Latest news with #October7
Sky News AU
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Zohran Mamdani has allowed younger generations to play the ‘victim'
Independent Women's Forum Fellow Dr Qanta Ahmed says New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's 'move' is to target young college-educated classes. 'We have also seen post October 7 the absolute rot in the fabric of much of our academia in terms of how we are indoctrinating students, giving them a sense of victimhood, and to me, that is the central thing of Mamdani,' Dr Ahmed told Sky News Australia. 'Our younger generations see themselves as victims and look for entitlement from elsewhere.'
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli gov't no longer has mandate to avoid Oct. 7 state probe, bereaved parents say
'A government that has lost its majority has no mandate to erase the October 7 massacre and bury the truth,' the families concluded. A group of over 1,500 families of victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre, called the 'October Council,' demanded in a statement on Thursday that the government form a State Commission of Inquiry now that it has lost its majority. 'Following the withdrawal of Shas and United Torah Judaism, the Israeli government is now effectively operating as a minority government—without a majority in the Knesset and without public or moral mandate to continue blocking the establishment of a State Commission of Inquiry into the most horrific disaster in the country's history,' the families wrote. 'The October Council, which brings together over 1,500 bereaved families, families of hostages, survivors of captivity, and massacre survivors, emphasizes that a government without a majority also lacks legitimacy to bury the truth.' 'It is inconceivable that a government which has lost its majority continues to promote alternative legislation or internal committees, when 83% of the public, across all sectors and political views, demands the immediate establishment of a State Commission of Inquiry. The current government is incapable of legislating, yet continues to obstruct investigation. In whose name? For what purpose?' Calls for Shas and UTJ to help establish a probe into the events of October 7 'We hereby call on the leaders of Shas and United Torah Judaism, MK Aryeh Deri and MK Moshe Gafni, to join the resounding call of the bereaved families and the overwhelming majority of the Israeli public to establish a state commission of inquiry into October 7,' the families wrote. 'Immediately after the Meron disaster [in April 2021], MK Gafni declared, 'A State Commission of Inquiry must be established to investigate the disaster and prevent its recurrence.' Now, in the face of a far more painful and extensive failure, we ask—where is that same commitment?' The families wrote. The Meron Committee found Netanyahu among those who were personally responsible for the disaster, but refrained from issuing any recommendations due to his position as prime minister. 'A government that has lost its majority has no mandate to erase the October 7 massacre and bury the truth,' the families concluded. A State Commission of Inquiry is the most powerful probe in Israel's legal system, and the only type of probe that operates completely independently of the political echelon. Its members are appointed by the Chief Justice, and it has the power to subpoena witnesses and make personal, punitive recommendations regarding individuals. The other types of probes are government-appointed and parliament-appointed inquiry committees. The government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has cited a lack of public trust in the High Court as a justification for an alternative committee, whose members will be appointed jointly by the coalition and opposition. However, polls have consistently shown a significant majority of Israelis preferring a State Commission of Inquiry over any other form of inquiry. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mirror
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
'Major risk' of jihadist terror attack as West's enemies harness power of AI
A chilling intelligence report has warned the West must not switch focus from trying to beat off terror threats from groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic State Western governments must not fall prey to 'counter-terrorism fatigue' after more than two decades of war against extremist attacks, a chilling intelligence report has warned. Even though the London 7-7 attacks which killed 52 and injured hundreds was 20 years ago, al-Qaeda and Islamic State are still going strong and want to commit terrorism, it says. A new report from the US-based Soufan Centre, run by ex-FBI terror expert Ali Soufan, warns terror groups have modernised, freeing up fighters for attacks by using AI. And the threat from lone wolves and groups of violent extremists has evolved and remains a massive threat to western countries including the UK. Israel 's wars, particularly in Gaza may also have rekindled jihadist plans to attack because the 'post October 7 landscape presents a host of new threats for law enforcement.' The Gaza conflict has, the report concludes, 'led to deep societal polarisation. Even groups traditionally opposed to Hamas, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State have nevertheless sought to benefit from the conflict with Israel by lacing their propaganda with anti-Israel themes and messages in an attempt to mobilise their followers and supporters to commit acts of violence throughout the globe.' But budget issues have set in after decades of war and counter-terror operations while jihadist networks remain a 'major risk' across the globe and al-Qaeda is a 'persistent threat.' Anarchy and chaos in Afghanistan means its old stomping ground has been freed up for