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"It looks weak": Dems fume at their party's response to Maduro capture.
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Andrew Solender. January 4, 2026.
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Some Democrats are grumbling at their party's largely oppositional stance to President Trump's raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying privately that their colleagues should be celebrating.
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Why it matters: These lawmakers argue it could be a major political miscalculation if the party fails to applaud the downfall of a brutal dictator with sufficient volume, even given grave concerns about the operation's legality and longer-term ramifications.
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Party leaders have raged at Trump for bypassing Congress and leaving them in the dark about the operation to capture Maduro, which involved striking several military targets in Venezuela's capital city.
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And many rank-and-file lawmakers, buoyed by polling that shows Americans largely oppose a protracted intervention in Venezuela, have also seized on Trump's comments that the U.S. will temporarily "run" the country.
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Some centrists and battleground-district members — who spoke to Axios on the condition of anonymity to offer candid criticisms of their party's messaging — have a different view.
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What we're hearing: One swing-district House Democrat told Axios in a text message on Saturday, "Nuance is dead in politics."
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"Maduro is bad, glad he is gone ... You can't have it both ways," the lawmaker said, venting that "everything Trump touches must be bad according to the base."
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Another vulnerable House Democrat told Axios in a phone interview: "As Democrats we can't just condemn what happened ... I wish the Democratic Party would be a little bit more measured on this."
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"I think it looks weak," a third centrist House Democrat said. "If you don't acknowledge when there is a win for our country, then you lose all credibility."
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[https://www.axios.com/2026/01/04/maduro-venezuela-democrats-trump-congress Acios]
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German antisemitism commissioner's property set on fire, Hamas symbol graffitied nearby.
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Büttner said that the incident represented a "massive escalation" directed against him, his family, and his home, but he would not be intimidated.
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BY Michael Starr. January 5, 2026.
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A shed on the property of Brandenburg Commissioner for Combating Antisemitism Andreas Büttner was set on fire in a suspected arson attack on Sunday before dawn, according to the German politician and Brandenburg Police.
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The shed was set alight while Büttner's family was home, but the commissioner and police said in statements that they were not harmed in the incident.
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[https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-882329 JPost]
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WATCH: IDF kills two Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon amid ongoing disarmament talks.
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Meanwhile, the IDF intercepted a drone attempting to smuggle rifles and cartridges over the Egyptian border.
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By James Genn. January 5, 2026.
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The IDF conducted a strike, killing two Hezbollah terrorists in al-Jumayjimah, southern Lebanon, on Sunday, the military confirmed on Monday.
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[https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-882348 JPost]
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IDF strikes Hezbollah and Hamas terror targets in Lebanon, the military says.
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Amid rising tensions in the north, the IDF urged residents of four southern Lebanese villages to move at least 300 meters from marked buildings ahead of planned strikes
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Lior Ben Ari, Yoav Zitun | updated:1.5.26 11:11
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[https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1qbbltv11l YNet]
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'Trump is a man of action,' US warns Iranian regime in Farsi-language message.
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A US State Department post warns Iran as protests continue, with reports of dozens killed, hundreds arrested, and Trump threatening similar action to capturing Venezuela's President Maduro.
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By Tobias Holcman, James Genn.
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January 5, 2026.
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The US State Department's Farsi account on Sunday published a picture of President Donald Trump along with the caption, Don't play games with President Trump," written in red text in Farsi.
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The post featured a picture of Trump alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with other officials standing behind them, and contained an additional warning that "President Trump is a man of action. If you didn't know, now you know."
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[https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-882354 JPost]
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Zohran Mamdani previously called to end sanctions on Venezuela, partly blamed penalties for US migrant crisis
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By Carl Campanile
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Published Jan. 4, 2026, 6:32 p.m. ET
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[https://nypost.com/2026/01/04/us-news/zohran-mamdani-previously-called-to-end-sanctions-on-venezuela-partly-blamed-penalties-for-us-migrant-crisis/ NYPost]
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No longer silenced:
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Freed Israeli hostage details fear of being made a ‘sex slave’ for Hamas terrorists: ‘No one will silence me anymore’.
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By Caitlin McCormack.
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Published
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Jan. 4, 2026, 6:19 p.m. ET
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[https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/comp-hostage.jpg?resize=744,496&quality=75&strip=all]
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A young woman held captive by Hamas for more than a year revealed her deep-seated fear that her captors would use her as a “sex slave” after repeated sexual assaults — and said they promised her an early release for her silence.
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Romi Gonen, 25, is defiantly breaking her silence.
