The Broadside | *Paging Dr. Hez Bollah. Dr. Hez Bollah.* Hey, Try His Walkie-Talkie.

Hats off to whoever pulled off one of the most ballsy ops in modern-day spy craft that I’m aware of. And I use the term “ballsy” quite intentionally.

Not only did they shock the members of Hezbollah with the remote detonation of thousands of pagers on Tuesday, but they followed up yesterday with the detonation of thousands of smart phones, radios, smart watches, solar panels and (allegedly) even some household appliances.

I was thinking about these clandestine attacks for the last 24 hours. I mean, everyone knows it’s *cough* Israel *cough*, who refuses to comment. But think about what they just accomplished.

First, they infiltrated and compromised the terrorists’ electronics supply chain. It’s not like the Hezbollah chieftains order off of Amazon. They have to skirt international sanctions, and we know that Iran is involved somewhere along the line. That means they had to have understood the logistics involved and planted the explosives in a way that wouldn’t be detected (or after they were inspected, assuming they were).

The second big thing they did was to degrade Hezbollah’s fighting force. The explosions killed 26 (including two children) and wounded at least 3,200 others—some severely, losing eyes or fingers or hands. Depending on injuries, some of them will be out of commission for a few weeks or months, putting pressure on the organization’s command and control grid. And they did it with incredible precision (you can’t prevent all collateral damage).

Next, they severely handicapped the terrorists’ communications network. They’re back to using bicycle couriers and homing pigeons, and neither of those are encrypted. Communication is the connective tissue of any organization and these days it’s made up of bits and bytes.

Not for Hezbollah. No more instantaneous messaging or phone calls. No more email or social media apps on your phone. This sets Hezbollah back to working at a snail’s pace, which will be tough (but not impossible) to adapt to.

Plus, Hezbollah suddenly realizes that *cough* Israel *cough* knows a lot about them. As Laughing Wolf puts it,

… if you think Israel wasn’t watching the hospitals and other locations to see who came in and when, and wasn’t monitoring local social media for news and IDs, I’ve got a bridge for sale… Again, no way for them to know in advance who all the members of Hezballess were. They do now, and can plot that against all the intel from the metadata and…

Then there’s the psychological damage they’ve inflicted. Can you imagine the fear? What will explode next, my refrigerator? I’d be throwing out anything electronic including my PlayStation 2. What will Hezbollah do to rebuild their infrastructure? No way am I carrying a pager or cell phone anytime soon.

Welcome to the terror show, Hezbollah. How does it feel to be on the receiving end?

Other terrorist organizations have to be thinking about their communication devices, too. If *cough* Israel *cough* can simultaneously detonate a few thousand pagers in one country, why wouldn’t they be able to do it in a bunch of other states like, say, Yemen or Iran? You bet other countries are taking a close look at their pagers and phones and smart thermostats today.

It was a brilliant operation and clearly places *whoever it was* at the forefront of the global cloak and dagger games.

Unlike our own clandestine services, which can’t even sweep a golf course for a nutjob hiding in the bushes for 12 hours to take a shot at a former president.

Daily Broadside | Israel Retaliates Against Iran—Sort Of

Who had the start of World War III on their 2024 bingo card?

Israel carried out limited strikes in Iran early Friday in retaliation for Tehran firing a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel late Saturday. 

Fox News Digital has confirmed there have been explosions in Isfahan province where Natanz is located though it is not clear whether it has been hit. Natanz is the site of one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, though state television has described all sites in the area as “fully safe.” 

A well-placed military source has told Fox that the strike was “limited.” Sources familiar said the U.S. was not involved and there was pre-notification to the U.S. from the Israelis. 

Pentagon officials have not confirmed the strike. The White House and the National Security Council (NSC) have declined to comment on the unfolding situation. 

The attack was “limited” by the United States, no doubt, who accepted a few missiles lobbed into the interior of Iran. But this administration has been trying to manage both sides of this conflict, apparently green-lighting Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel over the weekend, and now urging Israel not to retaliate but *wink, wink* approving of a “limited” strike.

Israel no doubt has the capacity and the will to destroy any of its neighbors should it choose to. Iran’s weak attack did almost no damage and looked pathetic in the face of Israel’s multi-layered defensive systems.

This newly opened direct front in the Middle East between Israel and Iran is pulling Israeli attention away from the unfinished job in Gaza, where they still have to deliver the final blow to the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel back on October 7.

