Mike Huckabee Is at It Again…
Tucker Carlson Network | August 21, 2026
Gaza survivors recount executions and abuse in militia-controlled areas east of Yellow Line
MEMO | August 24, 2026
Palestinians who say they escaped areas controlled by Israeli- backed armed militias east of the so-called Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip have recounted severe abuses, including extrajudicial killings, physical mistreatment, drug distribution and exploitation of civilians, according to testimonies collected by Quds Press.
The accounts describe tightly controlled areas where residents faced restrictions on movement and could leave only with authorization from militia members. Quds Press described the groups as receiving backing from the Israeli military.
One survivor, identified only as Ahmed, 31, said he escaped with his two brothers after eight months in an area controlled by a militia allegedly headed by Shawqi Abu Nassira.
Ahmed said that narcotics, including hashish and a substance he identified as “Rotana,” were widely distributed. He also said that people attempting to escape or refusing orders faced summary execution and accused militia members of abusing and exploiting children and girls.
Another survivor, identified as Abu Ramzi, said he was drawn into the area after responding to a social media advertisement offering street-cleaning work purportedly connected to international organizations.
According to his account, he and others were collected near Al-Samar roundabout, at the entrance to Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, and transported east, where masked men took them to an interrogation facility he said was operated by the Israeli military.
Abu Ramzi alleged that interrogators sought detailed information about detainees’ relatives and people employed by Gaza’s governing authorities. He further added that detainees who hesitated to answer were subjected to physical abuse, including being struck on their fingers with a hammer.
He said that during a subsequent Israeli military movement toward the Yellow Line, militia members withdrew and Israeli forces ordered the detainees to assemble. According to his testimony, they were handcuffed and instructed to walk westward without looking back.
Separately, Al-Hares, a platform affiliated with Hamas-run security authorities in Gaza, has warned residents that armed groups operating in these areas allegedly use offers of food, cigarettes and employment to attract civilians. It accused the groups of seeking to use civilians to facilitate their movements and urged Palestinians to avoid them.
Iran invite to join regional defense pact raises alarm in ‘Israel’
Al Mayadeen | August 24, 2026
Israeli officials and analysts have expressed alarm over Iran being invited to join a regional defense pact, warning that Tehran’s entry would fundamentally shift the balance of the alliance and undermine US standing in West Asia.
Mehdi Rahimi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s official news agency, told Al Mayadeen that Iran received an invitation to join the “Mecca Defense Agreement”, raising concerns in “Israel”, according to reports.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the potential inclusion of Iran in the alliance has caused alarm, with analysts suggesting it would fundamentally alter the coalition’s nature.
Iran joining pact represents fundamental transformation
Ksenia Svetlova, director of the “Israel”-Middle East Relations Program at the Mitvim Institute and a researcher at the Atlantic Council, stated that Iran’s accession to the agreement, if it materializes, would represent “a fundamental transformation” in the nature of the alliance, Haaretz reported.
According to Svetlova, US President Donald Trump is “furious” because he cannot change the equation that emerged after the war.
Svetlova further stated that Iran’s accession would harm “US prestige”, adding that neither the United States, nor “Israel”, nor the United Arab Emirates, nor others would accept such a development.
Haaretz reported that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have repeatedly stressed that the alliance is not directed against Iran, but have referred to “Israel” in the context of framing the agreement as an aggressive and threatening regional entity that requires unified forces to confront.
Pakistan says it’s open to Iran joining Mecca Defense Pact
Previously, Pakistan stated it has no objection to Iran and Egypt joining a mutual defense agreement signed with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the country’s ambassador to Moscow said on August 12.
Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi told Al Mayadeen that the agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey “is not a hostile pact directed against any country, but rather an effort to establish a regional security architecture.”
He stressed that “Pakistan welcomes the participation of other countries in the region that are committed to achieving peace and stability.” “No development can be achieved without the participation of influential regional actors,” he stressed.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan formalize joint defense pact in Mecca
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca on Friday, formalizing a trilateral security bloc among three Sunni Muslim-majority US allies, Reuters reported.
The pact, dubbed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, stipulates that an attack on any one of the three signatories will be treated as an attack on all, the countries said in a joint statement. The agreement is framed as a collective-deterrence mechanism meant to shore up regional security, though the three governments have not disclosed the specific obligations each side has taken on.
