Day 140 — Friday, February 23

Victims of the Hamas terror attack in Israel on October 7 announced Thursday that they have filed a federal lawsuit against the Associated Press (AP) for allegedly paying members of Hamas who also functioned as “stringer” photographers for the company.

The AP was forced to cut ties with one freelance photographer, Hassan Eslaiah, who was seen holding a grenade near the Gaza border during the attack, and who had earlier posed for a photograph with Gaza-based Hamas terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar.

Later, an AP freelancer was reported by the HonestReporting watchdog organization to have broadcast a live video, along with a Reuters freelance photographer, allegedly encouraging Gazans to participate in the October 7 attack while it was still ongoing.

In a press statement Thursday, the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Inc. (NJAC) said:

The National Jewish Advocacy Center, Inc. (NJAC), working with attorneys from the Law Office of David I. Schoen; Mark Migdal & Hayden; LSN Law, PA; and Goldfeder and Terry, LLC, has filed a federal complaint in the Southern District of Florida on behalf of Plaintiffs affected by the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas, against Defendant The Associated Press (AP) alleging that the AP materially supported terrorism through payments that they made to known agents of Hamas.

On and after October 7, several major media outlets posted photographs of the atrocities Hamas committed. The AP paid for some of these real time images, including of Israeli hostages being taken into Gaza, despite having been warned well in advance that at least one of the so-called “journalists” they were paying were in fact Hamas affiliates, and despite the clear indications that they were functioning as full participants in the Hamas terrorist squad that conducted the October 7th attack, and not as the AP chose to pretend, as journalists. In doing so, the lawsuit alleges, AP aided and abetted Hamas in carrying out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The Plaintiffs in this case include survivors of the attacks, family members of those murdered, and innocent civilians displaced from their homes because of Hamas’s action.

The legal team, under lead attorney David Schoen, reached out to the AP before filing, “but the AP flatly denied what has been established by demonstrable evidence – that the AP was told long ago that at least one of the people they were paying was affiliated with Hamas. In fact, this arrangement was such an open secret that a picture one of their photographers posted three years ago of himself being kissed by the demented arch terrorist Sinwar has been widely displayed by the media.”

“The First Amendment and core free-speech principles certainly protect the AP’s right to hold and to publish even highly offensive views,” said Mark Goldfeder, Director of NJAC. “But the allegations in this lawsuit have absolutely nothing to do with what AP said, and everything to do with what they did. Media organizations don’t have any special right to act with impunity and pretend that they don’t know whom they are paying. Nor does it matter that they were freelancers; the issue is that AP was furnishing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, not in what capacity the terrorists were cashing the checks. We hope that a suit like this can draw a line in the sand and provide some basic level of accountability.”

Separately, a New York Times photographer who had been accused of accompanying Hamas terrorists on October 7 won a prestigious George Polk Award for his coverage of the war.

As Breitbart News reported last year, the Times denied any wrongdoing.

Breitbart

Day 140 — Friday, February 23

My dad died when I was five, so as a little boy, my grandfather raised me in the LA Basin. We met people from all around the world and I remember a man pulling up his sleeve and showing me his concentration camp tattoo. He said, “Mark, the Nazis almost killed me. They killed my Mom and Dad. When they were shooting us, my parents shoved us behind them, and their bodies fell on top of us. We laid there and pretended like we were dead. We got out of there and ended up in a camp. Here are the tattoos. If anybody tells you that this Holocaust didn’t happen, you remember this.”

He wasn’t a believer in Jesus, but he was praising God for America because he knew that he could have been one of those who had died. There are many other stories I could tell you.

A study that was recently published showed that 20% of our population between the ages of 18 and 29 believe that the Holocaust never happened and that it’s all mythology. Another roughly 23% of that same demographic believe it’s “exaggerated.”

Friends, it’s not exaggerated. Satan wants us to believe it never happened.

Jesus said there’s going to be another holocaust that’s coming which is even worse and that’s why we need to learn the lessons of history and be courageous. You and I need to make decisions today about how we’re going to live as things unfold. Lawlessness is unfolding. The contempt for the Jews is unfolding. The decisions we make today matter as we go forward.

Day 139 — Thursday, February 22

One Israeli was killed, and eight Israelis were wounded, including three severely, after gunshots were fired on Highway 1 near Ma’ale Adumim in central Israel, Israel Police confirmed early Thursday morning.

Three terrorists were killed on the scene of the attack by armed civilians, police said. They have been identified as Muhammed Zuwarah, aged 26, and his brother Hathem Zuwarah, aged 31. Along with them was Ahmad al-Hush, aged 31. All three were Palestinian residents of Bethlehem.

Initial reports stated that the terrorists took advantage of a traffic jam on the highway. They came in two separate vehicles fully armed with an M-16 rifle, a Carlo submachine gun, grenades, and cartridges.

They then exited their vehicles and began to shoot toward people sitting inside their cars.

The two terrorists who began shooting and were neutralized, while a third who tried to escape was later located.

MDA said the wounded included two women aged 23 and 30, along with a 23-year-old man in critical condition and two men, aged 40, in moderate condition.

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Avraham Becker reported: “There were injured people at several locations. I provided initial treatment to two women who suffered gunshot injuries and another woman who suffered from emotional shock. Other United Hatzalah EMTs worked at the other scenes and provided assistance to several more people who were in various conditions.”

According to the Head of Efrat local council, Oded Revivi, who commented on the attack, the highway outside of Maale Adumin is known for its constant morning traffic jams.

