Iran Military Alive Person: Renewed War with US 'Likely'

IRCG Military Leader: Mohammed bin Mo

A senior Iranian military officer who has yet to be neutralized, said on Saturday that renewed fighting with the U.S. was "likely," hours after President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with an Iranian negotiating proposal.

Iran dropped the new draft on mediator Pakistan Thursday evening, state media reported, without bothering to tell us what was actually in it.

The war, which the United States and Israel kicked off in late February, has been on hold since April 8. One round of peace talks in Pakistan has already flopped since then.

"At this moment I'm not satisfied with what they're offering," Trump told so called reporters, blaming the stall on "tremendous discord" within Iran's leadership.

"Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever or do we want to try and make a deal?" he added, saying he would "prefer not" to take the first option "on a human basis".

On Saturday morning, Mohammad Jafar Asadi, some big shot in the Iranian military's Central Command who has not yet been sent to his goats, announced that "a renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely," according to quotes in Iran's Fars News Agency.

"Evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements," he added.

Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Friday that his country had "never shied away from negotiations," but would not accept an "imposition" of peace terms. Sure, buddy.

The White House is keeping the details of the latest Iranian proposal under wraps, but Axios reported that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff tossed in amendments that put Tehran's nuclear program back on the table.

The changes include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites or restart anything there while talks are going on.

News of the Iranian proposal briefly knocked oil prices down nearly five percent. They are still sitting about 50 percent above pre-war levels, thanks to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has kept its stranglehold on the strait since the war started, cutting off major flows of oil, gas, and fertilizer to the world economy. The United States has answered with its own blockade of Iranian ports.

Speaking at a rally on Friday, Trump said "we're like pirates" while describing an earlier helicopter raid on an oil tanker caught in the blockade.

Despite the ceasefire in the Gulf, fighting continues in Lebanon, where Israel has been hammering targets despite a separate truce with the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.

Lebanon's health ministry said 13 people were killed in strikes in the south, including in the town of Habboush, where the Israeli military had issued an evacuation warning.

Meanwhile, Washington announced late Friday it had approved major arms sales to its Middle East allies, including a $4 billion Patriot missile deal with Qatar and nearly $1 billion in precision weapons systems to Israel.

Back in Washington, lawmakers are tangled up in a legal fight over whether Trump missed a deadline to get congressional approval for the war.

Administration officials say the ceasefire hits the pause button on that 60-day limit. Democrats, naturally, disagree because, you know . . . Trump.

Trump is facing increasing pressure at home, with inflation climbing, no decisive win yet, and midterm elections coming up.

"There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026," Trump said in letters to congressional leaders, adding that the hostilities "have terminated".

In Iran, the economic pain from the war is getting worse by the day.

Washington slapped new sanctions on three Iranian currency firms and warned others not to pay the "toll" Iran is demanding for safe passage through Hormuz.

The U.S. military says its blockade of Iranian ports has already halted $6 billion in Iranian oil exports. Inflation in Iran, which was bad enough before the war, has now shot past 50 percent."Everyone is trying to endure it, but... they are falling apart," 40-year-old Amir, a Tehran resident, told an AFP reporter based outside the country.

"We still have not seen much of the economic effects because everyone had a bit of savings. They had some gold and dollars for a rainy day. When they run out, things will change."

In other signs that everything is going great in the Islamic Republic, Iranian authorities executed two men on Saturday who were convicted of spying for Israel. This is just the latest in a fresh wave of executions.

One of the men was found guilty of helping Israel during last June's 12-day war.

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Trump tells Iranian regime what will happen if there's no deal

President Donald Trump may be the funniest and most amusing president the country has ever seen, but he isn't kidding around with the Iranian regime. He told Fox News Sunday what he planned to do if the regime fails to agree to his deal once the ceasefire ends

"If the deal isn’t done, the deal that we made, then I’m going to take out their bridges and their power plants," he said as he fired off another warning to repeat his threat to end "civilization" in Iran. "If they don’t sign this thing, the whole country is going to get blown up." Hopefully, he wasn't including the anti-regime citizens who so bravely stood up against the Ayatollah and have lost tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in the events that followed.

