In Gaza, It’s Déjà vu All Over Again

Shoshana Bryen

A Red Cross vehicle, escorted by a van driven by a Hamas terrorist, moves in an area within the so-called “yellow line” to which Israeli troops withdrew under the ceasefire, as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages seized during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in Gaza City, Nov. 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alk

Eleven years ago, the 2014 Hamas rocket war against Israel ended in a ceasefire.

In the ensuing years, Israel and the United States should have learned something about “ceasefires” as opposed to “peace.” President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, however, has the flaw that every single such plan has had (in the territories and in Lebanon): the failure of anti-terror forces to control territory and enforce the rules. In the absence of that, Hamas has reemerged and is rearming in Gaza.

As I wrote in 2014: 

The Hamas rockets have, for the time being, stopped; the current cease-fire is holding. The tunnel threat, a strategic one most Israelis had not understood until several days into the war, has been alleviated; many Hamas rocket manufacturing facilities have been destroyed; a substantial percentage of the Hamas arsenal has been used up; and Hamas achieved none of its strategic goals — not large-scale Israeli casualties or physical destruction, an airport, a seaport, or the opening of border crossings. Israeli children have returned to school and, after a brief dip, the Israeli economy is expected to grow for the year.

Those were the days of “mowing the grass.” Eliminating the visible threats.

As I asked at the time:

To the extent that the Israeli public wanted the destruction or elimination of Hamas, or an end to the rocket threat, it was doomed by its unreasonable expectations. Americans suffer similarly. Having understood the Islamic State [IS] as a threat not only in Syria and Iraq, but also to our interests and potentially to our own country, they want it gone. The question for the American government, as it is for the Israeli government, is: “How do you defeat an armed ideological movement with a territorial base if you are unwilling to fight in that territorial base?”

President Barack Obama spoke of “degrading, dismantling, and destroying” ISIS. He never said how — and neither has President Trump.

Try this:

Control of territory and the ability to subject one’s enemies to enforceable rules is the only known mechanism for ending, rather than managing, a war. Despite the Western propensity for “peace processes” and negotiations, it is hard (impossible?) to find a historical example of one side simply agreeing to give up its mission, arms, ideology, or interests without a forcing mechanism — military defeat.

We don’t like to talk about “winners” and “losers,” preferring to “split the difference” or find a “win-win” formula. But “peace” itself was defined by Machiavelli as “the conditions imposed by the winners on the losers of the last war.” There are different iterations of “peace,” depending on whether the winners institute good or bad conditions. There can be a cold peace, a warm peace, or the peace of the dead. The peace that followed WWI contained the seeds of WWII; the peace after WWII produced the German economic miracle.

Even when wars aren’t “won,” control of territory and enforceable rules can make the difference between long-term success and failure – the US military has been in South Korea since the 1953 Armistice, allowing a democratic, technologically advanced society to emerge despite the continuing threat from the impoverished, heavily armed, and dangerous North. The withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam within months of the armistice there allowed North Vietnam to capture territory and impose a communist government on a single Vietnamese entity. Although NATO faced Russia across the Fulda Gap, there is no denying that the Allied presence also enforced anti-Nazi rules in West Germany.

October 7, 2023, brought about a change in Israeli military thinking. A ceasefire is no longer enough. Hamas, in Israel’s view, has to be disarmed and ripped out of the territory in a verifiable and enforceable manner. The IDF is making plans to reassert itself across the yellow line. The US appears more interested in bringing Turkish troops into Gaza, a move rejected not only by Israel but, oddly, by Egypt. Qatari troops are no better. Both are Muslim Brotherhood partners of Hamas.

As I wrote:

The enemies of Israel and the West are similar. Ideological similarities aside, both are vicious and absolutist, and neither plays by Western rules regarding women, children, religious diversity or war crimes. Both rely on the relative gentility of their adversaries — Israel and the West — to protect them from ultimate defeat. Thus far, theirs is the correct bet.

Or at least it was.

The difficulty now will be bringing the US and Israel to the meeting point. President Trump was there. He called for, “Hell to rain down on Hamas.” But now he appears to have changed his mind. Talk, negotiate, promise, offer, talk some more. This simply provides time for Hamas to rearm and reassert itself among the people of Gaza. And Hamas is using the time.

The US and its allies have to acknowledge the original flaw in the plan — both in 2014 and 2025. Without a military presence determined to uproot and destroy Hamas in whatever manner the military deems necessary, “peace plans” and “ceasefires” are simply wishes and, with due respect to Yogi Berra, “Déjà vu all over again.”

Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly magazine.