Jerusalem Post

Day 139 — Thursday, February 22

The IDF says the long-range Arrow air defense system intercepted a missile — apparently launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen — over the Red Sea that was heading for Israel.

The apparent ballistic missile, fired toward Eilat, did not enter Israeli airspace when it was shot down, and sirens sounded in the southern city according to protocol, the IDF adds.

The Houthis have fired several ballistic missiles and drones at Eilat, in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where Israel is battling Hamas terrorists. All of the projectiles have been intercepted or missed their target.

This morning’s Arrow interception was its sixth interception of a ballistic missile, all of which occurred amid the war in Gaza. Cruise missiles and drones launched by the Houthis in recent months have been taken out by Israeli fighter jets.

Times Of Israel

Day 138 — Wednesday, February 21

Brazil does not intend to retract President Luiz Inacio da Silva’s comment comparing Israel’s war on Gaza to Hitler’s treatment of Jews that sparked a diplomatic rift between the countries, sources with knowledge of internal discussions said on Monday.

Brazil’s foreign ministry has already summoned the Israeli ambassador for talks and recalled its own ambassador to Israel after Israeli officials gave him a formal reprimand following Lula’s comment.

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in other historical moments,” Brazil’s president said. “In fact, it did exist when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” said Lula during a weekend African Union summit in Addis Ababa, referring to Nazi war crimes during World War II.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Lula is not welcome in the Middle Eastern country until he takes back his comments.

“We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel – tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back,” Katz told Brazil’s ambassador, according to a statement from Katz’s office. Brazil’s foreign ministry said it would summon Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, for a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, where Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira is to attend G20 meetings.

Lula’s orders are that there will be no retraction and any answers will be given through diplomatic channels, the sources said. The Gaza war began when the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group Hamas sent fighters into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel Hayom

Day 138 — Wednesday, February 21

On Monday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) accused IDF soldiers of raping Palestinian Arab women and girls in detention.

“We are particularly disturbed by reports that Palestinian women and girls in detention have been subjected to several forms of sexual assault,” the UN agency charging, claiming that the women and girls were “stripped naked and searched by male soldiers.”

The agency further claimed, “At least two Palestinian detainees were raped, while others were threatened with rape and sexual violence.”

Israel’s UN mission rejected the claims and denounced the UN agency.

“Israel forcefully rejects the despicable and unfounded claims published today by a group of so-called UN experts, including one who just days ago legitimized the massacre of October 7 in which more than 1,200 people were murdered, executed and raped, and another who publicly doubted the testimonies of Israeli victims of gender-based and sexual violence,” it wrote in a statement posted to X.

“These mandate holders have remained silent on the horrific sexual violence and gender-based violence perpetrated by Hamas on and since October 7. It is clear that the co-signatories are motivated not by the truth but by their hatred for Israel and its people,” the statement added.

“The State of Israel will continue to abide by its obligations under international law. No complaint has been received by Israeli authorities but Israel remains ready to investigate any concrete claims of misconduct by its security forces when presented with credible allegations and evidence,” it concluded.

Arutz sheva

Day 137 — Tuesday, February 20

The United States vetoed an Arab-backed UN resolution Tuesday demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the wide support for ending the more than four-month war that started with Hamas’s surprise invasion of southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw 253 others taken hostage.

It was the third US veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Times Of Israel 

Day 137 — Tuesday, February 20

Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper on Sunday called on Israel’s allies to stop asking it to abandon its war aim of eliminating Hamas, and instead to pressure Hamas to surrender.

In an op-ed published in The National Post, Harper said that Israel’s position regarding Hamas was the same as the Allies’ regarding Nazi Germany, and that its war against the terror group should end in the same manner as did the war against the Nazis.

The long-time vocal supporter of the Jewish state arrived there on Sunday for a surprise solidarity visit in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his address to the Knesset on Jan. 20, 2014.

Describing the Hamas-led attack on the northwestern Negev that killed 1,200 people as genocidal “acts of extermination,” the 64-year-old Conservative Party member and devout Christian wrote that it was imperative that Israel force the Gaza-based terrorist group to capitulate.

“Israel’s war objective—the elimination of Gaza’s Hamas regime—is essential. Leaving the job unfinished, with Hamas’s existence tolerated and its actions contained, has been tried, and it has failed. The Israeli people cannot be reasonably asked to return to the pre-war status quo,” he wrote.

“That is the position our own nations took toward the attacks launched by Nazi Germany against us. Israel has as absolute a right to absolute security now as we did then,” he continued.

“And it should end the same way our war with the Nazis did—by the unconditional surrender of its perpetrators. I say to Israel’s friends, stop asking it to stop short of victory. Instead, bring pressure to bear on Hamas, directly and through its allies and partners, to force its capitulation.”

Upon his arrival in Jerusalem on Sunday, Harper was greeted by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. The former Canadian premier tweeted that he was visiting Israel again “to renew friendships and stand in solidarity at this time of great challenge and adversity.”

JNS

Day 137 — Tuesday, February 20

This week, my wife, Susan, and I visited Israel for the first time since the barbaric Hamas attacks on October 7.  I’ve been to Israel many times.  But this visit was the most poignant and the most heartbreaking.  What Hamas terrorists did to innocent Israelis on October 7 was so shocking, so sadistic, that it is difficult to capture in mere words.

