Day 301 — Friday, August 2

The New York Times published an analysis Friday in which it claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “gone rogue” by killing terrorists who had killed Israeli citizens, rather than acquiescing.

The story, by Steven Erlanger, is just one of many stories that appeared Friday in the center-left media — both in Israel and the United States — accusing Netanyahu of chasing victory at the price of a ceasefire-hostage deal.

Erlanger, citing “analysts,” wrote:

The assassinations of senior Hezbollah and Hamas figures abroad have now sharply raised the risks of a larger regional war as Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah prepare retaliation, analysts say.

Absent a clear goal in the war, however, Mr. Netanyahu’s defiance is dividing Israel from its allies and the country itself. It has further shaken trust in his leadership. It is fueling suspicions that he is keeping the country at war to keep himself in power. It is intensifying a deep rift inside the society — about the fate of Israeli hostages, the conduct of the war and the rule of law — that is challenging the institutional bonds that hold Israel together.

To Israelis, striking back at Hezbollah was an absolute necessity after a rocket fired by the Iran-backed terror group killed 12 innocent children in the Druze Arab village of Majdal Shams last Saturday.

Taking out Hezbollah’s second-in-command in a targeted strike was a way of forcing Hezbollah to pay a price, and reestablishing deterrence, rather than risking a major ground war and all the civilian casualties that would come with it.

Likewise with the apparent Israeli hit on Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, a billionaire who lived a life of luxury while ordering thousands of deaths, both Israeli and Palestinians. (President Joe Biden, who is trying to stop the war short of an Israeli victory, said the death of the arch-terrorist “has not helped.”)

Netanyahu’s opponents, in the U.S. and Israel, have been leaking to the media to report Biden’s displeasure, and the apparent irritation of Israel’s security chiefs.

Barak Ravid of Axios — a reliably anti-Netanyahu, anti-Trump voice — reported that Biden was “frustrated” with Netanyahu. And Israel’s Channel 12 said that Israeli security chiefs urged Netanyahu to accept a hostage deal.

As Biden himself has admitted, Hamas is responsible for sinking a hostage deal, because it insists on ending the war as a condition for the return of some — not all — of the hostages. Such a deal would leave it armed and in power in Gaza.

But it is an election year, and Biden prefers to look for ways to appease Iran and its terrorist proxies — which, critics say, is the very reason that the Middle East has reached the point of conflagration in the first place.

Breitbart

Day 301 — Friday, August 2

In an official announcement, the IDF has confirmed that Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military wing, and mastermind behind the October 7 massacre, was eliminated in an airstrike on July 13.

The IDF and Shin Bet received verified information confirming his death beyond a doubt in recent hours.

As previously reported, the IDF and Shin Bet eliminated Mohammed Deif and Rafah Salama (the Khan Yunis Brigade commander) on July 13 in a precise operation by the IAF. This operation was based on an intelligence network assembled by Shin Bet and Military Intelligence.

Deif, a mass murderer who had previously survived several Israeli assassination attempts, planned and executed the October 7 massacre. He was responsible for developing Hamas’ operational capabilities and had a significant amount of Israeli blood on his hands.

Since the July 13 strike, amid uncertainty and denials from Hamas regarding Deif’s fate, the IDF closely monitored all new information about him.

In the past few hours, security forces received new information and evidence confirming that Mohammed Deif was indeed eliminated with absolute certainty.

Israel Hayom

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

With Israel bracing for potential retaliation from Iran and its proxies after two assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, the United States is scrambling forces to prepare for an escalation that threatens to engulf the Middle East.

At the same time, the U.S. is launching a diplomatic offensive aimed at preventing a regional conflict and returning Israel and Hamas to the negotiating table regarding a hostage release and ceasefire deal.

A U.S. Pentagon official told the Washington Post on Thursday that at least 12 American warships were concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arab Gulf at the moment. This includes the carrier strike group of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and several destroyers and other vessels, some of which were transferred there from the U.S.-led task force defending shipping lanes against attacks by the Yemeni Houthi terrorists in the Red Sea.

The U.S. was reportedly informed beforehand of the Israeli strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr. U.S. officials told Politico that while the U.S. saw the strike as a legitimate response to the Majdal Shams attack, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran came as a surprise.

U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken confirmed this on Thursday, saying: “This is something we were not aware of or involved in.”

The Biden administration has since launched a diplomatic offensive to lessen the fall-out of the surprise assassination in Iran’s capital, with the ultimate goal of resuming hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

According to Ynet News, Israel has transferred a message to Iran’s main proxy Hezbollah through Western and regional officials, stressing that the IDF was only targeting military targets and advising Hezbollah to do the same. A massive attack on civilians would mean all-out war, the Israeli officials emphasized.

“Everyone since last night is putting pressure on Tehran to not respond and to contain this,” a Western diplomat told the Financial Times. According to the newspaper, Western diplomats were holding urgent discussions to prevent a larger war.

The same report noted that Enrique Mora, chief of staff to the European Union’s senior diplomat, Josep Borrell, held talks in Tehran on Wednesday, while the Biden administration’s senior Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, was in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. continues to view a hostage release and truce deal as the best way to end Israel’s conflict with both Hamas and Hezbollah, and to restabilize the region after nearly 10 months of war.

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, U.S. officials said they were caught off guard by the killing of Haniyeh, which they said has made it more difficult to achieve a ceasefire, though negotiations have not been entirely derailed.

U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said reaching a deal “was always complicated. It remains complicated,” he said. “We don’t believe escalation is inevitable.”

Another official said that discussions restarted immediately following the strike in Tehran to salvage a deal. Those discussions involved representatives from Israel, Qatar, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

All Israel News 

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

I’ve had people write to me with questions regarding my reaction to the deaths of many terrorists. I can understand why you ask, because I don’t have time to explain my underlying point of view with each Telegram post. So, let me just say that I am fully in line with what Paul wrote to Timothy when he said God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). In my mind, the best-case scenario would be for an evangelical revival to sweep through Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran. I would love to see Gazans on their knees, repenting and giving their lives to the Lord. That is the ideal, and I know that God could accomplish that should He choose to.

However, I also know that without a saving knowledge of the Messiah, so many people do horrendous things. So, my prayer is that God stops them from carrying them out. If that costs them their lives, then so be it. Throughout Scripture we see judgment being brought on those who hurt innocents, be they Jews or Gentiles. Do I wish that Ismail Haniyeh had given his life to Jesus before he was violently blown into His presence? I do, although he would still have to pay a price on this earth for his evil deeds and treachery. But the fact was that his conscience had been seared decades ago, and he had no interest in the love and peace found in the Messiah.

In a speech from the IDF Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv last night, PM Netanyahu reminded the nation of the importance of the battle we are in. It is a fight for our very existence against Iran’s axis of evil: Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. He recalled the targeted killing three weeks ago of Hamas chief of staff, Muhammad Daf. He brought up the massive bombing of the Houthis two weeks ago following their drone attack on Tel Aviv. Then, after the despicable murders of our children in Majdal Shams, he told how we took revenge on Fuad Shukr, a notorious terrorist wanted for crimes committed against Israel and the United States.

Yes, it is taking time, he said, but that is something about which he warned from the beginning. But if this fight for peace in our land is to be done right and done permanently, we must be patient and tenacious. He also warned anyone with thoughts of taking revenge, saying, “We will settle our score with anyone who harms us. Everyone who takes aim at our children, everyone who murders our citizens, everyone who harms our country – their blood is on their own head.”

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera reporter whose death Wednesday was mourned by his network as a case of “targeted assassination,” was identified Thursday by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a Hamas terrorist.

It was just the latest example of an Al Jazeera journalist or freelancer being exposed as a Hamas terrorist.

Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday:

Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi have been killed in an Israeli air attack on the Gaza Strip.

Ismail and Rami were wearing media vests and there were identifying signs on their car when they were attacked. They had last contacted their news desk 15 minutes before the strike.

“This latest attack on Al Jazeera journalists is part of a systematic targeting campaign against the network’s journalists and their families since October 2023,” the network said.