training bases and become an 'intelligence black hole.' The report declares: 'An enduring counter-terrorism challenge is that even as old threats evolved , adapted and remained, new ones have emerged.' This is occurring against a backdrop of what some have dubbed 'counter-terrorism fatigue' wherein after two decades of fighting the global war on terrorism, elements of western governments have shifted focus, personnel and resources to other areas including great power competition and AI. The Mirror revealed last year that Osama bin Laden's supposedly slain son Hamza is now believed to be living in Afghanistan and US President Donald Trump 's boast he had been killed was wrong. Intelligence agencies fear Hamza is now the de facto head of al-Qaeda. It means the bin Laden terror dynasty has likely lived on and that vengeance-filled Hamza will likely continue his father's lifelong passion for global jihad. 'Yet it remains crucial not to become complacent about the very real threat posed by terrorist groups across the ideological spectrum as well as lone actors and homegrown, violent extremist extremists.' The report goes on to warn that Islamic State's Afghan-Pakistan and the wider region franchise has modernised in line with technology. It says: 'It is not unreasonable to fathom that Islamic State in the Khorasan Province and other IS branches are using generative artificial intelligence to pre-programme dozens of propaganda channels uniquely tailored to resonate with the grievances of jihadist supporters in multiple countries simultaneously and at scale.' It comes in the same week that the UK intelligence and security committee warned Iran is as big a danger in terms of physical attacks in the UK as Russia. The main targets are Israeli, Jewish and Iranian dissidents who are outspoken against the Tehran regime in the UK. But it is feared society in general is still under threat from terror attacks as well. Iranian groups ave already conspired to create assasination plots and other violent acts against the Iranian diaspora living in the UK and speaking out against Iran's rulers.
Fox News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Israel's quest for justice exposes Hamas' systematic sexual violence campaign during October 7 massacre
Rape, gang-rape and acts of extreme sexual violence carried out by Hamas terrorists during their brutal Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel were part of a well-planned systematic weapon of war, a report, based on collated, open-source evidence and new testimonies, has found. Authored by The Dinah Project, a global initiative advancing justice for victims of conflict-related sexual violence, the 80-page report titled "A Quest for Justice: October 7 and Beyond" calls on international human rights groups to recognize that Hamas weaponized sexual violence as part of its atrocities and demands that the U.N. secretary general blacklist the Palestinian terror group. "The main goal is to provide, for the first time, a comprehensive framework, based on all the available information, that has been analyzed and cross-checked from a legal perspective to prove that sexual violence was indeed used as a weapon of war by Hamas on October 7," Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University, which oversees the Dinah Project, told Fox News Digital. "Based on that, we hope to develop or to propose a legal theory that allows for the prosecution of all the terrorists who took part in the attack and hold them responsible and accountable for all the acts of sexual violence that were perpetrated," said Halperin-Kaddari, who officially presented the report to Israel's first lady Michal Herzog, wife of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on Tuesday. While accounts of sexual violence, including rape, gang-rape and genital mutilation, emerged quickly following Hamas' brutal attack that sparked 20 months of war in Gaza, some in the international community – including multiple women's rights groups – cast doubt on the reports due to a lack of physical evidence or of victims. Most of the victims, Halperin-Kaddari pointed out, were either murdered, taken hostage or too traumatized to speak about their experience. "It was a huge disappointment that the international human rights community could not handle the truth or escape the politicization of this issue," she said, adding, "it's a sign of a failure by the international human rights community that could not accept a complex situation where one side in the conflict, which is always perceived to be the victim, turns into the aggressor and uses the most horrific kind of crime -- rapes and sexual violence -- to advance their cause." Under pressure, some international organizations such as UN Women and the International Criminal Court in The Hague did carry out investigations, which concurred with accounts from witnesses and first responders that sexual violence and rapes had taken place. The Dinah Project's report builds on those investigations, bringing together, for the first time, first-hand testimonies, including from 15 returned hostages, 17 eye and earwitnesses, and 27 first responders. According to the report, which also draws from forensic evidence, as well as visual and audio documentation, "sexual violence was widespread and systematic" during the attack, which saw more than 1,200 people, civilians and soldiers murdered, and some 251 taken hostage back to Gaza. Further, the report found that the acts of rape, gang-rape and other forms of sexual violence took place in at least six different locations: the Nova music festival, Route 232, Nahal Oz military base, and Kibbutzim Re'im, Nir Oz and Kfar Aza. "Clear patterns emerged in how the sexual violence was perpetrated, including victims found partially or fully naked with their hands tied, often to structures like trees or