Climate Changing the Goal Posts - Thaddeus G. McCotter

 

by Thaddeus G. McCotter

The climate doomsday clock keeps resetting, proving that the only thing warming faster than the planet is the rhetoric of the self-anointed experts.

 

 

Living in Michigan, one often hears the old adage, “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.” Evidently, this old saw also applies to the climate cult’s declarations that doomsday is just around the corner…

Sooner or later.

The same old saw can be applied to the self-anointed climate Cassandras, who are routinely wrong but never in doubt. Be it through self-serving revisionist history, elaborate rationalizations, or a statistical sleight of hand that would make a street corner shell game huckster blush, climate-changing the goal posts is all the rage with the global elite and its lavishly remunerated minions.

Remember the predictions of a new global ice age back in the 1970s? You were either imagining things or a victim of disinformation. As the climate cultist apologists now explain, back in the day this was largely due to fake news journalists not yet being versed in parsing the emerging “consensus” from the disparate elements of the scientific community. Today, this persistent, pernicious “myth” is being used as deliberate disinformation by climate deniers: “An enduring popular myth suggests that in the 1970s the climate science community was predicting ‘global cooling’ and an ‘imminent’ ice age, an observation frequently used by those who would undermine what climate scientists say today about the prospect of global warming.”

Buttressing this “explanation” of you being mistaken and “confirming” the reality of climate change, enter AI (which also confirms that in programming AI, it is truly a case of garbage in/garbage out):

“The idea that the 1970s scientific community predicted a new ice age is a myth. In fact, the scientific literature of the time focused on global warming caused by greenhouse gases.

“What is happening now? The Earth is currently in a warm interglacial period. The planet is warming due to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. Predicted changes in orbital forcing suggest that the next glacial period would begin at least 50,000 years from now.”

How long will it be until we are told that we also imagined those Glacier National Park signs inaccurately advising visitors how said “glaciers will all be gone by the year 2020.” Per James Delingpole in the New York Post: “For years they’ve been warning on their visitor signs that their main attraction, the glaciers, would be ‘gone by 2020.’ Instead, it’s those misleading signs that have had to go, because 2020 has now arrived and those pesky glaciers, all 29 of them, remain stubbornly unmelted by climate change.”

Given Mr. Delingpole’s reporting of park officials furtively trying to replace the signs, one might think a simple shove down the memory hole will suffice to erase this failed declaration of climate catastrophe. But that would entail underestimating the capacity of the climate cultists to cling to their secular religion:

“Glacier National Park recently confirmed the changes…but is maintaining a defiant public face. Its signs will now say: ‘When they [the glaciers] will completely disappear depends on how and when we act. One thing is consistent: The glaciers in the park are shrinking.’

“But in truth the new signs are no more accurate than the old ones. First, some of the glaciers have expanded, not shrunk, in the last decade.”

I encourage one to read Mr. Delingpole’s article for a succinct listing of the numerous instances of catastrophes that have yet to occur due to Goddess Gaia’s failure to punctually punish humanity for our environmental sins. I am, however, chary to recommend his article to the climate cult, who might start heeding his sage, if archly offered, advice: “Never put a time limit on your doomsday predictions.” As of yet, however, that possibility remains remote, in many ways due to the ability of the climate cultists’ to be reality deniers.

Consider the “fact,” reported in 2018 by the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that we had less than twelve years to save the planet and ourselves (doubtless in order of priority in the minds of climate cultists). One year later, the UN doubled down: “Just over a decade is all that remains to stop irreversible damage from climate change, world leaders heard today as the General Assembly opened a high-level meeting on the relationship between the phenomenon and sustainable development.”

Nonetheless, as 2030 impends without sufficient obeisance to the global elites’ dictates to save the planet, exacerbating the prospects of our extinction arise dissenting voices arguing that increasing temperatures are good for people and the planet (doubtless in order of priority in the minds of these observers). Following the Bob Marley principle of “You got to kill it before it grows,” the climate cult leapt at this existential threat to its unshakeable faith in themselves—er, I mean the “science.”

Breitbart News’s Rome Bureau Chief, Thomas D. Williams, PhD, informs of a recent counter-counter-revolutionary climate study throwing cold water (gathered from a melting glacier?) on this potential silver lining of global warming:

“Climate change will result in an estimated 2.3 million additional temperature-related deaths in Europe by 2099, according to researchers led by a London-based climate-modeling group…

“‘This study provides compelling evidence that the steep rise in heat-related deaths will far exceed any drop related to cold, resulting in a net increase in mortality across Europe,’ stated Antonio Gasparrini, lead author of the article and head of the Environment & Health Modelling (EHM) Lab at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

“‘These results debunk proposed theories of ‘beneficial’ effects of climate change, often proposed in opposition to vital mitigation policies that should be implemented as soon as possible,’ he asserted.”

As is so often the case, per Dr. Williams, these climate cultists’ report does not let the facts stand in the way of their faith: “What Gasparrini calls ‘compelling evidence,’ however, are a series of forecasts and predictions made from notoriously fallible climate-modeling algorithms. As good scientists are aware, it is impossible to collect ‘evidence’ on future events.”

In conjunction with the UN prediction, this new report has unwittingly revealed the absence of logic that accompanies the global elite’s climate changing the goal posts for the impending—or not – apocalypse. If the 2030 literal deadline is missed to stop climate change, it will not matter how many people are left to party like it’s 2099. Or is missing the “looming” 2030 deadline just a case of more gloom and less doom when the world does not end on time?

But why worry the climate cult elitists with logic when they can always fall back upon cognitive dissonance? Unless we save the world with socialism and governance by the global elite, the world will end by 2030, and—even for good measure—we will all burn alive in 2099. Or something…or other….

Absent a specific deadline, at least the cultists can assure us the climate apocalypse will entail hotter temperatures to torment and terminate us—right?

