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Wednesday, October 11, 2023

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Travel to Israel in Show of Solidarity

Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel on Wednesday to meet with senior Israeli leaders, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday, in a solidarity visit following an unprecedented Hamas attack that killed more than 1,000 Israelis over the weekend. “It will be a message of solidarity and support,” Miller said in a briefing. “He, of course, wants to hear from the leaders of Israel, hear from them directly about the situation they’re facing … about what they need and how we can best support them.” Miller said Blinken would be arriving in Israel on Thursday (Reuters). Fox News: Earlier in the day in an address to the nation, President Biden condemned the “abhorrent” attacks by Hamas and pledged to support Israel. More than 1,000 Israelis have been killed since Saturday, when Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack by land, sea and air in southern Israel. Hamas also captured dozens of hostages and killed hundreds of civilians, including children (Fox News).

Hamas Kills 40 Babies in Israel Village

Fox News: Israel’s military has discovered unspeakable horrors in an Israeli community that was attacked by Hamas on Saturday, including dozens of dead babies, some with of their heads chopped off, Israeli media reported. According to local Israeli outlet i24News, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers moved into Kfar Aza, one of the communities Hamas terrorists invaded early Saturday morning, and discovered about 40 dead babies, some decapitated — highlighting the brutality of the invading forces. IDF were removing the bodies of victims found in the area when they found the children’s remains. Israeli soldiers are attempting to use bones to identify the victims (Fox News). Libs of TikTok: They just found dozens of babies, some with their heads cut off. Families completely gunned down in their beds. Hamas beheaded babies. There are no words for this (X). Insider: CNN’s Nic Robertson, also on the ground at Kfar Aza, reported on the scene as dead bodies were being collected and counted. “There were so many murdered members of this kibbutz,” he said. “Men, women, children, hands bound, shot, executed, heads cut.” Reports and videos of Hamas kidnapping Israelis and holding them hostage in Gaza have also emerged since Saturday’s attack. Israeli officials have notified at least 50 families that their loved ones are being held by Hamas. Hamas, in response, threatened that it would publicly execute one Israeli hostage every time Israel strikes Gaza without warning. Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes have also killed at least 830 people in Gaza (Insider).

Syria Sends Projectiles into Israel

Townhall: After the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces reported new attacks being launched against the country from Syria in the wake of a handful of attacks launched from Lebanon against northern cities. The incoming fire from Syria — officially unidentified projectiles but reported by some to be mortars — did not hit any kibbutzim or populated areas in the Golan Heights where Israel is bordered by Syria, according to posts from the IDF, and Israeli forces have already responded with counter launches targeting the projectiles’ point of origin (Townhall). Israel Defense Forces: A number of launches from Syria aimed for Israel were identified a short while ago. Part of the launches crossed into Israeli territory and presumably fell in open areas (X).

UN Human Rights Council Holds Moment of Silence for Innocents in Palestine

HotAir: If there is one place in the world where you would expect a full-throated condemnation of terrorism it would be in the chambers of an international Human Rights Council. Right? You would of course be wrong to think this. We are, after all, speaking of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which has about as much to do with defending Human Rights as Iranian Mullahs have to do with defending the rights of Queers. This sad but unsurprising fact was demonstrated once again by the tweet/statement put out by the Council in response to the vicious, barbaric attacks on Israel over the weekend. Observing a moment of silence for innocents in the Palestinian territory and “elsewhere.” Elsewhere. They can’t even speak Israel’s name (HotAir). UN Human Rights Council: On Monday afternoon, the UN Human Rights Council observed a moment of silence for the loss of innocent lives in the occupied Palestinian territory and elsewhere (X).

U.S. Must Learn from Israel About Border Protection

Spencer Brown: The crisis unfolding along the U.S.-Mexico border is nothing new at this point, but the Hamas terrorist invasion of Israel from the Gaza Strip highlighted the national security ramifications of border security, specifically the lack of critical information the United States government has about the individuals illegally entering our country. Fox News Channel’s Bill Melugin reported new internal data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on “special interest aliens,” defined by the Department of Homeland Security as “a non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests” who are often “employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism.” That is, SIAs are the kind of illegal immigrants the U.S. should be especially aware of and strict toward (Townhall). Fox News’ Bill Melugin: Border Patrol sources tell me they have extreme concerns about who is coming into the country because they have little to no way of vetting people from these special interest countries. I’m told unless they have committed a crime previously in the US, or they are on some sort of federal watchlist, there’s no way to know who they are because most of their home countries don’t share data/records with the US so there is nothing to match a name to when BP agents run fingerprints (X).

