowed up entirely.

This article, slightly different, originally appeared as part if a 10-part series in Western Journal.

Karys Rhea is a producer at the Epoch Times, a writing fellow with the Middle East Forum, a delegate for Israel365 Action, and a Rising Leader at the Global Liberty Institute. You can find her on X @rheakarys.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21492/europe-illegal-land-grab-part-iii

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Trump announces ‘full and immediate ceasefire’ between India and Pakistan - Nicholas Ballasy

 

by Nicholas Ballasy

The U.S. helped mediate talks between both countries overnight, Trump says

 

President Trump announced a "full and immediate ceasefire" between India and Pakistan on Saturday.

The Trump administration mediated overnight talks between the countries.

"I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence."

Pakistan had accused India of attacking its airbases. Pakistan launched missiles at Indian military sites prior to the ceasefire announcement. 

Nicholas Ballasy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/trump-announces-full-and-immediate-ceasefire-between-india-and-pakistan

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China in distress: Protests, economic signals reveal pressure from U.S. tariffs - Steven Richards

 

by Steven Richards

In the "socialist market economy" of China, some cracks are visible that show a country unprepared to stand up to Trump tariffs long-term. China has been increasingly opaque in markets and manufacturing information.

 

As Beijing and Washington meet this weekend in Switzerand for trade talks, the Chinese economy is in more significant distress than is widely reported. The country is facing heightened pressure from an ongoing property crisis, protests, and a general economic downturn, in part because of recent U.S. tariffs. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is holding meetings with senior Chinese Communist Party Politburo member, Vice Premier He Lifeng, China's top economic official, in the Swiss capital of Geneva this weekend. The two are likely to discuss the ongoing trade war that erupted after President Donald Trump imposed sweeping 145% tariffs on China after a tit-for-tat exchange last month. 

The Chinese Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping, have publicly expressed confidence in Beijing’s ability to weather the tariff storm and have urged the Chinese people to be unified in the face of the challenge to its economy.

Opacity in market information

However, in an era when Chinese economic data is being increasingly concealed by Xi’s regime, there are still significant publicly available warning signs that the Chinese model is under severe strain, the tariffs being only the latest amplifier. 

“Their economy is actually in distress,” Gordan Chang, a lawyer and China commentator who lived and worked in Shanghai and Hong Kong for decades, told the Just the News, No Noise TV show on Tuesday. “They reported 5.4% growth for the first quarter, but when we look at underlying indicators, it looks more like zero. And we know the direction, which is down,” he said. 

Though China has become increasingly secretive with its economic data, available price data for February and March “indicate the Chinese economy is in a deflationary spiral that's very hard to get out of,” Chang said. In those two months, China’s consumer price index fell by 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively, contrary to growth projections. This has been described by some researchers as the prelude to a deflationary spiral, which would “lead to lower production, falling wages, and rising unemployment.” 

“And we also see some other numbers that look like China was actually contracting during the period. So for instance, tax receipts were down 3.5% that's not consistent with robust growth,” he added. “So we're seeing an economy that is being hit by the tariff dispute at a time when it is in trouble.”

Economists have long harbored doubts about the reliability of China’s economic numbers, but under President Xi, the Chinese government has stopped publishing hundreds of data sets previously used to calculate the health of China’s economy, the second largest in the world. In recent years, government ministries have stopped producing statistics on land sales, foreign investments, unemployment figures, and cremation rates. 

In February of last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an order to formally adopt revisions to a law on “Guarding State Secrets,” according to state media, CNBC reported. That national security law was broadened to conceal unclassified information, which economists say could easily sweep economic data and information into the dark corner of "state secrets." The cable network also quoted Jeremy Daum of 
Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, who explained that "For foreign businesses, it’s the lack of clarity that will remain an unquantified risk to doing business in China." 

The US-China Business Council notes that penalties for disclosing whatever is deemed a state secret range from three years' imprisonment to the death penalty.

Warning signs in the Chinese economy

There are warning signs for the Chinese economy beyond the ambit of official statistics that are much harder to conceal from domestic and foreign audiences alike. 

For example, late last month, hundreds of Chinese factory workers took to the streets in protest over factory closures and economic uncertainty spurred by the tariffs, primarily demanding back wages after their workplaces came to a standstill. The discontent spread through diverse groups of workers from industries like construction, sporting goods and electronics—showing the breadth of the tariff impacts on the Chinese economy. 

Before the protests, The Financial Times reported that factories across China had begun to slow production and furlough workers anticipating the effects of the tariffs. “Our export orders disappeared, so we’ve temporarily stopped,” one factory worker told the FT. The sentiment was echoed by several other workers interviewed by the outlet. 

Aside from protests and layoffs, the Chinese government on Wednesday moved to cut key interest rates and implement other policy changes designed to juice a flagging economy and spur growth. These moves were part of a package of “10 coordinated monetary policy tools” released by the central bank that were designed to “promote high-quality economic development” during the “domestic and international economic and financial situation,” according to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua. 

Among the changes announced by China’s central bank, the People's Bank of China, is a reduction in the reserve requirement ratio—the minimum amount a commercial bank must hold in reserve—by 50 points, which frees up an estimated 1 trillion yuan in liquidity. The bank also cut the lending rate for commercial banks by a quarter of a point and reduced the first-time homebuyer's five-year mortgage rate. 

China is also continuing to endure a major crisis in its real estate sector, an industry which makes up close to a third of the country’s gross domestic product. The crisis began in 2021, following the collapse of two real estate giants, Evergrande and Country Garden, after the Chinese government implemented new policies to curb excessive debt among real estate developers. 

Many Chinese real estate companies overbuilt in the country’s cities, leaving unfinished projects and empty buildings that, in some cases, the government has ordered to be torn down. Home prices have fallen significantly and major developers are still experiencing losses. 

