LLX News

By: Davis Rosenberg – World Israel News; worldisraelnews.com

‘The ICJ is a joke,’ says senator, accusing top ICJ judge of antisemitism.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham excoriated the International Court of Justice Wednesday, over the court’s recent ruling demanding Israel freeze its military operations against Hamas in and around the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Last week, the court issued a bombshell 13-2 ruling ordering the IDF to “Immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

cont’d…

That was $300 million in taxpayer money well spent.

By: Daniel Greenfield – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

If you’re keeping track, Biden announced that America was going to spend two months building a floating pier to deliver aid to Gaza at a cost of $300 million that would be operated by the U.S. military.

Then the pier came under attack by terrorists, was withdrawn to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs while the Biden administration conducted backchannel talks with Hamas urging it not to attack the pier, then redeployed for aid deliveries. And it’s been a smashing success. For Hamas.

The good news was the Pentagon press secretary’s announcement that 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance had been delivered across the temporary pier in Gaza.

The bad news was that according to the same press secretary, none of the aid has gotten through to any recognized aid distribution points.

Did the aid get to the people of Gaza? “I do not believe so,” he answered.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/all-the-aid-from-bidens-gaza-pier-was-stolen

Israel’s FM recalled its envoys and summoned their ambassadors, saying the recognition rewards Hamas terrorism • Hamas welcomed the decision.

By: Israel Today Staff; israeltoday.co.il

Ireland, Norway and Spain said on Wednesday morning that they will recognize a Palestinian state, prompting Jerusalem to recall its envoys and summon the ambassadors of these countries.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced in their respective capitals that they will recognize a Palestinian state on May 28.

“There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition,” Støre opined at a press conference. “The terror has been committed by Hamas and militant groups who are not supporters of a two-state solution and the State of Israel.”

cont’d…

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was involved in the 1988 execution of 30,000 Iranian political prisoners.

Members of the U.N. Security Council, including the United States, observed a minute of silence on Monday in memory of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Footage posted on social media showed the body’s 15 representatives rising to honor the memory of the leader, known as the “Butcher of Tehran” for his role in the 1988 execution of 30,000 political prisoners.

The video shows Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, joining in the minute of silence alongside representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea and Slovenia.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/us-joins-minute-of-silence-for-butcher-of-tehran-at-unsc

The author and advocate for responsible personal economics vowed to make the event “10 times what it was before.”

Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

After the Sonesta Hotel in Nashville reneged on housing as many as 400 attendees of the upcoming Israel Summit planned for next week, financial adviser and radio personality Dave Ramsey stepped forward to offer accommodations and welcome even more guests.

The Israel Guys, HaYovel, Israel365 and Keep God’s Land are sponsoring an inaugural event called The Israel Summit with a schedule of events running from May 20 to May 22. In the week before the event, the hotel, citing safety concerns, caved to pressure from anti-Israel activists and bowed out of its contract.

Israel365 reported that the hotel consulted with local police who “were concerned that the hotel, their guests, local businesses and attendees to the Israel Summit would be in physical danger due to the threatening nature of the calls and messages they received.”

Joshua Waller, a host of the Israel Guys podcast, told The Daily Wire that “Dave Ramsey reached out and said, ‘You’re going to have it at my place, and we’re going to take this event to a whole new level and make it 10 times what it was before.’”

https://www.jns.org/money-man-dave-ramsey-offers-new-tennessee-venue-for-israel-summit

Army says the three escaped from rave on Oct. 7 before being murdered by Hamas terrorists, who kidnapped their bodies; Gelerenter and Buskila were presumed alive until recently

By: Emanuel Fabian – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com

The military announced Friday that soldiers recovered the bodies of three hostages from the Gaza Strip, as intensive fighting raged there between Israeli forces and Hamas.

The three were named as Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, and Shani Louk.

In a press statement, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the bodies were recovered in an overnight operation carried out by the military and Shin Bet.

The three were at the Supernova music festival near Re’im on the morning of the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, where they then fled to the Mefalsim area.

