President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris praised the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli forces in Gaza on Thursday, while describing Sinwar’s death as an opportunity to end the war in Gaza without Hamas in power.
Biden said that it is a “good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.” He compared the killing to that of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and said that “Israel has had every right to eliminate the leadership and military structure of Hamas,” while adding that Hamas is no longer capable of replicating the Oct. 7 attack.
Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Thursday is being seen in Israel as an opportunity to bring about the release of hostages held in Gaza, while some of their relatives called for the immediate resumption of negotiations.
President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Air Force One to congratulate him on the killing of Sinwar, and the leaders agreed that this is an opportunity for them to work together to free the hostages, according to the Israeli readout.
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The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Thursday that Hamas head Yahya Sinwar, who oversaw the planning and execution of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, was killed during an army operation in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
״In recent weeks, IDF and ISA forces, under the command of the Southern Command, have been operating in the southern Gaza Strip, following IDF and ISA intelligence that indicated the suspected locations of senior members of Hamas. IDF soldiers of the 828th Brigade (Bislach) operating in the area identified and eliminated three terrorists. After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated,” the army said in a joint statement with the Shin Bet.
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A Palestinian Authority initiative to expel Israel from the United Nations General Assembly is making headway, four sources familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider.
The PA is considering a path used to suspend South Africa from the General Assembly in 1974, by denying the apartheid regime the diplomatic credentials to represent the country. Doing so would bypass the U.N. Security Council, with the motion going to the U.N.’s Credentials Committee, likely in December.
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A recently created Republican super PAC behind a slate of inflammatory ads targeting Vice President Kamala Harris’ Israel record has been exclusively funded by a political advocacy group called Building America’s Future, according to federal campaign finance filings released on Tuesday.
The GOP-aligned group contributed $3 million to Future Coalition PAC, which has been running digital ads in Michigan and Pennsylvania alternately portraying Harris as hostile and friendly to Israel — in an effort to target Muslim and Jewish voters who could be decisive in a close election.
Jerod Sessler campaign website
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), one of two remaining House Republicans who backed former President Donald Trump’s impeachment, is at risk of losing to a Trump-backed, isolationist Republican in next month’s general election.
Trump is supporting Jerrod Sessler, a former NASCAR driver and Navy veteran, in a bid for retribution against Newhouse. Sessler is also backed by the House Freedom Caucus and the Washington state Republican party.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called on Monday for the U.S. to impose an arms embargo on Israel amid a renewed Israeli offensive in northern Gaza. But that call appeared to largely elicit further backlash from the far-left, leaving Ocasio-Cortez on the defensive.
“The horrors unfolding in northern Gaza are the result of a completely unrestrained Netanyahu gov, fully armed by the Biden admin while food aid is blocked and patients are bombed in hospitals,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X, formerly Twitter. “This is a genocide of Palestinians. The US must stop enabling it. Arms embargo now.”
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Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, the Republican running in the competitive Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), said on Tuesday that he would try to work with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) on matters where they share common ground. Still, he emphasized that he and Maryland’s junior senator are worlds apart on the issue of support for Israel.
Hogan made the comment at a virtual town hall organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington after being asked how he’d work with Van Hollen, whom the former governor has publicly admonished for his continued criticism of Israel’s military campaigns.
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