Chinese consumers have as much as 70% of their wealth tied up in real estate. Many local governments have also seen ballooning debts because of their over-reliance on property sales for revenue. 

China is also suffering from a persistently high youth unemployment rate, which now stands at nearly 17%, almost double that of the United States. The figure is a signal of how well young Chinese are — or aren't — finding jobs after finishing their education, a proxy for the strength of the labor market. 

Youth unemployment has been a concern of Chinese officials for years. After the rate reached a record high of 21.3% in 2023, the government temporarily stopped publishing the data. It resumed reporting later that year, debuting a new formula that it said better measured the statistic by excluding students. 

China wants to approach Washington, but will be reluctant to admit it

Though China may have the capacity to fix its major, structural economic problems and sign a deal to reduce tariff rates, President Xi Jinping’s centralizing reforms may hinder changes in policy that could bring about those goals, Gordon Chang said. 

“I think the Chinese understand that they got [sic] problems. The issue though…is the political system in China,” Chang said. "Xi Jinping has configured it [...] So he can't make an overture to the United States, which would be the rational thing for him to do, because he cannot appear weak.”

Perhaps because of China's long-standing cultural tradition of “miànzi”, which translates to "saving face," President Xi has been defiant in the face of the American tariffs. He said China is “not afraid” of a tariff war and warned the U.S. that “there are no winners in a trade war, and going against the world will only lead to self-isolation.” Chinese officials also described the tariffs as “unilateral bullying and coercion.” 

Chinese leaders were also reportedly reluctant to reach out to the United States to start negotiations out of fears that they would appear weak. Instead, both sides are portraying their upcoming talks in Switzerland as a coincidence, according to Politico. 

“I was going to be in Switzerland to negotiate with the Swiss,” Secretary Bessent said in an interview on Fox News. “Turns out the Chinese team is traveling through Europe, and they will be in Switzerland also. So we will meet on Saturday and Sunday.”

 

Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/diplomacy/china-distress-protests-economic-stimulus-reveal-pressure-us-tariffs

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Lebanon purges Hezbollah staff from Beirut airport in fatal blow to terror group's smuggling - WSJ

 

by WSJ

Recent efforts have seen 50 pounds of gold prevented from reaching the hands of Hezbollah.

 

Members of the Lebanese army walk near Beirut international airport, Lebanon, February 15, 2025

(photo credit: REUTERS/EMILIE MADI)

Dozens of staff members at Beirut airport with ties to Hezbollah have been fired as the new government works to crack down on the terror group at one of its main import hubs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing senior Lebanese security and military officials. 

While laws have existed for some time, the officials noted that they had finally begun being enforced, resulting in the arrests of numerous smugglers.

Ground crew members told the WSJ that, unlike in the past, no planes or passengers have been exempt from searches, and flights from Iran have been suspended since February. 

A recent smuggling attempt saw airport staff thwart the transfer of 50 pounds of gold to Hezbollah, an official claimed.

To ensure the continued observance of the laws, a senior security official claimed authorities will incorporate new advanced surveillance technologies, which will take advantage of recent developments in artificial intelligence.

Workers unload an aid shipment from Turkey, at the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon September 25, 2024 (credit: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/POOL VIA REUTERS)

“You can feel the difference,” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in an interview with the WSJ. “We’re doing better on smuggling for the first time in the contemporary history of Lebanon.”

Lebanon has previously denied reports that Hezbollah has an arsenal stored at the airport - claiming the media had been influenced by Israel.

Anonymous airport workers claimed to the Telegraph that Hezbollah was holding a weapons cache at the airport.

One worker told the Telegraph that in November, “unusual” boxes arrived from Iran and that a high-ranking Hezbollah official was overseeing the customs shipments.

Lebanese ministers Abdallah Bou Habi, Walid Nassar, and Ziad Makary led tours to international media last year to disprove the Telegraph's report, but refused access to reporters to a key cargo depot.

Additionally, reporters were shown a nearly empty warehouse, which is supposedly responsible for holding 20% of the import traffic, according to the Algemeiner. 

Hezbollah's smuggling network through Beirut airport

“It was a main port of entry for supporting whatever para-state activities were happening,” said Ghassan Hasbani, a former deputy prime minister and now a member of a Lebanese parliamentary bloc opposed to Hezbollah. 

“It was a purposeful blind eye,” he said. “In the absence of international attention and pressure to do something about it, nothing much was done.”

Both American and Israeli military officials have been satisfied with the recent actions by the new government, although they have asserted that more work is needed to reduce Hezbollah’s hold on Lebanon’s ports of entry and the South. 

“There is reason for hope here,” said a senior US official who is part of the international committee overseeing the ceasefire. “It has only been six or seven months, and we have stepped to a place that I am not sure I thought was achievable back in November.”

While Hezbollah has acknowledged that Lebanon and Israel’s efforts to disarm the group have proven successful, Ibrahim Mousawi, who represents Hezbollah in Lebanon’s parliament, asserted, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

 “We are part of the system, just like any other Lebanese constituency,” said Mousawi Salam, who also explained plans to construct a second airport, completely untouched by existing Hezbollah personnel and power infrastructure. 

“They were the ones who did not want the Lebanese authorities to for to the airport,” he said. “Now things have changed.”

WSJ

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-853441

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House Republicans release tax plan for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' - Elizabeth Elkind

 

by Elizabeth Elkind

The bill includes an expanded child tax credit and a boost for small business owners

 

 

House Republicans released a portion of President Donald Trump’s tax agenda late on Friday evening, bringing them one step closer to completing the commander-in-chief’s "big, beautiful bill."

The legislation includes an increased child tax credit (CTC), a higher threshold for estate tax liability – what Republicans have referred to as the "death tax" – and several other measures.

It also lays the groundwork for making Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent. Republican leaders had warned that failing to do so would lead to a tax increase of over 20% for millions of Americans, if TCJA were allowed to expire at the end of this year.

