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Saturday, August 2, 2025

How Europe could prolong Israel-Hamas war by recognizing a Palestinian state - Steven Richards

by Steven Richards

Hamas leaders are likely to be emboldened to carry on fighting by French and British proposals to recognize a Palestinian state in a break with Trump.

Frustrated by the deadlocked peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and seeing the chances of a two-state solution slipping away, several European countries led by the United Kingdom and France have now promised to recognize an independent Palestinian state to reaffirm their commitment to a permanent settlement.

However, far from encouraging a ceasefire in the conflict that has raged in the Gaza Strip for nearly two years, European efforts will only encourage Hamas to continue fighting, prolonging the conflict that has devastated Gaza, Trump administration officials and experts warn.

“You’re rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don’t think they should be rewarded,” President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One earlier this week while returning from a trip to Scotland.

Trump also previously criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s July 24 vow to officially recognize a Palestinian state while downplaying the impact that European countries would have on the ongoing ceasefire and hostage negotiations, saying it wouldn't “change anything.”

“The president expressed his displeasure and his disagreement with the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing Thursday. “He feels as though that’s rewarding Hamas at a time where Hamas is the true impediment to a ceasefire and to the release of all of the hostages.”

France and Britain, erstwhile global powers that have declined in importance under the American security umbrella, nevertheless hold some weight in the Middle East, a region previously colonized by the two countries following the First World War. Both countries have long advocated for a two-state solution, a proposal that would see an independent Israel and Palestine coexist alongside one another as homelands for their respective peoples.

But the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which is a designated terrorist group in the United States, has brutalized the notion that a peaceful coexistence is within immediate reach. Despite attempts by the United States to mediate a hostage rescue and ceasefire, negotiations between the sides have stalled, with no end to the conflict in sight.

Both the French and the British argue that moving to formally recognize a State of Palestine in the coming months – teaming up with Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab states – is important for charting a path forward for a post-conflict Gaza and West Bank that preserves the dream of a two-state solution.

“[The] prospect of two states, whose rights are recognized and respected, is in mortal danger,” said French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot at a United Nations conference on the Palestinian issue July 28.

“It is threatened by the barbaric attack of 7 October,” it is “Threatened by the unprecedented savagery and cruelty that Hamas terrorists unleashed,” and “Threatened by the shameful fate of the hostages who are still being held,” continued Barrot, referring to Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.

But, it is also “threatened by the indefinite prolongation of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, launched in turn, which have long since ceased to have any military or political justification,” Barrot added, placing blame on Israel for mass displacement of Gazan civilians, destroyed places of worship, schools, hospitals and poor distribution of humanitarian aid.

The two-state solution “is about to give way to perpetual confrontation,” he also said. “That is something that France simply cannot resign itself to.”

The following day, United Kingdom Prime Minister Kier Starmer echoed the French minister, warning that a permanent peace settlement between the two sides is “under threat” by the ongoing conflict.

Starmer vowed that the United Kingdom would recognize an independent Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly meeting in September if the Israelis and Hamas do not make meaningful progress towards a ceasefire that includes Hamas releasing hostages, Israel increasing access to humanitarian aid, and Israel agreeing to commit to “a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a Two-State Solution.”

But, President Trump and his diplomatic officials have pushed back on this Europe-led effort to recognize a Palestinian state, characterizing it as unproductive at best and a gift to Hamas at worst. Ultimately, they view the European effort as more likely to prolong the conflict rather than bring about a peaceful outcome.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the decision to recognize a Palestinian state later this year if no ceasefire is reached only encourages Hamas to obstruct any negotiations in the meantime.

“If Hamas refuses to agree to a ceasefire, it guarantees a Palestinian state will be recognized by all these countries in September,” Rubio said in an interview on Fox News Radio on Thursday. “So they’re not going to agree to a ceasefire. I mean, it’s so clumsy.”

By threatening to recognize a Palestinian state to spur peace negotiations, France and Britain are placing pressure on the wrong party. According to the Trump administration, Hamas is the main party stalling negotiations, while Israel has shown a willingness to make concessions to achieve a ceasefire.

David May, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who focuses his research on Israel and Palestine, told Just the News that “Hamas will only compromise when it feels intense pressure and when it thinks that continued fighting would present an existential danger to the group” because the group is primarily motivated by destruction of the Israeli state.

