Gov. Hochul Considering a Face Mask Ban on New York City Subways, Citing Antisemitic Acts
Patagonia donated $139,000 to terror-associated charity
( JNS) Patagonia, Inc., the U.S. outdoor clothing company with about $100 million in annual revenue, states on its website that “Earth is now our only shareholder.” But the company has supported groups tied to Palestinian terrorism, according to a report in the Washington Examiner.<
Well there goes shopping at @patagonia https://t.co/r7d4ZpK7MN
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) June 11, 2024
The company’s foundation paid $139,000 to the Arizona nonprofit Alliance for Global Justice, which funds progressive causes and is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Samidoun, designated terrorist groups, the Examiner reported.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), told the magazine, “I would hope Americans would stop buying their products.”
“Patagonia now knows that it is part of the terror funding apparatus and must take swift action,” Marc Greendorfer, president of Zachor Legal Institute, told the Examiner.
Report: Joe Biden Watched His Dog Commander Bite Secret Service Agents, Then Accused Them of Lying
By Paul Roland Bois(Breitbart)
President Joe Biden reportedly watched his German shepherd Commander bite and attack Secret Service members in a situation that became so toxic the agents would wish each other a “safe shift.”
Secret Service records reportedly show that agents were fearful that the dog Commander would attack, with one agent even suggesting the use of a muzzle. Per the New York Post:
The 81-year-old president reportedly accused a Secret Service member of lying about being attacked by Major during his first year in office, but was present for at least three separate attacks involving Commander, files released to Judicial Watch under Freedom of Information Act litigation show.
A previously unreported incident on Sept. 12, 2023, featured a pair of bites in which Commander tore holes in a Secret Service member’s suit as Biden took him for a walk in the Kennedy Garden along the South Lawn of the White House.
In the report, the Secret Service agent assigned to protect the president said in his report that Biden “took Commander (on a leash) to the Kennedy Garden this evening for a walk,” which then led to a biting incident.
“While [Biden] and Commander were in the Kennedy Garden I was standing half way from the Book-Sellers [lobby] and the Family Theater,” the agent wrote. “[Biden] opened the Book-Seller door and said [redacted]. As I started to walk toward him to see if he needed help, Commander ran through his legs and bit my left arm through the front of my jacket. I pulled my arm away and yelled no.”
“[President Biden] also yelled [redacted] to Commander. [Biden] then [redacted]. I obliged and Commander let me pet him,” the report continued. “When turning to close the door, Commander jumped again and bit my left arm for the second time. [Biden] again yelled at Commander and attached the leash to him. My suit coat has 3 holes, 1 being all the way through. No skin was broken.”
The report included photos that showed damage to the agent’s suit and dress shirt.
President Joe Biden walks with his dog Commander, Tuesday, June 21, 2022, in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
After another attack in September of 2023 wherein an agent needed medical attention, one agent told another to “have a safe shift,” though it remains unclear if Biden was present for the exchange or biting incident. Two days later, the agency’s Safety, Health & Environmental Division wrote, “Can we please find a way to get this dog muzzled.”
Biden was noted to have been present in two prior attacks – one in October 2022 and the other in December 2022. The documents do not place Biden on the scene for the more severe attacks, such as the one that occurred in November 2022, which sent a Secret Service agent to the hospital after Commander “clamped down on their arm and thigh at the base of a stairwell at the White House,” per the NY Post.
As Breitbart News reported this year, Commander had as many as 24 biting incidents at the White House and other locations. The reported incidents were documented by CNN after it obtained internal USSS documents that showed the dog bit agents more times than were initially thought.
“The new documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal the extent to which the situation had become a serious workplace issue for the hundreds of staff supporting White House operations, and how agency personnel changed their habits to avoid being injured by the German shepherd,” noted CNN.
A source close to Bidens said at the time that the family feels “awful” and “heartbroken” over the biting incidents, adding that they apologized profusely.
“They’ve been heartbroken over this. They’ve apologized to those who have been bitten, taken flowers to some. They feel awful. Commander was over-protective, and even though they tried and tried to work on it, they had to let him go live with other members of their family,” the source said.
Commander joined the family as a puppy in December 2021; the biting incidents began in October 2022 and continued for nearly a full year. Elizabeth Alexander, first lady Jill Biden’s communications director, said in a statement provided to CNN that Commander has been kept away from all White House staff and Secret Service agents since other family members took him into custody.
“The president and first lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day. Despite additional dog training, leashing, working with veterinarians, and consulting with animal behaviorists, the White House environment simply proved too much for Commander,” she said.
“Since the fall, he has lived with other family members,” she added.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
How Did 8 Men With Ties to Islamic State Get Into US?
Virginia Allen- The Daily Signal
Eight Tajikistan nationals with suspected ties to the Islamic State were arrested across three U.S. cities in recent days.
All eight men entered the U.S. illegally through the southern border and passed initial background checks, according to federal sources that told Fox News the men were “fully vetted.” But passing a background check often does not mean much, according to Thomas Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under former President Donald Trump.
“Thousands of terrorists in the world are not found in any database,” Homan told The Daily Signal. “That is why we need to end catch and release and reestablish the ‘Remain in Mexico’ [policy].”
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Homan said he has been raising concerns about the vulnerability of the southern border for three years because the sheer numbers arriving at the southern border daily are preventing Border Patrol from conducting proper vetting of illegal aliens through deep dive interviews and other means.
“Federal law requires that illegal aliens that enter the U.S. illegally ‘shall be detained,’” Homan said. “The Biden administration needs to stop ignoring the law, stop violating the law and secure our border. You will never have strong national security without strong border security.”
Former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott echoed Homan, telling The Daily Signal that border security “has always been fundamentally” about preventing illegal entry.
“The entire purpose is to identify and prevent threats from ever entering our home,” Scott said. “The Biden administration soundly rejected this commonsense public safety principle in favor of a reactionary strategy that lets everyone into our home and then tries to sort out the threats afterwards. Now we are seeing the results.”
The White House did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
ICE worked with the FBI to make the arrests of the Tajikistan nationals in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, the New York Post’s Jennie Taer first reported.
ICE arrested six of the men after the FBI flagged their suspected ties to the radical Islamic terrorist groups. The two other men in the group were apprehended following surveillance over the course of several months, according to NBC.
A wiretap was a part of the investigation into the illegal aliens, which revealed one of the now apprehended men reportedly talking about bombs.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI told the New York Post in a joint statement that the arrests were “carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The individuals arrested are detained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
Between the beginning of fiscal year 2017 and end of fiscal year 2020, Border Patrol apprehended 11 individuals on America’s terrorist watch list between ports of entry at the southern border. Since the beginning of fiscal year 2021 to present, Border Patrol has apprehended 362 illegal aliens on the terror watchlist between ports at the southern border.
Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.” Send an email to Virginia.
Gazans plead with Hamas to accept ceasefire
By World Israel News Staff
Gaza civilians increasingly disheartened by Hamas’ refusal to accept a compromise for a ceasefire with Israel vented their frustration to foreign reporters, calling publicly on the terror group to soften its terms in hostage deal talks.
Speaking AFP, 67-year-old Umma Ala said Hamas has “led the Palestinian people into a war of annihilation.”
“If the Hamas leaders were interested in ending this war and ending the suffering of the Palestinian people, they would have agreed [to a deal],” said Ala.
Abu Eyad, 55, a resident of northern Gaza, said Hamas’ behavior had made a “mockery of us, our pain and the destruction of our lives.”
Noting that his three children have been separated by the war, he accused Hamas leaders of “sleeping comfortable, eating and drinking” while Gaza civilians suffer the consequences of the war they launched.
“Have you ever tried to actually live our lives today?”
“Did you know that many times we don’t find any food at all?”
Speaking with reporters, 35-year-old Abu Shaker directly addressed the Hamas terror group’s leadership, demanding an explanation for the refusal to agree to a ceasefire.
“What are you waiting for? What do you want? The war must end at any cost. We cannot bear it any longer.”
“We are tired, we are dead, we are destroyed and our tragedies are countless,” he added.
Fifty-year-old Umm Shadi demanding Hamas “end the war immediately without seeking to control and rule Gaza.”
“Every day the war on Gaza increases, our pain and the pain of the people increases,” she continued. “What is Hamas waiting for?”
There Are Only Downsides To Prolonging The War In Ukraine
Authored by Connor O’Keefe via The Mises Institute,
Last week, President Joe Biden and a number of top American and European officials met in Normandy to attend a ceremony marking the eightieth anniversary of the D-day invasion. In a pair of speeches, Biden recounted the operation that he said marked the beginning of the “great crusade to liberate Europe from tyranny” before drawing a direct connection to where things stand with the war in Ukraine.
Biden called Russian president Vladamir Putin a tyrant who invaded Ukraine simply because he is “bent on domination.” Biden then renewed one of his favorite tropes, asserting that if Ukraine falls, its people will be subjugated, its neighbors will be in immediate danger, and all of Europe will be threatened by Putin’s aggressive ambitions.
But the West’s chosen depiction of Putin as a tyrant bent on conquering the entire European continent suffered its latest setback last month when it came out that the Russian president is interested in halting the fighting and negotiating a deal that recognizes the current battlefield lines.
Putin is showing this interest even though the Russian military is in a strong position that seems likely to get even stronger. Last year’s long-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive was meant to drive Russian forces out of Ukraine. But since its launch last summer, Ukraine has lost more territory than it has gained. Recently, the Russians even launched a brand new incursion into territory around the northeastern city of Kharkiv—territory that had already been recaptured by the Ukrainians in late 2022.
Russia’s minefields, artillery, and punishing glide bombs have not only kept Ukrainian forces from advancing but left them struggling to hold their positions along the current front line. Meanwhile, Russia has significantly boosted war-related production far beyond anything we’re seeing from the West, which, while bad for the Russian economy in the long run, ensures the intensity of Russia’s bombing and shelling will not cease anytime soon.
At the same time, the Ukrainian government is facing a serious shortage of soldiers that no amount of foreign aid or equipment transfers can do anything to alleviate. Earlier this year, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law that sought to boost conscription rates by making it easier for the government to find and identify draft-eligible men. But the problem persists, leading Ukrainian officials to tap into the country’s prison population, cut consular services to military-aged Ukrainian men living abroad, and forbid men who are dual citizens from leaving Ukraine. As the country’s supply of young men runs low, the average age of a Ukrainian soldier has climbed to forty-three years old.
What makes Ukraine’s situation even more tragic is how easily it could have been avoided. One month after Russia invaded in early 2022, both sides reached an agreement where Russia would pull back to preinvasion boundaries and, in return, Ukraine would agree to not seek NATO membership.
The deal could have put an end to the fighting and handed Kyiv control of all the land Russia had just seized. But, according to senior negotiators on both sides and high-level mediators from the various countries facilitating the talks, officials from the United Kingdom and the United States convinced the Ukrainians to walk away from the deal and fight.
Since then, Ukraine’s leverage over Russia has only diminished. Many Ukrainians have been killed or maimed as the war has devolved into a brutal trench-style artillery war. Meanwhile, Russia laid permanent claim to the land it had earlier agreed to hand back to Ukraine.
Even with its extensive conscription laws, Ukraine does not have enough soldiers to break through Russia’s now heavily fortified lines, much less to drive Russian forces out of all the territory claimed by Kyiv. The Ukrainians have, so far, been able to prevent the Russians from advancing and seizing all the territory that Moscow now claims. But with their dwindling numbers, Ukrainian forces won’t be able to hold these lines forever.
So, accepting Russia’s offer to move this conflict from the battlefield to the negotiation table is almost certainly the best chance Ukraine will get to hold onto the eastern territory they still control.
But rather than take this opportunity, the Ukrainian government and its backers in Europe and the United States have instead decided to escalate the conflict with risky, strategically pointless provocations.
President Biden and a number of other European heads of state recently gave Ukraine a green light to use NATO weapons to conduct strikes within Russia. Around the same time, Ukraine struck two Russian strategic nuclear early-warning radars and attempted to strike a third one deeper in Russian territory.
And, as if hampering Russia’s ability to confirm that they are not under a nuclear attack after allowing Ukraine to shoot US missiles into Russia wasn’t enough, the US then test-fired two nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles—launching them four thousand miles from California to the Marshall Islands.
The escalations have not been one-sided. Russia conducted drills simulating the use of strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus and has sent warships and a submarine to the Caribbean. The Russians have also stepped up shelling and airstrikes in Ukraine in response to the strikes on their territory.
None of this is necessary. The strikes on Russian territory have not translated to Ukrainian gains on the battlefield. And the Russian early-warning radar Ukraine hit wasn’t even aimed at Ukrainian airspace. All these escalations do is prolong the Ukrainian people’s suffering while nudging the world closer to a catastrophic nuclear accident.