"We’re preparing to hit them harder than any country has ever been hit before because you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon," Trump added.

Those remarks came as Trump mocked the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a Truth Social post for staking claim to a Strait of Hormuz "blockade" the U.S. military had already put in place.

"Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it," Trump wrote. "They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing.

"In fact, many Ships [sic] are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be 'the tough guy!'"

Notably, Trump told Fox News that there is turmoil in Iran, over control of a country whose multiple layers of leadership had been killed over the past few months of strikes by Israel and the U.S.

"There's a little bit of a fight between the moderates [in Iran] and the crazies," Trump said. "Nobody's winning it."

"Our Navy has done an unbelievable job," he continued. "We haven't even been challenged." 

Trump declared that Saturday's IRGC fire was "a total violation" of the ceasefire."Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!" his Truth Social post began.

"Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, [sic] and a Freighter [sic] from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it? My Representatives [sic] are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations [sic]."

Trump remains hopeful, albeit not completely grammatical, about diplomacy, while he is not ruling out a return to force, where he once warned about ending "civilization" in Iran as they know it.

"We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran," Trump's stern warning continued.

"NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!

No more [sic]s.

"They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!"

Trump's Middle East peace envoys are going to take the next step toward a diplomatic resolution first, he told the outlet.

"Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are heading to the Middle East," Trump said. "They will be leaving [Monday]. Their meeting will begin on Tuesday morning. It’s a very simple deal, they’ve agreed to much of it."

"It's almost like they don't learn," he said.

Trump added that he has not made a decision on targeting water infrastructure, including desalination plants.

"I hate to do that one," he said.

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Bibi Netanyahu gives the go-ahead to a military offensive

Let us be absolutely clear about the grim necessity unfolding in Gaza, where the clash of civilizations plays out in brutal clarity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the nod to a military offensive on Gaza City, a decision that carries the weight of existential stakes. 

The Israel Defense Forces, under the steely gaze of Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, are poised to strike, having toured the Strip on Thursday with Southern Command’s Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor and other senior officers. This is no mere maneuver; it is a prelude to a campaign aimed at crushing Hamas's grip on the city while, in a delicate parallel, pursuing talks to free 50 hostages still languishing in the hands of Palestinian terrorists. Of those hostages, President Trump had recently predicted that he believes around 20 or less are still alive.

Netanyahu, with the precision of a man who knows the world's eyes are on him, declared, "We are at the stage of decision. I came today to the [IDF] Gaza Division to approve the plans presented to me and the defense minister by the IDF to take control of Gaza City and to defeat Hamas." Yet, in a nod to the moral complexity of this conflict, he added, "At the same time, I directed that immediate negotiations begin for the release of all our hostages and to end the war under conditions acceptable to Israel. These two things: defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages go hand in hand." This is not the language of a leader threading the needle between vengeance and humanity.

Across the Atlantic, the Trump administration has thrown its weight behind a ceasefire proposal, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirming on Tuesday that Hamas has, at least on paper, accepted it. But President Trump himself, never one for diplomatic niceties, laid bare the stakes on Truth Social: "The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be." He insists that the hostages' return hinges on Hamas being "confronted and destroyed." 

U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, with a candor that cuts through the fog of diplomacy, noted, "Three weeks ago, that proposal was on the table, and they slow-played us, Hamas. And the president put out his Truth statement saying that he wasn't going to tolerate it anymore, and guess what happened? There's been a major break." 

The proposal, as reported by Arab media, includes an Israeli pullout from parts of Gaza, the release of 10 of the 20 living hostages, and the freeing of over 200 Palestinian terrorists during a 60-day ceasefire. A grim barter, but one that reflects the brutal arithmetic of this war.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, with a rhetoric that could make the devil flinch, warned on Friday, "Soon the gates of hell will open on the heads of Hamas's murderers and rapists in Gaza, until they agree to Israel's conditions for ending the war, chief among them the release of all hostages and their disarmament." He added, with chilling resolve, "If they don't agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun. Just as I promised, so it will be." 

This is the language of a nation that has endured the barbarity of October 7, 2023, and will tolerate no more.