A Turkish official told Reuters the pact is purely defensive, is not aimed at any particular state, remains open to other countries in the region, and does not supersede existing bilateral or multilateral arrangements Ankara, Riyadh, or Islamabad already hold.
The deal caps roughly a year of talks first flagged by Reuters in January, when Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara was pushing for a wider regional security platform.
This Is the Reality…
Tucker Carlson Network | August 22, 2026
Israel’s New War in Syria: Why Türkiye Is Now in the Crosshairs
By Robert Inlakesh | The Palestine Chronicle | August 22, 2026
What has been happening in Syria should come as a wake-up call for the Turkish leadership: as long as Israel is a major player in the region, you cannot simply compete with them without engaging in violent conflict.
Earlier this week, Israel began bombing Syrian military positions for the first time in around four months, specifically targeting an air base where Turkish military personnel are known to be present – this is not random violence; it is instead part of a concerted pressure campaign that is pushing boundaries that even the United States is not fully prepared to go along with.
Israeli air raids targeted and destroyed air strips and hangars at the Abu al-Duhur Air Base in the Idlib province of Syria, inflicting significant damage and intentionally attempting to curb efforts by Turkiye to revive the largest destroyed Syrian air force and air defense systems.
While Tehran and Moscow were the chief supporters of the former Syrian military, the country now depends on both Washington and Ankara. NATO member Turkiye has therefore taken it upon itself to try and get a military foothold inside Syrian territory, attempting to extract the maximum it can from its relationship with its neighbor.
Like Iran, Turkiye has different interests from its other major partner inside the country, but unlike the Iranians, the Turkish State is not backing resistance to Israel and instead has maintained strong economic ties with the occupying regime. However, the Israeli government does not care that Turkiye presents no military threat to it, nor are there any signs it will; it is only fixated on regional dominance and views Syria as competition.
Turkiye and Israel are both US allies, meaning that the American government will not throw its weight fully behind either side and instead play a balancing game. Yet, the Israelis evidently have much more sway over Washington and seek to crush Turkish regional influence, as they endeavor to achieve their dreams of a “Greater Israel”.
Israeli bombing attacks against military positions – with the exception of a few occasional strikes – largely halted after March, when a series of strikes were carried out. The reason behind most of the attacks carried out against positions affiliated with Damascus-aligned forces has been to send a message. This is precisely why the old Ministry of Defense was even blown to pieces and why Israel launched strikes in the vicinity of the Presidential Palace – they are demonstrating who the boss is and warning the Syrian leadership of the consequences should it step out of line.
The Syrian leadership, under the command of Ahmed al-Shara’a, or Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has largely capitulated to Israeli demands, such as attempting to disarm Syrians in the south of the country, working to intercept arms shipments to Hezbollah, and even signing a “Joint Fusion Mechanism” with the Israelis. As part of this mechanism, it was clearly written that Syria would even pursue economic projects with the Zionist regime that continues to expand its occupation of southern Syrian lands.
The relationship between Syria, Turkiye, and Israel today is one of a tug of war. The Turkish State is attempting to help Syria revive its air force and hopes to introduce a functioning air defense system to the country, but the Israelis want Syria weak.
It is also clear why Tel Aviv is so paranoid. They know that the future of the Syrian State is not certain and they see the sentiments expressed by the fighters who have formed the new Syrian Army. They are also aware that everyone in Syria is armed and that with a different leadership, or an escalation that spins out of control, they could be in serious trouble.
During the era of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) possessed a large arsenal of strategic weapons, much of which was incinerated during the overthrow of the previous leadership in an enormous Israeli air campaign. However, what Tel Aviv feared just as much was the strength of Syria’s air defense network – regarded as one of the most sophisticated in the region.
Not only did Israel destroy the air defenses of Syria during the regime change transition in December of 2024, but what impacted the nation’s ability to defend its skies even more was the disappearance of the old air defense teams. When it comes to these sophisticated weapons, the humans operating them are just as important as the systems themselves, and it takes a long time to properly train new operators. Under the new Syrian Army, there are no experienced operators who are on hand, meaning that it will take help from their Turkish allies if they are ever going to have a functioning air defense option.
Israel is competing with Turkiye as of now, with the situation not deteriorating into direct confrontation. Although we are far from the point of anything that could resemble war between the two, the Israelis will kill Turkish soldiers and may even explore options using intelligence operatives inside Turkish territory in the future.
