This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

James Dobson, an icon in teaching Christian standards and values, especially regarding families, has advised at least five presidential administrations on ethics and values.

The Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration, he's suing.

It's because of the multiple anti-faith agenda items Biden and Harris are trying to force onto American citizens without the benefit of legislation or congressional action.

One of the plans would radically, and falsely, insist that denying children access to transgender body mutilations be considered child abuse, which then could be used against the parents' custody of their own children.

The case, filed in federal court in Texas, is targeting the Biden-Harris scheme of wanting to change something, and simply rewriting federal regulations to accommodation their own personal wishes.

Dobson is founder of the James Dobson Family Institute and the host of the "Family Talk" radio program.

The action cites the Biden-Harris ideology that employers and their insurance programs are required to cover abortion and gender-transition services through the changes to Department of Health and Human Services and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rules.

Then there's a new EEOC rule that takes a congressional act, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and insists that employers pay for abortions, and finally, the there are the Biden-Harris demands that workers "use false pronouns inconsistent with an individual's biological sex and grant access to single-sex spaces by members of the opposite sex."

The Biden-Harris rule changes all are in pursuit of the regime's two primary agenda points: promoting transgenderism including body mutilations on young children, and abortion for all.

The conflict has been developing since before Biden and Harris took office, when WND reported on Dobson's description of Biden's advocacy for transgenderism as "lunacy."

"Where is the outrage in response to this lunacy? Joe Biden appears to be under the very mistaken impression that teaching our children the truth about biological reality constitutes discrimination," he wrote on his website. "He couldn't be more wrong, and his distorted view is equally alarming. Indeed, world-renowned Swedish psychiatrist Dr. Christopher Gillberg has said that pediatric transition is 'possibly one of the greatest scandals in medical history.'"

He said leading children "down a path toward social and medical 'transition' is not compassionate – it's an act of cruelty! "

An announcement from Dobson's organization, through President Joe Waresak, confirmed the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute and an association of Christian employers filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden-Harris administration's new regulations that force employers to violate their religiously held convictions regarding the sanctity of human life and human sexuality."

The announcement confirmed, "At its most basic level, this is a spiritual battle of good versus evil. The Biden-Harris EEOC and HHS agencies are attempting to force ministries and businesses to bow down to their wicked and radicalized agenda of promoting the killing of unborn children and the perversion of God's design for human sexuality—created in His image as male and female. As a Christian organization, we cannot remain silent against such blatant attacks that target our sacred religious convictions."

The complaint is supported by a declaration from PublicSquare, a values-driven commerce ecosystem with over 5 million registered consumers.

The case in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, "seeks to protect religious freedoms and Christian business practices against government mandates recently imposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)."

The Institute "encourages and teaches biblically based principles for families while promoting the sanctity and dignity of all human life."

Dr. Owen Strachan, senior director at JDFI, said, "This radicalized immoral movement often speaks in the dulcet tones of tolerance and inclusivity concerning public morality; it often seeks to bind society to its vision and punish anyone who dares dissent with severe consequences.

"This is evident in HHS's regulation requiring employer health plan coverage of abortion and so-called gender-affirming care, as well as in the EEOC's regulation requiring employer accommodation of abortion and immoral infertility treatments, and its enforcement guidance requiring employers to grant access to bathrooms and other single-sex spaces to those of the opposite sex.

"Such rules crush the liberty that aligns with the order of creation as defined by God and reflected in nature."

The Democrat regime in Washington is attempting "to force JDFI, PublicSquare, and other Christian-based ministries and businesses to violate our religiously based biblical values and moral conscience."

The case calls out the leftists for their "regulation" under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to demand abortion coverage.

Further, the administration's HHS agenda includes cover "termination of pregnancy" under the "sex" nondiscrimination requirements. That agency also is demanding "gender-affirming care" that includes mutilating surgeries on children that leave them sterile for life.

Studies have shown that while transgenderism often is promoted for children by the false claims that it reduces the incidence of suicide or attempts, the opposite actually is true.