“Almost immediately after European support for recognizing a Palestinian state started dominating headlines, Hamas began changing agreed-upon ceasefire terms and introducing new demands,” May said. “When Europe places all the demands on Israel and doesn’t condition them on requirements of Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist group just has to sit back and let European pressure do the work for it.”

The day after French President Macron vowed to recognize a Palestinian state, ceasefire and hostage negotiations with Hamas broke down over what the United States said was Hamas’s unwillingness to negotiate. The United States and Israel announced they were pulling out of the talks with Hamas because the American president said the group “didn't want to make a deal.”

“I think they want to die. And it's very bad. And it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job,” President Trump told reporters. Trump’s chief negotiator Steve Witkoff also blamed Hamas for the breakdown.

It is unclear whether the terror group was made aware of the French president’s announcement before it submitted the latest ceasefire proposal, which was unacceptable to the Israeli and U.S. negotiators.

Nevertheless, the European support for a Palestinian state appears to have emboldened the group. Hamas later praised the French and British promises of Palestinian recognition, even though both countries said that it would be unacceptable for the terror group to remain in control of the Gaza Strip.

“Any effort made at the international level to support our Palestinian people and their legitimate rights is appreciated and welcomed,” Hamas said in a statement. The group also demanded the “unconditional recognition” of a Palestinian state, the New York Times reported.

May said that the European intervention would end up having the “opposite effect” from what they intended.

“Rather than empowering moderate Palestinians, as the Europeans hope would happen, it would have the opposite effect,” May said. “Not only is there no credible moderate Palestinian leadership, this action as a result of a war Hamas started would prove to the Palestinians that they can only achieve independence through violence, and Hamas will be crowned as the deliverer of Palestinian statehood.”

Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/diplomacy/how-europe-prolongs-war-recognizing-palestinian-state

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Democrats, Israel, and Trump Derangement Syndrome - Stephen Soukup

by Stephen Soukup

The left’s hatred of Trump—and now Israel—runs so deep, it’s willing to abandon decades of principle just to spite its enemies.

A long time ago, long before he self-radicalized and became a parody of himself, Peter Beinart was the young liberal who wanted to save liberalism. Beinart was still in his twenties when he took the helm of the flagship journal of progressivism, The New Republic, and began speaking and writing about recreating the positive, muscular, America-loving liberalism of the post-war era. In 2004, Beinart penned a long essay for his magazine titled “A Fighting Faith,” in which he articulated the ideas that would become the foundation of the book, The Good Fight: Why Liberals—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again.

Although most of Beinart’s case—in the article and the book—was based on what he saw as the inherent righteousness of American liberalism, the underlying premise was that “conservative” leaders simply couldn’t win the war. Part of this was a flaw in conservatism itself, its practices and tactics, but another part of it was the belief that the conservative administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney had squandered the world’s good faith and no longer possessed the moral authority necessary to shepherd the West to victory over the forces of radical Islam.

Although Beinart didn’t intend it as such, his case for liberal leadership in the War on Terror became a corollary to Charles Krauthammer’s theory of “Bush Derangement Syndrome.” The late, great Krauthammer described BDS as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush,” and used it to explain how otherwise moderate or sane people (usually Democrats) came to detest everything George W. Bush said or did, even if they knew, in their heart of hearts, that he was right. Because BDS was especially prevalent in connection with the War on Terror, Beinart’s theory that only a “liberal” could win that war became something of a truism. The left and the media (I know, I know…) would never allow Bush—or any conservative—to win the war because of their irrational hatred of him (them). As a result, if the war were ever to be won, a liberal would have to do it.

In short, then, the unified Beinart-Krauthammer theory held—accurately and with little credible opposition—that leftist irrationality and hatred of George Bush made the War on Terror essentially unwinnable. The left’s hatred was more powerful than any instinct it might have to do the right thing.

It’s worth keeping all of this in mind today, as the Democratic Party slowly but surely abandons its support for the state of Israel.

