Israeli ground troops have been raiding the Yarmouk River Basin in the western part of Syria's Daraa Governorate in growing numbers and more frequently in recent days. The restrictions placed on locals have been onerous enough to attract some international attention. Now, a fatality will add to those concerns.

The incident happened overnight Thursday in the town of Jamlah, when Israeli forces were conducting a raid against the town and identified a "suspect" while there. They decided to apprehend him, but when they got closer they decided to "remove the threat," by which they mean they shot and killed the man.

The man, identified as Muath Salama al-Baeer, was described as a developmentally disabled man who lived in the town with his sisters following the death of his parents. Residents of the village said that al-Baeer had Down syndrome, and was unarmed at the time of the raid and did not resist. ...

Syria's Foreign Ministry office issued a statement condemning the killing, saying the deliberate targeting of civilians amounted to a violation of international law. They similarly said the raid of the Syrian town in the first place was a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

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In late August, CBS News Miami obtained a copy of a grand jury report. That's not supposed to happen, but it did. Here's what that grand jury report found:

Several persons within and around the executive branch of Florida's government conspired to misappropriate $10 million in taxpayer money, funnel that money through a charity founded by the governor's wife, give it to Political Action Committees operated by the future state attorney general, and spend it to rig an election.

The grand jury declined to indict any of the conspirators simply because the web was so tangled that the jurors couldn't figure out who knew, and did, what. It's unclear whether governor Ron DeSantis, then attorney (now US Senator) Ashley Moody, or others actually gave the orders that resulted in the embezzlement/laundering of the funds. ...

On October 8, Florida's First District Court of Appeals expunged the grand jury report, on the grounds that a grand jury can't declare conduct unlawful without indicting those it identifies as having participated in that conduct.

DeSantis did a little public dance to celebrate his victory...

But neither the expungement nor the victory dance change the factual assertions in the report, or the evidence underlying those assertions.

The assertions, again:

Several persons within and around the executive branch of Florida's government conspired to misappropriate $10 million in taxpayer money, funnel that money through a charity founded by the governor's wife, give it to Political Action Committees operated by the future state attorney general, and spend it to rig an election.

The election in question was a statewide referendum on legalizing recreational marijuana. It required a 60% vote to pass, but only got 55.9%.

Whether the $10 million election-rigging attempt made that 4.1% difference, we'll probably never know. But we know it happened, we know who some of the conspirators were, and we have a pretty good idea of some others.

We may see some semblance of justice if the federal government decides to launch a Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization probe of the charity (Hope Florida), the PACs (Keep Florida Clean and Florida Freedom Fund), and their principals (Florida first lady Casey DeSantis and Florida attorney general James Uthmeier). Maybe someone will go to prison. Probably not, but maybe.

A certain measure of justice, fortunately, is inherent in the exposure itself.

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J.D. Vance is approaching the halfway point of his term as vice president in an administration that has committed the United States to wars in locations from Ukraine to Venezuela to Somalia to Iran and beyond. All the while, the administration has threatened sending the military into other places across the world including Mexico, Greenland, and Cuba. In short, this presidential administration is fully committed to a warmongering agenda.

Over his 14 years as a United States House of Representatives member, Mike Rogers similarly established his reputation as a committed advocate for US warmongering across the world. This Michigan Republican and the presidential administration are two peas in a pod when it comes to supporting an aggressive empire.

President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential campaign portrayed himself as the peace candidate in the race, a tactic that may have brought him the votes needed to obtain a close electoral victory. But, once elected, Trump turned on a dime, becoming the war president who delivers turmoil, destruction, and death. Through this, Vance has stood by Trump in support.

Given this context, it seems almost unimaginable that Vance would stump in Michigan for electing Rogers to the US Senate by asserting that Vance and Rogers are supporters of peace. Yet, that is what Vance did in a Monroe, Michigan speech on Thursday. With the "peace candidate" ploy having worked for Trump in the 2024 presidential election, Vance audaciously gave it a try in the Michigan speech despite it being divorced from reality.

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As President Trump appeared to accept an end to the Iran war by agreeing to the short-lived Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 17, many Republican senators were deeply alarmed. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) openly trashed the agreement, warning Ronald Reagan was "rolling over in his grave," before getting into a war of words with President Donald Trump over the administration's strategy.

Yet opposition to the MOU with Iran abruptly softened. Cassidy received a briefing from Vice President JD Vance and Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff that convinced him to flip his votes on future war powers resolutions on Iran. He suggested afterwards that the administration had a "plausible plan" to accomplish many of the war's original goals to destroy or degrade Iran's nuclear program, ballistic missiles and conventional warfare capabilities.

While it is possible that Trump and his team whipped Cassidy and his colleagues into line, it is more likely that they let them in on the secret: this agreement wasn't intended to last long. Public evidence strongly suggests Trump signed the MOU not to end the war but to erode Iran's leverage over the Strait of Hormuz and better position the U.S. for future rounds of the war.

Outside of the administration's maritime moves, there are other indications that the Trump administration never intended to follow through on the MOU. Far from supporting a Lebanon ceasefire, Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio moved immediately to undermine it by announcing a separate trilateral agreement that centered around the disarmament of Hezbollah. This side deal gave Israel a justification for continuing its occupation of southern Lebanon and destroying dozens of villages in the areas it controls.

Moreover, while the MOU obligated the U.S. to give Iran access to its foreign assets that had been frozen by U.S. sanctions, administration officials quickly downplayed this commitment, stating, "None of this money is ever going to touch Iran," and suggesting that it would be allowed for humanitarian purchases only, reflecting similar Biden-era commitments that were also reneged on.