In communities across the southern parts of the country, I saw homes destroyed and met families who had been devastated.  I met mothers, fathers, grandparents, and siblings whose loved ones were being held hostage by wicked terrorists in truly awful conditions.  Seeing these devastated communities firsthand only made it clearer than ever that our country must continue to support Israel in its fight to destroy Hamas, so that the tragedy of October 7 never happens again.

My trip also made it even more frustrating to hear the Biden Administration’s criticisms of Israel’s response.  Last week, President Biden characterized Israel’s efforts to destroy Hamas as “over the top.”  Also last week, Jon Finer, a deputy national security advisor in the Administration, said that the Biden Administration’s lukewarm statements of support for Israel were “missteps” that he regretted had left a “very damaging impression based on what has been a wholly inadequate public accounting for how much the president, the administration and the country values the lives of Palestinians.”  How completely disappointing.

This Administration should worry less about the impression it makes with its radical, progressive base and instead consider what is right and wrong.

In one kibbutz Susan and I visited, K’far Aza, 70 terrorists had infiltrated the small community and murdered at least 60 residents.  These were not IDF forces or even police units Hamas was attacking; these were innocent families, many with young children and elderly.  In Ra’im, Susan and I saw memorials to the hundreds of innocent people slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival and met a survivor of that massacre.  In Okafim, we saw a community that managed to fight off waves of Hamas militants with only a small police force and some civilians helping – but not before over 50 innocent Israelis were brutally murdered.

To walk through these streets lined with burned out cars and the blackened ruins of what once were the vibrant, colorful homes of thriving families and to walk past makeshift memorials to loved ones who were killed by Hamas simply for being Jewish – to see what these terrorists did on October 7 was to see true evil.  Israel now has a righteous mission to eliminate the perpetrators of that evil so that it never happens again, and the Biden Administration should stand beside them – not criticize the Jewish state in an effort to placate its liberal Left base.

Day 136 — Monday, February 19

Israeli President Isaac Herzog revealed a hateful book at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday titled “The End of the Jews” that he said was written by a Hamas co-founder and praised the Holocaust.

Herzog said Israeli forces found the antisemitic book — which spouts Hamas’ ideology and justification for its hatred and slaughter of Jewish people — in a Gaza home.

He claimed it was written by Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar to spread the terror group’s ideals across Gaza.

The book, whose cover features a dagger piercing the Star of David, glorifies the historic violence against Jews in Europe, specifically praising the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, Herzog said.

“This book, first of all, says we should not recognize the fact that there are Jews and Jewish people, but most predominantly it hails the Holocaust. It hails what the Nazis have done and calls for nations to follow what the Nazis have done,” Herzog said, according to a translation by Ynet.

The book Herzog showed the members of the conference in Germany included chapters that were titled “The General Corruption of the Jews,” “The World’s Burning Hatred for the Jews” and “Reasons to Expel the Jews.”

The book also perpetuated stereotypes of the Jewish people and claimed Jews used the blood of Christian children to conduct rituals.

Herzog said the book ultimately served as evidence that Hamas actively worked to spread its hateful ideology across Gaza and justify the need to destroy Israel, which he said was attempted during the Oct. 7 massacre.

Standing in Munich, just miles away from the Dachau concentration camp memorial site, Herzog called on global leaders to reject antisemitism and work with the Jewish state in “fighting this ideology.”

New York Post

Day 135 — Sunday, February 18

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, accused Israel on Saturday of aiming to “destroy” the organization.

In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, Lazzarini claimed that Israel has a “long-term political goal” of eliminating UNRWA.

“At the moment, we are dealing with an expanded, concentrated Israeli campaign, which is aimed at destroying UNRWA,” Lazzarini charged.

Lazzarini, who has served as UNRWA’s commissioner-general since 2020, said Israel apparently believes that “if the aid agency is abolished, the status of the Palestinian refugees will be resolved once and for all — and with it the right of return.”

He added Israel’s government has applied pressure in multiple ways in what he called its attempt to destroy the agency.

“The Israeli parliament, for example, has introduced a bill to ban the UNRWA headquarters from Jerusalem,” Lazzarini was quoted as having told the Swiss newspaper. “They no longer want to exempt UNRWA from VAT (value-added tax) in the future. Israeli authorities have ordered contractors at the port in Ashdod to stop handling certain food deliveries for UNRWA. And all these demands come from the government.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lior Haiat said in response “the problem is not the campaign. The problem is Hamas infiltrating UNRWA’s activity in the Gaza Strip.”

Lazzarini’s accusations come after Israel presented evidence that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel.

In the wake of this, the United States and a host of other countries announced they were temporarily pausing funding for UNRWA.

On Friday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told foreign reporters that Israel has found intelligence that more than 30 of UNRWA’s employees actively participated in the massacre, and assisted in the kidnapping of civilians and soldiers.

Arutz Sheva

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

A top United Nations official has been slammed as “pathetic” and a “collaborator of Hamas” after he claimed the group is not a terrorist organization.

Martin Griffiths, the head of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was asked Wednesday about the feasibility of Israel’s goal to eliminate Hamas and prevent the terrorist group from continuing to govern the Gaza Strip.

“I’ve worked with many, many different terrorist and insurgent groups,” he told UK’s Sky News in response.

“Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, as you know, it’s a political movement.”

Israeli officials condemned Griffiths’ response, as a clip of his interview spread on social media.

Israel’s national X account also mocked Griffiths’ remarks, saying Hamas is “a political organization, who from time to time murders, rapes and kidnaps civilians to let off steam.

“What an abomination the UN has become,” it wrote.

