Judicial Watch Statement on Resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray

  Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement on the pending resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray:

Director Wray’s resignation is a good first step to cleaning house at the FBI. Under Wray’s leadership, the FBI has become an enemy of transparency, the rule of law, constitutional government, and the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans. (Judicial Watch and I witnessed firsthand the corruption of Wray’s operation when FBI agents came to my home in what was obvious retaliation for our criticism and lawsuits exposing their abuses.)

The FBI is irredeemably corrupt. From sitting on Hunter Biden’s laptop in order to influence the 2020 election, the raid of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, and the censorship of Americans, to the targeting of traditional Catholics, this FBI has been turned into the political police for partisan leftists. Accordingly, Wray should be subject to criminal investigation.

And, as sunlight is the best disinfectant, President Trump and his FBI Director nominee Kash Patel should open wide the FBI files on its abuses of power targeting Trump and countless other American citizens.

In the meantime, Judicial Watch will continue to investigate and sue the FBI for the truth in its role in the worst government corruption in American history.

In his new book Rights and Freedoms in Peril Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton details a long chain of abuses officials and politicians have made against the American people and calls readers to battle for “the soul and survival of America.”

Judicial Watch is perhaps the nation’s leading FOIA litigant against the FBI on its corruption issues. For example:

• In October 2024, Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department for messages among top leaders of the FBI referencing social media posts of Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri, head of the Miami Field Office, which is investigating the September 15 assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
• In May 2024, Judicial Watch uncovered a recording of a phone message left by an FBI special agent for someone at the Secret Service in the context of the raid on President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
• In April 2024, Justice Department records showed that  the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt after her killing and listed four “potential violations of federal law,” including felony rioting and civil disorder.
• Judicial Watch in January 2023 sued the DOJ for records of communications between the FBI and social media sites regarding foreign influence in elections, as well as the Hunter Biden laptop story.
• In November 2023, Judicial Watch, along with  CatholicVote Civic Action, received FBI records showing top officials rushing to craft a public response to the leaked FBI intelligence memo that revealed its targeting of Catholics who adhere to traditional beliefs on church issues. In December 2023, heavily redacted records from the FBI showed that the agency’s Office of General Counsel reviewed the controversial targeting of the Catholics by the Richmond field office of the FBI. 
• In August 2022, the Department of Justice’s released a highly redacted affidavit in response to Judicial Watch’s court request to unseal the warrant materials used in the unprecedented raid on the home of President Trump.

Trump Not Pushing for "Humantarian Aid" in Gaza

 According to Amit Segel of Channel 12, Trump has communicated to Israel that, unlike Biden, he would not push for the provision of humanitarian aid.

John Fetterman Sends His Fellow Democrats a Reality Check After Meeting with Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel

 The Democratic Party has long since degenerated into a cult united primarily by members' unhinged hatred of President-elect Donald Trump.

Recently, however, a few signs have emerged suggesting that some Democrats have grown tired of their party's anti-Trump obsession.

In a Sunday interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl on "This Week," Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" and even expressed "no regrets" at having met with Trump's Cabinet picks, including Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel.

"I have met with all of them so far," Fetterman said. "And the ones that we haven't, they're on the schedule back in January."

Karl then asked if Fetterman regarded Hegseth as qualified, to which the senator replied, "We're gonna learn more."

Fetterman's full comments, however, suggested that Democrats cannot rely on him to vote against Hegseth.

"The president picked these people," the Pennsylvania senator said. "Not gonna be my first choice, second choice, third choice, but that's democracy."

"And, to me, it would be distressing if he is confirmed, if the Democrats are gonna turn our back collectively to the leader of Defense. That's astonishing, and that's dangerous," he added.

Fetterman expressed similar openness following his meeting with Patel. In that meeting, for instance, the two men talked about immigration-related stories in their respective families.

"I have learned things, and I have heard things, and I have no regrets," the senator said.

Indeed, the entire tone of the interview suggested, at minimum, an eagerness to avoid appearances of anti-Trump hostility.

"I've been warning people, like, 'You gotta chill out,'" Fetterman said of the Trump Derangement Syndrome that has plagued many in his party since 2016.

The senator also pledged to root for Trump, whom he called a "singular political talent."

Readers may watch the entire interview in the YouTube video below. Fetterman's comments on Hegseth and Patel began around the 6:30 mark.