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“They often silenced my story and told me not to tell it. Now I am here, sitting in front of the camera, and honestly, no one will silence me anymore,” she bravely told CNN Sunday.
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Gonen was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists during the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. At just 23 years old, she was carted from one hideout to another in Gaza — and frequently abused to appease the terrorists’ abhorrent whims.
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Romi Gonen, 25, told CNN she was sexually assaulted by her Hamas kidnappers multiple times.
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After 471 days in captivity, she was one of the first three Israeli hostages released as part of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal
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Gonen revealed in an interview with CNN that she was one of many hostages who suffered
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horrific sexual assaults at the hands of their Hamas captors.
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She told the outlet that the first assault was just a few days into her capture. She was in total solitary confinement for the first 34 days and would only see her captors on occasion — including a pseudo medic who treated a gunshot wound she sustained to her arm during the Oct. 7 attack.
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The supposed medic followed Gonen into the shower one day and brutally assaulted her under the pretext of treating her injury.
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“He was a ‘nurse’ so he allowed himself to ‘help me.’ I was wounded, powerless, and couldn’t do anything. He took everything from me. And I had to continue living with him in that house afterward,” she told the outlet.
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There was a 16-day stretch where Gonen said two men named Ibrahim and Mohammed repeatedly harassed and threatened her.
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“I’m sitting on the bed. Ibrahim comes and sits next to me and harasses me. Everything is in complete silence. I start crying insanely, and he says, ‘Be careful. If you don’t calm down, I’ll get angry’,” she told the outlet.
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“And that’s how the days go by: I go to the bathroom and Mohammed follows me. I sit on the toilet pulling down my pants with one hand, so he won’t see anything. Ibrahim keeps bothering me endlessly, touching my leg and thigh. I kick them off.”
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In another instance, Gonen told the outlet she was forced into a bathroom by one of her captors, who followed her inside and assaulted her.
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“I was crying like crazy, and he was having the time of his life, ecstatic, as if he had received the gift of a lifetime,” Gonen said.
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The then-23-year-old said she couldn’t help thinking to herself: “Romi, everyone in Israel thinks you’re dead, and you’re going to be his sex slave for life… Then he comes up to me, puts a gun to my head, and tells me, ‘If you tell anyone, I am going to kill you.’”
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Gonen said she spoke with Hamas’ leader who offered her a place “at the top of the release list” for her silence on the assaults.
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At a certain point, the endless harassment became so apparent that senior Hamas commanders were made aware.
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Gonen said she was led through a tunnel and
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put on the phone with Izz a Din al-Haddad, then head of the Hamas Gaza Brigade, and now the group’s Gaza leader.
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She told the outlet she could recall being offered “some kind of deal. ‘I will put you at
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the top of the release list, and in return, you will promise me that you will keep quiet.’”
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“They often silenced my story and told me not to tell it. Now I am here, sitting in front of the camera, and honestly, no one will silence me anymore. It happened to me, and it was terrible, and I deal with the consequences every day, but I am here. I beat it. I am in the aftermath, and I am much stronger than it,” she told the outlet.
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Thirteen other women and
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two men confirmed they had also experienced or witnessed sexual violence while being held hostage in Gaza, according to a July 2025 report by the Dinah Project.
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[https://nypost.com/2026/01/04/world-news/freed-israeli-hostage-details-fear-of-being-made-a-sex-slave-for-hamas-terrorists/ MYPost]
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Report: IRGC launches missile drills amid regional tensions.
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IRGC launches missile and air‑defense drills across Iran amid concerns of possible escalation with Israel.
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Elad Benari.
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Jan 4, 2026, 11:38 PM (GMT+2)
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[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420395 INN]
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Anti-Semitism Strikes Again: The Chilling Message Left at the Brandenburg Commissioner’s Door.
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German authorities are on high alert after a suspected arsonist set fire to the property of Brandenburg’s anti-Semitism commissioner, leaving behind a chilling symbol linked to the Hamas terrorist organization.
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Eliana Fleming. Jan 4, 2026 17:15
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A dangerous escalation in politically motivated violence has shaken the German state of Brandenburg following a targeted arson attack on the home of Andreas Büttner, the state's anti-Semitism commissioner. The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, has drawn sharp condemnation from top government officials who view the act as a direct assault on democratic values and the fight against hate speech. Investigators are treating the case as a potential act of extremism, particularly after discovering a controversial symbol painted on the commissioner's front door, suggesting a clear connection to current global tensions and the ongoing war.