“No wonder he is abusing his power to save Hamas’ skin after the deadliest terror attack since 9/11 instead of demanding its surrender,” government spokesperson Eylon Levy seethed on X.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan slammed Griffiths, calling him a “collaborator of Hamas.”

“Is the barbaric murder of hundreds of civilians not terrorism? Is systemic rape of women not terrorism? Is attempting to commit genocide not terrorism?” he wrote in Hebrew on X, referring to the events of Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists killed approximately 1,200 people and took 250 civilians hostage.

“This is the face of the UN these days: an organization that whitewashes terrorism, promotes Hamas and blames the victims. The UN has lost all credibility,” Erdan continued.

“Mr. Under-Secretary-General, you cannot say that you are acting in the name of ‘humanitarian affairs.’ You are a collaborator of Hamas!”

The New York Post

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

At least four people were injured and two people killed in a shooting attack at the Re’em junction near the Tel Nof Israel Air Force base in central Israel on Friday afternoon. The attack, which took place on the 133rd day of the war, was carried out by a terrorist who arrived by car at the junction and opened fire on a bus stop.

A 20-year-old man was fatally wounded by the shooting, three more people were seriously injured – a boy, a young man, and an elderly man – and two others were moderately injured.

The terrorist was killed by an armed civilian at the scene.

An eyewitness at the scene said that “people fled into the restaurant” at a nearby gas station.

Magen David Adom medics and paramedics evacuated the victims to the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot and Assuta Hospital in Ashdod.

Nahum David, deputy director of MDA’s Lachish Region, said, “We quickly arrived at the scene with large forces. The sight was very difficult, we saw people with gunshot wounds lying, some of them unconscious. We immediately performed an initial triage for the wounded, a 20-year-old man was unconscious without a pulse and without breathing with gunshot wounds. We gave him life-saving treatment, we tried to fight for his life and evacuated him to the hospital while performing CPR.”

One of the 20-year-old men was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital while another was said to be in critical condition.

At the time of publication, a second victim had died of their wounds.

The terrorist was reportedly a resident of the neighborhood of Shu’afat in the East Jerusalem area. His identification card was located in the vehicle that he drove to the scene of the shooting.

Police began a search of the area to rule out the presence of another terrorist.

Police spokesman Eli Levy said that a police helicopter was dispatched to the surrounding area and that the forces had “not ruled out the possibility that there is more than one terrorist.”

The municipality of Kiryat Malachi, south of the junction, said an emergency squad was deployed to all the entrances at the eastern side of the city.

“It will be clarified that, contrary to rumors, there is no suspicion of a terrorist in the area,” the municipality stated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attack Friday afternoon, sending condolences to the families of the two victims.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the attack at the Re’em junction, and pray for the safety of the wounded,” Netanyahu said. He continued, “This attack reminds us that the entire country is a front and that the murderers, who come not only from Gaza, want to kill us all. We will continue to fight until total victory with all our might, on every front, everywhere, until we restore security and quiet to all citizens of Israel.”

All Israel News

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

Can Gaza ever see peace? We hear much about Gaza today, but pro-Palestinians never mention the thousands of years of its history.

Upon the conquest of the land of Canaan, Gaza is mentioned as one of the cities of the tribe of Judah, but also as part of the rest of the land that the people of Israel did not dispossess.

Since the days of King David, while Gaza was being destroyed and rebuilt again and again, there was always a consistent Jewish presence there. From the Roman era, the Byzantine period, the Arab Muslim rule, the Mamluk’s reign, all the way to the Ottoman Empire, you would be able to find Jews living and praying in Gaza.

Gaza’s Arab population grew gradually during the modern era as migrants saw the opportunities. The area lingered between Israeli and Egyptian control until it was finally handed to the Palestinian Authority in 1994. The winds of peace blew through Gaza with the Oslo Accords. Huge funds poured in for years in the hope of building the new Singapore of the Middle East.

But did peace reach Gaza as a result? Not at all. Instead, Gaza turned into a hub of violence and terror. As Abba Eban once said, “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” His words are still relevant today.

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

It has now been a little over four months since demonically inspired terrorists infiltrated southern Israel and carried out their unspeakable acts against the Jews. Men, women, children and even dogs were subjected to vile and wicked actions, much of which will not soon be forgotten by those who bore witness to their crimes.

If that wasn’t enough to break the hearts of Jewish people who had lived alongside, worked alongside, and personally advocated for the residents of Gaza, the footage after the event would have. Whereas most people were sickened and horrified by the barbarity shown by Hamas, many in Gaza cheered. In our mind, it is difficult to understand why people would celebrate this. Yet, it isn’t the first time that a neighbour of Israel’s has cheered over their calamity. What’s worse, the people I am referring to were even closer than a neighbour.

Ezekiel 35:15 reveals who I speak of (with emphasis added):  “As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom – all of it!”

The Edomites traced their lineage to Esau. If you recall the Genesis account, Jacob and Esau are the offspring of Isaac and Rebekah and Genesis 36 very clearly tells us not only where Esau settled but the fact that Esau is synonymous with Edom.

On a modern map, the area occupied by the Edomites was south of the Dead Sea – half of which would have been located in southern Israel and half in Jordan.

Edom was not known as a great nation. In fact, Jeremiah 49:15 says this about the Edomites: For indeed, I will make you small among nations, despised among men. Perhaps being despised by the nations did not trouble this group of people who found solace in their prosperity and security. However, they were about to discover they had a much bigger problem – the judgment of God.

