[JustTheNews] Within a month of Trump being in office, illegal border crossings dropped by 90%
Within less than three months of President Donald Trump being in office, more than 10,000 U.S. military troops have been deployed to support southern border security efforts.
On his first day and week in office, he issued multiple executive orders to secure the southwest border, including a Department of Defense directive for the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) to “seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.”
Within 36 hours of his order being issued, an initial 1,500 U.S. troops were deployed to the southwest border, bringing the total to 4,000 troops, including 2,500 reservists already there.
By March 1, a 4,400-soldier Stryker brigade combat team and a 650-troop general support aviation battalion were deployed, bringing Title 10 forces to approximately 9,000, the DOD said. The units are equipped with Stryker vehicles, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters to provide enhanced detection, logistic and aerial support for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on the ground. Troops have also been installing physical barriers and were deputized by Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks to perform immigration functions alongside CBP officers.
Within a month of Trump being in office, illegal border crossings dropped by 90 percent. February numbers were the lowest in U.S. recorded history, The Center Square reported.
In the past week, a missile destroyer was deployed to support USNORTHCOM southern border security efforts in U.S. and international waters.
Another 400 service members were deployed from New York, Colorado, Georgia and Maryland to support USNORTHCOM border security efforts.
On March 15, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely departed Naval Weapons Station Yorktown to support USNORTHCOM’s “southern border mission as part of the DOD’s coordinated effort in response to the Presidential Executive Order. Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,” USNORTHCOM Commander Gen. Gregory Guillot said.
In order “to restore territorial integrity at the U.S. southern border,” Gravely’s crew will enhance maritime efforts and support interagency collaboration to combat maritime related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction and illegal seaborne immigration, he said. A U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) will be embarked aboard Gravely; LEDET’s carry out a range of maritime interdiction efforts.
On March 17, US Northern Command announced that an additional 400 service members had been approved to be deployed, including 385 US Army engineers. They include Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 41st Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division and the 642nd Engineer Company, 41st Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, both from Fort Drum, New York.
They also include the 76th Combat Engineer Company-Stryker, 4th Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Division (Fort Carson, CO); Headquarters, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (Fort Stewart, GA); and 6th Medical Logistic Management Center (Fort Detrick, MD).
Troops from Georgia will provide aviation support as well as several MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft Systems with airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Maryland troops will provide centralized management of deployed medical logistics, USNORTHCOM said.
Deployment of these units increases the total number of troops deployed or approved to deploy to the southwest border to more than 10,000.
[Breitbart] President Donald Trump’s administration has delivered a “final offer” to Egypt to accept up to 700,000 Gazans, according to a new report which says the proposal includes billions of dollars in economic aid and a warning that the same deal will be offered elsewhere if Cairo refuses.
On Monday, the U.K.-based and Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that the U.S. message was relayed through U.A.E. President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during a visit to Cairo over the weekend.
According to the Arab outlet, Washington’s proposal would see Egypt receive a major financial package in exchange for absorbing 500,000 to 700,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The report cited a source familiar with the discussions, who claimed that the United States not only offered massive aid to bolster Egypt’s struggling economy but also issued a stark ultimatum: If Egypt rejects the proposal, both the financial support and refugee resettlement deal will be transferred to another willing nation.
The same source reportedly said that a refusal could result in the loss of existing U.S. aid to Egypt, which totals over $1.5 billion annually, including $1.3 billion towards military assistance. Cairo has so far resisted efforts to resettle displaced Gazans.
The matter comes as Israel remains locked in conflict with Hamas following the October 7 massacre — the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, which saw thousands of terrorists burst into Israel from Gaza and gun down participants of an outdoor music festival. Other terrorists simultaneously went door to door in local towns hunting for Jewish men, women, and children who were then subject to kidnapping, torture, rape, execution, and immolation.
Last month, President Trump unveiled his vision for the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His plan calls for resettling the strip’s population and rebuilding the territory into a thriving economic hub, marking a significant shift in U.S. policy and setting the stage for a bold new strategy in the Middle East.
Israel has since announced a new department to oversee the voluntary relocation of Gaza residents to third-party countries, a move ordered by Defense Minister Israel Katz. The plan aligns with Trump’s approach, emphasizing regional solutions over past failed policies.