“New Gaza” Rises: Anti-Hamas Militias Backed by Israel Claim Local Rule, Vow to Fight Qatar, Turkey, Iran Forces

Debbie Weiss

Smoke rises in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 30, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

As Gaza’s ceasefire holds uneasily, four Israel-backed militias fighting Hamas are moving to fill the power vacuum, pledging to cooperate with most international forces involved in rebuilding the enclave but vowing to resist any presence from Qatar, Turkey, or Iran, The Algemeiner has learned. 

The militias, mainly in southern Gaza, are not part of US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for a technocratic administration in the enclave. 

Based in Khan Younis, Hossam al-Astal, commander of the Counter Terrorism Strike Force, said his group and three allied militias had coordinated in recent weeks to secure areas vacated by Hamas, the terrorist group that until the latest with Israel had solely ruled Gaza since 2007, and were ready to take on civil and security responsibilities once reconstruction begins.

“We are capable of building [a] government in our areas,” al-Astal said over a Zoom call on Wednesday, adding that his group already had the “human resources” to do so. 

“We are ready to cooperate with international forces and with others on the ground,” he said. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

But he went on to say that his clan would not accept any Muslim Brother-affiliated forces, citing Qatar, Turkey, and Iran. “We will view forces from those countries as hostile, and we will fight them just as we fight Hamas.”

Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood’s global Islamist network, has received military, financial, diplomatic, and political backing for years from Qatar, Turkey, and Iran.

In the Trump-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war and release the hostages kidnapped from Israel by Hamas-led terrorists, Israeli forces pulled back to a notional demarcation called the “yellow line,” marking roughly half the Gaza Strip as under Israeli control. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has begun placing yellow concrete blocks and signposts every 200 meters to mark the boundary and issued orders that anyone crossing it may be fired on. 

On Tuesday, IDF reservist Master Sgt. (res.) Yona Efraim Feldbaum was killed when Palestinian terrorists attacked troops near the southern city of Rafah. The IDF retaliated by striking dozens of terrorist targets, it said. 

Some counter-terrorism experts have argued that the rise of local militias makes both the disarmament of Hamas and the safe entry of reconstruction teams far more difficult.

Matthew Levitt, director of a counterterrorism program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said in Foreign Affairs magazine that Hamas “will fight tooth and nail to maintain its political and military position in Gaza.”

Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner told reporters last week that “no reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls,” he said. “There are considerations being discussed now in the areas the IDF controls, as long as they can be secured to start building the new Gaza.”

The term “New Gaza” is frequently used by al-Astal, and refers to what he described as a joint framework for the territory’s governance between his Counter Terrorism Strike Force and the three allied clans led by Yasser Abu Shabab in Rafah, Rami Halas, and Ashraf al-Mansi, the latter two both in Gaza City. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are estimated to be living in those areas. 

During the Zoom call, which was organized by the Center for Peace Communications, a New York-based group that documents dissent inside Gaza, a journalist who identified himself as Ahmed al-Zakout described conditions in Hamas-controlled areas west of the yellow line. Since the ceasefire, more than 100 executions have been carried out by Hamas against Gazans accused of being collaborators with Israel, as well as large numbers of maimings. Disappearances and abductions are also estimated to number in the hundreds. 

Al-Zakout said residents in his area had initially believed the agreement announced by Trump would remove Hamas from power — and explained that hope had already collapsed. “People are very afraid,” he said. “They are shocked and disappointed to see Hamas remain here in our areas.”

According to al-Zakout, many civilians were afraid to try to reach territory on the other side of the yellow line, because they believed they could be targeted while moving. He said no authority — “not America or even Israel” — was publicly guaranteeing safe passage, and he blamed Hamas messaging for deterring people from leaving. He singled out Qatar’s Al Jazeera network as part of what he called “a propaganda effort designed to scare people away from the other side of the yellow line, to intimidate them and ensure that they stay where they are.”

“We see obvious collaboration and coordination between the message of Hamas [and] the message of Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera portrays every civilian trying to get to [the] yellow side and to safety as [an] agent and collaborator with Israel. They are spreading a lot of propaganda.”

The legal scandal roiling Israel’s unelected oligarchy

A. Amos Fried

Then-Chief Military Advocate Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi at a ceremony for outgoing Israeli Supreme Court judge Yosef Elron. Sept. 18, 2025. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

No hyperbole is necessary to describe the tectonic shifts the latest scandal surrounding the now former Israeli Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi could bring about, not only within the Israel Defense Forces but throughout Israel’s entire legal establishment. Even at this early stage, the potential ramifications of what is slowly coming to light are as staggering as they are far-reaching.