Uh… In his 2003 article found at YaleGlobal Online, Bill McGuire asked, Will Global Warming Trigger a New Ice Age?:

If you can remember back to the bitter winters of the late 1970s and early 80s you might also recall that there was much discussion in scientific circles at the time about whether or not the freezing winter conditions were a portent of a new ice age.

Over the past couple of decades such warnings have been drowned out by the great global warming debate and by consideration of how society might cope in future with a sweltering planet rather than an icebound one. Seemingly, the fact that we are still within an interglacial period, during which the ice has largely retreated to its polar fastnesses, has been forgotten – and replaced with the commonly-held view that one good thing you can say about global warming is that it will at least stave off the return of the glaciers.

Is this really true, or could the rapidly accelerating warming that we are experiencing actually hasten the onset of a new ice age? A growing body of evidence suggests that, at least for the UK and western Europe, there is a serious risk of this happening – and soon.

In climate-changing the goal posts, the cynical global elite, their minions, and gullible true believers have come full circle.

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; 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/2025/03/01/climate-changing-the-goal-posts/

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Syria: Muslims Kidnapping, Possibly Torturing, Christians - Uzay Bulut

 

by Uzay Bulut

Since the jihadists' takeover of Syria, however, around 500,000 Christians in the country have been faced with increased persecution and abductions

 

• After forces from the al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group conquered Damascus and overthrew Syria's Assad regime in December 2024, they urged the residents of the Valley of the Christians to surrender any weapons they kept for self-defense, telling them that civilians would not be harmed. Since the jihadists' takeover of Syria, however, around 500,000 Christians in the country have been faced with increased persecution and abductions

• On February 16, more Christians... were abducted from another village in the area. Their kidnappers, according to sources on the ground, are torturing them.

• "HTS's successive renamings and 'rebrandings' appear to echo al-Qaeda's own strategy in Syria of establishing branches and presenting them as locally-grown organizations arising in response to Syrians' needs..." — US Commission on International Religious Freedom, November 2022.

• Al-Sharaa recently started dressing in a suit and tie, and is now presenting himself to the West as a "moderate." He has spoken of plans to form an inclusive transitional government representing diverse communities that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections. In schoolbooks, however, his government has been replacing the word "law" with "sharia," and has been using Islamic teaching to recruit the country's new army.

• "Under HTS-control in Idlib, Christian clergy are not allowed to walk outside in any clothing that makes them recognisable as priests or pastors. Crosses have been removed from church buildings." — Open Doors, December 2024.

• "Islam does not tolerate other cultures." — "Christina," a Greek Christian in Syria, to Gatestone, January 2025.

• "The new Syria should not be established without parties that represent the minority groups in the country, such as Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites. The official recognition and acceptance of the jihadists by Western governments is like placing swords on the necks of Christians in particular and everyone who disagrees with them in general." – "Christina," a Greek Christian in Syria, to Gatestone, January 2025.

The persecution of Christians in Syria has been escalating since Ahmed Al-Sharaa took over as the country's president, after his al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group overthrew the Assad regime in December. Al-Sharaa recently started dressing in a suit and tie, and is now presenting himself to the West as a "moderate." In schoolbooks, however, his government has been replacing the word "law" with "sharia," and has been using Islamic teaching to recruit the country's new army. Pictured: Al-Sharaa shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a press conference in Ankara, Turkey on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)

Sadly, the persecution of Christians in Syria's "Valley of the Christians" (Wadi al-Nasara), overwhelmingly inhabited by Greeks originally from Antioch, has been escalating.

After forces from the al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group conquered Damascus and overthrew Syria's Assad regime in December 2024, they urged the residents of the Valley of the Christians to surrender any weapons they kept for self-defense, telling them that civilians would not be harmed. Since the jihadists' takeover of Syria, however, around 500,000 Christians in the country have been faced with increased persecution and abductions

On February 14, 2025, approximately 10 Christian men were abducted by Muslims from a village in the Valley, although reportedly later released. On February 16, more Christians -- three of whom identified as Majd Shahoud, Tony Salloum and Bahjat Shehab -- were abducted from another village in the area. Their kidnappers, according to sources on the ground, are torturing them.

Within a few days, armed Islamists violated a cemetery in the Christian town of Zaydal, east of the city of Homs, where they toppled and broke a stone cross and desecrated graves. On February 17, smoke bombs were thrown by masked men at the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation in the Christian village al-Masmiyah, in Daraa.

HTS is a terrorist group formed in 2017 from a merger of five Islamist militias. Since then, HTS ruled Idlib in northwest Syria. In 2018, it was designated by the US State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

In late November 2024, an offensive was launched by jihadist forces, spearheaded by HTS. In December, in less than two weeks, in a march through Syria, HTS toppled Bashar al-Assad, ending his family's six-decade Baathist regime.

HTS founder Ahmed Al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, then became Syria's president and de facto ruler. Before that, he had served as a "graduate" of the Jabhat Al-Nusra (Nusrah Front), another designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda. A $10 million bounty for his arrest was removed by the Biden administration on December 20, 2024, presumably in the hope of his not running Syria into an extremist ditch.

Islamic State (ISIS) leaders have used HTS-controlled territory in Syria as a safe haven. Two significant US military operations targeted ISIS leaders within HTS-controlled areas: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in 2019 and Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Quraishi in 2022.

HTS, due to its affiliation with al-Qaeda and ISIS, was also blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council. The designation has been transposed to European Union law and is followed by all 27 EU member states.

As reported by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2022, in "Religious Freedom in Syria Under Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)":

"[HTS] remains a potent source of a Salafi-jihadism that restricts the religious freedom of non-conforming Sunni Muslims and threatens the property, safety, and existence of religious minority groups such as Alawites, Christians, and Druze. Further, HTS's cultivation of a mutually and politically expedient relationship with Turkey—which itself represents a distinct threat to vulnerable religious minority groups via its military incursions in northern Syria—compounds the perilous religious freedom conditions in and near Idlib.