Anti-Israel groups sprang into action. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose leader celebrated the October 7 terror attack, demanded that media outlets across the world speak out against Israel’s actions.

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said: “Media outlets and journalists in our nation and worldwide must speak out forcefully in defense of their colleagues in Gaza who are under daily threat of attack and death by a far-right, genocidal government determined to silence their voices.”

As Breitbart News has noted:

In 2007-8, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. That case, in turn, led the FBI to discontinue its work with the organization. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that the government “produced ample evidence to establish” the ties of CAIR with Hamas, the Palestinian terror organization. The United Arab Emirates labeled CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014 (a decision that the Obama administration opposed).

But evidence had long since emerged about Ismail al-Ghoul’s terrorist sympathies and affiliations.

On Thursday, the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet, or Shabak) released a statement identifying the “journalist” as a terrorist:

In a joint IDF and ISA operation, the IAF struck and eliminated Ismail al-Ghoul, a Hamas Military Wing operative and Nukhba terrorist who participated in the October 7th Massacre.

As part of his role in the military wing, Al-Ghoul instructed other operatives on how to record operations and was actively involved in recording and publicizing attacks against IDF troops. His activities in the field were a vital part of Hamas’ military activity.

The IDF and ISA are operating in order to eliminate terrorists who participated in the October 7th Massacre and will continue to do so.

The Nukhba wing of Hamas is the elite special forces unit of the terrorist organization.

Breitbart

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on live television Wednesday evening.

In a dramatic presentation, he said he is keeping the vow that he made to a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress last week.

Israel will strike “crushing blows” against the Iranian regime and its “axis of evil,” namely Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.

Netanyahu proudly and defiantly declared that in recent days and hours, Israeli military forces have successfully attacked and killed three of the most evil, most deadly, most dangerous terrorists in the world.

Netanyahu said that Israel will not bow to those around the world demanding the Jewish state surrender to the forces of evil and agree to premature ceasefires.

Rather, he promised that Israel will continue to fight and win until victory is achieved and all of Israel’s hostages are returned home.

“Whoever butchers our children,” he said, “will pay the price.”

WATCH:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Since the beginning of the war, I have made it clear that we are in a fight against Iran’s axis of evil. This is an existential war against a stranglehold of terrorist armies and missiles that Iran would like to tighten around our neck. pic.twitter.com/p20chQJdnM

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 31, 2024

All Israel News

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

Any escalation by Hezbollah against Israel that leads to a major confrontation should be viewed as an attack carried out and executed by Iran, according to a resolution South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced on Wednesday. 

According to the resolution, the Senate “asserts that efforts to deter Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran are most credible when the President keeps all options on the table, including military force.”

The resolution holds Iran and Hezbollah responsible for “any adverse impacts on the people of Lebanon that result from an attack on the State of Israel by Hezbollah” and also urges Congress and the President to use “all diplomatic tools and power projection capabilities” to hold both Iran and Hezbollah accountable. 

Graham also introduced an Authorization for Use of Military Force which would authorize the use of US Armed Forces against Iran for threatening the national security of the US through the development of nuclear weapons.

The resolution would authorize the use of military force by the United States to stop an Iranian nuclear breakout. 

According to Graham, the resolution would be triggered if the president determines that Iran possesses uranium enriched to the weapons-grade level of a nuclear warhead and possesses a delivery vehicle capable of delivering a nuclear device against Israel, other allies, or the United States. 

“Iran will keep going until somebody tells them to stop,” Graham told reporters during a news conference he called on Wednesday afternoon. “It is time to put red lines on their nuclear program.”

Graham said he believes “it is a certainty” that if the US doesn’t change course, Iran will possess a nuclear weapon within weeks or months. 

Graham called the Director of National Intelligence’s report on the status of the Iranian nuclear program “unnerving.”

“Their ability to enrich to weapons grade is now a matter of weeks, not months,” Graham said. “Their ability to weaponize the material has advanced, and it is now time for Congress to lend their voice to the proper response.”

Not only should Israel hold Iran accountable for any escalation by Hezbollah, the United States should do the same, according to Graham, with vital facilities like oil refineries on the target list.

“If Hezbollah attacks Israel, my hope is that they will have one less refinery than they do today,” he said. “It is time to hit the Ayatollah in the pocketbook. Oil refineries are the lifeblood of his regime. Without those refineries, they would not be able to fund terrorism.”

“Israel is not the bad guy here,” Graham said, adding it’s time to hold Iran accountable for their proxies. 

“Hezbollah was the agent of the attack, on October 7, the slaughtering of 1,200 Jews was done by the Iranians to Hamas,” Graham said. “So our friends in Israel, if you’re hit by Hezbollah, strike hard, strike lethal and include Iran on the target list.”

Iran cannot use its proxies in Lebanon without facing reprisals in Iran itself, Graham said. 

According to Graham, he has the support of his Republican colleagues, and he hopes some Democrats as well. 

“Why am I saying this? Because I think if we don’t do something decisive now, it’s going to get far worse, quick,” Graham said. “I believe that we’re on the verge of a major conflict over the Iran nuclear program.”

Israel will be forced to act in a decisive manner sooner rather than later, Graham added. 

“It’s time to reset,” the senator said. 

Graham, who met with American hostage families last week in DC ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before Congress, said the best way to get the hostages released is to make the cost of doing business too high for Iran. 

The senator said he still thinks it’s possible to have a ceasefire and have the hostages released, and Israel’s actions in Iran on Tuesday are a “continuation of a policy that served the Jewish state well.”

Jerusalem Post

Day 299 — Wednesday, July 31

There is a looming war with Hezbollah in the north of Israel. This past weekend, Hezbollah launched an Iranian-made Falcon 1 rocket on a Druze community in Majdal Shams below Mount Herman. The attack brutally killed 12 young children.

Hezbollah later denied their involvement because it hit a Druze Community. However, it is only they who possess these Iranian-made rockets; therefore, there is no doubt that this strike came from Lebanon. The Druze community is in shock and has condemned those responsible, calling for their punishment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States at the time, as he had addressed the US Congress a few days earlier. When he heard about the attack, he made immediate plans to return to Israel.

Israel reified a plan to retaliate. As a result, countries around the world called on their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Hezbollah braced, and Iran warned of consequences should Israel respond. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, Israel took aim, killing Hezbollah’s “Chief of Staff” Fuad Shukr in Behruit, as well as top Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

It is a powder keg waiting to blow up any minute.

Since October 7th, Hezbollah has launched hundreds upon hundreds of rockets and drones into Israeli territory, provoking Israel into an all-out war. The world and the media seem to be turning a blind eye to what Hezbollah is doing.

Back in 2006, in the Israel-Hezbollah war of that time, Hezbollah terrorists began firing katyusha rockets into Israel while their forces crossed the border and attacked an Israeli army vehicle that was patrolling the Israeli side. They killed three soldiers and kidnapped two others. Of course, Israel retaliated hard. Hezbollah then launched an additional thousand plus rockets into Israel. During that escalation, I remember the media blaming Israel for using disproportionate force instead of blaming Hezbollah, the terrorists.

I attended a lecture at our University a little while after the conflict where the invited speaker demonized Israel for defending itself. Disgusting, to say the least! British historian Martin Gilbert wrote: “Following the Hezbollah-Israeli War of June 2006, Israel withdrew its troops from Southern Lebanon. Southern Lebanon was then policed by an enlarged United Nations interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Originally set up in 1978, UNIFIL force was mandated after the 2006 war to clear mines, rebuild roads and bridges, disarm Hezbollah, prevent Hezbollah from rearming, and prevent further rocket attacks on Israel.”

How did that turn out? Not very good considering that in 2006, Hezbollah had approximately 14,000 rockets aimed at Israel, and now they have about 150,000 to 200,000, all pointed at the Jewish State—many of them equipped with precision-guided systems.

Tehran, of course, is their master as the Iranian regime vows to wipe Israel off the face of the map.

We know for certain that that’s not going to happen because of what God has said in Jeremiah 31: 35-36: “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): ‘If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.’”