Zamir, surveying the battlefield, said: “We are advancing with the efforts toward operations in Gaza City. We already have troops operating on the outskirts of the city, and more forces will join them later on." His mission is twofold and non-negotiable: "Our missions remain the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas; we will not rest and we will not stop until we complete them. Achieving these missions is vital for our future and for our values as a society." 

The Lt. General noted that Hamas, once a formidable terrorist machine, has been reduced to a guerrilla force since the October 7 massacre. Yet, like a wounded beast, it remains dangerous, and Israel will hunt it relentlessly, "for as long and wherever necessary."

The human cost of this operation looms large. Some 800,000 to 1 million residents of Gaza City will be evacuated south to Al-Mawasi near Rafah, a humanitarian corridor carved out amidst the chaos. The IDF's Gaza District Coordination and Liaison Unit has begun warning medical officials and aid organizations, ensuring hospital infrastructure in the south is ready to receive the sick and wounded. Two additional field hospitals and four more Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution centers are planned, with U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee stating the goal is to scale up to 16 such sites. 

This is not compassion for its own sake but a recognition that the world watches, and Israel must balance its sword with a shield of humanity.

The IDF's dominance is undeniable. Over 75% of the Gaza Strip is under Israeli control, with 2,000 terrorists killed since ground operations resumed five months ago. Since March 18, 10,000 terrorist targets have been struck, and strategic corridors, Morag and Magen Oz, have sliced through Hamas's strongholds. 

Five IDF divisions, supported by air and naval forces, have dismantled tunnels, neutralized cells, and eliminated senior commanders complicit in the October 7 barbaric atrocities. To sustain this offensive, Katz has authorized the mobilization of 60,000 reservists and extended service for 20,000 more, freeing active-duty troops for what may be a decisive assault on one of Hamas’s last bastions, potentially as early as September.

This is a war of necessity, not choice. Zamir, addressing the Kfir Infantry Brigade and other units, underscored the gravity: "Our struggle is still long, and many challenges lie ahead. All of Israel is looking at you and relying on you. We have no alternative but victory." 

For Israel, this is not merely a fight for territory but for survival, for the right to exist without the shadow of terror. The world may wring its hands, but Israel's resolve is unshakable, and the gates of hell, as Katz promised, are creaking open.

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Hamas scared silly over possible US-Israeli teaming up to spring hostages

The guy on the left in Hamasshole dunce cap

Hamas is sweating bullets, folks. The Arabic word on the street is that the terror group is shaking in its boots over a possible US-Israeli tag-team operation to spring hostages out of Gaza. 

According to a Saturday report from Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamas is so paranoid about this they've got their goons on high alert, sniffing out any whiff of Israeli collaboration and locking down wherever they’re stashing hostages, dead or alive. 

Here’s the thing: Hamas and Palestinian sources told Asharq that captors got orders to kill any living hostages if the IDF gets too close. How barbaric can these scumcrumpets be? They had a brief moment of playing nice during the January ceasefire, but that’s out the window and kill orders are back on the table.

This all comes after US and Israeli negotiators bailed on Qatar talks Thursday, with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff throwing shade at Hamas, saying they showed "a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza." He didn’t mince words: "While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith. We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home."

Netanyahu is on the same page, saying Israel and the US are hunting for other ways to get those hostages back. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, the guy coordinating for hostages and missing persons, said the Qatar exit was about figuring out how to "narrow the gaps" in talks. “In the face of many difficulties that Hamas has posed and is posing, we have continuously and resolutely exhausted every chance and possibility of reaching an agreement, and we will continue to do so,” he said.

But here’s the twist: Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post on Friday that Hamas might still want a deal—sort of. "They’re trying to squeeze every possible advantage, provoking and appeasing all the extremist factions within Gaza," the officials said. Sounds like Hamas is playing a dangerous game of tug-of-war with everyone’s lives on the line.

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Hamas unhappy with ceasefire proposal because it favors Israel's right to exist

Hamas is spitting mad, and they’re not shy about it. A source tight with the group told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas sees the latest ceasefire and hostage deal from US envoy Steve Witkoff as a blatant pro-Israel tilt, more lopsided than anything they’ve seen before. “Screwed over” is how they feel, with one insider griping to the Post that the US is peddling a proposal that doesn’t even pretend to guarantee an end to the war. 