Ankara is clearly not willing to respond to Tel Aviv with the use of force, or even using armed factions to carry out operations in the south, despite Turkish soldiers having been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the past. At some point, Turkiye will likely be forced to make a decision to defend its interests that will involve confronting Israel.
Bear in mind that despite the rhetoric of its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish State never even severed ties or cut off Israel’s flow of cheap gas from Azerbaijan throughout the Gaza genocide. The Israelis have interpreted the behavior of the Turkish leadership as weakness, meaning that they are going to push things to the limit, testing just how far they can go before the regional power decides to finally take concrete measures against it.
Ankara is seeking to become an international trade hub, sitting at the crossroads between Asia and Europe, benefiting immensely from the expansion of the Middle Corridor. Yet, Tel Aviv has been busy forming alliances to ensure it is a thorn in Turkiye’s side, including expanding tripartite relations with Greece and Cyprus.
What has been happening in Syria should come as a wake-up call for the Turkish leadership: as long as Israel is a major player in the region, you cannot simply compete with them without engaging in violent conflict. If Ankara seeks to truly assert its power, it must pursue confrontation and make the Israelis suffer in Syria; if it backs down and refuses to do this, it will end up feeling the consequences of its strategic mistake.
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
Afghan-American lawmaker Wahab beats Israel lobby-funded opponent in California election
Press TV – August 22, 2026
California lawmaker Aisha Wahab has been elected to the US Congress after defeating her opponent funded by pro-Israel groups.
Wahab, a 39-year-old progressive Democratic state senator, defeated Melissa Hernandez, 51, a moderate Democrat.
She is the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the California State Senate, and the first Afghan American elected to Congress.
She will now replace Eric Swalwell, who resigned from the House amid reports of sexual misconduct.
Swalwell’s term was scheduled to end in January. Wahab will now fill in for the remainder of Swalwell’s term.
According to media reports, United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), spent nearly $2.5mn since early August to boost Hernandez.
The news outlet CNN reported that BOLD America, another group that receives funding from AIPAC, also spent $1.9mn.
One advertisement against Wahab, for instance, focused on misleading claims that she had weakened laws against the sex trafficking of minors.
Wahab released her own video, emphasizing that she had made it “illegal and a felony to traffic or solicit minors, across the board.” She called the advertising “$5mn of lies.”
The race is the latest to test the influence of the pro-Israel lobby in the US, where support for the occupied territories has dropped precipitously amid its genocidal war on Gaza.
According to an Associated Press poll released in July, roughly a third of US adults believed Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a position backed by United Nations experts and rights groups.While foreign policy was not a main pillar of her campaign, Wahab has echoed those views during her time in politics.
Last year, she co-authored a state resolution denouncing the “horrific humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza” and calling for an end to the war.
At a candidate forum in April, Wahab also answered “yes” when asked whether she believed what was happening to the Palestinian people constituted a genocide.
Hernandez, by contrast, did not give a direct answer. She said that, while Israel had a “right to defend itself,” the destruction in Gaza had gone “too far.”
Wahab went on to win June’s primary for the special election by a wide margin, with more than 42 percent of the vote to Hernandez’s 17 percent.
But this week’s election tightened due to heavy spending by pro-Israel groups, with the race too close to call for two days as local officials continued counting ballots until Thursday.
Wahab will have a rematch against Hernandez in November, when both women will compete for the chance to represent California’s 14th district for a full two-year term.
While pro-Israel groups have sought to shape elections through massive spending, such efforts have faced several high-profile setbacks across the country during the 2026 midterm election season.
Progressive candidates, including Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, have overcome heavy spending from pro-Israel groups in the midterm primaries to advance to November’s general election.
Wahab said in a statement that her victory shows that her district “cannot be bought.”
Marrakesh erupts in protest against Israeli minister’s visit
Al Mayadeen | August 22, 2026
The Moroccan city of Marrakesh witnessed a large demonstration on Friday evening organized by supporters of the Palestinian people, who gathered to voice their strong opposition to the visit of Israeli occupation Transport Minister Miri Regev.
The protest came as Regev arrived in Marrakesh aboard the first direct flight between “Israel” and Morocco in three years.
Regev, a prominent minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, is visiting Morocco to announce the resumption of the direct air route between Tel Aviv and Marrakesh, operated by Arkia Airlines, following a nearly three-year suspension.
An Israeli delegation is accompanying the minister, who has faced protests over her record of anti-Palestinian positions, as well as her racist and inflammatory rhetoric.
