This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief
U.S. residents of Judea and Samaria sue Biden over sanctions
A pair of Israeli-Americans recently filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration alleging that it had improperly imposed sanctions on them under an executive order intended to combat "extremist settler violence" in Judea and Samaria.
Matthew Mainen, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs on behalf of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told JNS that the case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, raises basic questions about the rights of U.S. citizens to due process under the law.
American citizens have a right to be heard and to challenge the government before the government takes action against them or deprives them of some interest," Mainen said. "The Biden administration, with what appears to be zero due diligence, did just that."
In February, U.S. President Joe Biden Biden issued executive order 14115, "on imposing certain sanctions on persons undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank," which was intended to combat "extremist settler violence" in Judea and Samaria that the Biden administration had determined to be undermining a path to a two-state solution.
The text of the order says that it could be applied to any "foreign person" that the Biden administration determines to be undermining peace and security in the "West Bank," but makes no provisions for U.S. nationals.
In first, U.S., U.K., Israel conduct joint strikes on Yemeni targets
Arab media outlets reported an unprecedented military operation Friday, marking the first coordinated strikes by U.S., U.K., and Israeli forces since the escalation of regional hostilities. According to international sources, the operation comprised three waves of strikes targeting critical infrastructure across Houthi-controlled territories, Israel Hayom reported.
The operation, totaling approximately 30 strikes, focused on several strategic locations: underground military installations in the Amran governorate, military complexes in Sanaa, a power generation facility south of the capital, and the strategic western ports of Al-Hudaydah and Ras Issa.
A mass pro-Hamas demonstration took place in Sanaa concurrent with the military operation. Participants rallied behind the Shia-Zaidi terrorist movement's ideological slogan, chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory for Islam." Eyewitness documentation captured smoke plumes rising from multiple strike locations across the capital.
Congress hits ICC officials in response to Netanyahu, Gallant war crimes arrest warrants
The U.S. House on Thursday approved H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, a bill imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials in response to the court's issuance of an arrest warrant last year against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, reported the Jewish Press.
The bipartisan vote, 243-140, demonstrated continued majority support in Congress for Israel's military response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities, even as most House Democrats opposed the measure. Forty-five Democrats supported the legislation. Last summer, 42 Democrats supported a similar bill.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who authored the bill, issued a statement saying, "This bill is about protecting America and our allies' sovereignty from a rogue, globalist court. The ICC investigating and issuing arrest warrants for the sitting Prime Minister of Israel is a blatant assault on a critical ally's sovereignty amid an existential fight against Hamas. Make no mistake, if the ICC is allowed to target Israel unchecked, they will go after American service members and veterans again in the future."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Many people consider the abuse of children for pornography to be one of the most egregious crimes around.
A recent case in which two homosexuals were convicted of abusing their adopted sons for that purpose got them sentences that essentially amount to life in prison.
But now a video report from OMG, O'Keefe Media Group, charges that the federal Bureau of Prisons is working to categorize such offenses as "low severity."
The organization said it has obtained documents "detailing a controversial proposal by the BOP to reclassify child exploitation offenses from 'high severity' to 'low severity.'"
The OMG report said, "Additionally, the new policy would classify terrorism-related offenses for female inmates as 'low security' and animal cruelty as a 'low-moderate' offense. These changes stem from a draft of the Security Designation and Custody Classification Manual, signed by BOP Director Colette S. Peters."
The plans were outlined in a recent memo from Christopher Wade, chief of labor relations, to Jennifer Hinton, a labor relations specialist.
A report from the Gateway Pundit said O'Keefe obtained the documents from a "high-level" source in the Bureau of Prisons.
The source said, "I can say with absolute certainty that the BOP is an agency in an existential crisis. If I looked at this agency through the lens of a CEO, I would probably think that complete privatization would be the most sensible route.
"We need at least $5B in infrastructure repairs agency-wide, our health care (especially at my institution) is in absolute shambles, fentanyl and other hard drugs are being used by inmates and can be found anywhere without much effort, contraband cell phones are abundant and we have a very serious drone problem (especially at my institution) that's uncontrollable and extremely dangerous. The BOP is a failed agency where corruption and incompetence, at the management level, run rampant."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A court ruling has destroyed Joe Biden's agenda to open girls' showers, locker rooms, restrooms, and other private facilities to boys and men.
The case was fought by the state of Tennessee against the White House scheming that essentially was a promotion of the transgender lifestyle choice.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti won the fight over the administration's unconstitutional Title IX rule changes.