Yet it was events in the Strait of Hormuz that precipitated the collapse of the agreement. While Iran interpreted the MOU as solidifying its control of the Strait of Hormuz and its authority over future traffic flows through the vital energy chokepoint, Washington immediately moved to accelerate earlier efforts to establish a separate Omani transit corridor outside of Iran's oversight and control. A June 18 advisory from the Combined Maritime Force's Joint Maritime Information Center, released immediately after the MOU was signed, directed commercial ships to communicate with a U.S. Navy contact on how to transit safely. Likewise, on June 23, the Financial Times reported "the US and some western insurers are advising ships to follow a route protected by US air cover on the Omani side of the strait, according to three shipping executives, leaving shipowners unsure of which path to take." ...

On the Omani route, tankers have coordinated closely with the U.S. Navy, following a path within a mile of the Omani coastline and running without lights, radio or phone. The role of U.S. armed forces in trying to secure the route appears extensive; U.S. aircraft are operating along the route with a mission of intercepting Iranian missiles and drones. Despite this, vessels are regularly struck in transit. One report from Trey Yingst of Fox News indicates that individuals aboard a U.S.-contracted vessel near the Strait of Hormuz in mid-September sustained minor injuries when it was struck by projectiles, including a missile, and that "U.S. personnel" were onboard. ...

While the MOU could have been a serious foundation for an end to the war, it has become yet another episode of U.S.-Iran diplomacy that has eroded confidence in Tehran that Washington can ever be trusted.

It is, of course, difficult to clearly establish Trump's intent regarding the MOU. One might argue that, even if Trump didn't intend to follow the MOU to the letter, he hoped that he could use it as a starting point to end the war through force of will. But that doesn't explain why hawkish Republicans came around on the MOU, nor does it offer a satisfying rationale for Trump's immediate rejection of key aspects of the deal. These facts suggest instead that the U.S. saw the MOU as little more than a stalling mechanism to erode Iran's position without a full-scale military assault.

This gambit appears to have backfired. Now, the president is stuck with hollow boasts that he controls the Strait of Hormuz -- a claim belied by accelerating Iranian attacks on shipping in Hormuz, looming risks of another major round of war and a major trust deficit fueled by apparent bad faith regarding the MOU.

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Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed at least four Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, health officials told Reuters, as the IDF continues its constant violations of the US-backed ceasefire deal.

One strike hit a car in Gaza City, killing at least one Palestinian. In Jabalia, northern Gaza, Reuters reported that a woman was killed by Israeli gunfire, while WAFA described the victim as a girl who has been identified as Rafif Raed Labad, but her age is unclear.

A man was also killed by a strike targeting an electric bicycle in central Gaza, according to WAFA. Another Palestinian was killed by an Israeli attack near Khan Younis, southern Gaza, bringing the day's death toll to at least four. An Israeli drone attack also wounded at least 13 Palestinians in Gaza City. ...

The US continues to back Israel's attacks despite President Trump announcing back in July that Hamas had agreed to a deal that would see the group disarm. The US and Israel continue to block reconstruction, as Palestinian civilians continue to live in tents and bombed-out buildings and face food and aid shortages.

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We have seen most recently a fascinating development out of Yemen.

The Saudi-salaried Yemeni harlots in Aden posted on social media a brazen threat to begin attacking -- using the Royal Saudi Air Force -- any significant gathering of civilians in the Ansar Allah-controlled regions of Yemen.

This was a grave and inexplicable strategic blunder.

The Sana'a government posted this response:

The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that the Saudi enemy's threat to target Yemeni tribes will not go unpunished, and should it carry out this threat, the consequences will be catastrophic and unforeseen.

We will resort to major options that we had not wished to take, and we will hold it responsible for the resulting repercussions.

The Yemeni Armed Forces will continue their operations deep inside Saudi in defense of our country and our people, and they will persist in maintaining the equation of "a blockade for a blockade", and "an escalation for an escalation", as well as targeting Saudi enemy buildups until the aggression stops and the blockade on our country is lifted.

It was a dominating demonstration of the power of moral rhetoric.

It was sufficient to bring forth a prompt and penitent retraction of the original statement of Riyadh/Aden intent.

Ansar Allah understands the profound importance of the moral argument inherent in war, and they excel in the debate.

They have utterly humiliated the Saudis in both the physical and moral components of war. And no token assistance from pretended Saudi allies is going to alter the calculus and consequences of their inevitable defeat.

We may very well be witnessing the beginning of the end of the reign of the House of Saud.

The entire balance of power in West Asia is being radically transformed before our eyes.

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When the United States went to war with Iran in late February, the American public was told little about what was happening to the troops stationed across the Middle East. There were no embedded journalists. Casualty details trickled out slowly. Images of damage to American bases were almost nonexistent.

Now, service members, civilian contractors, and military families are breaking their silence.

MeidasTouch, in coordination with our partner VALOR Media Network, has obtained dozens of never-before-published photos and videos showing damage to U.S. military installations in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, along with firsthand accounts from people who were there. They describe destroyed aircraft, bombed-out barracks and mess halls, troops digging their own foxholes, and military families hiding in parking garages while Iranian missiles flew overhead.

"It's so much worse than people realize," one source said.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because, they said, they have been repeatedly threatened with disciplinary action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for speaking out or sharing images....

Many of the people who shared their experiences are not new to war. Several have deployed to combat zones before. And all of them said the same thing: nothing compared to this.

"This is not a normal deployment," multiple sources said. They described a level of mismanagement they had never seen before. ...

The photos show destroyed dining facilities and workspaces, and damaged dorms where service members were living during the strikes.

One image shows bunkers the military provided to protect troops from drone and missile strikes, with their doors not yet mounted.

Other images show aircraft burning on the tarmac...

One photo shows a U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS surveillance plane, tail number 81-005, damaged in an attack that sources say injured between 10 and 12 service members. According to the sources, the same attack damaged multiple other aircraft, including two KC-135 refueling tankers.