The other day, Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the innumerable self-proclaimed moral consciences of his party, took to the floor of the Senate to discuss the horrors being committed in Gaza. Sanders, who has long at least feigned support for Israel, finally broke bad on his fellow Jews and demanded that the United States intervene to stop the starvation of Palestinians by the Israelis. Of course, Sanders, being a dupe, used a widely debunked and intentionally deceptive image of a child with muscular dystrophy to represent the starving children of Gaza. Because, of course, he did. The supporters of the “famine” theory of Israeli genocide know full well that they can’t use photos of typical Gazan children to make their case. So, of course, they use photos of atypical children, passing them off as something they’re not. In fact, when The New York Times published the same photo Sanders used, it purposely cropped it so that it didn’t show his perfectly normal and healthy-looking brother, which would have spoiled the contrived narrative.

Unfortunately, Sanders is hardly alone in turning against Israel. In fact, at the moment, he is very much in line with his fellow partisans. As the inimitable Seth Mandel recently put it, “In the Democratic Party, the winds are only blowing in one direction: against the Jewish state. And they are not leaving much standing in their wake.”

It is inarguable that some of the Democrats’ newfound antipathy to Israel is driven by ideology and fear. Leftism in America has been overrun by cultural and intellectual insanity, which has made the radical Palestinians a cause célèbre, despite its dreadfulness. As I put it in these pages not long ago:

Edward Said took the frustration and resentment of the Palestinian people and legitimized it. He gave it intellectual heft and justified any response they might have to the Israelis, no matter how horrific. In the words of his puppet, Yasser Arafat, he made their struggle, whatever form it might take, “legitimate and just.” He gave the green light to Arafat and his successors in Hamas to do as they wished to their “oppressors.” And just as important, he convinced the intellectuals of the West to hate the “oppressors” as well…. There is a sickness at the heart of the Palestinian “struggle,” but it is a sickness that is shared by many in the West who profess to be on the side of the angels.

Given this, and given the pervasiveness of this sickness among young, well-educated Democratic voters, Democratic officials have made a craven decision to put their electoral prospects above Israel and this nation’s support for it. Democrats like Bernie Sanders are being pressured to oppose Israel by voters they hope to court. This, in a nutshell, is the reason the Founders created a republic, not a democracy (and why the 17th Amendment is a disaster). The institutions of government should have the wherewithal to resist the passions of the masses, especially their destructive passions.

All of that said, a final, and increasingly important, reason for the Democrats’ opposition to Israel is the Beinart-Krauthammer unified theory, updated and amplified exponentially for the Trump era. In part, Democrats today oppose Israel and the Israelis specifically because Donald Trump supports them. They can’t help themselves. They supported Ukraine overwhelmingly and immediately, in part because they associated Russia with Trump (falsely, it now appears). They opposed the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities—despite support for the policy from a majority of Democratic voters—because Trump was the one who took action. They oppose the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants—despite support for the policy from a majority of Democratic voters—because Trump supports it. They oppose cutting waste and fraud from the federal budget—again, despite support for the policy from a majority of Democratic voters—because Trump supports it. And on and on it goes. If Trump’s for it, they’re against it—and vice versa.

Or to put it more bluntly, the left’s hatred is more powerful than any instinct it might have to do the right thing, even if it had been doing the right thing for decades before.

The conventional wisdom on the Right is that Trump is blessed to have the unthinkingly reactionary opponents he has. That may be true, but others—namely, the Israelis—are cursed by the fact that Trump has those opponents. Their Trump Derangement Syndrome is putting Israel’s existence at risk.

Stephen Soukup

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/08/02/democrats-israel-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/

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Zamir: IDF will soon know if hostage deal possible or Gaza war must intensify - JNS Staff

by JNS Staff

"The achievements you have made provide us with operational flexibility," the IDF chief told soldiers in the Strip.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (center) holds a situational assessment in the Gaza Strip, Aug. 1, 2025. Credit: IDF.

The Israel Defense Forces will soon know whether a deal to recover the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza is possible or whether the military campaign will need to intensify, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Friday.

“I think that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages. If not, the combat will continue without rest,” he said during a situational assessment in Strip.

“We will adapt it to the changing reality according to our interests—the achievements you have made provide us with operational flexibility,” he told soldiers in the Strip.

Zamir also said that accusations of deliberate starvation in Gaza are a calculated and deceptive attempt to falsely portray the IDF as committing war crimes, stressing that responsibility for the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave lies with Hamas.