"This is a huge win for Tennessee, for common sense, and for women and girls across America," Skrmetti said. "The court's ruling is yet another repudiation of the Biden administration's relentless push to impose a radical gender ideology through unconstitutional and illegal rulemaking. Because the Biden rule is vacated altogether, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX regulations when he returns to office next week."
The ruling comes from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentuck, which said the Department of Education's Title IX changes "would have compromised girls' privacy in locker rooms and bathrooms and required teachers and administrators to use pronouns that do not align with students' biological sex," and that "exceeded the federal government's authority and violated the Constitution," Skrmetti said.
Biden has repeatedly tried to change the definition of "sex" in federal law to mean the politically charged "gender identity." His court fights even have claimed that when America's nondiscrimination laws were written 50 years ago or more, lawmakers actually intended that "sex" meant "gender identity."
College athlete Riley Gaines, who was a victim of the Biden campaign, called it a "huge win."
"This is a colossal win for women and girls across the country," explained Kristen Waggoner, of the ADF, which was involved through a related dispute. "The Biden administration's radical attempt to redefine sex not only tossed fairness, safety, and privacy for female students out the window, it also threatened free speech and parental rights. With this ruling, the federal court in Kentucky rejected the entire Biden rule and the administration's illegal actions."
At least seven circuit courts had already temporarily blocked Biden's agenda, and the Supreme Court had previously affirmed two lower court temporary injunctions.
The court ruling applies nationwide.
The ruling said, "There is nothing in the text or statutory design of Title IX to suggest that discrimination 'on the basis of sex' means anything other than it has since Title IX's inception—that recipients of federal funds under Title IX may not treat a person worse than another similarly-situated individual on the basis of the person's sex, male or female."
It continued, "As this Court and others have explained, expanding the meaning of 'on the basis of sex' to include 'gender identity' turns Title IX on its head. While Title IX sought to level the playing field between men and women, it is rife with exceptions that allow males and females to be separated based on the enduring physical differences between the sexes. For example, institutions that receive federal funds may permit separation of the sexes for purposes of living facilities, boys and girls conferences, and social sororities and fraternities. And these are just a few examples."
The ruling said the Biden plan actually violates the First Amendment, the Constitution's spending clause, and is "arbitrary and capricious."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A sheriff in Wyoming has posted a warning sign to wannabe criminals: A red, blinking "vacancy" sign over the door to the county jail.
"We put (the sign) up to make sure everyone knows we're open for business. We take people to the jail that need to be arrested," Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozal told the Cowboy State Daily.
He explained the red neon, all-caps sign is "meant to let people know the jail has room, and that deputies are willing to book suspected criminals charged with crimes into the jail," the report said.
One of the issues is that for more than two years during COVID-19 and after, a prior administration suspended many of its booking protocols and allowed many defendants suspected of nonviolent crimes to remain free.
"We're making it clear we have vacancy, so criminals are welcome in our jail" Kozak confirmed to the publication.
The sign is at a busy intersection of Pioneer Ave. and 20th Street in downtown Cheyenne.
Kozak is not new to unusual ploys. Last year he used part of his advertising budget to advertise in downtown Denver, 100 miles away, that he had open deputy positions for officders "dissatisfied with some of Colorado's laws that are less friendly to law enforcement than Wyoming's," the report said.
The county jail has some 170 inmates now, in a facility with a capacity of about 450.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The infamous, and faulty, Roe v. Wade decision that created out of essentially nothing a federal "right" to an abortion remained the controlling standard in America for nearly five decades before it was banished to the ashcan of corrupted legal ideologies.
Campaigners are hoping that it doesn't take that long to get rid of Obergefell, the ruling from just a few years back that even Supreme Court justices admitted was unrelated to anything in the Constitution in its political campaign to promote the LGBT lifestyle choices by legitimizing same-sex "marriage."
There's already a legal case that the constitutional experts at Liberty Counsel are suggesting could be the basis for a reversal.
And now the organization MassResistance has confirmed that there are at least six state legislatures that will have the opportunity in coming months to adopt a resolution encouraging the high court to reverse itself.
The organization said it has drafted sample language and resolutions are pending in Idaho, North Dakota, Montana, Michigan, Iowa and Kansas.
For example, MassResistance volunteers in Idaho have been working with numerous lawmakers on pro-family bills in recent years, and now one state representative has offered "to spearhead this effort this year."
In North Dakota, a lawmaker who previously worked on legislation to ban the body-mutilating "sex change" procedures on children is working on filing an anti-Obergefell resolution.