"HTS, or Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, has undergone several name and purported identity changes since its origins in 2011 as Jabhat al-Nusra, originally a Syrian front for the Islamic State in Iraq, which at the time was itself an Iraqi affiliate of al-Qaeda. HTS's successive renamings and 'rebrandings' appear to echo al-Qaeda's own strategy in Syria of establishing branches and presenting them as locally-grown organizations arising in response to Syrians' needs...

"In 2021 and 2022, HTS has continued to perpetrate some of the same human rights abuses—including torture, forced disappearance, rape and other sexual violence, and killing in detention—that the United Nations' Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria documented for the organization and its predecessors through 2020. Having taken over government prisons and established additional jails, HTS has used sectarian-motivated detention and related abduction and demands for ransom against members of minority groups. Religious minorities, including non-Sunni Muslims and Druze—both longstanding targets of Sunni rebel groups' discrimination, harassment, and compelled Sunnism— have converted to Sunni Islam or fled HTS territories, and those who remain are not represented in the official bodies governing the area."

In 2023, the US State Department reported:

"Armed terrorist groups such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham committed a wide range of abuses, including killings, kidnappings, physical abuse, and recruitment or use of child soldiers."

Al-Sharaa recently started dressing in a suit and tie, and is now presenting himself to the West as a "moderate." He has spoken of plans to form an inclusive transitional government representing diverse communities that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections. In schoolbooks, however, his government has been replacing the word "law" with "sharia," and has been using Islamic teaching to recruit the country's new army.

HTS has a fundamentalist Islamic agenda and has long aimed to install sharia rule in Syria. In December 2024, the human rights organization Open Doors reported:

"Under HTS-control in Idlib, Christian clergy are not allowed to walk outside in any clothing that makes them recognisable as priests or pastors. Crosses have been removed from church buildings."

Al-Sharaa said last month that organizing national elections in Syria could take up to five years.

"Christina," a Greek Christian who lives in a town that is home to a Christian majority in Syria, told Gatestone on condition of anonymity that the main reason why there is not yet systematic Christian persecution across Syria is "the wide and multiple media eyes directed at Christian-populated areas."

"This attention means that fewer monitoring eyes might enable the jihadists to go too far -- they already have some Christian areas and where media coverage been restricted at the local or state level.

"For example, in Damascus and its countryside, and the rural areas where no one can document the violations [committed by] jihadist forces, Islamic symbols such as hijab are imposed even on Christian women. It is a violation of our freedoms. In other areas, Christians are subjected to harassment by Muslims, such as encroachment on Christian lands and homes, abductions, and demands for ransom to release the kidnapped.

"The Christians' biggest fear is the regime's possible application of Islamic law and the imposition of the jizya – a tax demanded of non-Muslims as 'protection' -- or even the imposition of Islam on us in the future. What I personally fear most is the outbreak of armed conflicts again and the possibility that the jihadists will commit massacres against us."

Christina mentioned that she had not left Syria even during the years of civil war, but that now the economic burden on the Christian community had become unbearable.

"We hope for an improvement in the economy because the situation is excruciating. Many Christians now, especially after the state stopped paying salaries to employees, are trying to survive below the poverty line. Even the situation in the labor market is dire. We suffer from many challenges -- from the economic point of view as well as in terms of security."

The foreign ministers of France and Germany, Jean-Noël Barrot and Annalena Baerbock, travelled to Damascus on January 3 to send what Baerbock described as a clear signal that a "new political beginning between Europe and Syria is possible," according to Euronews.

Christina said she disagrees:

"I do not believe that recognizing an al Qaeda affiliated group as an official government, especially after its leaders, headed by its president, have previously proved they are terrorists and the blood of so many has been shed because of them.

"The West's recognition of such a terror group would represent a lack of justice towards the innocents who were murdered by them, and we know they are the same terror group no matter what they claim to be now.

"Syria must be a secular and democratic country. There must also be political parties representing Christians. The new Syria should not be established without parties that represent the minority groups in the country, such as Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites.

"The official recognition and acceptance of the jihadists by Western governments is like placing swords on the necks of Christians in particular and everyone who disagrees with them in general."

Christina said that most Christians in Syria are of Greek descent, but for centuries have been exposed to forced Arabization:

"Today, our Greek people in Syria speak Arabic because the Arab Muslims, since they invaded the Levant in the seventh century, have refused to leave any room for other languages. In other words, everything was Arabized by imposing the Arabic language and persecuting everyone who spoke Greek, except for what Arabic could not Arabize from Greek terms that we use in our colloquial language to this day. Islam does not tolerate other cultures, so the Greek language was gradually abolished to the point of disappearing among the people and its existence being limited to the field of theological study.

"I hope that Greece will do something to help us, the Greek Christian people here, such as sending aid or securing protection for our regions from any future attack we may be exposed to, or helping to get us out of here, especially those who have always suffered from their areas being conflict zones. I think that the Greek government now has a responsibility towards our people here."

Eiad Herera, spokesman of Antiochian Greek Organization, told Gatestone:

"Syrian Christians, including Greek Antiochians, have long been a peaceful and tolerant community in Syria and the Levant. Unlike other groups, they did not form militias or take part in the civil war. They only kept small arms for self-defense. All the same, they have been facing repeated kidnappings, attacks on their churches and cemeteries, and growing sectarian violence, while the new government has failed to protect them. The U.S., U.N., Greece, and the international community need take urgent action to safeguard these vulnerable communities. This is their ancestral homeland, but their numbers are rapidly declining."

Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21438/syria-kidnapping-torturing-christians

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Time to Bring Down the Curtain on Iran's Terror Axis - Robert Williams

 

by Robert Williams

Iran has an interest in having Democrats re-elected as soon as possible. Even while Iran fired on US forces in the region more than 160 times just since October 7, 2023, the Biden administration never stopped being inordinately generous to Iran and compliant with its nuclear weapons program.

 

• In the US, in the past -- many people may have forgotten -- Iran was found guilty of supporting the 9/11 attacks.... Recently, Iranian state agents have been trying to murder senior US officials who served in the Trump administration, various dissidents, and Donald Trump himself.

• Iran has an interest in having Democrats re-elected as soon as possible. Even while Iran fired on US forces in the region more than 160 times just since October 7, 2023, the Biden administration never stopped being inordinately generous to Iran and compliant with its nuclear weapons program.

• Iran has also been busy setting up a drone factory in Venezuela, as well as expanding its presence in Cuba.

• The mullahs might well hope simply to wait until President Trump's term is over to break out their nuclear weapons and resume "exporting the Revolution."

• While the US might be reluctant to seek regime change in Iran, if the Trump administration allows the mullahs to stay in power, there will be no peace for the foreseeable future in the US, Europe or the Middle East. In addition, almost 90 million Iranians will continue to have to suffer unimaginable abuses and human rights violations that the mullahs daily impose on them.

• Ending Iran's regime would finally put a stop to its becoming a nuclear power and its incessant attacks on US assets in the Middle East, and finally could bring peace to the region. That prospect appears worth serious consideration by the Trump administration.

Iran's terror axis, thanks to Israel's military operations, is finally beginning to collapse. Ending Iran's regime would put a stop to its becoming a nuclear power and its incessant attacks on US assets in the Middle East, and could bring peace to the region. That prospect appears worth serious consideration by the Trump administration. Pictured: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian looks on as a "Qased" missile is displayed during a military parade in Tehran on September 21, 2024, marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's terror axis, thanks to Israel's military operations, is finally beginning to collapse. Iranian terrorist proxies have been seeming to disintegrate across the region.

In Gaza, Israel has degraded Iran's Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist infrastructure. In Lebanon, Israel has severely decimated Hezbollah's capabilities and killed its leaders and commanders. In Syria, Hezbollah, along with Iranian forces, have been shown the door. Even though roughly 2,000 Hamas and 7,000 PIJ terrorists are still operating in Syria, while Iran retains proxies in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen, the Shia terrorist "octopus," overall, has had several of its tentacles detached. Now, what about the rest of the octopus?

The Iranian regime will most likely do anything to ensure its own survival – presumably why it used proxies in the first place. Better to have someone else, other than Iran, take the blowback. The regime could start redirecting its terrorist efforts towards soft targets in the West, where it is easier to operate. For years, already, Iran has already been operating an assassination program abroad, in Europe, where it has been recruiting local gang members and drug dealers to murder Iranian dissidents, Israelis and Jews. A report published in September 2024 found that the criminal groups hired by Iran increasingly target Israelis and Jews in Europe, including Israeli embassies and private Jewish individuals.

According to Britain's MI5, the situation is about to get rapidly worse: the UK is expected to see a "staggering rise" in assassination attempts by Iranian-hired criminals. An Israeli official recently warned that Hamas, as their abilities continue to be cut down in Gaza, will increasingly target Israelis and Jews worldwide.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson recently warned of Iran's active role in carrying out attacks in Sweden.

"Iran is using organized and violent criminal gangs to carry out serious attacks within Sweden," Kristersson said in a remarkable statement at a conference in January. "Sweden is not at war. But there is no peace either."

According to Sweden's security service Säpo, Iran was behind two recent attacks on Israeli targets: a shooting at the offices of the Israeli military technology Elbit in Sweden last year carried out by a 13-year-old, who was arrested for it in October 2024, and detonating two hand grenades outside Israel's embassy in Copenhagen year by two teenagers who had traveled from Sweden to Denmark to commit the terrorist attack.

In the US, in the past -- many people may have forgotten -- Iran was found guilty of supporting the 9/11 attacks. In 2011, the Iranian regime attempted to murder the Saudi Ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir. Recently, Iranian state agents have been trying to murder senior US officials who served in the Trump administration, various dissidents, and Donald Trump himself.

Iran's mullahs, as was evident during the election campaign, when Iran "emerged as the chief election security concern within the U.S. government," according to the Wall Street Journal, are also hard at work to subvert the US. Originally, the purpose seems to have been preventing the election of Trump. Just because that influence and hacking campaign failed, however, does not mean that Iran's influence operations in the US will stop. Iran has an interest in having Democrats re-elected as soon as possible. Even while Iran fired on US forces in the region more than 160 times just since October 7, 2023, the Biden administration never stopped being inordinately generous to Iran and compliant with its nuclear weapons program.

Iran has also been busy setting up a drone factory in Venezuela, as well as expanding its presence in Cuba.

The Iranian regime will most likely keep seeking windows of opportunity to dislodge the US from the Middle East and the Western Hemisphere, presumably as a Western home base for its proxy Hezbollah, whatever is left of it. Hezbollah, in its heyday, according to one 2020 Atlantic Council report, helped to "turn Venezuela into a hub for the convergence of transnational organized crime and international terrorism."

According to Professor Alejandro Cassaglia, an expert in terrorism and organized crime at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina:

"It's crucial to recognize that these groups are dedicated to hybrid warfare, cyber-intelligence, and terrorist attacks... The presence of Iran and the Quds Force [in Latin America] is not just a potential risk, but a palpable reality. These criminals have total freedom of movement in the region, they have Venezuelan passports and are usually of Lebanese or Persian origin."