Cynics, of course, might speculate that Fetterman simply sees the political writing on the wall.

"The support's astonishing," he said of voters' enthusiasm for Trump in "red" Pennsylvania counties. According to the Associated Press, in the 2024 election Trump won the swing state by more than 120,000 votes.

Thus, a Pennsylvania senator calculating his own political future might want to get on Trump's good side.

On the other hand, to view things less cynically, senators absolutely should consider their constituents' views. In that sense, self-interest and proper public service should dovetail. And on the issue of Trump's Cabinet picks, at least, it appears that they have done so in Fetterman.

Moreover, the Pennsylvania senator reflects a segment inside the Democratic Party that has grown tired of fighting Trump. Opposing the president-elect where necessary is one thing, but the over-the-top anti-Trump rhetoric has left them exhausted.

That fact alone suggests that even Trump's most anti-establishment nominees might win unexpected support from a small number of dissident Democrats.

Banality of Evil on 93rd and Columbus

 

Have you ever seen someone tear down a poster of a missing dog. I haven’t.

Now what if the poster was of your missing child, parent or grandparent, or worse, one or more of your family members that had been taken hostage?

The banality of evil on 93rd and Columbus in full… https://t.co/ti2Q5A7fpR

— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) December 22, 2024

Trump Serenades Crazed DemonRat Representative

 

😂🇺🇸
pic.twitter.com/iN9sDT4UOu

— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) December 22, 2024

Cargo vessel transporting Russian military equipment from Syria breaks down in open sea

 The cargo vessel Sparta sent to Syria to bring out Russian military equipment broke down in the open sea and now drifts near the shore of Portugal, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) claimed in a post on Dec. 23.

Concurrently, marine traffic monitors show a Vladivostok-bound cargo ship, Ursa Major, previously registered as Sparta III and visually matching the picture published by HUR, moving at a very low speed of little over 1 knot in the open sea between Spain and Algeria.

"The cargo ship Sparta, which Russia sent to transport its weapons and equipment from Syria, broke down during movement. A fuel pipe of the main engine failed," Ukraine's military intelligence claimed.

"The Russian crew is trying to fix the problem and (the ship) is drifting in the open sea near Portugal."

Marine traffic monitors show the Ursa Major sailing under the Russian flag and previously making port calls in St. Petersburg.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify whether the vessel was sent to Syria to transport Russian military equipment as HUR claims.

Russia, the main backer of the recently ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, began evacuating its military stationed in its bases in Syria. According to HUR, Russian military assets in Syria are now limited to two bases: the airbase in Khmeimim and the naval base in Tartus.

In an earlier statement, the agency claimed that losing the Tartus and Khmeimim bases would significantly damage Russia's presence in the Middle East and solidify its defeat in the region.

According to the agency, the victorious rebel leadership is negotiating with the Kremlin to close their remaining bases in the country no later than February 2025.

Scandal: Wall Street Journal Reports that Biden Was Already "Mentally Declined" Four Years Ago When He took Office

 

HOLY SHLIT. According to a new bombshell report by The Wall Street Journal, staffers in the Biden administration worked to hide Joe's mental decline from the moment he took office.

This included putting other officials into roles occupied by the President and scrapping national… pic.twitter.com/sM8r4GFLiB

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 20, 2024

Thank you, Israel, for saving the world, defending freedom and reshaping the Middle East

 

In just over a year, Israel has succeeded in reducing Iran’s regional influence, effectively dismantling or weakening the pillars of its strategy—the Syrian regime, Hezbollah, and Hamas.

By Majid Rafizadeh, Gatestone Institute

After Hamas carried out its horrific October 7, 2023 massacre by invading Israel, murdering hundreds of people and kidnapping individuals from various countries, Israel reached a breaking point.

This act of terrorism ignited a wave of decisive actions across the Middle East that catalyzed remarkable developments, aimed at countering and eliminating terror networks.

For decades, the region has been plagued by violence and instability, but Israel’s response marked a significant turning point, showcasing its resolve to confront terrorism head-on and help usher in a new era of security.

Israel has consistently demonstrated its commitment to thorough and resolute action. When it comes to national security, appeasement is not an option. Bribing aggressors only finance their militaries for attacks on the West in the future.

Israel’s approach to combating terrorism has always been characterized by thoroughness and determination — for which is usually put through the tortures of hell by the very countries it is working to save.