Iran and Hezbollah would be better off aiming their rockets and missiles at the sun, moon, and stars because if they can destroy them, then maybe they would have a chance of destroying Israel.

Israel is on the winning side—make no mistake. That doesn’t mean that if an all-out war happens in the north with Hezbollah that there won’t be some serious casualties in Israel. That’s why we need to be praying for Israel’s leaders to be wise to the schemes of their enemies. Pray for the IDF to be successful in destroying those who wish them dead. Above all, pray that God will ultimately intervene.

Day 299 — Wednesday, July 31

The Hamas terrorist organization announced on Wednesday morning that the organization’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was eliminated in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Earlier, media outlets in Iran, citing the Revolutionary Guards, reported that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed in an attack on the home in which they were staying in Tehran.

Saudi media reported that Haniyeh was killed in his bedroom by a precision-guided missile that was launched towards him at 2:00 a.m. Tehran time.

Haniyeh was visiting Tehran in order to take part in the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, which took place on Tuesday.

In a statement, Hamas blamed Israel for the elimination, saying, “The Islamic resistance movement Hamas mourns its leader Ismail Haniyeh, who died as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president.”

Hamas political bureau member Mousa Abu Marzouq commented on the elimination of Haniyeh, and said that “the assassination of Commander Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered.”

During the visit to Tehran, Haniyeh met with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, among others.

Unlike Hamas, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards did not point an accusing finger at Israel for the elimination and would only say, “We are investigating the scope of the elimination of Haniyeh in Tehran and will announce the results of the investigation later.”

Israel has not commented on the reports thus far.

Arutz Sheva

Day 299 — Wednesday, July 31

Israeli fighter jets have carried out major air strikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, eliminating a very top Hezbollah Commander named Fuad Shukr.

Although Israel has eliminated several top Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon and Syria over the past nine months, Fuad Shukr was the highest-ranking Hezbollah Commander yet to be eliminated by Israel. He was the mastermind behind and ordered the heinous massacre on Saturday in the Majdal Shams, located in Northern Israel, in which 12 children between the ages of 10 and 20 were killed by a Hezbollah rocket as they played soccer.

What will be the Hezbollah response to Israel’s response? This was a heavy blow to Hezbollah. Will they now feel pressure to respond?

Shukr was a senior member of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, and he answered directly to the terror group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. This was a big fish. In many ways, Shukr was Hezbollah’s version of Qasem Soleimani, who answered directly to Iran’s supreme leader before he was erased from the earth in January 2020. Ironically, Hassan Nasrallah also answers to Iran’s supreme leader, who is the puppet master pulling the strings behind all of the regional terror.

Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen, was also a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, giving you an idea of his importance to the terror group.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant released a statement saying, “Fuad Shukr ‘Sayyid’ Muhsan has the blood of many Israelis on his hands. Tonight, we have shown that the blood of our people has a price, and that there is no place out of reach for our forces to this end.”

Shukr directed many lethal terror attacks over the years, especially in the last nine and a half months since Hezbollah unilaterally began reigning rockets, missiles, and attack drones onto Northern Israel. Fuad Shukr, a point man, did all of that—and he’s not going to be easy to replace.

80,000, some say 100,000, Israelis remain evacuated from the communities of Northern Israel. I was there a few months ago, and it’s only gotten worse since then. Northern Israel is largely a ghost town right now, thanks to Fuad Shukr and others who are directing those daily Hezbollah barrages. Some 6,000 projectiles have been launched since October 8th, one day after its brothers in Hamas conducted the October 7th massacre.

Day 298 — Tuesday, July 30

The IDF stated on Monday evening that a drone launched by Hezbollah against an Israeli offshore gas rig was intercepted by the Israeli Navy over the Mediterranean Sea.

For the second time in three days, a Sa’ar 6-class corvette used the Iron Dome’s sea variant, dubbed “C-Dome,” to shoot down a drone targeting the gas infrastructure off the Israeli coast.

On Saturday morning, a similar attack had targeted the Karish gas field.

A successful attack by Hezbollah on a sensitive energy-related target, such as a gas rig, would be unprecedented. The repeated attempts prove that Hezbollah is willing to risk a much-feared escalation into an all-out war, which seems closer than ever after the deadly rocket strike in Majdal Shams.

While the Israeli Cabinet has approved a significant response to the Hezbollah attack, Israel Defense Forces, so far, has not carried out strikes that surpass the intensity it showed over the past months.

Earlier on Monday, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news site reported that two people were killed and three injured in an Israeli drone strike. The terror group confirmed two of its operatives were eliminated.

The IDF later released footage of the strike that targeted a car and a motorcycle near Shaqra.

Hezbollah later fired a barrage of some 20 rockets at the Gomeh Junction area, just south of Kiryat Shmona, in response to the strike.

In the evening, Lebanese media reported another drone strike on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Roummane, which reportedly wounded four people.

Meanwhile, a Hezbollah official told the Associated Press that the group had begun moving around some of its precision-guided missiles in preparation for massive Israeli strikes, which it would seek to answer in kind.

All Israel News

Day 298 — Tuesday, July 30

Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Monday that any possible Israeli attack on Lebanon “could backfire and have severe consequences for the Zionists themselves,” CNN reported.

According to the report, Pezeshkian’s comment came during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, ahead of Pezeshkian’s swearing in ceremony before the Iranian parliament on Tuesday.

Macron and Pezeshkian also discussed “various issues and topics, including negotiations to lift anti-Iran sanctions, the war in Ukraine, and the latest situation and developments in Gaza and Lebanon,” the Iranian news agency Mehr reported.

Pezeshkian, touted as a “reformist,” defeated his hardline rival, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, in a runoff election.

While improving Iran’s relationships with the West is one of his stated goals, that does not include Israel. On the day of the first round of the elections, responding to a question from a journalist about how Iran would manage international relations if he were president, Pezeshkian replied, “God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel.”

The conversation between Macron and Pezeshkian came amid tensions between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah over the Hezbollah rocket attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams, in which 12 children and teens were killed.

On Sunday, the members of the Security Cabinet authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to decide on the manner and timing of the response against Hezbollah in the wake of the massacre in Majdal Shams.

Arutz Sheva

Day 297 — Monday, July 29

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday appeared to threaten to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians, and to put an end to the nearly 10-month-old war Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.

Turkey must be “very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to the Palestinians,” the Turkish leader said of the war. “Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.”

The remarks, delivered at a party meeting in Rize, were the latest in a series of inflammatory statements he has issued about Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the months following the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, and subsequent war in Gaza.

In 2020, Turkey, under Erdoğan’s direction, provided military support to Azerbaijan during a 44-day conflict sparked by a land dispute with Armenia and the breakaway territory of Artsakh, or the republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Turkish military did not intervene directly, and instead provided assistance, which included the deployment of Syrian mercenaries and a supply of drones.

Also in 2020, Turkey passed a one-year mandate to deploy troops to Libya in support of the United Nations-recognized Libyan government, as it fought a civil war.

As a member of NATO, which includes the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and other close allies of Israel, Erdogan would almost certainly face heavy opposition if he attempted to take military action over the war in Gaza.

He has been at odds with his Western allies in recent months, after accusing them several times of backing a supposed Israeli plan to intentionally “spread war” throughout the Middle East.

In response to Erdogan’s latest threat, Foreign Minister Israel Katz compared him to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, whose regime was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2003. He was later executed by an Iraqi court, after being captured and tried.

“Erdogan is going down the path of Saddam Hussein and threatens to attack Israel. He should just remember what happened there and how that ended,” wrote Katz on X.

In recent months, Erdogan has gone as far as to suggest that Jerusalem would “set its sights” on Ankara once it has completed its stated goal of destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and freeing the hostages abducted by the Gazan terror group on October 7.
In a speech delivered in the Turkish parliament back in May, Erdogan told his party not to think “that Israel will stop in Gaza.”