Beyond the IDF’s Military Advocate General (MAG) Corps, the corruption almost certainly involves Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and her cohorts in Israel’s Justice Ministry. It may even reach so far up as a sitting justice on the Israeli Supreme Court. The only question, and indeed hope, is that this administration employs this opportunity to conduct a thorough “house cleaning” in the most extensive manner possible.  

To recap in brief: Since the atrocities of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli military facility Sde Teiman in the Negev has served as a detention center for Palestinian terrorists captured in the war. In response to alleged abuse of detainees there, including supposed instances of sexual violence, on July 29, 2024, military prosecutors ordered a full-scale raid involving a multitude of masked military police who descended upon the base and apprehended a group of reservists suspected of having committed the offenses.

Widespread public outrage and protest immediately erupted at the sight of normative citizens willing to put their lives at danger by guarding bloodthirsty terrorist monsters being suddenly treated as depraved criminals to be rounded up and dragged off to jail for interrogation.

But then, suddenly, Israel’s Channel 12 had a scoop; a surveillance video “miraculously” surfaced purporting to show how the soldiers had violated a particular detainee. On closer scrutiny, however, it became apparent that the footage had been tampered with, spliced and rearranged to portray a grossly fictitious blood-libel against IDF soldiers.

Nevertheless, the damage was already done as minions of anti-Israel organizations, influencers and government officials across the globe, including, to some degree, the U.S. State Department, condemned the IDF and accused Israel of systematic barbarity.

By even the most conservative estimates, the doctored video has received tens of millions of views to date and has caused untold damage to Israel’s international image and desperate efforts to justify its war in Gaza.

In petitions to Israel’s Supreme Court, the accused soldiers demanded a thorough and conclusive investigation into how the edited tape was leaked and who manufactured it. Months passed, but time after time, the MAG office delayed revealing any results of its review of the matter.

Ultimately, Tomer-Yerushalmi submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court, declaring that the IDF’s legal division was unable to determine how exactly the surveillance video was leaked or by whom, since “hundreds” of people had come into possession of the footage. “Not even a single initial indication was found pointing to the source of the information transfer,” the respondents claimed.

When the petitioners and their attorneys tried to demonstrate to the court how this pronouncement was an outright lie, Justice Daphne Barak-Erez dismissively retorted: “Listen carefully, the Military Advocate General is a gatekeeper, and gatekeepers never lie. I was also in the military prosecutor’s office, and military prosecutors don’t lie.”

Such an absurdly outlandish disposition by a Supreme Court justice can only lead us to ponder to what extent Barak-Erez may have been involved in one of the most severe, not to mention harmful, cover-ups Israel has ever known.

There should be no doubt that without the recent appointment of Maj. Gen. (res.) David Zini as the new Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief, the truth would never have been exposed, and the criminal injustice would have remained concealed virtually forever. Indeed, it was only by virtue of an astonishing combination of events that the devious machinations of Israel’s indefeasible “deep state” proved lacking.

First, a shadowy junta within the Shin Bet failed to disqualify Zini’s nomination, despite their ruthless efforts to spy on him and illegally wiretap confidential meetings he held with his subordinates. Next, Tomer-Yerushalmi’s official spokesperson applied for a promotion and, in accordance with regulated procedure, underwent a standard polygraph test.

By pure chance, it was then discovered that not only was the officer involved in the leak, but that her direct superior, Tomer-Yerushalmi, had orchestrated the whole affair. As the Shin Bet administered the examination, these shocking revelations were immediately presented to Zini and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who then notified the country’s attorney general.

But the deep state doesn’t give up so easily, and in a gravely suspicious, patently unjustifiable move, the attorney general ordered Zamir to keep the matter strictly under wraps and forbade him from reporting on the investigation to the political echelon, i.e. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz.

In effect, Baharav-Miara was determined to establish herself as the sole official leading the investigation with direct command authority over the chief of general staff. When the story finally did break, the attorney general’s office was quick to announce that Tomer-Yerushalmi was not suspected of any wrongdoing. 

It is by no means an unrelated digression to point out that Baharav-Miara and Tomer-Yerushalmi maintain a close personal relationship that they have found to be mutually beneficial. A particularly heinous demonstration of this unholy alliance came to light when Baharav-Miara’s son, an IDF officer, was accused and eventually confessed, after being presented with video footage from a security camera, to stealing an expensive ceramic protective vest from a reserve soldier.

Despite the glaring severity of the crime, the entire episode was quietly closed as the military prosecutors refused to bring charges, and no criminal proceedings were pursued.