Refusing to leave any task incomplete, Israel, in its counteroffensive against Hamas, targeted and significantly diminished the terrorist group’s military capabilities and crippled its ability to function effectively.

The Iranian regime, a staunch supporter of Hamas, reacted by activating other proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, to attack Israel.

In an unprecedented move, Iran also launched ballistic missiles from Iranian soil into Israel, thereby escalating the conflict.

Iran’s regime, however, underestimated Israel’s resilience. As a Persian proverb says, “Iran was playing with the lion’s tail.” The consequences were severe.

Israel’s broader objective appears to be not merely to respond to isolated acts of terrorism, but to dismantle the infrastructure of terror in the region.

With a vision of ultimately fostering peace, harmony, security and prosperity throughout the region, as in the Abraham Accords, Israel expanded its military operations beyond Hamas.

It launched targeted strikes against Hezbollah, significantly weakening its military capabilities, and extended its efforts to Syria, striking Iranian military bases and weapons-supply chains.

These decisive actions underscored Israel’s commitment to reshaping the Middle East into a region free of the grip of terror.

One of the most extraordinary developments spurred by Israel’s actions was the unexpected collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

Within a week of launching an offensive last month, armed rebel groups achieved what for decades had seemed impossible: the conquest of key cities and the end of Assad’s reign.

This monumental shift not only dealt a devastating blow to Iran’s regional ambitions but also signaled the possibility of a brighter future for the region.

The ramifications for Iran were profound. Losing Syria, one of its closest allies, severely weakened the regime’s ability to project power and support its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In just over a year, Israel has succeeded in reducing Iran’s regional influence, effectively dismantling or weakening the pillars of its strategy—the Syrian regime, Hezbollah, and Hamas.

This achievement is unparalleled. It disrupted decades of Iran’s poisonous dominance in the region.

Thanks to Israel’s strategic and calculated actions, Iran’s regime, which had survived Western sanctions and interventions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, now faces unprecedented challenges to its survival, which cannot come to an end soon enough.

Israel’s efforts to eradicate terrorism and destabilize its sources have largely been accomplished without substantial assistance from Western democracies.

It is now time for the West to step up and support Israel and most of the Iranian people in addressing the root of the problem: the Iranian regime.

This final step requires decisive action to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program and empower the Iranian people to achieve freedom. Make Persia Great Again!

So long as Iran’s regime remains in power, brutalizing its people and making plans for global expansion, there can be no chance for peace in the region.

Removing the regime, often described as the “mother of all terrorism” and the godfather of terrorist groups, would bring lasting security and prosperity to the Middle East and beyond.

With the regime’s collapse, its proxies would be starved of funding and weaponry, paving the way for a more peaceful Middle East. One could then set about subduing Turkey and its terrorist proxies in Syria.

Israel’s contributions to global peace and the fight against terrorism are unparalleled. This small nation has accomplished what many larger powers have failed to do: confronting evil, dismantling terror networks, and advocating for freedom and security.

The world owes Israel an unpayable debt of gratitude for its unwavering courage and commitment to these ideals.

It is time for Western nations to align with Israel, offer their full support, and take the necessary steps to ensure a safer, more secure future for all. Bravo, Israel! Thank you for your remarkable efforts in making the world a safer, freer, better place.

Look at how the media reported the Terrorist Attack in Germany by a Saudi Muslim

 

Saudi Arabia's Chief Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Herzog to Visit Damascus

 Saudi Arabia's Chief Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Herzog to Visit Damascus

In a historic move, Rabbi Herzog is scheduled to meet with representatives of Syria's new rebel government during an upcoming visit to Damascus.

Iran recruiting children for attacks on Israeli targets across Europe

 

 Iran-affiliated groups are increasingly recruiting minors across Europe, particularly in Nordic countries, to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.

 

In Sweden alone, several incidents involving teenagers have occurred this year, including a 15-year-old attempting to reach the Israeli embassy with a loaded weapon, a 13-year-old shooting at the local subsidiary of Haifa-based defense company Elbit Systems, and a 16-year-old participating in a bombing attempt.

Swedish and Norwegian security services have raised alarms about these Iran-backed operations, with Norway temporarily elevating its terror threat level from medium to high in October, Bloomberg noted. The situation has prompted Norwegian authorities to arm police officers and implement border controls with Sweden.