Day 140 — Friday, February 23

Victims of the Hamas terror attack in Israel on October 7 announced Thursday that they have filed a federal lawsuit against the Associated Press (AP) for allegedly paying members of Hamas who also functioned as “stringer” photographers for the company.

The AP was forced to cut ties with one freelance photographer, Hassan Eslaiah, who was seen holding a grenade near the Gaza border during the attack, and who had earlier posed for a photograph with Gaza-based Hamas terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar.

Later, an AP freelancer was reported by the HonestReporting watchdog organization to have broadcast a live video, along with a Reuters freelance photographer, allegedly encouraging Gazans to participate in the October 7 attack while it was still ongoing.

In a press statement Thursday, the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Inc. (NJAC) said:

The National Jewish Advocacy Center, Inc. (NJAC), working with attorneys from the Law Office of David I. Schoen; Mark Migdal & Hayden; LSN Law, PA; and Goldfeder and Terry, LLC, has filed a federal complaint in the Southern District of Florida on behalf of Plaintiffs affected by the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas, against Defendant The Associated Press (AP) alleging that the AP materially supported terrorism through payments that they made to known agents of Hamas.

On and after October 7, several major media outlets posted photographs of the atrocities Hamas committed. The AP paid for some of these real time images, including of Israeli hostages being taken into Gaza, despite having been warned well in advance that at least one of the so-called “journalists” they were paying were in fact Hamas affiliates, and despite the clear indications that they were functioning as full participants in the Hamas terrorist squad that conducted the October 7th attack, and not as the AP chose to pretend, as journalists. In doing so, the lawsuit alleges, AP aided and abetted Hamas in carrying out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The Plaintiffs in this case include survivors of the attacks, family members of those murdered, and innocent civilians displaced from their homes because of Hamas’s action.

The legal team, under lead attorney David Schoen, reached out to the AP before filing, “but the AP flatly denied what has been established by demonstrable evidence – that the AP was told long ago that at least one of the people they were paying was affiliated with Hamas. In fact, this arrangement was such an open secret that a picture one of their photographers posted three years ago of himself being kissed by the demented arch terrorist Sinwar has been widely displayed by the media.”

“The First Amendment and core free-speech principles certainly protect the AP’s right to hold and to publish even highly offensive views,” said Mark Goldfeder, Director of NJAC. “But the allegations in this lawsuit have absolutely nothing to do with what AP said, and everything to do with what they did. Media organizations don’t have any special right to act with impunity and pretend that they don’t know whom they are paying. Nor does it matter that they were freelancers; the issue is that AP was furnishing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, not in what capacity the terrorists were cashing the checks. We hope that a suit like this can draw a line in the sand and provide some basic level of accountability.”

Separately, a New York Times photographer who had been accused of accompanying Hamas terrorists on October 7 won a prestigious George Polk Award for his coverage of the war.

As Breitbart News reported last year, the Times denied any wrongdoing.

Breitbart

Day 140 — Friday, February 23

My dad died when I was five, so as a little boy, my grandfather raised me in the LA Basin. We met people from all around the world and I remember a man pulling up his sleeve and showing me his concentration camp tattoo. He said, “Mark, the Nazis almost killed me. They killed my Mom and Dad. When they were shooting us, my parents shoved us behind them, and their bodies fell on top of us. We laid there and pretended like we were dead. We got out of there and ended up in a camp. Here are the tattoos. If anybody tells you that this Holocaust didn’t happen, you remember this.”

He wasn’t a believer in Jesus, but he was praising God for America because he knew that he could have been one of those who had died. There are many other stories I could tell you.

A study that was recently published showed that 20% of our population between the ages of 18 and 29 believe that the Holocaust never happened and that it’s all mythology. Another roughly 23% of that same demographic believe it’s “exaggerated.”

Friends, it’s not exaggerated. Satan wants us to believe it never happened.

Jesus said there’s going to be another holocaust that’s coming which is even worse and that’s why we need to learn the lessons of history and be courageous. You and I need to make decisions today about how we’re going to live as things unfold. Lawlessness is unfolding. The contempt for the Jews is unfolding. The decisions we make today matter as we go forward.

Day 139 — Thursday, February 22

One Israeli was killed, and eight Israelis were wounded, including three severely, after gunshots were fired on Highway 1 near Ma’ale Adumim in central Israel, Israel Police confirmed early Thursday morning.

Three terrorists were killed on the scene of the attack by armed civilians, police said. They have been identified as Muhammed Zuwarah, aged 26, and his brother Hathem Zuwarah, aged 31. Along with them was Ahmad al-Hush, aged 31. All three were Palestinian residents of Bethlehem.

Initial reports stated that the terrorists took advantage of a traffic jam on the highway. They came in two separate vehicles fully armed with an M-16 rifle, a Carlo submachine gun, grenades, and cartridges.

They then exited their vehicles and began to shoot toward people sitting inside their cars.

The two terrorists who began shooting and were neutralized, while a third who tried to escape was later located.

MDA said the wounded included two women aged 23 and 30, along with a 23-year-old man in critical condition and two men, aged 40, in moderate condition.

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Avraham Becker reported: “There were injured people at several locations. I provided initial treatment to two women who suffered gunshot injuries and another woman who suffered from emotional shock. Other United Hatzalah EMTs worked at the other scenes and provided assistance to several more people who were in various conditions.”

According to the Head of Efrat local council, Oded Revivi, who commented on the attack, the highway outside of Maale Adumin is known for its constant morning traffic jams.