Instead of fantasizing about waging some World War II–level offensive on Putin’s Russia, Biden and his friends in NATO should come back to reality and, before it’s too late, agree to work this conflict out with words for a change.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The West Is Sick Of The New Woke Jihadism
Victor Davis Hanson(Daily Caller)
What are the mobs in Washington defiling iconic federal statues with impunity and pelting policemen really protesting?
What are the throngs in London brazenly swarming parks and rampaging in the streets really angry about?
Occupations?
They could care less that the Islamist Turkish government still stations 40,000 troops in occupied Cyprus. No one is protesting against the Chinese takeover of a once-independent Tibet or the threatened absorption of an autonomous Taiwan.
Refugees?
None of these mobs are agitating on behalf of the nearly one million Jews ethnically cleansed since 1947 from the major capitals of the Middle East. Some 200,000 Cypriots displaced by Turks earn not a murmur. Nor does the ethnic cleansing of 99 percent of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ancient Armenian population just last year.
Civilian casualties?
The global protestors are not furious over the one million Uighurs brutalized by the communist Chinese government. Neither are they concerned about the Turkish government’s indiscriminate war against the Kurds or its serial threats to attack Armenians and Greeks.
The new woke jihadist movement is instead focused only on Israel and “Palestine.” It is oblivious to the modern gruesome Muslim-on-Muslim exterminations of Bashar al-Assad and Saddam Hussein, the Black September massacres of Palestinians by Jordanian forces, and the 1982 erasure of thousands in Hama, Syria.
So woke jihadism is not an ecumenical concern for the oppressed, the occupied, the collateral damage of war, or the fate of refugees. Instead, it is a romanticized and repackaged anti-Western, anti-Israel, and antisemitic jihadism that supports the murder of civilians, mass rape, torture, and hostage-taking.
But what makes it now so insidious is its new tripartite constituency.
First, the old romantic pro-Palestine cause was rebooted in the West by millions of Arab and Muslim immigrants who have flocked to Europe and the U.S. in the last half-century.
Billions of dollars in oil sheikdom “grant” monies swarmed Western universities to found “Middle Eastern Studies” departments. These are not so much centers for historical or linguistic scholarship as political megaphones focused on “Zionism” and “the Jews.”
Moreover, there may be well over a half-million affluent Middle Eastern students in Western universities. Given that they pay full tuition, imbibe ideology from endowed Middle Eastern studies faculty, and are growing in number, they logically feel that they can do anything with impunity on Western streets and campuses.
Second, the Diversity/Equity/Inclusion movement empowers the new woke jihadis. Claiming to be non-white victims of white Jewish colonialism, they pose as natural kindred victims to Blacks, Latinos, and any Westerner now claiming oppressed status.
Black radicalism, from Al Sharpton to Louis Farrakhan to Black Lives Matter, has had a long, documented history of antisemitism. It is no wonder that its elite eagerly embraced the anti-Israeli Palestine movement as fellow travelers.
The third leg of woke jihadism is mostly affluent white leftist students at Western universities. Sensing that their faculties are anti-Israel, their administrations are anti-Israel (although more covertly) and the most politically active among the student body are anti-Israel, European and American students find authenticity in virtue-signaling their solidarity with Hamas, Hezbollah, and radical Islamists in general.
Given the recent abandonment of standardized tests for admission to universities, the watering-down of curricula, and rampant grade inflation, thousands of students at elite campuses feel that they have successfully redefined their universities to suit their own politics, constituencies and demographics.
Insecure about their preparation for college and mostly ignorant of the politics of the Middle East, usefully idiotic students find resonance by screaming antisemitic chants and wearing keffiyehs.
Nurtured in grade school on the Marxist binary of bad, oppressive whites versus good, oppressed nonwhites, they can cheaply shed their boutique guilt by joining the mobs.
The result is a bizarre new antisemitism and overt support for the gruesome terrorists of Hamas by those who usually preach to the middle class about their own exalted morality.
Still, woke jihadism would never have found resonance had Western leaders — vote-conscious heads of state, timid university presidents, and radicalized big-city mayors and police chiefs — not ignored blatant violations of laws against illegal immigration, vandalism, assault, illegal occupation, and rioting.
Finally, woke jihadism is fueling a radical Western turn to the right, partly due to open borders and the huge influx into the West from non-Western illiberal regimes.
Partly the reaction is due to the ingratitude shown their hosts by indulged Middle-Eastern guest students and green card holders.
Partly, the public is sick of the sense of entitlement shown by pampered, sanctimonious protestors.
And partly the revulsion arises against left-wing governments and universities that will not enforce basic criminal and immigration statutes in fear of offending this strange new blend of wokism and jihadism.
Yet the more violent campuses and streets become, the more clueless the mobs seem about the cascading public antipathy to what they do and what they represent.
Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness. He is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author of “The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won,” from Basic Books. You can reach him by e-mailing [email protected].n
Pro-Hamas Protesters Burn American & Israeli Flags Outside Israeli Consulate in NYC
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a shocking and incendiary display of hatred, three masked individuals set fire to American and Israeli flags outside the Israeli consulate in New York City on Wednesday. According to a report in The New York Post on Thursday, the incident, captured in disturbing images and videos, took place at the intersection of Second Avenue and East 42nd Street, sending ripples of outrage and concern through the community.
The pro-Hamas protest, which quickly turned into an act of arson, saw the American flags consumed by flames, nearly disappearing beneath the intense heat. The three protesters, one of whom has a history of recent arrests, carried out their act in broad daylight, standing defiantly in front of the consulate building, as was reported by The Post.
On Wednesday, outside the Israeli Consulate in NYC, a mob burned both American and Israeli flags. This act shows that hatred towards Israel always accompanies anti-American sentiment. The NYPD has increased security efforts around the consulate to ensure the safety of our… pic.twitter.com/Ffylh5cI5b
— Israel in New York (@IsraelinNewYork) June 13, 2024
One of the protesters, dressed in a keffiyeh and a shirt emblazoned with “Gaza,” held a burning American flag in the bike lane directly in front of an NYPD booth. As was described in The Post report, the bright yellow flames reflected off the booth’s glass, creating a stark and unsettling image. Another masked individual set an Israeli flag on fire, which quickly wilted and fell from its flagpole.
The NYPD responded swiftly to the incident, resulting in the arrest of one of the protesters. Jahki Lodgson-McCray, a 20-year-old from New Jersey, was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree menacing, disorderly conduct, and failure to use a sidewalk, according to the information provided in The Post report. It remains unclear whether Lodgson-McCray was the individual holding one of the American flags or the person burning the Israeli flag.
This happened out front of the Consulate General of Israel in NYC today.
They burned American and Israeli flags.
