Why Trump's Gaza Plan is Not a Peace Deal - Khaled Abu Toameh

 

by Khaled Abu Toameh

Those who think that Hamas, by agreeing to Trump's "peace plan," has abandoned its desire to eliminate Israel or has softened its position toward Israel are unfortunately dead wrong.

 

• In the eyes of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, the plan is nothing but another temporary ceasefire, not different than previous ones reached between Israel and Hamas over the past two decades.

• Those who think that Hamas, by agreeing to Trump's "peace plan," has abandoned its desire to eliminate Israel or has softened its position toward Israel are unfortunately dead wrong.

• Hamas leaders have stressed their opposition to the involvement of any non-Palestinians in the future administration of the Gaza Strip.

• Hamas has also made it clear that the role of any international troops should be limited to monitoring the ceasefire and safeguarding the borders of the Gaza Strip, not to disarming the terror groups and their military infrastructure.

• Hamas's remarks are a not-so-veiled threat that they intend to launch terrorist attacks against members of any international force that tries to disarm the terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

• That is doubtless the major reason most Arabs and Muslims appear reluctant to dispatch soldiers to the Gaza Strip: they do not want a direct confrontation with Hamas and the other terror groups operating there.

• To understand the mindset and intentions of Hamas, it is crucial that one pay attention to what the terror group says in Arabic, not what some of its leaders tell US envoys in meetings behind closed doors.

• Regrettably, there can be no peace, security, or stability in the area if Hamas and its allies are left standing on their feet and preparing for more massacres against Israel.

In the eyes of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, President Donald Trump's plan is nothing but another temporary ceasefire, not different than previous ones reached between Israel and Hamas over the past two decades. Pictured: Masked terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2025. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

US President Donald J. Trump's plan for ending the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip is not a "peace plan." In the eyes of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, the plan is nothing but another temporary ceasefire, not different than previous ones reached between Israel and Hamas over the past two decades.

It is a mistake even to call it a "peace plan": Hamas has not yet abandoned its stated goal of destroying Israel and replacing it with an Islamist state.

Hamas, moreover, has never -- to this day -- recognized Israel's right to exist. Instead, Hamas continues to hold onto the idea that:

"The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered; it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that." (Hamas Charter, Article 11).

Those who think that Hamas, by agreeing to Trump's "peace plan," has abandoned its desire to eliminate Israel or has softened its position toward Israel are unfortunately dead wrong.

Hamas, after suffering heavy casualties in the war it initiated on October 7, 2023, was desperate for a pause in the fighting. In Hamas's attack that day, more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered and thousands wounded. Hamas terrorists and "ordinary" Palestinians kidnapped another 251 Israelis and foreign nationals and secreted them to underground tunnels in Gaza, where the remains of two are still held.

Despite the death and destruction Hamas has brought on the Palestinians from its reckless decision to invade Israel, the terror group seems determined to thwart the implementation of the remaining phases of Trump's plan, especially in establishing an international transitional governing body and deploying an international security force in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas leaders have stressed their opposition to the involvement of any non-Palestinians in the future administration of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has also made it clear that the role of any international troops should be limited to monitoring the ceasefire and safeguarding the borders of the Gaza Strip, not to disarming the terror groups and their military infrastructure. Hamas argued in a recent statement:

"Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the [Israeli] occupation."

Hamas's remarks are a not-so-veiled threat that they intend to launch terrorist attacks against members of any international force that tries to disarm the terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

That is doubtless the major reason most Arabs and Muslims appear reluctant to dispatch soldiers to the Gaza Strip: they do not want a direct confrontation with Hamas and the other terror groups operating there.

Hamas's leaders are at least being honest about their intentions and goals. Senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal told Reuters that his group aims to keep a grip on security in the Gaza Strip and cannot commit to laying down its weapons. Asked if Hamas would give up its arms, Nazzal said:

"I can't answer with a yes or no. Frankly, it depends on the nature of the project. The disarmament project you're talking about, what does it mean? To whom will the weapons be handed over?"

Such statements show that Hamas views itself as a primary, legitimate partner in the civilian and security administration of post-war Gaza. The statements also demonstrate that Hamas is ready to resort to terrorism to foil Trump's plan.

To understand the mindset and intentions of Hamas, it is crucial that one pay attention to what the terror group says in Arabic, not what some of its leaders tell US envoys in meetings behind closed doors.

In Arabic, Hamas sounds even more sincere and determined. In English, Hamas seems to have persuaded some Americans that it is ready to lay down its weapons and relinquish control of the Gaza Strip. They are not.

Just this week, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second largest terror group in the Gaza Strip, repeated (in Arabic) their call to Palestinians to continue the "resistance" against Israel. The two Iran-backed groups praised Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis in the West Bank as "heroic" and urged Palestinians to step up the fight against Israel. A third Palestinian terror group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), also hailed the perpetrators of the recent terror attacks (a stabbing and a car-ramming) against Israelis in the West Bank:

"The PFLP salutes with pride and honor the two heroic martyrs who carried out the two operations, and notes that the blood of these heroes will continue to illuminate the path of freedom and serve as the spark that will fuel the resistance and make it continue and escalate."

The Palestinian terror groups evidently feel that the death and destruction they brought on the Gaza Strip was not enough. They apparently want to sacrifice even more Palestinians for the sake of advancing their goal of removing the Jews from their perceived Muslim-owned land.

Regrettably, there can be no peace, security, or stability in the area if Hamas and its allies are left standing on their feet and preparing for more massacres against Israel. The terrorists must not be allowed to take advantage of the current ceasefire to rearm, regroup and rebuild their military capabilities.

• Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)

 

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

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22096/trump-gaza-plan-not-peace-deal

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Declassified files expose Hamas’s grip on NGOs in Gaza - David Isaac

 

by David Isaac

NGOs in Gaza are part of “an institutionalized framework of coercion" that serves the terrorist group's objectives, according to a new report by NGO Monitor.

 

Abu Ubaida (center), a spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, speaks in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Jan. 31, 2017. Credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.