Be praying that this tit-for-tat doesn’t escalate into a full blown war.

Israel had said it would retaliate against Iran’s weekend attack, which involved hundreds of drones and missiles, in response to a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the Iranian drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.

Analysts and observers have raised concerns about the risks of the Israel-Gaza war spreading into the rest of the region.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had warned Israel before Friday’s strike that Tehran would deliver a “severe response” to any attack on its territory.

Iran told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the U.N. secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”

Have a good weekend.

Daily Broadside | Our Fake American Leader Now Has Blood On His Hands

Along with those who fortified the 2020 election, who also have blood on their hands.

Three American service members were killed early on Jan. 28 in a drone attack on a small U.S. base in Jordan, the Biden administration said in a statement. At least two dozen other troops were injured in the incident, U.S. officials said.

They were the first U.S. fatalities after months of strikes by Iranian-backed groups against American forces across the Middle East since the start of the Israel–Hamas conflict in Gaza, the White House and military officials confirmed. President Joe Biden vowed to hold the perpetrators to account; so far, no organization or government has claimed responsibility.

“Today, America’s heart is heavy,” the president said in a Jan. 28 statement. “Last night, three U.S. service members were killed—and many wounded—during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border.”

U.S. officials are still working to conclusively identify the precise group responsible for the attack but have assessed that one of several Iranian-backed groups is responsible.

This loss of life is a direct result of Joe Biden’s intentional, strategic and treasonous subversion of our military fitness and his feckless priorities.

Under President Donald J. Trump, there were no new wars and our enemies understood that if they crossed us, Trump would deal severely with them. Under Brandon we abandoned Afghanistan and gave our enemies $81 billion in war machines, Russia attacked Ukraine, China has openly threatened Taiwan, North Korea has started lobbing missiles from both coasts, and Iran proxy Hamas savagely attacked Israel.

All because Trump said “pu**y.”

Well, not really. All because Trump is a viable threat to the oligarchy’s rule.

But I digress.

We’ve lost three soldiers and have 27 other casualties as a direct result of Brandon’s fake Americanism. What do you suppose our response will be? “President” Mush-for-Brains is in league with the Iranians and is allowing them to develop nuclear weapons to change the balance of power in the Middle East, something that has B. Hussein Obama’s fingerprints all over it.

President Biden’s statement accused “radical” groups backed by Iran operating in Iraq and Syria for the attacks, saying the United States “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing,” without providing more details.

Here’s what he’ll do: he will send a couple of missiles into Iran or find a proxy somewhere to be the scapegoat. Whatever Brandon does, Iran will lose very little sleep over it and will instead use our response to gin up the radicals’ hatred with demonstrations and threats of violence.

And then, maybe, those single men of military fighting age from the Middle East who have crossed our southern border unmolested will “hold those responsible to account at a time and in a manner” of their own choosing.

Like on a train, a plane, or in a car in the center of Times Square.

Daily Broadside | Don’t Be Fooled. The Palestinians Aren’t Innocent Bystanders

While Israel continues to pound Gaza into submission and to exterminate the Hamas terrorists, the world continues to condemn the “excessive” civilian casualties.

Macron criticises ‘excessive’ civilian casualties in call with Netanyahu

The president of France criticised the “excessive number” of civilian casualties in Israel’s military operation during a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu.

While reiterating Israel’s “right to defend itself”, Emmanuel Macron told Mr Netanyahu there was an “absolute need to distinguish terrorists from the population and to provide effective protection for civilians”, according to a summary of the conversation.

Mr Macron also reiterated “the importance of establishing an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire”.

It is not the first time the French president has made comments of this nature, having called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza earlier this month and saying he hoped the US and the UK would join him in appealing for a ceasefire.

How does one measure “excessive”? Does Macron have a number in mind? Is it purely mathematical? In our world of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DIE), is it a life for a life? Or does it include the goal of eradicating the existential terrorist threat presented by Hamas and its groupies in Gaza? When the terrorists build tunnels under hospitals and arranges to protect itself behind civilian human shields, does that somehow make those civilians off limits?

Besides, what do you say when 90 percent of the “civilians” support Hamas and its goals?

A new opinion poll released by the Ramallah-based Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD) revealed that the vast majority of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip support jihadist terrorism, and that Palestinians overwhelmingly approve of the October 7 slaughter in southern Israel that was carried out by Hamas.