There is no information in the bill so far about state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps, which have been a significant point of contention between blue state Republicans critical to keeping the House majority, and GOP lawmakers from deeper red, lower-tax states.

SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING 'BIG ABORTION' LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL

President Donald Trump is helping to get House Republicans' budget bill over the line. (Getty Images)

Another notable exclusion is a new millionaires’ tax bracket. Trump had floated the idea of a small tax increase on the ultra-wealthy, and a source familiar with his thinking told Fox News Digital earlier this week that Trump was considering allowing a pre-TCJA 2.6% tax hike on people making $2.5 million per year or more.

Those measures and others are not necessarily excluded from the final bill, however. 

The legislation is also expected to include new Trump tax pledges like eliminating taxes on tips, overtime wages and Social Security checks for retirees.

More elements are expected to be added in the coming days via amendments. The full legislation is expected to advance through the Ways & Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, on Tuesday afternoon.

Release of the legislation is a major sign of progress for House GOP leaders, who had been forced to punt their initial planned deadline of having a bill on Trump’s desk by sometime between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

But SALT deduction caps and a millionaire’s tax hike are two of the most volatile discussion points.

House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith said his panel will advance the bill on Tuesday. (Tom Williams)

House Republicans currently have a razor-thin three-vote margin, meaning they can afford to have little dissent and still pass anything without Democratic support.

They’re hoping to do just that, with virtually no Democrats currently on board with Trump’s massive Republican policy overhaul.

Republican lawmakers are working to pass their legislation via the budget-reconciliation process, which lowers the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, lining up the House’s own simple majority threshold.

Reconciliation allows the party in power to effectively skirt the minority and pass broad pieces of legislation – provided they address taxes, spending or the national debt.

Trump wants Republicans to use the maneuver to tackle his priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, defense, energy, and raising the debt ceiling.

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT'S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

Both the House and Senate passed frameworks setting the stage for the bill earlier this year.

Now, the relevant committees of jurisdiction on either side must craft policy in line with that framework, before all the parts are fitted into a final bill that must again pass both houses of Congress before being signed into law by Trump.

The most recent portion released by the House Ways & Means Committee would increase the current maximum CTC from $2,000 to $2,500.

It would also boost the maximum deduction for qualified business income, a tax provision known as 199A, from 20% to 22%. That would largely affect small business owners whose entities are taxed under individual income tax rates.

On the estate tax, which is levied on assets after person's death, it raises the exemption level to $15 million from the current level of roughly $13.9 million.

Republicans have long criticized the estate tax as a needless financial burden on grieving families, particularly hitting small family-owned businesses. Supporters of the federal estate tax point out that it affects a relatively small number of estates. 

"Seven years ago, the Trump tax cuts sparked an economic boom and provided needed relief to working families. Pro-family, pro-worker tax provisions are the heart of President Trump’s economic agenda that puts working families ahead of Washington and will create jobs, grow wages and investment and help usher in a new golden age of prosperity," House Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement on Friday night.

"Ways and Means Republicans have spent two years preparing for this moment, and we will deliver for the American people."

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

 

Elizabeth Elkind

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republicans-release-tax-plan-trumps-big-beautiful-bill

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Why Regime Change in Iran Is Becoming Inevitable - Fariba Parsa

 

by Fariba Parsa

Iran’s regime is crumbling under economic collapse, mass dissent, and regional isolation—making democratic transition less a question of if, and more of when.

 

The Islamic Republic of Iran is facing unprecedented pressure from both within and outside its borders. Internally, economic collapse, widespread political disillusionment, and mass rejection of religious authoritarianism have profoundly weakened the regime’s legitimacy. Externally, Iran’s regional influence is diminishing as its proxies suffer military defeats and diplomatic isolation. Although the precise timing is uncertain, the convergence of these pressures makes regime change in Iran increasingly likely. For Western policymakers, this is not the time for short-term crisis management—it is the time to prepare for a democratic transition.

Internal Fault Lines

Popular Rejection of the Regime

Forty-six years after the Islamic Revolution, Iranian public sentiment has turned sharply against the ruling elite. A 2022 survey by the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran GAMAAN found that nearly 90% of Iranians do not support the Islamic Republic as a system of governance. Additionally, 73% of respondents favor the separation of religion from politics—directly opposing the regime’s theocratic foundations. Calls for secular democracy and respect for human rights transcend ideological boundaries. Opposition comes from a wide range of constituencies—women’s rights activists, students, laborers, ethnic minorities, monarchists, secular republicans, and even traditional religious groups. The 2022–2023 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in morality police custody, revealed a society no longer willing to endure repression. The Islamic regime is increasingly unable to enforce its compulsory hijab law, as millions of Iranian women openly defy it. At the same time, hardline factions within the regime are pressuring authorities to crack down and strictly implement the law. Yet the regime finds itself paralyzed—unable either to grant women the freedom to choose their clothing or to return to the mass arrests and repression of earlier years. The gulf between state and society has grown irreparably wide. Reform is no longer seen as a viable option. Today, the Iranian people themselves pose the greatest threat to the regime’s survival—more so than any external actor.

Economic Collapse and Systemic Corruption

While international sanctions have taken their toll, internal mismanagement and corruption have been far more damaging. Inflation remained above 40% in 2023, and youth unemployment continues to exceed 20 % communities face water and electricity shortages, sparking frequent protests. Power outages in major cities have crippled factories and intensified job losses, according to the  Trading Economics, 2003. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) controls vast segments of the economy—including banking, oil, construction, and telecommunications—operating without civilian oversight or legal accountability. This militarized monopoly has suffocated the private sector and entrenched a deeply corrupt economic order. This military-economic monopoly has hollowed out Iran’s private sector, stifled innovation, and entrenched a mafia-like governance model incompatible with a modern economy.  The recent explosion at Bandar Abbas port, reported caused by the IRGC’s misuse of civilian companies to import missile fuel, killed more than 70 people and injured over 1,200, according to Iran International TV. The disaster has intensified public anger against the regime’s anti-national behavior.