“I welcome President Trump’s bold initiative,” Katz stated, calling it an opportunity for Gazans to seek a better future while ensuring Israel’s security.
According to a recent report from the Jerusalem Post, Israel plans to use its renewed ground offensive to advance the Gaza Strip emigration plan, as Hamas remains “unwilling to compromise” in hostage talks.
Previously, Breitbart News reported that President Trump’s plan to rebuild Gaza by resettling its inhabitants has significant support among many Gazans and is the “only solution” for struggling civilians, according to the Center for Peace Communications. The center says it is fighting for Gaza Strip residents to be given a chance to leave the war-torn enclave “to find a better life” for themselves and their families “before it’s too late.”
[YouTube]
Feb 26, 2025
No food, water, electricity, homes, schools, infrastructure. The violence between Israel and Hamas has reduced the Gaza Strip to rubble. Gazan civilians should have the opportunity to migrate to safe haven at a time when there are no viable options in Gaza.
Whereas President Trump's call to resettle Gazan civilians has sparked criticism, many Gazans say they want and need this opportunity. They are asking Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other countries across the region must urgently grant asylum to workers, women, children, the ill, and the elderly given dire conditions in the coastal strip.
The growing movement of Gazans speaking out comes as critics and mainstream media label President Trump’s plan unethical, while overlooking the real humanitarian crisis — people who want to leave the territory but remain trapped under Hamas rule.
According to a fresh Gallup poll of Gaza’s residents, a majority of Palestinians would leave the coastal enclave if they were able to. The findings revealed that a striking 52% of Gazans expressed a desire to relocate, with 14% saying they would leave permanently and 38% seeking temporary refuge abroad.
For U.S. interests, a potential outflow from the Gaza Strip could ease military tensions, reduce the influence of Hamas, and shift the regional burden of humanitarian care to wealthier Arab states and Western allies. It may also open new avenues for cooperation with Israel, Egypt, and the Gulf states on long-term stabilization.
#2
No. This is offering choices. Hamas has trapped them there since 2007. And then Hamas started a war that predictably triggered an Israeli response that left Gaza completely unlivable while still trapping them there as human shields.
#3
Hmm, "ethnic cleansing" when half of the Paleos want to leave?
Can we get a ruling from the judges on whether "Paleostinian" is an ethnicity or a mental disease?
[EWN.CO.ZA] Chad on Monday warned its traditional foe Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... that it "reserves the legitimate right to respond" if attacked, following threats made by a senior Khartoum military official.
In a video broadcast Sunday on Al Jazeera, the deputy commander of the Sudanese forces, Yasser al-Atta, warned that the airport in the Chadian capital N'Djamena and at Amdjarras in northeastern Chad "are legitimate targets for the Sudanese armed forces".
The remarks "could be interpreted as a declaration of war if followed through," Chadian foreign ministry front man Ibrahim Adam Mahamat said.
"Such rhetoric could lead to a dangerous escalation for the entire sub-region," and "Chad reserves the legitimate right to respond vigorously to any attempted aggression," he added.
"Sudan has just declared war on Chad," declared former Chadian prime minister Saleh Kebzabo on his official Facebook page.
"We must take this very seriously, prepare for it militarily, and mobilise," he added.
Chad has accused the Sudanese government for over six decades of doing everything it can to destabilise its neighbour, notably by "orchestrating rebellions" and supporting the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamist group.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by a conflict pitting General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the army and de facto ruler of the country since a 2021 coup, against his former deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, the chief of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
At the end of October 2024, N'Djamena denied any involvement in the Sudanese conflict but Khartoum's de facto rulers accused it of playing an active role in arms deliveries from the United Arab Emirates to the RSF.
The alleged support for the RSF has been highlighted in various reports -- including one from the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... in January 2024 -- but Chad and the UAE have consistently denied involvement.
The presence in El Fasher in Sudan's perennially restive Darfur region of a Zaghawa rebellion -— an ethnic group also present in Chad -— is N'Djamena's main concern.
It is led by Ousman Dillo, the younger brother of Chadian opposition leader Yaya Dillo Djerou who was killed by the Chadian army.