Iran’s use of children in military operations has historical precedent. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the Iranian military deployed children, some as young as nine, in combat roles including dangerous mine-clearing operations. According to U.N. refugee agency documents, these child soldiers were given “keys to paradise”—symbolic tokens promising immediate entry to heaven if they died in battle against Iraqi forces.

Peter Nesser, a terrorism researcher at Norway’s Defense Research Institute, told Bloomberg that Iranian operatives use social media platforms such as Telegram, TikTok and WhatsApp to recruit attackers. According to tracking data, payments for attacks can range from approximately $1,560 for more serious operations to as little as $125 for smaller-scale incidents.

The Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) stated earlier this year that many recruits were unaware they worked for a foreign power. This was evident in May when police intercepted a teenage recruit who needed to call for directions to the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.

The vulnerability of Nordic countries stems from their traditionally open societies and growing Muslim populations. Sweden, which has welcomed more than 1.5 million immigrants since 1980, faces challenges with integration, as recent surveys indicate that 40% of migrants feel disconnected from Swedish society.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has prioritized addressing youth crime ahead of next year’s elections, while Swedish authorities have introduced youth detention facilities for children under 15 in response to the growing threat.

“They might try to create more havoc,” Nesser warned, discussing the potential for increased Iranian-backed activities in the region after recent setbacks to Tehran’s traditional proxy network in the Middle East.

Georgia homeowner arrested after trying to move back into her own house inhabited by squatter

 A Georgia woman was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after she tried to move into her own home — but was rebuffed by an alleged squatter.

“I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions while this woman, this squatter, slept in my home,” said Loletha Hale, who was arrested outside her mother’s old home in Livingston on Dec. 9.

Hale had arrived at the house to clean the place out after a months-long battle with the alleged squatter, Sakemeyia Johnson, whom a court had ordered out in mid-November.

But when she arrived, Johnson – who had never been a tenant of Hale, and was merely related to an evicted tenant’s partner — was still inside, and had brought somebody along to intimidate Hale.

“I returned on Monday to start painting and she had broken the locks at my property,” Hale told WSB-TV.

“She just caught up out of nowhere. She had this guy with her, and I locked the door. I locked the screen door, and he forced himself in telling us to get out,” she added.

Hale refused to back down, and the police eventually arrived. And when they did, bodycam footage showed an officer asking her to see Johnson’s side of things.

“Just think of it from this perspective, though. Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed. All the little things, a bed in their house, food in the kitchen,” the officer said.

When Hale refused to back down, she was cuffed and carted off, and with her arrest report alleging she “executed an illegal eviction and forcibly removed Ms. Johnson’s belongings,” and at one point “could clearly be heard stating ‘leave before I get my gun.’”

She was charged with a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats and criminal trespassing, while Johnson has received no charges, according to WSB-TV.

“To see that woman walk into my mom’s house while I was in the police car, something is wrong with this picture. Something is inherently wrong with this picture,” Hale said.

Trouble started at the house back in August when Hale says she caught Johnson living there without her knowledge.

Johnson received a squatting citation, but a Clayton County judge ruled “Sakemeyia Johnson is not a squatter” because of her relation to the evicted tenant’s partner – which she could be heard using in her favor on bodycam footage from the Dec. 9 altercation.

“I was written a citation saying I was a squatter. But a judge signed an order saying that I wasn’t a squatter,” Johnson said in the footage.

Hale fought that decision through a series of grueling hearings and appeals, eventually succeeding in legally ousting Johnson on Nov. 18. 

But the woman appears to have ignored the eviction.

“How can she not be squatting when I’ve never had any type of contract relationship with this person?” Hale asked.

Squatting has become a more common problem in Georgia in recent years.

In 2017 there were just three squatting cases, but in 2021 it had climbed to 50.

By 2023, there were 198 civil squatting cases across the state.

Biden commutes death sentences of child killers and mass murderers

 

President Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of 37 of 40 men on federal death row — a list that includes at least five child killers and several mass murders — in a stunning act of clemency just two days before Christmas.

Biden, 82, gave the reprieve to the nation’s most violent murderers — nine of whom were found too dangerous to live after butchering fellow inmates — as part of his effort at “ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” the White House said.

