IDF steps up Samaria anti-terror raids by 90%
During a meeting with civilian security guards of Jewish communities in the area, Col. A. also revealed that the security forces' activities have led to a decrease of 75% in stone-throwing attacks, Arutz 7 reported.
The brigade commander stressed the military's commitment to working in close cooperation with local security.
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3 Israeli forces during counter-terrorism activity in Judea and Samaria, in an IDF image published on April 21, 2025.
IDF
On Thursday, the IDF announced it had arrested some 400 wanted Arab terrorists as part of its operations across Judea and Samaria last month.
During the June 13–24 'Operation Rising Lion' targeting Iran, Israeli security forces intensified counter-terror efforts across Judea and Samaria, conducting more than 2,500 raids, according to the IDF.
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In addition, the IDF, Israel Border Police, and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) dismantled six Palestinian terrorist cells that had been planning attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces.
Israel's Ynet outlet, citing security sources on June 23, reported that Iran views terrorist groups in Judea and Samaria as its 'last proxy' and was working to fuel further violence in the aftermath of the war.
3 An IDF soldier pictured in Samaria.
IDF
3 An Israeli soldier enforces a no-go order during an attempt to cross into the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank.
Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
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Over the weekend, Israel's security forces arrested three suspected members of a terrorist cell in northern Samaria who, according to officials, were planning an imminent attack.
Two of the suspects were arrested in eastern Barta'a, an Arab village in Samaria near the border between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, based on Shin Bet intelligence.
The third suspect was detained later.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
USAID analysis found no evidence of massive Hamas theft of Gaza aid
WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - An internal U.S. government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group Hamas of U.S.-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging the main rationale that Israel and the U.S. give for backing a new armed private aid operation. The analysis, which has not been previously reported, was conducted by a bureau within the U.S. Agency for International Development and completed in late June. It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of U.S.-funded supplies reported by U.S. aid partner organizations between October 2023 and this May. It found 'no reports alleging Hamas' benefited from U.S.-funded supplies, according to a slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters. A State Department spokesperson disputed the findings, saying there is video evidence of Hamas looting aid, but provided no such videos. The spokesperson also accused traditional humanitarian groups of covering up "aid corruption." A White House spokesperson, Anna Kelly, questioned the existence of the analysis, saying no State Department official had seen it and that it "was likely produced by a deep state operative" seeking to discredit President Donald Trump's "humanitarian agenda." The findings were shared with the USAID's inspector general's office and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, said two sources familiar with the matter, and come as dire food shortages deepen in the devastated enclave. Israel says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas, which it blames for the crisis. The U.N. World Food Program says nearly a quarter of Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians face famine-like conditions, thousands are suffering acute malnutrition, and the World Health Organization and doctors in the enclave report starvation deaths of children and others. The U.N. also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food supplies, the majority near the militarized distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the new private aid group that uses a for-profit U.S. logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed U.S. military veterans. The study was conducted by the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of USAID, which was the largest funder of assistance to Gaza before the Trump administration froze all U.S. foreign aid in January, terminating thousands of programs. It has also begun dismantling USAID, whose functions have been folded into the State Department. The analysis found that at least 44 of the 156 incidents where aid supplies were reported stolen or lost were 'either directly or indirectly' due to Israeli military actions, according to the briefing slides. Israel's military did not respond to questions about those findings. The study noted a limitation: because Palestinians who receive aid cannot be vetted, it was possible that U.S.-funded supplies went to administrative officials of Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza. One source familiar with the study also cautioned that the absence of reports of widespread aid diversion by Hamas 'does not mean that diversion has not occurred.' The war in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli assault began, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel says Hamas diverts humanitarian aid Israel, which controls access to Gaza, has said that Hamas steals food supplies from U.N. and other organizations to use to control the civilian population and boost its finances, including by jacking up the prices of the goods and reselling them to civilians. Asked about the USAID report, the Israeli military told Reuters that its allegations are based on intelligence reports that Hamas militants seized cargoes by "both covertly and overtly" embedding themselves on aid trucks. Those reports also show that Hamas has diverted up to 25% of aid supplies to its fighters or sold them to civilians, the Israeli military said, adding that GHF has ended the militants' control of aid by distributing it directly to civilians. Hamas denies the allegations. A Hamas security official said that Israel has killed more than 800 Hamas-affiliated police and security guards trying to protect aid vehicles and convoy routes. Their missions were coordinated with the U.N. Reuters could not independently verify the claims by Hamas and Israel, which has not made public proof that the militants have systematically stolen aid. GHF also accuses Hamas of massive aid theft in defending its distribution model. The U.N. and other groups have rejected calls by GHF, Israel and the U.S. to cooperate with the foundation, saying it violates international humanitarian principles of neutrality. In response to a request for comment, GHF referred Reuters to a July 2 Washington Post article that quoted an unidentified Gazan and anonymous Israeli officials as saying Hamas profited from the sales and taxing of pilfered humanitarian aid. Aids groups required to report losses The 156 reports of theft or losses of supplies reviewed by BHA were filed by U.N. agencies and other humanitarian groups working in Gaza as a condition of receiving U.S. aid funds. The second source familiar with the matter said that after receiving reports of U.S.