Times Of Israel

Day 297 — Monday, July 29

Flights at Beirut airport have been cancelled or delayed with Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) saying disruptions to its schedule were related to insurance risks, as tensions escalate between Israel and armed political group Hezbollah.

Lufthansa LHAG.DE on Monday said it had suspended five routes to and from Beirut by the group’s carriers Swiss International Air Lines, Eurowings and Lufthansa up to and including July 30 “in an abundance of caution.”

A rocket strike that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Golan Heights on Saturday has added to concerns that Israel and the Iran-backed group could engage in a full-scale war.

Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday authorised the government to respond to the strike. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza, which has since spread to several fronts.

Beirut airport’s flight information board and flight tracking website Flightradar24 show Turkish Airlines THYAO.IS also cancelled two flights overnight on Sunday.

Turkey-based budget carrier SunExpress, Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, Ethiopian Air and MEA have also cancelled flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Monday, Flightradar24 shows.

The airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport is Lebanon’s only airport. It has been targeted in the country’s civil war, and previous fighting with Israel, including in the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

On Sunday, MEA said it had delayed the departure of some flights set to land in Beirut overnight. Additional delays to flights landing on Monday were then announced due to “technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations,” MEA said.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have increased cross-border exchanges of fire since the Gaza war began. The conflict has disrupted flights and shipping across the region, including during reciprocal drone and missile attacks between Israel and Iran in April.

Lufthansa has already suspended night-time flights to and from Beirut for July due to “current developments” in the Middle East.

Jerusalem Post

Day 296 — Sunday, July 28

At least 12 children and youth between the ages of 10 and 20 years old were killed – and dozens more seriously wounded – by the impact of a rocket fired by Hezbollah on a soccer field in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday evening.

According to the Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service, large rescue forces, including ambulances and helicopters, were rushed to the Druze village of Majdal Shams. At least 12 children were critically wounded in the attack and passed away within hours.

In addition, Ziv Hospital in Safed said that around 10 p.m. it received 32 casualties, of whom 6 were in serious condition, 13 in moderate to serious condition, and 10 with minor injuries. Several others were treated for shock.

At least 40 people total were killed or wounded in the attack, making it by far the most serious incident on Israel’s northern front, and the event with the most civilian casualties during the current war so far.

Paramedic Idan Avshalom said: “We arrived at a soccer field and saw destruction, objects on fire. Casualties were lying on the grass, very difficult scenes, we immediately started sorting the casualties, some of the injured were taken to local clinics and our teams were directed to the clinics as well.”

“During the incident, there were additional alerts and the medical treatment of the victims is still ongoing,” he added.

Majdal Shams lies around 6 km (4 miles) from the Lebanese border. Its residents have not been evacuated, unlike tens of thousands of residents in towns closer to the border.

Israel Defense Forces later stated that troops and helicopters were helping with rescue and evacuation efforts in the town.

An Israeli official told media outlets that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being updated about the details of the incident and was holding a security consultation.

Netanyahu was still in the United States, after prolonging his stay to meet former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. This necessitated his staying in the U.S. over the weekend, however, Israeli leaders typically do not travel during the Jewish Sabbath.

Israeli media reported that the prime minister’s team would decide whether to return to Israel during the Sabbath after an upcoming phone call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Following criticism that he didn’t immediately decide to return to Israel in the face of the worst incident since the start of the war, Netanyahu’s office stated he would return early.

“Immediately upon learning of the disaster, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that his return to Israel be brought forward as quickly as possible,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.

After initial meetings among the army’s top brass, the IDF stated that it was preparing to respond to the attack in a significant way. The army also noted that the rocket used in the attack was allegedly an especially heavy type and that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) would investigate why it wasn’t intercepted.

The IDF further emphasized that, according to available intelligence, the launch was carried out by Hezbollah, however, the Lebanese terror group denied any involvement in the incident in a rare statement of its kind earlier in the evening.

“Hezbollah is behind the launch of the rocket that hit the soccer field in Majdal Shams and caused many casualties, only civilians, including children earlier this evening,” the IDF reiterated.

The deadly rocket was part of several heavy barrages targeting the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights on Saturday afternoon. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 12 separate attacks throughout the day, higher than its daily average in the past weeks.

The first volley of some 30 rockets targeting the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights was partly intercepted, the IDF stated.

Another barrage of about 10 rockets was later fired at the area of Neve Ativ, falling into open areas, before the deadly rocket was fired at Majdal Shams.

The heavy rocket attacks followed an IDF strike in southern Lebanon that killed four of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces operatives, according to Lebanese reports.

IDF soldiers from the IDF’s 869th Field Intelligence Battalion reportedly spotted a terrorist entering a military compound that included an ammunition depot near Kafr Kila and then directed IAF fighter jets to strike the building.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah launched two drones toward the area of Yiftah and shot two rockets targeting Shtula. The attacks caused no injuries or damage.

All Israel News

Day 295 — Saturday, July 27

A United Nations rights expert has endorsed a social media post comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, drawing rebuke from Israel and the US.

On Thursday, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, responded to a post on X that featured a picture of Hitler being celebrated by a crowd with Nazi salutes and cheers above a shot of Netanyahu being greeted by US congressmen this week.

“History is always watching,” Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official who resigned late last October after accusing the world body of failing to prevent the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, wrote in the post.

“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” Albanese, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022 but who does not speak on behalf of the UN, said in her response.

Albanese has faced harsh criticism from Israel in the past, including after she presented a report in March accusing the country of committing genocide in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel rejected the report at the time as an “obscene inversion of reality.”

Israel slammed the UN rights expert, calling her “beyond redemption.”

“It is inconceivable that Albanese is still allowed to use the UN as a shield to spread antisemitism,” it said.

Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva also chimed in.

“When a current UN ‘expert’ endorses Holocaust distortion spread by the former (UN rights office) director in New York… the system is rotten to its core,” it said.

“It’s high time to #UNseatAlbanese!”

Israel’s new ambassador in Geneva, Daniel Meron, used the same hashtag, decrying that “Francesca Albanese abuses her (UN) title to spread hatred and inflammatory rhetoric.”

Washington also weighed in, with US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Michele Taylor writing on X that the comparison of Netanyahu to Hitler is “reprehensible and antisemitic.”

“There should be no place for such dehumanizing rhetoric. Special rapporteurs should be striving to improve human rights challenges, not inflame them,” she added.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, called Albanese’s comments antisemitic, adding she is “not fit for this or any position at the UN.”

Times Of Israel

Day 295 — Saturday, July 27

With friends like these. . .

Less than an hour after sitting down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris pulled a 180, pushing for a cease-fire and slamming the Jewish state for “the scale of human suffering in Gaza” and “the death of far too many innocent civilians.”

Greeting Bibi with one hand, stabbing him in the back with the other.

After the sitdown, Harris publicly touted her “unwavering” support for Israel’s right to exist — and in the next breath, fretted for the “over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.”

(Notice how the switch to “food insecurity” after the data proved there is no famine, as Gazans are getting more food than they needed from aid and private groups.)

Reality check: All the suffering, deaths and hunger are on Hamas, which started this war by breaking a cease-fire with its Oct. 7 atrocities — and which huddles in the hundreds of miles of tunnels and bunkers it built under Gaza’s ground by diverting billions in international aid.

Israel has gone to unprecedented lengths to protect civilians; but horrors are inevitable in war, especially when Hamas continues to commit war crimes every day by hiding among civilians — and stealing their food and other relief supplies.

But Harris won’t say any of that because it’s not what the left wants to hear.

She somehow thinks she can convince the vast majority of Americans that she’s not a pro-Hamas radical — while placating the pro-Hamas radicals.

The result: Our No. 1 Middle Eastern ally is further alienated, while the antisemitic left remains unsatisfied.

Plus, Harris’ Hamas-heartening comments could hamstring Jerusalem’s effort to negotiate a hostage release and risk further escalation in the region, as Iran & Co. look to take advantage of the cracks in the US-Israel relationship.

Trying to please both sides is pure cowardice, and added proof that Harris has yet to learn anything about making successful foreign policy.