In February 2008, a Zaghawa rebellion based in Sudan launched a lightning offensive in Chad alongside other groups, forcing former president Idriss Deby Itno to take refuge in his presidential palace, before successfully repelling the rebels with decisive support from former ruler La Belle France.
The war in Sudan since April 2023 has left tens of thousands dead, displaced more than 11 million people and created the risk of widespread famine, in what the UN considers the worst humanitarian crisis in recent times.
[IsraelTimes] Trump administration court filing laying out its case against Mahmoud Khalil claims he ‘withheld membership in certain organizations,’ including work for UN agency for Palestinians
The US government has alleged that Columbia University student and pro-Paleostinian demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil withheld that he worked for a United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Paleostinian relief agency in his visa application, saying that should be grounds for deportation.
The UN agency known as UNRWA provides food and healthcare to Paleostinian refugees but has become a flashpoint in the Israeli war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , as Israel contends that several UNRWA employees participated in Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... ’s invasion and slaughter in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, leading the US to halt funding of the group.
The administration of US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... on March 8 detained Khalil, a prominent figure in the pro-Paleostinian campus protests that rocked the New York City campus last year, and is seeking his deportation.
The case has drawn attention as a test of free speech rights, with supporters of Khalil saying he was targeted for publicly disagreeing with US policy on Israel and its military actions in Gaza. Khalil has called himself a political prisoner.
The US alleges Khalil’s presence or activities in the country would have serious foreign policy consequences.
A judge has ordered Khalil not to be deported while a lawsuit challenging his detention, known as a habeas petition, is heard in another federal court.
Khalil, a native of Syria and citizen of Algeria, entered the US on a student visa in 2022 and later filed to become a permanent resident in 2024.
In a court brief dated Sunday, the US government outlined its arguments for keeping Khalil in jug while his removal proceedings continue, arguing first that the US District Court in New Jersey, where the habeas case is being heard, lacked jurisdiction.
The brief also says Khalil "withheld membership in certain organizations" which should be grounds for his deportation.
It references a March 17 document in his deportation case that informed Khalil he could be removed because he failed to disclose that he was a political officer of UNRWA in 2023.
UNRWA — short for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Paleostine Refugees in the Near East — provides education, health care and aid to millions of Paleostinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel... and Syria. The UN says it is the backbone of humanitarian operations for Paleostinians.
The UN said in August an investigation found nine of the agency’s 32,000 staff members may have been involved in the October 7 attacks, during which Hamas-led turbans stormed southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 people as hostages, mostly civilians.
Israel alleges that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.
The US court notice also accused Khalil of leaving off his visa application that he worked for the Syria office in the British embassy in Beirut and that he was a member of the group Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
Attorneys for Khalil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One attorney, Ramie Kassem, a co-director of the legal clinic CLEAR, was quoted in the New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... as saying the new deportation grounds were "patently weak and pretextual."
"That the government scrambled to add them at the 11th hour only highlights how its motivation from the start was to retaliate against Mr. Khalil for his protected speech in support of Paleostinian rights and lives," Kassem said, according to the Times.
[IsraelTimes] Trump adviser Mike Waltz inexplicably includes The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg in encrypted messaging chat to plan bombing campaign against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen
Trump administration officials earlier this month accidentally added the editor of The Atlantic magazine to an encrypted group chat, in which they discussed highly sensitive plans for the military to strike Iranian-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... rebels in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... The incident was made public on Monday, in an article by Jeffrey Goldberg, who was included in the chat. The US National Security Council confirmed the messages appeared to be authentic, and said it was investigating how Goldberg was inadvertently added.
The group, on the Signal messaging app, included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... , Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, and 12 other officials.
US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... , asked Monday about the story, was apparently unfamiliar with it, and said he was "not a big fan of The Atlantic," and that the leak must not have caused problems, because the attacks were successful.
The officials used the chat — to which Goldberg was added, for reasons unclear, on March 13 — to debate the merits of striking the Houthis and how to present the attacks to the public.
Hegseth, according to the texts, was worried that Israel would hit the Houthis first.
As part of the chat, Goldberg received, some two hours before the bombing began on March 15, a "plan [that] included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing."
That post, sent to the group by Hegseth at 11:44 a.m., "contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing," Goldberg wrote.