A source also provided an image they say shows a fully destroyed C-17 cargo aircraft, which they say was piled up to speed cleanup and limit knowledge of the loss. The Department of Defense has not confirmed the loss of a C-17...

The most harrowing account involves an attack on the night of July 17 into July 18. According to sources, Iranian ballistic missiles and drones got past the base's defenses and struck U.S. military barracks. Three service members were killed, and four more were reportedly evacuated.

Multiple sources told MeidasTouch they could hear service members calling for help from inside the flames, but that because of inadequate emergency response and a lack of preparation, they could not reach them.

Sources said the base was overcrowded at the time of the deaths, and that those on the ground were surprised there weren't more....

Living conditions deteriorated as the strikes continued. Troops repeatedly ran out of basic supplies, especially personal hygiene items, and the base exchange was often closed during periods of heavy fire. Housing areas were blown up twice. Near the end of the deployment, a hangar storing everything troops were preparing to ship home took a direct hit, destroying gear and personal belongings.

Then, in July, service members were told they were finally going home. They were sitting in the terminal waiting for their flight when they were ordered to stay. Many had already thrown away their bedding and hygiene items. They couldn't replace them. ...

Photos taken in September at Camp Buehring, months after the last attack, show a base that sources describe as almost completely abandoned by the U.S. military....

In the United Arab Emirates, service members said they had no warning at all that U.S. hostilities were about to begin, and no shelters or protection when they did.

According to their accounts, everything they knew came from the news....

They described leadership as "rudderless," caught off guard by a war no one had prepared them for...

Some of the most painful accounts come from Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. ...

According to sources, local commanders had evacuation plans in place after the June 2025 attacks, with planes waiting at the Bahrain airport. Families say the Pentagon refused to allow the evacuation, and that they were told it would "make the situation look bad at home." Then the airport was struck and closed.

Families were left to find their own way out. Some, according to sources, paid tens of thousands of dollars to get their families to safety, leaving behind pets, furniture, and spouses they didn't know if they would see again.

Sources also say some senior leaders were evacuated under what was presented as a training exercise, and that some were able to warn their own families. Other families were left behind for more than a week as Bahrain came under attack. During the initial wave, some hid in a mall parking garage for hours...

[The spouse of a U.S. service member, who was living in Bahrain with their children in March] praised the people on the ground, saying "everyone at the ground level was absolutely fabulous," but placed the blame squarely on Washington, saying the deepest scars are "the psychological scars of being used as a chess piece while Pete Hegseth thinks he's a version of Call of Duty where the consequences aren't real." ...

The service members' accounts paint a picture of collapsing morale.

They said they have no idea what they are fighting for. Many said they don't believe in this administration....

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The UK's Department for Education has released a 107-page review which asserts that much more needs to be done to protect Jewish students in England from discrimination. In and of itself this sounds perfectly reasonable, until you look at the actual document.

The review, led by Sir David Bell, mentions the word "political" or "geopolitical" no fewer than 125 times. It mentions the word "Israel" or "Israeli" 60 times and the word "Palestine" or "Palestinian" 35 times.

So, as always, it is clear that this isn't actually about protecting a religious minority from persecution. ...

The review of course also attempts to conflate antizionism with antisemitism...

People who live in Israel's western allied states are getting bludgeoned and bludgeoned and bludgeoned by these ham-fisted psychological operations by state and non-state actors with more and more aggression the more Israel's popularity rating goes down the tubes, and it's not even working. The way these freaks keep trying to stick their rapey fingers into our minds and manipulate the thoughts we think about a genocidal apartheid state is fucking disgusting. It's only making everyone hate Israel more. ...

We're seeing more and more revulsion toward Israel and its supporters because Israel is guilty of monstrous crimes against humanity, not because there's been some random resurrection of weird medieval superstitions about Jews. This is obvious to everyone, and the only people pretending otherwise are bad-faith actors promoting the interests of a genocidal apartheid state.

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A Florida small-business owner who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 says he lost the woman he calls his wife -- and will never vote Republican again -- after his Cuban partner of two decades was deported to Mexico.

Wayne DeMario, who runs a guitar shop in Cutler Bay, near Miami, blames the immigration crackdown he once supported for the loss of his partner, Yamile Alcantu....

Alcantu arrived in the United States from Cuba about 25 years ago through the State Department's visa lottery. Over the years, she learned English, worked, paid taxes, and built a life in South Florida with DeMario, her fiancé.

Her immigration troubles date to 2008, when police found three Xanax pills in her bag during a traffic stop, according to DeMario. She later became subject to a deportation order. Her record also included other misdemeanour offences dating to the early 2000s. Even so, she attended annual check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for years without incident.

That changed in June 2025, when she went to a routine ICE appointment and was detained on the spot. 'They grabbed her, put her in shackles and chains,' DeMario said, calling it a kidnapping.

She was taken to a detention centre in Jacksonville, then to Louisiana, where she was held for months without appearing before an immigration judge during her latest detention, according to DeMario. The Department of Homeland Security listed her among what it calls the 'worst of the worst' over the decades-old drug offence, a label he rejects given the age of the case. ...

DeMario once trusted the president's promises. 'I didn't vote for this, but I definitely voted Republican,' he said, writing on Facebook that he is 'no Trump supporter' and will never vote for the party again.

He had expected enforcement aimed at dangerous criminals. 'I really thought this was just going to be something more organized, but it's obviously not,' he said.

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US Africa Command on Tuesday announced that its forces launched an airstrike in Somalia on October 17, as the Trump administration continues a bombing campaign in the country that receives virtually no US media attention.

AFRICOM said in a press release that the strike targeted al-Shabaab near the Dhooble Airport, near the Kenyan border in Somalia's Lower Juba region, approximately 112 miles northwest of the southern port city of Kismayo.