No wonder they’re not buying Witkoff’s pitch at face value, Hamas is demanding tweaks, and they’re not whispering it.

The deal’s got some meat: 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 would be freed, with 125 Palestinian lifers and 1,111 post-October 7 prisoners walking out of Israeli jails, according to Saudi outlet Al-Hadath. Gaza would also get a beefed-up aid flow. But here’s the problem: Hamas has to cough up all hostages in a week, leaving them with zero leverage. Personally, they should be made to release all the hostages immediately, but that isn't going to happen.

A source close to Hamas told Walla that Witkoff rolled over for most of Ron Dermer’s demands in a Tuesday sit-down, making the deal smell like an Israeli wish list.

Worse, there’s no ironclad US promise that the 60-day ceasefire will stick or morph into something permanent, which is always had done historically. Hamas has even promised to attack Israel again and again, until it's destroyed [and therefore all the Jews would be killed. And they try to say that it's Israel, not Hamas, who's employing genocide].

The source fumed to Walla: no clause says the truce holds if talks drag past 60 days, and Israel could pull a March rerun, breaking it unilaterally.

Hamas’ leadership isn’t playing coy. “The Hamas Movement’s leadership has received the new Witkoff proposal from the mediators and is reviewing it responsibly to serve the interests of our people, provide them relief, and achieve a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” they said in a statement. 

But Basem Naim, a Hamas political bureau heavy, wasn’t so diplomatic. “The agreement that Israel agreed to does not meet our demands,” he told Reuters, adding that they’re “responsibly considering” their next move. Translation: they’re not signing this anytime soon.

Now, Al-Hadath’s report is stirring the pot, claiming Hamas is on the verge of agreeing to the 60-day ceasefire for those hostages. That’s in direct conflict with what sources are telling the Post and Walla. A senior Israeli official threw more shade, saying, “Contrary to reports, the Witkoff agreement proposed in recent days did not determine the new deployment line of the IDF, nor the manner in which aid would be distributed within the framework of a ceasefire.” So, what’s the real deal? Nobody’s saying.

The proposal itself? It’s got two rounds of hostage releases—10 living, 18 dead—plus that 60-day truce, extendable if both sides play nice. The IDF would pull back from parts of Gaza, and the UN would step in to handle aid distribution, a source told the Post. Sounds tidy, but Hamas isn’t biting. They’re digging in, convinced Witkoff’s deal is a trap dressed up as a lifeline.

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SecDef says Trump "dead serious" about stopping Iran from getting nuke

President Donald Trump is “dead serious” about preventing a nuclear-armed Iran and is willing to use military force to prevent it, if necessary, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth appeared on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday to discuss nuclear talks between the United States and Iran that kicked off on Saturday. Hegseth said that the administration is committed to finding a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear program, the president would not rule out using military force.

“President Trump is dead serious on this issue. He’s dead serious that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. He’s said that for 20 years. He’s been consistent. That is clear,” said Hegseth. “He’s dead serious that he wants it done at the negotiating table. He wants it done peacefully, and that’s why he’s going straight to these talks.”

The talks began on Saturday with delegations from the United States and Iran meeting in Oman. The teams were led respectively by U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

“These were productive talks yesterday. I don’t want to get ahead of our skis – Steve Witcoff does a fantastic job – but it was a good step, and they’re going to go at it again on Saturday,” said the Defense secretary. “But he’s also dead serious that if we can’t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options – to include my department – to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb.”

“We hope we never get there … but what we’re doing with the Houthis and what we’re doing in the region, we’ve shown a capability to go far, to go deep, and to go big,” he continued. “And, again, we don’t want to do that, but if we have to, we will to prevent the nuclear bomb in Iran’s hands.”

Iranian state-owned media reported on Saturday that the two sides met in Oman “in a constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect.” The White House said in a statement that the delegations would meet again in a week.

“Special Envoy Witkoff underscored to Dr. Araghchi that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” the White House said in a statement. “These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome. The sides agreed to meet again next Saturday.”