The Palestinians support the most ferocious jihadi terrorist groups while having nothing but contempt for the United States and even Arab countries that had previously attempted to assist them.

The Al Qassam Brigades, which is supported by 89% of respondents, is the militant arm of Hamas. They are known for carrying out suicide bombing missions and terrorist attacks on civilians.

Islamic Jihad (known in the West as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or PIJ), the second most popular group with 84% approval, is a terrorist organization that operates in Gaza and Lebanon. Their operations also include suicide attacks and indiscriminate violence against civilians.

The Al Aqsa Brigades, which, like the two aforementioned groups, is best known for its suicide attacks, receives an 80% approval rating. They operate mostly in the West Bank.

Hamas comes in fourth place with 76%. In all likelihood, Hamas is taking a back seat to the above groups because they are not committed to enough carnage against Israelis and the greater Western world.

As Jordan Schachtel goes on to note, this poll is not an aberration, but quite in line with other surveys that show a lifetime of radicalization and hatred of Israel and the United States.

If you think “these poor innocent civilians” you’re gravely mistaken. They fully support what Hamas stands for, even if Hamas isn’t as vicious in their terrorism as, say, the Al Qassam Brigades.

I fully recognize that, even if the majority of the civilian population supports Hamas and the atrocities of October 7, that does not qualify them as combatants, per se. However, it puts the lie to the terror apologists who cry about all the “innocent” women and children and grandparents. These are not pure as the driven snow, peace-loving people who just happen to live in a semi-state run by terrorists. They not only voted to put Hamas in power, they support their campaign of terror against the Israeli state.

Unfortunately, that puts them at risk as “collateral damage,” as the war statisticians put it. As General William Tecumseh Sherman put it, “War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”

To that I would add, Don’t want none? Don’t start none.

Daily Broadside | Our Garbage Media Values “Sensational” Over Murderous Rampage

Circling back to the unfolding war in Israel—we learned yesterday that Gaza-based photojournalists working for CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, and The New York Times were embedded with Hamas during the October 7 slaughter.

You may ask yourself: how did the photojournalists know to meet the attackers early that morning as they accompanied them over the border into Israel? Did they know their assignment was to document a surprise raid on innocent Israelis? Did they let anyone know? If not, why not?

Here’s the scoop from Honest Reporting.

On October 7, Hamas terrorists were not the only ones who documented the war crimes they had committed during their deadly rampage across southern Israel. Some of their atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border area raises serious ethical questions.

What were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet Saturday morning? Was it coordinated with Hamas? Did the respectable wire services, which published their photos, approve of their presence inside enemy territory, together with the terrorist infiltrators? Did the photojournalists who freelance for other media, like CNN and The New York Times, notify these outlets? Judging from the pictures of lynching, kidnapping and storming of an Israeli kibbutz, it seems like the border has been breached not only physically, but also journalistically.

Four names appear on AP’s photo credits from the Israel-Gaza border area on October 7: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.

Eslaiah, a freelancer who also works for CNN, crossed into Israel, took photos of a burning Israeli tank, and then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza.

[…]

Reuters has published pictures from two photojournalists who also happened to be at the border just in time for Hamas’ infiltration: Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih.

They both took pictures of a burning Israeli tank on the Israeli side of the border, but Abu Mustafa went further: He took photos of a lynch mob brutalizing the body of an Israeli soldier who was dragged out of the tank.

Reuters was kind enough to add a graphic warning to the photo caption, but it didn’t prevent editors from shamelessly labeling it as one of the “Images of the Day” on their editorial database.

It seems that the photojournalists knew the attack was coming and participated in it—and then the mainstream media bought the photos.

As if to underscore how closely aligned these “photojournalists” are with the enemy, here’s one of them literally embracing Hamas.

You can’t trust the mainstream media. They’re part of the Left and the mouthpiece of the Democrats. They no longer function as a check on government. They function as an extension of government.

What else do you suppose that they photographed?

Daily Broadside | Anti-Semitism Raises Its Ugly Head in The US and Kills A Jewish Man

On Sunday Michael Brown wrote at The Stream:

I am urging you. I am pleading with you. I am imploring you. Wake up! The irrational hatred of the Jewish people and the demonizing of Israel is reaching proportions so dangerous that if people of conscience do not stand up, speak out, and push back, Jewish blood will start flowing in America, England, and many other countries around the world. Wake up!