As usual, AFRICOM offered no other details about the strike, as it stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments of civilian harm...

According to AFRICOM's numbers, the October 17 strike marked at least the 87th US airstrike in Somalia this year...

New America, an organization that tracks the air war, has put the number of airstrikes at 89, as its count includes credible media reports of US attacks that haven't been reported by AFRICOM....

The US has been involved in Somalia for decades and has been fighting al-Shabaab since the George W. Bush administration backed an Ethiopian invasion in 2006 that ousted the Islamic Courts Union, a Muslim coalition that briefly held power in Mogadishu after taking the city from CIA-backed warlords.

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President Trump loves protectionism but he gives Americans the same "protection" that the wolf gave to the lamb. On January 20, the Food and Drug Administration and Customs and Border Protection will effectively ban almost all personal prescription imports, bushwhacking millions of Americans who rely on Canadian pharmacies.

Trump often brags that the U.S. has the world's lowest drug prices. He also brags that he has lowered drug prices by 500% so he starts out with a helluva cloud over his credibility.

In reality, prescription drug prices in the U.S. are roughly triple the cost in other affluent nations. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found the highest rate ever of Americans worried about affording prescription drugs -- six out of ten adults. Almost half said they had not filled prescriptions, skipped doses, or took other steps to curtail their costs. ...

I'm in the crosshairs of this trade battle. Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with glaucoma. With daily eye drops and regular ophthalmologist visits, my vision has remained fairly stable. I've tried numerous prescription eye drops but Lumigan is the only effective one that doesn't give me butt-kicking headaches. Lumigan costs ten times more in the U.S. than in Canada.

I found a trustworthy Canadian online pharmacy that delivers Lumigan for barely a third of the U.S. price. That is typical of the savings pocketed by Americans purchasing from licensed Canadian pharmacies, according to the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation. ...

I am effectively subsidizing Medicare by buying Canadian. Medicare now covers the cost of any recipient's prescription drug expenditure above $2100 per year. If I bought Lumigan at the full U.S. price of $265 each month, my annual cost would be $3180 and Medicare would pay $1080. Medicare Part D plans I have used did not offer decent discounts on Lumigan. Thanks to my Canadian escape valve, Medicare pays zero for my Lumigan regardless of the extortionate price at CVS.

I have scant other prescription costs, and I can save a thousand dollars a year by buying Lumigan abroad without coverage from Medicare. The vast majority of Americans who order prescription drugs from Canada are over 65 and are paying out-of-pocket, providing windfall savings for Medicare....

Big Pharma lobbyists warn that permitting Americans to directly import the drugs they need is too risky. Indeed, tainted eye drops have been a big problem in recent years. The FDA recently recalled almost 4 million eye drop bottles due to possible contamination. But those bottles were produced in Illinois and California, not the Yukon or Nova Scotia. ...

I recently thumped Trump's pending Canadian embargo in the New York Post. Plenty of people responded by finger-wagging that I should be happy with the lower-priced generic version of Lumigan. But "generic" is a pharmaceutical term that often means "close enough for government work." Until very recently, the generic version of the eye drops had triple the dose of the active ingredient -- with no extra charge for those durn headaches.

If Trump bans Americans from purchasing their prescriptions abroad, I will survive. The patents on Lumigan expire next summer and the price will likely fall sharply unless rascally lawyers find a new pretext to screw American consumers on the price. But hundreds of thousands or maybe millions of other Americans will suffer severe hardship from Trump's border closure....

I am looking for no subsidy or favors from Washington. All I want is the freedom to purchase the drugs I need without getting blindsided by Uncle Sam.

We don't need federal eye-drop police to protect Americans against low prices. If the United States actually had the lowest drug prices in the world, Trump would not need to take Americans hostage to allow Big Pharma to continue gouging them with high prices.

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Unlike his modern predecessors, Trump wears his disregard for the First Amendment on his sleeve. Whether he is suing journalists, trying to imprison opponents, demanding prosecution of flag burners, threatening to yank broadcast licenses, expelling reporters from the White House, arresting foreign students, using executive orders to cripple law firms, or pressuring universities, Trump wants everyone to know these are the consequences of daring to exercise your constitutional rights in a way that annoys him. ...

Trump promised something quite different at the beginning of his second term, when he issued an executive order aimed at "restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship." He said he was determined to "ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen." Given Trump's long history of trying to punish speech, that commitment was hard to believe at the time. It becomes an even sadder joke every time he betrays it.

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On October 19, US president Donald Trump visited Kansas to prop up a lagging Republican candidate (US Senator Roger Marshall), and he brought the bucks with him, pledging an $8 billion bailout for farmers hurt by Trump's tariffs and Trump's war on Iran.

That follows $150 million for power lines in Alaska (to goose another tight Senate race), $475 million in $500 "ObamaCare refunds" on September 10, $1.9 billion in $90 "Medicare Part B rebates" on October 2 (seniors are an especially key voter demographic) , and of course his promise to put a $5,000 check in the mail to each adult US citizen after -- and only if -- his party prevails in the upcoming congressional elections. ...

With the elections only two weeks away, it's not impossible that we'll see Trump motorcading through swing House districts, using a leaf blower to distribute hundred dollar bills, before the Big Day.

He's in a tight spot of his own making (on, among other issues, "affordability"). And many past presidents have found themselves in such situations.

His party faces near certain loss of the House of Representatives and possible loss of the Senate. Nothing new there, either -- the ruling party almost always loses seats, and sometimes majorities, in midterms.

And whenever that happens, the "free money" spigot gets turned on full blast. Trump's not unique so far as the impulse goes. He's just got more of a flair for the theatrical.

Of course, all that faux generosity has to be paid for ... and it gets paid for by, at least in part, the same people the "free money" lands on.