The plans were sent to the group following a lengthy discussion between the vice president, the defense secretary, and a user identified as "S M" — presumably Trump confidant Stephen Miller — in which Vance complained about "bailing Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... out again" and insisted that "messaging [be] tight" and that risks to Saudi oil facilities be mitigated.
They were followed up with confirmation that the strikes had been successful, and a series of congratulatory messages, and celebratory emojis, from the various cabinet officials.
On Sunday, Goldberg exited the group, triggering a notice to the group’s creator, Waltz. No one from the group reached out to him about the situation, however, and it was not until he emailed Waltz and sent him a message on Signal that NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes reached out to Goldberg to confirm the veracity of the chat.
"This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain," Hughes wrote.
"The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between bigwigs. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security," he added.
National security lawyers interviewed by The Atlantic said that sharing classified information over Signal — a commercial messaging app known for its encryption, and, according to the magazine, used by national security officials for lower-level purposes such as scheduling — was unheard of and potentially illegal.
In addition, Waltz set some of the messages to disappear after one week, and others to disappear after four, raising questions about whether the messages were records that the government is obligated to preserve.
The US launched military strikes against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on March 15 over the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping, and have continued Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s against the group in the weeks since, as the Houthis have claimed to fire at American warships.
#3
You don't transmit 'war plans'. You courier them. Any transmission of operational plans go only by secure comm lines.
On the other hand, using other means and fake plans is a way to identify people who do leak.
#5
A curious story. The simple and obvious explanation is that someone screwed the pooch. But given that we live in a media age where things are seldom what they seem, I can't help but wonder if there is more going on here. Perhaps a convincing way to deliver a message that otherwise would not be taken seriously.
Not advocating either way, just wondering if the hoofbeats we hear are horses or zebras.
Side Note: I'm so old I remember when The Atlantic was worth reading.
A couple of days ago the Israeli govt let the US know that Israel intends to seriously neutralize the Yemen threat. - speculation
Some Iran-Qatar-Russia aligned elements in the Trump 47 administration want to prevent this. - speculation
The Trump 47 administration tells Israel: Don't strike Houthis in Yemen, 'leave it to us' - fact
Strikes are planned that would be impressive fireworks but that also would me materially ineffective if the Houthis received a warning a couple of hours before the strikes. - speculation
Information is leaked a couple of hours before the strikes "by mistake." - leak = fact, intentional mistake = speculation
/<tinfoilhat>
This is tinfoil hat stuff indeed.
What makes me suspicious is the prior public message to Israel not to engage Yemen who is constantly committing acts of war against Israel and the subsequent mistake/leak.
#7
6^
I had a similar hypothesis. My theory was that the US was seeing if they could use Jeffrey Goldberg set up to someday feed false information to the Houthis
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/25/2025 11:50 Comments ||
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#8
It’s curious that despite American direction to Israel to step back, it has nonetheless been Israel who shot down the missiles headed her way thereafter. Except the one that hit Saudi Arabia, anyway.
Rapid Response 47
@RapidResponse47
Senate Intel Committee Chair
@SenTomCotton
: "The Biden Administration authorized Signal as a means of communication that was consistent with presidential recordkeeping requirements for its administration — and that continued into the Trump Administration."
#13
Another possibility: In a stunning show of brilliant military strategy, President Trump has leaked his top-secret Yemen airstrike plans to The Atlantic so that no one will ever see them or read them.
-- Babylon Bee
#14
Another tweet about this morning’s Senate testimony. Video can be watched at the link:
Media Lies
@MediasLies
CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that according to CIA record management, Signal is approved for “work use.”
Let’s set this record straight.
Here is the truth about Signal:
-In 2016, the DNC instructed all staffers to exclusively use Signal to talk crap about Trump because it was encrypted.
-In 2017, Signal was approved by the sergeant at arms of the U.S. Senate and staff.
-The use of common amongst the security community.
-Cybersecurity firm iVerify’s Rocky Cole has also stated the app has "stellar reputation and is widely used and trusted in the security community”.
-Even Edward Snowden has said that he uses Signal due to its strong encryption services.
Elmerert Hupens2660, that’s a very pretty piece of thinking. All sorts of things that hadn’t occurred to me.