“As part of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots,’ you have achieved impressive and unprecedented accomplishments. Wherever you operated, you defeated the enemy and systematically struck terrorist infrastructure, both above and below ground,” continued Zamir.

“We will persist and adapt, prepare properly, and act to maximize our advantages, reduce operational vulnerabilities and wear, and place Hamas under increasing pressure,” he said.

A delegation led by President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee went into the Strip on Friday to inspect aid efforts at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site in Rafah, the U.S. envoy announced.

Witkoff Huckabee in Gaza — Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff visit an aid site of the U.S.-funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, southern Gaza, Aug. 1, 2025. Credit: U.S. Embassy Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday with Witkoff, who is visiting Israel for the first time since May. The meeting came days after the collapse of indirect ceasefire negotiations between Jerusalem and Hamas in Qatar.

Palestinian terrorists are currently holding 50 hostages—49 of whom were taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of the western Negev, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 kidnapped and taken to Gaza. According to Israeli estimates, 20 of the captives are alive.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Thursday that “the fastest way to end the humanitarian crises in Gaza is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages!!!”

On July 24, Witkoff said that the United States would examine “alternative options” to bring home the captives, as Hamas “does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.”

Netanyahu said on July 25 that “Steve Witkoff got it right. Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal. Together with our U.S. allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.”

Witkoff’s visit comes as international pressure regarding the Gaza situation intensifies, with Canada following France and the United Kingdom in announcing, on Wednesday, its intention to recognize a Palestinian state in September.

Israel and the United States have rejected these moves, characterizing them as a reward to Hamas.

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/zamir-idf-will-soon-know-if-hostage-deal-possible-or-gaza-war-must-intensify/

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Israeli military operation in Syria ‘not helpful,’ US envoy says - Mike Wagenheim

by Mike Wagenheim

Tom Barrack told reporters that Washington does not hold a “common understanding” with the Jewish state about how to move forward with the new Syrian government.

Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey, and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Syrian Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, May 2025. Credit: Ambassador Tom Barrack via Wikimedia Commons.

Israel’s military operation in Syria “complicates matters” and is “not helpful,” according to Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey, special envoy to Syria and a close friend of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said that Washington lacks a “common understanding” with the Jewish state on the right way to handle Syria, with the Trump administration aiming to guide Damascus to stability.

The Trump administration lifted sanctions that it had imposed on the government of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad and delisted Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, headed by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, over concerns from Jerusalem. Al-Sharaa is a designated U.S. terrorist, and HTS is a terror group formerly aligned with Al-Qaeda.

“In my opinion, Israel is not aggressive,” but Jerusalem’s actions in Syria are “not helpful” because “we do not have a common understanding,” Barrack told reporters.

Upon Assad’s exile, Israel immediately breached the demilitarized zone separating Israel and Syria to protect its border amid the geographical chaos. Jerusalem also carried out airstrikes to decimate the new government’s military capabilities.

In recent weeks, Israel intervened in a tribal clash between Druze and Bedouin, in which the Druze community of the southern Syrian city of Sweida suffered brutal murders and other assaults.

Fiercely protective of the Druze, who live on both sides of the Israeli-Syrian border, Israel struck Bedouins, Syrian government forces, the Syrian Defense Ministry and an area in the vicinity of the presidential palace before the U.S. government intervened.

Hosam Saraya, a U.S. citizen, was among those who were killed in the attacks on Sweida’s Druze. He and six of his relatives, whom the Oklahoma resident was visiting, were executed.

Barrack told reporters that the gunmen, who wore uniforms that resembled those of Syrian forces and who took part in killing Saraya, will be held accountable.

The Syrian government is cooperating with the FBI, as the latter investigates, according to Barrack.

“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” the envoy said. “The al-Sharaa government is cooperating fully and has indicated, as we have, that we’re going to find out who is accountable, and whoever is accountable is going to be punished.”

The FBI is attempting to identify the uniforms, primarily relying on a short video clip of the incident, he said.

Washington has broader, regional concerns and is trying to work with Turkey—an Israeli adversary—among other countries to bring about its goals for Syrian stability, according to Barrack.