Marrakesh protests expose Morocco’s growing anti-normalization push
Regev drew international attention last May during the detention of activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which included Moroccan participants.
At the time, videos showed her boasting about the interception and detention of the activists. In a similar vein, Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also published a video documenting the mistreatment and mockery of the flotilla activists, prompting widespread international condemnation.
The protests in Marrakesh highlight the growing divide between Morocco’s normalization policies and widespread public opposition to closer ties with “Israel”.
While the government has maintained diplomatic and economic relations with “Israel”, many Moroccans continue to reject normalization and express solidarity with the Palestinian cause. The demonstrations show that, despite the resumption of direct flights and efforts to deepen official relations, opposition to normalization remains strong and continues to take to the streets.
BBC cancelled interview on Israel’s killing of Hind Rajab
By Muhammad Shehada – August 19, 2026
Disappointed the BBC cancelled my interview on Israel’s killing of Hind Rajab.
2 producers eagerly reached out. They confirmed the time & one called to prepare a brief for the anchor.
She asked me whether Israel’s announcement is positive, I explained in detail it was a cover up.
The IDF is blaming the killing of Hind, her uncle, aunt & 4 cousins on the family itself for trying to flee by car & on the ambulance sent to rescue her for “failures in the co-ordination of the movement.”
None of this is remotely true! The Red Cross immediately informed the IDF about 5-year-old Hind who was hiding in that motionless car, & they requested permission from Israel to allow an ambulance to rescue them.
After multiple long hours, Israel granted greenlight to the ambulance & provided them with a designated route on a GPS to drive on.
As soon as the ambulance reached Hind’s car, the IDF ambushed & bombed them immediately with an American made anti-tank missile then opened fire on Hind’s car. The car was hit with 355 bullets.
Israel then kept that area under lockdown for 12 days, & prevented anyone from approaching.
Hind’s mom went daily to the Ahli baptist hospital hoping to find her daughter, until her lifeless body was brought in along with the charred remains of the ambulance men.
Israel then claimed after an “initial investigation” that its troops were NEVER in that area to begin with. They maintained that claim for 2 years despite ample recordings & satellite images debunking this lie.
The only reason Israel is now making this new announcement of a deeper investigation is to shield its soldiers & generals from the International Criminal Court by invoking the principle of “complementarity;” that the ICC cannot investigate a state that is already investigating itself in good faith.
I told the BBC producer Israel today also quietly shut down the investigation into the triple tap killing of American, Canadian, British, Australian & Polish citizens in the WCK massacre. Israel blamed the massacre on the aid workers themselves for “deviating from the predesignated route” & for hiring an armed security guard “without informing the IDF” (both claims where debunked by WCK themselves, who had coordinates their every step with the IDF).
I told the producer the Israeli commander responsible for this massacre, Nochi Mendel, is a fanatical settler who had signed a petition calling for starving Gaza & that he was celebrated by settler leaders & supported by Israeli government leaders after what he did.
Mendel even received a box of chocolate from the settler council’s leader & a letter of support for what he did.
Mendel was initially dismissed by the IDF & blamed for the massacre, but was quickly & quietly reinstated & promoted in the Defence Ministry as the head of the settlements and national infrastructure unit.
It’s abundantly clear Israel is NOT serious about prosecuting any of the atrocities committed in Gaza. Since the genocide began, only two soldiers were punished by the IDF; one for microwaving a living frog & another for cooking sausages in the army kitchen on Shabbat.
The producer asked me: What about the 150 cases the IDF said are pending review?
I answered: it’s just a number designed to give the appearance of seriousness, but it’s essentially meaningless.
If it took the IDF two whole years to admit the simplest of facts that the entire world had already known, which is that their troops were the ones who fired on Hind Rajab’s car, how do you expect them to do with the remaining cases that are not as high profile?
Five minutes after the call, the producer wrote me that they decided to cancel the interview & will not even host anyone else to comment on the issue, & instead they’ll play archival footage!
Muhammad Shehada is a Political Analyst, Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and is a contributing writer at Zeteo, 972mag, Haaretz, LRB, Al-Jazeera, Newsweek, and The New Arab.
Israeli Occupation Kills Father of Palestinian Martyr in Jenin, Intensifies West Bank Oppressive Raids
Al-Manar | August 21, 2026
At least two Palestinians were martyred and another was injured, with many others being arrested in the West Bank, as Israeli occupation forces stepped up attacks overnight and into Friday morning.