Jerusalem Post

Day 139 — Thursday, February 22

The IDF says the long-range Arrow air defense system intercepted a missile — apparently launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen — over the Red Sea that was heading for Israel.

The apparent ballistic missile, fired toward Eilat, did not enter Israeli airspace when it was shot down, and sirens sounded in the southern city according to protocol, the IDF adds.

The Houthis have fired several ballistic missiles and drones at Eilat, in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where Israel is battling Hamas terrorists. All of the projectiles have been intercepted or missed their target.

This morning’s Arrow interception was its sixth interception of a ballistic missile, all of which occurred amid the war in Gaza. Cruise missiles and drones launched by the Houthis in recent months have been taken out by Israeli fighter jets.

Times Of Israel

Day 138 — Wednesday, February 21

Brazil does not intend to retract President Luiz Inacio da Silva’s comment comparing Israel’s war on Gaza to Hitler’s treatment of Jews that sparked a diplomatic rift between the countries, sources with knowledge of internal discussions said on Monday.

Brazil’s foreign ministry has already summoned the Israeli ambassador for talks and recalled its own ambassador to Israel after Israeli officials gave him a formal reprimand following Lula’s comment.

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in other historical moments,” Brazil’s president said. “In fact, it did exist when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” said Lula during a weekend African Union summit in Addis Ababa, referring to Nazi war crimes during World War II.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Lula is not welcome in the Middle Eastern country until he takes back his comments.

“We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel – tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back,” Katz told Brazil’s ambassador, according to a statement from Katz’s office. Brazil’s foreign ministry said it would summon Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, for a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, where Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira is to attend G20 meetings.

Lula’s orders are that there will be no retraction and any answers will be given through diplomatic channels, the sources said. The Gaza war began when the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group Hamas sent fighters into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel Hayom

Day 138 — Wednesday, February 21

On Monday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) accused IDF soldiers of raping Palestinian Arab women and girls in detention.

“We are particularly disturbed by reports that Palestinian women and girls in detention have been subjected to several forms of sexual assault,” the UN agency charging, claiming that the women and girls were “stripped naked and searched by male soldiers.”

The agency further claimed, “At least two Palestinian detainees were raped, while others were threatened with rape and sexual violence.”

Israel’s UN mission rejected the claims and denounced the UN agency.

“Israel forcefully rejects the despicable and unfounded claims published today by a group of so-called UN experts, including one who just days ago legitimized the massacre of October 7 in which more than 1,200 people were murdered, executed and raped, and another who publicly doubted the testimonies of Israeli victims of gender-based and sexual violence,” it wrote in a statement posted to X.

“These mandate holders have remained silent on the horrific sexual violence and gender-based violence perpetrated by Hamas on and since October 7. It is clear that the co-signatories are motivated not by the truth but by their hatred for Israel and its people,” the statement added.

“The State of Israel will continue to abide by its obligations under international law. No complaint has been received by Israeli authorities but Israel remains ready to investigate any concrete claims of misconduct by its security forces when presented with credible allegations and evidence,” it concluded.

Arutz sheva

Day 137 — Tuesday, February 20

The United States vetoed an Arab-backed UN resolution Tuesday demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the wide support for ending the more than four-month war that started with Hamas’s surprise invasion of southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw 253 others taken hostage.

It was the third US veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Times Of Israel 

Day 137 — Tuesday, February 20

Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper on Sunday called on Israel’s allies to stop asking it to abandon its war aim of eliminating Hamas, and instead to pressure Hamas to surrender.

In an op-ed published in The National Post, Harper said that Israel’s position regarding Hamas was the same as the Allies’ regarding Nazi Germany, and that its war against the terror group should end in the same manner as did the war against the Nazis.

The long-time vocal supporter of the Jewish state arrived there on Sunday for a surprise solidarity visit in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his address to the Knesset on Jan. 20, 2014.

Describing the Hamas-led attack on the northwestern Negev that killed 1,200 people as genocidal “acts of extermination,” the 64-year-old Conservative Party member and devout Christian wrote that it was imperative that Israel force the Gaza-based terrorist group to capitulate.

“Israel’s war objective—the elimination of Gaza’s Hamas regime—is essential. Leaving the job unfinished, with Hamas’s existence tolerated and its actions contained, has been tried, and it has failed. The Israeli people cannot be reasonably asked to return to the pre-war status quo,” he wrote.

“That is the position our own nations took toward the attacks launched by Nazi Germany against us. Israel has as absolute a right to absolute security now as we did then,” he continued.

“And it should end the same way our war with the Nazis did—by the unconditional surrender of its perpetrators. I say to Israel’s friends, stop asking it to stop short of victory. Instead, bring pressure to bear on Hamas, directly and through its allies and partners, to force its capitulation.”

Upon his arrival in Jerusalem on Sunday, Harper was greeted by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. The former Canadian premier tweeted that he was visiting Israel again “to renew friendships and stand in solidarity at this time of great challenge and adversity.”

JNS

Day 137 — Tuesday, February 20

This week, my wife, Susan, and I visited Israel for the first time since the barbaric Hamas attacks on October 7.  I’ve been to Israel many times.  But this visit was the most poignant and the most heartbreaking.  What Hamas terrorists did to innocent Israelis on October 7 was so shocking, so sadistic, that it is difficult to capture in mere words.