Then there's the Biden-Harris demands that employers "affirm" workers who are pursuing the nonscientific ideology that males can become females. Actually, that cannot happen as being male or female is embedded in the human body down to the DNA level.

The lawsuit charges the Biden-Harris scheme has deliberately foreclosed "any moral option in the marketplace for employers with traditional Christian values such as JDFI and other Christian-based ministries or businesses."

Dobson's radio ministry is heard on more than 1,300 radio outlets and his program has an audience of half a million weekly.

Dobson, who has advised a long list of presidents before the Biden-Harris administration, has authored more than 70 books on his area of expertise, and WND has reported when he previously suggested that Biden be informed on what Thanksgiving is.

Thank came not long ago when Biden issued a Thanksgiving address and completely ignored God.

"Sadly, someone apparently needs to teach this fact to President Joe Biden, too. He issued a Thanksgiving proclamation that didn't mention God at all. Instead, Biden suggested the day's purpose was to thank America for our blessings. This is not true. The purpose is for America to honor and thank God. This is not a minor distinction," the ministry statement said at the time.

"America, like all nations of the earth, will eventually end. But God will never 'end.' Interestingly, the only other administration to omit God from its Thanksgiving proclamations was the Obama/Biden administration," the comment said.

Dobson has been called by secular publications the nation's "most influential evangelical leader," and he also founded the prominent Family Research Council in the 1980s.

His books have sold millions of copies under titles including "Dare to Discipline," "The Strong-Willed Child," "Bringing Up Boys," "Bringing up Girls," "When God Doesn't Make Sense" and more.

Ironically, on that same holiday, it was President Donald Trump whose statement on the holiday thanked God.

He said Americans give thanks to "Almighty God" for "His many blessings including our families, our friends, our neighbors, and this extraordinary country that we all call home."

He said:

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving today. As we gather with our loved ones, we give thanks to Almighty God for His many blessings including our families, our friends, our neighbors and this extraordinary country that we all call home.

We also send our deep gratitude to all of the patriots serving our nation in uniform this Thanksgiving including members of the U.S. armed forces. the heroes of Border Patrol and law enforcement and ICE and everybody that works so hard to preserve our system and our country and working to defend our southern border and our police and first responders in communities all across America.

This is a difficult time for our country, but do not lose heart or lose hope because by the time we celebrate next Thanksgiving our nation will be well on its way to being stronger, safer more prosperous, and greater than ever before.

Once again, Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.

More recently, Dobson issued a statement warning Americans of Biden's plan to destroy the nation's sovereignty.

His warning is that the U.N.'s World Health Organization "wants complete control of your mind and body," and Biden is willing to help.

"I am writing you today to warn of an imminent and real threat to the sovereignty of our nation. Two of our founding fathers, President George Washington and President Thomas Jefferson, counseled America against forming misaligned alliances with foreign entities—especially those who do not share our allegiance to the principles that formed our republic," he said.

"Yet, the Biden administration is on the verge of doing just that by turning our keys of self-governance over to the World Health Organization. And, mark my word, if America gives up its sovereign rule as a nation, we could well lose our sweet land of liberty and effectively forsake every generation that has fought and died for it. God help us if we let this happen on our watch."

Dobson also has pointed out that Biden is dividing America into factions at war with his ideological and anti-faith agendas.

The case seeks a court ruling that the regulations and "interpretations" actually are in violation of the law and Constitution.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Bill Clinton is making a presidential race TV-ad appearance on behalf of Republican candidate President Donald Trump.

It might not be willingly, but it still uses his words and his voice to unleash some serious criticism of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris border catastrophe.

The Democrat duo in the White House now, of course, trashed literally dozens of Trump's border security measures as soon as they took office.

The result was predictable: Millions of illegal aliens including many criminals arrived at the U.S. southern border and simply walked into the country.

Millions of those illegals now are flooding America's schools, taking American jobs, and demanding cash assistance from taxpayer-funded programs.