When Muslims in Sydney Australia are chanting, “Gas the Jews” you know that violence is near.

When Jewish students at a university here in America have to hide in a library in fear for their lives, you know that violence is near.

When Jewish children in Germany are afraid to go to school and parents warn their children not to wear the Star of David in public you know that violence is near.

When I post an image of the Israeli flag on Facebook and draw comments like, “Children killer. Hospital bombers” you know that violence is near.

When a BBC headline reads, “British Jews are ‘full of fear, like I’ve never seen before’,” you know that violence is near.

When Rep. Rashida Tlaib can post a 2024 election warning to President Biden, featuring crowds chanting “From the river to the sea” – meaning, no more State of Israel – you know that violence is near.

Wake up!

What I think he was referring to is the possibility of full-on worldwide Jewish persecution like the Holocaust under Adolph Hitler in World War II. I don’t think he was thinking his prophetic words would be fulfilled that very day—in America, of all places.

A 69-year-old man demonstrating in support of Israel died Nov. 6 after sustaining a head injury during a fight with a pro-Palestinian protester at a weekend rally in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

This is the only report I’ve found that says Mr. Kessler’s injuries were the result of “a fight.”

The Ventura County medical examiner has ruled Paul Kessler’s death a homicide, and the county sheriff’s office has not ruled out a hate crime. Mr. Kessler was Jewish, according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.

Officials say Mr. Kessler was attending the rally Sunday afternoon when he became involved in an altercation with a counter-protester who was demonstrating nearby at a pro-Palestinian event.

Below I link to a post from Red State reporting that the pro-Palestinian protestor who assaulted Kessler was led to the corner where Kessler was counter-protesting on behalf of Israel. in other words, this wasn’t the chance encounter of two groups meshing in the same spot.

The incident happened at the intersection of Westlake Boulevard and Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Ventura County.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office responded to the altercation after several citizens called 9-1-1 to report a battery at about 3:20 p.m.

Deputies arrived to find Mr. Kessler suffering from a head injury. Witnesses told police he fell backwards during the fight and struck his head on the ground. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries Monday, the sheriff’s office reported.

The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Mr. Kessler died from blunt-force head injury, according to the sheriff’s office.

Here’s a clip of Mr. Kessler lying on the ground after the assault and LE had arrived.

Over at Red State there’s a more in-depth report with several videos.

During the November 5 protest, eyewitnesses say that [a known agitator] led an older gentleman over to the corner with the Shell station (across from where the bulk of the pro-Hamas faction were located), to where Mr. Kessler was, as if he was pointing Kessler out to the older gentleman.

The pro-Hamas faction were located on the southwest corner of the intersection, in front of Paul Martin’s American Grill.

Eyewitnesses, who have shared this information and their photos and videos, say the attack happened within five minutes of the time the agitators went to the corner where Kessler was. The eyewitness doesn’t have video of the moment the attack occurred, but says that the gray-haired, bearded man in khaki pants is the man who confronted Kessler then hit him in the head with the bullhorn.

The man who allegedly assaulted Mr. Kessler is the heavyset guy in the blue-ish shirt below. He apparently called 9-1-1 and was cooperative with authorities. And while there’s no video of the incident made public (yet) the report in Robby Starbuck’s post says police have seized his phone.

In the screengrab the alleged assailant stands with an officer as Mr. Kessler is prepped inside the ambulance for transport to the hospital. The man is reportedly “a college professor and ardent Muslim.”

Mr. Kessler’s death has been ruled a homicide, which means it was caused by another person. Whether or not it will become a “murder” has yet to be determined. In ultra-liberal California, it’s anybody’s guess.

So now we have the death of a Jewish man in the streets of America. It’s happened before, but not in an environment as hostile as this one. We’ve imported thousands of Middle Eastern Muslim Arabs and Palestinians who are doing what they do in every country they inhabit: agitate and protest in a mob that demands the death of the ultimate Out-Group: the Jews.

#DiversityIsOurStrength

And don’t forget that after the Jews, it’s the Christians. You may want to heed Dr. Brown’s warning:

In light of all this, and with tremendous urgency in my spirit, I urge every person of conscience, every lover of justice, everyone who fears and honors God.

Please, today, speak out against the demonization of Israel and the Jewish people.

Categorically denounce Hamas and distance yourself from those who support Hamas (and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and the rest of these terrorist groups).