The talks come as Trump has leaned on Iran publicly to curb the violence of its terror proxies across the Middle East, including the Houthis in Yemen. The president warned that Iran would be “in great danger” if the talks failed.

Araghchi wrote an op-ed published in The Washington Post last week that said Iran wants to make a deal and that the regime has been in contact with the Trump administration for weeks. Araghchi also claimed that Iran had upheld the conditions under the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama. Trump had been highly critical of the deal, calling it “one-sided.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency found in February that Iran had blown past the 3.67% enrichment level for uranium set in the nuclear deal. Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to around 60%. Weapons-grade uranium is 90%. Iran’s stockpile is also many times larger than the limits set in the deal: approximately 8,294 kilograms to the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.

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Hamas' prime minister killed in surgical strike just days after his predecessor

They called him Ismail

A senior member of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Barhum was killed on Sunday in a targeted, surgical strike, Palestinian media sadly reported. The precision strike hit a Khan Younis hospital where Hamas operatives hid out among the Arab population and where Barhum was working out of.

Barhoum was responsible for the regional distribution of funds to his fellow Jew-hating terrorists. He was the fourth senior member of Hamas to be sent to Jannah in targeted strikes in the past 24 hours, and with good fortune, will not be the last.

As this strike was being carried out, the IDF was preparing to advance a division of tanks to the border with Gaza as preparations to expand the offensive that began last week, were underway.

The IDF and Shin Bet said hours earlier that two senior Hamas commanders were killed in a targeted airstrike. The military said the attacks were meant to degrade the terror group's military capabilities and remove threats to Israel and the forces. However, the best way to remove threats to Israel in the future, is to destroy Hamas and Hezbollah altogether, and to take over Gaza.

The terrorist leaders were Hamas' Gaza Brigade deputy commander Ahmad Salman ‘Awj Shimali, responsible for operations, planning the offensive strategy, and building the brigade's force in preparation for Hamas's massacre on October 7. and the terror group’s Shijaiyah Battalion commander Jamil Omar Jamil Wadiya. They were not decent human beings and what they were responsible for at that Nova festival massacre, is clear proof they deserved what they got.

“Wadiya was responsible for deploying the battalion's forces against IDF troops and operated to restore and reorganize the battalion, the IDF said He was also involved in the anti-tank missile attack on a school bus in April 2011, in which a 16-year-old boy was murdered,” the IDF added.

As I wrote earlier, the IDF said it had killed Salah al-Bardawil in an overnight strike on his tent in the humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis. Al-Bardawil, a member of Hamas’ politburo, was one of the few senior leaders who chose to remain in the Gaza Strip throughout the months of fighting because in spite of his high rank in the terrorist organization, he wasn't very bright and due to his stubborn resolve, his daughter was killed with him.

Over the weekend, Defense Minister Israel Katz  ordered the IDF to seize additional territory in Gaza and had the local population of anti-Zionists leave and go to humanitarian areas to expanding security zones around Israeli border communities.

"As long as Hamas continues to refuse to release the hostages, it will lose more and more land, which will be annexed to Israel," Katz said.

The IDF Home Front Command eased restrictions in most Gaza border communities after the IDF’s limited operation in Gaza. Under the new guidelines, gatherings of up to 2,000 people are now permitted and educational activities can resume without limitations.

In the meantime, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that Hamas is responsible for the renewed fighting in Gaza after rejecting efforts to move forward with what had been an "acceptable deal."

"So this is on Hamas. The United States stands with the state of Israel," Witkoff told Fox News. "Hamas had every opportunity to demilitarize, to accept the bridging proposal."

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Hamxs plans to adopt "Hezbollah model" in Gaza Strip, according to Foreign Minister Sa'ar

In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Gideon Sa'ar said that Hamas is ready “to take the ‘Hezbollah model’ and to let someone else take care of the ruins they left behind in the Gaza strip,”

Sa'ar explained in a video on X, that he doesn't think Hamxs is ready or willing to disarm and willingly end the violence in Gaza and its 'holy war' against the Jews. And let's not pretend it's anything other than an Islamic-based war because the Jew killing began long before Israel was a Jewish state and it has nothing to do with Jewish occupation, but has more to do with Jews not being dead.