This is their reasoning:
“The American empire is an active participant in the current genocidal onslaught, not only by funding and arming the Zionist… pic.twitter.com/qBKgDhtS2k— Angela Van Der Pluym (@anjewla90) June 13, 2024
The visual impact of the burning flags, particularly in such a public and prominent location, has elicited strong reactions from various community members and leaders. The Post reported that the Jewish community, in particular, has expressed deep concern and condemnation of the act, viewing it as an escalation of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments.
The arrest of Lodgson-McCray highlights the legal ramifications of such acts of protest. The charges of reckless endangerment and menacing reflect the potential danger posed by setting flags on fire in a public space, particularly in close proximity to people and property. Disorderly conduct and failure to use a sidewalk are additional charges that underscore the disruption caused by the protest.
This arrest marks Lodgson-McCray’s fourth run-in with the law in recent weeks, following charges of criminal trespassing and resisting arrest in May, the Post report added.
Despite Lodgson-McCray’s arrest, the identities of the other two protesters remain unknown. Their involvement in the flag-burning and subsequent escape have left many questions unanswered.
Pro-Hamas “protesters” burn the flag of the USA in front of Israeli Consulate in New York City.
DEPORT THESE TERRORIST SUPPORTERS. pic.twitter.com/eqPqUHeMk8— Sam I Am 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 (@Samm0725) June 14, 2024
The flag-burning was part of a larger pattern of vandalism that plagued Manhattan on Wednesday. Other vandals splashed red paint across various locations, including a Palestinian mission and a luxury Upper East Side building, as per the information in The Post report. Photos also show a NYPD cruiser covered in the same blood-red paint.
Indicated in The Post report was that earlier in the week, similar paint-carrying protesters targeted the homes of the Jewish director of the Brooklyn Museum and several of its board members, further highlighting the escalating tensions and targeted actions against symbolic figures and locations.
Queens Jihadist Held Without Bail After Weapons Arsenal Found Near La Guardia Airport
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a dramatic and concerning turn of events, Judd Sanson, a 29-year-old man from Queens, was apprehended just blocks from La Guardia International Airport with a veritable arsenal of weapons in his SUV, according to a report on Thursday in The New York Post. The incident, which unfolded early Wednesday morning, has sparked significant alarm and highlights the persistent threat of domestic terrorism. As new details emerge, the gravity of Sanson’s intentions and the potential catastrophe averted become starkly clear.
The initial encounter that led to Sanson’s arrest was seemingly routine. Police officers, noted for their vigilance, stopped Sanson due to obscured license plates on his black Ford Explorer, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday. However, The Post report indicated that the situation quickly escalated when Sanson nervously reached under his seat during the first few moments of the stop. This suspicious behavior prompted officers to investigate further, leading to the discovery of a loaded 9mm Glock pistol under the driver’s seat.
Sanson’s justification for his presence near the airport was flimsy. He claimed, “Sorry, there is a lot of drunk people nowadays,” and added that he was visiting his uncle in Jamaica while residing in Hollis, Queens, the report in The Post indicated.
Sanson was taken to the 110th Precinct stationhouse for questioning before being led out in handcuffs for his court appearance on Thursday. Throughout the ordeal, Sanson maintained a nonchalant demeanor, even smiling and grinning widely when reporters asked if he had purchased his weapons arsenal on Amazon.
Queens Assistant District Attorney Dylan Nesturrick detailed the alarming inventory discovered in Sanson’s vehicle. Along with the loaded Glock, officers found nearly a dozen weapons, including a makeshift axe hanging from the ceiling, a makeshift sword, and a knife strapped to Sanson’s leg, as was described in The Post report. Additionally, an NYPD bullet-proof vest and 179 rounds of ammunition were discovered. The presence of an MTA reflective vest further added to the bizarre and threatening collection of items.
These findings suggest meticulous preparation and an intent to cause significant harm. Noted in The Post report was that the makeshift nature of some weapons indicated a level of improvisation, possibly pointing to Sanson’s resourcefulness and determination to arm himself by any means necessary.
The investigation extended to Sanson’s father’s apartment on Jamaica Avenue, where police executed a search warrant. Prosecutors revealed that a Glock holding case was found during the search, adding to the mounting evidence against Sanson.
Sanson’s arrest has raised numerous questions about his motives and potential affiliations. While prosecutors have not detailed the “disturbing photo” found on his Facebook page, its mention suggests that Sanson’s social media presence could provide critical insights into his ideological leanings and possible radicalization, The Post report explained.
Sanson’s attire during his court appearance—a black t-shirt emblazoned with the words “Dreamer: Into reality” and a rose—adds an enigmatic layer to his personality. The report added that it hints at a possible delusional or aspirational aspect to his actions, aligning with the profiles of individuals driven by extremist beliefs.
Despite having addresses in Tennessee and Maryland, Sanson primarily resides with his father in Hollis, Queens, and is a father himself to a 1-year-old daughter.
Sanson was ordered held without bail by Judge Julieta Lozano, a decision reflecting the perceived severity of the threat he posed. The Post report affirmed that Assistant District Attorney Nesturrick emphasized that the car stop likely prevented a major disaster, not just for Queens but potentially for the entire country. The arsenal found in Sanson’s SUV, combined with his proximity to La Guardia Airport, suggests that his actions could have led to a high-casualty event.
During the arraignment, Sanson’s lawyer, Thomas Montella of Queens Defenders, portrayed his client as a hardworking individual supporting his young daughter. Montella argued for reasonable bail, stating, “This is, at the end of the day, a gun case.” The Post reported that Sanson’s background as a self-employed mechanic with no known history of violent behavior complicates the case. His attorney’s portrayal of him as a dedicated father contrasts sharply with the image painted by the prosecution of a man prepared for violent action.
Indicated in The Post report was that despite his plea, Judge Julieta Lozano sided with the prosecution, agreeing that the severity of the situation warranted keeping Sanson at Rikers Island without bail pending his next court appearance on Monday.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz called attention to the seriousness of the case, highlighting the proximity of Sanson’s arrest to La Guardia Airport. “It is concerning that he was a few blocks away from the airport,” Katz remarked, as was reported by The Post. “You got to ask about the intent.”
The Dramatic Israeli Hostage Rescue Mission in Gaza: Inside the Intense Firefight & Heroic Efforts
The Dramatic Israeli Hostage Rescue Mission in Gaza: Inside the Intense Firefight & Heroic Efforts
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a daring and meticulously planned operation reminiscent of a spy thriller, undercover Israeli agents, including women disguised in traditional Palestinian attire, infiltrated a Gaza neighborhood to gather intelligence for a high-stakes rescue mission, as was reported on Thursday in The New York Post. According to a report by the Jewish Chronicle, these agents played a crucial role in the dramatic rescue of four hostages from the heart of Gaza on Saturday.