New York Post

Day 301 — Friday, August 2

The New York Times published an analysis Friday in which it claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “gone rogue” by killing terrorists who had killed Israeli citizens, rather than acquiescing.

The story, by Steven Erlanger, is just one of many stories that appeared Friday in the center-left media — both in Israel and the United States — accusing Netanyahu of chasing victory at the price of a ceasefire-hostage deal.

Erlanger, citing “analysts,” wrote:

The assassinations of senior Hezbollah and Hamas figures abroad have now sharply raised the risks of a larger regional war as Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah prepare retaliation, analysts say.

Absent a clear goal in the war, however, Mr. Netanyahu’s defiance is dividing Israel from its allies and the country itself. It has further shaken trust in his leadership. It is fueling suspicions that he is keeping the country at war to keep himself in power. It is intensifying a deep rift inside the society — about the fate of Israeli hostages, the conduct of the war and the rule of law — that is challenging the institutional bonds that hold Israel together.

To Israelis, striking back at Hezbollah was an absolute necessity after a rocket fired by the Iran-backed terror group killed 12 innocent children in the Druze Arab village of Majdal Shams last Saturday.

Taking out Hezbollah’s second-in-command in a targeted strike was a way of forcing Hezbollah to pay a price, and reestablishing deterrence, rather than risking a major ground war and all the civilian casualties that would come with it.

Likewise with the apparent Israeli hit on Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, a billionaire who lived a life of luxury while ordering thousands of deaths, both Israeli and Palestinians. (President Joe Biden, who is trying to stop the war short of an Israeli victory, said the death of the arch-terrorist “has not helped.”)

Netanyahu’s opponents, in the U.S. and Israel, have been leaking to the media to report Biden’s displeasure, and the apparent irritation of Israel’s security chiefs.

Barak Ravid of Axios — a reliably anti-Netanyahu, anti-Trump voice — reported that Biden was “frustrated” with Netanyahu. And Israel’s Channel 12 said that Israeli security chiefs urged Netanyahu to accept a hostage deal.

As Biden himself has admitted, Hamas is responsible for sinking a hostage deal, because it insists on ending the war as a condition for the return of some — not all — of the hostages. Such a deal would leave it armed and in power in Gaza.

But it is an election year, and Biden prefers to look for ways to appease Iran and its terrorist proxies — which, critics say, is the very reason that the Middle East has reached the point of conflagration in the first place.

Breitbart

Day 301 — Friday, August 2

In an official announcement, the IDF has confirmed that Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military wing, and mastermind behind the October 7 massacre, was eliminated in an airstrike on July 13.

The IDF and Shin Bet received verified information confirming his death beyond a doubt in recent hours.

As previously reported, the IDF and Shin Bet eliminated Mohammed Deif and Rafah Salama (the Khan Yunis Brigade commander) on July 13 in a precise operation by the IAF. This operation was based on an intelligence network assembled by Shin Bet and Military Intelligence.

Deif, a mass murderer who had previously survived several Israeli assassination attempts, planned and executed the October 7 massacre. He was responsible for developing Hamas’ operational capabilities and had a significant amount of Israeli blood on his hands.

Since the July 13 strike, amid uncertainty and denials from Hamas regarding Deif’s fate, the IDF closely monitored all new information about him.

In the past few hours, security forces received new information and evidence confirming that Mohammed Deif was indeed eliminated with absolute certainty.

Israel Hayom

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

With Israel bracing for potential retaliation from Iran and its proxies after two assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, the United States is scrambling forces to prepare for an escalation that threatens to engulf the Middle East.

At the same time, the U.S. is launching a diplomatic offensive aimed at preventing a regional conflict and returning Israel and Hamas to the negotiating table regarding a hostage release and ceasefire deal.

A U.S. Pentagon official told the Washington Post on Thursday that at least 12 American warships were concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arab Gulf at the moment. This includes the carrier strike group of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and several destroyers and other vessels, some of which were transferred there from the U.S.-led task force defending shipping lanes against attacks by the Yemeni Houthi terrorists in the Red Sea.

The U.S. was reportedly informed beforehand of the Israeli strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr. U.S. officials told Politico that while the U.S. saw the strike as a legitimate response to the Majdal Shams attack, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran came as a surprise.

U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken confirmed this on Thursday, saying: “This is something we were not aware of or involved in.”

The Biden administration has since launched a diplomatic offensive to lessen the fall-out of the surprise assassination in Iran’s capital, with the ultimate goal of resuming hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

According to Ynet News, Israel has transferred a message to Iran’s main proxy Hezbollah through Western and regional officials, stressing that the IDF was only targeting military targets and advising Hezbollah to do the same. A massive attack on civilians would mean all-out war, the Israeli officials emphasized.

“Everyone since last night is putting pressure on Tehran to not respond and to contain this,” a Western diplomat told the Financial Times. According to the newspaper, Western diplomats were holding urgent discussions to prevent a larger war.

The same report noted that Enrique Mora, chief of staff to the European Union’s senior diplomat, Josep Borrell, held talks in Tehran on Wednesday, while the Biden administration’s senior Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, was in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. continues to view a hostage release and truce deal as the best way to end Israel’s conflict with both Hamas and Hezbollah, and to restabilize the region after nearly 10 months of war.

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, U.S. officials said they were caught off guard by the killing of Haniyeh, which they said has made it more difficult to achieve a ceasefire, though negotiations have not been entirely derailed.

U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said reaching a deal “was always complicated. It remains complicated,” he said. “We don’t believe escalation is inevitable.”

Another official said that discussions restarted immediately following the strike in Tehran to salvage a deal. Those discussions involved representatives from Israel, Qatar, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

All Israel News 

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

I’ve had people write to me with questions regarding my reaction to the deaths of many terrorists. I can understand why you ask, because I don’t have time to explain my underlying point of view with each Telegram post. So, let me just say that I am fully in line with what Paul wrote to Timothy when he said God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). In my mind, the best-case scenario would be for an evangelical revival to sweep through Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran. I would love to see Gazans on their knees, repenting and giving their lives to the Lord. That is the ideal, and I know that God could accomplish that should He choose to.

However, I also know that without a saving knowledge of the Messiah, so many people do horrendous things. So, my prayer is that God stops them from carrying them out. If that costs them their lives, then so be it. Throughout Scripture we see judgment being brought on those who hurt innocents, be they Jews or Gentiles. Do I wish that Ismail Haniyeh had given his life to Jesus before he was violently blown into His presence? I do, although he would still have to pay a price on this earth for his evil deeds and treachery. But the fact was that his conscience had been seared decades ago, and he had no interest in the love and peace found in the Messiah.

In a speech from the IDF Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv last night, PM Netanyahu reminded the nation of the importance of the battle we are in. It is a fight for our very existence against Iran’s axis of evil: Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. He recalled the targeted killing three weeks ago of Hamas chief of staff, Muhammad Daf. He brought up the massive bombing of the Houthis two weeks ago following their drone attack on Tel Aviv. Then, after the despicable murders of our children in Majdal Shams, he told how we took revenge on Fuad Shukr, a notorious terrorist wanted for crimes committed against Israel and the United States.

Yes, it is taking time, he said, but that is something about which he warned from the beginning. But if this fight for peace in our land is to be done right and done permanently, we must be patient and tenacious. He also warned anyone with thoughts of taking revenge, saying, “We will settle our score with anyone who harms us. Everyone who takes aim at our children, everyone who murders our citizens, everyone who harms our country – their blood is on their own head.”

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera reporter whose death Wednesday was mourned by his network as a case of “targeted assassination,” was identified Thursday by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a Hamas terrorist.

It was just the latest example of an Al Jazeera journalist or freelancer being exposed as a Hamas terrorist.

Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday:

Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi have been killed in an Israeli air attack on the Gaza Strip.

Ismail and Rami were wearing media vests and there were identifying signs on their car when they were attacked. They had last contacted their news desk 15 minutes before the strike.

“This latest attack on Al Jazeera journalists is part of a systematic targeting campaign against the network’s journalists and their families since October 2023,” the network said.