One of the major problems has been the many criminals among the illegal aliens, and their impact on America, which includes a number of high-profile homicides.

Clinton's comments skewered the Biden-Harris regime.

"You had a case in Georgia not very long ago," he states. "They made an ad about, about, uh, a young woman who had been killed by an immigrant. Yeah, well, if they'd all been properly vetted that probably wouldn't have happened. But if they all are properly vetted, that doesn't happen.

Trump then confirms, "I'm Donald J. Trump and I approved this message."

One of the major agenda points of the Biden-Harris team has been that they want illegal aliens allowed into the nation without any sort of "vetting" process, which has become the de facto Democrat policy for the southern border by now.

Social media commenters didn't hold back, with:

"Dems make Trump ads for FREE."

"Bill just effectively endorsed Donald J. Trump."

And, "Sounds like he's voting for Trump!"

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The Flathead Warming Center, a facility in Kalispell, Montana, intended to provide lifesaving warmth to homeless and needy, has been ordered shut down by city officials.

It's because they got complaints from residents, sometimes not even in the neighborhood of the center, about the presence of homeless.

But center officials, who opened with the full permission of the town after meeting all requirements, now are challenging that order as unconstitutional.

Kalispell, in fact, experiences cold weather, especially during the December-February time frame. Below zero readings are not at all unusual, and during those winter months the mercury sometimes hits as low as minus-30, extremely dangerous for those without protection. Frostbite can hit within minutes.

It is the Institute for Justice that has come alongside the Center to go to court, with a federal lawsuit against the town.

"Across 106 pages, the lawsuit spells out how the city violated the Center's constitutional rights by revoking its conditional use permit. With freezing temperatures just days away, the lawsuit asks the court for an emergency order to keep the Center open while the legal battle unfolds, ensuring that those most vulnerable are not left out in the cold," the institute explained.

"Kalispell's decision to shut down the Flathead Warming Center without citing it for breaking any law is not just heartless – it's unconstitutional," said Jeff Rowes, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice.

"The Center has a vested property right to continue serving the homeless, and the city is scapegoating the Center because it doesn't want to deal with the realities of homelessness. Shutting down the Warming Center is needlessly cruel and illegal, especially when the city is resorting to baseless accusations to try to justify its unconstitutional actions."

The permit was revoked "following complaints from residents about the presence of homeless individuals in the area. However, the Warming Center has never been cited for violating any laws, and its permit to operate was granted in full compliance with the city's zoning rules. Many of the complaints occurred miles from the Center. The lawsuit argues that the city has trumped up accusations that the Center lied on its 2020 permit application – accusations that are baseless and only brought up because the city had no legal justification to shut the Center down," the IJ explained.

"Winter is coming fast, and for many people in our community, the warming center is the only thing standing between them and the deadly cold," said Tonya Horn, executive director of the Flathead Warming Center. "The city is treating us like we're the problem, but we're part of the solution. We provide a safe, warm place for people to stay in an emergency. Without us, they have nowhere else to go. It's inhumane to shut us down just as temperatures are about to plummet."

The lawsuit charges the city with violations of both the state and U.S. Constitutions.

"The government can't act as judge, jury, and prosecutor to strip the Center of its property rights, just because it doesn't like what an owner is doing," added IJ Attorney Christie Hebert. "Kalispell is scapegoating the Warming Center for serving the homeless when it should be supporting its mission. Shutting down the Center won't make the homeless disappear—it will only make the problem worse."

At issue immediately is a request for an emergency temporary restraining order to keep the Center open while the lawsuit progresses.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Gretchen Whitmer, the far-left governor of Michigan, worked for that reputation by micromanaging the lives of state residents during COVID.

She's also worked on an agenda that provides a pathway in the state for her ideologies.