Disguised as wealthy Gaza families displaced by the ongoing conflict in Rafah, Israeli spies, both men and women, rented a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Their mission was to confirm the presence of 26-year-old Noa Argamani and three men held captive in the area. The Post report indicated that to blend in, the agents wore traditional Palestinian clothing, including black dresses and hijabs for the women, and adopted Gazan Arabic accents.
One group of undercover agents walked past the building where Argamani was believed to be held, using their disguise to avoid arousing suspicion. Meanwhile, another team secretly scouted the nearby location where Almog Meir Jan, 26, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were reportedly detained.
Over the course of several days, the spies acclimated to the area and gathered crucial intelligence about the hostages’ locations, as per The Post report. This information was vital for the success of the rescue mission. The agents confirmed the hostages’ presence, setting the stage for the next phase of the operation.
H/T Amir Tsarfati @beholdisrael
This is the moment the rescue helicopters boarded by the rescued hostages.
From me:
Yesterday I posted videos of Palestinians partying on a beach and I got more hate than ever.
To all of you haters, we just found our hostages right near… pic.twitter.com/fJ8CMlRskX
— Cheryl E 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🎗️ (@CherylWroteIt) June 8, 2024
Once the hostages’ locations were verified, 28 commandos from the elite Yamam police counter-terrorism unit began intensive training for the rescue mission. Using two custom-built models that replicated the buildings where the hostages were held, the commandos rehearsed the operation meticulously, according to the information provided in The Post report. These models allowed the team to familiarize themselves with the layout and potential challenges of the actual sites.
On the night of June 5, most of the undercover agents withdrew from the area to minimize the risk of detection and to pave the way for the commandos. The following day, the rescue mission commenced.
The operation unfolded in two parts. First, the commandos successfully rescued Noa Argamani from her location. According to The Post report, the terrorists guarding her were neutralized, and Argamani was quickly evacuated and flown back to Israel by helicopter. This part of the mission went smoothly, demonstrating the effectiveness of the intelligence gathered and the precision of the commandos’ execution.
However, the rescue of the three men from the separate building encountered complications. Details of these complications were not fully disclosed, but they highlighted the inherent risks and unpredictability of such high-stakes operations, as per the information contained in The Post report. Despite the challenges, the operation’s primary objective—to save the hostages—was largely achieved.
The operation, involving elite Yamam police counter-terrorism units, highlighted both the risks and the heroism inherent in such high-stakes rescues.
The commandos used a ladder to access the exact room where the hostages were being held. However, they were met with unexpected resistance. The report in The Post said that approximately 30 Hamas terrorists armed with machine guns and grenades, were inside the building and immediately opened fire, catching the Israeli forces off-guard.
A massive firefight erupted, with bullets and grenades flying in all directions. During the chaos, the three hostages were quickly moved to a bathroom for protection. The intense battle called attention to the volatile and unpredictable nature of rescue operations in hostile environments.
Amidst the fierce combat, Yamam commander Arnon Zamora, 36, was fatally wounded. His leadership and bravery were pivotal in the operation, and his loss was deeply felt by the entire unit. The Post report added that Zamora’s actions exemplified the courage and dedication of the Israeli commandos, who continued the mission despite the heavy resistance and significant personal risk.
As the commandos began to escort the hostages out of the building, the situation escalated further. The Post report noted that more Hamas terrorists emerged, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, and launched a renewed assault on the rescue team.
Israeli reinforcements from ground, air, and sea quickly responded to the escalating conflict. Hundreds of soldiers engaged in close-quarter battles with Hamas terrorists, providing crucial support to the commandos and ensuring the safe evacuation of the hostages, as was described in The Post report. The reinforcements’ timely arrival and overwhelming firepower played a critical role in the success of the mission.
The Hamas-backed Gaza health ministry reported that 274 Palestinians were killed during the operation, though it did not specify how many of those were Hamas terrorists, the report in The Post added. The high casualty count sheds light on the ferocity of the battle and the complex environment in which the rescue was conducted.
“One of the most complicated hostage rescue missions in history.”
The operation to rescue the hostages from Nusayrat was named “Summer Seeds” and is defined by the IDF as one of the most complex ever for hostage rescue.
The hostages were held in a heavily civilian populated… pic.twitter.com/GOVqaN3L1Y
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 8, 2024
Addendum
HOW IT UNFOLDED: In the heart of the Nuseirat refugee camp, after 8 months and one day in captivity in Gaza, one of the boldest operations since the war began took place. Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv and Andrey Kozlov, who were abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, were rescued in Operation Arnon, named after Yamam commando Arnon Zamora, who was killed during the operation.
– Here is a minute-by-minute account of the mission.
– Thursday, 6:30 PM: Following weeks of meticulous planning, drills and advanced intelligence tracking, the political echelon approved the operation initially dubbed Summer Seeds. The green light was given during a classified discussion, with details heavily compartmentalized, as they awaited the opportune moment to act.
– Saturday, 10:00 AM: Two main strike teams, disguised as Arabs, launched from several directions toward the Nuseirat refugee camp near the coast. Moving stealthily in broad daylight, the forces approached the two buildings where the hostages were held, unnoticed by thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of local Hamas terrorists.
– According to Palestinian sources, the forces entered using a humanitarian aid truck, and Al Jazeera aired footage purportedly showing IDF vehicles from the moments following the operation. The IDF denied this, as well as any use of the American pier.
– 10:45 AM: Special ground surveillance and airborne technological tracking confirmed the area was clear, with no suspicious movement detected in the two buildings, each 3-4 stories high. Noa Argamani was held in one building, while the other three hostages were in the second building, along with Gazan families and armed guards.
– 10:50 AM: Live information and footage of the alleys, spanning hundreds of meters between the two targets, were transmitted to screens in the two command centers overseeing the operation: the Shin Bet’s central command, attended by service head Ronen Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and the Southern Command in Be’er Sheva, where the regional commander directed the surrounding forces and the rescue operation.
– 11:00 AM: The two ground teams receive the go-ahead command, personally approved in real-time by the Shin Bet head and IDF chief. They storm the buildings simultaneously to prevent the terrorists in the second target from discovering the operation and endangering the hostages.
– 11:10 AM: While the elimination of the guards and the rescue of Argamani proceed relatively smoothly, the operation in the second building encounters significant complications. Chief Inspector Zamora’s team reports casualties during the firefight. After neutralizing the terrorists, the commandos tend to their wounded commander and attempt to evacuate him under heavy gunfire.