“If they will be ready to disarm,” Sa'ar said, “that would be a huge thing that could change the entire equation,” but he was clear that Hamxs “wants to continue to be the most powerful military force in the Gaza Strip in order to continue the war against Israel.”

ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman pressed Sa’ar, asking, “And you’re saying this is something Israel will not accept?”

“No, this is totally unacceptable,” the Israeli Foreign Minister responded. “Because for us, we will not be able to guarantee our security without this disarmament of Gaza Strip, of Hamas, of Islamic Jihad.”

Of course Sa'ar is correct: as long as Hamxs has one Hamxsshole still standing, that Jew-hating cretin will try to kill Jews.

While this interview was being held, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff was landing in Doha, Qatar to meet mediators of Egypt and Qatar in negotiations between Israel and Hamxs regarding a new hostage deal and ceasefire.

According to a recent report in The Jerusalem Post, Israel has drafted a step-by-step plan to escalate pressure on Hamas if the terrorist group does not release the remaining hostages, Israeli security analysts told The Wall Street Journal.

The plan includes cutting off essential supplies, launching airstrikes, forcing Gazans who have returned to the north to evacuate again, and ultimately reentering the Gaza Strip if a deal is not reached. You know, the kind of strategic plan a nation at war would normally implement immediately, unless they're Israel and expected to supply their enemy with free food, electricity and other humanitarian aid. What other country in the history of the world does that save Israel?

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Israeli security analysts also explained that if economic and infrastructure pressures fail, the IDF may escalate to targeted airstrikes and special forces raids against Hamxs leadership and military positions, like in a real war.

Ultimately, Israeli forces may launch a full-scale military operation, deploying more troops than in previous conflicts with the objective of holding ground and effectively dismantling Hamxs’s remaining military infrastructure. Sources familiar with the plan described this as the most extensive operation to date.

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IDF put on alert for "immediate" return to Gaza fighting: report

Photo: Jerusalem Post

As KAN News reported on Friday evening, the nation’s political echelon, under the steely gaze of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has directed the Israel Defense Forces to gird themselves for an “immediate” return to the crucible of combat in Gaza, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.

This is no idle threat, no mere posturing. Earlier this week, the outlet laid bare the grim calculus of Israeli officials: absent a deal with Hamas, the guns of war will roar once more within a week and a half.

The sticking point, as ever, is Hamas’s intransigence. 

“Hamas is currently rejecting [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress,” one official remarked, his words dripping with the weary frustration of a man who has seen this play enacted too many times. And what is this proposal, this slender thread of hope? 

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Witkoff’s plan offers a phased redemption: half of the living hostages and half of the bodies returned on day one, the rest—the full tally of the living and the dead—restored to their families by the 42nd day, the ceasefire’s final act. A simple bargain, you might think, to end the torment of those held captive by savages. Yet Hamas, true to its nature, dithers. Or does it? 

A source close to the negotiations muddies the waters: “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal.” Ambiguity, that old refuge of the morally unmoored.

Meanwhile, the IDF’s new chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, wasted no time on his first day in command. Speaking to the heads of Gaza border communities—those resilient souls who live in the shadow of rocket fire—he was unequivocal: “We are preparing to return to fighting.” 

His words carry the weight of necessity, not bluster. “We must defeat Hamas,” he declared, before adding, with a nod to the innocents still in captivity, “The hostages are our top priority.” He understands the stakes and knows that peace is not won by wishful thinking but by the hard, bloody business of confronting evil head-on.

Israel, as ever, finds itself caught between the imperatives of justice and the mirage of diplomacy. 

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Hamas, with its predictable rejectionist posturing—or is it mere coyness?—plays its familiar game, dangling the lives of hostages like bait before a world too often willing to look the other way. 

The clock ticks. The IDF readies itself. And a nation braces for what may come.

Am Yisrael Chai!