These groups came into the US largely during Biden's presidency. The most problematic transnational terrorist group, Tren de Aragua, which originated in the prisons of Venezuela, has grown exponentially, and under the Trump administration its members are now being deported. It has been described as the "largest and most powerful organization in Venezuela," with "a history of flooding other countries with military-aged Venezuelan males to establish a base of operation to carry out violent crimes in those countries," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in September. It has reportedly maintained networks in Colombia, Peru, and Chile, and set up bases in 18 US states, including California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. The group has already been tied to hundreds of crimes, including the shooting of two New York Police Department officers in June, the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, and the brutal rape and killing of 12-year-old Houston girl Jocelyn Nungaray.

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy Simone Ledeen warned in February 2024 that Hezbollah has had its own sleeper cells in the United States for years, and may just be waiting for the word from Iran.

Overshadowing all of this is Iran's obsession with getting nuclear weapons -- which the regime may not hesitate to use, either directly or as a threat. Iran's regime did not hesitate to fire at least 300 ballistic missiles, rockets and drones against Israel, a country the size of New Jersey. Iran's Houthi proxies in Yemen launched missiles and attack drones into Israel many times since October 2023. The mullahs might well hope simply to wait until President Trump's term is over to break out their nuclear weapons and resume "exporting the Revolution." In the meantime, Iran most likely will continue trying to forge even closer ties with rogue states, such as Venezuela, Cuba, China, North Korea and Russia, to try to destroy the West.

While the US might be reluctant to seek regime change in Iran, if the Trump administration allows the mullahs to stay in power, there will be no peace for the foreseeable future in the US, Europe or the Middle East. In addition, almost 90 million Iranians will continue to have to suffer unimaginable abuses and human rights violations that the mullahs daily impose on them. In 2024 alone, Iran executed more than 900 people, reportedly the highest recorded number in nine years, including 31 women, the UN human rights office recently announced. Given the UN's utter lack of trustworthiness and its complicity with Iran, that number is likely to be much larger.

In 2021, Iran actually served on the UN's women's rights body, although it later was expelled. It has chaired the UN's Conference on Disarmament. A report from Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights group, noted that more than half of people executed in Iran last year were from ethnic minorities, including 183 Kurds.

Many possibly innocent political prisoners currently are held in Iran's prisons, where they are tortured and abused. According to the US State Department:

"Although there were no official statistics regarding the number of citizens imprisoned for their political beliefs, the NGO United for Iran identified at least 1,074 prisoners of conscience in the country at year's [2023] end."

Ending Iran's regime would finally put a stop to its becoming a nuclear power and its incessant attacks on US assets in the Middle East, and finally could bring peace to the region. That prospect appears worth serious consideration by the Trump administration.

Robert Williams is based in the United States.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21434/iran-terror-axis

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String of polls highlights disconnect between media and public on DOGE, Trump’s first month - Ben Whedon

 

by Ben Whedon

A look at the polling from legacy outlets and upstarts alike seems to show the public more supportive of Musk’s effort and Trump’s policies, than a cursory view of the latest headlines would lead one to believe.

 

Despite a string of headlines suggesting that the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its efforts to slash federal waste is hurting President  Trump in the polls, the public appears at odds with the media over its perception of the department and on Trump’s first month more broadly.

Legacy media has vilified Musk in recent weeks, zeroing in on his oversight of USAID and the Treasury Department’s payment systems to pronounce the imminent end of major entitlements. Others have pointed to the price of eggs and inflation as the administration works to improve the economy. “Trump pledged to bring down food prices on Day One. Instead, eggs are getting more expensive,” read a CNN headline.

“Will the backlash to Elon Musk hurt Republicans?” asked Vox. “Musk and DOGE underwater with some voters in recent polling,” Axios reported.

Despite the gloomy headlines, polling from legacy polling outlets and upstarts alike seems to show the public more supportive of Musk’s effort, and Trump’s policies, than a cursory view of the latest headlines would lead one to believe.

"Out of touch"

A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found Trump is enjoying a 50% approval rating, with just 43% disapproving of his performance. This week, a Napolitan News survey, moreover, found him with a 53% approval rating and 44% disapproval rating. Overall, he remains above water with a 49.1% approval rating in the RealClearPolitics polling average and a 47.5% disapproval rating.

"I believe firmly that the story of 2024, one of the big story lines, is that the legacy media has finally been proven irrelevant," pollster Scott Rasmussen said Wednesday on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "They could not control the narrative. They were out of touch talking to each other. YouGov actually ran a survey a couple weeks ago and found that more voters trust Donald Trump for information about what's going on than trust the traditional media."

"They don't seem to understand even where the electorate is," he said of legacy outlets. "I think last year, when the narrative was 'economy is improving,' and people say, 'not in my checkbook, not at my kitchen table it's not' and I think that that now has spun out to they don't understand that people are okay with deporting illegal aliens, particularly illegal criminal aliens who've committed crimes. The gap of just not understanding where America is, is because reporters don't get out and talk to real people anymore." 

"About right" vs. "Not far enough”

Harvard/Harris’s latest survey found broad support for DOGE-related efforts. Eighty-three percent supported cutting government spending over raising taxes and a further 77% backed a broad review of federal spending.

Of DOGE, in particular, 60% expressed the belief that the department was actively helping the government to make substantial cuts. Seventy percent agreed that government spending was plagued by waste and fraud, while 69% favored a $1 trillion cut.

Napolitan found comparable figures, with 62% of registered voters expressing the view that DOGE would help Trump to significantly reduce the deficit within the first year.

Fifty-nine percent backed the idea of a “DOGE dividend” in which 20% of the savings created by DOGE cuts would be sent back to taxpayers while 80% goes to reduce the deficit. Only 22% opposed the idea.

A separate Napolitan survey, moreover, found the public reasonably divided on Musk, with 44% holding a favorable view of him, 47% holding an unfavorable view, and 7% unsure.

