News of the World

[kyonides]

US NEWS

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American Death Toll in Israel Increases to 22

The State Department said on Wednesday that the number of U.S. citizens killed in the current fighting in Israel and Gaza has reached 22.

The new figure comes as President Joe Biden talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, the fourth time since Israel’s war with Hamas started.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected,” a State Department spokesperson said. The day before, Biden put the American death toll at 14.

The White House said Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took part in the conversation with Netanyahu.

“There is no justification for terrorism, no excuse,” Biden said. “And the type of terrorism that was exhibited here was just beyond the pale. My commitment to Israel’s security and the safety of Jewish people is unshakable.”

The lone power plant in the Gaza Strip shut down on Wednesday after it ran out of fuel, as Israel followed through with its threat to no longer send supply to the facility as fighting between the country and Hamas militants continued to rage on.

The closure of the plant, which provided power to some 2 million inhabitants on the strip, is coming before an expected ground assault by the Israel Defense Forces. It marked another escalation after Hamas launched a surprise attack.

Senate Republicans Introduce Bill to Freeze $6 Billion in Iranian Funds

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a new bill Wednesday to immediately freeze $6 billion in Iranian funds.

The funds currently are being held in South Korea and are due to be released to Iran following a prisoner swap with the United States.

The two-page bill reinstates certain sanctions on Iran and prohibits the “Waiver of Sanctions with Respect to the Transfer of Funds from the Republic of Korea to Qatar,” which was transmitted to Congress on Sept. 11.

“The path of resources, training, and lethal weapons from Tehran to terrorists throughout the Middle East is crystal clear. On Saturday, it enabled cold-blooded killers like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to perpetrate the deadliest day of violence against Jews in decades,” McConnell wrote in a statement Wednesday.

The bill, which is now getting strong bipartisan support, comes two days after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called on President Joe Biden to refreeze the funds, saying “Biden’s policy on appeasement, including money for hostage deals, must come to an end.”

McConnell and Cotton said they will seek unanimous consent to pass the bill with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, among the Democrats supporting it.

Biden Restored over $700 Million to Jihadist-Linked U.N. Palestinian Agency

President Joe Biden’s decision to restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an organization for decades facing accusations of fueling radical Islam and antisemitism in Gaza, attracted renewed condemnations in the aftermath of Hamas’s unprecedented massacre of Israeli civilians this weekend.

...a spokesman for Hamas told the BBC on Saturday night that Tehran directly supported the atrocities committed this weekend. In addition to failing to enforce sanctions on Iran, seeking closer ties to genocidal China, and lifting sanctions on Iran’s oil industry partner Venezuela, Biden faces questions regarding his support for the widely condemned UNRWA.

The New York Post observed on Tuesday, citing remarks from a State Department spokesman in February, that Biden administration officials boasted of committing over $730 million in American taxpayers’ dollars to the UNRWA – $680 million between 2021, when Biden became president, and early 2023, followed by a promise from Secretary of State Antony Blinken of another forthcoming $50 million this year.

“Since April of 2021, we have demonstrated in very real and significant terms our commitment to the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in February. “We’ve provided over $890 million for Palestinians, including over $680 in humanitarian assistance for refugees in the region through UNRWA … When Secretary Blinken was in Ramallah, he announced another $50 million in funding for UNRWA.”

The State Department signed a new agreement with UNRWA in May setting the conditions in which Washington would continue to fund the program.

“The Framework includes multiple specific commitments to advance the Agency’s ability to deliver effective and efficient aid to Palestinian refugees,” the State Department announced at the time, “through strengthened accountability, transparency, and consistency with UN principles, including neutrality.”

And Biden will still deny Iran's involvement in this terror attacks first from Gaza and now also from Lebanon?

Ex-NFL Player Sergio Brown Arrested, Charged with Mother’s Death

Former NFL player Sergio Brown has been arrested in California on first-degree murder charges in the death of his mother and will be extradited to Illinois to face the charges, according to reports.

Brown was arrested in San Diego on Tuesday on a warrant from Illinois and is being held in a San Diego jail awaiting extradition, TMZ reported.

The arrest in Southern California came on the heels of quick action by Mexican authorities who deported the ex-player almost immediately once police in Maywood, Illinois, presented an official warrant for his arrest on murder charges.

Brown had posted to his social media a bizarre video recorded at a resort in Mexico in which he accused the Maywood Police Department and the FBI of kidnapping him, not once, but twice.
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Brown disappeared from the U.S. early in Sept. before officials found his mother, Myrtle Brown, 73, lying dead in a creek behind her house in the Chicago suburb.

House Homeland Security Report: Over 35K Criminal Illegal Aliens Captured Sneaking into U.S. Under Joe Biden

The report, authored by the committee’s Republican members and led by Chairman Mark Green (R-TN), details the extent to which criminals from around the world are arriving at the nation’s southern border in the hopes of getting past federal immigration officials.

From the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021 through September 15, 2023, about 35,450 illegal aliens with criminal records were arrested at the border by Border Patrol agents — a foreign criminal population larger than that of Beverly Hills, California.