In Jenin, Fathi Khazem, father of slain Palestinians Raad and Abdulrahman Khazem, was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) during a raid on his home in the center of the city.
Khazem, widely known as Abu Raad, a retired colonel in the Palestinian National Security Forces and the father of two Palestinians killed by Israel in 2022, had been pursued by Israeli forces for years.
Local sources cited by Quds News Network said Israeli forces stormed Khazem’s home near Jenin’s main roundabout and opened fire on him, killing him.
Israeli forces subsequently withheld his body and transferred it to an undisclosed location, according to the reports.
Residents also reported that an Israeli special forces unit entered the house and shot Khazem directly.
A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was also shot with live ammunition in the chest and back near the Arab American University in Jenin during Israeli gunfire accompanying the raid. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian young man has been martyred after being shot by Israeli settlers in Khirbet Hamroush, northeast of Hebron (Al-Khalil) south of the occupied West Bank, a medical source has told Al Jazeera Arabic.
More arrests were made by occupation forces in the towns near Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus, Tubas, Bethlehem, Hebron and Jericho, Palestinian media reported.
Qusra Seige
Elsewhere in Qusra, south of Nablus, IOF and settlers continued their siege of three Palestinian homes in the town for the 13th consecutive day on Friday, amid attempts to impose new facts on the ground and seize control of the area under Israeli military protection.
Qusra Village Council head Abdul Azim Wadi confirmed that the IOF and groups of settlers continue to surround three homes in the Ras al-Ain area, preventing residents from entering or leaving while declaring the area a “closed military zone.”
Wadi said Israeli forces seized one of the homes and converted it into a military post while tightening restrictions on the besieged families, who are facing severe shortages of food and some medicines because essential supplies are being prevented from reaching them.
He said IOF on Thursday evening damaged and destroyed furniture and other belongings inside the seized home, which belongs to Palestinian resident Yousef Abdulsalam.
Palestinian sources said Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from reaching the property to provide medical assistance to an injured person. It later emerged that Khazem was the person targeted in the operation.
Israel Lies again about Hind Rajab Killing in a Public Relations Whitewash Maneuver
By Robert Inlakesh – The Palestine Chronicle – August 20, 2026
Historically speaking, Israel has never once charged a single Israeli soldier for killing a Palestinian in Gaza throughout any of its large-scale assaults on the territory that began to ramp up in 2008.
The Israeli military made headlines again this Wednesday, after they admitted for the first time to having fired upon the vehicle in which 5-year-old Hind Rajab was ruthlessly murdered in January of 2024. However, this “admission” is being presented dishonestly and is a clear Public Relations maneuver manufactured by Israel to whitewash their actions.
Hind Rajab’s murder at the hands of the Israeli army is one of the most high-profile war crimes committed throughout the Gaza Genocide, so much so that it was turned into an award-winning docudrama film, ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’. The audio recordings of the young girl, released by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), who were desperately attempting to put international pressure on Israel to permit their workers to rescue her, went viral and captured the emotions of millions around the world.
Israel understands this well and has therefore chosen to strategically place the event under a criminal investigation, in order to portray a sense of accountability.
It was one of five incidents that the ‘IDF General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism’ claims to have investigated, three of which it chose not to pursue further and absolved its forces of any wrongdoing in:
– The killing of the seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian aid workers in April of 2024 while they were operating in Deir al-Balah. The victims were Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish, and dual American-Canadian citizens, who were targeted in three clearly marked vehicles. Some of the survivors attempted to flee in other vehicles and were subjected to double-tap strikes.
– The February 2024 tank strike on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) shelter that was located in Khan Younis, killing two of its employees and injuring others. Despite the location being known to be an MSF site, the Israelis simply claimed ignorance; they never presented any evidence that they struck a military target.
– The November 2023 strike on a clearly marked MSF convoy in Gaza City that killed two other employees. It was a convoy that was attempting to evacuate 137 civilians and had coordinated with the Israeli military, even halting at a crowded checkpoint for hours in order to receive the go-ahead from Israel.
Another incident that Israel claims it is opening a criminal probe into is the massacre of 15 Palestinian paramedics and first responders in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah. On March 23, 2025, when contact was initially lost with the emergency workers, Gaza’s media office believed the group had been kidnapped and appealed to the international community. Israel refused to acknowledge the incident had even occurred at the time.