– 11:15 AM: The eagerly awaited message is relayed over the radio: “The diamonds are in our hands,” indicating the hostages are secured.
– 11:20 AM: Amid the delay, dozens of terrorists gather around the building where the three hostages were held, with hundreds more armed with RPGs, PK machine gun, and AK-47 rifles approaching from all directions. They navigate through the narrow alleys and the nearby market, crowded with thousands of Gazans.
– 11:22 AM: The forces attempt to escape in the rescue vehicle, but it is hit by heavy fire and begins to falter. In response, Southern Command chief Yaron Finkelman activates a pre-planned extraction strategy.
– 11:25 AM: Air Force fighter jets and helicopters fire dozens of munitions at the terrorists to isolate the area. Hundreds of reinforcements from the 7th Armored Brigade, Paratroopers, Givati and Kfir brigades, mobilized as backup, are deployed on foot, in tanks and Namer APCs into the refugee camp, with Navy vessels providing cover from the west.
– 11:30 AM: Reinforcement troops and the Air Force successfully isolate the main combat zone, securing a safe escape route for the main force with the three hostages. In a rare move, Southern Command authorizes Air Force Sikorsky helicopters to land deep within the Gaza Strip for extraction, under the cover of fighter jet fire. Aerial strikes target terrorists just a few dozen yards away from the soldiers.
– 11:50 AM: The last special forces operatives board the helicopters, which take off for hospitals in Israel. Despite continued efforts to resuscitate Chief Inspector Zamora during the flight, he is pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Reinforcement troops from IDF brigades maintain engagement with terrorists on the operation’s perimeter, eliminating dozens more until the mission concludes.
– 1:33 PM: The IDF, Shin Bet and police officially announce the rescue of the four hostages. The above is via Ynet.
Columbia Administrators Fire Off Hostile and Dismissive Text Messages, Vomit Emojis During Alumni Reunion Panel on Jewish Life
On Friday, May 31, alumni descended on Columbia University’s Manhattan campus to celebrate their class reunions. In addition to eating and drinking, the festivities included several panel discussions featuring professors and administrators.
One, focused on Jewish life on campus, was particularly newsworthy. Student protesters who had broken into and occupied a university building during the academic year had reconstituted themselves to disrupt reunion festivities, and, as the protesters were preparing to erect a new encampment, the university held a panel discussion about the past, present, and future of Jewish life at Columbia.
The event featured the former dean of Columbia Law School, David Schizer, who co-chaired the university’s task force on anti-Semitism; the executive director of Columbia’s Kraft Center for Jewish Life, Brian Cohen; the school’s dean of religious life, Ian Rottenberg; and a rising Columbia junior, Rebecca Massel, who covered the campus protests for the student newspaper.
In the audience, according to two attendees, were several top members of the Columbia administration. Given the sensitivity of the subject—the eruption of anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel put a national spotlight on the school, and Columbia recently settled a lawsuit with a Jewish student who accused the school of fostering an unsafe learning environment—the administrators’ presence made sense.
The administrators included Josef Sorett, the dean of Columbia College; Susan Chang-Kim, the vice dean and chief administrative officer of Columbia College; Cristen Kromm, the dean of undergraduate student life; and Matthew Patashnick, the associate dean for student and family support.
Throughout the panel, which unfolded over nearly two hours, Chang-Kim was on her phone texting her colleagues about the proceedings—and they were replying to her in turn. As the panelists offered frank appraisals of the climate Jewish students have faced, Columbia’s top officials responded with mockery and vitriol, dismissing claims of anti-Semitism and suggesting, in Patashnick’s words, that Jewish figures on campus were exploiting the moment for “fundraising potential.”
“This is difficult to listen to but I’m trying to keep an open mind to learn about this point of view,” Chang-Kim texted Sorett, the dean of the college. “Yup,” he replied.
Texts between Susan Chang-Kim, the vice dean of Columbia College, and Joseph Sorett, the dean of Columbia College. Chang-Kim says panelists’ concerns about anti-Semitism are “difficult to listen to.”
The text messages, which were captured by an audience member sitting behind Chang-Kim who photographed the vice dean tapping away on her phone, also used vomit emojis to describe an op-ed about anti-Semitism by Columbia’s campus rabbi.
Chang-Kim’s messages and those of her colleagues are clearly visible in the photographs. The Free Beacon verified the authenticity of the photographs with the person who took them.
The text messages betray an attitude of ignorance and indifference toward the concerns of Jewish students on a campus where protesters have called to “burn Tel Aviv to the ground” and said that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” The exchanges also raise questions about Columbia’s ability to combat anti-Semitism if its top administrators not only dismiss the problem but also sneer at those who speak out about it.
Sorett, Chang-Kim, Kromm, and Patashnick did not respond to requests for comment. An auto-response from Schizer’s email indicated he was offline for a Jewish holiday. The other panelists, Massel, Cohen, and Rottenberg, did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for Columbia said the school is “committed to combatting antisemitism and taking sustained, concrete action to ensure Columbia is a campus where Jewish students and everyone in our community feels safe, valued, and able to thrive.”
The administrators expressed skepticism that Jewish students had experienced targeting or discrimination. As Massel, who published a news report in the Columbia Spectator about Jewish students who felt “ostracized,” was asked to dilate on “the experience of Jewish and Israeli students on campus,” Chang-Kim fired off a text to Kromm and Patashnick: “Did we really have students being kicked out of clubs for being Jewish?”
Text from Chang-Kim to Patashnick and Cromm
The messages are not time-stamped, so it is not always clear to what comments from the panel the participants are referring. In other cases, though, their references are easy to understand.
At one point, Kromm used a pair of vomit emojis to refer to an op-ed penned by Columbia’s campus rabbi, Yonah Hain, in October 2023. Titled “Sounding the alarm,” the op-ed, published in the Spectator, expressed concern about the “normalization of Hamas” that Hain saw on campus.
“Debates about Zionism, one state or two states, occupation, and Israeli military and government policy are all welcome conversations on campus,” the rabbi wrote. “What’s not up for debate is that massacring Jews is unequivocally wrong.”
As the panelists described the grim state of affairs for Jewish students on campus—one alumna broke down in tears describing her daughter’s experience as a Columbia sophomore—Kromm made a derisive reference to Hain’s column. “And we thought Yonah sounded the alarm…” she wrote to Chang-Kim and Patashnick.