This time, however, things would be different. There’s a new head of the Shin Bet, an IDF chief of general staff dedicated to re-establishing the public’s trust in the MAG Corps and a cadre of government ministers unflinching in their fortitude to purge the entrenched elite from the ranks of the establishment. The sheer magnitude of the culprits’ calumny serves to prevent the matter from disappearing, and as each day goes by, the disgrace grows in its enormity.

As a result, Tomer-Yerushalmi had no choice, and was given no choice but to resign. In her letter of resignation, she openly admitted to having authorized the release of the classified video under the contrived pretense that she was attempting to “fend off false propaganda directed against military law enforcement authorities.” She also said, “I take full responsibility for all of the evidence that was sent out to the media by this unit.”

Authorizing the release of classified security camera footage is one thing, but lying to the Supreme Court is quite another. It can’t be denied that this military advocate general willingly and purposely deceived the Supreme Court, as she pretended to oversee a bogus investigation which, in actuality, was aimed solely at obfuscating the truth and averting any blame from herself.

But did she lie to her close friend Baharav-Miara? Or did the two of them share the belief that in this instance, the Supreme Court justices would unquestionably accept Tomer-Yerushalmi’s testimony as the unblighted truth since “gatekeepers never lie.”

Indeed, it was none other than the attorney general’s office that prepared, affirmed and submitted the spurious affidavit; therefore, should they not be held equally responsible?

As for Barak-Erez, now that her foolhardy faith in the pristine morality of “military prosecutors” has been utterly shattered and discredited, will she take the honorable step and announce her resignation? To be sure, only with the unremitting determination of this government and its fiercely ardent ministers will Israel’s democracy be freed from the stranglehold of the ruling, unelected oligarchy.    

Adv. A. Amos Fried, a native of Chicago, is a licensed member of the Israel and New York State Bar Associations and has practiced law in Jerusalem for over 32 years. He specializes in civil litigation, criminal representation and commercial law. He can be reached at aafried@aafriedlaw.com.

Hamas to Ramp Up Brutal Crackdown on Gazans as New Israeli Data Shows Terror Group Still Heavily Armed

Ailin Vilches Arguello

Hamas fighters on Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: Majdi Fathi via Reuters Connect

As new Israeli intelligence reveals that Hamas remains heavily armed despite severe losses during the two-year conflict in Gaza, the Palestinian terrorist group is intensifying its brutal crackdown on all opposition in the enclave.

Hamas still maintains a substantial stockpile of rockets and other weaponry, even after being severely weakened by Israel’s military campaign, according to information and estimates gathered by the Israeli defense establishment and shared with Hebrew media on Wednesday.

The newly released intelligence assessment, reported by Israel’s Channel 12 news, indicates that the Palestinian terrorist group is facing a major weapons shortfall, with over 60 percent of its military equipment lost, nearly half of its forces — including senior members — eliminated, and more than half of its above-ground infrastructure destroyed.

However, Israel believes that Hamas, despite suffering severe losses during the war, continues to operate more than half of its tunnels, with its underground infrastructure serving as the Islamist group’s main hub. Hamas also still has hundreds of rockets, some of them medium range, which can reach the center of Israel, and has more than 10,000 other weapons.

Meanwhile, Hamas is still bringing in recruits and has about 20,000 terrorists still active in the ranks of the organization. However, these are primarily fighters with little experience and competence, according to Israeli assessments, who have undergone only limited training, while the terrorist group’s elite Nukhba forces, which led the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, have struggled to replenish their decimated ranks.

Shortly after the US-backed ceasefire to halt fighting in Gaza took effect, Hamas moved to reassert control over the war-torn enclave and consolidate its weakened position by targeting Palestinians who it labeled as “lawbreakers and collaborators with Israel.”

According to Iranian media, Hamas is preparing to launch its largest operation yet to eliminate the remaining armed opposition groups “that continue to collaborate with the Israeli occupation forces.”

“In the coming days, we will launch our largest security campaign yet, targeting multiple areas where these groups remain,” a Hamas official told the Iranian state outlet Press TV.

“Our goal is to eliminate all collaborators and ensure peace and security for the people of Gaza,” he continued.

Since the ceasefire, which left the Israeli military in control of 53 percent of the enclave, took effect earlier this month, Hamas’s brutal crackdown has escalated dramatically, sparking widespread clashes and violence as the group moves to seize weapons and eliminate any opposition.

The terrorist group has publicly executed alleged collaborators and rival militia members in the 47 percent of Gaza that remains outside Israeli military control, an area where the majority of Gaza’s population still lives under Hamas’s authority.