The organization said its proposed text "calls on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its infamous and illegitimate Obergefell ruling. That 2015 decision forced the idea that the U.S. Constitution requires states to allow same-sex 'marriage.'"
There are discussions already, too, with lawmakers in multiple other states.
"The Obergefell v. Hodges ruling was passed by a slim 5-4 majority of activist Supreme Court Justices," MassResistance reported. "It has caused immense societal havoc across the country. States have been forced to ignore their legitimate laws and constitutional amendments regarding marriage. Governments, businesses, and even schoolchildren have been forced to accept same-sex 'marriage' – and by extension homosexual behavior – as normal, under pain of punishments, fines, and even imprisonment."
The problem with that ruling?
"The First Amendment guarantees free speech, freedom of assembly, religious liberty, and the right to petition government for redress of grievance. By forcing same-sex 'marriage' on the country in this way, Obergefell challenged all those rights," the group reported.
Unlike in 2015, when the Supreme Court was dominated by leftist ideologues, there now is a majority of constitutionalists on the bench, the report said.
"In order to invent a previously unknown constitutional 'right' to same-sex marriage, the 5-4 majority of activist Supreme Court Justices used a strategy concocted by the LGBT lawyers. They redefined the Fourteenth Amendment to allow them to effectively change the definition of marriage from one man and one woman to 'two people who love each other,'" the group reported.
But the 14th Amendment actually states: "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws," and does not mention marriage.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A city ordinance that put a bull's-eye on a church food-distribution program has been repealed, opening the door for the Seventh-Day Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, to continue its program to help people.
According to a report from the First Liberty Institute, the city's ordinance that banned such programs was suspended earlier.
But now there's been confirmation the provision has been repealed by the city, meaning the church can continue its food distribution ministry without the threat of immediate closure.
"The city previously agreed to allow the church to resume its food distribution ministry while it repealed its ordinance, and the city's latest action of repealing the ordinance makes that temporary agreement permanent," the legal team explained.
It was aided by the law firm Sidley Austin LLP in reaching the resolution.
"We are grateful to Daytona Beach city officials for working with us so that Seventh Baptist can resume its mission of providing food for the hungry, hurting people in the community," Ryan Gardner, a First Liberty Institute lawyer, said in a statement. "People who take action to care for the hungry should be encouraged and affirmed. The church is thrilled to be able to continue helping those in need."
The church has run a food pantry for the most vulnerable families in the community since about 2007.
"For most of that time, the city, and its citizens, not only allowed the church's food ministry to thrive, but they also supported it and encouraged it. Even after the church moved to its current location – within what the city calls a 'redevelopment area,' just like its prior location – the city allowed the church to operate the food pantry without issue," First Liberty Institute reported.
Then came an enforcement that forced the closure, and the filing of a now-dismissed lawsuit.
When the city brought its case against the church, a First Liberty official described it as "unconscionable."
"People who take action to care for the hungry should be encouraged and affirmed, not threatened and fined. The city is criminalizing compassion," Gardner said at the time.
The conflict apparently resulted from a complaint by a former city commissioner and her spouse that "these types of feeding programs are plagues to the efforts to redevelop a neighborhood" and that "crowds of people [are] sleeping on church steps and in alleys beside homes."
The church had been threatened with a fine of $5,000 per day for running its food pantry.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A reporter's video of her visit to the home of New Orleans terror suspect Shamsud Din Jabbar, now dead, has raised a long list of questions about investigators who visited the site, and why it was left unsecured for visitors to enter.
Video is from the New York Post's Jennie Taer, who described how she entered, saw various "work stations" with "chemicals" and "electronics," a Quran and other religious books as well as a prayer rug, and even the Department of Justice's search warrant.
"The head-scratching walk-through revealed a house reasonably intact despite an alleged search warrant being served," explained a report at the Gateway Pundit.
That's even though the structure "should have been a secure crime scene."
Later, the report said, a Fox report said the bomb squad from the Harris County sheriff's office was en route to "collect evidence."
That report said, "Deputies just closed down the street in north Harris County where Shamsud-Din Jabbar was living. A source tells me HCSO bomb squad is on the way to collect evidence. This comes days later, when the door was left open and people were inside the home taking pictures and freely roaming around. Sources also say precursor chemicals were found inside the home when they first raided it, which are typically used for making home made explosives. The question now becomes why come back and collect evidence and not do this days ago?"