Text from Cristen Kromm, the dean of undergraduate student life, using vomit emojis to refer to a campus rabbi’s op-ed about anti-Semitism.
Patashnick, the associate dean for student and family support, also chimed in to say that one of the panelists—it is not clear to whom he was referring—is capitalizing on the crisis at hand to raise money.
“He knows exactly what he’s doing and how to take full advantage of this moment,” Patashnick wrote to Chang-Kim and Kromm. “Huge fundraising potential.” Chang-Kim responded: “Double Urgh.”
Text from Matthew Patashnick, the associate dean for student and family support, stating that one of the panelists is trying to “take full advantage” of the moment’s “fundraising potential.”
Schizer, who joined Columbia University president Minouche Shafik and members of the school’s board of trustees in testifying before Congress in April, spoke both to Jewish students’ feelings of exclusion and to the administration’s failure to enforce its own rules over the course of the academic year as his colleagues texted in the background.
“To me, the very worst thing, which hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention … is the idea that you could be an undergraduate who is interested in dance, who wants to be in an LGBTQ-plus affinity group, who wants to play a sport,” Schizer said, “and all of a sudden you find out that actually, because you’re a Zionist and you’re proud of your ties with Israel, that you’re either explicitly kicked out or you’re just not welcome. And to my mind, that is utterly unacceptable.”
Massel added that Israeli students had “experienced anti-Israel sentiments their entire time at Columbia,” which “exponentially grew” after Oct. 7, leading them to leave campus for weeks.
Schizer, who served as co-chair of the university’s anti-Semitism task force, spoke bluntly about some of the university’s failures when it came to disciplining participants in unauthorized protests.
“We had some protests in the lobbies of academic buildings, and to me, that is just utterly unacceptable because this is a teaching university,” he said. “And you’re absolutely entitled to express your view, it’s just you can’t do it in a way that prevents people who are, frankly, paying a lot of money for these classes not to be able to hear what their professors are saying.”
“The university has to enforce its rules,” Schizer continued, but was “incredibly ineffective in enforcing its rules in the first few weeks. And I think that the fact that the university failed to enforce rules created the problem later.”
Among the comments Chang-Kim offered to Kromm and Patashnick: “This panel is really making the administration look like jokers.” Patashnick replied, “Yep.”
Text from Chang-Kim to Patashnick and Cromm stating that the panel is making the Columbia administration “look like jokers.”
AOC Decried Growing Anti-Semitism on the Left. Days Earlier, She Requested $1.5 Million Earmark for Legal Group Accused of Hostility to Jews
By Chuck Ross(Free Beacon)
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) denounced the rise of anti-Semitism in the progressive movement at an event with liberal Jewish leaders on Monday. Weeks earlier, the “Squad” member requested $1.5 million in taxpayer funds for a New York City law group accused of hostility towards Jews and Israel.
Ocasio-Cortez requested an earmark on May 17 for Bronx Defenders to “improve justice in the criminal system” for low-income residents of the borough. Ocasio-Cortez, who has called to defund police, said the grant will help low-income defendants “mount a robust defense,” against what she laments as the “vast” resources of police departments.
Bronx Defenders has been embroiled in several high-profile incidents of anti-Semitism. The organization was ordered to pay a former Jewish employee $170,000 last year after colleagues harassed her with anti-Semitic taunts over her support for Israel. In September, Bronx Defenders employees at a court-ordered training session on anti-Semitism broke out in a chant of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a call for the eradication of the Jewish state.
Ocasio-Cortez’s request highlights the tightrope she has tried to walk as a leader of a progressive movement that has become increasingly hostile to Israel—and as an emerging ally of President Joe Biden, whom anti-Israel activists often refer to as “Genocide Joe.”
The Bronx Defenders’ anti-Israel hostility has only grown in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack. According to the New York Times, roughly 150 Bronx Defenders union members approved a statement that condemned Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, but failed to condemn Hamas’s attack, in which 1,200 Israelis were murdered. The union said it “supports Palestinian liberation and resistance under occupation,” and pushed the debunked claim that Israel bombed the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Bronx Defenders executives have tried to distance the group from the union’s statement, but that hasn’t thwarted calls to defund the organization.
Ocasio-Cortez decried anti-Semitism on the left during a virtual event with the head of Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a liberal Jewish group. While Ocasio-Cortez said anti-Semitism “undermine[s]” the progressive cause, she asserted that “bad faith political actors” are “weaponizing anti-Semitism” to divide the progressive movement.
Ocasio-Cortez’s condemnation could ring hollow given her history of voting against measures to support Israel or condemn anti-Semitic acts.
The Democrat, who accused Israel of genocide in a House floor speech in March, has suggested that “marginalized Palestinians” have “no choice but to riot” against Israel. She was 1 of 10 House members to vote against a resolution in October to condemn Hamas’s attack and reiterate “commitment to Israel’s security.” In 2021, Ocasio-Cortez apologized and publicly sobbed after she voted “present” to fund Israel’s Iron Dome, a defense system which has thwarted hundreds of Hamas rockets and Iranian drones in the latest war.
In April, Ocasio voted against a resolution to condemn “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”—the same chant that broke out at the Bronx Defenders meeting last year—as anti-Semitic.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office and the Bronx Defenders did not respond to requests for comment.
Hamas official claims: No one has an idea how many hostages are still alive
(A7) A senior Hamas official claimed on Thursday that “no one has an idea” how many of the 120 hostages still being held by the group are alive, and that any deal to release them must include guarantees of a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
In an interview with CNN, Hamas spokesperson and political bureau member Osama Hamdan said that the latest proposal on the table did not meet the group’s demands for an end to the war.
Hamdan told CNN that Hamas needed “a clear position from Israel to accept the ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, and let the Palestinians to determine their future by themselves, the reconstruction, the (lifting) of the siege … and we are ready to talk about a fair deal about the prisoners exchange.”
Hamdan added that the duration of the ceasefire was a key issue for Hamas, which is concerned that Israel has no intention of following through with the second phase of the deal. The end of hostilities must be permanent, he said, and Israel must withdraw from Gaza completely.
“The Israelis want the ceasefire only for six weeks and then they want to go back to the fight, which I think the Americans, till now, they did not convince the Israelis to accept (a permanent ceasefire),” said Hamdan, adding that he believes the US needs to convince Israel to accept a permanent ceasefire as part of the deal.
Hamdan in the interview also called the October 7 terror attacks, which sparked the current war in Gaza, “a reaction against the occupation.”
“The one who is in charge or responsible for that is (the Israeli) occupation. If you resist the occupation, (they) will kill you, if you did not resist the occupation, (they) also will kill you and deport you out of your country. So what we are supposed to do, just to wait?,” he told CNN.