Collapse of Electoral Legitimacy

Electoral participation has plummeted. The 2021 presidential election saw official turnout fall to 48%—its lowest since 1979—with many voters spoiling their ballots in protest. Independent research suggests actual turnout may have been closer to 20%. Years of tightly controlled elections, in which only regime-approved candidates can run, have rendered voting meaningless for most citizens. Each election cycle now reinforces cynicism rather than hope. What remains is a regime with no credible democratic mandate and a leadership structure that commands neither trust nor respect.

External Pressures and Geopolitical Decline

Waning Influence of Proxy Networks

Tehran’s long-standing strategy of regional power projection through proxy militias is in steep decline. In Gaza, Hamas—backed by Iran—suffered severe military losses during and after the October 2023 conflict with Israel. Hezbollah, once a key Iranian asset in Lebanon, has been politically isolated and is increasingly rejected by the Lebanese public. In Syria, a shifting power dynamic and regime realignment have weakened Iran’s position. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have been disbanded or absorbed into the national military, and the Iraqi government faces growing pressure to distance itself from Tehran. In Yemen, U.S. and British airstrikes have severely weakened the Houthis and following the Houthi missile attack on May 4, which reportedly landed just 100 meters from Israel’s largest airport, there is a certain Israel strikes against sites within Iran, since according to the Isreal government this attack could not be down from Houthi but only from the Islamic Republic. This could mark a turning point in the regional conflict that could pave the way for a significant shift in the balance of power there—even potentially contributing to regime change in Yamen.  These are not isolated setbacks—they mark the erosion of Iran’s regional deterrence and ideological influence. The IRGC’s Quds Force, once a cornerstone of Tehran’s foreign policy, is increasingly ineffective.

Military Failures and Strategic Exposure

Iran’s direct missile and drone attacks on Israel in April 2024 were largely intercepted, revealing the significant limitations of its conventional military capabilities. In response, Israeli airstrikes targeted key Iranian military assets, including air-defense systems, a UAV production facility, and missile manufacturing sites. These strikes inflicted substantial damage on Iran’s air defense infrastructure, while all Israeli aircraft returned safely to base—further highlighting the imbalance in operational effectiveness.

The Nuclear Program: From Leverage to Liability

Iran’s nuclear program, once a potent tool of international negotiation, is now a growing liability. Uranium enrichment has reached 60% purity—dangerously close to weapons-grade—alarming not just the West but also Gulf Arab states and China. Negotiations between Washington and Tehran now offer the regime a binary choice: surrender its nuclear ambitions or face possible military intervention. Even if sanctions were lifted, Iran’s economy would struggle to recover due to decades of corruption and financial decay. More importantly, the Islamic Republic lacks both domestic and international credibility. It is no longer viewed as a rational or trustworthy state actor. The nuclear issue has become a rare point of international consensus. It has strengthened calls for containment and prompted renewed military readiness, contributing to Iran’s deepening isolation.

Iran’s growing internal unrest and external failures present a strategic opportunity for the United States and its allies. The West should begin planning for a future without the Islamic Republic.  The Islamic Republic’s foundational pillars—religious legitimacy, economic governance, and regional power—are in collapse. Though the regime still holds coercive control through its security forces, it has lost its societal foundation. Regime change in Iran is no longer a distant hope—it is an increasingly likely outcome. The question for Western leaders is not if it will happen, but how to help shape a peaceful, stable, and democratic transition.

***

This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.

 

Dr. Fariba Parsa holds a Ph.D. in social science, specializing in Iranian politics with a focus on political Islam, democracy, and human rights. She is the author of Fighting for Change in Iran: The Women, Life, Freedom Philosophy against Political Islam. Dr. Parsa is also the founder and president of Women’s E-Learning in Leadership (WELL), a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women in Iran and Afghanistan through online leadership education and training.

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/05/10/why-regime-change-in-iran-is-becoming-inevitable/

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Israeli Druze officer details Israel's strategic border defense in Syria to 'Post' - JPost exclusive - Yonah Jeremy Bob

 

by Yonah Jeremy Bob

Major J.'s story is of an Israeli-Druze family from Ma’jar which is inseparable from Israel’s military and security forces.

 

IDF soldiers operate on Mount Hermon, on the border between Israel and Syria, December 12, 2024

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

IDF Major J. built Israel’s new border defense trenches with Syria with his own bare hands – or at least commanding a fleet of engineering vehicles.

In a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post about the status of the trenches, which the Post witnessed up close a few months before, Maj. J. gave a fuller history of the new Syrian border defense project.

“We started in August 2024 and worked on a few different positions in parallel,” even before the falloff of the Assad regime over December 7-8, 2024, said Maj. J., whose father spent around 30 years reaching a top rank in the Israel Prisons Service, with a brother who is a Lieutenant-Colonel in the IDF, and another brother in the Jerusalem police force.

His is a story of an Israeli-Druze family from Ma’jar which is inseparable from Israel’s military and security forces.

In August 2024, “the Syrians could see our engineering vehicles from a kilometer away. We carried it out in the demilitarized zone. There are other defense lines beyond the border fence in the international area. We exploited the situation down to the last meter available, but we have a right to do that, also with tanks and infantry.”

Israeli soldiers take a position in the Golan Heights, near the Israeli border with Syria, northern Israel, December 8, 2024 (credit: MICHAEL GILADI/FLASH90)

Maj. J. stated that, “The barrier is exactly on the fault line. It’s a bit complex. Some land areas are not fully defined in terms of sovereignty and we are aggressive. We didn’t want certain unknown actors [Syrian jihadists] to be there…We put the barrier a bit beyond that [uncertain] area. It’s not critical for us to go too far out and we are generally still on the international border.”