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The fire broke out at approximately 3:40 a.m. in the town of Templin, located north of Berlin. Local police and fire departments were alerted to a blaze in a shed on Büttner’s property. While firefighters were able to extinguish the flames quickly and prevent the fire from spreading to the main residence, the psychological impact on the family has been profound. Büttner, who was inside the house with his family at the time, later expressed the gravity of the situation to local reporters. "My family was in the house at the time," Büttner said, adding that while they are physically unharmed, they are under the impression of a serious attack. He remained resolute in his professional mission, stating firmly, "I will not be intimidated by this."
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Beyond the physical damage to the shed, investigators found an "anti-constitutional symbol" painted near the scene. Security sources confirmed that a red triangle was discovered on the front door of the main house. This specific symbol is frequently associated with Hamas, as the terrorist group uses the inverted red triangle in its propaganda videos and publications to mark Israeli targets. The presence of this mark has led the state’s security service to prioritize the investigation as a high level extremist crime.
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The political leadership of Brandenburg has stood firmly behind Büttner. Premier Dietmar Woidke issued a statement emphasizing that extremism in any form has no place in their society, declaring that violence against people or property remains absolutely unacceptable. Interior Minister René Wilke echoed these sentiments, describing Büttner's work as a special service for the state and its people. As the manhunt for the perpetrators continues, the German government has vowed to maintain its support for officials tasked with protecting Jewish life and fighting anti-Semitism, despite the increasing risks of physical retaliation from radical groups.
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[https://www.jfeed.com/news-world/brandenburg-antisemitism-commissioner-arson-attack JFeed]
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Eva Schloss, Auschwitz survivor and Anne Frank’s stepsister, dies at 96.
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Auschwitz survivor and Anne Frank’s stepsister Eva Schloss dies at 96. A leading Holocaust educator, she leaves behind a legacy of combating hatred and prejudice.
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Israel National News.
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Jan 5, 2026, 1:09 AM (GMT+2)
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[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420397 INN]
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What Britain’s silence on Iran’s protests says about its foreign policy priorities - analysis.
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Why is there no statement about supporting regime change in Iran? And why are there no comments about the international law violations by the Iranian regime as it cracks down on protesters?
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By Mathilda Heller.
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January 5, 2026 00:24
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"Starmer’s silence on Iran is shocking,” the UK’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel opined on Saturday, referring to a dramatic absence of commentary from British politicians and British media regarding the weeklong anti-regime protests in Iran.
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“With Iran’s cruel authoritarian regime emboldened by its brutal crackdown of freedom and democracy advocates within the country, Britain stands in silence as we see the chilling images of protesters being silenced and young activists being detained,” she added.
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[https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-882315 JPost]
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Report: Khamenei preparing to flee to Moscow if forces desert.
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Western intelligence report says Ayatollah Khamenei has a secret plan to flee Tehran with close aides if Iran’s security forces falter, as nationwide protests and economic unrest intensify.
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Israel National News.
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Jan 5, 2026, 4:16 AM (GMT+2)
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[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420400 INN]
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London café fires barista after swastika‑shaped coffee incident.
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Hampstead café fires a 19‑year‑old trainee barista after a Jewish customer received a cappuccino topped with cocoa powder resembling a swastika.
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Israel National News.
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Published: Jan 5, 2026, 5:22 AM (GMT+2)
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[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420402 INN]
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The connection between Venezuela's drugs and terror - and how it affects us.
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Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs President Dr. Dan Diker warns that Venezuela has become a central hub for Iranian-backed terror, drug trafficking, and Hezbollah operations across Latin America.
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Shimon Cohen.
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Jan 5, 2026, 7:49 PM (GMT+2)
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[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420437 INN]
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David Collier: The Lie Beneath the Tree: From Wikipedia Fiction To Witch Hunt.
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Jan 5, 2026.
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In September 2025, a large delegation of U.S. legislators visited Ofakim – a small town in southern Israel and one of the communities devastated during the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023. During their visit, they planted trees – a simple, universal memorial act in honour of the murdered civilians.
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That act has since been recast by anti-Israel activists as something sinister. Campaigners immediately claimed the trees were planted atop a “depopulated Palestinian village” – and some have gone further, calling for the legislators involved to be forced to resign.
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Through a chain of factual errors, activist myth-making, and the quiet authority of “reference” sources that repeat those errors as fact, a unifying gesture of mourning has been transformed into an accusation of moral wrongdoing.
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The fabrication of Ofakim as a “depopulated Palestinian village” was subsequently laundered through a media corps that hounded and interrogated participants – not over facts, but over fictions and libels treated as truths.