In fact, this entire thread is full of thoughts that never occurred to me, so now I’m feeling a good deal more educated than I anticipated this morning. :-)
"According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time. So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city."
And this was not classified info? What is?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/25/2025 17:18 Comments ||
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#17
PJ Media’s Charlie Martin, who apparently has done intelligence analysis, introduces the term Canary Trap to describe this situation. It’s where a situation is set up to allow a leaker to reveal himself, in this case a private but not secret conversation. As it turns out, one of Mike Waltz’s staffers was the one who brought serial fake scandal trumpeter Mr. Goldberg into the conversation.
For European Conservative, Mr. Martin also makes the following points:
This wasn't a classified conversation.
In fact, it wasn't even sensitive, because they were talking about things that had already been said in public.
When they got to something that would be classified, they explicitly said they needed to take it to a higher level. So they knew what was and wasn't sensitive.
EC, President Trump had earlier very loudly announced that he was going after the Houthis because they announced they were going to resume firing missiles at Israel and attacking shipping in response to Israel resuming the war against Gaza in response to Hamas refusal to seriously negotiate surrendering.
#18
"So the person who supposedly added the journalist to the Signal group chat, Alex Wong, was an attorney for Covington & Burling, one of the law firms that Trump included in his EOs about government contracts and security clearances."
#21
Wiki scrubbed his private practice experience with a DC based law firm.
Wiki:
Wong worked in private practice with a Washington, D.C.-based international law firm. He provided Fortune 100 clients strategic and legal advice on international trade matters, governmental investigations, and regulatory compliance.[3]
A search of the archives for the first quarter of this year for Burling yields four articles, three connected to Special Council Jack Smith, whom the firm aided pro bono (see here). He also apparently has a public service resumé, per the attached tweet at NoMoreBS’s link:
2007-2009: Bush State Department "advisor" for Iraq
2012: Foreign policy director for the Romney-Ryan campaign
2015-2017: Foreign policy advisor for Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
2017-2021: Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Trump/Pompeo State Department
2021-2024: Hudson Institute
It’s not clear to me how he managed two apparently disconnected careers
#24
Burn him. As an example Pour Encourager... you know
No further license, career, ...
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/25/2025 20:29 Comments ||
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#25
Speaking of the Hootis and war plans:
Seven B2 bombers have been moved to Diego Garcia.
Cross reference with US saying to Israel, "Just sit back. We got this".
File under War & Rumors of War
Responding to the terror attack yesterday, where the jihadi rammed his car into a bus stop shelter at Tishbi Junction, knifed the soldier there, grabbed his gun and shot at cars until a Border Patrol car drove by and shot him dead.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says this morning’s deadly terror attack in the north “is a result of the ongoing incitement of the Palestinian Authority.”
Sa’ar says it is “only natural” for Israel to expect the European Union’s support in the ongoing conflict against Islamic terrorism, at a press conference with his European Union counterpart Kaja Kallas in Jerusalem.
“We are now fighting the war of the free world. Iran, Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah attack us because we are nearby. But make no mistake, the war is against Western civilization. Against its values and its ways of life,” he says.
[IsraelTimes] The State Attorney’s Office files an indictment at the Beersheba District Court on charges of treason against Eduard Yusupov, a 65-year-old resident of Netivot, for having allegedly conducted spying activities on behalf of Iran.
Yusupov carried out various acts of espionage for an Iranian agent and received $41,000 in payment for his work, offenses which carry with them sentences of up to 15 years in prison.
According to the indictment, Yusupov, an immigrant who came to Israel from Azerbaijan, contacted an old acquaintance of his by the name of Tair in November 2024, who introduced him to a man called Mousa.
Mousa claimed to be seeking to open a business in Israel but was an Iranian agent and, communicating via WhatsApp, gave Yusupov a series of spying missions to carry out.
At Mousa’s request, Yusupov collected, photographed, and documented sensitive information about “national infrastructure sites” around the country, including IDF bases, military sites in the Negev, the Haifa port, as well as parks, libraries, zoos, and commercial and leisure centers.
Yusupov also rented an apartment for Mousa in Hafia with a view of the port from where he photographed ships and industrial chimneys in the port zone.