Asked whether DOGE had gone far enough thus far, 36% said it had gone too far, while 19% said the agency had been “about right” and 25% said it had not gone far enough. Nineteen percent were unsure, but the sum of “about right” and “not far enough” suggested clear support for the Musk-led department’s work.

Inflation/economy

Prophecies of doom for the administration based on economic moves, however, appear somewhat more in step with public opinion as polling shows Trump with relatively low numbers on inflation and facing a strong demand for immediate action on price increases.

Trump is currently underwater on the economy in most surveys, albeit narrowly. He currently boasts a 46.0% average approval on the issue, according to RealClearPolitics, which reported that 49.8% disapproved of his handling of the matter. He was in worse shape on inflation, with 39.7% approving of his handling of the issue and 52.7% disapproving.

During Trump’s first month, Democrats often criticized his policies on unrelated issues by questioning how they related to lowering the price of eggs, referencing Trump’s promise to combat inflation. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a $1 billion investment on Wednesday to address egg prices, though most polling data previewed her announcement.

A considerable part of Democrats' and legacy media's objections to DOGE plans is the claim that, according to PBS, "Data published on DOGE’s 'Wall of Receipts' are expected to yield no savings." Journalist and blogger Kevin Drum argued last week that DOGE has only "saved taxpayers about 0.33% of the federal budget."

Nevertheless, the nation’s mood more broadly appears to be improving, with 42.5% saying the nation is headed in the right direction, a significant uptick from the mere 27.7% recorded on Jan. 17, just before Trump took office.

Border security/Mass deportations

Recent Napolitan data, meanwhile, found broad support for the president’s immigration and deportation agenda. In 2024, 25% of registered voters believed the government was serious about securing the border, compared to 69% who said the same in the latest Napolitan survey.

Another 61% expressed support for arresting people who leak information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Eighty-two percent of registered voters, moreover, expressed the belief that illegal immigration is bad for the country.

On deportations, a clear majority of 57% expressed the belief that the administration’s deportation efforts had been either “about right” or that they had not gone “far enough.” Only 33% said they had gone too far while 10% were unsure.

Ben Whedon

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/thustring-polls-highlight-media-public-disconnect-doge-trumps-first-month

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Trump administration could produce a potent tool against the CCP that Biden’s team delayed - Steven Richards

 

by Steven Richards

A report on the wealth and corrupt activities of senior Chinese Communist Party officials could generate leverage over Beijing.

 

New Trump administration officials have the opportunity to spearhead the release of a powerful tool to confront the Chinese Communist Party: a report that would expose the corrupt practices of its senior members. Despite orders from Congress the Biden administration failed to release the report.

In 2022, Congress tasked the Director of National Intelligence and State Department to produce a report on the wealth and corrupt practices of senior Chinese Communist Party officials in the National Defense Authorization Act, but the Biden administration officials failed to publicly release that report by the deadline established by lawmakers. 

"If the Chinese people knew"

The act, which was passed by lawmakers in 2022 for the 2023 fiscal year, directed then-DNI Avril Haines, in consultation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to compile the report on the senior officials, including General Secretary Xi Jinping and members of the elite Politburo Committee, and release the information publicly.

“This is an existential threat to the Chinese regime, because you have leaders with tens of millions—billions, in some cases—of funds outside of China. And if the Chinese people knew the extent of this, there probably would be a revolution,” Gordon 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. 

“Now I think that that actually did make it into US law, but they haven't enforced it, right? It hasn't started yet, right?” Chang said. “And so really, this is something where China is, I'm sure, lobbying the Trump administration, just as they lobbied the Biden administration over this.”

Neither the Office of the DNI nor the State Department responded to requests for comment from Just the News about whether the new leadership planned to move forward with the report. 

Last year, Rep. Andrew Ogles, R-Tenn., filed the Confronting CCP Malign Influence Act, which aimed to once again demand a wealth and corruption report on communist party officials, this time setting a 90-day deadline, after the Biden administration failed to adhere to the law. The bill would have also required the DNI to testify publicly to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence within 180 days. However, the bill never passed and was not signed into law. 

Rep. Ogles did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News. 

To many -- in the West -- it's old news

In the past, efforts to expose the finances of senior CCP officials have been met with quick censorship and stern denials by the Chinese regime. The reactions suggest that such a report could provide significant leverage to the United States in negotiations with the Chinese. 

Most recently was when the vast offshore wealth of communist leaders was exposed in the leak of the Panama Papers in 2016. Those documents showed that family members of many former and then-senior officials, including President Xi Jinping and other Politburo Standing Committee members, were invested in or controlled offshore companies, which many connected individuals in China use to transfer wealth overseas. 

Years earlier, a Bloomberg News report on fortunes of Xi Jinping’s close family members and the families of those close to Mao Tse Tung — called "Princelings" — was blocked in China in 2012 on the eve of the communist official’s ascension to the presidency. The report exposed billions of dollars in assets held by his close family members, including his older sister, Qi Qiaoqiao, her husband, Deng Jiagui, and their daughter. Xi’s relatives began to divest from their overseas holdings after he became president in 2012, likely to give him cover as he pursued anti-corruption policies. 

Later the same year, the Chinese government censored the New York Times after a similar report on the billions in assets of the family of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, despite his family’s humble origins. The Times reported that the family’s considerable wealth ballooned in the years after Wen Jiabao was elevated to the country’s ruling caste when he first became the vice premier in 1998. Some of the family members ventures even received financial support from China’s state-owned enterprises that operated in industries Wen oversaw as premier. Although late to the story, The New York Times was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for International Reporting. Politico reported that China temporarily blocked both The New York Times and Bloomberg News' websites and denied visas to journalists.