In communities across the southern parts of the country, I saw homes destroyed and met families who had been devastated.  I met mothers, fathers, grandparents, and siblings whose loved ones were being held hostage by wicked terrorists in truly awful conditions.  Seeing these devastated communities firsthand only made it clearer than ever that our country must continue to support Israel in its fight to destroy Hamas, so that the tragedy of October 7 never happens again.

My trip also made it even more frustrating to hear the Biden Administration’s criticisms of Israel’s response.  Last week, President Biden characterized Israel’s efforts to destroy Hamas as “over the top.”  Also last week, Jon Finer, a deputy national security advisor in the Administration, said that the Biden Administration’s lukewarm statements of support for Israel were “missteps” that he regretted had left a “very damaging impression based on what has been a wholly inadequate public accounting for how much the president, the administration and the country values the lives of Palestinians.”  How completely disappointing.

This Administration should worry less about the impression it makes with its radical, progressive base and instead consider what is right and wrong.

In one kibbutz Susan and I visited, K’far Aza, 70 terrorists had infiltrated the small community and murdered at least 60 residents.  These were not IDF forces or even police units Hamas was attacking; these were innocent families, many with young children and elderly.  In Ra’im, Susan and I saw memorials to the hundreds of innocent people slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival and met a survivor of that massacre.  In Okafim, we saw a community that managed to fight off waves of Hamas militants with only a small police force and some civilians helping – but not before over 50 innocent Israelis were brutally murdered.

To walk through these streets lined with burned out cars and the blackened ruins of what once were the vibrant, colorful homes of thriving families and to walk past makeshift memorials to loved ones who were killed by Hamas simply for being Jewish – to see what these terrorists did on October 7 was to see true evil.  Israel now has a righteous mission to eliminate the perpetrators of that evil so that it never happens again, and the Biden Administration should stand beside them – not criticize the Jewish state in an effort to placate its liberal Left base.

Day 136 — Monday, February 19

Israeli President Isaac Herzog revealed a hateful book at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday titled “The End of the Jews” that he said was written by a Hamas co-founder and praised the Holocaust.

Herzog said Israeli forces found the antisemitic book — which spouts Hamas’ ideology and justification for its hatred and slaughter of Jewish people — in a Gaza home.

He claimed it was written by Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar to spread the terror group’s ideals across Gaza.

The book, whose cover features a dagger piercing the Star of David, glorifies the historic violence against Jews in Europe, specifically praising the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, Herzog said.

“This book, first of all, says we should not recognize the fact that there are Jews and Jewish people, but most predominantly it hails the Holocaust. It hails what the Nazis have done and calls for nations to follow what the Nazis have done,” Herzog said, according to a translation by Ynet.

The book Herzog showed the members of the conference in Germany included chapters that were titled “The General Corruption of the Jews,” “The World’s Burning Hatred for the Jews” and “Reasons to Expel the Jews.”

The book also perpetuated stereotypes of the Jewish people and claimed Jews used the blood of Christian children to conduct rituals.

Herzog said the book ultimately served as evidence that Hamas actively worked to spread its hateful ideology across Gaza and justify the need to destroy Israel, which he said was attempted during the Oct. 7 massacre.

Standing in Munich, just miles away from the Dachau concentration camp memorial site, Herzog called on global leaders to reject antisemitism and work with the Jewish state in “fighting this ideology.”

New York Post

Day 135 — Sunday, February 18

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, accused Israel on Saturday of aiming to “destroy” the organization.

In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, Lazzarini claimed that Israel has a “long-term political goal” of eliminating UNRWA.

“At the moment, we are dealing with an expanded, concentrated Israeli campaign, which is aimed at destroying UNRWA,” Lazzarini charged.

Lazzarini, who has served as UNRWA’s commissioner-general since 2020, said Israel apparently believes that “if the aid agency is abolished, the status of the Palestinian refugees will be resolved once and for all — and with it the right of return.”

He added Israel’s government has applied pressure in multiple ways in what he called its attempt to destroy the agency.

“The Israeli parliament, for example, has introduced a bill to ban the UNRWA headquarters from Jerusalem,” Lazzarini was quoted as having told the Swiss newspaper. “They no longer want to exempt UNRWA from VAT (value-added tax) in the future. Israeli authorities have ordered contractors at the port in Ashdod to stop handling certain food deliveries for UNRWA. And all these demands come from the government.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lior Haiat said in response “the problem is not the campaign. The problem is Hamas infiltrating UNRWA’s activity in the Gaza Strip.”

Lazzarini’s accusations come after Israel presented evidence that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel.

In the wake of this, the United States and a host of other countries announced they were temporarily pausing funding for UNRWA.

On Friday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told foreign reporters that Israel has found intelligence that more than 30 of UNRWA’s employees actively participated in the massacre, and assisted in the kidnapping of civilians and soldiers.

Arutz Sheva

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

A top United Nations official has been slammed as “pathetic” and a “collaborator of Hamas” after he claimed the group is not a terrorist organization.

Martin Griffiths, the head of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was asked Wednesday about the feasibility of Israel’s goal to eliminate Hamas and prevent the terrorist group from continuing to govern the Gaza Strip.

“I’ve worked with many, many different terrorist and insurgent groups,” he told UK’s Sky News in response.

“Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, as you know, it’s a political movement.”

Israeli officials condemned Griffiths’ response, as a clip of his interview spread on social media.

Israel’s national X account also mocked Griffiths’ remarks, saying Hamas is “a political organization, who from time to time murders, rapes and kidnaps civilians to let off steam.

“What an abomination the UN has become,” it wrote.