Hamas Interior Ministry documents taken from the Gaza Strip shed new light on the methods the terror group used to exert control over foreign-aid groups, NGO Monitor revealed in a report on Wednesday.

“[T]he documents reveal that NGOs were complicit in this regime, hiding or downplaying Hamas abuses, and acquiescing to its demands,” according to the report, titled, “Puppet Regime: Hamas’ Coercive Grip on Aid and NGO Operations in Gaza.”

The Arabic documents were recently declassified by the Israel Defense Forces. They cover the years 2018-2022 and originate with the Hamas Interior Security Mechanism (ISM), a unit within the Hamas Ministry of Interior and National Security.

The documents prove that the NGOs in Gaza aren’t independent, said NGO Monitor, but part of “an institutionalized framework of coercion, intimidation, and surveillance that serves Hamas’ terror objectives.”

“We have long known that Hamas has manipulated humanitarian NGOs in Gaza to impose their control over the population and facilitate terror,” Gerald Steinberg, founder and president of NGO Monitor, told JNS.

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“However, the documents demonstrate that the extent of this control and the mechanisms Hamas used, as well as the degree of cooperation by the NGOs, was far beyond the scope of our expectations,” he said.

Perhaps the most “invasive and egregious mechanism” utilized by Hamas was its “guarantor” system. It was an attempt, largely successful, to ensure that the terror group had an operative placed at a senior-level position inside every NGO.

“Guarantors” were local Gazans, approved by the Interior Ministry, who acted as middlemen between Hamas and the NGOs. Hamas required these individuals to hold top spots, such as director, or deputy director, guaranteeing Hamas’s say over key decisions.

At least 10 “guarantors” were Hamas members, supporters or employed by Hamas-linked authorities, according to a December 2022 document from the Interior Ministry’s Foreign Associations Department.  

It lists, among others, the Gazan administrative director of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the Gazan administrative director of the International Medical Corps (IMC) as supporters of Hamas.

The terror group used its guarantors as intelligence assets. A June 22, 2021, Interior Ministry report described a meeting of the Gaza director of the humanitarian group Mercy Corps with Hamas authorities, in which the latter threatened him for “his latest transgressions.” The intimidated director agreed to supply “any security, administrative or financial observations that arise during his work at Mercy Corps or during his collaboration with active foreign associations.”

NGO Monitor pointed to the moral collapse of NGOs that submitted to Hamas. In one case, an Oxfam water project appeared to help Hamas maintain and conceal “tactically advantageous positions for its forces,” NGO Monitor reported.

Norwegian Refugee Council employees, when fielding complaints from local Gazans about terror infrastructure in their neighborhoods, refused to follow up on those complaints. When the group’s head and five other employees visited an elderly man, a charity case, he asked if his floor had collapsed because of a tunnel under his home. They refused to reply.

“By choosing to stay quiet and cooperate with the regime, NGOs not only provide cover for Hamas’ abuses, they begin to internalize and adopt Hamas’s own agenda and propaganda,” said NGO Monitor. “The result is an aid sector that, in many cases, no longer acts independently or impartially, but instead functions within a terror-controlled system and becomes an integral part of misinformation and disinformation campaigns.”

Even more troubling is that many of these organizations readily issue public condemnations of Israel while overlooking Hamas’s systematic exploitation of humanitarian systems. This imbalance reinforces a one-sided narrative that allows Hamas to act with impunity, obscuring its criminal conduct and skewing international perceptions of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, according to NGO Monitor.

Not all “guarantors” were Hamas-linked. Some were affiliated with other terror groups. The Gaza director of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official international humanitarian agency of Catholics in the United States, was associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), according to the report. PFLP is a faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a designated foreign terrorist group in the United States, European Union and Canada.

But a “guarantor” didn’t have to belong to Hamas to prove useful. A March 2020 Interior Ministry document identified 55 “guarantors” across 48 NGOs that “can be exploited for security purposes in order to infiltrate foreign associations, their foreign senior personnel and their movements.”

Not all NGOs wanted to work with Hamas. The organization listed certain NGOs as “not cooperating,” meaning they participated in the guarantor system due to Hamas pressure and intimidation.

Hamas expressed concerns about Jewish employees of the aid groups. A June 15, 2020, Interior Ministry memo lists as one of Oxfam’s “threats and insecurities” that its “media and public relations head is of Jewish descent.”

Hamas also lamented that American associations resisted cooperation. A June 6, 2021, document instructed officials to “strengthen the [intelligence] sources and friends (local workers) inside American associations” to address the problem.

The documents serve as a timely reminder not to repeat the mistakes of the past as the international community gets ready to rebuild Gaza, Steinberg told JNS.

“Now, as plans for Gaza reconstruction advance, and in order to avoid a repetition of the aid-to-terror highway, the publication of these documents is a reminder of the need for every aid provider, without exception, as well as the wider international community, to wake up and take the long overdue measures that will block Hamas abuse and create a robust oversight mechanism,” he said.

 

David Isaac

Source: https://www.jns.org/declassified-files-expose-hamass-grip-on-ngos-in-gaza/

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Media doing ‘damage control’ as widely reported study on cost of climate change gets retracted - Kevin Killough

 

by Kevin Killough

The media widely reported on a study finding that the world would be $38 trillion poorer in the future unless action was taken to reduce emissions. The media were far quieter when it was found to have profound flaws. Now that the authors have retracted it, the flaws are being downplayed.

 

When a peer-reviewed study last year concluded that the burning of fossil fuels was going to make the world $38 trillion poorer over the next century, journalists across multiple outlets reported on its findings. Even though the peer-review file showed that some of the reviewers had concerns about the study’s conclusions, many climate journalists didn’t question the study's findings and conclusion. 

In the months after its publication, as Just the News reported in August, the study, which was written by researchers at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, was found to have profound flaws. Only The Washington Post had reported on these at the time Just the News covered the controversy. On Wednesday, the authors retracted the study. 