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq halt attacks on Israel

 The Lebanese al-Akhbar network reported on Monday that it had received confirmation from a leader in the Al-Nujaba militia in Iraq that the Iranian-backed militias in the country have agreed to stop their offensive against Israel.

According to the report, the "resistance factions" have reached an agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani to cease attacks on Israel and remain silent on the current developments in Syria.

The militia leader told al-Akhbar that the militias decided not to interfere in Syrian affairs and "to follow the situation from a distance, in addition to waiting to know the orientations of the US President-elect, Donald Trump, and his policy towards the Middle East, specifically Iran."

The leader noted that the militias' Iranian backers granted them the freedom to decide regarding Syria.

He pointed out that "the armed factions adhered to the words of the Iraqi government, especially after what happened in Syria, which says that there may be an intention to drag the country into a scenario worse than the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime, which may lead to the return of terrorism to Iraq again."

The report also quoted a spokesman for the Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades militia, Kazem al-Fartousi, who said that the militias' attacks on Israel were "linked to the operations of the Lebanese Hezbollah. When the ceasefire was reached in Lebanon, the operations of the Iraqi factions stopped." He added, "There are also partners in Iraq who have an opinion and reservations about those operations, and they must be listened to.”

While not as vocal as other parties such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, or Iran itself, the Iraqi militias have been behind several drone and missile attacks on Israel since the war began. In September, the militias launched two drones at the city of Eilat. One of the UAVs was intercepted outside of Israeli airspace and the other struck a building in the city. Fires broke out in the city's port and near the Herod's Hotel as a result of falling shrapnel and two individuals were lightly wounded.

Avida Bachar, whose wife and son were murdered on Oct. 7, says that 'if it had happened in Gush Etzion, I would have said, 'Why are they living there?''

 

Avida Bachar, whose wife Dana and son Carmel were murdered in Kibbutz Be'eri in the October 7th Hamas massacre, shares why he thinks it was "lucky" that the massacre occurred in Kibbutz Be'eri.

“I will say something tough. It’s lucky that the massacre happened in Be'eri," Bachar told Channel 12 News. In response to a question from reporter Yigal Mosko, Bachar explained: "I think that if it had happened in Gush Etzion, at that moment, I would have said, 'Why are they living there?'"

He added: "I probably would have said, 'They deserve it,' I would have said all the harshest things in the world. It's lucky that it happened at my home. It's lucky that I paid a lot to learn this lesson. I'm lucky to have learned this lesson."

Avida was severely injured on October 7th and doctors had to amputate his leg.

Several months ago, he told Israel National News about the events of that day from his perspective and how he and his family, all four of them, were inside the house when the terrorists arrived at the kibbutz at 6:30 am, at the same time that massive barrage of missiles were fired at Israel. They reached his home about two hours later.

“Four of us were locked in the safe room; we were holding the door as well as we could. At some point, the terrorists were shooting at us through the door. Carmel and I were both wounded, and we suffered from burns. They fired at the lock of the door and later blew up the window. My wife, Dana, was shot through the window and died around noon. Carmel held out until five pm. He had lost a lot of blood and died. I stayed with my daughter. I was injured and she had been wounded by grenades and shrapnel in her legs. We were waiting for the army to come and rescue us. Towards 7:30 p.m., we heard a big explosion near our house,” describes Bachar.

The IDF tanks that arrived began to blow up the safe rooms. Soldiers came to the family home and rescued Avida and his daughter, leaving the bodies of Dana and Carmel in the safe room

Pope Francis Who Represents a Religion that murdered and Raped Millions of Jews accuses Israel of ‘cruelty’ and slaughtering children in Gaza

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Pope Francis accused Israel twice over the weekend of “cruelty” in the Gaza Strip and claimed that Israeli forces were “machine-gunning” Arab children in the coastal enclave.

On Saturday, Pope Francis gave his annual Christmas address to Vatican department chiefs, during which he condemned an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip that the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claimed killed 25 people.

“Yesterday, children were bombed,” Pope Francis said. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”

A day earlier, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) ripped the pontiff over a quote attributed to him in a recently published book in which he appeared to accuse Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Last month, Pope Francis issued a clarification regarding his comments, published recently in Hernán Reyes Alcaide’s new book, Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World, in which he called for an investigation into allegations of genocide in Gaza.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” Pope Francis was quoted as saying. “We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

Following a wave of criticism, Pope Francis said that Alcaide had taken his comments out of context.