-funded aid thefts or losses, USAID staff followed up with partner organizations to try to determine if there was Hamas involvement. Those organizations also would "redirect or pause" aid distributions if they learned that Hamas was in the vicinity, the source said. Aid organizations working in Gaza also are required to vet their personnel, sub-contractors and suppliers for ties to extremist groups before receiving U.S. funds, a condition that the State Department waived in approving $30 million for GHF last month. The slide presentation noted that USAID partners tended to over-report aid diversion and theft by groups sanctioned or designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations - such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad - because they want to avoid losing U.S. funding. Of the 156 incidents of loss or theft reported, 63 were attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 to armed actors, 25 to unarmed people, 11 directly to Israeli military action, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, five to aid group personnel 'engaging in corrupt activities,' and six to 'others," a category that accounted for 'commodities stolen in unknown circumstances,' according to the slide presentation. The armed actors 'included gangs and other miscellaneous individuals who may have had weapons,' said a slide. Another slide said "a review of all 156 incidents found no affiliations with" U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations, of which Hamas is one. 'The majority of incidents could not be definitively attributed to a specific actor,' said another slide. 'Partners often largely discovered the commodities had been stolen in transit without identifying the perpetrator.' It is possible there were classified intelligence reports on Hamas aid thefts, but BHA staff lost access to classified systems in the dismantlement of USAID, said a slide. However, a source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments told Reuters that they knew of no U.S. intelligence reports detailing Hamas aid diversions and that Washington was relying on Israeli reports. The BHA analysis found that the Israeli military 'directly or indirectly caused' a total of 44 incidents in which U.S.-funded aid was lost or stolen. Those included the 11 attributed to direct Israeli military actions, such as airstrikes or orders to Palestinians to evacuate areas of the war-torn enclave. Losses indirectly attributed to Israeli military included cases where they compelled aid groups to use delivery routes with high risks of theft or looting, ignoring requests for alternative routes, the analysis said. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Don Durfee and Claudia Parsons)
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Israeli gunfire and strikes kill at least 25 in Gaza, many while seeking aid
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 25 people overnight into Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled and Gaza faces famine. Gunfire killed the majority of people as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken. Israel's army didn't respond to a request for comment about the shootings. Those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the U.S. and Israel recalled negotiating teams Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks. A Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week and described the recall of the Israeli and U.S. delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which mediate the talks alongside the United States, called the pause only temporary and said talks would resume. They did not say when. The United Nations and experts say Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition. And now children with no preexisting conditions have begun to starve to death. While Israel's army says it's allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter, the U.N. says it is hampered by Israeli military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting. The Hamas-run police had provided security for safe aid delivery, but it has been unable to operate after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes. Israel on Saturday said more than 250 trucks carrying aid from the U.N. and other organizations entered Gaza this week. About 600 trucks were entering per day during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March. The latest Zikim crossing shootings come days after at least 80 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the crossing. Israel's military at the time said its soldiers shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians who posed a threat. During the shootings late Friday, Sherif Abu Aisha said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from the aid trucks, but as they got close they realized it was from Israel's tanks. That's when the army started firing on people, he told the Associated Press. He said his uncle, a father of eight, was among those killed. 'We went because there is no food ... and nothing was distributed,' he said. Men carried the latest bodies through the rubble Saturday. A small boy wailed over a corpse. Israel faces growing international pressure to alleviate Gaza's catastrophic humanitarian crisis. More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and over 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near the new aid sites run by a U.S. contractor, the U.N. human rights office says. The charities and rights groups said even their own staffers were struggling to get enough food. For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops of aid, requested by neighboring Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. Britain plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said Saturday. The office did not give details. But the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned on social media that airdrops are 'expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians' and won't reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion. Shurafa and Magdy write for the Associated Press and reported from Deir al Balah and Cairo, respectively.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Readers call on U.S. to help starving Gazans: ‘We need to be better than this'
To the editor: It is agonizing to witness the mass malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, and the fact that our own government is enabling this horror shames our country ('Israel is pushing Gaza into starvation, global aid groups say,' July 24). More than 165 major international charities have called for an end to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The group, backed by Israel and the U.S., requires that starving people travel long distances to aid hubs where there are near-daily reports of deadly shootings by Israeli forces. Since the start of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, at least 1,000 Gazans have been killed while trying to get food, according to the latest numbers from the U.N. human rights office. Israel blames Hamas for this travesty, but in fact, it is Israel that could call off its forces immediately. The U.S. must put pressure on Israel to end the blockade, reject the militarization of aid distribution and demand an immediate ceasefire. Betty Guthrie, Portola Valley, Calif. .. To the editor: Why are our American dollars being used to contribute to the malnutrition and deaths of civilians and children in Gaza? It is not right and needs to end. We can help Israel most by helping to end this suffering now. We need to be better than this. George Saade, Pico Rivera .. To the editor: Little babies and young children starving. The photos are gut-wrenching. With all of the food and food waste in this world, there should be no excuse for this. Maybe the excuse is politics — the gift that keeps on giving. Georgette Rieck, Santa Monica