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The truth is simple and decisive. There was no depopulated village at the site of Ofakim. No erased community beneath the tree. Yet the claim persists because it was never presented as an allegation, but instead stated and repeated as established fact – embedded, cited, and endlessly recycled.
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In advancing the false “village” narrative, campaigners are not uncovering a buried injustice. They are erasing the victims of a real one – all in service of a story that never happened.
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In the end we are left witnessing a witch hunt for people who visited an ally of the United States and planted a tree in memory of those slaughtered in a terrorist massacre...
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The Genocide Lie.
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Whatever position one takes on Israel’s war in Gaza, it does not meet the definition of genocide. The most basic and decisive test for genocide is intent. Without demonstrable intent to destroy a population as such, the charge collapses.
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Attempts to infer genocidal intent by trawling for intemperate remarks made by Israeli politicians in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 atrocities amount to little more than propaganda-by-quotation. Angry rhetoric, spoken in the wake of mass murder, is not evidence of state policy – and international law does not operate on selective outrage.
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More fundamentally, the allegation fails a test of basic logic. Israel is the dominant military power in the region. If the intent were the destruction or removal of Gaza’s population, the outcome would have been immediate and unmistakable.
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Instead, Israel has issued extensive pre-strike warnings, established civilian evacuation routes and designated safety areas, and – crucially – committed ground forces to urban combat at enormous cost. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed fighting house to house. That choice makes no sense under a theory of genocide. An army seeking extermination does not voluntarily incur such losses; it uses overwhelming force from a distance.
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To argue genocide, therefore, requires accepting an implausible proposition: that Israel deliberately sacrificed hundreds of its own soldiers, prolonged a costly war, and absorbed international condemnation – all to maintain the appearance of restraint while secretly pursuing the destruction of a population it manifestly had the power to eliminate far more quickly.
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It is a political accusation, not a legal one, and it collapses under even minimal scrutiny..
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[https://david-collier.com/the-lie-beneath-the-tree-from-wikipedia-fiction-to-witch-hunt/ DavidCollier]
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Rockets in the Making.
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The Iranian Axis: New Intelligence Reveals the Global Network Re-Arming Hamas.
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Israeli intelligence has exposed three major smuggling routes being used by Hamas to rebuild its military strength in total defiance of the ceasefire and President Trump’s regional peace plan.
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Eliana Fleming.
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Jan 5, 2026 18:33
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[https://www.jfeed.com/news-israel/hamas-smuggling-routes-intelligence JFeed]
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Funds Hamas Killers.
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UK Rewards Terror: Palestine Embassy Opens in London Despite PA's Terror Paychecks
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The UK upgrades the Palestinian mission to full embassy status after recognizing a state led by an authority that pays stipends to terrorists, a move seen as rewarding Hamas without demanding the final hostages release or governance reform.
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Eliana Fleming.
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Jan 5, 2026 14:12
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[https://www.jfeed.com/news-world/uk-palestine-embassy-london JFeed]
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Iran Street No Longer Fears the Basij Militia.
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Cracks in the Armor: Is the Mossad Reporting the Final Collapse of the Basij?
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A viral message from the Mossad has signaled a potential breaking point for the Iranian regime, reporting that thousands of security personnel are choosing to lay down their arms rather than fire on their own people.
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Eliana Fleming
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Jan 5, 2026 17:25
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[https://www.jfeed.com/middleeast/mossad-basij-defection-reports JFeed]
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Netanyahu using Putin channel to calm Iran.
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Kan 11 News reports that Netanyahu used Putin as a channel to send calming messages to Iran, while warning Tehran that any attack on Israel would bring “severe" consequences.
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Israel National News.
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Jan 6, 2026, 3:18 AM
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[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420454 INN]
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Iran enters tenth day of protests with 29 killed, 1,203 civilians detained so far - HRANA.
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At least 1,203 Iranians have been detained in the previous nine days of protest activity, according to HRANA's data. Still, "the actual number of detainees is estimated to be significantly higher."
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By James Genn.
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January 6, 2026 10:03
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As the protests across Iran that started last week entered their tenth day, the number of activists who have died has risen to at least 29, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported on Tuesday morning.
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This includes two who were" affiliated with law enforcement-security forces," HRANA noted.
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In addition, at least 1,203 Iranians have been detained in the previous nine days of protest activity, according to HRANA's data. Still, "the actual number of detainees is estimated to be significantly higher," the agency commented.
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Further, there have reportedly been at least 64 instances of protesters being injured by pellets and rubber bullets since the protests began.
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[https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-882459 JPost]
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