According to the report, this is 14,000 more arrests of criminal illegal aliens at the border than the prior four fiscal years combined.
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It is important to note that these are just CBP [Customs and Border Protection] statistics. They do not include data from states like Texas, which, through Operation Lone Star, has apprehended hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and recorded more than 27,000 criminal arrests itself between March 2021 to April 2023.

Whether it is got-aways or those being apprehended and released, illegal aliens represent a new, serious public safety concern. Some sheriff’s departments have recorded unprecedented levels of crime in their communities attributable to this influx.

Since Biden took office and appointed Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), more than six million border crossers and illegal aliens have been encountered at the border.

MIDDLE EASTERN NEWS

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Mass Drone Attack Reported from Lebanon; Northern Israel in Shelters
UPDATE: False Alarm [No Large Scale Attack At Least]

The Times of Israel earlier reported, citing Israel’s Channel 12, that “some 15-20 drones were identified flying into the country from Lebanon.”

Incoming drone alerts are continuing to sound in northern Israel.

The sirens are sounding in every town and city in the north, including the Golan Heights.
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The head of the Galil Elyon Regional Council, Giora Zaltz, tells Channel 12 news some of the aircraft that infiltrated from Lebanon are carrying people, and residents need to seek shelter.

Israel’s Army Radio reported that rockets had landed near the northern coastal city of Haifa, and that there had been a suspected terrorist infiltration.

It also advised residents in the region to stay in their homes, to take shelter in reinforced “safe rooms,” and to keep their doors and windows locked.

Unconfirmed reports circulating on social media reported areas where warnings of possible drone attacks had been issued.
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There have already been small but deadly clashes along the border this week, with Iranian-controlled Hezbollah threatening to open a second front as Israel fights back in response to the mass terror attack by Palestinian Hamas earlier this week.

Hamas Left Knives Inside of Israeli Children; Murdered in Front of Parents

Hamas terrorists are said to have their knives inside of some Israeli children, and to have murdered some in front of their parents, as part of the radical Islamic group’s terror attack on Israel, which has has left at least 1,200 people dead and roughly 3,000 wounded.
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There is evidence in Kibbutz Be’eri that children were slain in front of their parents, Maj. Doron Spielman says. Knives were found left in some of the children.

Bodies are still being taken out of the kibbutz, which Spielman says will be remembered as a symbol of Hamas’s massacre, like Auschwitz is the symbol of the Holocaust.

The gruesome report comes after a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed to CNN on Wenseday that babies and toddlers were discovered with their “heads decapitated” in Kfar Aza in southern Israel in the wake of Hamas’s attack.

CNN correspondent Nic Robertson spoke of similar horrors with host Anderson Cooper on Tuesday evening, telling his colleague about what he saw on Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

“What I saw, hundreds of terrorists in full armor, full gear, with all the equipment and all the ability make a massacre. Go from apartment to apartment, from room to room and kill babies, mothers, fathers in their bedrooms,’ Robertson explained, according to Mediate. “They locked themselves in the protection rooms of their houses and people were out with their children and they killed them. They killed babies in front of their parents, and then killed the parents. They killed parents and we found babies between the dogs and the family killed before him. They cut heads of the people.”

In a social media post, Robertson also said there were “bodies everywhere.”

“Men, women, children, hands bound, shot, executed, heads cut,” he added.

And you might have been wondering why politicians like Bukele called Hamas animals...

UK Foreign Minister Rushed to Bomb Shelter During Israel Visit as Rocket Attack Warnings Sound

The British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly visited Israel on Wednesday, but his walkabout was interrupted by a siren warning of a Hamas rocket attack, and the politician was rushed to a shelter.

James Cleverly toured Ofakim on Wednesday, a show of solidarity with Jerusalem after it was subjected to an enormous terrorist attack on Saturday that is said to have killed at least 1,200 people. As revealed in footage published by the Israeli government, Cleverly was rushed to a bomb shelter in the southern town as sirens sounded, warning of a Hams rocket attack.

“This is the reality Israelis live with every day”, Israel said of the footage. Cleverly said in his own remarks that: “Today I’ve seen a glimpse of what millions experience every day. The threat of Hamas rockets lingers over every Israeli man, woman and child. This is why we are standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel.”
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The British Government said on Wednesday that the purpose of Cleverly’s visit was to meet with victims and to express its support for Israel’s right to self-defence, and that he toured the village of Ofakim with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen. Cleverly said: “I’m in Israel today to show the UK’s unwavering support for Israel.

Terrible News for US and Israel

Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah Vows to Target U.S. Bases If Washington Aids Israel

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to … strike the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” said Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, who styles himself as “Hezbollah Brigades Secretary-General,” according to Iran’s PressTV.

Hamidawi said Iraqi Hezbollah, which is distinct from the Lebanon-based terrorist organization Hezbollah, has a “duty to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians” under Islamic law. He praised the murderers of Hamas for their bloody assault on Israeli civilians.