She even was the target of an apparent "kidnap" attempt where federal agents seemed to outnumber suspects, and while some were convicted, others were acquitted, leaving the entire episode a question mark.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A "performance review" delivered as an assessment of Kamala Harris' skills, talent and leadership while she was a lawyer in San Francisco delivered a harsh conclusion to the now-Democrat nominee for president.

The evaluation, documented by the Daily Mail, said, "On a scale of one to five, Harris only got a '2' on whether she was 'thorough, helpful, and proactive and only a three on whether she showed good judgment."

It continued, "Harris also got a '2' rating for recognizing deadlines, fast turnaround, and anticipating their needs. Even more embarrassing was her failure to return phone calls and emails promptly."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

There's no doubt that Joe Biden's cognition no longer is what it once was.

In fact, nearing 82, he was given a pass on charges for mishandling federal documents because of his advanced age and declining mental abilities.

Then, if his verbal and mental stumbles and bumbles over the last few years weren't enough, his performance at the presidential debate with President Donald Trump convinced doubters.

In fact, the elites of the Democrat party gave him the hook, jerked him off the campaign trail, and handed the nomination to Kamala Harris.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A new report from the Epoch Times reveals the stunning conclusion from several economists: That the U.S. has been in a recession for the last two years, based on adjustments to the nation's consumer-punishing inflation rates.

And, the report revealed, "According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, cumulative inflation since 2019 has totaled nearly 25%."

The report explains that economists EJ Antoni and Peter St. Onge have written at the Brownstone Institute that, "Many have questioned the accuracy of official inflation statistics, with dozens of academic papers written on the topic and doubts voiced by sources ranging from the New York Times to former President Donald Trump."

"This matters not only because of the political salience of rising prices, but also because official inflation numbers are used to calculate real economic growth by adjusting nominal dollars to inflation-adjusted dollars."

They explained their goal was a "true understanding of inflation" and "true economic growth."

They first explain the obstacles to their work: "The difficulty in measuring the size of a nation's economy is two-fold. First, there is insufficient data to directly measure the number and size of all transactions in an economy, or to monitor all economic activity. Second, the measuring tool used (in this case, the Federal Reserve note) changes value over time. Thus, fluctuations in the nominal value of economic activity can be due to real changes in economic activity, measurement error of economic activity, or changes in the value of a currency."

However, they identified multiple problems with the government's process that "tend to underestimate the rise in prices over time. These shortcomings have been more pronounced over the last four years during a relatively rapid depreciation of the currency."

Kamala Harris, the Democrat nominee for president, of course right now is trying to distance herself from the failures of the Biden-Harrius administration in which she's play a major role, according to statements from Joe Biden.

The study concerns itself with offering "an alternative adjustment for converting nominal growth to real growth by more accurately reflecting changes in the cost of living over time."

They explained the cost of renting or owning a home is a significant part of any inflation equation, and the government's CPI vastly underestimates the costs of housing inflation.

Further, the burden on consumers from governmental regulations are faulty because of "perceived" benefits to consumers, perceived by government workers, "that do not actually exist."

"For example, if it is assumed that a regulation increases the quality of a product, then even a dramatic increase in price could register as no price change or even a price decline in the national accounting which is used to compute gross domestic product (GDP)," they said.

Then there are "indirect" purchases, like the costs of health insurance, an issue that the CPI "neglects," they said.

They point out that, for example, while the "nominal" change in disposable personal income was 35.3%, the real change was 12.9%. Likewise with retail sales, the nominal change was 23.1% but the real change was 3.2%.

"Note that not only are the inflation adjustments large, but they are highly variable, ranging from under 20% for wholesale sales to 22% to 23% for manufacturing inventories and new orders," they said. "While 3% may seem like a small difference, in the context of GDP growth it represents nearly a $1 trillion difference in real output – roughly the GDP of Saudi Arabia. And in the context of annual economic growth, 3% over a 4-year period is a very large number – the difference between robust and anemic growth. Or between anemic growth and recession," they wrote.

They said, too, "The real increase of 12.9% in disposable income from the first quarter of 2019 through the second quarter of 2024 becomes a real decrease of 2.3 percent over that period – an aggregate 15% difference."