Fox's Brooke Taylor then added, "An FBI spokesperson tells me, 'I can confirm FBI Houston is currently at the north Harris County location conducting law enforcement activity. No acknowledgement or answers as to why this wasn't treated as a secure crime scene all day yesterday, leaving people to roam freely with now potential evidence left behind.'"
Ultimately, the report said, "Journalist Breanna Morella said on social media the FBI had examined the location and "released it back to the property owner," who has discretion to allow people in, or not.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Joe Biden has used the power of the president's office in America to pardon his son Hunter for crimes committed over a 10-year period, right after promising repeatedly he would not do that.
The move gave Hunter a free pass on his tax and gun felony convictions. And there are reports – and speculation – about how Biden yet will provide pardons to other family members and friends to protect them from possible charges for their various schemes once President-elect Donald Trump takes over the White House.
And now there are honors for friends of Biden who may or may not also ultimately be recipients of pardons.
And for one of those decisions, Biden is getting excoriated.
It was his decision to give Liz Cheney a Presidential Citizen medal even though there are those in Trump's incoming administration and high up in Congress, as well as a majority of Americans, who suggest she should be investigated by the FBI for possible criminal charges.
The Daily Mail reported Cheney, who represented Wyoming in Congress until she turned on Trump during his first term and her voters promptly gave her primary opponent a landslip victory, is among 20 picked by Biden to be given the special honor.
Cheney, along with the other leader of the anti-Trump January 6 investigation committee, set up in a partisan fashion then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Bennie Thompson are being honored for their "investigation" of those events.
The committee was partisan as Pelosi refused to let Republicans nominate their own members for the commission, instead picking two radically anti-Trump members of the party.
Then the committee staged televised events and issued reports that suppressed information exonerating Trump, and tried to make it look as though he was responsible for the violence, despite his urging supporters to protest "peacefully."
In fact, Democrats at that time refused Trump's suggestion for more National Guard troops to be on hand, and Pelosi later admitted in a video that was released that Democrats bore much of the responsibility for that day.
Biden's decision to honor Cheney was "pathetic," according to senior Trump adviser Jason Miller.
"With attacks happening in the United States and around the world, THIS is how Biden is spending his time today?" Miller wrote on X. He cited the two terror attacks on America on New Year's Day, which together left 16 dead and dozens injured.
And Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said, "President Biden was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn't deserve either. She represents partisanship and divisiveness – not Wyoming."
The report said other recipients will include those to lobbied for Biden's far-left social agenda on LGBT and abortion issues.
Trump has called for Cheney and the other eight committee members to be jailed for their political antics in "investigating" the Jan. 6 events.
In fact, members of Congress also have called for Cheney to be investigated on claims she tampered with one of the committee witnesses who suddenly changed her testimony to try to damage Trump, testimony that subsequently was debunked by the Secret Service.
Those committee members also have been accused of destroying evidence about events that day.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief
U.N.'s Albanese deflects blood libel, implies most Israelis are pro-genocide
The U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories recently set a commenter on an X post of hers straight, when the individual claimed "Jews are capable of eating human flesh." She stated not all Jews should be blamed for Israel's actions, and said "Many, including Holocaust survivors, continue to rise against Israel's crimes against the Palestinians."
However, given her recent record, Albanese also couldn't help but subsequently accuse Israel of genocide with regard to its Gaza war, reported the Jerusalem Post.
Responding to an article in the far-left-wing Haaretz newspaper, in which an IDF reservist alleged his commanding officer deliberately broke the bones in a 4-year-old Palestinians boy's arms and legs with his bare hands, Albanese wrote "not only the Israeli army is ROTTEN to the core, but so are all governments that allow these sickening crimes to be normalized."
"No matter how few they are, we must not invisibilise the Israelis who stand against Occupation, Apartheid, Genocide," Albanese wrote. "May more of them join the anti-Apartheid struggle. Not living a lie and not being racist will be liberating."
U.S. provides Israel with $22 billion in military aid since Oct. 7
The United States has provided Israel with military aid totaling approximately $22 billion since Oct. 7, 2023, which the IDF has used for its operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria during the war, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and reported on Ynet.
According to the institute's data, between 2019 and 2023, the U.S. supplied about 69% of Israel's weapons, a figure that rose to 78% in the subsequent period. By December 2023, the U.S. had transferred more than 10,000 tons of weapons worth $2.4 billion to Israel, and this number jumped to 50,000 tons by August 2024, carried by hundreds of aircraft and ships.
The U.S. has provided Israel with a variety of advanced military equipment, including missiles for the Iron Dome system, precision-guided bombs, CH-53 heavy transport helicopters, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, 155mm artillery shells, bunker-penetrating bombs, and armored vehicles.