Social media videos widely circulated online show Hamas members brutally beating Palestinians, dragging them across the ground, and even breaking their legs or kneecapping them in an effort to terrorize the population.

Hamas officials have accused Israel and the United States of attempting to use these alleged “collaborators” and militias as proxies to undermine the group’s authority and destabilize Gaza following the ceasefire.

Last week, US President Donald Trump warned that he would support attacks on Hamas if the group continued its violent campaigns and public executions.

“If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry also drew attention to Hamas’s escalating violence in Gaza, slamming the international community for its silence.

“Killings in public by Palestinian Hamas – and deafening silence from the ‘moral preachers.’ Do you hear the sound of the crickets?” the ministry wrote in a post on X.

Meanwhile, Hamas leaders met with Qatari and Turkish officials in Doha on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing ceasefire and plans for rebuilding Gaza after the war.

As regional powers back reconstruction efforts in support of Trump’s peace plan, experts have warned about the expanding roles of Qatar and Turkey in such initiatives, amid concerns that their involvement could potentially strengthen Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure. Both countries have been key backers Hamas for years.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at opposition to any involvement of Turkish security forces in monitoring the US-backed ceasefire in Gaza.

IDF: Truce resumes in Gaza after Hamas kills Israeli troops

Charles Bybelezer, Akiva Van Koningsveld

The 13th Golani Battalion and the 7th Armored Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces withdraw positions in Gaza back into Israel, Oct. 10, 2025. Credit: Oren Cohen/Flash90.

Israel on Sunday night reaffirmed its commitment to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, which had been threatened after a series of Hamas attacks on Israeli forces sparked military retaliation.

“In accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and following a series of significant strikes in response to Hamas’ violations, the [Israel Defense Forces] has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire,” said the Israeli military.

“The IDF will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation,” the statement added.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday evening that the incident would be handled “toughly but properly” and that the truce in the Strip remained in effect.

“We’re gonna have to see what’s happening,” the president said, asked about Israel’s retaliatory strikes. “We wanna make sure that it’s gonna be very peaceful with Hamas, and as you know, they’ve been quite rambunctious, they’ve been doing some shooting,” he added.

However, Trump told reporters that it was possible the terrorist group’s leadership “isn’t involved in that,” suggesting that “some rebels within” launched the attacks on Israeli forces.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, speaking with journalists on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday night, claimed that “when we talk about Hamas, you’re talking about 40 different cells; it’s disjointed.

“Some of those cells will probably honor the ceasefire. Many of those cells, as we saw some evidence of today, will not,” Vance continued.

“Before we can actually ensure that Hamas is properly disarmed, that’s gonna require, as we know, some of these Gulf Arab states to get forces in there to actually apply some law and order,” he added, stressing that this security infrastructure will be put in place when “you actually go a little bit down the path” of Trump’s 20-point peace deal for the Strip.

Hamas terrorists attacked IDF soldiers in southern Gaza on Sunday, triggering retaliatory airstrikes and high-level political deliberations in Jerusalem as the ceasefire deteriorated.

An IDF source told Reuters that Hamas carried out several attacks on Israeli soldiers beyond the Yellow Line—the boundary to which the military withdrew under the Trump administration’s peace plan.

“Earlier today, terrorists fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire toward IDF troops operating to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the Rafah area, in southern Gaza, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement,” the military said in an official statement.

Two soldiers were killed in the attack: Maj. Yaniv Kula, 26, and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz, 21, both of the Nahal Brigade and residents of Modi’in.

“In response, the IDF has begun striking in the area to eliminate the threat and dismantle tunnel shafts and military structures used for terrorist activity,” Sunday’s military statement added.

While Jerusalem initially decided to close all crossings to Gaza and halt the delivery of humanitarian aid as outline in the truce, the move was reversed following pressure from Washington, U.S. news outlet Axios and Israel’s Channel 12 News reported on Monday morning.

Unnamed Israeli officials confirmed to the outlets that the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza would resume as early as Monday morning.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit Party, had called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to “fully resume combat in the Gaza Strip with maximum force” in response to the truce violation.

“The false illusions that Hamas will change its ways, or even adhere to the agreement it signed, are proving, as expected, to be dangerous to our security. The Nazi terrorist organization must be completely destroyed—and the sooner, the better,” said Ben-Gvir.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism Party, responded with one word, tweeting Sunday afternoon: “War.”

Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas was required to return all 28 hostage bodies it held by Oct. 13. So far, it has transferred to Israel only 12. The Palestinian terrorist organization is also refusing to disarm and intends to remain the ruling party in Gaza during an interim period, both in violation of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan unveiled on Sept. 29.