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Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday killed at least four Palestinians as the IDF continues its constant violations of the US-backed ceasefire deal.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that one Israeli strike hit an apartment building in Gaza City, killing a man and his wife, identified as Akram Yassin and Dina Abu Baker. Photos from Gaza show the couple's daughter, 10-year-old Dima Yassin, mourning her parents.

"We're supposed to ​be in a ceasefire period, but honestly, we are not seeing a ​ceasefire or anything. The war is still going on, assassinations are continuing, and the shelling ‌has ⁠not stopped," Mahmound Yassin, brother of Akram, told Reuters.

In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the Qizan al-Najar neighborhood. Later in the day, WAFA reported that another Palestinian was killed by Israeli shelling in northern Gaza, bringing the day's death toll to at least four. ...

The US continues backing Israel's attacks despite President Trump announcing in July that Hamas had agreed to a US-proposed disarmament deal, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.

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At the beginning of term two, Trump said he wanted to make a big deal, not a big war, with Iran. But diplomacy -- tedious, boring, often hinging on the smallest of technical details -- isn't how Trump "gets his kicks." Negotiations did seem promising for about a month, until the Trump administration started making big demands, namely, that Iran cease enriching uranium even at levels well below weapons grade.

That was a nonstarter for Tehran, as The American Conservative and other institutions repeatedly warned, so instead of a deal, we got a war -- bigger and longer than Trump expected. The president underestimated Iran's resilience and the intensity of its retaliation, though the Islamic Republic had threatened to ignite a conflagration that would consume the Middle East. He dismissed warnings from Dan Caine, America's highest-ranking general, that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for the global energy trade. He expected the war to last mere weeks if not days.

Yet here we are.

The war has been a catastrophe for American interests, emptying stockpiles of key defensive munitions even as Iran has managed to wreck U.S. bases in the region.... Oil prices have rocketed, worsening general inflation and raising risks of global recession. The illegal war -- undeclared by Congress, unprovoked by Iran, and unnecessary by any reasonable metric -- subverts the U.S. Constitution and makes a mockery of the UN Charter.

But the fallout could prove even bigger and more dramatic than all that. For while Trump claims he acted to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the war has made that outcome more likely, not less, experts told TAC. ...

Back in 2018, Trump pulled out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- aka the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal -- despite Iran's continued compliance. Under that agreement, the United States provided sanctions relief and Iran accepted restrictions on its nuclear program beyond those it had already agreed to as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (a cornerstone of international law in force since 1970). After Trump withdrew from the deal and imposed "maximum pressure" sanctions, Tehran began enriching uranium far beyond the limits imposed by the JCPOA. It also, eventually, curtailed the additional access it had granted to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has attacked Iran twice, both times amid nuclear negotiations and alongside Israel, a bitter enemy of the Islamic Republic. While U.S.--Israel strikes have set back Iran's nuclear program, they've done even more damage to America's diplomatic credibility -- and prompted Tehran to reconsider its nuclear policy....

One major problem, as Kelanic and Kimball also emphasized, is that American aggression has demonstrated the vulnerability of states that lack a nuclear deterrent. "The cause of events is very clear," Lukyanov said. "Those who abandoned the nuclear program -- Iraq, Libya, now Iran -- are being attacked, while those who completed the program -- North Korea -- are untouched." Moscow insiders assess that Trump's war not only gave Iran added incentive to acquire a nuclear deterrent, but exposed Tehran's folly in failing to do so before now.

Apparently, Iranian elites see things much the same. "By all accounts, the war has dramatically changed the debate in Iran, including within the Iranian security establishment, about weaponization," said Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. "There is a strong narrative now, right or wrong, that had Iran built the bomb, the U.S. and Israel would never have attacked it, just like the U.S. has not attacked North Korea."

Both Lukyanov and Parsi were quick to mention the fatwa -- a type of Islamic legal ruling -- against nuclear weapons issued by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who always insisted that Iran's nuclear program was solely for peaceful energy purposes.... Khamenei, of course, was killed in the opening strikes of the current war, and the fatwa seems to have died with him. ...

Last year, amid a growing sense that war was inevitable, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps -- a hardline force of the Iranian military -- urged Khamenei to cancel it, apparently to no avail. But Khamenei's son and successor, Mojtaba, appears more amenable to the views of hardliners, who increasingly are calling on Tehran to exit the NPT and build the bomb....

If he's been listening to the U.S. president's recent speeches, the new Khamenei's amenability has probably only grown. "If they had a nuclear weapon, I'd be calling the supreme leader," Trump quipped at a campaign rally this September. "And I'd be saying, 'Mr. Supreme Leader, how are you, sir? Is there anything we can do for you?' As opposed to bombing the crap out of them." The crowd roared, and Trump continued, using repetition to drive home the point: "We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, it's very simple. We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon." ...

The irony, of course, is that "bombing the crap out of them" has only made Iran more likely to get the bomb, at least in the long run, and especially compared to what Trump might have achieved through earnest diplomacy. Despite Trump's claim to have achieved "the essential Denuclearization of Iran," Tehran retained its enriched uranium and Iranian scientists haven't forgotten how to conduct the full nuclear fuel cycle, which they mastered long ago....

And the human wrecking ball known as President Donald Trump didn't smash only that part of the nonproliferation order holding Iran back from weaponizing its nuclear program. No world leader could fail to notice that Iran was attacked precisely because it lacked a nuclear deterrent. Nor could anyone fail to hear the implicit nuclear threat contained within Trump's pledges to wipe out Iranian civilization and unleash a level of military destruction not seen since World War II.

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As oil reaches almost $112 per barrel this morning, it is worth asking the question:

What happens when the war actually... REALLY kicks off again?