They said during President Trump's tenure, his deregulation actually "led to marginal decreases in the cost of living which were not captured by official inflation metrics," but that trend "had fully reversed by the fourth quarter of 2022 under Biden-Harris."

"Summing the entire period, nominal GDP at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in the second quarter of 2024 was 37.4% higher than the first quarter of 2019," they explained. "A significant portion of this increase, however, is merely inflation. The BEA's inflation adjustment reduces growth over this period from 37.4 percent to 13.7 percent, or nearly two-thirds of nominal growth."

They found, "According to our adjustments, cumulative inflation since 2019 has been understated by nearly half. This has resulted in cumulative growth being overstated by roughly 15%. This is a large amount for just 5 years – for perspective, peak-to-trough drop in real GDP during the 2008 crisis was 4%. Moreover, these adjustments indicate that the American economy has actually been in recession since 2022.

"These conclusions are in stark contrast to the establishment narrative that the U.S. economy is enjoying robust growth that for some reason the public is incapable of perceiving. Indeed, our results are consistent with the perceptions of the American public, of whom a majority believe we are in recession," the report said.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Joe Biden, cast aside by Democrat party elites who then hand-picked Kamala Harris and stunningly handed her the party's nomination for president, even though she's never won a primary vote, is giving a good impression that he's not happy with that decision.

Of course he announced at the time he was voluntarily dropping his campaign and endorsing Harris and telling everyone to support her.

But the appearances bely that.

For example, a report at Revolver.news explains that while Harris is desperately trying to assemble a reputation for herself that she would do better than Biden, a "new way" forward, he publicly locked her into all of his administration's worst results. Like massive inflation, massive threats from illegal aliens, massive assaults on the pro-life community and Christians, more.

"She was a major player in everything we've done," he pointedly noted.

And then there was the time Harris was critical of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' work regarding Hurricane Helene.

Biden pushed back with how he's "been cooperative. … I talked to him again yesterday and I said — a — boy — I said I know you're doing a great job. It's being all — being done well, we thank you for it and I literally gave him my personal phone number to call, so I don't know — there was a rough start in some places, but every governor — every governor — from Florida to North Carolina, has been fully cooperative and supportive and acknowledged what this team is doing and they're doing an incredible job. But we got a lot more work to do."

Multiple times Biden, who rarely has appeared for questions from the press, has appeared on stage for questions at exactly the same time Harris had a campaign appearance scheduled.

He then doubled down on Harris' full involvement in all his administration has done, which would appear to include the 21% inflation he's allowed to hit consumers, the massive costs of food and fuel, the catastrophe at the southern border with millions of illegal aliens invading after President Donald Trump's border security measures were trashed, and falling American reputation around the world, the threat of multiple wars, and more.

The Revolver report explained the Biden-bashes-Harris perspective: "You know a politician is desperate when they start attacking well-qualified, proven leaders and 'natural disaster' pros with cheap shots just to grab some airtime and look like they're in control—or something like that. That's exactly what a flailing and sinking Kamala Harris is doing right now, going after Governor Ron DeSantis, who could mop the floor with her and her lack of abilities. Kamala is crashing in the polls, and every interview she does turns into a disaster. She's grasping at straws, desperately trying to generate some positive PR—and once again, that's failing too. Especially after we saw how she ignored the devastated people of North Carolina. All she offered them was $750, then turned around and sent $160 million to foreigners in Lebanon. Shameful."

The report noted Harris' charged DeSantis is "playing politics" but Biden's response was that DeSantis is doing great.

Biden also pushed Harris "under the bus" with his comments linking her closely to his administration's record, the report said.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Joe Biden once wildly made a claim, presumed to be rhetorical because of its incompatibility with the facts, that when a gun is used to fire a 9mm bullet at a person the shot "blows the lung out of the body."

Now his vice president, Kamala Harris, is promoting that very weapon.