Hamdan’s interview with CNN came two days after the group Hamas gave its official response to the proposal for a hostage and ceasefire deal which was outlined by President Joe Biden.
A senior Israeli official said Israel had received Hamas’ response and added that the terrorist organization rejected Biden’s proposal.
Nevertheless, Hamas political bureau member Izzat Al-Rishq insisted in a conversation with Reuters that the group’s response “opens a wide path” to reach an agreement.
He further claimed that Hamas’ response is “responsible, serious and positive”.
According to the proposal outlined by Biden, the first phase of the three-phase process would last for six weeks and would include a full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian Arab prisoners.
Phase two would see the release of all remaining living hostages, while phase three would encompass “a major reconstruction plan for Gaza,” said the President, as well as the repatriation of the remains of deceased hostages to their families.
Hezbollah vows to intensify attacks against Israel after senior military commander is killed
(AP) Hezbollah vowed Wednesday to intensify its attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border to avenge the killing of its most senior military commander by Israel since the latest round of violence began eight months ago.
“Our response after the martyrdom of Abu Taleb will be to intensify our operations in severity, strength, quantity and quality,” senior Hezbollah official Hachem Saffieddine said during a funeral ceremony for Taleb Sami Abdullah. “Let the enemy wait for us in the battlefield.”
Earlier Wednesday, Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into northern Israel, further escalating tensions as the fate of an internationally backed plan for a cease-fire in Gaza hung in the balance.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed ally of Hamas, has fired into Israel nearly every day since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, and says it will only stop if there is a truce in Gaza. That has raised fears of a regional conflagration.
Abdullah, 55, was killed in an airstrike late Tuesday. On Wednesday afternoon, his coffin was brought to Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut.
Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters and senior officials with the terror group attended the ceremony. The body was taken for burial in Abdullah’s hometown of Aadschit.
“It is natural that Abu Taleb was a permanent target,” Saffieddine said, adding that Abdullah had taken part in Hezbollah’s terror activities, including the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
Air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel on Wednesday morning, and the military said about 215 projectiles were fired from southern Lebanon — one of the largest attacks since the latest fighting began.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. Some projectiles were intercepted, while others ignited brush fires.
Hezbollah said it fired missiles and rockets at two military bases in retaliation for Abdullah’s killing.
The Israeli strike on Tuesday destroyed a house where Abdullah and three other officials were meeting, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border.
The Israeli military said the attack was part of a strike on a Hezbollah command and control center used to direct attacks against Israel in recent months.
“Abdullah was one of Hezbollah’s most senior commanders in southern Lebanon who planned, advanced and carried out” a large number of attacks against Israeli civilians, the military said.
A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Abdullah was in charge of a large part of the Lebanon-Israel front, including the area facing the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, which Hezbollah has repeatedly attacked in recent days.
The official, who was not authorized to speak to media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abdullah had joined Hezbollah decades ago and took part in attacks against Israeli forces during their 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in May 2000.
Another Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Abdullah was the commander of the group’s Nasr Unit that is in charge of parts of south Lebanon close to the Israeli border.
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since October have killed over 400 people, most of them Hezbollah fighters. On the Israeli side, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed since the war in Gaza began.
Biden offers $400 million more to terrorists within Israel
By Daniel Greenfield, Frontpage Magazine
In a poll from last year, the Muslim occupiers in West Bank and Gaza gave Hamas a 76% rating. Islamic Jihad was at 84%. The UN was at only 9%. And America was at 0%.
Maybe the latest $400 million check will turn things around.
US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced an additional $404 million in new aid to Palestinians, while attending the “Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza” Conference in Jordan on Tuesday.
This is in addition to “the more than $1.8 billion in development, economic, and humanitarian aid that the United States has provided since 2021”, as “the largest single country provider of assistance for Palestinians,” Blinken noted.
Blinken said that the only thing that stands in the way of the hostage release and ceasefire deal happening is Hamas.
And the only thing that stands in the way of Hamas being defeated and the hostages released is the Biden administration.
Apart from a $400 million check, Blinken doubled down on the proposal to save Hamas.
“In its first six weeks, the proposal would provide for a full ceasefire; the pull-back of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza; the release of a number of hostages – including women, the elderly, and wounded; a dramatic surge in aid deliveries; the return of civilians to their homes or neighborhoods in all parts of Gaza. And it would also initiate negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire.”
So Israel withdraws and allows Hamas to reclaim control over Gaza in exchange for a few hostages.
And Hamas should not require much convincing. After all, the proposal is nearly identical to the one Hamas itself proposed on May the 6th.
Apart from $400 million, Blinken is, by his own admission, peddling Hamas’ own proposal.
The only thing protecting Hamas is the Biden administration
Gantz says Israel may know what happened to the Bibas family
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz said Israel may know the fate of the Bibas family.
In an interview with Kan 11, Gantz answered in the affirmative when a journalist asked if Israel knew what happened to 9-month-old Kfir, 4-year-old Ariel, 32-year-old mother Shiri, and 34-year-old father Yarden.
Gantz answered, “I think yes,” and added that the details would be made public “when things come to fruition.”
The family has been the focus of those advocating for the hostages, not least because Kfir is the youngest of the 250 hostages taken on October 7th.
The family members were taken hostage by Hamas during their attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Shiri Bibas’s parents were murdered in the attack.
There have been many reports about the Bibas family since October 7th, some of them conflicting.
The IDF indicated that Hamas had sent the family to another terrorist group in Gaza.
After the November temporary ceasefire, during which the first group of hostages were released, Hamas did not release the Bibas children and later claimed they had died during an Israeli airstrike.
The IDF accused Hamas of issuing the statement as a form of psychological warfare on Israeli civilians but could not deny the claim, adding that Israel is working to investigate the fate of the three captives.
“The Hamas terror organization continues to act in a cruel and inhumane manner,” the IDF said.
In mid-February, the IDF released a video showing Shiri Bibas alive just after October 7th and being taken with the children to an undisclosed location.
After seeing the video, relatives of the four captives castigated Hamas, and reiterated their calls for Israeli leaders and those abroad involved with the talks aimed at a hostage deal to ensure the release of the Bibas family.
“These videos tear our hearts out,’ the family said in a statement. “Witnessing Shiri, Yarden, Ariel and Kfir, ripped away from their home in Nir Oz into this hellscape, feels unbearable and inhumane.”
There is some speculation that the October 7th mastermind Yahya Sinwar may be using the Bibas children as human shields.