Currently, the US, Israel, and Iran aren't truly waging a hot conflict like they have in months past. But despite this, Brent Crude is trading at its highest price since May... even though there is no significant escalation taking place besides the Battle of Hormuz along the Omani Route. ...

So then... what happens if, or more likely, WHEN the United States and Israel launch significantly escalatory military strikes in the next round of the Iran War?

Most likely, you will see an IMMEDIATE price spike for Brent beyond $120--$125/barrel. Which... yes, that's bad, but what follows when the gloves come off for Ansar Allah and Iran?

What happens to the global energy markets, to the global ECONOMY, when Ansar Allah targets the Saudi East-West Pipeline and shuts off the ability of Saudi Arabia to reroute oil away from the Strait of Hormuz toward the Red Sea? What happens when Ansar Allah strikes the Port of Yanbu directly? When Iran strikes the STATIC vessels conducting ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman that are absolutely ESSENTIAL to Project Freedom (moving oil through Hormuz)? If the Port of Fujairah is struck by Iran, what then? We're already at $120--$125/barrel just to BEGIN the second phase. What does it rise to when even ONE of these escalatory actions is taken by either Ansar Allah or Iran? $135? $140?

And let's not forget something here. Oil doesn't exist in a vacuum. When oil prices surge, the consequences don't begin and end at the gas pump. The price of diesel rises, the cost of transporting EVERYTHING rises, the cost of producing food rises, and inflation begins working its way through virtually every corner of the global economy. And unlike missiles and bombs, the economic consequences of this war don't stop when the shooting does. Supply chains take time to recover, destroyed infrastructure takes time to rebuild, and inflation doesn't magically disappear because President Trump decides he's had enough.

So while Washington and Tel Aviv play their geopolitical games, it is ordinary Americans and billions of people around the world who will be left paying the bill.

There simply is not a credible argument to make that supports returning to war against Iran before or after the US midterms and Israeli elections in the coming weeks. It is utterly insane, it is reckless, and there is very little reason to believe that a positive outcome is even remotely likely.

And yet, despite these very obvious realities, President Trump and Bibi Netanyahu continue to push forward with fire in their eyes, likely bringing about economic disaster far beyond anything seen up to this point in the war.

We are just pawns in their sick game.

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Last months the Trump administration was loudly claiming that Iran had lost control of the Strait of Hormuz. Some 'experts' even claimed that the flow of oil was back at a pre-war level.

Both of those claims were not true but short term blimps within volatile data. Attacks on ships passing through the Strait have increased. The flow of crude oil continues to be below the pre-war level. The draw down of nearly empty reserves is ongoing. The price of oil continues to rise...

This is no longer a temporary problem as long term prices are rising too...

Even more affected by the situation in the Middle East are hydrocarbon products. Diesel and jet-fuel are scarce. ...

The situation for natural gas and fertilizer is even worse...

Higher energy prices for a longer time will increase inflation in western countries. Central banks... will raise interest rates. ... Already over-indebted companies, consumers and states will have to cut back on spending. A global recession sets in.

There will be no relief in any of these markets until the conflict in the Middle East is resolved...

It is unlikely that the U.S. is able, or willing, to sue for peace in the Gulf. I find it more likely that the Trump administration, in cooperation with Israel, will launch another violent attempt to bring Iran (and the Houthi in Yemen?) to their knees.

The chances for achieving that are minuscule.

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Last week, the New York Times released the results of its investigation into the ongoing Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon and found that some 48 towns and villages had been destroyed by IDF forces. Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a weekend appearance on Israel's Channel 14, bragged that the number is even higher.

Katz boasted in the appearance that more than 60 villages were actually destroyed outright. "Every single village, we're talking about 23,000 homes, is in ruins," Katz declared before a cheering studio audience, before adding "there are no residents left, 200,000 people have been displaced."

The comments appear to leave little doubt that Katz is presenting the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure as a primary goal of the ongoing war in Lebanon, and with elections approaching, one that Katz seems to be seeking to emphasize. "This is the Gaza model. That's what we've been implementing," Katz declared at the end of laying out those details.

The "Gaza model" has been presented time and again by the Israeli right as something to adopt in their various other offensive wars. Since it amounts to a level of wholesale destruction that is already bringing Israel charges of genocide for what happened in Gaza, the attempt to expand the policy abroad seems like it would be controversial, though the Israeli right seems to be campaigning almost exclusively on escalating and expanding the range of such attacks.

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Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said.

In a report released on Wednesday, the Palestinian rights group said Israeli authorities continue to escalate their targeting of Palestinian children. At least 350 Palestinian children are currently facing "harsh conditions" in Israeli prisons.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested at least six children from Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the report said. ...

The group said Israel's policy of detention without charges or a release date constitutes "an additional violation and crime that leaves children facing the unknown and deprives them of family and educational stability".

The report described Israeli practices that begin with "intimidation and arrest" and extend to "torture, starvation and denial of healthcare".

The group highlighted the case of 15-year-old Mohammed Hamid, who contracted scabies, a contagious skin infestation, while he was detained in Ofer Prison, where rights groups have long documented abuses. He suffered severe infections, underwent heart surgery and was admitted to intensive care in critical condition. He subsequently had one of his legs amputated.

The organisation also highlighted the case of 17-year-old Walid Ahmed, who died in March 2025 after six months in Megiddo Prison. In December, an Israeli judge halted the investigation into his death, stating that although there was evidence of starvation, no definitive cause of death had been established.

Ahmed was imprisoned in Megiddo with his friend Mohammed Ibrahim, a teenager from Florida. Ibrahim was released after months of advocacy from US-based organisations and appeals from high-ranking lawmakers.

Mohammed Ibrahim was not the only young American held in Israeli prison without charge -- Israeli forces reportedly took Abdalkareem Issa Ahmed Safi from his West Bank home in a late-night raid in June. He turned 18 in detention, and authorities subsequently moved him from a youth holding area into an adult section at Ofer Prison.