It's one of the many flip-flops that Harris has adopted as she tries to position herself as a moderate in her run for the presidency.

In that mode, she's promoted fracking, which she had vigorously opposed, and she's now all of a sudden in favor of border security, which the Biden-Harris administration literally destroyed over the last nearly four years, among many other flip-flops.

But her advocacy for firearms, including her promise to shoot someone if they would break into her home, has been perhaps the most jarring reversal.

Back when she was San Fransisco district attorney, she signed onto a Supreme Cour brief demanding a ban on handguns. The justices rejected her arguments, finding there is an individual right under the Second Amendment for firearms.

Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley was among those who have pointed out her attempt to move from one end of the scale to the opposite.

"The reinvention of Vice President Kamala Harris in this election has been a thing to behold. In politics, candidates often reconstruct their records to secure votes, but Harris appears to have constructed an entirely mythical being. Once ranked to the left of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and viewed as among the most liberal members of the Senate, Harris has sought to convince the public that she is actually a frack-loving, gun-toting, border-defending moderate," he explained.

He cited Harris' recent comments on a television talk show where she said she is a gun owner and, "if somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot."

She later repeated the claim to 60 Minutes and said she's attended pistol ranges to shoot. The report said her gun reportedly is a semiautomatic Glock handgun, a firearm that often uses 9mm ammunition.

Turley noted Harris' threats are in "stark contrast" to her opposition to self-defense laws.

In fact, the Biden-Harris administration repeatedly has suggested that semiautomatics are unneeded and if there's a change on the Supreme Court, they could be banned.

Biden literally, "suggested in the past that he might seek to ban 9mm weapons," Turley noted.

"Biden saying there's 'no rational basis' to own 9mms makes the new Harris look … well … irrational," Turley noted.

Harris' record includes her statement, "Do you know what an assault weapon is? It was designed for a specific purpose, to kill a lot of human beings quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war, with no place, no place in a civil society."

The Biden-Harris agenda for weapons hasn't been exactly logical, either.

"President Biden showed the same disconnect as Harris between the factual and the rhetorical basis for some gun-control measures. He condemned 'high-caliber weapons' like 9mm handguns and said 'a .22-caliber bullet will lodge in the lung, and we can probably get it out — may be able to get it and save the life. A 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body.'"

Turley noted, "Biden has not made any comment on Harris promising to blow away anyone coming into her house with her own Glock."

He said Harris "is not the first politician to reinvent herself on the campaign trail. For now, Harris wants to be clear that 'I have a Glock, and I've had it for quite some time.' For critics, the reload is a bit much given her record."

Her willingness to shoot someone, though, has been made clear.

"If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot," she stated. "Sorry, probably shouldn't have said that! Ha ha ha!"

The Gateway Pundit turned blunt, "Gun Control Hypocrite Kamala Harris Admits on Live TV That She and Walz Are Gun Owners and She Would Shoot Intruders, Then Regrets Saying It."

Her comment came in an interview with entertainer Oprah Winfrey, and the "unscripted moment laid bare her duplicity."

The Daily Mail described Harris' comments as a "shocking threat."

WND already had reported on her proclamation that any time they wanted, police could walk into a home and check whether the resident was doing what they wanted with his or her guns.

Now Tucker Carlson commented: "This is openly totalitarian. If we don't resist this, we're done."

Harris also has talked about taking action against gun owners by executive order, and not waiting for Congress to make such actions legal.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – Considering the number of top – and in the case of several of Hezbollah's leaders – internationally wanted criminal terrorists who have met their demise over the last few months, it is the fate of two in particular about which there is currently enormous intrigue.

In ascending order of importance, the far more junior of these two figures is Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. He has not been heard from for several weeks, with rumors spreading like wildfire that he had met his demise in an Israeli missile strike on his former Rafah stronghold. A recent image of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi shows a split screen behind him with Hezbollah's top leaders on one side and Hamas' on the other. Almost all of Hamas' top leaders had a big red cross through their images (as did Hezbollah's) – indicating they had been eliminated – but for Sinwar, a large question mark appeared.

