Hamas Plans To Use Iran, Lebanon Negotiations To Avoid Disarmament, Gain Control Of Gaza’s BoP
Hamas is using the instability created by the security situation in southern Lebanon and Iran to avoid advancing its disarmament compromises and gain political force in Gaza, a source from the security establishment warned on Wednesday (15th).
According to the source, Hamas is taking advantage of Israel’s focus on the Hezbollah situation and the US focus on the Iranian front to buy time and avoid progress on the political front.
The main strategy by the Hamas leadership seems to be collecting taxes, recruiting activists, and taking control of goods entering the Gaza Strip.
One of the sources added that Hamas is trying to create the appearance of giving up power, but in practice, even if forced, it will aim to control the new rulers of the Gaza Strip from the shadows.
The security source said this mirrors Hezbollah’s strategy during the Hasan Nasrallah era, when they didn’t seize direct control of Lebanon but had the political and military power to operate without repercussions from the government.
Hamas rejected the US-led Board of Peace’s disarmament plan for the terror group and asked the board to make modifications to it, a source told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday (15th).
The BoP’s high representative Nikolay Mladenov, and three other mediators were also present, the source said.
The BoP’s plan is expected to last between 6 and 8 months, and the duration serves the organization’s strategy of buying time, as elections in Israel and the midterm elections in the US will be held during this period, further diverting attention from the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, according to Walla, most senior Hamas officials left Qatar for Turkey and other countries after receiving “signals” that it was advisable for them to leave.
Gaza security forces tightened their measures to prevent targeted assassinations, and Hamas understood the clues amid fears of similar actions by the Israeli intelligence community.
Netanyahu: ‘We Are About To Subdue Bint Jbeil
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Wednesday evening (15th) on the campaign in Lebanon and Iran.
“Our forces continue to strike Hezbollah. The fighting is focused on Bint Jbeil, Hezbollah’s capital in southern Lebanon. We are about to overwhelm Bint Jbeil and eliminate this large stronghold. At the same time, I gave instructions to the IDF yesterday to continue to thicken the security zone and also to deploy it east to the slopes of Mount Hermon so that we can better help our Druze brothers in their time of need,” Netanyahu began.
He noted that “at the same time, we are negotiating with Lebanon. The talks haven’t taken place for 40 years and they are being held now because we are very strong and the countries are coming to us – and not just Lebanon. The goals in the negotiations with them: dismantling Hezbollah and a sustainable peace based on strength.”
On Iran, he said, “Our American friends are constantly updating us on the talks with Iran. Our goals are the same. We want to see the enriched material come out of Iran and we want to see the elimination of enrichment capacity within Iran and the opening of the Straits. In anticipation of the possibility that fighting will resume, we are prepared for any scenario.”
Amid Truce Talks, IDF Chief Approves Plans To Attack Iran And Hezbollah
As speculation grows over a possible truce in Lebanon and an extension of the Iran ceasefire, IDF Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir said Wednesday (15th) that Israeli forces remain prepared to engage in both arenas.
Zamir made the remarks during a visit to the 162nd Division in southern Lebanon, where he said operational planning is continuing on multiple fronts.
“Yesterday I approved further plans together with the General Staff Forum,” Zamir said, “We continue to conduct ongoing situational assessments and approve plans, both in Lebanon and Iran.”
He pointed to recent joint activity with Washington, saying, “In a joint operation with the United States military, we struck the Iranian terror regime severely, crippling it of its defensive capabilities and weakening it”
He added, “We must not allow it to achieve gains on the nuclear front, in the Strait of Hormuz, or in other matters on the agenda.”
Zamir said Israeli forces are positioned for rapid escalation if required. “We are in a very high state of readiness. Air Force aircraft are armed and prepared, and targets are loaded into the systems—we know how to command them for a powerful strike immediately.”
On Wednesday (15th), a senior Iranian regime official told a Lebanese outlet that an emerging arrangement was reached under Iranian pressure and would coincide with a ceasefire involving Tehran.
Reports indicate the effort is intended to provide Iran with a diplomatic achievement ahead of another round of talks, though officials in Jerusalem reject claims that a deal is imminent.
New Flotilla Carrying 1,000 Anti-Israel Activists Departs From Spain For Gaza Trip
A Gaza-bound activist flotilla departed from Spain on Wednesday (15th) after rough weather postponed its planned launch earlier this week, with organizers saying the convoy will expand as it moves east across the Mediterranean.
Nearly 40 boats left Barcelona at the start of the voyage, while additional vessels are expected to join from other ports en route.
The effort is being organized by the Global Sumud Flotilla, which says that over 1,000 participants from multiple countries are involved in the naval effort.
Activists say the boats are carrying limited aid supplies and are intended to challenge the security blockade on Gaza.
The flotilla had been scheduled to leave days earlier, but organizers said sea conditions forced a delay.
Thiago Avila, one of the campaign organizers, said the group initially had to hold back from entering international waters because it could not do so safely.