[…]

But without hesitation and without shame, you must raise your voice in support of Israel and the Jewish people now, letting the haters know that when they come against Israel, they are coming against you. It really is a matter of life and death.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem—and for peace here in the United States.

Daily Broadside | “First the Saturday People, Then the Sunday People.” Why Israel Must Defeat Hamas

Circling back to the issue of Israel and Hamas, Bibi Netanyahu announced that Israel, after three weeks of preparation, has entered the “second stage” of their plan to wipe out Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday announced that his forces have entered the “second stage” of its war with the terrorist group Hamas, calling the fight a “second War of Independence.” 

“The war inside the Gaza Strip will be long and difficult, and we are prepared for it,” Netanyahu said during a press conference in the evening, local time. “This is our second War of Independence.”

“We will fight for the defense of the homeland,” he continued. “We will fight and not retreat. We will fight on land, sea and in the air. We will destroy the enemy above ground, and underground. We will fight and win.”

I, for one, am glad to hear his resolve. There can be no waffling on whether or not to destroy Hamas. They are a recognized terrorist organization. They committed unspeakable atrocities on October 7 against innocent, civilians.

Hamas is inhuman, bestial, barbaric, cruel, brutish, primative, unrestrained, unrepentant, savage, sadistic. There can be no quarter taken, and none can be given.

Of course the usual suspects are calling for a cease-fire.

Netanyahu spoke at the end of a difficult week for Israel, with more discussion and frustration on both sides of the conflict as some world leaders called for a humanitarian pause or a ceasefire. The United Nations voted on several motions and passed one calling for a ceasefire, which Israel outright rejected and labeled “despicable.” 

The UN was founded in the wake of the Holocaust. If I had my way, the U.S. would withdraw from the UN and kick them out of our country. They’ve outlived their usefulness.

Fortunately, Bibi stood firm.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu flatly rejected calls for a cease-fire in comments to the press on Monday.

Netanyahu compared the October 7 massacre by Hamas to the Pearl Harbor and 9-11 attacks on the U.S., saying Israel is equally justified in retaliating against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. He went on to say that Israel will continue its war against Hamas “until victory.”

“Calls for a cease-fire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen,” Netanyahu said.

“Ladies and gentlement, the Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war. A war for our common future,” he continued. “Today we draw a line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism. It is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory. I hope and pray that civilized nations everywhere will back this fight.”

Israeli forces entered the second stage of their conflict with Hamas this week, greatly expanding ground operations within the Gaza strip. Military officials have warned that the war will be long and difficult.

I agree with him that this is a time for war — against a savage, primative death cult that wants no less than the eradication of the Jews and of Israel as a nation. You can’t reason with fanatical, irrational, ideologically-blinded hatred.

Hamas and some portion of their civilian population hate Israel so much that they won’t let their own people out of Gaza. Israel has been warning the people in the north of Gaza to leave, to move south. But Hamas wants to make “martyrs” of them all: young, old, men, women, children. All for the glory of dying in service to Allah. When I say it’s a death cult, I mean it.

And if you think this is just a “Jewish” problem, you might want to think again. An Islamist slogan is “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.” First they destroy the Jews, then they destroy all the Christians. Israel is the “Little Satan” (Jews) but the United States is the “Great Satan” (the Christians).

They are coming for us. As the last three weeks have demonstrated, there are plenty of them in our country due to our insane immigration policies and our open southern border. Don’t think there isn’t great hatred just waiting for its moment to strike.

After the Holocaust, the world declared “Never Again.” Unbelievably, we are at a moment when that declaration is being stress-tested.

The intent of the Islamic jihadists is clear and Hamas is the most high-profile expression of it at the moment, just as ISIS was a decade ago. If you stand for “never again,” as I do, you understand why Isreal can’t dialogue with people like this. You must take the fight to them, destroy them and make sure that any survivors never forget “never again.”

Daily Broadside | Incisive Analysis About ME Conflict with “Tucker on X”

A short post this morning as I am running behind on some other priorities. Nonetheless, I can’t recommend strongly enough that you take some time to listen to Tucker’s conversation with Col. Douglas Macgregor about the situation in the Middle East and its threat to the U.S. He covers how this conflict will likely become not just a regional war but a World War, our economic and military weakness, and how our open southern border has placed us at tremendous risk.

Daily Broadside | The Situation in the Middle East is Volatile

Is the current eruption of violence and conflict in the Middle East a prelude to World War III?

