Hezbollah: We’ll Disarm If Israel Stops Strikes, Withdraws Troops
The Hezbollah terror group is ready to disarm and surrender their weapons arsenals if Israel commits to withdrawing troops from the buffer zone in southern Lebanon and stops airstrikes on targets in the country, according to a Reuters report.
“Hezbollah is ready to discuss the matter of its arms if Israel withdraws from the five points, and halts its aggression against the Lebanese,” a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters.
The terror organization is also a political movement in Lebanon with Hezbollah members serving as representatives in the Lebanese parliament. Should the group disarm, it will presumably continue to exist in its political form.
Many Lebanese, including prominent politicians, are pressuring Hezbollah to disarm after the destruction caused by recent fighting between Israel and the terror group.
“Lebanon can not bear a new war,” Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the head of Lebanon’s Maronite church, told Reuters.
He stressed that Hezbollah must give up its weapons voluntarily, and that Lebanese authorities should avoid a confrontation where such a move occurs by force, which could potentially trigger internal fighting.
Kamal Shehadi, a minister with the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces party, told Reuters that Hezbollah must disarm in a timely manner, according to a framework that will be made public.
Holding Hezbollah accountable to deadlines is “the only way to protect our fellow citizens from the recurring attacks that are costing lives, costing the economy and causing destruction,” he said.
After the October 7 massacres, Hezbollah fired near-daily barrages of rockets, missiles, and explosive drones at Israeli civilian communities and military assets.
Israel responded with tit-for-tat strikes, focusing on destroying rocket launchers and other assets used by Hezbollah.
After nearly one year of bombardment, Israel launched the beeper operation in September 2024 and increased the intensity of its military efforts against Hezbollah, including assassinating its leader Hassan Nasrallah, severely crippling the group.
Hamas Cell Arrested For Planning To Plant Roadside Bombs And Fire At Israeli Communities
An Israeli citizen and three Palestinians have been arrested for allegedly forming a terrorist cell under the direction of Hamas operatives abroad. The group reportedly acquired weapons and planned attacks targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers, including planting explosives on Route 66 in northern Israel.
The arrests followed a joint investigation by the Shin Bet security service and the Judea and Samaria District Police counterterrorism unit.
On February 8, a Palestinian resident of Ya’bad was detained on charges of transferring terrorist funds, possessing and trafficking weapons, and involvement with a terrorist organization. During interrogation, he admitted to contacts with Hamas operatives in Turkey, recruiting additional members—including an Israeli citizen from Mughible in the Jezreel Valley—and establishing a cell to carry out attacks against Israel.
According to the indictment, the cell purchased M16 rifles and ammunition, each transaction costing between approximately $19,000 to $22,000. The weapons were reportedly sourced from the Jenin area. The cell planned shooting attacks on security forces near communities in the Ta’anakh region in the southern Jezreel Valley and intended to fire upon Israeli buses traveling through Barta’a in the northern West Bank. They conducted surveillance to identify vulnerabilities in bus routes.
Additionally, the cell planned to place explosive devices on Route 66 Near Ya’bad. Members met at one member’s residence to assemble explosives using gas canisters, testing one device in the yard. They also plotted attacks on military checkpoints and acquired various weapons, and conducted shooting practice. The group explored using drones for attacks, and conducted test flights for this purpose.
During the arrests, authorities seized Carlo-style submachine guns, three M16 rifles, and $33,000 intended to fund terrorist activities. The suspects have been indicted on serious charges, including undermining regional security, weapons offenses, and conspiracy to commit crimes.
Hamas Has A History Of Using Ambulances For War – Jonathan Sacerdoti
Before the facts had even settled, Western media reported that Israel was guilty of deliberately targeting ambulances and murdering humanitarian workers because, in the court of international opinion, Israel’s guilt is the default setting. Israeli forces near Rafah, acting on intelligence that Hamas operatives were exploiting ambulances for military purposes in an area recently active with Hamas convoys, opened fire on a suspicious convoy. Six of those killed were Hamas operatives.
For decades, Palestinian terrorist groups have systematically turned ambulances, hospitals, schools and mosques into instruments of war. This is an entrenched tactic: a strategic manipulation of international law designed to endanger civilians and maximize propaganda victories. Captured Hamas fighters have confessed to using ambulances for ferrying weapons and personnel.
The accusation that Israel strikes ambulances for sport is not just false, it is a profound inversion of moral reality. It is not the IDF that violates the sanctity of humanitarian symbols; it is Hamas, systematically destroying that trust, turning every ambulance into a potential weapon and every rescue worker into an unwitting shield. When ambulances become troop carriers, their immunity is forfeited by those who abuse it.
No nation, under existential threat from enemies who have turned humanitarian infrastructure into a battlefield, could operate under a policy of blind trust. Israel’s soldiers must act in a reality where every ambulance could hide explosives. Ignoring this reality is not just naive – it is deeply immoral.
The media’s unwillingness to grapple with this reality – its eagerness to frame Israel as a pariah state while ignoring the profound legal and moral violations of its adversaries – is not an innocent error. It contributes directly to the perverse incentive structure whereby Palestinian armed groups are rewarded – politically and diplomatically – for placing civilians and humanitarian workers in the line of fire. (Spectator-UK)
Sudanese Envoy Secretly Visits Israel To Push Normalization For Military Support
Two weeks after Sudan’s military regained control of the presidential palace in Khartoum, a Sudanese army official revealed that Al-Sadiq Ismail, envoy of military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, visited Israel last week. The visit remained discreet until its conclusion, according to a report by Sudanese outlet Al-Rakoba.