Thousands of senior officials

A new exposé on corrupt practices backed by the combined information gathering and analytical capabilities of the U.S. intelligence community and the State Department may serve as both an embarrassment to the Chinese Communist Party, especially as President Xi continues the anti-corruption push that he started shortly after his rise to power in 2012. 

The campaign has ensnared thousands of senior officials who have been punished for alleged corrupt activities, including for aiding family members with business interests and bribery. According to the CCP, at least one million officials were disciplined for corruption between 2013 and 2016.

President Xi’s initiatives have continued unabated since. He recently reiterated his promise to root out corruption and labeled it the “biggest threat” facing the Chinese Communist Party. “Corruption is the biggest threat facing the [Communist] Party, and countering corruption is the most thorough form of self-revolution,” Xi Jinping told a gathering of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which manages the corruption probes. “The current situation in the fight against corruption remains grave and complex. The existing amount of corruption has not been eliminated and new cases have continued to occur.” 

The past efforts to censor this information also suggests that the party leaders believe public reporting on their wealth and potentially corrupt actives are also a threat to their power that could be exploited by President Trump to put pressure on Beijing, one expert says. 

“These are the people that matter in the CCP hierarchy. More than any other action the American Government can take, this affects the CCP’s top leadership directly. Apply sanctions and tariffs, and Mr. Xi and the CCP elite will gladly have regular Chinese absorb the hardship and punishment, limitlessly,” Grant Newsham, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Sun. 

“But explaining away the CCP leadership’s immense wealth — to include overseas bank accounts, businesses, real estate, and relatives with ‘green cards’ is tricky —and dangerous — especially while Mr. Xi is telling all other Chinese to ‘eat bitterness,’” he wrote. 

 
Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/diplomacy/trump-administration-could-finally-produce-potent-tool-against-ccp-bidens-team

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Hamas planned attacks on IDF soldiers, settlements during ceasefire, Katz reveals - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

“We will not allow the demilitarization to be violated, nor will we allow any emerging threats," said Defense Minister Israel Katz.

 

Defense Minister Israel Katz visits Mount Hermon. January 28, 2025.

(photo credit: ARIEL HERMONI/MOD)

The Israel Air Force struck Syrian regime positions earlier this week after the new government in Damascus attempted to deploy forces in demilitarized zones near Israel’s border, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.

“Two days ago, the new regime attempted to staff positions and outposts, and the air force struck and neutralized them,” Katz said at a regional council leaders conference. “We will not allow the demilitarization agreement to be violated, nor will we allow any emerging threats.”

Katz added that Israel’s presence in strategic locations in Syria would continue indefinitely to prevent Iranian influence and terrorist threats.

“Southern Syria must be a demilitarized zone. We have sent messages, and the IDF is preparing,” he said.

According to Katz, the strike was part of a broader policy to counter Iran-backed militias and prevent the Syrian regime from reestablishing military infrastructure near the Golan Heights.

Blasts from IDF strikes in Syria, February 26, 2025. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

The defense minister emphasized that Israel would take decisive military action whenever necessary to maintain security.

“We made a decision in real-time to prevent Iran from rescuing the Syrian regime and bringing in militias. We conveyed messages through all necessary channels that if they come, we will strike. We deployed air force jets, and the Iranian aircraft turned back,” Katz continued.

Northern Israel’s security

Regarding the northern front, Katz said that Israel would not withdraw from the buffer zone in Lebanon based on a timeline but rather on security needs.

“We will remain in the buffer zone in Lebanon indefinitely – this depends on the situation, not on time. We have received a green light from the United States.”

Katz also said that there was no trust in the new leadership in Syria led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, saying that despite Shaara’s efforts to present himself as a legitimate political leader, Israel remains skeptical.

“Sharaa came to power in Syria, swapped his robes for suits, and spoke eloquently. We do not trust him – we only trust the IDF,” Katz said.

Beyond the Syrian issue, Katz pointed to increased IDF operations in Judea and Samaria to dismantle terror networks backed by Iran.

“For over two years, Iran has been supplying weapons, funding, and guidance to establish battalions and create an eastern front against Israeli settlements and border communities,” he said.

Katz added that Israeli forces would maintain a presence in Palestinian refugee camps, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm, to contend with terrorist strongholds.

“Jenin’s refugee camp is now empty of residents, and the IDF is inside.”

In his statements, Katz said his goal was to reinforce Israel’s broader security policy, which includes maintaining operational control in Syria, preventing Hamas from regaining control in Gaza, and countering Iran’s influence across the region.

“The soldiers and commanders say they are finally allowed to do what is necessary, and by staying put, they no longer have to enter and exit these areas repeatedly,” he said.

Hamas responds

Hamas responded to Katz's statements, saying, "The allegations and claims of the occupation's Minister of War Katz that Hamas planned to attack soldiers and settlements during the ceasefire are misleading and baseless statements and come in the context of the occupation's attempts to evade its obligations under the ceasefire."

"His statements about keeping the border area between Gaza and Egypt a buffer zone are a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement and an attempt to fabricate pretexts to disrupt and thwart it."

"While we affirm our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement, with all its aspects and provisions, and our readiness to enter into negotiations related to the second phase of the agreement, we stress the importance of the mediator brothers, the international community, and all relevant parties taking immediate and serious action to compel the occupation to abide by the requirements and provisions of the agreement, and to work to prevent Netanyahu and his criminal government from disrupting and thwarting it."

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-844013

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Blinken wanted sanctions on IDF Unit 504, Israel prevented it at last minute - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

Former Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, also explained that there were severe tensions between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

IDF soldiers are seen working as part of the Israeli military's Gaza battlefield intelligence collection unit.

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wanted to impose sanctions on one of the IDF's most secret and elite intelligence units, Unit 504, former Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, told Ariel Kahana in an interview with Israel Hayom on Wednesday night.

"He had already decided," Herzog said. "We managed to prevent him from  bringing down the axe at the last minute."