The indictment notes that Yusupov was careful to work in secret and operated with caution in order not to be discovered.
“The accused committed security offenses at a time when the State of Israel was conducting one of the toughest wars it has known, on multiple fronts, including against Iran,” the prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
“The accused suspected that Mousa was a foreign agent who was hostile to the State of Israel but continued to cooperate with him.”
Yusupov is charged with transmitting information to an enemy to harm state security, transmitting information to an enemy designed to assist them, contact with a foreign agent, and demonstrating a decision to commit treason.
[IsraelTimes] Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounces the "extremely precarious" situation of Paleostinians displaced by the ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank.
According to the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... , some 40,000 residents have been displaced since January 21, when the Israeli army launched an operation targeting Paleostinian terror groups in the north of the territory.
The situation of the displaced Paleostinians is "extremely precarious," MSF says, which is operating in the area.
Paleostinians "are without proper shelter, essential services, and access to healthcare," the NGO says.
"The mental health situation is alarming."
In a statement to AFP, the Israeli military (IDF) says it had been operating "against all terrorist organizations, including Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... , in a complex security reality."
"The IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals," the statement says.
MSF says the scale of forced displacement and destruction of camps "has not been seen in decades" in the West Bank.
"People are unable to return to their homes as Israeli forces have blocked access to the camps, destroying homes and infrastructure," MSF Director of Operations Brice de la Vingne says
"Israel must stop this, and the humanitarian response needs to be scaled up."
[IsraelTimes] Cairo proposes Hamas release 5 living hostages for resumption of aid, renewed truce; sources say US agreed to terms, Israeli official says no such proposal reached Jerusalem
A new Egyptian proposal aimed at restoring the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ceasefire deal won tentative support from the Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... terror group, sources told Rooters on Monday, though Israel said it had yet to receive the terms of the offer.
Under Cairo’s plan, Hamas would release five living hostages, including American-Israeli Edan Alexander, in return for Israel allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and implementing a weeks-long pause in the fighting, an Egyptian official said.
After the first week, Israel would implement the second phase of the collapsed ceasefire agreement.
Israel would also release hundreds of Paleostinian prisoners.
Egypt presented the proposal last week, security sources said Monday, with a Hamas official saying that the terror group has "responded positively" to the idea.
The sources said that the plan also provides a timeline for the release of all 59 hostages in exchange for a timeline for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, backed by US guarantees.
The security sources added that the US also agreed to Egypt’s plan, but an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Monday, "We haven’t heard of any new proposal."
According to the Israeli official, Israel is still trying to get Hamas to agree to a US-backed proposal spearheaded by Trump’s special envoy to the Mideast, Steve Witkoff, which would not entail full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
The narrower "Witkoff proposal" rejected by Hamas thus far, would have seen the ceasefire extended through April 19 and have the terror group release five living hostages in exchange for a large number of Paleostinian security prisoners.
Israel said it accepted Witkoff’s proposal, but said it was seeking the release of 11 living hostages.
If Hamas does not agree to Israel’s terms, "we will keep increasing the pressure until Hamas breaks," the official said, threatening "a widespread ground campaign" in Gaza.
In mid-January, Israel and Hamas agreed to a hostage-ceasefire and prisoner-release deal that officially lasted 42 days and saw the terror group release 30 living hostages and the bodies of eight slain captives, while Israel released almost 2,000 bandidoshard boyz and other prisoners, before the expiration of the deal’s first phase.
The deal had originally envisioned a second phase that would see a permanent end to the war in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages and many more Paleostinian security prisoners.
Netanyahu ordered the resumption of fighting in Gaza last week, saying talks moving forward would be held under fire after Hamas rejected proposals to extend phase one of the ceasefire.
Hamas has insisted on sticking to the original terms of the deal, which was supposed to begin its second phase at the beginning of March.
For a month, though, Israel refused to enter talks on the specific terms of phase two, as the stage’s general framework requires it to fully withdraw from Gaza and agree to a permanent end of the war.
The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war.
In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 enjugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! Paleostinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazook terror suspects detained during the war.
Tit for tat — though they don’t begin to match protestor violence, however little it’s been reported in the Times of Israel.