One doesn't want to bandy about the Hitlerian comparisons too readily, although it is inescapable. A leader who gambles his people's fate, attacking a stronger enemy and after initial successes trying to marshal ever-more-illusory military resources as the tide turns, and taking to hiding in an underground bunker as the vice's grip becomes ever tighter. The fact there is an assumption if Sinwar is still alive that he is "protected" by those he deems the most high-value hostages is a slight departure.

Meanwhile, according to Israel's Channel 12, Qatari officials mediating hostage deal talks with Hamas told the families of captives last week that Sinwar was no longer calling them. If this is the case, it is no doubt due to the fate of thousands of Hezbollah operatives – up to and including Hassan Nasrallah – whose whereabouts were pinpointed following the astonishing success of the bombs in beeper and two-way radios operation. Presumably, Sinwar, who if nothing else has a cast-iron desire for his own preservation – no matter the cost to the people he purportedly represents – is taking extra precautions to avoid Nasrallah's fate. Indeed, Qatari officials have strongly suggested Sinwar, who is only using pen and paper with which to communicate, is still alive.

Some in Israel's defense establishment assess Sinwar was likely killed in an Israeli airstrike, although this is not a view American officials share. They argue his retreat from view is the most effective way he can try and secure his longevity; and furthermore, he is not at all out of the loop, and is an integral part in Hamas' decision-making. With the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre imminent, will there be renewed Hamas attacks – possibly with longer-range missiles targeting central Israel – and will Sinwar reappear to give the impression he is orchestrating them?

There are arguments on both sides of the ledger. Rawhi Mushtaha, a trusted Sinwar consigliere, who was instrumental in the note-passing business, was killed some three months ago, which Israel only announced on Thursday. Perhaps there are echoes of the death of Mohammed Deif too. His presence at a Hamas meeting on July 13 was confirmed and his location pinpointed – again through the use of a courier – and immediately followed by massive ordnance at that exact site. Israel was almost certain it had gotten its man – at something like the eighth time of asking – although it took until Aug. 1 for Hamas to verify the rumors.

Sinwar's potential killing also raises very uncomfortable questions for both Israel's political and military leaders. If he was not able to be drawn away from the hostages that almost every intelligence source admits he surrounds himself with, it seems inevitable they would be killed along with him. Despite his position as Public Enemy #1, there would likely be serious ramifications for the government if some two dozen hostages – according to some estimates – were slain at the same time as the architect of Oct. 7

However, even more critical than Sinwar, is an answer to the fate of Esmail Qaani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force general. There are several (uncorroborated) reports that the successor to Qassem Soleimani, whom the United States eliminated on Iraqi soil in 2020, was visiting Beirut in the wake of Israel Air Force missile strikes, which decimated and decapitated Hezbollah's leadership.

Qaani's last public appearance was in Tehran, some 48 hours after the massive missile strike which extinguished Hassan Nasrallah. The IRGC leader was a notable absence from Friday prayers in Tehran, which eulogized and exalted the slain Hezbollah leader. Qaani was thought to be meeting Hashem Safieddine, who was chosen to replace Nasrallah, in Beirut's Dahiyeh neighborhood. Three Iranian officials have subsequently confirmed the Quds Force leader was indeed in Beirut at the time of the Israeli strike. His absence and the manner of his apparent demise is also said to be causing wide-spread panic among IRGC operatives.

Following Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel, which is thought to have at least partly successfully targeted military bases and installations, the entire region is on a knife's edge. Israel has yet to respond to this latest attack, although the Home Front Command in the Jewish state has warned citizens an Israeli strike on Iran – whether it's Tehran itself, one or more nuclear facilities, and/or Iran's petroleum industry – will likely be met with more ballistic and cruise missiles flying in the other direction. Qaani's potential death at Israel's hands might only harden Iran's resolve – if any were really needed – to keep those missiles flying.