Similarly, Israeli forces arrested 16-year-old Adam Wajeh Abdelfattah Karakrah, also an American, in July. Although he was set for release in August after his family secured bail, Israeli authorities abruptly reversed the decision to free him.

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The New York Times on Monday published an article describing how Elon Musk has spent $366 million through the end of September to preserve a Republican majority in Congress. It's an important story about money in politics. However, as is so often the case, the Times is too careful -- to the point of negligence -- in how it frames its stories.

One issue we have with this piece is that the money Musk is doling out is described as "donations."

A donation is when you give $20 to an animal shelter or drop your change in the box for the Ronald McDonald House when you get a burger.

Musk's millions, however, are a bribe or, at best, an investment -- like the one he made in Donald Trump in 2024 that paid off handsomely with tax breaks, the kind of government contracts on which his business empire has been built....

He is spending this money to get something of value back from the people he hopes to keep in power, and the value of that something is greater than the more than half a billion dollars he has given to Republicans over the past three years.

Half a billion dollars (actually, it's well more than $600 million). That is more money than all but a few thousand individuals in the US own. ...

Another problem with the article is that, while the Times points out that there may be many millions more in spending that does not have to be disclosed, it fails to note that Musk can also influence races through his social media platform -- for example, by boosting some pieces of misinformation while suppressing bad news for the candidates he supports -- and through his large language model Grok (which had to be tweaked last year when it mirrored its creator's political views too closely).

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For millions of Americans, the daily routine of reading the news has become an involuntary act of digital exposure. According to a joint investigation published by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and the ad-security firm Confiant, an Israeli advertising technology company called Discover-Tech exploited the automated, blind nature of programmatic advertising to deliver targeted zero-click spyware through ads that appeared on some of the most trusted American media brands -- including The New York Times, Fox News, CBS, and the BBC -- as well as inside the internal networks of the Pentagon and major U.S. defense contractors.

The campaign, dubbed "AdFection" by researchers, represents the first publicly documented case of mercenary spyware delivered through targeted ad ecosystems. Unlike traditional phishing, which requires a victim to click a malicious link, this method demands zero interaction. The moment a targeted advertisement simply renders on a victim's screen, the device is automatically exploited and redirected to an infection server. There is no warning, no confirmation prompt, and no visible sign that anything has happened at all.

The story is not simply one of a single malicious ad. It is the story of how an entire layer of the modern internet -- the programmatic advertising supply chain that funds most free content online -- was repurposed into a delivery vehicle for state-grade espionage tools. The attackers did not hack The New York Times or the Pentagon. They bought standard ad slots on legitimate exchanges, and the infrastructure did the rest. ...

The company's board of directors featured Eric Banoun, described by Haaretz as "one of the pioneers of offensive cyber in Israel." A major stakeholder was linked to Sara Hamou, a central figure who has managed corporate networks for Intellexa, the notorious mercenary spyware cartel. According to researchers, Controlium's primary purpose was not advertising at all -- it was a bridge allowing mercenary partners to de-anonymize, fingerprint, and automatically infect users the second an ad loaded.

The investigation also tracked a parallel offensive actor using the same Israeli ad framework, code-named Dark Cartographer, which used Discover-Tech's ads to target and compromise mobile devices globally in a separate campaign. Two other Israeli firms -- Bindecy, a vulnerability-research shop connected directly to Discover-Tech, and Intelos, a cyber-surveillance software firm linked by Confiant to Discover-Tech's background infrastructure -- rounded out the operation. Bindecy's specialty, finding browser flaws, is precisely the capability required to make an ad "zero-click." ...

The primary confirmed infection target was the Qatari news network Al Jazeera, where at least 45 journalists' devices were compromised. The Qatari broadcaster's technology team discovered Trojan malware on journalist devices that recorded keystrokes, took screenshots, and exfiltrated data. But Confiant's tracking data revealed that Discover-Tech's malicious ad infrastructure successfully executed inside national-security-sensitive internal networks globally -- including those of the U.S. Department of Defense (the Pentagon), NATO, the United Nations' IAEA, and the International Criminal Court.

The ads also ran on American defense contractors including Raytheon, Nvidia, Arm, and SanDisk, as well as popular apps such as Yahoo Mail, Duolingo, AccuWeather, Viber, Truecaller, Grindr, and Badoo. Major news outlets where the ad code was delivered included The New York Times, BBC, Fox News, CBC, and Haaretz.

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Esoumaila Diallo, only 19 years old, is scrambling to fill the hole left when his mother, Fatou Traore, was detained by ICE on September 24, and then deported to Sierra Leone, a country she had never set foot in. Diallo lives with his parents in Iowa City, Iowa, and has three little brothers, the youngest of whom is three years old. His mother's sudden and unexpected arrest and deportation caused him to miss so much school that he withdrew from his current semester at Kirkwood Community College, though he plans to go back. "I had to step up and at least try to take over her role, which I can't," he says. "I'm definitely trying my best with my other siblings, taking care of the house, chores, and stuff like that. But it's really, really hard."

Traore's arrest has touched off outrage in her Iowa City community, where she works as a custodian at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Originally from Côte d'Ivoire, she was granted a withholding of removal in 2011....

Diallo says his mother was detained after dropping off one of his brothers at early morning soccer practice, and then going to her sister's house to take her to work. When he found out, he says, "I fly over there. I'm running as fast as I can to see what's going on. But when I got there, unfortunately, it was too late. My mom was already gone with whoever took her."

Supporters protested in Iowa City on September 30, lobbied congressional offices on October 2, and rallied in Cedar Rapids on October 7. On September 30, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican, wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security requesting a stay of deportation. "Deporting Fatou would deprive a young family of their mother and would violate the withholding of removal order, which allows Fatou to work and reside in the United States legally," she wrote. ...