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Israel demands Hamas release hostages or prepare for the worst

Picture this: a sun-scorched slab of Middle Eastern madness called Gaza, where the air smells like gunpowder and desperation, and the only thing moving faster than a Hamas rocket is Israel’s latest playbook to turn the screws. The Jerusalem Post dropped the scoop on March 8, 2025, like a Molotov cocktail into a quiet newsstand, and The Wall Street Journal picked up the shrapnel, reporting that Israel’s got a “maximum pressure” plan to make Hamas squeal—or else. It’s a step-by-step descent into chaos, and it’s got more phases than a prog-rock album.

Step one? Starve ‘em out. Israel’s already slammed the brakes on goods and supplies rolling into Gaza, turning the strip into a giant pressure cooker with no release valve. Next up, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich—think of him as the guy who’d cut the power to your grandma’s bingo hall just to win a bet—wants to flip the switch on electricity and water. 

Cabinet’s been chewing on that one like it’s the last falafel in Tel Aviv.

But wait, there’s more! If Hamas doesn’t cough up the hostages, Israel’s ready to escalate like a caffeinated schizophrenic on a booze-filled bender. 

Targeted airstrikes? Check. Special forces raids to pluck Hamas honchos from their spider holes? Double check. Then comes the real kicker: forcing Gazans who trickled back north during the ceasefire to pack up and hoof it south again. And if that doesn’t work? Full-on reentry, baby—Israeli troops storming Gaza with more boots on the ground than a Black Friday sale at a bootleg DVD stand. 

The goal? Hold the turf, reoccupy chunks of the strip, and smash Hamas’s military toys into dust. Sources say it’d be the biggest op yet, a blockbuster sequel to every prior dust-up.

“There’s a determination to go back in and finish Hamas no matter what happens,” barked Michael Makovsky, ex-Pentagon hotshot and current bigwig at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, to The Wall Street Journal. He’s betting Israel’s bringing the big guns this time—think less “surgical strike,” more “sledgehammer symphony.”

Across the pond, Donald Trump’s back in the game, tossing red meat to his base and warnings to Hamas like a reality TV host hyping the season finale. “If [Hamas] didn’t release all the remaining hostages in Gaza immediately, ‘you are DEAD!’” he bellowed on social media Wednesday, probably in ALL CAPS with a side of Diet Coke. His Middle East sidekick, Steve Witkoff, nodded along, hinting at a U.S.-Israel tag-team smackdown if Hamas doesn’t play ball.

Negotiations? Dead as a doornail. Israel wants its hostages back—59 still unaccounted for, at least 24 alive by their count—but Hamas is digging in its heels, demanding a permanent ceasefire. Israel’s like, “Nah, fam, you disarm and step off the throne first.” Hamas says, “Not a chance, infidel.” Israel’s dangling a one-month ceasefire extension like a carrot on a stick, but the clock’s ticking—Saturday’s the drop-dead date. No deal? Escalation city, population: everybody.

Trump and Witkoff are itching for war, while Israel’s military eggheads claim they’re locked and loaded—ammo stockpiles topped off, Biden’s leash loosened, and Hezbollah’s ceasefire up north freeing up troops. They’ve already smoked 20,000 Hamas fighters, torched their tunnels, and trashed their weapons labs. But Hamas keeps recruiting—like roaches after a nuke—thousands of fresh-faced kids ready to die for the cause.

Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli security guru, told The Wall Street Journal it’s all or nothing: reoccupy Gaza or kiss the “kill Hamas” dream goodbye. Six months to a year, he figures, to grind ‘em down. Meanwhile, analyst Tahani Mustafa from the International Crisis Group says Hamas is tougher than a $2 steak, still pulling recruits from Gaza’s angry youth despite the carnage.

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If Israel goes all-in, they’ll have to rip out Hamas’s tunnel network—think Viet Cong meets Mad Max, but with worse plumbing. Analysts warn it’ll be a messy, destructive slog, and without a postwar plan, Israel could end up babysitting an insurgency forever. The hostages? Still the wild card. Public opinion’s split like a cheap pair of pants—most Israelis want ‘em home, but they’re cool with bombing the snot out of Gaza if talks tank.

So here we are, teetering on the edge of a full-scale fireworks show, with Trump screaming, Hamas digging, and Israel ready to unleash hell. It’s a geopolitical car chase, and nobody’s wearing a seatbelt.