Anti-Israel groups sprang into action. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose leader celebrated the October 7 terror attack, demanded that media outlets across the world speak out against Israel’s actions.

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said: “Media outlets and journalists in our nation and worldwide must speak out forcefully in defense of their colleagues in Gaza who are under daily threat of attack and death by a far-right, genocidal government determined to silence their voices.”

As Breitbart News has noted:

In 2007-8, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. That case, in turn, led the FBI to discontinue its work with the organization. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that the government “produced ample evidence to establish” the ties of CAIR with Hamas, the Palestinian terror organization. The United Arab Emirates labeled CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014 (a decision that the Obama administration opposed).

But evidence had long since emerged about Ismail al-Ghoul’s terrorist sympathies and affiliations.

On Thursday, the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet, or Shabak) released a statement identifying the “journalist” as a terrorist:

In a joint IDF and ISA operation, the IAF struck and eliminated Ismail al-Ghoul, a Hamas Military Wing operative and Nukhba terrorist who participated in the October 7th Massacre.

As part of his role in the military wing, Al-Ghoul instructed other operatives on how to record operations and was actively involved in recording and publicizing attacks against IDF troops. His activities in the field were a vital part of Hamas’ military activity.

The IDF and ISA are operating in order to eliminate terrorists who participated in the October 7th Massacre and will continue to do so.

The Nukhba wing of Hamas is the elite special forces unit of the terrorist organization.

Breitbart

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on live television Wednesday evening.

In a dramatic presentation, he said he is keeping the vow that he made to a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress last week.

Israel will strike “crushing blows” against the Iranian regime and its “axis of evil,” namely Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.

Netanyahu proudly and defiantly declared that in recent days and hours, Israeli military forces have successfully attacked and killed three of the most evil, most deadly, most dangerous terrorists in the world.

Netanyahu said that Israel will not bow to those around the world demanding the Jewish state surrender to the forces of evil and agree to premature ceasefires.

Rather, he promised that Israel will continue to fight and win until victory is achieved and all of Israel’s hostages are returned home.

“Whoever butchers our children,” he said, “will pay the price.”

WATCH:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Since the beginning of the war, I have made it clear that we are in a fight against Iran’s axis of evil. This is an existential war against a stranglehold of terrorist armies and missiles that Iran would like to tighten around our neck. pic.twitter.com/p20chQJdnM

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 31, 2024

All Israel News

Day 300 — Thursday, August 1

Any escalation by Hezbollah against Israel that leads to a major confrontation should be viewed as an attack carried out and executed by Iran, according to a resolution South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced on Wednesday. 

According to the resolution, the Senate “asserts that efforts to deter Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran are most credible when the President keeps all options on the table, including military force.”

The resolution holds Iran and Hezbollah responsible for “any adverse impacts on the people of Lebanon that result from an attack on the State of Israel by Hezbollah” and also urges Congress and the President to use “all diplomatic tools and power projection capabilities” to hold both Iran and Hezbollah accountable. 

Graham also introduced an Authorization for Use of Military Force which would authorize the use of US Armed Forces against Iran for threatening the national security of the US through the development of nuclear weapons.

The resolution would authorize the use of military force by the United States to stop an Iranian nuclear breakout. 

According to Graham, the resolution would be triggered if the president determines that Iran possesses uranium enriched to the weapons-grade level of a nuclear warhead and possesses a delivery vehicle capable of delivering a nuclear device against Israel, other allies, or the United States. 

“Iran will keep going until somebody tells them to stop,” Graham told reporters during a news conference he called on Wednesday afternoon. “It is time to put red lines on their nuclear program.”

Graham said he believes “it is a certainty” that if the US doesn’t change course, Iran will possess a nuclear weapon within weeks or months. 

Graham called the Director of National Intelligence’s report on the status of the Iranian nuclear program “unnerving.”

“Their ability to enrich to weapons grade is now a matter of weeks, not months,” Graham said. “Their ability to weaponize the material has advanced, and it is now time for Congress to lend their voice to the proper response.”

Not only should Israel hold Iran accountable for any escalation by Hezbollah, the United States should do the same, according to Graham, with vital facilities like oil refineries on the target list.

“If Hezbollah attacks Israel, my hope is that they will have one less refinery than they do today,” he said. “It is time to hit the Ayatollah in the pocketbook. Oil refineries are the lifeblood of his regime. Without those refineries, they would not be able to fund terrorism.”

“Israel is not the bad guy here,” Graham said, adding it’s time to hold Iran accountable for their proxies. 

“Hezbollah was the agent of the attack, on October 7, the slaughtering of 1,200 Jews was done by the Iranians to Hamas,” Graham said. “So our friends in Israel, if you’re hit by Hezbollah, strike hard, strike lethal and include Iran on the target list.”

Iran cannot use its proxies in Lebanon without facing reprisals in Iran itself, Graham said. 

According to Graham, he has the support of his Republican colleagues, and he hopes some Democrats as well. 

“Why am I saying this? Because I think if we don’t do something decisive now, it’s going to get far worse, quick,” Graham said. “I believe that we’re on the verge of a major conflict over the Iran nuclear program.”

Israel will be forced to act in a decisive manner sooner rather than later, Graham added. 

“It’s time to reset,” the senator said. 

Graham, who met with American hostage families last week in DC ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before Congress, said the best way to get the hostages released is to make the cost of doing business too high for Iran. 

The senator said he still thinks it’s possible to have a ceasefire and have the hostages released, and Israel’s actions in Iran on Tuesday are a “continuation of a policy that served the Jewish state well.”

Jerusalem Post

Day 299 — Wednesday, July 31

There is a looming war with Hezbollah in the north of Israel. This past weekend, Hezbollah launched an Iranian-made Falcon 1 rocket on a Druze community in Majdal Shams below Mount Herman. The attack brutally killed 12 young children.

Hezbollah later denied their involvement because it hit a Druze Community. However, it is only they who possess these Iranian-made rockets; therefore, there is no doubt that this strike came from Lebanon. The Druze community is in shock and has condemned those responsible, calling for their punishment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States at the time, as he had addressed the US Congress a few days earlier. When he heard about the attack, he made immediate plans to return to Israel.

Israel reified a plan to retaliate. As a result, countries around the world called on their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Hezbollah braced, and Iran warned of consequences should Israel respond. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, Israel took aim, killing Hezbollah’s “Chief of Staff” Fuad Shukr in Behruit, as well as top Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

It is a powder keg waiting to blow up any minute.

Since October 7th, Hezbollah has launched hundreds upon hundreds of rockets and drones into Israeli territory, provoking Israel into an all-out war. The world and the media seem to be turning a blind eye to what Hezbollah is doing.

Back in 2006, in the Israel-Hezbollah war of that time, Hezbollah terrorists began firing katyusha rockets into Israel while their forces crossed the border and attacked an Israeli army vehicle that was patrolling the Israeli side. They killed three soldiers and kidnapped two others. Of course, Israel retaliated hard. Hezbollah then launched an additional thousand plus rockets into Israel. During that escalation, I remember the media blaming Israel for using disproportionate force instead of blaming Hezbollah, the terrorists.

I attended a lecture at our University a little while after the conflict where the invited speaker demonized Israel for defending itself. Disgusting, to say the least! British historian Martin Gilbert wrote: “Following the Hezbollah-Israeli War of June 2006, Israel withdrew its troops from Southern Lebanon. Southern Lebanon was then policed by an enlarged United Nations interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Originally set up in 1978, UNIFIL force was mandated after the 2006 war to clear mines, rebuild roads and bridges, disarm Hezbollah, prevent Hezbollah from rearming, and prevent further rocket attacks on Israel.”

How did that turn out? Not very good considering that in 2006, Hezbollah had approximately 14,000 rockets aimed at Israel, and now they have about 150,000 to 200,000, all pointed at the Jewish State—many of them equipped with precision-guided systems.

Tehran, of course, is their master as the Iranian regime vows to wipe Israel off the face of the map.