Then by the end of the month, after the Israeli military had withdrawn from the area, an unmarked grave was discovered, where the bodies of the 15 paramedics, emergency workers and ambulance drivers were found. Reports indicated that the group was executed at close range, one by one, before the Israelis had buried them and their ambulances in order to discard the evidence.
Israel’s initial defense in late March was that a series of unmarked vehicles had headed towards them with their lights off and in the absence of emergency signals, prompting their forces to defensively open fire. This account was later contradicted by video evidence that emerged in April showing the opposite, prompting the IDF to change its narrative and claim it had mistaken the emergency lights for a threat.
By late April of 2025, the Israeli military concluded, as a result of an internal probe, that the incident could be attributed to “professional failures” and “operational misunderstandings”. Later, the Israelis would again shift their narrative by claiming, without any evidence, that six of those killed had ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group.
Now it is going with a separate narrative, based on its latest so-called investigation, that the “firing conducted during the incident raises a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.” Its forces were shown by independent investigations, including one conducted by Forensic Architecture, to have fired at least 900 bullets and carried out close-range executions.
Silencing the Voice of Hind Rajab
Media outlets from across the spectrum have reported that Israel is now launching an internal criminal investigation into the killing of Hind Rajab and admits to firing upon the vehicle in which she was killed, along with six of her family members. However, Israel’s internal investigation just drew another conclusion that seeks to whitewash the entire event, protecting its soldiers rather than taking accountability for its actions.
“The findings of the examination indicate that IDF troops fired at a vehicle that was approaching them,” is what the Israeli military now claims as a result of its latest investigation. “Following review of the findings and due to apparent failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division.”
Keep in mind that this is precisely the same excuse given to run cover for the executions carried out against 15 first responders and paramedics in the Rafah massacre; they are now stating they will be subject to a criminal investigation. It is an excuse that assumes that Israeli forces simply acted in self-defense and fired towards what they interpreted as a threat.
Also, two vehicles were struck in the incident, not one. Two PRCS paramedics were slain following a double-tap strike on their ambulance.
Numerous independent forensic and satellite investigations were conducted into the specifics of the incident, including one by the Washington Post and another by Forensic Architecture [in collaboration with EarShot and Fault Lines], which demonstrated Israeli forces fired 335 bullets into the Kia Picanto in which Hind Rajab and six of her family members were killed.
Evidence also shows that it was impossible for the vehicle to have traveled south as the Israeli military claimed it should have, following their instructions to locals that day, as the streets heading south from their location had all been blocked. The investigations also concluded that the car was fired upon from a short enough range for Israeli soldiers to see the innocent civilians sheltering inside it.
Israel’s shots also penetrated the vehicle from its right side. Even if the Israelis continue to claim the car was heading towards them – presumably somehow being driven by a terrified 5-year-old girl – the vehicle was clearly not shot from the front, meaning that it was conclusively not a threat.
That said, the Red Crescent workers based in occupied Ramallah spent around three hours on the phone with little Hind, desperately attempting to get Israeli permission to rescue her. By this point, it had become an international incident.
For 12-days, beginning on January 29 of 2024, Hind Rajab’s status was officially considered to be “missing” and presumed dead, until February 10, when her little body was recovered from the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, riddled with bullets.
When Israel was finally forced to address the issue, it claimed that its forces were not even stationed in the area and that there were no operations taking place at the time. It even launched an internal probe, which produced the same excuse with different wording.
This narrative more or less held for around two and a half years, as Israeli officials and the military periodically made small alterations to their claims, despite the evidence that emerged to debunk them. Israel even attempted to blame Palestinian fighters for the killings, another tactic they have used countless times to explain away their war crimes.
Historically speaking, Israel has never once charged a single Israeli soldier for killing a Palestinian in Gaza throughout any of its large-scale assaults on the territory that began to ramp up in 2008.
The harshest sentence ever dealt to an Israeli soldier for their conduct inside Gaza was to a member of the Givati Brigade in 2009, during what Tel Aviv called “Operation Cast Lead”, landing the combatant a total of 7.5 months in prison. This was not for killing, raping or torturing Palestinians; it was for stealing a credit card.
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine.
Israel’s war minister threatens Turkey as Apache squadron moves north
Press TV – August 20, 2026
Israel has issued a veiled threat against Turkey following airstrikes on a Syrian military airbase near the Turkish border, with war minister Israel Katz warning President Tayyip Erdogan against “dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria.”
The Israeli air force has completed the transfer of its Apache helicopter squadron from southern Israeli occupied territories to the Ramat David airbase in the north—the first such move in 25 years.