He added that the IDF still cooperates with UN forces on the Syrian border.

Later, he said the IDF “invested more resources in more positions and picked up our pace. We are hoping to finish this coming year,” by the end of 2025.

Further, he said, “We are also improving the barrier to add technological defenses, but it takes a long time. Yet, we can finish this strategic barrier by the end of 2025 or early 2026.”

Next, he noted that the deep trenches are complemented with boulders, tanks, artillery, and electronic sensors.

The Post has seen that the trenches are several meters deep and intimidating for any potential invading force.

However, “coming from Combat Engineering we know that no obstacle is impregnable…It doesn’t matter how deeply you dig trenches, since in Gaza, that barrier even went deep underground…But the question is how much time it takes to get through.”

“You want to make the enemy think about it. To make them realize that just having pick up trucks will not be sufficient to get though,” he explained.

Continuing, he stated that forcing potential invaders, “to use engineering vehicles gives us more time, and if the enemy has to cross on foot, that gives us more time than if they can cross the border in pickup trucks. If they bring engineering vehicles, it is easier to spot them from afar…And if we see those vehicles, it sets off a red warning light,” for all IDF forces.

Discussing Israel’s wider activities in Syria, Maj. J. said the IDF has, “attacked lots of strategic weapons and vehicles - we also continue to attack infrastructure, both our air force and our infantry, because we don’t want Syria’s weapons to get into the hands of unknown actors...It’s unclear how that would play out.”

While Israel has mostly had success in its targeted attacks since the fall of Assad, there are multiple complications with attack operations in Syria as Israel tries “to attack these weapons without hitting anyone,” civilian or fighter, and the identities of many persons are unclear, such that “we don’t always know who might turn and shoot at us.”

Maj. J. has not only been a leader of the IDF’s engineering moves in Syria, but also in Gaza.

'On October 7, I was stationed near Gaza'

On October 7, “I was stationed with the northern Gaza brigade and remained with them for nine months of fighting. I came from my house at 8:30 a.m. and was part of the fight over the Yiftach village. I took my protected engineering vehicles and drove to the kibbutzim to Re'im and then on October 8 to Kfar Aza and participated in two days of fighting.”

“I was in almost all of the Gaza neighborhoods, not just in southern Gaza. I started my part in the Gaza invasion in Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya. Later, I was also in Shejaia. Also, I spent time in Rafah and worked a lot with the then-401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade commander, Colonel Ehsan Daxa, who was killed in Jabalya in northern Gaza in October 2024.”

Daxa is considered one of Israel's biggest heroes and highest-ranked loss officers of the war, and Maj. J. was close with him.

Further, he said, “I was also involved in addressing engineering challenges at the Philadelphi Corridor. We ensured proper security proofing of IDF positions there.”  

“Sometimes our ‘bugar’ engineering devices also found light coming from tunnels, such as Mohammed Sinwar’s huge tunnel near the Erez Crossing. We found that with one of our bugars,” he noted.

Still, he warned that, “Gaza is not easy. We continue to fight until the end. I am sure the company will do its best, including destroying enemy infrastructure. Many of the Gaza houses were loaded with weapons, both in northern and southern Gaza. It was not an easy nine months,” that he spent fighting in Gaza.

During this war, Israel and the IDF “had a challenging period, but also the achievements were incredible…I do feel a profound sense of fulfilment.”

Besides Syria and Gaza, Maj. J. has also been part of history on the border with Lebanon.

“I was involved in destroying Hezbollah’s tunnels during the very impressive and major 2019 operation. The intelligence and engineering work was at a very high level and required working through many nights straight. We did it very quickly and effectively. Now we have experience to be able to eliminate tunnels anywhere,” he said.

Back to the Golan Heights, Maj. J. concluded, “we are continuing the barrier and building military positions, while hoping to finish as quickly as possible.” 

Yonah Jeremy Bob

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-853330

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Yad Vashem’s Dani Dayan: University heads now taking ‘different tone’ on antisemitism - Amichai Stein

 

by Amichai Stein

He said the situation on campuses was 'unlike anything I had ever seen in those institutions - the calls for Israel's elimination were explicit.'

 

Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan speaking at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference on June 5, 2023.

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan heard a "different tone" from heads of American universities during a recent visit to the United States, he shared with The Jerusalem Post this week.

"I remember in November 2023, about six weeks after October 7, I began hearing reports about what was happening on Ivy League campuses in the US," Dayan said in an interview with the Post.

"When I arrived, what I witnessed truly shocked me. I returned to Israel completely appalled. It was unlike anything I had ever seen in those institutions - the calls for Israel's elimination were explicit.”

Dayan added that in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 massacre, the protests weren’t about policies or military actions in Gaza.

“It was about the very right of the State of Israel to exist. When I heard the presidents of the leading universities testify before Congress and say things like ‘the genocide of the Jews depends on context,’ I wasn’t even surprised. But this time, the tone is completely different.”

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator holds a sign that reads ''glory to the martyrs, victory to the resistance'', on the campus of Columbia University, on the one-year anniversary of Hamas' October 7 attack, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in New York City, US, October 7, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)

The problem goes beyond students protesting against Israel 

In his trip, Dayan met with Professor Linda G. Mills, President of New York University (NYU), and Claire Shipman, Interim President of Columbia University.

“For the first time, I felt a genuine sense of understanding. This is not just about protests or encampments - it is a moral issue, and they realize it needs to be confronted,” Dayan said.

The Yad Vashem chairman emphasized that the problem goes beyond students protesting against Israel and the safety of Jewish and Israeli students. “It’s embedded in the courses, the syllabi, the faculty. But I sensed a willingness-or at least an expression of willingness-to make changes”.