Trump again warns Hamas: 'Return the hostages, or else'
President-elect Donald Trump, who will become America's 47th president in fewer than three weeks, reiterated his warning to any Gazan Palestinian holding hostages to repatriate them before he takes office on Jan. 20.
Asked a question about the captives at a gala event at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump replied tersely, "We'll see what happens. A href=https://www.jns.org/they-better-let-the-hostages-go-soon-trump-warns/>They better let the hostages come back soon," reported the Jewish News Syndicate.
Trump's warning came as there seems to be an impasse regarding the number of hostages Hamas is prepared to release. In a ghoulish development, it wants to include the return of the dead as part of the deal, a demand to which Israel has refused to acquiesce.
Floridian charged with planning armed assault on local AIPAC office
The U.S. Justice Department charged a Gainesville, Florida, man with a count of stalking Monday for allegedly planning to attack an AIPAC office in Florida, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
Family members told the FBI that Forrest Kendall Pemberton, who went missing from his Gainesville, Florida, home apparently with multiple firearms, appeared to have left a note stating that he would "close the loop," "stoke the flames" and say "goodbye" to his relatives, per an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint.
On Dec. 25, law enforcement arrested Pemberton after observing him get into a rideshare vehicle "with an apparent soft rifle case," per the affidavit. He gave the law enforcement officials three guns – an AR-15 rifle, a Luger pistol and a Galil rifle – and ammunition for the latter two, the affidavit added. (The third weapon is Israeli-made.)
Hamas fires rockets at Israel on New Year's Eve for second straight year
For the second New Year's Eve in a row, Hamas disturbed whatever seasonal reverie was taking place by firing rockets at Israel.
The terrorist rulers of Gaza took responsibility for the rockets, according to the Times of Israel, although this year's two projectiles were significantly smaller in both scale and scope than last year's barrage. Fears the Houthis would similarly use the occasion to fire a missile proved unfounded. The IDF reported the Iron Dome missile defense system destroyed one of the rockets, while the other was tracked as it fell in open ground.
Bars and pubs were packed, but at Tel Aviv's Habima Square, activists for the 100 hostages Hamas is still holding in Gaza lit a Hanukkah-themed candle display using the new year to call once again for a ceasefire and hostage deal.
IDF reservists urged not to post on social media after troops doxxed
We live in an age of social media where people record the events of their life in minute detail. However, a pro-Palestinian online group calling itself "Israel Genocide Tracker" is publishing troops' personal information on the internet.
Recent photos of soldiers lighting Hanukkah menorahs in Gaza mean that this issue has re-emerged.Soldiers have previously been warned about not sharing real-time photographs of operations, but this latest issue seems to include any image of an individual in an army uniform, even if it was posted by a family member.
And according to a Jerusalem Post op-ed, there are also legal ramifications. The Hind Rajab Foundation recently called for the arrest of three Nahal Brigade soldiers after they entered the Netherlands.
They were accused of war crimes based on allegations, many of which lacked specificity but were supported by photos and videos shared on social media
Other incidents include an Israeli reservist officer who had to flee Cyprus in November after videos he posted led to calls for his arrest. "They should be encouraged not to post because of the danger it poses," Moodrick-Even Khen said.
Israel warns Houthis they'll face same fate as Hamas, Hezbollah/b>
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon addressed that body's security council and warned the Houthis to cease their ballistic missile attacks on Israel … or suffer the consequences.
Danon stated that the Houthis risk the same "miserable fate" as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syrian President Bashar Assad if they continue their actions, according to the Media Line.
Danon's warning came hours before Israel's military announced it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, an attack that triggered air raid sirens across the country. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, a senior Houthi leader, declared the group's intention to persist with its assaults, describing the missile strikes as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
"The pounding of the entity [Israel] continues, and the support to Gaza continues," al-Houthi said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) following the interception.
Israel's population breaks 10 million barrier, more Israelis leaving country
Israel's population broke the 10 million people barrier as the country entered the new year. The total count was 10.027 million, which includes 7.7 million people who are registered as "Jewish" or "Other," which includes non-Arab Christians. The number of Arab Israelis is 2.1 million, according to the Times of Israel. Foreign nationals on extended stays were also included in the total, a category which has not previously been included.
The news of the population growth was tempered, however, by data which showed some 82,000 Israelis moved away from the Jewish state – also known as "yerida" in Hebrew – which literally means to go down. In 2023, the number of Israelis moving out of the country was 55,000, which was itself a significant increase from the decade previously when some 35,000 people per year on average moved away.