We know for certain that that’s not going to happen because of what God has said in Jeremiah 31: 35-36: “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): ‘If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.’”

Iran and Hezbollah would be better off aiming their rockets and missiles at the sun, moon, and stars because if they can destroy them, then maybe they would have a chance of destroying Israel.

Israel is on the winning side—make no mistake. That doesn’t mean that if an all-out war happens in the north with Hezbollah that there won’t be some serious casualties in Israel. That’s why we need to be praying for Israel’s leaders to be wise to the schemes of their enemies. Pray for the IDF to be successful in destroying those who wish them dead. Above all, pray that God will ultimately intervene.

Day 299 — Wednesday, July 31

The Hamas terrorist organization announced on Wednesday morning that the organization’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was eliminated in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Earlier, media outlets in Iran, citing the Revolutionary Guards, reported that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed in an attack on the home in which they were staying in Tehran.

Saudi media reported that Haniyeh was killed in his bedroom by a precision-guided missile that was launched towards him at 2:00 a.m. Tehran time.

Haniyeh was visiting Tehran in order to take part in the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, which took place on Tuesday.

In a statement, Hamas blamed Israel for the elimination, saying, “The Islamic resistance movement Hamas mourns its leader Ismail Haniyeh, who died as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president.”

Hamas political bureau member Mousa Abu Marzouq commented on the elimination of Haniyeh, and said that “the assassination of Commander Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered.”

During the visit to Tehran, Haniyeh met with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, among others.

Unlike Hamas, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards did not point an accusing finger at Israel for the elimination and would only say, “We are investigating the scope of the elimination of Haniyeh in Tehran and will announce the results of the investigation later.”

Israel has not commented on the reports thus far.

Arutz Sheva

Day 299 — Wednesday, July 31

Israeli fighter jets have carried out major air strikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, eliminating a very top Hezbollah Commander named Fuad Shukr.

Although Israel has eliminated several top Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon and Syria over the past nine months, Fuad Shukr was the highest-ranking Hezbollah Commander yet to be eliminated by Israel. He was the mastermind behind and ordered the heinous massacre on Saturday in the Majdal Shams, located in Northern Israel, in which 12 children between the ages of 10 and 20 were killed by a Hezbollah rocket as they played soccer.

What will be the Hezbollah response to Israel’s response? This was a heavy blow to Hezbollah. Will they now feel pressure to respond?

Shukr was a senior member of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, and he answered directly to the terror group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. This was a big fish. In many ways, Shukr was Hezbollah’s version of Qasem Soleimani, who answered directly to Iran’s supreme leader before he was erased from the earth in January 2020. Ironically, Hassan Nasrallah also answers to Iran’s supreme leader, who is the puppet master pulling the strings behind all of the regional terror.

Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen, was also a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, giving you an idea of his importance to the terror group.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant released a statement saying, “Fuad Shukr ‘Sayyid’ Muhsan has the blood of many Israelis on his hands. Tonight, we have shown that the blood of our people has a price, and that there is no place out of reach for our forces to this end.”

Shukr directed many lethal terror attacks over the years, especially in the last nine and a half months since Hezbollah unilaterally began reigning rockets, missiles, and attack drones onto Northern Israel. Fuad Shukr, a point man, did all of that—and he’s not going to be easy to replace.

80,000, some say 100,000, Israelis remain evacuated from the communities of Northern Israel. I was there a few months ago, and it’s only gotten worse since then. Northern Israel is largely a ghost town right now, thanks to Fuad Shukr and others who are directing those daily Hezbollah barrages. Some 6,000 projectiles have been launched since October 8th, one day after its brothers in Hamas conducted the October 7th massacre.

Day 298 — Tuesday, July 30

The IDF stated on Monday evening that a drone launched by Hezbollah against an Israeli offshore gas rig was intercepted by the Israeli Navy over the Mediterranean Sea.

For the second time in three days, a Sa’ar 6-class corvette used the Iron Dome’s sea variant, dubbed “C-Dome,” to shoot down a drone targeting the gas infrastructure off the Israeli coast.

On Saturday morning, a similar attack had targeted the Karish gas field.

A successful attack by Hezbollah on a sensitive energy-related target, such as a gas rig, would be unprecedented. The repeated attempts prove that Hezbollah is willing to risk a much-feared escalation into an all-out war, which seems closer than ever after the deadly rocket strike in Majdal Shams.

While the Israeli Cabinet has approved a significant response to the Hezbollah attack, Israel Defense Forces, so far, has not carried out strikes that surpass the intensity it showed over the past months.

Earlier on Monday, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news site reported that two people were killed and three injured in an Israeli drone strike. The terror group confirmed two of its operatives were eliminated.

The IDF later released footage of the strike that targeted a car and a motorcycle near Shaqra.

Hezbollah later fired a barrage of some 20 rockets at the Gomeh Junction area, just south of Kiryat Shmona, in response to the strike.

In the evening, Lebanese media reported another drone strike on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Roummane, which reportedly wounded four people.

Meanwhile, a Hezbollah official told the Associated Press that the group had begun moving around some of its precision-guided missiles in preparation for massive Israeli strikes, which it would seek to answer in kind.

All Israel News

Day 298 — Tuesday, July 30

Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Monday that any possible Israeli attack on Lebanon “could backfire and have severe consequences for the Zionists themselves,” CNN reported.

According to the report, Pezeshkian’s comment came during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, ahead of Pezeshkian’s swearing in ceremony before the Iranian parliament on Tuesday.

Macron and Pezeshkian also discussed “various issues and topics, including negotiations to lift anti-Iran sanctions, the war in Ukraine, and the latest situation and developments in Gaza and Lebanon,” the Iranian news agency Mehr reported.

Pezeshkian, touted as a “reformist,” defeated his hardline rival, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, in a runoff election.

While improving Iran’s relationships with the West is one of his stated goals, that does not include Israel. On the day of the first round of the elections, responding to a question from a journalist about how Iran would manage international relations if he were president, Pezeshkian replied, “God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel.”

The conversation between Macron and Pezeshkian came amid tensions between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah over the Hezbollah rocket attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams, in which 12 children and teens were killed.

On Sunday, the members of the Security Cabinet authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to decide on the manner and timing of the response against Hezbollah in the wake of the massacre in Majdal Shams.

Arutz Sheva

Day 297 — Monday, July 29

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday appeared to threaten to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians, and to put an end to the nearly 10-month-old war Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.

Turkey must be “very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to the Palestinians,” the Turkish leader said of the war. “Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.”

The remarks, delivered at a party meeting in Rize, were the latest in a series of inflammatory statements he has issued about Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the months following the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, and subsequent war in Gaza.

In 2020, Turkey, under Erdoğan’s direction, provided military support to Azerbaijan during a 44-day conflict sparked by a land dispute with Armenia and the breakaway territory of Artsakh, or the republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Turkish military did not intervene directly, and instead provided assistance, which included the deployment of Syrian mercenaries and a supply of drones.

Also in 2020, Turkey passed a one-year mandate to deploy troops to Libya in support of the United Nations-recognized Libyan government, as it fought a civil war.

As a member of NATO, which includes the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and other close allies of Israel, Erdogan would almost certainly face heavy opposition if he attempted to take military action over the war in Gaza.

He has been at odds with his Western allies in recent months, after accusing them several times of backing a supposed Israeli plan to intentionally “spread war” throughout the Middle East.

In response to Erdogan’s latest threat, Foreign Minister Israel Katz compared him to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, whose regime was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2003. He was later executed by an Iraqi court, after being captured and tried.

“Erdogan is going down the path of Saddam Hussein and threatens to attack Israel. He should just remember what happened there and how that ended,” wrote Katz on X.

In recent months, Erdogan has gone as far as to suggest that Jerusalem would “set its sights” on Ankara once it has completed its stated goal of destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and freeing the hostages abducted by the Gazan terror group on October 7.
In a speech delivered in the Turkish parliament back in May, Erdogan told his party not to think “that Israel will stop in Gaza.”