PressTV quoted another Iraqi militant leader, Akram al-Kaabi of Harakat Hezbollah Nujaba, echoing Hamidawi’s warning and promising a “military response” (i.e. terrorist attack) against any country that intervenes on Israel’s behalf.

“If (the Americans) intervene, we would intervene,” said a third militant boss, Hadi al-Amiri of the Badr Organization. “We will consider all American targets legitimate.”
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Iraqi government spokesman Basim al-Awadi was on the same wavelength, excusing the depravity of Hamas as a justified response to “longstanding oppression by the Zionist occupation.”
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Iraq’s influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded “large-scale demonstrations and jihad against Israel,” while Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid stated his unquestioning support for the Palestinians, without a word of criticism for the unspeakable actions of Hamas.

How long did they suffer because of Saddam Hussein's reign of terror? But now they barefacedly complain about Israel's policies.  This means they're obviously under the influence of Tehran. And they dared to protest against the Trump administration for getting rid of Soleimani in Iraq!

Yemen’s Iran-Backed Houthi Terrorists Threaten Drone Strikes on U.S. Troops in Support of Hamas

Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen joined other Tehran proxies in the region on Tuesday to threaten attacks against American interests if the United States supports Israel against the Hamas terrorists.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi movement — known officially as Ansar Allah (“Allah Is the Greatest”) — supported the bloodthirsty child-killers and rapists of Hamas on Tuesday without reservation, praising their “Al-Aqsa Flood Operation” as a “Palestinian decision that has full legitimacy, and the enemy and its allies were surprised by it.”

“The Yemeni people are thus ready to do everything they can to perform the sacred duty of standing with the Palestinian people,” he declared. “Our people are ready to move in the hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy.”

Houthi represents only a small portion of the “Yemeni people,” and after years of the grueling civil war he unleashed in 2015 — which led to one of the worst humanitarian crises on Earth — millions of Yemenis have been left with no meaningful access to food or medicine and enduring a massive cholera outbreak.

“If the Americans directly intervened militarily, we would be ready to participate (against Israel), with missile and drone strikes and other military options,” Houthi said, drawing his “red line” for Ansar Allah’s involvement.

Houthi envisioned an Iran-led “Axis of Resistance,” including Iranian proxy forces in Iraq and Lebanon, coming together to fight Israel. The Houthi regime has financially supported Lebanese Hezbollah in the past.

And what does Saudi Arabia do during this Middle Eastern Crisis?

Saudi Arabia Announces Joint Military Exercises with China

The government of Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that the Saudi and Chinese navies have commenced a three-week joint exercise known as “Blue Sword.”

The first Blue Sword drill was held in 2019, near Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port city of Jeddah. This year’s exercise was launched from the southern Chinese city of Zhanjiang, with a ceremony attended by hundreds of troops.

“The goal of the exercise is to boost the mutual trust and friendly relations between the Chinese and the Saudi Arabian navies, enhance the participants’ capabilities in naval combat and comprehensively improve the joint operational capabilities of overseas armed rescue units,” said China’s state-run Global Times.

“The three-week joint exercise will be split into a basic training phase, a professional training phase and a comprehensive drill phase that features more than 20 training subjects, including live-fire shooting, fast roping from helicopters, cabins searches, underwater reconnaissance, sniping-on-command, and underwater explosives disarming,” the Global Times said, quoting press releases from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

“The joint training between the special warfare units of the two navies is of great significance to deepening the pragmatic and friendly cooperation between the two militaries and improving the actual combat training level of the troops,” said the PLAN commander in charge of the exercise.

The Blue Sword drill is reportedly built around the simulated hijacking of a commercial ship, which must be rescued by Chinese and Saudi naval special operations forces.

When the Saudi-Chinese exercise was announced in September, the Jerusalem Post saw it as part of China’s effort to “play an increased role” in the Middle East and burnish its credentials as a naval power, particularly in the field of anti-piracy.

Egypt Fortifies Border Against Possible Exodus of Palestinians

Egypt, the other country besides Israel that borders Gaza, moved quickly this week to fortify its border and prevent a flood of Palestinians from entering Egyptian territory during Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas.

The Israeli military suggested on Tuesday that Palestinians who do not wish to be used as human shields by the Hamas terrorists should flee across the Egyptian border. Israeli Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht rescinded that advice later on Tuesday.

“Clarification: The Rafah crossing was open yesterday, but now it’s closed,” Hecht said.
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“In recent days, the IDF has been instructing the population inside of the Gaza Strip to distance themselves from designated areas. We emphasize that there is no official call by Israel for residents of the Gaza Strip to exit into Egypt,” the IDF said on Tuesday.

Egyptian officials were reportedly miffed that the Israeli military told Palestinians to flee into Egypt, while Gaza residents were angry at Egypt for cutting off a means of escape.

“Interior Ministry, this is not the time to put someone in danger who survived a bombing and miraculously reached the crossing. We cannot return to death,” one resident wrote on the Facebook page of the Rafah crossing.

 How do they explain the fact that not even one neighboring country like Egypt that shares the same social background as the Palestinians offers any way to leave the region safely? Where did all those words claiming that the Palestinians in Gaza are innocent victims of Hamas go now?