Population growth declined to 1.1% from 1.6 percent in 2023, largely due to the increased numbers of Israelis who left, the Central Bureau of Statistics says. According to the bureau, 23,800 Israelis returned home in 2024, and 32,800 new immigrants arrived, down some 15,000 from a year earlier.
Syria appoints first female Central Bank president/b>
Syria's interim government appointed longtime central bank official Maysaa Sabrine to lead the institution making her the first woman to do so in the bank's more than seven decade-history, reported Senator.
The former rebel militants now running the country have said they want to shift Syria to a free-market economy, but their goals will be near-impossible without the West removing sanctions, a Syrian economist told the New York Times.
At a time when every decision is being closely watched at home and abroad, Sabrine's appointment could bode well as a sign of inclusive governance, although there are many who do not believe de facto Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa's about-face.
French jets bomb ISIS fighters, positions in Syria
French warplanes carried out airstrikes against both Islamic State fighters and positions in Syria on Sunday, said the French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu, and reported on Reuters.
"On Sunday, French air forces carried out targeted strikes against Islamic State sites based on Syrian territory,"Lecornu wrote on social media platform X.
The French airstrike followed a similar military strike by the United States in Syria, which the U.S. said had killed two Islamic State operatives.
The French strikes were the first against Syria since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in early December.
'Activists' set fire to Israeli flag outside basketball arena ahead of game with Israeli team
Activists set fire to an Israeli flag outside the stadium where the Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team is set to play Dreamland Gran Canaria tomorrow night, reported the Times of Israel.
According to the local Canarias Ahora site, the "Canarias Insumisa collective" says the flag was burned outside the venue in Las Palmas in Spain's Canary Islands to protest Israel's actions in Gaza amid the war sparked by the Hamas terrorist group's Oct. 7 attack.
The Spanish group also asks local fans not to attend the game, and claims the Israeli supporters may try to provoke them. This seems a clear reference to the events in Amsterdam in November when Muslim immigrants to the Netherlands – mostly from North Africa and the Middle East – carried out a modern-day pogrom on Israeli fans who had come to watch their team participate in a soccer match.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief
Ford's social media account displays pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel messages
Perhaps it should not be shocking that the Ford Motor Company – whose founder Henry Ford had a profound dislike of Jews – should have seen its X social media account briefly display – before they were hastily deleted – three pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel messages, reported Israel National News.
"Our X account was briefly compromised, and the previous three posts were not authorized or posted by Ford," Dan Barbossa, a Ford spokesman, stated to JNS. "We are investigating the issue."
The deleted posts, all shared within a five-minute span to Ford's 1.5 million followers, read: "free Palestine," "Israel is a terrorist state," and "all eyes on Gaza."
Analytics from the social media platform X indicated that the posts collectively garnered over 100,000 views before being taken down.
Senior PA leader: Trump's return will herald the end of Iran, Hamas
A top Palestinian leader told the New York Post he expects President-elect Donald Trump to "destroy Iran," which will cause remaining Hamas influence to crumble.
Hamas has been decimated by Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, but in Judea and Samaria, the terrorist group has been rising up against the Palestinian Authority, which is run by the rival Fatah party.
The PA is supported by Western governments including the U.S., and Hamas and other Islamist groups accuse it of cozying up to Israel.
But Hamdan said he expects Trump's return to the White House will lead to the jihadists' defeat.
"We see that Trump and the ruling government in Israel are planning to destroy Iran, so Hamas [followers] will have no other choice than to become Palestinian," the Fatah leader predicted.
Hamas is said to be willing to only release 22 of 34 known live hostages
Every time a deal to release at least some Israeli hostages held captive in inhumane conditions for the last 15 months, another wrench seems to be thrown into the works. While rumors continue to swirl about how close the two sides are to a deal, news emerged Tuesday that Hamas was only willing to release 22 of the 34 hostages known to still be alive.
According to the Times of Israel, Hamas is willing to release 22 of the 34 hostages on the list but is refusing to agree to the release of the other 12. Instead, the report stated, the group offered to release 22 living hostages and 12 bodies during the first phase of a potential deal, as per an unnamed Palestinian source.
Israel turned down the notion and made it clear that it would only accept living hostages during the initial stage of a deal, the report added.
The report did not provide further details on the hostages Hamas is reportedly refusing to release. Earlier this month, Egypt's Al-Ghad outlet reported that Israel requested that 11 men considered by Hamas to be soldiers be included on the list of hostages to be released in the first phase of a potential deal.