Israeli military officials have acknowledged that the reorganization was prompted in part by the perceived threat from Turkey.
The strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria, about 70 km from the Turkish border, come amid mounting tension over Ankara’s role in rebuilding military capabilities of the current regime in Syria.
Israel has accused Syria of allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the base, a charge both Turkish and Syrian officials have denied.
But beyond the immediate dispute, regional analysts and Turkish officials see a broader strategic realignment where Israel now views Turkey as the primary obstacle to its expanding plans in Syria.
Israeli officials have increasingly described Turkey in terms once reserved for Iran. Regime voices in Tel Aviv have referred to Ankara as the “new Iran.”
“Turkey may become the next target,” warned one Turkish expert, cited in Japanese media.
The warning echoes a view gaining traction among international observers that Israel’s strategy in Syria has evolved to containing Turkey’s growing military and political footprint in the country.
At the heart of the dispute lies a fundamental disagreement over what kind of Syrian state should emerge from years of conflict.
“Israel sees the fragmentation of its neighbors as a security strategy,” one analysis noted.
Turkish officials have made clear that any Israeli advance toward their interests in Syria would cross a red line.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Israel’s interest in Syrian territory “has not disappeared” but has been temporarily set aside while Tel Aviv focuses on other priorities.
“When the time comes, they will act,” he warned. “This is a vital interest and security zone for us. We must be prepared for any situation.”
Earlier this year, Ankara and Tel Aviv held rare “technical talks” in Azerbaijan to establish deconfliction mechanisms and prevent accidental clashes in Syria.
Israeli officials made clear during those talks that any Turkish military deployment in Syria, particularly around Palmyra, would be unacceptable.
Analysts and regional observers have linked Israel’s actions in Syria to broader colonial ambitions, noting that Israeli officials have openly declared forces will remain in southern Syria “forever.”
“What Israel wants, with US support, is a submissive Syria, stripped of national identity and armed forces, under Israeli occupation—just like the Golan Heights,” wrote Abdulbari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm, in a commentary on the Abu al-Duhur strikes.
Greece, Cyprus, and Israel signed a military cooperation agreement in late 2025, forming what Turkish media has dubbed an “anti-Turkish alliance.”
Syria, according to observers, is just one front in Israel’s broader plan to expand its colonial ambitions across the region.
Tel Aviv sees both Iran and Turkey as the most serious hurdles to its “Greater Israel” aspirations—a vision that envisions Israeli dominance stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates.
After dragging the US into a large-scale war which it could not afford to wage alone against Iran, observers say Israel is now positioning itself for a potential confrontation with Turkey.
Jewish State Senator Jeremy Moss Faces Backlash over Hot Mic Comments
José Niño Unfiltered | August 19, 2026
The political landscape for Democrats in Michigan has shifted beneath their feet as the party grapples with a rapidly growing anti-Zionist wing. Amid this tension, Jewish Michigan State Senator Jeremy Moss, who recently secured the Democratic primary for the 11th Congressional District, found his career suddenly stalled by a leaked audio recording. In the audio clip which spread like wildfire across digital platforms in July 2026, Moss appeared to admit that his primary motivation as a legislator is to serve a foreign power. According to the recording, Moss stated, “The entire purpose of my career is to make sure America continues to support Israel, I don’t think it’s wrong for Israel to use America as a pawn, America is not our homeland, we have been victims of antisemitism here.” These words, which suggest a priority for Israel over his own constituents, ignited a firestorm of controversy and provided a flashpoint for voters increasingly tired of the influence exerted by foreign interests in American governance.
Jeremy Allen Moss, born in Detroit on June 23, 1986, has been a lifelong resident of Southfield, Michigan, and currently serves as state senator for the 7th District. A graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a second major in political science, Moss was elected to the Southfield City Council in November 2011 at age 25, becoming the youngest person ever elected to that body. He is notable for being both the first homosexual person elected to the Michigan Senate and its current President Pro Tempore. His career in the state legislature began in 2014 when he won election to the Michigan House of Representatives for the 35th district, where he served as Democratic Caucus Whip before moving to the state Senate in 2019. As he prepares to move into the U.S. House of Representatives following his August 2026 primary victory in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, he remains a key figure in suburban Detroit’s Democratic machine, representing an area with a high concentration of Jewish voters.