When asked whether this shift is due to political pressure, such as threats from the US President Donald Trump’s administration to cut funding, or from internal moral reflection, Dayan responded: “I want to give them the credit and believe they reached these conclusions on their own.”

“I don’t think the main issue is the physical safety of Jewish students,” Dayan added.

“What I raised with the university presidents is the fact that this began at least a decade ago - brick by brick, article by article, book by book. Pseudo-academic theories using buzzwords like ‘ethno-nationalist’ and ‘settler-colonialist’ have taken root. These pseudo-intellectual and pseudo-scientific frameworks are calling for the delegitimization and ultimately the elimination of the State of Israel.”

Dayan said he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his meetings, citing the civil rights leader’s words: “There is a special place in hell for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.”

The central message Dayan repeated during these meetings was that change is essential - not only for the Jewish community, but for the future of the universities themselves. He challenged them to consider whether they wanted to be remembered like some institutions in Nazi Germany that collaborated with extremist ideologies in the previous century.

“I also offered them practical ways to collaborate with Yad Vashem - not just advice, but concrete partnerships, including exchanges of researchers and cooperation on Holocaust and antisemitism education,” he said.

When the Post asked Dayan what he expects from the universities, he replied: “Moral and academic leadership. I believe, for the first time, that they got the message. I believe their intentions are now serious. But again, I’m very, very cautiously optimistic.

“This will be a long process, but I believe it has begun.”

Amichai Stein

Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-853415

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Witkoff: Trump’s diplomacy seeks to halt Iran’s nuclear enrichment program - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

Steve Witkoff explains in interview with Breitbart News that Trump’s "peace through strength" approach values dialogue as the most effective tool for achieving lasting peace, especially in situations like Iran’s nuclear program.

 

Steve Witkoff                                                                          REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, discussed Trump's approach to foreign policy with Breitbart News, focusing on the President's preference for diplomacy over military intervention in resolving global conflicts, especially in regard to Iran’s nuclear program.

Witkoff highlighted that Trump believed in "peace through strength," a policy that asserts the importance of diplomatic engagement rather than resorting to military force. He explained that although Trump, as the leader of the world's most powerful nation, had the ability to deploy military action if necessary, he frequently chose diplomacy as a more productive tool to resolve conflicts.

“When it comes to resolving issues, especially the Iran nuclear crisis, President Trump sees diplomacy as the most effective long-term solution,” Witkoff remarked. “He believes in peace through strength, which essentially means that resorting to violence and war is not necessarily in the best interest of the country and not necessarily the best way to effect truces, ceasefires, or permanent peace—whatever we want to call it.”

Trump’s approach to Iran, according to Witkoff, has always been focused on preventing the country from advancing its nuclear enrichment program. He believes that securing a peaceful resolution with Iran, one that encourages the country to voluntarily dismantle its nuclear capabilities, is far more permanent and effective than military intervention.

Witkoff emphasized that the President’s policy is aimed at ensuring Iran moves away from an enrichment process that could potentially lead to the production of nuclear weapons. “If we get them to voluntarily shift away from an enrichment program where they can enrich to not have centrifuges, to not have material that can be enriched to weapons-grade levels, that is the most permanent way to make sure that they never get a weapon,” Witkoff said.

Trump, Witkoff explained, has always believed that diplomacy can yield lasting results, particularly in situations like the Iranian nuclear threat. He expressed support for the president’s strategy of pushing for a peaceful solution rather than resorting to military strikes, noting that diplomacy has the potential to create long-term stability in the region.

In response to criticism from military advocates, Witkoff pointed out that there are those who view military intervention as the only viable option in addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “There is absolutely a ‘neocon element’ that believes war is the only way to solve things,” Witkoff stated. He further explained that these critics often suffer from “confirmation bias,” believing that force is the only solution, without considering the long-term consequences.

Witkoff firmly rejected the notion that diplomacy with Iran is a form of manipulation. He explained that Trump’s strong leadership would ensure that any negotiations are in the best interest of the United States. “If the Iranians think they can procrastinate at the table, they won’t get very far. The alternative, as the president says, will not be a great one for them.”

His comments follow three rounds of talks between the US and Iran on Iran’s nuclear program in recent weeks, though a planned fourth round of negotiations was postponed without a new date announced.

After the third round of talks between the US and Iran, a US official told Axios that the talks “were positive and productive. There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal."

Trump has repeatedly stressed that he would prefer to reach a solution with Iran diplomatically but has kept the military option on the table.

Earlier this week, Trump said that Iran has a choice when it comes to its nuclear program: Blow up its nuclear facilities peacefully or blow them up viciously.

“I would much prefer a strong, verified deal where we actually blow them up… or just de-nuke them,” he said, in an apparent reference to Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.

“There are only two alternatives there, blow them up nicely or blow them up viciously,” Trump stated.

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/408115

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Big Government Is Chaos: Trump’s 2026 Budget Is a Step Toward Sanity - Thaddeus G. McCotter

 

by Thaddeus G. McCotter

Trump’s FY2026 budget slashes non-defense spending to 2017 levels, axes DEI and climate schemes, and declares war on Big Government’s chaos.

On May 2, President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent Congress his “topline discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2026 (FY 2026).” In its statement, the White House cut to the chase:

The Budget, which reduces non-defense discretionary by $163 billion or 23 percent from the 2025 enacted level, guts a weaponized deep state while providing historic increases for defense and border security. The Budget also provides support for air and rail safety as well as key infrastructure and our Nation’s veterans and law enforcement.

This is the lowest non-defense spending level since 2017. Savings come from eliminating radical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory (CRT) programs, Green New Scam funding, large swaths of the Federal Government weaponized against the American people, and moving programs that are better suited for States and localities to provide.