The terrorist group classifies all Israeli men of fighting age to be soldiers.
IDF downs another ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthis
Israel's missile defense shield was activated late Monday night as the Houthis from Yemen fired yet another ballistic missile toward central Israel. Sirens started blaring and rocket alert apps began pinging shortly after 11 p.m. local time.
There was no major damage as a result of the missile debris, although a large fragment crashed in the Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef neighborhood in the city of Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem, reported the Times of Israel.
At the scene of the impact on Nahal Hakishon Street, local residents, most of them ultra-Orthodox Jews, crowded around the remains of the Houthi missile.
Small children ran around in the rain and women pushed babies in strollers only meters from the fragment as police attempted to keep the crowd back.
Iranians protest in Tehran's historic bazaar over inflation, currency deflation
As Iran reportedly seeks to inject its malign influence into the delicate situation in Syria, the mullahs in Tehran might do better to keep a close watch on events nearer to home.
Hundreds of people staged a vocal protest at Tehran's iconic Grand Bazaar on Sunday, in an unusual strike occurring amid a financial crisis and vulnerability on the part of the regime, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
The strike in the bazaar was over soaring inflation and power shortages, and it triggered protests in other commercial hubs in the capital, the Iran International news site, which is critical of the regime.
The outbreak of protests at the Grand Bazaar, a sprawling center of commerce, is symbolically significant because it was a focus of the protests of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which installed in power the current regime, then led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after it toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
IDF eliminates dozens of Hamas terrorists in Jabalya
The IDF has been active in what was the former Hamas stronghold of Jabalya over the last few days – the fourth time it has operated there since the ground incursion commenced in late October 2023 – announcing it had killed dozens of terrorists.
According to the military, locating and killing the Hamas forces was made possible by a mix of ongoing intelligence collection, operations to trick the forces into an ambush, and both tank fire and soldiers' nearby gunfire, reported the Jerusalem Post.
By December 2023, the IDF declared Jabalya under operational control and Hamas's battalions broken.
UAE holds talks with Iran to boost regional cooperation
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Dubai on Sunday to discuss key regional issues and strengthen bilateral relations, according to the Media Line.
During the meeting, both officials addressed regional developments and expressed a shared commitment to stability and cooperation. The discussions also explored ways to advance collaboration between the UAE and Iran, with an emphasis on mutual interests and fostering positive diplomatic ties.
This meeting comes as the UAE continues efforts to balance its strategic relationships across the Gulf, including its growing trade ties with Iran. In recent years, the two countries have maintained a complex relationship, marked by both cooperation and disagreements, particularly over regional conflicts and territorial disputes. Despite these challenges, economic exchanges between the UAE and Iran have grown, with Dubai serving as a significant hub for Iranian business interests.
Report: Netanyahu says IDF will resume operations even if there is a hostage deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a recent closed meeting about the hostages that fighting in Gaza would resume following any ceasefire agreement with Hamas, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
"If there is a deal – and I hope there will be – Israel will return to fighting afterward. There's no reason to obscure or conceal this because resuming fighting is intended to complete the war's objectives. This doesn't obstruct a deal; it encourages one," the news outlet quoted the premier as saying.
The Prime Minister's Office declined to comment on the report, which also claimed that some negotiators have expressed concern over Netanyahu's stance because Hamas demands international guarantees for the later stages of an agreement. The terrorist group has previously insisted on an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Israel lashed by rain, as Mt. Hermon peak is blanketed with record 22-inch snowfall
Israel is grappling with severe weather conditions after an unusually dry December, marked by heavy rainfall, flash floods, and snow in the Hermon region, reported Ynet.
On Tuesday, temperatures remained below seasonal averages. Rainfall persisted from northern Israel to the Negev, accompanied by isolated thunderstorms. Lighter, local rain fell in the Negev, with a lingering risk of flooding in coastal and lowland areas until noon, while flash floods threatened eastern streams. Snow continued to blanket Mount Hermon, with 22 inches (55 cm) recorded at the upper level and 16 inches (40 cm) at the lower level. The site, designated a closed military zone due to the war, remains inaccessible to visitors.
U.S. raises concerns over attacks on minorities in Syria
According to Barak Ravid writing for Axios, the United States has raised concerns with the new Syrian government over reported attacks of several minority groups in the country over the past week or so. The mainstream media attempted to paint a hagiographic image of Ahmad al-Sharaa – also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani – and how he had renounced his former radical Islamism.