The impacts of flawed climate research that gets widely circulated can go beyond the walls of academia into the realm of policymaking. The now-retracted study has been cited by organizations influencing policy around the globe, including the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., cited the study last year and again in July — both times entering it into the Congressional Record. 

Apocalyptic portrayals

When it was published, the study received widespread attention through the legacy media. 

“Climate change will make you poorer,” CNN warned. 

The Guardian reported on the study under the headline, “Climate crisis: average world incomes to diminish by nearly a fifth by 2050.” 

Reuters and Forbes also posted articles on the study, and the Associated Press reported that “New study calculates climate change’s economic bite will hit about $38 trillion a year by 2049.” According to the activist publication Carbon Brief, only one other study received more mentions in the media in 2024. 

A couple outlets that originally reported on its findings have covered its retraction. Rather than question the conclusion that using energy from fossil fuels is economically harmful, however, the reporters covering the retraction are claiming, despite the paper’s flaws, that the conclusion still has merits.

The article in the New York Times on the retraction ran under the sub-headline “While growing evidence shows that carbon emissions are harming the economy, the journal Nature found that an outlier paper had deep flaws.” 

To support the claim that carbon emissions are harming the economy, the Times reporter refers to a study published in the scientific journal IOPscience that concluded up to a 40% loss in GDP by 2100 as a result of carbon dioxide emissions. 

That figure is based on an emissions scenario called RCP8.5, which is widely recognized as implausible. 

Roger Pielke, a political scientist and fellow at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, explains on his “The Honest Broker” Substack that the scenario is often used in climate research but leads to “apocalyptic portrayals of future climate change and providing an unreliable basis for policy analyses for adaptation and mitigation.” 

The Potsdam study also relied on RCP8.5 in its analysis. 

To its credit, the Times article does quote a number of critics of the analysis. Lint Barrage, chair of energy and climate economics at ETH Zurich, told the Times that the authors’ work appears to want to find large estimates. If so, it’s making the case for climate change and crossing the line between research and advocacy. 

Matt Wielicki, a former Earth science professor who left academia due to the hostility he faced over his views on climate change, told Just the News that the model was never meant to be a realistic scenario. It was meant as an upper range for comparisons among different projections. 

“It became a favorite for climate researchers because it produces the most extreme impacts,” said Wielicki, who writes about science, climate and energy on his “Irrational Fear” Substack. 

Maintaining narratives

The Associated Press covered the retraction, but the report focuses on the authors’ new analysis, which is not yet peer-reviewed. Only halfway down the article does the news agency's reporter mention the retraction. 

The reporter quotes one of the study’s authors arguing that the study’s conclusion that “climate change will be enormously damaging to the world economy if unchecked” still has merits. 

In their new analysis, the authors find that the errors only lead the original paper to “slightly overstate” the drop in income over the next 25 years. In the original paper, the authors predicted that there would be a 99% chance that by 2050, fixing the damage from climate change would cost more than reducing emissions. The new analysis claims it’s now a 91% chance. 

The Associated Press received $8 million from climate advocacy groups in 2022 directly in support of its climate and energy reporting. These political advocacy groups include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Quadrivium and the Rockefeller Foundation, which has pledged over $1 billion between 2023 and 2028 to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. 

The Associated Press discloses this funding at the bottom of articles on climate and energy issues, including its report on the Potsdam study. However, it refers to the groups simply as "philanthropies" without any mention of their pro-green energy agendas.

In a post on X, Pielke criticized the authors’ efforts to substantiate the conclusions with a new analysis. 

“Science is not supposed to work by identifying conclusions and then conducting research on how to justify them,” he wrote. 

‘Complete fairy tale’ 

Historic data shows consistently that nations see rising standards of living as fossil fuel consumption increases. The United States increased its fossil fuel consumption from 13,800 terawatt-hours in 1965 to 21,200 terawatt hours in 2024. 

A terawatt-hour is 1 trillion watt-hours. A 100-watt light bulb running for 1 hour consumes 100 watt-hours. 

In that time period, U.S. GDP rose from $3.4 trillion to $22.7 trillion. The correlation is seen in developing countries, only more dramatically. In 1965, China consumed 1,471 terawatt hours of fossil fuel energy. By 2024, that had increased to 38,900 terawatt hours. In that time period, China's GDP increased from $161 billion to $18.5 trillion. 

Wielicki said climate research into the economic impacts of fossil fuels rarely considers the benefits that come from affordable, reliable energy that oil, gas and coal produce. In what he calls a “confirmation bias,” the researchers calculate only the cost of negatives. 

“There's always trade-offs, but to pretend that you could just erase the fossil fuels off the map and somehow the economy would keep functioning, it's a complete fairy tale,” he said. 

Antithetical to science

While the authors continue to maintain in the new analysis that their research has merits, other researchers disagree. Pielke called the study’s flaws “devastating” to its conclusions. 

Another analysis, by Greg Hopper, senior fellow of the Bank Policy Institute, also found “no basis” for the study’s projections. A third analysis published in Nature in August concluded that the study’s results are “statistically insignificant when properly corrected,” and it doesn’t provide “robust empirical evidence needed to inform climate policy.” 

As with Pielke, Hopper was also critical of the authors performing updated analyses. “Science doesn’t work by changing the setup of an experiment to get the answer you want. This approach is antithetical to science,” he wrote. 

While this paper received enough criticism to lead to a retraction, plenty of other studies with flawed methods – including the use of RCP8.5 – continue to get published and promoted in the media. Were it not for the authors’ decision to retract it, few would have known there were any questions about its conclusions. 

 

Kevin Killough

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/media-doing-damage-control-widely-reported-study-cost-climate-change-gets

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Election Integrity Push: DOJ on track to compel voter roll cleanups in over half of U.S. states - John Solomon

 

by John Solomon

"The sloppiness of the elections in blue states is no accident. It is on purpose. It is a feature, not a bug," Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet J. Dhillon says.