“No wonder he is abusing his power to save Hamas’ skin after the deadliest terror attack since 9/11 instead of demanding its surrender,” government spokesperson Eylon Levy seethed on X.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan slammed Griffiths, calling him a “collaborator of Hamas.”

“Is the barbaric murder of hundreds of civilians not terrorism? Is systemic rape of women not terrorism? Is attempting to commit genocide not terrorism?” he wrote in Hebrew on X, referring to the events of Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists killed approximately 1,200 people and took 250 civilians hostage.

“This is the face of the UN these days: an organization that whitewashes terrorism, promotes Hamas and blames the victims. The UN has lost all credibility,” Erdan continued.

“Mr. Under-Secretary-General, you cannot say that you are acting in the name of ‘humanitarian affairs.’ You are a collaborator of Hamas!”

The New York Post

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

At least four people were injured and two people killed in a shooting attack at the Re’em junction near the Tel Nof Israel Air Force base in central Israel on Friday afternoon. The attack, which took place on the 133rd day of the war, was carried out by a terrorist who arrived by car at the junction and opened fire on a bus stop.

A 20-year-old man was fatally wounded by the shooting, three more people were seriously injured – a boy, a young man, and an elderly man – and two others were moderately injured.

The terrorist was killed by an armed civilian at the scene.

An eyewitness at the scene said that “people fled into the restaurant” at a nearby gas station.

Magen David Adom medics and paramedics evacuated the victims to the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot and Assuta Hospital in Ashdod.

Nahum David, deputy director of MDA’s Lachish Region, said, “We quickly arrived at the scene with large forces. The sight was very difficult, we saw people with gunshot wounds lying, some of them unconscious. We immediately performed an initial triage for the wounded, a 20-year-old man was unconscious without a pulse and without breathing with gunshot wounds. We gave him life-saving treatment, we tried to fight for his life and evacuated him to the hospital while performing CPR.”

One of the 20-year-old men was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital while another was said to be in critical condition.

At the time of publication, a second victim had died of their wounds.

The terrorist was reportedly a resident of the neighborhood of Shu’afat in the East Jerusalem area. His identification card was located in the vehicle that he drove to the scene of the shooting.

Police began a search of the area to rule out the presence of another terrorist.

Police spokesman Eli Levy said that a police helicopter was dispatched to the surrounding area and that the forces had “not ruled out the possibility that there is more than one terrorist.”

The municipality of Kiryat Malachi, south of the junction, said an emergency squad was deployed to all the entrances at the eastern side of the city.

“It will be clarified that, contrary to rumors, there is no suspicion of a terrorist in the area,” the municipality stated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attack Friday afternoon, sending condolences to the families of the two victims.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the attack at the Re’em junction, and pray for the safety of the wounded,” Netanyahu said. He continued, “This attack reminds us that the entire country is a front and that the murderers, who come not only from Gaza, want to kill us all. We will continue to fight until total victory with all our might, on every front, everywhere, until we restore security and quiet to all citizens of Israel.”

All Israel News

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

Can Gaza ever see peace? We hear much about Gaza today, but pro-Palestinians never mention the thousands of years of its history.

Upon the conquest of the land of Canaan, Gaza is mentioned as one of the cities of the tribe of Judah, but also as part of the rest of the land that the people of Israel did not dispossess.

Since the days of King David, while Gaza was being destroyed and rebuilt again and again, there was always a consistent Jewish presence there. From the Roman era, the Byzantine period, the Arab Muslim rule, the Mamluk’s reign, all the way to the Ottoman Empire, you would be able to find Jews living and praying in Gaza.

Gaza’s Arab population grew gradually during the modern era as migrants saw the opportunities. The area lingered between Israeli and Egyptian control until it was finally handed to the Palestinian Authority in 1994. The winds of peace blew through Gaza with the Oslo Accords. Huge funds poured in for years in the hope of building the new Singapore of the Middle East.

But did peace reach Gaza as a result? Not at all. Instead, Gaza turned into a hub of violence and terror. As Abba Eban once said, “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” His words are still relevant today.

Day 134 — Saturday, February 17

It has now been a little over four months since demonically inspired terrorists infiltrated southern Israel and carried out their unspeakable acts against the Jews. Men, women, children and even dogs were subjected to vile and wicked actions, much of which will not soon be forgotten by those who bore witness to their crimes.

If that wasn’t enough to break the hearts of Jewish people who had lived alongside, worked alongside, and personally advocated for the residents of Gaza, the footage after the event would have. Whereas most people were sickened and horrified by the barbarity shown by Hamas, many in Gaza cheered. In our mind, it is difficult to understand why people would celebrate this. Yet, it isn’t the first time that a neighbour of Israel’s has cheered over their calamity. What’s worse, the people I am referring to were even closer than a neighbour.

Ezekiel 35:15 reveals who I speak of (with emphasis added):  “As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom – all of it!”

The Edomites traced their lineage to Esau. If you recall the Genesis account, Jacob and Esau are the offspring of Isaac and Rebekah and Genesis 36 very clearly tells us not only where Esau settled but the fact that Esau is synonymous with Edom.

On a modern map, the area occupied by the Edomites was south of the Dead Sea – half of which would have been located in southern Israel and half in Jordan.

Edom was not known as a great nation. In fact, Jeremiah 49:15 says this about the Edomites: For indeed, I will make you small among nations, despised among men. Perhaps being despised by the nations did not trouble this group of people who found solace in their prosperity and security. However, they were about to discover they had a much bigger problem – the judgment of God.