"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Saturday, February 08, 2025

3 hostages of Hamas were kept underground

New details of 3 more hostages freed from the captivity of Hamas tells of the horrible situation they were in:
What happened to the hostages during 491 days in hell of Gaza? With the return of Ohad Ben Ami, Ori Levi, and Eli Sharabi from Hamas captivity on Saturday, new details are emerging about their harrowing ordeal, both psychologically and physically, as evidenced by the images that shocked the world.

The three hostages were held in severe conditions, according to their testimonies. For most of their captivity, they were given very little food kept in underground tunnels without exposure to daylight. They stated that they had no way of knowing whether it was summer or winter outside.

Their access to media was extremely limited, with Al Jazeera being the primary source of news they were exposed to. They were given very little food, and even when they did receive meals, the nutrition provided was insufficient to meet their bodily needs, leading to extreme weight loss.

The hostages recounted that in the days leading up to their release, they were given slightly more food in an apparent attempt to create the illusion that their captivity conditions had been adequate. However, when they emerged, they appeared frail and emaciated, reflecting the true reality of their ordeal.

According to a source at Sheba Medical Center, Levi and Sharabi were unaware that their family members had been murdered. Levi's wife, Einav, was killed in the "death shelter" at the Nova festival, while Sharabi's wife and three daughters were also murdered. The body of his brother, Yossi, is still in Gaza. The two were informed of their loved ones' fate by psychologists who spoke to them at the reception point in Re'im.
It's all absolutely abominable.

Sunday, February 02, 2025

Why Steve Witkoff cannot remain an envoy

Melanie Phillips has taken valid issue with Donald Trump's middle east envoy, Steve Witkoff, who's already led to the rightfully controversial release of convicted jihadists for freeing Israeli hostages of Hamas:
Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, has called the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal an “inflection point” for peace in the Middle East.

He told Fox News that he hopes to broaden the Abraham Accords by bringing in every state in the Middle East, including Qatar and Egypt, which he praised for their key roles in negotiating the Gaza ceasefire.

Qatar, he said, had been “enormously helpful in this,” and the communication skills of its prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, had been “indispensable”.

While the commitment of the new administration to expanding the Abraham Accords — signed in 2020 under the first Trump administration — is a welcome sign, Witkoff’s remarks should provoke no little unease among those who properly understand what Israel is facing.

Qatar can never be a solution in the Middle East because Qatar is the problem
. Far from being instrumental in bringing peace and security to Israel, Qatar has been instrumental in bringing it mass slaughter.

For Qatar is behind Hamas. It created it, funds it and protects its leaders. Qatar promotes the Muslim Brotherhood — the jihadi parent of Hamas — and hosts the Islamist propaganda news outlet Al Jazeera
.

It’s an enemy of the west because it is governed by an Islamist regime that allies itself with other Islamist enemies of the west including Al-Qaeda, ISIS —and Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who had until last month a $10 million US bounty on his head.
Even Daniel Greenfield's taken issue with Witkoff's conduct:
In my article early last week, “Trump Should Pull Out of Gaza Nation Building”, I warned that this was coming.

If the Trump administration backs the deal, it will be forced to act as a ‘guarantor’ which will not only mean protecting Hamas, but an extended terrorist nation-building program bigger even than Iraq or Afghanistan. Phase 3 of the deal reportedly calls for a 3-5 year rebuilding program.

That timetable would have President Trump spend his whole second term rebuilding Gaza.

And the UN’s actual numbers are far worse. The UN Development Program is estimating $50 billion in costs to rebuild Gaza by 2040


Steven Witkoff, the real estate guy with a history of previous dealings with Hamas’s state sponsors in Qatar, appointed by President Trump to act as his Middle East envoy, is now parroting the UN’s numbers.

Witkoff, a real estate developer, assesses that the demolition and moving of the debris alone will take five years.

“There has been this perception we can get to a solid plan for Gaza in five years. But its impossible. This is a 10 to 15 year rebuilding plan,” he said.


That 15-year plan would put it at… 2040.

What that means is the U.S. would be dragged into this nation-building project in Gaza for President Trump’s entire second term and for, if he should get them, J.D. Vance’s two terms in office.

Madness
.
It would also be abuse of the USA citizenry's taxpayer dollars. Witkoff cannot remain in the position he's been given. He's an embarrassment and has already caused plenty of damage that can be avoided. Not to mention that people as barbaric as the Muslims in Gaza turned out to be don't deserve to live there.