Hagari said they were killed there by Hamas terrorists, and their bodies were then kidnapped to Gaza.

cont’d…

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-recovers-bodies-of-hostages-itzhak-gelerenter-amit-buskila-and-shani-louk-in-gaza

The Israeli military is ramping up operations throughout the Gaza Strip.

By: Yaakov Lappin – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il

Developments in Rafah signify that the Israeli military is implementing a gradual expansion of its operation in Hamas’s last fortress.

The Israel Defense Forces is engaged in intensive operations in central and northern Gaza as well, where on Thursday, a tragic friendly-fire incident involving the Paratroopers’ 202 Battalion led to five IDF casualties.

The IDF’s 162nd Division is in charge of operations in Rafah, where it is overseeing an operation targeting key terrorist infrastructure and Hamas operational points. Once complete, the operation should also see the IDF in control of the strategic Philadelphi Corridor, via which Hamas has spent years smuggling weapons, both above and below ground.

Under the 162nd Division are the 401st Armored Brigade and the Givati Infantry Brigade, who have been highly active in eastern Rafah in recent days.

During Memorial Day and Independence Day (May 13 and 14) alone, the IDF eliminated around 100 terrorists throughout Gaza, according to the military.

cont’d…

Yom Ha’atzmaut was marked with muted festivities throughout the country on Monday evening and during the day on Tuesday.

By: Israel Today Staff; israeltoday.co.il

Israel ushered in its 76th Independence Day on Monday night with muted celebrations amid the war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

The traditional torch-lighting ceremony marked the start of Independence Day and the end of Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism. Due to the security situation, this year’s ceremony was filmed in advance without a live audience.

The event kicked off with the lighting of beacons in memory of the Israelis and foreign nationals who were murdered during the ongoing war. Torches were lit in Zikim, Sderot and other southern cities, as well as near Kibbutz Re’im, where 364 attendees of the Supernova music festival were murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Forty-four people were chosen to light the 12 torches: The torch of the security forces, the torch of the emergency services, the torch of the rescuers, the torch of the immediate response squads, the torch of the public diplomacy front, the torch of the shield, the torch of hope, the torch of medicine and rehabilitation, the torch of victory of the spirit, the torch of giving, the torch of the Diaspora and the 12th torch that will burn without bearers to symbolize the hostages in Gaza.

cont’d…

“I have no idea how we are going to get through this,” says Marcy Oster, mother of fallen soldier Amichai.

By: Judith Segaloff – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il’

Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism) is always somber in Israel. Unlike Memorial Day in the United States, which combines parades, gun salutes and wreath laying with joyful barbecues, waterfront picnics and sales on summer sundries, our Memorial Day is solely a Day of Remembrance.

It is a day to commemorate slain soldiers and has been extended to civilian victims of terrorism. Cemeteries, public venues and television and radio broadcasts reflect the somber tones of the day. On Monday, the newly bereaved from the Oct. 7 massacre and friends and family of soldiers killed in the Gaza war will be experiencing the raw feelings of their first Memorial Day, while most of the Israeli public is likely to be thrust back to the collective trauma that began seven months ago.

“This year’s Yom Hazikaron is unique,” explains Marc Belzberg, founder of OneFamily, an NGO that supports victims of terrorism and their families. “Virtually every single person in Israel and many Jews around the world are connected in some way to at least one person who has been tragically killed on or since October 7. We all are feeling an iota of the loss that the bereaved feel every single day.”

cont’d…

Israeli military strikes more than 100 Hamas sites in the southern Gaza city • Senior Israeli officials: Hamas ceasefire claims a stunt.

By: Joshua Marks – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il

The Israel Defense Forces took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday morning, as tanks from the 401st Armored Brigade of the 162nd Division rolled right up to the station.

The Israeli flag was raised at the Rafah crossing and video showed an armored vehicle arriving at one of the buildings there, next to a sign that says “Gaza” in English. The IDF shared pictures and video of the moments that the Rafah crossing was captured.

“Following intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes, IDF troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing,” the IDF said on Tuesday morning.

The General Authority for Crossings and Borders in the Gaza Strip has announced a complete halt to passenger traffic and aid into the Gaza Strip.

cont’d…