“Israel is very sensitive about its borders right now,” he told reporters. “Syria does not want war with Israel.”

The envoy said that the Jewish state wants a clear line of sight through to Iran, without interference from countries along that path.

“They want a clean zone between themselves and Iran, consisting of reliable partners,” he said. “They want a view of Iran and say that no one will interfere with us from here to Iran.”

Barrack also described Turkey as “cooperating incredibly well,” and said that the Syrian government “is also cooperating incredibly well in accepting this help.”

There is a buffer zone of sorts between Turkey and the Syrian Druze, and one between Turkey and the Syrian Democratic Forces, Barrack said. For years, Washington backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, but it is now in limbo within the Trump administration’s regional strategy.

Mike Wagenheim

Source: https://www.jns.org/israeli-military-operation-in-syria-not-helpful-trump-envoy-says/

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GHF reaches milestone of 100 million meals delivered - JNS News

by JNS News

This “should serve as a call to action for other humanitarian groups, including the U.N., to step up and collaborate with us so that there is more aid for more people,” said John Acree, of GHF.

Aid readied for delivery to Gazans in 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced on Friday that it had reached a milestone of delivering 100 million total meals to Palestinians in Gaza since beginning operations roughly two months ago.

“Gaza is one of the most complex operating environments in the world, and we are very proud of the incredible work our dedicated team has accomplished while operating in a very dangerous and active war zone,” said Rev. Johnnie Moore, executive chairman of GHF.

“However, the milestone is bittersweet given the continued shortage of aid coming into Gaza from other humanitarian groups who either lack the ability to safely deliver it or the willingness to work with those who can,” he said.

John Acree, interim executive director of GHF, stated that, as the organization continues on its mission to feed the people of Gaza, this milestone “should serve as a call to action for other humanitarian groups, including the U.N., to step up and collaborate with us so that there is more aid for more people.”

“Together we can end the cycle of chaos and looting and ensure there is enough aid for all who need it, wherever they live in Gaza,” Acree stated.

JNS News

Source: https://www.jns.org/ghf-reaches-milestone-of-100-million-meals-delivered/

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Microsoft and the DOD’s Digital Escort Service: How in the World Did This Happen? - Thaddeus G. McCotter

by Thaddeus G. McCotter

Chinese engineers accessed Pentagon systems via Microsoft’s cloud—raising alarms over Big Tech’s ties to America’s top adversary.

“When it comes time to hang the capitalists, they will vie with each other for the rope contract.” While the statement has been variously (and erroneously) attributed to Lenin, Stalin, and Marx, the point remains as true today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow—if there is a tomorrow for free people and free markets.

In the wake of a disturbing ProPublica investigation, Microsoft executives and the United States Department of Defense (DOD) bureaucrats are busy trying to cover their butts and close the barn door on potential Chinese espionage by fixing the digital escort program. As CNBC reports, “Microsoft on Friday revised its practices to ensure that engineers in China no longer provide technical support to U.S. defense clients using the company’s cloud services.”

While it is too early to determine whether communist China has penetrated the DOD’s classified information stored in its cloud, it is high time to ask, “How in the world did this happen?”

Sure, it is a rhetorical question, but it is helpful to review yet again how the cozy confluence of American multinational corporatists, bureaucrats, and Chinese communists triangulates to imperil our national security.

To begin, a cursory sketch of the digital escort program, per Breitbart:

The ProPublica report revealed that Chinese-based Microsoft engineers had been helping maintain Defense Department computer systems, potentially exposing sensitive military data to cybersecurity risks. The report revealed that Microsoft’s Chinese Azure engineers were overseen by “digital escorts” in the U.S., who typically had less technical expertise than the employees they managed overseas.

Specifically, again per Breitbart:

A China-based Microsoft engineer submits a digital “ticket” to perform maintenance. A U.S.-based escort picks up the ticket. The two meet virtually, where the engineer relays commands for the escort to input into the federal cloud system, without the escort necessarily understanding the code. This provides an opening to potentially insert malicious code that goes undetected.

Allowing the people of communist China, where laws mandate that people of all walks of life—including tech— collude in its cyber espionage or else, access to our DOD systems sounds insane. And it is. But there is a cold, hard illogic at work: money.