 

The Trump Justice Department is on track to compel more than half the states in America to clean up their voter rolls and believes sloppiness that left dead people and non-citizens in a position to vote in Democrat-run states is intentional, a top prosecutor told Just the News.

"The sloppiness of the elections in blue states is no accident. It is on purpose. It is a feature, not a bug," Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet J. Dhillon told the Just the News, No Noise television show on Wednesday night.

"And the goal is to cram as many people on there and make voters who are not particularly engaged, make it easy for someone else to help them fill out their ballot and return it for them when they didn't care enough to do it themselves," she added.

"What we can do at the federal government level is ensure that our federal election laws are observed, and that includes each state's requirement to keep clean voter rolls," she added. "That is a fundamental basic."

Dhillon spoke one day after her division filed lawsuits against six Democrat-run states — Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Washington state and Vermont — seeking to compel them to turn over to the DOJ their voter rolls to be inspected for abnormalities, outdated names or noncompliant names.

She also struck a deal last week with North Carolina to force it to review and fix over 100,000 voters' names on rolls in that battleground state that were added without complying with state law.

Dhillon said her office is now on track to force through litigation, settlement or voluntary efforts at least 26 states to clean up voter rolls.

"We're now in litigation with 14 states. So the six yesterday included Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Washington State and Vermont. That adds to eight we already had going," she said.

"We are close to reaching resolution, voluntary cooperation with another dozen states, and I won't say which those are, but I think we will definitely let the public know when that happens," she added. "We have voluntary cooperation from four states, and we reached a settlement in a consent decree with the state of North Carolina."

Dhillon said the DOJ is checking records from all states, and it has found some states like California that are particularly "loosey, goosey." She enumerated the sort of problems that are being uncovered in red and blue states alike.

"There are definitely people on the voter rolls of every state who don't belong there," she said. "They're dead. They've moved. They're registered multiple times there. There have been reported instances of people, because of these insecure, double or extraneous registrations, going to the polls and having their vote recorded before they got there. 

Then there are clearly people on the voter rolls, including immigrants who are not citizens, and that can include legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, who are on the voter rolls," she added.

 

John Solomon

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/election-integrity-push-doj-track-compel-voter-roll-cleanups-over-half-us

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Harvard, Columbia quietly promote individuals involved in antisemitic incidents - Mathilda Heller

 

by Mathilda Heller

A Harvard graduate who assaulted a Jewish classmate has been given a graduate teaching fellowship, and a Columbia Associate Professor who blocked Jewish students has been promoted to full Professor

 

Ibrahim Bharmal and Elom Tettey-Tamaklo surrounded a Jewish student named Yoav Segev and covered him with keffiyehs while shouting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as he tried to free himself and said "don't touch me." October 2023.

(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

A Harvard graduate who assaulted a Jewish classmate on camera has been given a graduate teaching fellowship, which involves curriculum design.

During an anti-Israel protest in October 2023, Elom Tettey-Tamaklo cornered a Jewish student named Yoav Segev and covered him with keffiyehs while shouting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as Segev tried to free himself and said “don’t touch me.”

While Tettey-Tamaklo originally faced a criminal trial, Boston Municipal Court Judge Stephen W. McClenon dismissed the charges at the end of April, instead ordering him to attend “pre-trial diversion” anger management courses and perform 80 hours of community service.

Tettley-Tamaklo benefited from antisemitic violence

Then, in May 2025, The Jerusalem Post reported that, despite the attack, Tettley-Tamaklo was appointed class marshal by Harvard Divinity School at its graduation ceremony.

“The assailants have perversely benefited from their antisemitic violence and vitriol, getting praise from Harvard social media, and Tettey-Tamaklo is also being given the honor of serving as marshal at graduation,” Segev wrote in a letter to the college at the time.

STUDENTS HOLD signs reading, ‘There are no universities left in Gaza’ and ‘Free Gaza’ at last year’s Harvard University Commencement Exercises in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Heritage Foundation is going after campus radicals and Islamist sympathizers who glorify Hamas, says the writer. (credit: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS)

According to his LinkedIn, Tettley-Tamaklo now serves as a graduate teaching fellow at Harvard, where he is responsible for "consulting on complex subject matter," "designing learning materials," and "advising faculty on curriculum design."

A LinkedIn user commented on a recent post asking how Harvard hired a guy who assaulted a Jewish student, to which Tettley-Tamaklo replied, “Zionist intimidation is so tired at this point. I'm sure you were taught that if you have nothing nice to say, you stay quiet."

Separately, Columbia history professor Manan Ahmed, who blocked Jewish students at a pro-Palestine encampment in May 2024, has been promoted from Associate Professor to full Professor.

A video circulated at the time of a Jewish student asking to come through, and Ahmed resists. When he asks why, Ahmed says, "because the [encampment] students have said that. You can't go in."

In the spring of this year, he was listed as an associate professor at the Department of History; he is now listed as a full professor.

"Professors like Manan Ahmed, who blocked Jewish students at the encampment, have faced no consequences. Instead, they've been promoted," wrote Columbia's Jewish and Israeli Student group on X. 

NEW: @Columbia History professor Manan Ahmed, who blocked Jewish students at the encampment, has been promoted from Associate Professor to full Professor (proof in comment). Prof. Ahmed was never disciplined. Instead, Columbia rewarded him. pic.twitter.com/H21tS22xKw

— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) December 3, 2025

Columbia Faculty and Staff Supporting Israel questioned who purchased the vests and instructed faculty to block students at the encampment. Blocking students violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Mathilda Heller

Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-879241

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IDF troops kill top Hamas battalion cmdr., over 40 terrorists in Rafah tunnels - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

The IDF said that troops killed over 40 Hamas terrorists who were in tunnels below Rafah in southern Gaza, in an area now under Israeli control.

 

IDF soldiers stand at the entrance of a tunnel that Hamas used to attack Israel, in Beit Hanun, December 17, 2023

(photo credit: JACK GUEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

 

The IDF said on Thursday that it killed the commander of Hamas's Eastern Rafah Battalion, along with his deputy and inner circle in a Sunday strike. 