The visit was reportedly aimed at coordinating with Israel on how to promote al-Burhan to the new US administration and ease tensions with the United Arab Emirates over his leadership and the Sudanese army more broadly.
Ismail was tasked with delivering several messages to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the report, he conveyed al-Burhan’s desire to complete the normalization process between the two countries and formally sign the Abraham Accords, in exchange for Israeli support in the next phase.
The envoy told Israeli officials that Sudan’s recent overtures to Iran – which angered Israel – were a matter of necessity, driven by the country’s isolation and mounting regional and international pressures since the war began. He claimed Sudan needed high quality military support from any available source to secure victory.
Through his envoy, al-Burhan promised to fulfill any commitments or conditions Israel might require to finalize the agreement swiftly. A source close to Sudan’s military chief said a message was relayed to Israel expressing frustration over a perceived lack of cooperation during the past two years of conflict, noting that al-Burhan had hoped to obtain weapons to defeat the Rapid Support Forces.
The Sudanese side reportedly emphasized that Israel had no reason to be angry over Sudan’s outreach to Iran – arguing that it resulted from Israel’s failure to provide the anticipated assistance Sudan needed.
Iran Defies Trump By Bolstering Militias In Iraq With Long-range Missiles
For the first time, Iran has equipped its proxy forces in Iraq with long-range surface to – surface missiles, a move that significantly expands the Islamic Republic’s military influence in the region, the British Times newspaper reported on Tuesday (8th).
The development comes as Tehran prepares for direct negotiations with the United States regarding its nuclear and missile programs.
According to intelligence sources closely monitoring cross-border activities between Iran and Iraq, the missiles were delivered last week under the coordination of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force.
This marks the first instance where Tehran has handed over such weapons to militias operating within Iraq, raising fresh concern over Iran’s intentions as it faces growing international scrutiny.
The shipment, which included other munitions such as the Quds 351 cruise missiles and Jamal 69 short-range ballistic missiles, signals a sharp escalation by the regime. While these two missile types are more limited in range, the newly supplied long-range systems have the capability to threaten targets far beyond the Middle East.
Iran has recently transferred missiles to Shia militias in Iraq, including new models with long range, which have not been given in the past to those militias. “It’s a desperate move by the Iranians, risking the stability of Iraq,” a regional intelligence source confirmed to the Times.
This military reinforcement appears to contradict recent claims from Iraqi officials suggesting that Iran-aligned groups were preparing to disarm.
Reuters reported earlier this week that multiple Iran-aligned militias operating in Iraq are ready to lay down their arms in an attempt to prevent further confrontation with the United States.
Sources quoted in the report, including six militia leaders and government officials, indicated that the groups’ willingness to de-escalate stems from repeated, stern warnings issued by Washington since the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency in January. The US had made it clear to Iraqi authorities that failure to rein-in these factions could prompt American airstrikes on their positions.
Last month, it was reported that Esmail Qaani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, has instructed leaders of Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq to refrain from responding to threats from the United States and Israel.
A regional diplomatic source, speaking to The Times, dismissed these disarmament efforts as a facade. “The efforts seen in the last 48-hours to create a picture that the militias are disarming is a ruse.” the source stated.
Israel Will Beat The Barbarians – Dr. Dan Schueftan interviewed by Pamela Paresky
• We’ve practically won the war. I always believed we would, but I didn’t know it would be this decisive. There’s still more to come, there will be pain. But if you look at the big picture, it’s more positive than I expected. I believe we are winning in a very major way.
• This war is about whether civilized people can defend themselves against barbarians – even when those barbarians hide behind their own civilians. Some argue: “If defending ourselves means harming people who aren’t personally guilty, we can’t do it.” But if we say: “The moment civilians are harmed, we must stop” – then we hand the victory to the barbarians. Because they want civilians to be harmed – It’s their shield and their strategy. If that’s our rule, then Western civilization is finished.
• Hamas believed it could win because Gaza had become the most fortified place in history. Fortified not just with missiles and tunnels, but with CNN, the New York Times, the BBC, the courts in The Hague, Amnesty International – every institution dominated by the autocratic, dictatorial, or barbarian-majority world. These institutions undermine democracy, while pretending to defend it.
• In Gaza, Israel understood: If we don’t respond forcefully, we’ll spark a regional war. Arab leaders – those who are willing to accept Israel – will lose public support. The message will be: “You can rape Jewish women, decapitate civilians, burn babies, and get away with it.” The only way moderate Arab governments can withstand public pressure is to point to Gaza and say, “Do you want that in Cairo or Amman?”
• In the Middle East, our position is stronger than ever. Most Arab states not only accept Israel’s existence – they’ve realized they need Israel. Why? Because their enemies are the same as ours: Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. Iran is weaker now. Its proxies have been hammered. And Arab states saw that Israel could do this without losing US support.
• Israeli society has shown incredible strength – it’s the eighth wonder of the world. Despite an overburdened reserve army, people continue showing up for service. Their businesses and families suffer, but they keep coming. Morale is high. There’s no collapse in discipline or motivation – just the opposite. (Quillette – Australia)
Dr. Dan Schueftan heads the International Graduate Program in National Security Studies at the University of Haifa