Microsoft was afraid of falling behind its cloud storage competitors when the U.S. government began soliciting Big Tech corporations to handle its billions of dollars of business. Microsoft had a liability. No, it was not that Americans could not do the same work as the corporation’s Chinese workers; it was that the American workers were too expensive. What to do?

Enter the digital escort service.

Though having no qualms with discriminating against American workers because they cost too much, Microsoft applied a DEI-like rationalization that it would be wrong to distinguish based upon nationality between its roster of international employees.

Next, Microsoft convinced DOD bureaucrats that an American escort, who was likely abjectly untrained in detecting cyber espionage (if they were tasked with even looking for it), would suffice to protect American national security from the captive people of our avowed enemy.

Microsoft’s successful argument to the DOD bureaucrats? That’s because the DOD did not know the “provenance” of who from what country was working on many of their tech issues. Why should this case be any different?

Now, if you had responded by ensuring that the DOD knew every single one of the people working on its tech issues, you could never be a government bureaucrat. (Consider yourself blessed.)

But you could be the Secretary of Defense: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the architecture as ‘a legacy system created over a decade ago, during the Obama administration,’ and deemed it ‘obviously unacceptable, especially in today’s digital threat environment.’” The current DOD has vowed to “review its systems to identify any similar activities and take necessary actions to ensure the security of its cloud services.”

On its part, Microsoft “remain(s) committed to providing the most secure services possible to the US government, including working with our national security partners to evaluate and adjust our security protocols as needed.” Is this a case of them having an epiphany about protecting national security? Perhaps, but it is undoubtedly also concerned about market share: “This change primarily affects Microsoft’s Azure cloud services division, which analysts estimate generates more than 25 percent of the company’s revenue, making it larger than Google Cloud but smaller than Amazon Web Services.”

There is no indication that the communist Chinese regime intends to cease its cyber espionage against the United States.

It is unknown if Microsoft and the DOD are closing the barn door on communist China’s cyber espionage in time. What is known is that the continuing and chummy relationship between America’s Big Tech and government bureaucrats in the face of communist China’s unrestricted warfare augurs ill for our national security, though it does bode well for those selling the rope to hang us all.

In the short run, anyway.

***

An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional district from 2003–2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.

Thaddeus G. McCotter

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/08/02/microsoft-and-the-dods-digital-escort-service-how-in-the-world-did-this-happen/

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France halts program relocating Gazans after admitting Palestinian who said, ‘kill all the Jews’ - JNS

by JNS

“Hamas propagandists have no place in our country,” said Bruno Retailleau, France’s interior minister.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., May 1 2025. Credit: Freddie Everett/U.S. State Department.

France suspended a program to relocate Gaza refugees on Friday pending an investigation into how the country admitted a Palestinian woman, who made social media posts about wanting to “kill all the Jews.”

Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s foreign minister, told Franceinfo radio in an interview on Friday that “no evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn the consequences of this investigation.”

“All those who entered France will be subject to a new check following the flaws in the security screening,” Barrot said, adding that the offender “has no place in France” and would be deported.

French officials have not identified the woman, but unconfirmed screenshots of a now-deleted social media account show Nour Atalla, 25, of Gaza, re-posting a video of Adolf Hitler with the caption “kill the Jews everywhere. I don’t want a Jewish lineage on this earth. You must kill them before they kill you.”

Atalla had reportedly been accepted to Sciences Po Lille university but has now been expelled.

France has accepted about 600 Gazans into the country since Oct. 7 in a program that focuses on taking in teachers and students from the coastal enclave.

France’s interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, called Atalla’s posts “unacceptable and concerning.”

“I immediately requested the closure of this hateful account and instructed the prefect to refer the matter to the judiciary,” Retailleau wrote. “Hamas propagandists have no place in our country.”

JNS

Source: https://www.jns.org/france-halts-gaza-evacuation-program-after-palestinian-posts-kill-all-the-jews/

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Hamas terrorists seen surrendering to IDF troops in Gaza - JNS Staff

by JNS Staff

Several enemy gunmen emerged from a tunnel shaft with their hands over their heads, after their plan to flee the area failed.

Israeli soldiers in Beit Hanoun, the northern Gaza Strip. Credit: IDF.