The United States sees the prospect of a significant escalation in attacks on its troops in the Middle East and of Iran seeking to widen the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group, the top U.S. diplomat and defense officials said on Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the United States did not want to see the conflict spread and that recent U.S. deployments to the region were designed to prevent this.

“This is not what we want, not what we’re looking for. We don’t want escalation,” Mr. Blinken told NBC News on Sunday. “We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it.”

Of course, no one can predict the future except God. But there are great risks with the coming fight in Gaza. Israel has already warned both Hezbollah and their state-sponsor Iran to stay out of it.

Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the country had increased airstrikes across Gaza to hit targets that would reduce the risk to troops in the next stage of the war.

Fears of a widening war grew as Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants.

Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah militants since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in northern Israel that if Hezbollah launches a war, “it will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state will be devastating.”

[…]

Israel repeated its calls for people to leave northern Gaza, including by dropping leaflets from the air. It estimated 700,000 have already fled. But hundreds of thousands remain. That would raise the risk of mass civilian casualties in any ground offensive.

Israeli military officials say Hamas’ infrastructure and underground tunnels are concentrated in Gaza City, in the north, and that the next stage of the offensive will include unprecedented force there. Israel says it wants to crush Hamas. Officials have also spoken of carving out a buffer zone to keep Palestinians from approaching the border, though they have given no details.

“Unprecedented force.” That means ratcheting up the power of the munitions and engaging in curb-stomping violence. Israel has also been attacking in Syria to prevent engagement there.

Syrian state media, meanwhile, reported that Israeli airstrikes hit the international airports in the capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo, killing one person and putting the runways out of service.

Israel has carried out several strikes in Syria since the war began. Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but says it acts to prevent Hezbollah and other militants from bringing in arms from Iran, which also supports Hamas.

And if Iran refuses to stand down?

Israel last night vowed to cut off ‘the head of the snake’ and launch a military attack against Iran if Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah joins the war.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Nir Barkat, Israel’s Minister of Economy, warned that Iran’s Ayatollahs will be ‘wiped off the face of the earth’ should Hezbollah, their proxy terror group in Lebanon, attack Israel.

His incendiary comments raise the grave spectre of a rapidly escalating regional conflict and come ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to ‘annihilate’ Hamas.

How could Israel wipe Iran off the face of the earth?

Nuclear weapons, my friends.

Israel has a three-stage plan for their war on Hamas.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant laid out Israel’s war aims in three stages while speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Friday.

The war against Hamas was unavoidable and a “war of no choice,” Gallant told the committee members.

He went on to give an overview of the army’s operations so far, before presenting his strategic aims for the war, which will be reached in three stages.

“We are in the first phase, in which a military campaign is taking place with [air]strikes and later with a [ground] maneuver with the purpose of destroying operatives and damaging infrastructure in order to defeat and destroy Hamas,” Gallant said.

“The second phase will be an intermediate phase, continuing the fighting at a lower intensity and eliminating pockets of resistance.”

“The third phase will be the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for daily life there, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel and the residents of the surrounding area,” Gallant explained.

Big changes are coming both there, and potentially here in America. We’re already seeing a surge in Jewish citizens arming themselves.

Firearm instructors and Jewish security groups across the country say they have been flooded with new clientele since Hamas assaulted Israel on Oct. 7. And gun shop owners in Florida say they have seen more Jews purchase firearms in recent weeks than ever before. 

“We’ve definitely seen a tremendous increase in religious Jewish people, Orthodox people, purchasing firearms,” said David Kowalsky, who owns Florida Gun Store in the town of Hollywood, and also offers firearms training classes. “I’ve seen a surge in interest in individual training as well as group training.”

For those of you who cheered the ouster of a president who kept us out of any new wars because of his MeAn TwEeTs, congratulations on your choice. Your adults are back in charge, baby!

Daily Broadside | Where Is the Earth-Shattering Ka-Boom?

That about sums it up for me as I wait for the Israeli offensive against the medieval barbarian bloodsoaked Jew-hating terrorists in the Gaza strip. Where the heck is the earth-shattering Ka-Boom!?

Speaking from her home in Israel, Glick said, “We are in danger of losing … sovereign control over our military.”

She then presented what sources told her really happened when secretary of state Tony Blinken met with Israel’s war cabinet on Monday.