BLM Publicly Supports Hamas

Post Millennial: In a statement posted to Instagram on Monday, Black Lives Matter Grassroots issued a statement in “solidarity with the Palestinian people” as Hamas carries out terrorist attacks against Israel, kidnapping, killing, and injuring people in the nation. “When a people have been the subject of decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense.” The group joins others around the country and globe that have held protests against Israel, with many celebrating the Hamas attacks. In front of the Sydney Opera House on Monday night, chants of “gas the Jews” were heard by hundreds of protestors waving Palestinian flags (Post Millennial). Andy Ngo: A crowd of Muslim pro-Palestine demonstrators chant “gas the Jews” outside the Sydney Opera House in Australia on Oct. 9 (X)? Karol Markowicz: Take a good look, liberal Jews. This is the s… you supported (X).

Biden Gives Speech Supporting Israel

Reuters: President Joe Biden on Tuesday denounced Hamas and stressed U.S. support for Israel as it mourns the killing of more than 1,000 people, including at least 14 Americans, from a surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group. The president also voiced concern for Americans being held hostage by Hamas, an Iranian-backed Islamist group. “This is an act of sheer evil,” he said. Biden spoke after his third phone call in four days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He outlined in his remarks the U.S. military assistance being sent to help Israel in its fight (Reuters). Hugh Hewitt: Did I miss the forceful warning to Iran and Hezbollah? Did I just not hear the word “Iran?” 11 minutes to say exactly what he said Saturday? That’s it? That the Commander-in-Chief? At least he didn’t call for restraint on the part of Israel. Count our (very) small blessings (X). Citizen Free Press: Joe Biden abruptly leaves the podium without taking questions following his first public speech on Israel days after the fighting began (X).

Biden Administration is Still Not Freezing the $6 Billion to Iran

Washington Times: It took less than 48 hours to uncover Iran’s role in the attacks on Israel, despite the White House’s claims of ignorance. While Washington fumbled around with preverbal “we can’t confirm” weasel words, Iranian leaders were expressing support for the brutality. Hamas terrorists confirmed they had the help and support of Tehran. Apparently, both sides admitting their involvement isn’t proof enough for the Biden administration. The White House is clearly dragging its feet in getting to the truth because the administration is aware of its responsibility. The sad truth is that Mr. Biden turned a blind eye to Iranian oil sanctions that helped Tehran rake in the cash well before he handed them $6 billion (Washington Times). RNC Research: “You just laid out all the ways that Iran is complicit … is that reason enough to re-freeze the $6 billion that the U.S. helped unlock for them?” Jake Sullivan: “We have not yet had a dollar of that $6 billion spent and I will leave it at that” (X).

Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich’s Appeal in Russian Court Denied

HotAir: American journalist Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Russian court on Tuesday. The court upheld his detention and denying his lawyers’ latest appeal to free him. Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal based out of its Moscow bureau, is the first journalist to be charged with espionage in Russia since the end of the Cold War. He has been detained since March 29. He was taken into custody during a reporting trip. The 31-year-old was accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to work as a journalist. Evan denies being a spy, as do the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government. He does not work for the U.S. government. The parent company of the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, condemned the Russian court’s decision, though it was expected (HotAir). Wall Street Journal: Legal experts say it could be many months before Gershkovich’s case is brought to trial. Russian authorities haven’t publicly provided evidence to support the allegation. Under Russian law, investigators and prosecutors have wide latitude to request further extensions of pretrial detention. Espionage trials are typically conducted in secret and conviction could carry a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years. It is rare for a court to acquit a defendant (Wall Street Journal).

10.

Washington Post Preparing for Layoffs

Hill: The Washington Post says it has plans to do away with more than 200 jobs as a cost cutting measure after prognostications for online readership and subscriptions proved “overly optimistic” heading into 2024. In a note sent to staff on Tuesday and obtained by several media outlets, Patty Stonesifer, the chief executive officer at the Post, wrote the company has an “urgent need to invest in our top growth priorities.” A large pool of the Post’s hundreds of employees will be offered voluntary buyouts, Stonesifer said, with the number of acceptances capped at 240 positions. The voluntary buyouts, Stonesifer said, are designed to “avert more difficult actions such as layoffs,” which she called “a situation we are united in trying to avoid” (Hill). Axios: The Post is on track to lose $100 million this year, according to a source familiar with the company’s financial situation, after failing to bring in a profit last year thanks to heavy investments in new editorial positions, most notably climate and wellness. Like other major publishers, it’s struggled with an advertising slowdown over the past year. The company has also lost hundreds of thousands of digital subscribers since its peak of 3 million subscribers during the Trump era (Axios).