[IsraelTimes] Force championed by far-right police minister Ben Gvir was initially formed to quell riots in Arab locales and mixed cities
As protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ramped up in recent days, police began deploying officers from a newly formed National Guard, who have been accused of using excessive force to quell the demonstrations.
Members of the force — a controversy-laden brainchild of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — were filmed in recent days punching, kicking, and hurling protesters to the ground at protests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
On Sunday, as hundreds of demonstrators railed against the cabinet’s no-confidence vote against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem, around a dozen National Guard officers pushed their way to the front of the masses to man crowd control barricades, alongside police already stationed there.
Clashes broke out soon after, with security forces arresting three demonstrators, according to police. At the scene, officers were seen forcefully shoving protesters to the asphalt.
The establishment of a civil defense force — ostensibly to secure the country against internal threats — had long been one of the top demands of Ben Gvir, who returned to his post on Wednesday, after quitting the government in January in protest of the ceasefire in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... The notion of a National Guard first surfaced during former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s government, spurred by the police’s bungled response to inter-communal riots that broke out in mixed cities in May 2021, during a previous war with Gaza.
The reliance on Border Police officers dispatched to suppress the violence that erupted between Jewish and Arab residents put the latter force under strain, prompting calls to bulk up its personnel with an auxiliary force. But the government’s nascent plans came apart with the collapse of the Bennett-Lapid coalition in 2022.
Upon becoming national security minister later that year, Ben Gvir began to advocate for the formation of a National Guard, with the added demand that the force report directly to him. Contrary to Ben Gvir’s plans to steer the force, the National Guard was eventually folded into the Border Police gendarmerie.
Members of the force dress like regular Border Police officers, and are only distinguishable by patches on either arm with the force’s name and insignia, respectively.
The coalition agreement that Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party signed with Likud following the 2022 election showed that the far-right minister had sought to subordinate the force directly to his own office.
But his proposal drew flak from ex-police chief Yaakov Shabtai, who said the prospective arrangement would come with "a very heavy price, to the point of harming citizens’ personal security."
Before his sacking, former defense minister Yoav Gallant also came out against the idea in a letter to Ben Gvir, cautioning him that "there is no place in Israel for private militias."
Ben Gvir’s initiative became official in January, in an inauguration ceremony at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh. Ben Gvir placed the force under the command of Maj. Gen. Nahshon Nagler, formerly the chief of the Israel Police’s Negev precinct.
Speaking at the event, Israel Police Chief Danny Levy defined the aims of the force as "dealing with riots and dealing with crime, with an emphasis on the Arab community."
Ben Gvir also delivered remarks at the event, praising the National Guard’s establishment as a "realization of my personal vision." He added that the force would "operate in the Negev and the Galilee, in mixed towns and cities and in every place where there is an issue of governance."
But now it appears that the force is taking on a more active role in cracking down on anti-government protests, concurrent with a noticeable uptick in police violence against demonstrators in recent days.
"Five days ago, after several weeks of relative calm, a worrying wave of severe and unbridled police violence erupted
like lava from a volcano ," wrote police violence watchdog group Alimut Israel on Sunday in an X post. "Reports of recent incidents continue to stream in, sometimes several days late, as those documenting them manage to recover from the trauma and share what is happening."
Ben Gvir has often complained that police have not taken a tough enough hand against anti-government protesters, whom he derides as "anarchists," and in the past has thrown his support behind coppers under criminal investigation for harming protesters.
In August 2024, the minister promoted police officer Meir Suissa to a senior rank, while he was under investigation for ordering stun grenades thrown at protesters a year prior, landing two people in the hospital.
National Guard officers were caught on film in recent days punching and kicking protesters as they sat on the ground, a departure from the typical police conduct of hoisting and dragging them off the road.
During a particularly brutal dispersal of an anti-war protest Tuesday evening in Jerusalem, one National Guard officer could be seen rolling up his sleeve as he approached a kneeling protester who appeared to be trying to aid another demonstrator, only to grab her by the shoulders and fling her away. She landed on her back.
Protesters did not go so far as to block roads that night, and, rather, sat on the pedestrian-only Ben Yehuda Street without disrupting traffic — but the demonstration erupted into violence regardless.