In a Thursday release, the IDF stated that Israeli troops killed Muhammad Jawad Muhammad al-Bawab, commander of Hamas’ Eastern Rafah Battalion, who helped execute the October 7 Massacre and attacked IDF troops in Gaza through the course of the Israel-Hamas War. Three additional terrorists, including al-Bawab's deputy, died alongside him. 

Following an air strike the Nahal Brigade conducted a search of a building in eastern Rafah, where they identified one terrorist who had been killed in the airstrike, and three additional armed terrorists. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

IDF kills over 40 Hamas terrorists 

The group was struck by Israeli troops as they exited a terror tunnel in Rafah.

The IDF also said that its forces killed over 40 Hamas terrorists who were in tunnels below Rafah in southern Gaza, in an area now under Israeli control.

Around 200 terrorists had been trapped in the tunnels for months, according to Israeli and US officials, although some have since emerged and been killed in clashes with Israeli forces or have surrendered, Israeli media has reported.

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-879223

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FBI makes arrest in planting of pipe bombs near DNC, RNC on J6 eve, suspect named - Natalie Mittelstadt

 

by Natalie Mittelstadt

The person arrested is a male and the arrest included the FBI going to a house in northern Virginia, a senior law enforcement official told Just the News.

 

The FBI has made an arrest in connection with pipe bombs planted near the Republican and Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot.

The arrest Thursday comes after a nearly five-year investigation to identify the bomber, who in a surveillance video appears to be a male in a hoodie, gloves and a face mask. 

A law enforcement official confirmed with Just the News that the suspect is Brian Cole Jr., a resident of the northern Virginia community of Woodbridge. Cole was arrested at his home. 

The RNC and DNC headquarters are blocks from the U.S. Capitol building.

A second senior law enforcement official said the break in the case came when the agency assigned a new team to the case that began to evaluate the case with new tools. The second official also said the FBI has yet to learn the suspect's motive and that the investigation continues.  

Natalie Mittelstadt

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/fbi-arrests-man-suspected-planting-pipe-bombs-near-dnc-rnc-2021-report

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Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia withdraw from Eurovision after Israel cleared to compete - Reuters, Corrine Baum, Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Reuters, Corrine Baum, Jerusalem Post Staff

"If no one was up in arms when Russia began its invasion, and it was exiled from global competitions and Eurovision, then the same should happen with Israel," Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez said.

 

Yuval Raphael is the winner of the Rising star 2025 finale and will represent Israel in the Eurovision.

(photo credit: Ortal Dahan Ziv/Keshet 12)

 

Israel will be allowed to compete in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest after no vote was called on its participation at the European Broadcasting Union, two European Broadcasting Union members told Reuters. 

Members overwhelmingly voted to back new rules intended to discourage governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to sway voters after allegations that Israel unfairly boosted its entrant this year, the two said.

Shortly after the announcement, the Netherlands' public broadcaster AVROTROS announced it would withdraw from the competition. 

"After weighing all perspectives, AVROTROS concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organization," the statement said, adding that Israel's actions in Gaza "crossed a boundary" for the organization. 

Spain also announced that it would withdraw from the competition. José Pablo López, the president of Spain's national broadcaster, RTVE, said that the decision "never should have gotten to this point."

"Sanctions against Israel for its repeated violations in Eurovision should have been adopted at the executive level rather than shifting the conflict to the assembly. Today, the EBU will be a union more shaped by political and commercial interests, of a festival that they have not been able to, or have not wanted to, manage.

People cheer as they watch the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest finals being screened at a community center in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 17, 2025. (credit: MAYA LEVIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez backed the decision as well. 

"If no one was up in arms when Russia began its invasion, and it was exiled from global competitions and Eurovision, then the same should happen with Israel."

President Isaac Herzog said he was pleased at the decision to allow Israel to compete in Eurovision. " I hope that the competition will remain one that champions culture, music, friendship between nations, and cross-border cultural understanding," he said.

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar praised the EBU decision as well.

“The European Broadcasting Union made the right decision by keeping Israel in Eurovision. Music connects people and countries, and I thank our partners for their broad support. The people of Israel will continue to create, connect, and illuminate the world," he wrote. 

EBU holds a vote on Israeli participation in Eurovision

Members of the body that organizes the Eurovision Song Contest met on Thursday to vote on whether Israel can compete next year, as some countries threaten to withdraw if it is not excluded over the Gaza war.

The meeting at the EBU headquarters in Geneva will address new rules intended to discourage governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to sway voters, following allegations that Israel unfairly boosted its entrant to the contest this year.

In a statement, the EBU stated that all "Members show clear support for reforms to reinforce trust and protect neutrality of Eurovision Song Contest, allowing all Members to participate."

The EBU statement added that before the vote, members discussed "a variety of views on participation" in Eurovision. 

"Many Members also took the opportunity to stress the importance of protecting the independence of public service media and the freedom of the press to report, not least in conflict zones such as Gaza," the statement added. 

Israel, which came second in the contest, has not responded to these accusations, but frequently argues it has faced a global smear campaign.

The contest faces a "watershed moment", said Eurovision expert Paul Jordan. 

Critics of Israel's participation cite concerns over the Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which has surpassed 70,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The war was sparked by the October 7, 2023, attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage and taken to Gaza.

If members are not convinced that the new rules, which aim to protect the contest's neutrality and impartiality, are adequate, there will be a vote on participation, the EBU said.

Germany: No Eurovision if Israel is excluded

State for Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer told Reuters that Germany should not participate in Eurovision if Israel is excluded.

"Israel belongs in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC)," he said. "There must be no ESC without Israel."

German broadcaster ARD did not comment. Austrian host broadcaster ORF wants Israel to compete.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN said it is preparing for next year's contest and will soon release changes to its selection process for choosing Israel's entry. KAN said it will present its position on possible disqualification at the meeting. 