“Due to weather conditions, our mission will sail from this port today, but will not be sailing to international waters because we cannot make the journey safely today,” he said earlier in the week.
Organizers said the current departure marks only the first phase of the operation.
Some of the boats are expected to regroup at another Mediterranean port before continuing onward.
Reuters reported that additional vessels are expected to join later in the journey.
Participants framed the mission as a political statement as much as an aid delivery attempt.
Saif Abukeshek, a member of the flotilla’s steering committee, said the voyage was meant to create pressure for a humanitarian access route into Gaza.
“We sail because governments have failed,” he said. “We refuse to be that society.”
Supporters gathered in Barcelona before departure, including actor Liam Cunningham, who backed the campaign.
“Every kilogram of aid that is on these ships is a failure because all these people on these ships giving up their time to help their fellow human beings are doing what their governments are legally obliged to do,” he told Reuters.
Baku Marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, Highlighted Rescue Of 55,000 Jews
As tensions in the Middle East continue and threats from Tehran intensify, the Jewish community in Baku marked Holocaust Remembrance Day earlier this week with a ceremony that included references to ties with Israel and current regional developments according to participants.
The event included prayers and community gatherings and focused on the story of more than 55,000 Jews who fled Nazi persecution during World War II and found refuge in Azerbaijan, according to the local community.
Rabbi Zamir Isayev, chief rabbi of the Sephardic community in Baku, said Azerbaijan had served as a place of refuge during the war.
“”In those dark days, when much of the world stood by, the Azerbaijan people opened both their homes and their hearts,” Isayev said. “Fifty-five thousand of our brothers and sisters were saved thanks to local residents who shared what little they had.”
He added that this historical experience continues to shape ties between Azerbaijan and Israel. Addressing current tensions, Isayev said Iran poses a threat not only to Israel but also to regional stability and to Azerbaijan.
“We face an enemy that shares the same ideology as those who persecuted Jews in the past,” he said. “Just as we survived the Holocaust , we will stand firm against those who seek to harm us.”
He also referred to faith as a source of strength, saying those who seek to spread violence and terror would ultimately fall.
Isayev noted that Azerbaijani school textbooks include, according to him, a formal definition of antisemitism and recognition of the Holocaust as the genocide of six million Jews. He said Israel is also presented as a legitimate Jewish state.
“Commemorating the Holocaust today is also a call for vigilance,” he said, ‘Never Again’ is not just a slogan, but a commitment.”
Jewish Cemetery In Romania Vandalized, Gravestones Toppled
Another act of antisemitism has taken place after a historic Jewish cemetery in Romania was vandalized, with at least 14 gravestones deliberately knocked over.
The incident took place in the city of Reghin, located in the Transsylvania region, where unknown violators entered the cemetery overnight and desecrated multiple gravestones.
Authorities confirmed that while the gravestones were not smashed, they were intentionally overturned. Among those buried at the site is rabbi Hillel Pollak, a student of the esteemed Rabbi Chasam Sofer, adding an additional layer of historical and spiritual significance to this antisemitic attack.
The attack drew a response from MK Benny Gantz, whose own great-grandfather is buried in the cemetery.
“Romanian Ambassador to Israel Radu Ioanid called me Tuesday (14th), Holocaust Remembrance Day, about the disturbing desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Northern Romania, where none other than my great-grandfather is buried,” Gantz said.
He continued, “The desecration of a Jewish cemetery is a stark reminder that even when it comes to Holocaust Memorial Day, antisemitism knows no bounds nor has faded with time.”
Gantz concluded with a broader warning: “This Holocaust Memorial Day, particularly with growing antisemitism in Europe, I call on the international community to be uncompromising in its crackdown on Holocaust denial and modern day antisemitism.
“Romanian authorities have launched an investigation under the supervision of local prosecutors, though no suspects have been identified yet.
The timing of the attack, coinciding with Holocaust Remembrance Day, only intensifies the outrage.
The UAE Is Cracking Down On Illicit Iranian Finance – Hussain Abdul Hussain
After Iran unleashed more than 3,000 missiles and drones against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over five weeks of the Iran war, in response, the UAE doubled its efforts against illicit Iranian money networks. By early April, Emirati authorities had detained dozens of Tehran-linked money changers, shuttered their exchange houses, and closed their offices. They especially targeted the Sarraf networks that once funneled billions to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Emirati crackdown was a strategic pivot that now offers the U.S. a decisive new advantage in its maximum pressure campaign against Iran’s shadow banking system. Analysts estimate that a sustained crackdown could deprive Iran of tens of billions of dollars annually.
The UAE’s shift signals to other Gulf states that tolerance for Iranian financial networks is a national-security liability rather than a commercial convenience. As Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the UAE’s president made clear, the region cannot return to the pre-war status quo of unchecked missile and drone programs financed by shadow banking.
The writer, former managing editor of Beirut’s Daily Star, is a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. (national Interest)