The Assad regime's fall after five decades in power and 13 years of civil war left behind many armed groups, and many more grievances. The U.S. is concerned that violent reprisals by militants affiliated with the victorious rebels – targeting minority groups or members of the ousted regime – will undermine efforts to stabilize the country.
Al-Shibani is the right-hand man to Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is both the de facto ruler of Syria and the leader of the opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the strongest armed group in Syria today.
U.S. launches trade investigation into Chinese semiconductor industry
The United States is intensifying its crackdown on China's rapidly expanding semiconductor industry, according to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. The Biden administration announced on December 23 the launch of a formal trade investigation into Beijing's support for China's semiconductor industry due to its alleged harm to U.S. commerce and national security.
The investigation lays the groundwork for additional trade restrictions, which have the potential to frustrate Beijing's economic and military modernization. The results of the inquiry may allow the incoming administration to retaliate against Beijing by imposing additional import duties and suspending trade concessions, among other measures.
This could harm U.S. national security since dependence on Chinese imports for legacy semiconductors may produce potential chokepoints in American commercial and military supply chains, limiting Washington's ability to access these critical technologies in the event of a conflict.
Moreover, in relying on state assistance to offset lost revenue by charging lower rates, Chinese firms can drive down global prices, rendering U.S. domestic production unprofitable and reducing the effectiveness of previous governments in reshoring semiconductor manufacturing under the CHIPS Act.
Syria's new leader is no moderate
Barbara Leaf, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, left her meeting with Ahmad Al-Sharaa, Syria's de facto leader, declaring herself highly satisfied. It was an important moment, given that for the last 12 years under former president Bashar al-Assad's rule, the U.S. had no official contact with the Middle Eastern state.
Al-Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre – Abu Muhammad al-Julani – has been feted – prematurely so – by foreign ministers across the Middle East, as well as diplomats from the U.S. and the E.U., who seem to have bought his turn away from his radical roots.
However, two senior figures at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies have poured cold water on this apparent about-face. Has this new leader really rejected what al Qaeda stands for and severed ties with the extremist group's extended network? Jolani delivered an address in 2016 in which he disavowed "affiliation with any external entity," the FDD authors wrote in the Wall Street Journal. Many reporters and analysts interpreted that comment as a repudiation of al-Qaida. Yet one of al-Qaida's high-ranking leaders approved in advance of Julani's rebranding.
It's true that Julani has clashed with al-Qaida-affiliated rivals and achieved effective autonomy while carving out his fiefdom in northwest Syria. But he remains committed to armed jihad and Islamic rule. To this day, several organizations within al-Qaida's orbit operate under his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham banner.
Syrian Jews once again step into the 2,700-year-old synagogue, following the fall of Assad
Syria used to be home to some 100,000 Jews; however, like most of the other Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities, they were ethnically cleansed in the decades following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
Following the fall of the Assad regime, the handful of Jews remaining in Syria can once again visit one of the world's oldest synagogues. Located in Damascus's Jobar suburb, it once attracted worshipers from throughout the region, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
The area, which was a dangerous zone during Syria's 13-year civil war and served as a battleground between regime forces and rebels, is safe to visit again. The civil war left the area and the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in ruins. The walls and roof have collapsed, and artifacts are missing. A marble sign at the entrance states in Arabic that it was built in 720 B.C.
"This synagogue means a lot to us," Bakhour Chamntoub, the 74-year-old head of Syria's Jewish community, told AP during his first visit to the site in 15 years. Upon seeing parts reduced to rubble, he added, "I am frankly disturbed."
Jews worldwide have contacted him offering to help rebuild.
Tehran residents reject the idea to rename street after Hamas terrorist chief Sinwar
On Dec. 26, the spokesperson for Tehran's municipality announced the cancellation of a decision, made by the city council just days earlier, to rename Behistun Street in Tehran to "Martyr Yahya Sinwar Street," reported the Institute for National Security Studies. The street was named after Mount Behistun in western Iran, home to the Behistun Inscription. This multilingual inscription (in Babylonian, Elamite, and Old Persian) was commissioned by King Darius I in 521 B.C., and the mountain has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The decision to reverse the street name change came following sharp public opposition. Critics argued the city council's decision demonstrated disrespect for Iran's rich cultural heritage and ancient civilization. They claimed renaming the street – especially in honor of a Hamas leader who is not Iranian – undermines public trust, disregards citizens' sentiments, and ignores their desire to preserve their cultural identity. Some critics stated that even if Sinwar deserves commemoration in Tehran, it should not come at the expense of a street name representing Iran's cultural heritage.