In sum, the president’s proposal is a critical step toward sanity because, contrary to the left’s inveigling, Big Government does not stop chaos; Big Government is chaos.

Too often, Americans blame the Communications Revolution and its technological marvels of social media, smartphones, the 24/7 news cycle, et al., for spawning the frenetic disorder around modern life. Yet, the communication revolution is only an exacerbating factor of the chaos around us. It is not the cause. However, its technological advances do serve to reveal one of the founts of the incessant madness riving modern life: Big Government.

Well, in fairness, it is not Big Government. It is actually a multi-trillion-dollar, voracious, liberty-devouring, prosperity-depleting, soul-crushing, unaccountable, and abstruse Behemoth Government. [But we shall use Big Government to simplify matters; and because, though a battle between Behemoth Government and Ned Ryun’s American Leviathan would be epic, it would prove dispiriting as there would be no one to root for.]

Like bankruptcy, which it will bring the nation if unchecked, Big Government evolved slowly and then suddenly. Indeed, this was manifest in its latest massive infusion of other people’s money courtesy of the Biden administration and its trillion-dollar Democrat-controlled Congress’s inflationary spending spree that helped spur the national debt to over $30,000,000. (Not that the GOP is blameless. It took two to tango over this fiscal cliff.)

Nonetheless, the Democrats are now so wedded to the administrative state and Big Government that houses it that the party no longer even pretends to care about fiscal integrity, especially when one considers its dominant “progressive” wing’s embrace of the regressive economic idiocy of socialism.

One is tempted to think this would spell the end of Big Government because most Americans are not progressives and dislike socialism, as they are rather fond of keeping their money. But the left is equally fond of taking other people’s money. Consequently, while the left spends a good deal of its time pretending they are altruistic, trying to improve you by spending your money on the people who vote for them.

At its essence, the left’s arguments are always the same, aimed at sentiment and emotional extortion: “The government needs to spend your money on (worthy individuals/program) to save lives” or some such other claptrap. Implicit in this pitch is that if government’s power is increased, societal chaos will be diminished—oh, and social justice will advance or something or other. But what really matters to the left is that their power and the size and scope of big government increase.

Sure, the left’s arguments are poppycock. But this poppycock evidently produces the opiate of the masses—incontrovertibly demonstrated by the staggering federal deficits and debt of Big Government. Somehow, the left’s siren song causes even practical Americans to forget Lord Acton’s famous maxim: “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” And, regrettably, every time the sovereign citizenry delegates their power to Big Government, the bigger Big Government grows, akin to the steadily enveloping, smothering plant kudzu.

So, what do Americans get for their tens of trillions of dollars? What do we get out of Big Government? Chaos. As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the entire Trump administration continue to reveal, we get rather expensive chaos at that. This belies the left’s propaganda’s implicit promise that more government is the answer to all that ails us. On the contrary, it is what dissipates both our liberty and prosperity.

Government is a social construct conceived, constructed, and operated by imperfect human beings, regardless of party. But the left’s diurnal mental gymnastics constitute a convergence of persistence and cognitive dissonance beyond the reach of less disordered minds. Inanities, insanities, and overarching internal contradictions abound, providing a shambolic smorgasbord of smug, socially, politically, and culturally destructive policies. Nevertheless, the left’s hardened ideology allows them to house all this cognitive dissonance within the same craniums, within their perpetually expanding Big Government.

For a leftist, championing Big Government is not a means but the end. It perpetuates the self-delusion that they and their ideological ilk are supremely enlightened and innately superior human beings entitled to run other people’s lives to perfect them and society. That their Big Government produces little but chaos is not a consideration. In the leftist’s warped worldview, Big Government remains the solution, and, if it does not work out for some people, those harmed by Big Government must have deserved it.

The left’s chaotic cognitive dissonance produces a vicious spiral: disordered minds create Big Government that exacerbates disorder; to stem the increased chaos, the same disordered minds expand Big Government and spawn more disorder. Lather, rinse, and fleece the public….

For an ordered mind—for an ordered soul—the goal of a truly good government is not the mastery of all facets of a citizen’s existence to coerce perfection, the result of which is chaos. No, the goal of a truly good government is to protect and expand liberty and self-government, thus providing a fundamental guard against Big Government and its chaos—a chaos that mirrors the disorder in the minds of its architects.

For the public, then, when it comes to Big Government and its power, if one does not heed Lord Acton, then at least recall Mel Brooks: Big Government’s motto is “It’s good to be the king,” and, further, remember that our founders fought a revolution to oust a king and create a limited government of, by, and for the people. Once again, it is time to peacefully cut Big Government down to size.

***

An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003-2012, He served as chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.

Thaddeus G. McCotter

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/05/10/big-government-is-chaos-trumps-2026-budget-is-a-step-toward-sanity/

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Why Hamas Wants To Control Gaza's Humanitarian Aid - Khaled Abu Toameh

 

by Khaled Abu Toameh

"Since October 7, I've said it without hesitation: Hamas is ISIS – only with better PR. And that PR machine runs on Qatari money, through media outlets that spin terrorism into heroism and wash blood with propaganda." — Hamza Howidy, Gaza-born peace and human rights advocate, X, May 4, 2025.

 

• Palestinians... say that if anyone is stealing the humanitarian aid and food, it is Hamas.

• Videos posted on social media have shown Hamas thugs brutally beating Palestinians suspected of stealing food for their families.

• A day earlier, Hamas announced that three Gazans will soon be slaughtered with knives for allegedly "collaborating" with Israel. Others will have their limbs hacked off with blades for supposed "theft" of food.

• "Since October 7, I've said it without hesitation: Hamas is ISIS – only with better PR. And that PR machine runs on Qatari money, through media outlets that spin terrorism into heroism and wash blood with propaganda." — Hamza Howidy, Gaza-born peace and human rights advocate, X, May 4, 2025.