The pontiff rekindled the firestorm on Saturday, however, with his fresh allegations against Israel, drawing a sharp retort from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

“Cruelty is terrorists hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children; cruelty is holding 100 hostages for 442 days, including a baby and children, by terrorists and abusing them,” the ministry tweeted.

“Unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this, as well as the fact that Israel’s actions have targeted terrorists who used children as human shields.”

The ministry called the Pope’s comments “disappointing” and “disconnected” and accused the pontiff of “singling out” Israel.

“The blame should be directed solely at the terrorists, not at the democracy defending itself against them. Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people.”

On Sunday, however, the Pope doubled down on his comments, again accusing Israel of “cruelty” in the Gaza Strip and intimating that the IDF is intentionally massacring Gazan children.

“And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty,” Pope Francis said after the weekly Angelus prayer.

Mrs Assad Files for Divorce!

 

Reports from Turkish and Arab media suggest that Asma al-Assad, wife of Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad, has filed for divorce.

 Allegedly unhappy with her life in Moscow, she is said to be planning a move to London

Hamas admits IDF neutralized most of its military capabilities

 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hamas officials admitted to Saudi newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat that the IDF has neutralized most of its military capabilities and that absent concrete leadership, groups of terrorists are making their own decisions on the ground.

Although terrorists try to inform higher-level Hamas officials of their activities, communication is slow and can often take days or weeks.

Among the surviving Hamas leadership are Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is reportedly leading the military wing; Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, who is responsible for overseeing terrorist activities in northern Gaza; Mohammed Shabana, the former commander of the now-dismantled Rafah Brigade; and Tawfiq Abu Naim, the head of Hamas’s internal security forces.

However, Hamas’s rhetoric would seem to belie the chaos, and the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said the terror group is making vain boasts to give the impression that it is still functioning.

“Hamas and its minions are spreading news and rumors about fake heroic acts and operations in Jabalia, including claims about the use of knives and explosive belts, to boost the morale of their collapsing members. Don’t believe these rumors and lies from the defeated,” Adraee stated.

In another post on X, he declared, “The East Jabalia Battalion has collapsed,” adding that any claims otherwise are false boasts by Hamas.

The IDF has destroyed much of Hamas’s military infrastructure in Gaza, and the elimination of key figures in the terror organization has also prevented them from replenishing supplies.

Hamas is releasing videos implying they are still functioning militarily, with one showing a drone fired from Khan Yunis that was intercepted in the Negev and another of five terrorists planting explosive devices in shafts.

During a situational assessment in Rafah on Wednesday, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said continued military operations will pressure Hamas to return the 100 hostages remaining in Gaza and create the optimal security situation to allow residents of border communities to return home.

“We are dismantling Hamas and targeting its infrastructure and forces to ensure that there will never be another October 7,” Halevi said.

“We are applying daily pressure on Hamas, driving it into greater distress, to secure the return of the 100 hostages—hopefully alive—and for those who are not, to give them a proper burial in Israel.”

New Syrian government forbids Iranian planes in its airspace

 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The new regime in Syria under Abu Muhammad al-Julani has declared that it will not permit Iranian planes to enter its airspace, according to Walla.

Initially, the decision was limited to planes used for military purposes, such as transferring weapons or moving troops. However, on Sunday, it became evident that the ban extended to all Iranian aircraft.

Security sources say this is the most decisive declaration of Syria’s independence and repudiation of the “Axis of Evil” headed by Iran. Iranian planes require access to Syrian airspace to transport supplies to terror proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

As a result, Hezbollah is likely to have difficulty replenishing its military supplies, and Iran will be encumbered in its ability to transport weapons, ammunition, and terrorist recruits throughout the Middle East.

Israeli officials see this as a welcome development but still express caution given the new regime’s as-yet-ambiguous position on Israel.

Israeli and US officials will discuss the situation in Syria in the coming days, including the lifting of the $10 million bounty on al-Julani’s head and whether Syria is likely to hold democratic elections.

Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, told reporters that she had informed al-Julani, leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that led Assad’s overthrow, that the United States would not pursue a $10 million terrorism bounty on him for his role as the head of a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group.

Julani, whose real name is Ahmad al-Sharaa, told Leaf that he “committed” to not allowing terrorist groups to pose a threat both within Syria and externally to the United States and its regional partners.