poles; evidence of gang rapes followed by execution; genital mutilation; and public humiliation," said the report. For those who were taken hostage, sexual violence continued into captivity, with multiple returnees reporting "forced nudity, physical and verbal sexual harassment, sexual assaults, and threats of forced marriage," the report found. "Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon, as part of a genocidal scheme and with the goal of terrorizing and dehumanizing Israeli society, a finding with significant implications for international justice mechanisms," the report's authors write, outlining some "practical frameworks for achieving accountability." Among the recommendations, the report urges the international community to view conflict-related sexual violence as a "distinct category," different from everyday sexual offenses; to take into consideration "the systematic silencing of victims; to utilize more diverse forms of admissible evidence, including eyewitness accounts and circumstantial evidence; and to apply joint criminal responsibility to all participants in the attack, rather than requiring direct links between individual perpetrators and specific acts and victims." "We also seek to set the historical record straight: Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war," the authors write, adding, "This report thus sets the stage for future criminal and other domestic and international proceedings against Hamas terrorists, leaders and collaborators." Israeli first lady Michal Herzog, who received The Dinah Project's report on Tuesday, said in a statement that it "lays out the truth." "On behalf of all those harmed, we must continue to fight until their voices are heard everywhere and justice is served," she said, adding, "as a woman, a mother, and an Israeli, I read the reports with a broken heart… it challenges the global silence, replaces denial with facts, and calls on the world to recognize sexual violence as a crime against humanity and to prosecute those responsible."
Irish Times
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Israeli report accuses Hamas of sexual violence, urges legal action
Israeli researchers released a report on Tuesday detailing sexual assault allegations against Palestinian Hamas fighters who attacked Israeli communities on October 7th, 2023, and offering a 'legal blueprint' for potential prosecutions. The Bar-Ilan University report cites at least 17 witnesses testifying to at least 15 separate cases of sexual assault, including gang rape and mutilation of sexual organs. It cites numerous instances of bodies found partially or fully naked, some handcuffed to poles or trees, and bodies with gunshots to the genitalia and other genital mutilation. Accounts of sexual assault committed by Hamas militants on October 7th have been documented widely. Several hostages released from Hamas captivity said they witnessed and experienced acts of assault, including forced penetration, by their captors. Hamas has consistently denied allegations of sexual assault. Hamas official Bassem Naim said the report was 'not worth commenting' on. Reuters could not independently verify the evidence referenced in the report. The document, authored by three experts in law and gender, lays out a legal framework for prosecution of those responsible, even when 'direct attribution to individuals is impossible'. The report draws from forensic and visual evidence, witness testimony and audio recordings. In March, United Nations experts said in a report that Israel had used sexual violence as a war strategy in Gaza , allegations Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu rejected as biased and anti-Semitic. The authors of the Bar-Ilan University document presented the report to Israel's first lady Michal Herzog on Tuesday. They said they aimed to prompt domestic and international legal action by identifying legal doctrines that can be used to 'unlock actual court cases' by showing how they fit into international mechanisms. 'Our aim is to be able to convince the [United Nations] secretary-general to include Hamas in the blacklist of those entities of those countries ... that condone the use of sexual violence as a tool of war,' Prof Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, founding member of the university's Dinah Project, said. There was no immediate comment from the office of Mr Netanyahu on the Bar-Ilan University report. A UN commission of inquiry into sexual assault on October 7th found that Israeli women were subjected 'to gender-based violence such as physical, sexual and psychological violence, including threats of such acts, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of liberty'. The UN said Israeli officials refused to co-operate with its investigation and 'that the information gathered by the mission team was in a large part sourced from Israeli national institutions'. Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva said in April last year that victims of the October 7th attacks would never get justice from the UN commission and its members, adding that the commission had a track record of anti-Semitic, anti-Israel statements. The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to UN estimates. Progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza at peace talks ongoing in Qatar has been slow, officials from that country said on Tuesday. The new round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas began on Sunday, after both sides accepted a broad US-sponsored outline of a deal for an initial 60-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the 21-month conflict. 'I don't think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this,' Majed al-Ansari, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Tuesday, the third day of negotiations in Doha. – Reuters/Guardian