Hamas terrorists surrendered to Israeli soldiers during an IDF operation in the Beit Hanoun area of northeastern Gaza, the military said on Saturday.

Troops from the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Combat Team, operating under the 162nd Armored Division, identified several terrorists emerging from a tunnel shaft earlier in the day.

In footage released by the IDF, the terrorists were seen exiting an underground shaft wearing nothing but underwear. They placed their hands over their heads and turned themselves in to the troops.

The soldiers questioned them on the spot, learning that the terrorists had planned to flee after another terrorist who was with them in the tunnel died in a clash with IDF soldiers, the army said.

The prisoners disclosed information about a nearby weapons cache and led the troops to it, the military added.

“Numerous weapons were seized at the site, including vests, magazines, grenades and firearms. Inside the tunnel, equipment for prolonged stays was found—food, water and hygiene supplies,” the IDF said.

The Hamas gunmen were transferred for further interrogation by security forces, the weapons found were confiscated, and the tunnel is now being examined by combat engineering units operating in the area.

תיעוד מיוחד מבית חאנון: מחבלים בחמאס נכנעים ללוחמי צק״ח גבעתי שמכריעים את גדוד בית חאנון

היום, פעלו לוחמי צוות הקרב החטיבתי של גבעתי, בפיקוד אוגדה 162, במרחב בית חאנון שבצפון רצועת עזה.

במהלך הפעילות, זיהו הלוחמים מספר מחבלים שיצאו מתוך פיר מנהרה במרחב, המחבלים נכנעו לכוחות… pic.twitter.com/UTTCgs06iQ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 2, 2025

Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion, which posed a threat to Kibbutz Nir Am and the city of Sderot, “has surrendered and is being defeated by Givati Brigade forces,” the IDF said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz tweeted: “Hamas terrorists are surrendering in Beit Hanoun. They emerge from the tunnels into the devastated city.” He added that the military was destroying its enemies above and below ground.

Also on Saturday, the IDF announced that it killed terrorist Salah al-Din Za’atra, the deputy commander of Hamas’s Al-Furqan Battalion, aka the Sheikh Radwan Battalion, based in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan district.

Za’atra, who was slain on July 24, previously served as the commander of the battalion’s combat support company, the army said.

Meanwhile over the weekend, IDF troops identified four Hamas terrorists near an area in northern Gaza where the troops were operating and directed an aircraft that struck and eliminated them, the military added. Several terrorists were also killed by shell fire, the IDF said.

In southern Gaza, IDF troops eliminated terrorists and dismantled terrorist infrastructure, the military stated.

“IDF troops continue to operate to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure above and below ground,” the IDF said.

The IDF has been operating systematically throughout the Strip since it launched “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” on May 4.

On July 27, the military announced that troops from the 646th “Marom Foxes” Reservist Paratroopers Brigade had dismantled a Hamas tunnel and hundreds of terrorist infrastructure sites during operations over the past three months across several areas of the Gaza Strip.

Operating under the 99th Infantry Division, soldiers targeted locations in the Netzarim Corridor, Gaza City’s Shejaiya and Daraj Tuffah neighborhoods and Beit Hanoun. The IDF said troops uncovered and destroyed military structures, weapons caches and firing and observation positions used by terrorist organizations.

Approximately 400 terrorists were killed in coordinated operations with the Israeli Air Force, according to the military.

In recent days, the 646th Brigade, supported by the elite Yahalom engineering unit, located and dismantled a 500-meter-long Hamas tunnel in Beit Hanoun, as part of ongoing efforts to disrupt the group’s underground networks.

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/hamas-terrorists-seen-surrendering-to-idf-troops-in-gaza/

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Coalition to topple Iranian regime gains momentum, amid fall of Assad, US, Israel bombings in Iran - Eric J. Lyman

by Eric J. Lyman

[T]he roster of international figures supporting the NCRI has grown broader and more senior, and mainstream media coverage more significant, even in Italy, which has not traditionally played a central role in Iran-related diplomacy.