Prominent anti-government activist Michal Deutsch told Haaretz that one officer kicked her, breaking her arm, as she tried to prevent him from punching another protester.
Another activist told The Times of Israel that she and other protesters collected some 80 videos documenting police violence from that night alone.
In a statement to Haaretz, the Israel Police said that "all the units in all areas of the country are operating to maintain public order and the safety of citizens," adding that the police chief "can activate the National Guard, just like other police units, in accordance with operational demands."
[IsraelTimes] Both families clear publication of video showing gaunt captives pleading with freed hostages to speak out about horrible conditions in Gaza
Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... published a propaganda video Monday evening showing Israeli hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana, who were both kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and are still being held in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... by the terror group.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel characterizes as deplorable psychological warfare. The families of both Bohbot and Ohana gave Israeli media the go-ahead to publish the video in its entirety.
"You can see in the video that he is in bad shape, that he has lost a lot of weight from continued starvation, that he is suffering from problems with his skin and his breathing," said Bohbot’s family in a statement, noting that he suffers from asthma and "hasn’t seen the light of day for almost a year and a half."
Video can be seen at the link should you be interested, dear Reader.
"This video is further proof that Elkana must return home to his family," the message continued.
The family issued an appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... to "think that this is your son, your father or your grandson, who is waiting to see the light of day."
Israel believes 24 hostages are still alive in the Strip — 22 Israelis, one Thai and one Nepali. All of them are young men who were kidnapped on October 7, 2023.
In the clip itself, the haggard-looking pair exhorted the Israeli government to allow released hostages to come forth about their horrible conditions in Hamas captivity, and Bohbot appealed by name to their freed counterpart Ohad Ben-Ami.
"Ohad, why don’t you tell them? You were with us. You were sitting with me and him," begged Bohbot, referring to himself and Ohana.
Ohana urged an end to the recently renewed fighting in Gaza, cautioning that continued bombing could pose a risk to the hostages who remain alive.
"Before the latest ceasefire deal on January 19, when the border crossings were closed throughout the war, there was almost no food. The situation was difficult and there was no safe place," said Ohana to the camera. "We felt neither dead nor alive."
Both Bohbot and Ohana were among the 24 living hostages slated for release in the planned second stage of the ceasefire deal agreed upon in January, which fell apart after its first stage, with Israel renewing the fighting in Gaza.
Ben Ami, who was mentioned by name in the video, later said he will not rest until all of the captives are returned home.
"I love you, and I miss you and the other three hostages who, for now, I can’t say their names," Ben Ami wrote in a Facebook post, saying he had watched the video.
"They fear for their lives, they are lacking all hope, and as we speak the conditions of their captivity are being worsened and their food is being reduced since we returned to fighting [in Gaza]," he wrote.
Ben Ami, who said he is currently in Germany as part of efforts to lobby for their release, promises to "do everything in my power to bring you and all the hostages home to your families alive!"
Bohbot’s and Ohana’s families had received previous signs of life from their loved ones in February, when several freed hostages disclosed that they had come into contact with the two while in Hamas captivity.
Speaking to Haaretz in February, David and Ruhama Bohbot said that they had received word that Elkana, 36, was alive from a released hostage who said he had been with him for most of their time in captivity, in a small room dozens of meters underground.
Ohana’s family did not elaborate on the sign of life they received that same month, but his aunt Hana Mastronov stressed to Ynet that they had a "clear indication" the 24-year-old remained alive.
"When we saw the people who returned this past Saturday, it broke us even more than we were already broken. That is why we chose to speak to the media," Mastronov said at the time. "[He is a] strong guy, both in mind and body. But there are limits to how much strength a person has. We’re coming up on 500 days. We didn’t think it would last this long."
Israel believes 24 hostages are still alive in the Strip — 22 Israelis, one Thai and one Nepali. All of them are young men who were kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led forces of Evil stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and abduct 251, sparking the war in Gaza.
Among the group are four active-duty soldiers and several people who had been working security at the Nova music festival, some of whom Hamas has claimed were soldiers as well.
Another 35 hostages who were confirmed by Israel to be dead are also being held in Gaza. They include 34 kidnapped in the Hamas onslaught and a soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza war. The slain captives would be returned in the deal’s potential third phase.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
