2 May 2024

Hatred of Israel and the Jews has exploded across the world since Hamas invaded Israel last October.

Universities and colleges across the United States have in recent weeks been the scene of anti-Israel protests and violence. After weeks of pro-Hamas demonstrations on Columbia University featuring calls for genocide against Jews and the taking of two university employees as hostages, university president Minouche Shafik sent a letter on Tuesday to the New York Police Department requesting their help in restoring order.

The war against Hamas in Gaza enters its seventh month. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday as part of his Middle East tour to Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, his seventh trip to the Jewish state since the current Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7. 

Blinken met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, where they “discussed ongoing efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal and emphasized that it is Hamas that is standing in the way of a ceasefire,” according to an official statement from the U.S. State Department.

Israel insists it must attack Rafah in south of Gaza to eliminate the remaining Hamas battalions. Jerusalem says that conquering the city on the Egyptian border is essential to winning the war.

There is intense international opposition to a full-scale offensive, including from the United States, with Blinken saying in Riyadh on Monday that “we have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected.” - notwithstanding the fact the Israel Defense Forces plans to establish a humanitarian safe zone in the central Gaza Strip as part of preparations for the evacuation of noncombatants from the southernmost city of Rafah. 

Israel Defense Forces troops in the north are actively preparing for a more extensive campaign against the Hezbollah terror organization in Southern Lebanon, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday. Hezbollah has carried out near-daily attacks on northern Israel from Southern Lebanon since joining the war against the Jewish state in support of Hamas a day after the latter’s Oct. 7 massacre.

Finally, it has been reported that the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is poised to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defense minister Yoav Gallant and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. 

Iran Mullahs Speeding Up Nuclear Weapons Program: Anyone Interested?
By backing, arming and training Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, Iran launched a proxy war against Israel, leveraging the conflict in part to divert attention from its nuclear ambitions.
The calculated move not only serves Iran's immediate interests in destabilizing its adversaries – the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and most of all the United States, which it would like to see out of the region, so Iran could presumably have the Middle East all to itself. The diversion of the Gaza war also aligns with its goal of eradicating Israel.

An arresting story
Is the International Criminal Court about to destroy what's left of its reputation?