Times Of Israel

Day 297 — Monday, July 29

Flights at Beirut airport have been cancelled or delayed with Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) saying disruptions to its schedule were related to insurance risks, as tensions escalate between Israel and armed political group Hezbollah.

Lufthansa LHAG.DE on Monday said it had suspended five routes to and from Beirut by the group’s carriers Swiss International Air Lines, Eurowings and Lufthansa up to and including July 30 “in an abundance of caution.”

A rocket strike that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Golan Heights on Saturday has added to concerns that Israel and the Iran-backed group could engage in a full-scale war.

Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday authorised the government to respond to the strike. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza, which has since spread to several fronts.

Beirut airport’s flight information board and flight tracking website Flightradar24 show Turkish Airlines THYAO.IS also cancelled two flights overnight on Sunday.

Turkey-based budget carrier SunExpress, Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, Ethiopian Air and MEA have also cancelled flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Monday, Flightradar24 shows.

The airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport is Lebanon’s only airport. It has been targeted in the country’s civil war, and previous fighting with Israel, including in the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

On Sunday, MEA said it had delayed the departure of some flights set to land in Beirut overnight. Additional delays to flights landing on Monday were then announced due to “technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations,” MEA said.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have increased cross-border exchanges of fire since the Gaza war began. The conflict has disrupted flights and shipping across the region, including during reciprocal drone and missile attacks between Israel and Iran in April.

Lufthansa has already suspended night-time flights to and from Beirut for July due to “current developments” in the Middle East.

Jerusalem Post

Day 296 — Sunday, July 28

At least 12 children and youth between the ages of 10 and 20 years old were killed – and dozens more seriously wounded – by the impact of a rocket fired by Hezbollah on a soccer field in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday evening.

According to the Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service, large rescue forces, including ambulances and helicopters, were rushed to the Druze village of Majdal Shams. At least 12 children were critically wounded in the attack and passed away within hours.

In addition, Ziv Hospital in Safed said that around 10 p.m. it received 32 casualties, of whom 6 were in serious condition, 13 in moderate to serious condition, and 10 with minor injuries. Several others were treated for shock.

At least 40 people total were killed or wounded in the attack, making it by far the most serious incident on Israel’s northern front, and the event with the most civilian casualties during the current war so far.

Paramedic Idan Avshalom said: “We arrived at a soccer field and saw destruction, objects on fire. Casualties were lying on the grass, very difficult scenes, we immediately started sorting the casualties, some of the injured were taken to local clinics and our teams were directed to the clinics as well.”

“During the incident, there were additional alerts and the medical treatment of the victims is still ongoing,” he added.

Majdal Shams lies around 6 km (4 miles) from the Lebanese border. Its residents have not been evacuated, unlike tens of thousands of residents in towns closer to the border.

Israel Defense Forces later stated that troops and helicopters were helping with rescue and evacuation efforts in the town.

An Israeli official told media outlets that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being updated about the details of the incident and was holding a security consultation.

Netanyahu was still in the United States, after prolonging his stay to meet former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. This necessitated his staying in the U.S. over the weekend, however, Israeli leaders typically do not travel during the Jewish Sabbath.

Israeli media reported that the prime minister’s team would decide whether to return to Israel during the Sabbath after an upcoming phone call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Following criticism that he didn’t immediately decide to return to Israel in the face of the worst incident since the start of the war, Netanyahu’s office stated he would return early.

“Immediately upon learning of the disaster, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that his return to Israel be brought forward as quickly as possible,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.

After initial meetings among the army’s top brass, the IDF stated that it was preparing to respond to the attack in a significant way. The army also noted that the rocket used in the attack was allegedly an especially heavy type and that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) would investigate why it wasn’t intercepted.

The IDF further emphasized that, according to available intelligence, the launch was carried out by Hezbollah, however, the Lebanese terror group denied any involvement in the incident in a rare statement of its kind earlier in the evening.

“Hezbollah is behind the launch of the rocket that hit the soccer field in Majdal Shams and caused many casualties, only civilians, including children earlier this evening,” the IDF reiterated.

The deadly rocket was part of several heavy barrages targeting the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights on Saturday afternoon. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 12 separate attacks throughout the day, higher than its daily average in the past weeks.

The first volley of some 30 rockets targeting the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights was partly intercepted, the IDF stated.

Another barrage of about 10 rockets was later fired at the area of Neve Ativ, falling into open areas, before the deadly rocket was fired at Majdal Shams.

The heavy rocket attacks followed an IDF strike in southern Lebanon that killed four of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces operatives, according to Lebanese reports.

IDF soldiers from the IDF’s 869th Field Intelligence Battalion reportedly spotted a terrorist entering a military compound that included an ammunition depot near Kafr Kila and then directed IAF fighter jets to strike the building.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah launched two drones toward the area of Yiftah and shot two rockets targeting Shtula. The attacks caused no injuries or damage.

All Israel News

Day 295 — Saturday, July 27

A United Nations rights expert has endorsed a social media post comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, drawing rebuke from Israel and the US.

On Thursday, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, responded to a post on X that featured a picture of Hitler being celebrated by a crowd with Nazi salutes and cheers above a shot of Netanyahu being greeted by US congressmen this week.

“History is always watching,” Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official who resigned late last October after accusing the world body of failing to prevent the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, wrote in the post.

“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” Albanese, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022 but who does not speak on behalf of the UN, said in her response.

Albanese has faced harsh criticism from Israel in the past, including after she presented a report in March accusing the country of committing genocide in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel rejected the report at the time as an “obscene inversion of reality.”

Israel slammed the UN rights expert, calling her “beyond redemption.”

“It is inconceivable that Albanese is still allowed to use the UN as a shield to spread antisemitism,” it said.

Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva also chimed in.

“When a current UN ‘expert’ endorses Holocaust distortion spread by the former (UN rights office) director in New York… the system is rotten to its core,” it said.

“It’s high time to #UNseatAlbanese!”

Israel’s new ambassador in Geneva, Daniel Meron, used the same hashtag, decrying that “Francesca Albanese abuses her (UN) title to spread hatred and inflammatory rhetoric.”

Washington also weighed in, with US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Michele Taylor writing on X that the comparison of Netanyahu to Hitler is “reprehensible and antisemitic.”

“There should be no place for such dehumanizing rhetoric. Special rapporteurs should be striving to improve human rights challenges, not inflame them,” she added.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, called Albanese’s comments antisemitic, adding she is “not fit for this or any position at the UN.”

Times Of Israel

Day 295 — Saturday, July 27

With friends like these. . .

Less than an hour after sitting down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris pulled a 180, pushing for a cease-fire and slamming the Jewish state for “the scale of human suffering in Gaza” and “the death of far too many innocent civilians.”

Greeting Bibi with one hand, stabbing him in the back with the other.

After the sitdown, Harris publicly touted her “unwavering” support for Israel’s right to exist — and in the next breath, fretted for the “over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.”

(Notice how the switch to “food insecurity” after the data proved there is no famine, as Gazans are getting more food than they needed from aid and private groups.)

Reality check: All the suffering, deaths and hunger are on Hamas, which started this war by breaking a cease-fire with its Oct. 7 atrocities — and which huddles in the hundreds of miles of tunnels and bunkers it built under Gaza’s ground by diverting billions in international aid.

Israel has gone to unprecedented lengths to protect civilians; but horrors are inevitable in war, especially when Hamas continues to commit war crimes every day by hiding among civilians — and stealing their food and other relief supplies.

But Harris won’t say any of that because it’s not what the left wants to hear.

She somehow thinks she can convince the vast majority of Americans that she’s not a pro-Hamas radical — while placating the pro-Hamas radicals.

The result: Our No. 1 Middle Eastern ally is further alienated, while the antisemitic left remains unsatisfied.

Plus, Harris’ Hamas-heartening comments could hamstring Jerusalem’s effort to negotiate a hostage release and risk further escalation in the region, as Iran & Co. look to take advantage of the cracks in the US-Israel relationship.

Trying to please both sides is pure cowardice, and added proof that Harris has yet to learn anything about making successful foreign policy.

New York Post