Reuters, Corrine Baum, Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-879151

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A Newsom Nihilist Nomination? - Victor Davis Hanson

 

by Victor Davis Hanson

Newsom readies a presidential run while presiding over a state buckling under sky-high costs, mass exodus, and crumbling basics—leaving little to brag about beyond attacking Trump.

 

 

As California Governor Gavin Newsom gears up to run for president, what in the world will he run on?

Californians know that Newsom will not boast, “I will do for America what I have done to California!”

Why not?

Count the reasons.

California’s astronomical gas prices and taxes remain the highest in the continental U.S.

Ditto the state’s trifecta of the highest electricity rates, the costliest home prices, and the fourth-highest home insurance costs.

California has the largest unfunded liability debt in the nation, approaching $270 billion.

The budget deficit each year usually ranges from $15 to $70 billion.

Such profligate spending and deficits explain why the state also has the highest income taxes and state sales tax rates in the nation.

Just 1% of California households pay 50% of the state income tax. And the fleeced are leaving in droves.

Newsom recently boasted that he extended Medi-Cal health insurance to thousands more illegal aliens.

So, no wonder Newsom next begged for a nearly $3 billion Medi-Cal federal bailout.

Half of the state’s 41 million residents are now on Medi-Cal. Some 50 percent of all births are Medi-Cal-provided—and growing.

California has a lot of other firsts among the 50 states:

The largest population of illegal aliens.

The largest number of homeless people.

The largest number of people fleeing a state.

The largest number (11 million) and percentage (27%) of foreign-born residents.

The largest number of people living in poverty.

The highest food prices in the continental U.S.

The state’s infrastructure is usually rated near the bottom.

California ranks among the five worst states in per capita violent crime.

Here are a few other observations about the current disaster that is Newsom’s California.

One, California is a naturally wealthy state. It is the third largest by area. It ranks seventh in the nation in oil reserves. No nation has more agricultural production or forested land acreage. So it’s hard to bankrupt California, but Newsom has managed.

Two, under prior governors Pat Brown, Ronald Reagan, George Deukmejian, and Pete Wilson, California used to be the best-run state in the country.

California once produced more oil than any other state except Texas.

Its now-moribund timber industry once used to be the third largest in the nation.

And its currently ossified mining and mineral industries were once among the top ten producers in the country.

Three, no state politician over the last three decades has been more responsible for California’s decline than Gavin Newsom: six years as governor, eight years as lieutenant governor, seven years as mayor of San Francisco, and seven years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Four, California chose decline. In the last thirty years, it drove out somewhere between 18 and 20 million affluent and middle-class state residents, the largest state exodus in U.S. history.

Its open border welcomed in an influx of over 10 million illegal aliens.

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley’s $11 trillion in market capitalization created the wealthiest and the most left-wing out-of-touch elite in the United States.

The result was a medieval state of a few million elites, a mass of poor people, and a vanishing middle class.

Five, such influxes and exoduses, along with gerrymandering, have ensured a one-party state. There are no Republican statewide officeholders.

Democrats control all branches of government. Only 17% of its congressional delegation is Republican. So the Left proudly owns what California has become.

What, then, will Newsom run on?

Certainly not high-speed rail—17 years, $15 billion, and not a foot of track laid.

Certainly not a $500-million exploding solar battery plant.

Certainly not illegally issuing 17,000 commercial truck driver’s licenses to non-resident illegal aliens with little or no English competency.

Certainly not the horrific but preventable Pacific Palisades fire.

And certainly not a now-closed $2-billion desert solar plant boondoggle.

Instead, Newsom will continue his he-man threats to Trump, like, “We’re going to punch this bully in the mouth.”

But will such bluster lower the state’s gas and power prices or reduce its sky-high taxes?

On social media and in podcasts, Newsom will continue his adolescent threats to federal officials like Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem while serving up his adolescent potty-mouth smears (e.g., “son of a b***h,” “god-d**n,” “f**k,” etc.).

But that profanity will not lower crime or house prices.

In other words, in the Democrat primaries, Newsom will try to out-crazy the violence, profanity, and extremism of the now-crazy Democrat socialists.

Newsom will rant nonstop about the evil Trump, but neither offer a word nor do a thing about his own responsibility for the collapse of a once great state.

Newsom will lecture on “affordability” without mentioning that he has created the most unaffordable state in the nation.

Will all this gobbledygook work?

It did in New York.

So, who knows?

Victor Davis Hanson

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/04/a-newsom-nihilist-nomination/

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Israeli archaeologists uncover remains of dramatic mountaintop royal palace - TPS

 

by TPS

“It sheds light on the architectural style and the function of the site, which is not mentioned by Josephus, our only historical source for the period,” Dr. Raviv, director of the excavation, said.

 

The dramatic mountaintop site rising 650 meters above the Jordan Valley

(photo credit: TPS-IL)

 

A team of Israeli archaeologists has uncovered a new piece of the puzzle at the ancient Alexandrium fortress, the dramatic mountaintop site rising 650 meters above the Jordan Valley.

Months after relaunching excavations on the eastern side of the site, researchers have now found remains of a newly identified royal palace on the northwestern slope. The find suggests the stronghold was part of a far more extensive royal complex than previously known.

“It sheds light on the architectural style and the function of the site, which is not mentioned by Josephus, our only historical source for the period,” Dr. Dvir Raviv of Bar-Ilan University, director of the excavation, told The Press Service of Israel. “So any archaeological find is significant.”

Among the discoveries at the fortress, perched above Mount Sartaba, are two column drums, 40 centimeters in diameter and 60 centimeters tall.

Raviv said the columns match the monumental Herodian style from the 1st century CE, familiar from Masada and other desert fortresses, reinforcing the royal nature of the structures uncovered so far.

The dramatic mountaintop site rising 650 meters above the Jordan Valley (credit: TPS-IL)

Archeological discovery is a memory of the ancient Alexandrium fortress

The discovery expands what is known about Alexandrium, the palace fortress built by the Hasmonean king Alexander Yannai and later renovated by Herod the Great.