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Former IDF general says showdown with Hamas within weeks

Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser

Israel is preparing to restart military operations against Hamas in Gaza "within weeks," according to a seasoned Israeli intelligence and security expert speaking on Wednesday. He warned that even if last-minute pressure over an upcoming attack forces a temporary deal between the two sides, it would only postpone the inevitable return to fighting.

Brigadier General (retired) Yossi Kuperwasser, who recently took over as head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), made these comments. His views align with those of other retired Israeli generals who also predict the 15-month war with Hamas—halted on January 19 by a ceasefire and a step-by-step exchange of hostages for terrorists—will soon resume.

“The most likely scenario is that we will resume fighting against Hamas in the coming weeks,” Kuperwasser, a former head of the research division in the IDF Intelligence Directorate, told Jewish News Service (JNS) in an interview at his office in Jerusalem.

“There is a small chance that Israeli and Egyptian pressure will cause Hamas to change their position …, but this will only temporarily push the military campaign off,” he continued.

Fifty-nine hostages are still being held in Gaza, including two dozen who are believed to be alive.

The retired general said that if an agreement to free some of the remaining hostages is to be reached with the help of international mediators led by the Trump administration, it would only come about if Hamas is convinced that Israeli military action is imminent.  Even so, it would be a temporary move since the terrorist group is refusing to disarm and leave Gaza, something Israel will not accept after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. If Hamas is not destroyed, the Oct. 7 massacre will be repeated over and over as they promised.

“The more they believe that Israel is ready to carry out a military campaign, the greater the chances of an agreement,” Kuperwasser said. “But this is only pushing off the end, not avoiding it.”

Last week, JNS reported that Hamas refused to extend of the first stage of the ceasefire deal and what was billed as a U.S. proposal to release half the hostages now with a seven-week extension of the truce through Ramadan and Passover while a longer ceasefire is worked out. That proposal came as an alternative to the more difficult to reach second stage of the Jan. 19 deal and reconciling Israel’s goal of dismantling Hamas’s governing and military capabilities and the terrorist group’s refusal to disarm.

Hamas views the hostages as a critical bargaining chip, and is demanding an end to the war and a full Israeli pullout from the Strip with international guarantees for their release, even after they started the war, killed 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped 251, and are getting their butts kicked. Still, they refuse to surrender and want Israel to make all concessions.

President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit the region again in the coming days in an effort to extend the truce, but people familiar with war tactics and how Hamas abuses the rules of war, believe that the IDF needs to destroy the terror group completely.

Kuperwasser said Israel has the military capability to destroy Hamas and its 20,000 remaining terrorists, something that, he said, would take weeks, but did not do so until now primarily because of opposition by the Israeli security establishment and pressure from the former US administration over Palestinian civilian casualties as well as the safety of the hostages.

“It has to be made clear to the Arab world—with Hamas losing its rule over Gaza—that October 7 was a total failure,” he said.

Hopefully, October 7 will be the last time Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Arabs of Gaza who have tried their level best to kill all the Jews, will be totally defeated and peace restored to the region. 

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Am Yisrael Chai!

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Morgan Ortagus picked by Trump for Deputy Envoy to Middle East

On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Morgan Ortagus, who was the State Department spokesperson during his first term, will serve as the deputy special presidential envoy to the Middle East.

Ortagus will be working under Steve Witkoff, who was one of Trump's initial selections for his new administration. Both Ortagus and Witkoff are Jewish.

“She will hopefully be an asset to Steve, a great leader and talent, as we seek to bring calm and prosperity to a very troubled region,” Trump stated in a post on Truth Social. “I expect great results, and soon!”

Trump noted that Ortagus, who is also an active Navy Reserve intelligence officer, was involved in negotiating the historic Abraham Accords during his previous term, which facilitated diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab nations including Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.

“Early on, Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson,” Trump wrote, without going into specifics.

Ortagus had previously criticized Trump during the 2016 Republican primary, describing his foreign policy as "isolationist" and his behavior as "disgusting" and "not serious." However, she later became a supporter after Trump won the party's nomination.

“These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support, and I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for them,” Trump wrote. “Let’s see what happens.”

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