The recent Free Iran World Summit in Italy was repeatedly interrupted by chants from the packed crowd including, “Bound by the blood of the fallen, we remain unyielding to the end.” But with escalating tensions in the Middle East, Western sentiment appears to be shifting toward groups like the National Council of Resistance of Iran that call for overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The chants at last week's summit – repeated not only by members of the Iranian diaspora on hand at Rome’s Palazzo dei Congressi but also via video link by many hundreds more at Ashraf-3, the headquarters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) in Albania – are common at rallies organized by NCRI, a Paris-based coalition that sees itself as an Iranian government in exile and the political wing of the Iranian dissident group MEK.

But the roster of international figures supporting the NCRI has grown broader and more senior, and mainstream media coverage more significant, even in Italy, which has not traditionally played a central role in Iran-related diplomacy.

As a result, the NCRI’s long-standing message that the world must stop what it called an “appeasement strategy” toward Tehran and support the rights of Iranians to overthrow the ruling Iranian regime appears to be gaining momentum.

“The regime is weak,” NCRI leader Maryam Rajavi said in Rome, speaking before a towering LED screen that showed scenes from Ashraf-3 and “Free Iran” banners. “It survives through terror, executions, and foreign aggression. But change is coming, and we are ready for it.”

In addition to Rajavi, the summit featured remarks from several high-profile political figures, including Charles Michel, a former President of the European Council; former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi; Michele Alliot-Marie, a former French minister who held the defense, interior, foreign affairs, and justice portfolios; James Cleverly, a former Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary in the U.K.; and former New York Mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

“Iran’s dictatorship is afraid, and it’s facing a credible alternative,” said Michel, who left his European Council role in December. “Change is coming.”

The program was broadcast live to Ashraf-3, where attendees sat in neat rows and in uniform dress. It was also translated in real time for those in attendance in Rome into English, Italian, French and Farsi.

“Meetings like this fit into the trend of recognizing the importance and the complexities of the situation in Iran,” Hans-Ulrich Seidt, a veteran German diplomat who has served as his country’s ambassador to Afghanistan and South Korea, told Just the News. Seidt is an example of a recent convert among NCRI supporters, learning about the organization after the fall of the Assad regime after half a century in power in Syria late last year.

“What happened in Syria … that could happen in Iran,” Seidt said. “It’s clear that the mullahs’ regime cannot stand, and that the NCRI is the only democratic alternative.”

The U.S. State Department calls Iran’s Islamic government "the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and has spent billions of dollars bankrolling terrorist proxies while neglecting the needs of Iranian citizens at home."

President Trump said in his first term: "The future of Iran belongs to its people. They are the rightful heirs to a rich culture and an ancient land. And they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history, and glory to God."

In early June, Israel began bombing nuclear facilities and other sites across Iran. And the two countries have been trading deadly attacks since then. Later in the month, the U.S. military launched a series of coordinated bombing attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities – marking a major escalation of the ongoing Middle East conflicts.

Eric J. Lyman

Source: https://justthenews.com/world/coalition-topple-iranian-regime-gains-momentum-amid-fall-assad-us-israel-bombings-iran

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Trump says he wants to 'release everything' related to Jeffrey Epstein - Misty Severi

by Misty Severi

The Trump administration has faced heavy backlash over its handling of the Epstein investigation, including its promise to release Epstein's alleged "client list," which it has since said does not exist.

President Donald Trump on Friday night said he would like the federal government to "release everything" that it has on the disgraced, late financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as long as innocents aren't hurt in the process.

The Trump administration has faced heavy backlash over its handling of the Epstein investigation, including its promise to release Epstein's alleged "client list," which it has since said does not exist. But Trump has pushed the Justice Department to provide more transparency on the matter.

Trump last month directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release relevant grand jury testimony related to Epstein, but a judge in Florida denied the request saying that legal precedent doesn't allow it.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also interviewed Epstein's former associate Ghislaine Maxwell last week about her relationship with the deceased felon.

“I think [Blanche] probably wanted to know, you know, just to get a feeling of it, because we’d like to release everything, but we don’t want people to get hurt that shouldn’t be hurt,” Trump told Newsmax host Rob Finnerty. “I want to release everything. I just don’t want people to get hurt."

Trump reminded viewers that he has the right to pardon Maxwell if he decides to, but claimed no one has formally requested the pardon. Maxwell is currently trying to appeal her sex-trafficking conviction, for which she is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/trump-says-he-wants-release-everything-related-jeffrey-epstein

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