Alexandrium was described by Josephus as “a fortress built in great splendor on a high mountain.” The site played a central role in the violent struggles within the Hasmonean dynasty and later in Herod’s rise, serving at various times as a place of imprisonment, hospitality, and even royal burial.

Historical sources record that the site was destroyed by the Romans in 57 BCE, several years after Roman general Pompey conquered Judea (63 BCE). Jewish rebels may have used it during the Great Revolt against Rome (66–73 CE), Raviv added.

The site was last excavated in the 1980s, but no final report was ever published. Raviv and his team therefore began almost from scratch, relying only on ostraca, inscribed pottery sherds, with Judaean names, notes, and photographs left by earlier researchers.

One known remnant from the earlier dig is a white mosaic floor that once paved the palace on the eastern slope.

With support from the Ministry of Heritage, the renewed excavation began in March, marking the first systematic work at the site in four decades.

The project aims to resolve lingering questions about the fortress, its architectural development, and its role during the Hasmonean and Herodian periods.

The newly identified palace on the northwestern slope clarifies both the scale and splendor of the hilltop complex. Given Josephus's brief references to Alexandrium, physical evidence is essential for understanding how the Hasmoneans and Herod built and used the fortress.

According to Raviv, the architectural fragments uncovered so far allow archaeologists to reconstruct portions of the palace layout and better understand its function.

The excavation is being carried out by Bar-Ilan University in cooperation with the Staff Officer of Archaeology at the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, as the site lies in Area C of Judea and Samaria, under Israeli administrative and security jurisdiction.

Raviv says this season’s discoveries are likely only the beginning. “We hope to uncover more,” he told TPS-IL.

As TPS-IL reported in April, Israeli archaeologists find themselves effectively blacklisted by the international academic community, unable to publish findings from Judea and Samaria.

The politics-driven policies of the academic archaeological world result in the erasing of biblical history. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority deliberately strives to wipe out evidence of the Jewish connection to the land and imperils sites of tremendous historical value, archaeological experts told TPS-IL.

In an attempt to change the equation, the Israeli government allocated an unprecedented $33 million budget to preserve archaeological sites in Area C.

In mid-November, the Civil Administration began expropriating land near the ancient Biblical capital of Sebastia for the “preservation and development” of the archaeological site there.

As part of this effort, the Israel Antiquities Authority, together with leading universities, organized the first international conference on Judea and Samaria archaeology and site conservation in February, attracting dozens of researchers from many countries.

To further protect Jewish heritage sites, there have been calls to extend the Israel Antiquities Authority’s jurisdiction to Judea and Samaria, replacing the Civil Administration’s Archaeology Staff Officer.

Proponents argue that the Civil Administration is not equipped to deal with the challenges of preserving and excavating sites. Critics warn that this move may get all Israeli archaeology banned from international cooperation.

TPS

Source: https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-879197

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Hamas infiltrated, manipulated aid NGOs, captured Gaza documents reveal - report - Michael Starr

 

by Michael Starr

"NGOs in Gaza do not operate independently or neutrally," NGO Monitor said. "They are embedded in an institutionalized framework of coercion, intimidation, and surveillance that serves Hamas' terror."

 

Hamas terrorists secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the Red Cross search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on December 1, 2025.

(photo credit: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas sought to infiltrate, control, and manipulate international and local nongovernmental organizations through the NGO officials that acted as guarantors for foreign staff and visitors, according to Hamas intelligence documents recovered by the IDF, obtained and translated by NGO Monitor.

The guarantors in senior NGO positions, some of which were allegedly affiliated with terrorist organizations, appeared to present both a security threat and an opportunity for Hamas intelligence services, according to a Wednesday NGO Monitor report and documents whose existence was confirmed to The Jerusalem Post by the IDF.

A partially declassified December 2022 Ministry of Interior and National Security (MoINS) dossier, viewed by The Post, provided details on NGO foreign visitor guarantors and advised that infiltration by the interior security services would be an "outstanding security-intelligence accomplishment."

"The [guarantors] can be exploited for security purposes, in order to infiltrate foreign associations, their foreign senior staff and their movement on the field inside the Gaza Strip," read the translated document.

"Hamas movement's International Relations [body] and its important role in the foreigners' portfolio, specifically relating to inviting visiting foreigners, should be made use of, in such a way that many associations will seek Hamas International Relations in order to facilitate their missions."

Hamas terrorists seen before a hostage release in Gaza City, February 1, 2025 (credit: Ali Hassan/Flash90)

Guarantors for foreign visitors were important to Hamas because all information on foreigners entering the Strip could be gleaned from the permit requests submitted by these intermediaries, according to NGO Monitor.

Hamas coerces NGOs: UN urged to scrutinize Gaza aid

In the past, requests for entry were submitted by low-level management, according to the December 2022 document, and made monitoring and updating of intelligence information difficult.

Later, the ability to request was limited to high-ranking officials, in Hamas's estimation, making them the first line of security and possible counter-security threat measures.

NGO Monitor asserted that the guarantor system meant that Hamas required formal liaisons between its security apparatus and NGOs.

"NGOs in Gaza do not operate independently or neutrally," NGO Monitor said in its report. "Rather, they are embedded in an institutionalized framework of coercion, intimidation, and surveillance that serves Hamas’ terror objective."

The 2022 MoINS report included intelligence on 55 employees at 48 organizations, detailing which NGOs were cooperating with Hamas, whether they had any faction affiliations, and their religious observance, habits, wealth, status, and alleged moral failings.

Several of the 55 guarantors were allegedly affiliated with Hamas.

A CESVI Gaza representative body member was allegedly affiliated with Hamas and married to a Hamas sergeant.

While the International Medical Corps (IMC) was designated in the 2022 document as "not cooperating" with Hamas, a Gaza administrative director was involved in its operations.

IMC said that none of its officials were linked to Hamas, and foreign visitor guarantors were never used to push the NGO to make connections to the Islamist group.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) also allegedly employed an administrative director who supported Hamas but was not affiliated. But in a contradictory manner, the NGO Monitor translation claimed that, although he was described as not affiliated with the movement, he was employed by the Hamas government and held the rank of captain.

