Middle East Experience

The Israeli Air Force was carrying out a new 'Sword of Damocles' operation as it was carrying out the 'Hannibal directive,' the IDF's probes found.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: IDF carried out Hannibal Directive, new 'Sword of Damocles' op. on October 7

Eli Sharabi, who was held hostage in Gaza for more than 490 days, has recounted his suffering in captivity in a televised interview, an extract of which was posted on social media by Israel's foreign ministry Friday."For a year and four months my legs were shackled with chains with very, very heavy locks that cut into your flesh," Sharabi said in the interview broadcast late Thursday on Israel's Channel 12.He spoke of intense hunger, food deprivation and the days when the only thing to eat was "this quarter of a pita that you can finish in three bites".
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Released Israeli hostage recounts hunger, chains that 'cut into your flesh'

US President Donald Trump's idea to rebuild the Gaza Strip as a swanky riviera is unacceptable unless it is for Gazans themselves to live in, a Palestinian minister said on Friday."It's very good to rebuild Gaza as a riviera -- but with its people in it," said Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian.Trump's vision for Gaza involves the United States taking over the occupied Palestinian territory, resettling its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere and transforming the war-ravaged strip into a riviera for "world people".
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Trump's Gaza 'riviera' should be for Gazans, says minister

Israel has publicly declared its mistrust of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist faction that led the campaign that toppled Assad.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel lobbies US to keep Russian bases in a 'weak' Syria, sources say

The eruption obliterated the thriving ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Mount Vesuvius eruption turned a man's brain into glass. Here's how it happened

Throughout his speech, Netanyahu was interrupted by bereaved families and MKs in the plenum.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Bereaved families turn backs on Netanyahu as PM rejects October 7 state probe

Outlawed Kurdish militants on Saturday declared a ceasefire with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle. It was the first reaction from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after Ocalan this week called for the dissolution of the group and asked it to lay down arms.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey after 40 years of armed struggle

intelligence only learned of the instances during the current war by a combination of capturing Hamas documents and interrogating Hamas prisoners.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: IDF intel missed three potential Hamas invasions before October 7

Iran's parliament sacked the country's finance minister on Sunday after impeaching him over soaring inflation and a plunging currency, state television reported.Economy and finance minister Abdolnaser Hemmati lost a vote of confidence, with 182 of 273 parliamentarians present backing his removal.On the black market on Sunday, the Iranian rial was trading at more than 920,000 to the US dollar, compared with less than 600,000 in mid-2024.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Iran lawmakers sack minister over economic woes

Shiloh and Jerusalem represent two complementary forces – engagement with the world and preservation of identity – that drive our journey toward redemption.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: A profound holy distinction: Shiloh vs Jerusalem