"There were difficult moments, and there were cases when the Americans went crazy," he continued. "More than once they really attacked me and said, 'You're crazy, you've fallen on your head, how could you do something like this that would lead to an escalation? You'll drag us into war because you didn't think it through to the end and then ask us to come and rescue you.' There were tough arguments about things Israel did that, in their eyes, was one step too far."

Herzog also explained that there were severe tensions between former US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Herzog criticized the US decision to halt the military equipment to Israel right before the ground operations began in Rafah.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, December 5, 2024 (illustration). (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD, REUTERS/FLORION GOGA)

He also emphasized that despite these tensions, the Biden administration did support Israel during crucial moments throughout the war by sending ammunition, helping defend against both Iranian missile attacks, defending Israel at international courts, and "vetoed the UN more than once."

'Qatar is a very problematic player'

When speaking about Qatar, Herzog explained how the country was a "very problematic player" in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

"Qatar is a very problematic player. They helped and were an important player in achieving the deal, but as someone who saw the materials, I'm not the only one who feels that they didn't apply enough pressure on Hamas over a long period of time," Herzog explained. "Only at a late stage did they exert great weight to bring Hamas where we wanted. They didn't do everything that they could."

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-843945

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BBC removes mentions of Jihad, Jews from Hamas-linked documentary - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

In multiple instances, the Arabic words for “Jews" were translated as “Israel” or “Israeli forces," or they were completely removed from the subtitles.

 

A pedestrian walks past a BBC logo at Broadcasting House in central London

(photo credit: OLIVIA HARRIS/ REUTERS)

The BBC repeatedly mistranslated references to ‘the Jews’ and omitted instances of the word jihad in its controversial documentary on Gaza, The Telegraph reported on Monday.

The Telegraph reported that in several instances in the film, the Arabic words Yahud or Yahud, meaning "Jews," were translated as “Israel” or “Israeli forces" or were completely removed from the subtitles. Mistranslations were originally highlighted by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA).

Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

In one interview shown within the documentary, praise of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his "Jihad against the Jews" was mistranslated to say he was "fighting Israel forces," The Telegraph shared.

Additionally, in the film, when a Gazan woman is asked about the October 7 attacks, the subtitles read, “First time we invaded Israel – it was always the other way around." However, The Telegraph revealed that in Arabic, she said, “We were invading the Jews for the first time.”

At one point in the film, in which a doctor amputates the arm of a child in front of the camera, the medic is quoted as saying: “Look what the Israelis are doing to the children of Gaza.” However, the word Israeli was not used by the doctor, The Telegraph's translation revealed.

According to Alex Hearn, co-director of Labour Against Anti-Semitism (LAAS), the mistranslation of the word Jewish to Israeli was one of a number of “ongoing issues” with “the BBC’s sympathetic coverage of Hamas.”

“In so doing, the BBC have sanitized views expressed about Sinwar, orchestrator of the Hamas massacre, and instead presented a more acceptable version for a Western audience,” he said, according to The Telegraph.

“It is this whitewashing that keeps viewers ill-informed about the nature of Hamas and promotes sympathy for their deadly ideology. This documentary signifies the institutional failure behind the BBC’s reporting of the Israel-Hamas conflict.”

Hamas ties to the BBC documentary 

The documentary has recently faced scrutiny after investigative journalist David Collier discovered Hamas’s ties to the BBC production last Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post previously reported. 

Collier revealed that the father of the film’s narrator, 13-year-old Abdullah al-Yazouri, was a senior Hamas official. Additionally, the father of another child featured in the film was a Hamas police officer. Collier also asserted that the cameramen had praised terrorist attacks in Israel.

Following this revelation, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the UK Conservative Party, wrote a letter to Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, on Sunday, requesting an independent inquiry to investigate the commissioning and production of the BBC documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone.

Additionally, pro-Israel activists and supporters, including Campaign Against Antisemitism, protested outside the BBC’s London Broadcasting House on Tuesday night, demanding transparency regarding whether any of the £400,000 in license-fee funds used to create the documentary went to Hamas officials.

“The BBC has become a mouthpiece for terror,” CAA CEO Gideon Falter said at the event. 

“It cannot call terrorism by its name. The BBC has become a spokesperson for terrorists.” CAA argued on X/Twitter that the BBC could not be trusted to review its own mistakes and respond to complaints and should be regulated in the same manner as other broadcasters.

Collier spoke at the rally and, according to CAA, stated that the BBC only removed the production and issued an apology on Friday because they were caught.  

The Hate Monitor is here to track antisemitism worldwide. Learn more >>

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-843949

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Israel is not leaving Philadelphi Corridor, official says - Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

The IDF was supposed to reduce its presence on the Philadelphi Corridor and then withdraw from it completely over the course of the first 50 days.

 

Israeli military vehicles drive through the Philadelphi Corridor area in southern Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, September 13, 2024.

(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

Israel will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Thursday.

"We will not allow the Hamas murderers to once again roam around with pickup trucks and guns on our border. We will not allow them to regain strength from smuggling," the source said.

According to the original ceasefire agreement, the IDF was supposed to reduce its presence on the Philadelphi Corridor and then withdraw from it completely over the course of the first 50 days.

Israel wanted to supervise the Philadelphi Corridor, but this request was rejected. According to foreign media reports, Israel was convinced of the need to withdraw from the area.

The prime minister will hold several consultations today on Gaza, the hostage deal and is expected to make a decision if/when to send a delegation either to Doha or Cairo, an Israeli official tells the Jerusalem Post.

Hamas open to extending ceasefire

Israeli military vehicles drive through the Philadelphi Corridor area in southern Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, September 13, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

Hamas announced in a statement on Thursday morning that it renews its "full commitment to the ceasefire agreement, and confirm our readiness to enter into negotiations for the second phase of the agreement."

Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-843955

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