The NGO said that it had strict screening and vetting regulations for partners, staff, and suppliers. NRC insisted that it complies with laws, regulations, and sanctions and terrorism lists, and that it has policies in place to ensure aid reaches those in need.

"NRC, as a global humanitarian organisation with decades of experience in operating in conflict zones, has tried and tested systems aimed at preventing any funding falling into the wrong hands," said the NGO.

"Furthermore, those organisations and governments that provide funding to NRC have strict reporting requirements to ensure that funds are only used as intended."

The El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work, an Algerian NGO sanctioned by the US Treasury in June for allegedly diverting charity money to Hamas, was listed by Hamas as "cooperating" with the Islamist group.

A guarantor and Gaza director for the group was also described as having previously been affiliated with Hamas, but no longer had any affiliation.

Rahma Worldwide was also described as cooperating with Hamas, and its Gaza director had switched affiliation to Hamas after being affiliated with Salafists.

The document alleged that Human Appeal's Gaza director was affiliated with Hamas, and that the NGO was cooperating with the movement. Rahma rejected any allegations of association with Hamas or other designated groups, and at no time have its officials been affiliated with Hamas.

The Gaza director had been vetted and cleared by Israeli authorities, including COGAT, and permitted to engage in humanitarian work, the NGO shared. At the end of 2023, the person matching the time frame of the MoINS document no longer worked at Rahma.

"We operate strictly as a humanitarian organization and follow all U.S. and international compliance requirements," said Rahma.

"As part of delivering aid in conflict or crisis zones, humanitarian organizations are often required to coordinate with local authorities to ensure access, movement, and safety. This coordination is administrative in nature and should not be misconstrued as cooperation or alignment. At no point did Hamas threaten, pressure, or attempt to force Rahma or its members to cooperate or make concessions."

Handicap International was listed as a neutral organization, but its Gaza director was alleged to be affiliated with Hamas.

A Neutral local association, CIVITAS, supposedly had an executive director who had been affiliated with Hamas since the First Intifada. Another guarantor interpreted by NGO Monitor to be working for Hamas's Izz ad Din al Qassam Brigades was listed as an administrative director for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP UK).

MAP UK cast doubt on the veracity of the information, explaining that it never had a role titled "administrative director," and that its records, safeguarding processes, and diligence checks provided no indication that any member of an armed group was within its organization.

The evidence did not support the allegations, a spokesperson said.

"MAP continues to diligently uphold our humanitarian principles and political independence at all times," the NGO said. "For many years, MAP – like all humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza – has been required to request permission for any foreign visitors, including staff, from both the Israeli authorities and the authorities in Gaza. This is standard operational practice."

The spokesperson argued that NGO Monitor, which had often "promoted misleading or baseless claims and factual inaccuracies" against humanitarian and human rights NGOS in the Palestinian territories, and the newest allegations fit the same trend.

The 2022 document made special note of guarantors with ties to rival factions such as Fatah or the Al Nasser Brigades, even if the connection was tangential through family members.

NGO Monitors' report alleged that a March 2020 MoINS document called to analyze and "make use" of guarantors, as part of a broader espionage effort.

"Infiltrate international organizations' headquarters and their employees, both technologically and by human sources," the document reportedly said.

A June 2021 MoINS report allegedly described how the ministry had threatened a Mercy Corps Gaza director and foreign visitor guarantor for concealing information that Hamas demanded.

The official reportedly agreed to cooperate by providing security, administrative, and financial observations during his work at Mercy Corps or in collaborations with any other NGO. The author of the document supposedly recommended that Hamas continue to exploit the NGO official to monitor nonprofit activities.

"Compulsory engagement with MoINS is not a matter of standard regulatory compliance, but rather a Hamas political and security mechanism to control the activities of civil society organizations," asserted NGO Monitor.

According to NGO Monitor, MoINS sought to review NGOs' finances as part of its intelligence operations. NGO Monitor said that 2019 and 2020 intelligence reports indicated that Hamas sought to punish and impose restrictions on Save the Children and IMC for not cooperating and providing financial and administrative documents.

However, IMC said that Hamas had not closed its operations in 2020 because it failed to provide such documentation.

Hamas also reportedly utilized local companies affiliated with the terrorist organization to steer NGOs. NGO Monitor said that a 2021 document showed that the founders and officers of an Oxfam implementing partner were affiliated with Hamas.

According to NGO Monitor, the document indicated that Hamas believed the company would prevent an Oxfam irrigation project from impacting Hamas security infrastructure.

Oxfam said that it was an "impartial organization with rigorous controls in place to help ensure the assistance we provide gets to the people who need it most. We follow strict due diligence and vetting procedures for all contractors, including comprehensive screening, through the internationally recognized LSEG World-Check system."

The Wednesday report also asserted that MoINS documents showed that Hamas would interfere with NGO surveys, including one created by Oxfam to guide its 2021 aid project.

In some instances, Hamas allegedly ordered the redaction of questions that it believed would reveal aspects of the terrorist organization's installations and membership.

NGO Monitor said that the documents laid out how Hamas exerted control over NGOs at an institutional and individual level, and that there was no freedom of operation for NGOs in Gaza.

NGOs operating in Gaza were aware of the realities of working under Hamas rule, said the watchdog, but failed to disclose Hamas's coercive conditions and exploitations.

“This research is timely and highly consequential,” NGO Monitor president Prof. Gerald Steinberg said in a statement.

“Governments and International organizations are planning to provide billions of dollars for the rebuilding of Gaza, and will partner with numerous NGOs to reconstruct infrastructure, provide municipal services like utilities and education, and probably distribute cash payments. We now know which NGOs and their local affiliates have been propping up the Hamas terror regime."

Steinberg suggested that the documents and research be used by the US and Israeli governments to screen the involvement of NGOs providing aid in Gaza.  

Michael Starr

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-879029

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