• "There is no government, no law, no order – just fear. And as Palestinians dare to speak out, Hamas hunts them down, kidnaps them, threatens their families and silences them by force... They offer no protection, no aid, no leadership – only guns, terror, and slogans." — Hamza Howidy, X, May 3, 2025.

• "Hamas relied on criminal elements to create pandemonium that generated mass looting events which provided some cover for the terror group to commit the organized theft of what remains of food supplies in Gaza." — Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gaza native and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, X, May 2, 2025.

• This criminality is precisely why the international community needs to back Israel's effort to prevent Hamas from monopolizing and embezzling humanitarian supplies sent into the Gaza Strip.

• The international community should support any initiative aimed at ending Hamas's rule over the Gaza Strip and destroying its military capabilities. Both Israel and the Palestinian people, who are paying a heavy price as a result of Hamas's decision to commit the biggest massacre against Jews since the Holocaust, will only gain from this.

Palestinians say that if anyone is stealing the humanitarian aid and food in Gaza, it is Hamas. This criminality is precisely why the international community needs to back Israel's effort to prevent Hamas from monopolizing and embezzling humanitarian supplies sent into the Gaza Strip. Pictured: Hamas terrorists on a pickup truck "escort" trucks carrying humanitarian aid that they intend to loot, near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on December 10, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images)

The Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has reconstituted its "Executive Force" as part of an effort to control humanitarian aid and "impose law and order" in the Gaza Strip.

The 5,000-strong force, originally established in 2006, has been entrusted with preventing the "theft" of food and "deterring thieves and thugs responsible for anarchy and lawlessness."

Members of the "Executive Force" have been deployed throughout the Gaza Strip and given orders to "take all necessary measures, including the use of excessive force," to restore security and stability to the coastal strip, according to Palestinian sources.

In 2007, the "Executive Force" played a central role in the Hamas coup against the Palestinian Authority (PA) and was responsible for killing hundreds of Palestinians and wounding thousands. After the coup, PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared the force criminal and illegal.

Palestinians, however, say that if anyone is stealing the humanitarian aid and food, it is Hamas. They also point out that Hamas gangs are responsible for the anarchy and lawlessness and the intimidation of the local residents.

Recently, Hamas terrorists have been storming warehouses and stealing food in different parts of Gaza. The move comes in the wake of reports that Israel is trying to persuade international organizations to take responsibility for the distribution of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a move strongly opposed by Hamas. The terror group claims that the Israeli attempt to distribute humanitarian aid through international organizations is "political blackmail" and a "violation of international law."

Videos posted on social media have shown Hamas thugs brutally beating Palestinians suspected of stealing food for their families. According to other reports, Hamas recently executed a number of Palestinians for allegedly stealing food from warehouses. Hamas claims that the alleged thieves were "collaborators" with Israel.

On May 5, Hamas terrorists murdered Ziad Abu Shalouf, the head of the Abu Shalouf clan, in the Mawassi area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. His "crime:" publicly speaking out against Hamas.

A day earlier, Hamas announced that three Gazans will soon be slaughtered with knives for allegedly "collaborating" with Israel. Others will have their limbs hacked off with blades for supposed "theft" of food.

"This isn't law, it's barbarism – the rule of knives and fear," commented Hamza Howidy, a Gaza-born peace and human rights advocate.

"Since October 7, I've said it without hesitation: Hamas is ISIS – only with better PR. And that PR machine runs on Qatari money, through media outlets that spin terrorism into heroism and wash blood with propaganda."

In another post on X, Howidy wrote:

"What's happening in Gaza isn't just destruction – it's a full-scale societal collapse. Armed gangs and Hamas militias are storming homes, shops, and storage units, stealing everything in sights. People are being shot over bread. Beaten for trying to protect their families. There is no government, no law, no order – just fear. And as Palestinians dare to speak out, Hamas hunts them down, kidnaps them, threatens their families and silences them by force. This isn't war. This is a terrorist regime dragging a broken society into suicide. They offer no protection, no aid, no leadership – only guns, terror, and slogans."

Hamas's latest crackdown shows that the terrorist group is determined to keep the humanitarian aid in its hands to maintain its control over the residents of the Gaza Strip and deter them from revolting against it.

Earlier this month, Hamas terrorists were seen roaming the streets of the Gaza Strip with loudspeakers, screaming that "whoever says Hamas is finished, his blood is ours and shall be wasted."

Hamas is aware that the humanitarian aid is crucial for maintaining leverage over the Palestinians, who have been facing death and destruction since October 7, 2023, when the terrorist group and thousands of "ordinary" Palestinians invaded southern Israel, murdering more than 1,200 Israelis and injuring thousands. Another 251 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly, were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 59 – dead and alive – are still held captive by Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups.

Hamas is doing its utmost to preserve its regime in the Gaza Strip, even if that means depriving the Palestinians there of food.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gaza native and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote on May 2:

"The coordinated looting of food storage facilities in northern Gaza that belong to the UN and other NGOs in an organized fashion at the same time can only mean one thing: an act by a cohesive entity that could mobilize the strike elements and knew exactly what areas to hit. This can only be Hamas, which is said to be facing immense logistical and financial challenges due to the complete blockade by the Israeli military against the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, Hamas relied on criminal elements to create pandemonium that generated mass looting events which provided some cover for the terror group to commit the organized theft of what remains of food supplies in Gaza."

This criminality is precisely why the international community needs to back Israel's effort to prevent Hamas from monopolizing and embezzling humanitarian supplies sent into the Gaza Strip.

The international community should support any initiative aimed at ending Hamas's rule over the Gaza Strip and destroying its military capabilities. Both Israel and the Palestinian people, who are paying a heavy price as a result of Hamas's decision to commit the biggest massacre against Jews since the Holocaust, will only gain from this.

• Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)
  

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21598/hamas-gaza-humanitarian-aid

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