“From what came out of the meeting, Tony Blinken wasn’t trying to help Israel at all. What he was doing was demanding that Israel enable resupply to Gaza, the euphemism of which is ‘humanitarian aid.’” She continued to say that Blinken threatened to withhold American war materiel from Israel, such as bunker buster bombs and regular ordinance.

And Israel didn’t just decide to invite Biden. His administration demanded that Israel invite him, she said, adding, “I don’t know; ask his presidential campaign.”

While Israel’s forces have been being held in limbo at the Gaza border, those charged with carrying out the mission began demanding they be allowed to go in. They cited difficulties in maintaining the readiness and morale of troops as well as a loss of the momentum they had after the October 7 massacre. Glick said that lapse in time also allowed the international media to turn on Israel. “We have all these Hamas supporters throughout the Western world who are feeling empowered, and not unreasonably given the backing they’re receiving from the media.”

Most disturbingly, Glick said commanders at the southern border were told, “We can’t do anything until Biden leaves. So that Biden is literally acting as a human shield for Hamas — so long as he hasn’t arrived yet, and hasn’t left yet, their terror state is going to be free from invasion.”

Our own illegitimate junta, installed by the anti-American institutions in our country, is undermining Israel’s resolve to decapitate Hamas. Our own United States’ extreme leftist political Marxist administration is protecting Hamas, not Israel.

What a humiliation for us. What a humiliation for Israel.

She continued to stress that demands to get humanitarian aid to Gaza are demands to resupply Hamas because they control every person and inch of land in Gaza…

Making matters worse, the U.S. said they would supply Israel with the bombs, but they weren’t allowed to use them against the missile launching sites — i.e., the UNRWA schools and hospitals.

It is well known that “Hamas military headquarters have been, for years, located under Shifa Hospital,” Glick said.

What Glick described about Blinken’s demands amounted to extortion: if Israel didn’t open up a humanitarian corridor — i.e., allow Hamas to be resupplied — the U.S. wouldn’t provide the bunker buster bombs and the ordinance for Israel’s fighter jets. Without those things, IDF ground forces would likely be slaughtered like the victims of October 7.

Adding insult to injury, Glick’s sources said the U.S. told Israel they weren’t allowed to “open up a war” with Lebanon despite being bombed from Hezb’allah in the north…

In a rare emotional monologue, she pointed out what we’ve known all along: the United States has been arming and funding the enemies of Israel.  (Glick doesn’t gloss over Obama’s contribution to this mess, either.)

So much for a strong alliance with the only democracy in the Middle East. So much for blunting Iran’s hegemony in the region. As J.J. Sefton wrote in a similar post yesterday, “‘We fully stand behind Israel’ Joey Sponge-Brain S***s-Pants declared without a dementia freeze. Yeah, Biden is standing behind Israel ready to shove it off a cliff.”

You know why? Because the Biden administration is saturated with pro-Iranian officials left over from the Obama administration. And not only that, there are actual Iranian spies that have been “discovered” in this administration.

The Biden administration’s now-suspended Iran envoy Robert Malley helped to fund, support, and direct an Iranian intelligence operation designed to influence the United States and allied governments, according to a trove of purloined Iranian government emails. The emails, which were reported on by veteran Wall Street Journal correspondent Jay Solomon, writing in Semafor, and by Iran International, the London-based émigré opposition outlet which is the most widely read independent news source inside Iran, were published last week after being extensively verified over a period of several months by the two outlets. They showed that Malley had helped to infiltrate an Iranian agent of influence named Ariane Tabatabai into some of the most sensitive positions in the U.S. government—first at the State Department and now the Pentagon, where she has been serving as chief of staff for the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, Christopher Maier.

We’ve allowed men and women who are infected with an anti-American and pro-Islamic values to not only infiltrate but wholly govern United States policy toward the East. This, my friends, IS NOT WHO WE ARE, to borrow a phrase.

But it’s what we’ve become.

While Israel waits for Brandon to stumble up the stairs of Air Force One and get his ice cream before being tucked into bed for the flight home, Hamas has had time to regroup, spread out the hostages, and exfiltrate any leaders they want to survive the expected Israeli onslaught to Iran. Iran has had time to position its proxies in Lebanon and Syria, and prepare itself to attack should it think Israel goes too far.

The analysts are right — Israel has lost the momentum, doubts have begun to creep in, the adrenaline has ebbed, and the enemy has had time to dig in.

Maybe by the time you read this, the assault has begun. Maybe not.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Have a good weekend.