His legislative record is marked by a focus on progressive social issues, including sponsoring the expansion of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to extend additional privileges to LGBT individuals. However, his tenure in the state Senate has been equally defined by his vocal defense of Israel and his aggressive posture against those who question the nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship. He has consistently served as an institutional voice for the Jewish community, frequently speaking out on behalf of what he calls “the liberal Israel-supporting community” and serving as the legislative spearhead of the Black and Jewish Unity Caucus—the legislative arm of a coalition between the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC) and the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit. He has simultaneously worked within civic groups including the Martin Luther King Task Force, on which he serves as an advisory board member, and the Greater Southfield/Farmington chapter of the NAACP.
Moss has long occupied the front lines of the internal Democratic conflict over the Middle East. During the November 2023 dispute regarding Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s use of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” Moss was among the most vocal critics. “This is not how Jews view the phrase ‘from the river to the sea,’” he wrote on X. “Hamas uses it as a rallying cry. And they don’t simply want to displace Jews in Israel. They want Jews dead.”
Later, during the campus protests of spring 2024, he asserted on the Senate floor that “’Zionist’ is now being weaponized as a slur.” He further attempted to codify these views into law during 2025 by co-sponsoring antisemitism legislation that incorporates the IHRA definition of antisemitism. For Moss, the protection of the state of Israel and the maintenance of its perceived security are inseparable from his domestic agenda.
The intensity of these battles reached a fever pitch on March 12, 2026, when Ayman Mohamed Ghazali, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born American citizen, drove a Ford F-150 through the front doors of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township and opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle before being killed by security guards. The FBI called it a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” Moss immediately went public with his response, telling CNN: “We stand on guard all the time for somebody to penetrate a house of worship or a school or another Jewish institution with an act of terror. And so we’re a community that’s kind of used to learning and praying in a fortress. It’s no way to live, but it’s the reality.” By July 2026, Moss championed a $23 million state appropriation for security measures at Jewish institutions across Michigan. “The sad reality is that this is an ongoing need,” he said.
However, his campaign for Congress took a jarring turn with the appearance of the hot mic audio in July 2026. While primary opponents Aisha Farooqi and Don Ufford publicized it to highlight Moss’s alleged ties to AIPAC-linked donors and foreign lobbies, Moss dismissed it as “manipulated and unsourced.” Despite the controversy, Moss emerged victorious in the primary, signaling that his established donor network and institutional support from the organized Jewish community remain potent forces even as the party’s base drifts from his position.
The skepticism toward Moss’s stance exists within a party where rank-and-file members are rapidly shedding support for Israel. This domestic dissatisfaction is mirrored by overwhelming opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. A Gallup poll conducted July 7-21, 2025 found that only 12 percent of Democrats approved of U.S. military action against Iran, while a Quinnipiac poll conducted March 6-8, 2026, days after Operation Epic Fury began, found that 89 percent of Democrats opposed the current U.S. military action against Iran, with only 7 percent in support.
Congressional votes have similarly reflected this anti-war consensus: 92 percent of Democrats polled said Trump should have sought congressional approval before striking Iran, and the vast majority of House Democrats supported War Powers resolutions to rein in the administration’s authority to continue the conflict. The party is effectively moving toward a stance of restraint, leaving figures like Moss, who remain committed to serving the Zionist endeavor, increasingly isolated from the prevailing ideological currents of their own coalition.
The divide between the American public and its political class is widening, and Moss represents the tail end of an era that is rapidly coming to a close. As support for Israel erodes across the American political spectrum, the institutional power wielded by figures like Moss faces an existential test. History is a cyclical beast, and once again, the Jewish community finds itself acting as an isolated minority in a nation that no longer shares its political priorities.
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From the Archive
Zionism’s Violent Legacy
By Donald Neff | Washington Report On Middle East Affairs | January 1996
On January 4, 1948, Jewish terrorists drove a truck loaded with explosives into the center of the all Arab city of Jaffa and detonated it, killing 26 and wounding around 100 Palestinian men, women and children.[1] The attack was the work of the Irgun Zvai Leumi – the “National Military Organization,” also known by the Hebrew letters Etzel – the largest Jewish terrorist group in Palestine. The Irgun was headed by Revisionist Zionist Menachem Begin and had been killing and maiming Arabs, Britons and even Jews for the previous ten years in its efforts to establish a Jewish state.
This terror campaign meant that at the core of Revisionist Zionism there existed a philosophical embrace of violence. … continue
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