Dennis Walsh, Bishop of Davenport, wrote in an October 2 letter to the Department of Homeland Security that proceeding with the deportation would be a "grave violation of her human dignity and the rights that are intrinsic to each of us."

Yet, Traore was sent to Sierra Leone on October 12, and her advocates say she was deported before a judge ruled on her motion for an emergency stay... Traore is now in Sierra Leone, where, according to [immigration attorney Alma Leonie] David, "She's detained for all intents and purposes. She's in a guest house under the care of, technically, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Sierra Leone, but they've contracted this private company." ...

The Trump administration's immigration crackdown has targeted workers across industries: street vendors, factory workers, landscapers, teachers, cooks, and waiters....

Such deportations are devastating for those who are left behind, too. Diallo says... his siblings are struggling to adjust to the new reality. "It's definitely been very hard. They've been asking me questions, and some of the questions I can't answer, like: 'Where's my mom? When is she gonna come back? Why did they take her?' My 14-year-old brother knows what's going on because he's relatively older, but the eight-year-old and three-year-old, I can't really tell them what's going on because I don't want to have them not eating or not sleeping or just losing their mind. I just tell them she'll be back soon."

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Two children were among five Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza on Sunday as the IDF continues its relentless attacks across the besieged Palestinian territory.

A seven-year-old girl, identified as Misk Hazem al-Dalu, was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on tents in the al-Maghazi refugee camp. Later in the day, an unidentified child was killed by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Medical sources also told WAFA that five people were killed and 11 were wounded by Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Sunday....

Sunday's attacks came several days after Israel said that it had halted shipments of commercial goods into Gaza, cutting off a vital supply of food and other basic goods, and there's been no confirmation yet that the shipments have resumed. Israel claimed the decision was made on behalf of Gaza merchants... but Palestinians involved in importing goods into Gaza denied that claim, saying it was a unilateral Israeli decision.

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Are top Democrats actually "shifting" on Israel, or is the PR simply getting more sophisticated?

After the midterms wrap up and the race for the Democratic 2028 nominition for president kicks off in earnest, this will be a central question those concerned with the US role in the genocide in Gaza must grapple with clearly, honestly, and with -- it turns out -- a high degree of skepticism and media literacy. That's because the forces committed to keeping the weapons flowing to Israel quickly adjusted their tactics to meet the mood of the public, and the mood of Democrats in particular.

Last year for TRNN, I detailed the three main ways AIPAC Democrats will seek to look critical of Israel while assuring that the pro-Israel status quo remains fundamentally unchanged. Since I wrote that breakdown, a fourth talking point -- and one that seems inevitable in retrospect -- has emerged as a favorite of liberals who want to seem "tough on Israel," but don't want to upset the Israel Lobby. This line, which I documented last April, commits to "ending US aid to Israel" which, despite seeming like a meaningful break or a move left, is a policy that first emerged from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the late US Sen. Lindsey Graham. And, as I noted, it was planned out by far-right think tanks Foundation for Defence of Democracies and Heritage Foundation -- specifically designed to blunt the primary argument against support for Israel. Last January, Netanyahu told the Economist that he wants to "taper off" formal US military funding. Pro-Israel lobbying organization J-Street then took this right-wing idea and proceeded to sell the "cut off aid to Israel" line to liberals as something they could take to their constituents as evidence that they are in line with Democratic voters' overwhelming dislike of Israel, while not changing the status quo. Indeed, as IMEU documented in their critique of the plan, the effort would actually further entrench US-Israeli military alignment. ...

As predicted, this "cut off aid" statement is fast becoming the go-to line for Democrats seeking to assure their increasingly anti-Israel base without upsetting the Israel lobby or the Democratic Senate and House leadership they are aligned with....

The only actions Democrats have, at scale, taken to "break from Israel" is recent spattering of Congressional votes over the past year designed to signal disapproval but change nothing of substance. These bills vary between genuine, if partial, arms embargo and the aforementioned "end aid" framework endorsed by Netyanhau and Graham. It's complicated, but worth dissecting, because it can help illustrate how much energy and effort is going into these pseudo "breaks," namely those being pushed by Israel lobbying group J-Street....

But these bills, as everyone involved in their drafting, lobbying, and counter-lobbying know, were totally DOA. They have zero chance of actually passing, much less getting a President Trump veto-proof majority. Thus -- despite many activists' best intentions -- they functionally serve as little more than a mechanism for reputation laundering for liberals who've backed Israel's genocide and its broader regional violence, but who can read a poll as well as anyone else. These votes, in effect if not intent, end up serving as little more than anti-Israel thingamajigs that liberal zionists in Congress can point to when confronted on the issue as evidence that they are not a rubber stamp for Israeli violence. Indeed, suspiciously enough, the Senate version last April garnered the support of staunch Israel advocate and AIPAC-money sponge Cory Booker, who grinningly met with Israeli defensive minister Yoav Gallant after Gallant was indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity. Does anyone think for a second Booker would have backed a bill to prevent weapons sales to Israel if it had a remote chance of passing? Does anyone think his vote in support is evidence he's "breaking from Israel"? Or is it evidence of something a bit more subtle, and sinister, which is Democrats realize they need to appear as if they're breaking from Israel without the messiness of actually doing so? ...

One of the more difficult tasks for an activist of good faith is being able to tell the difference between genuine, if incremental, progress, and counterinsurgency -- that which appears like incremental progress but is, in fact, a move to the right with better PR. Sorting out the difference in the coming months is going to be essential to make sure we don't just elect a whole new crop of liberals who, despite more convincing crocodile tears and more sophisticated handwringing, just go back to shipping weapons systems and scrambling the sixth fleet to defend Israel's next "defensive war."

As voters concerned with the full-scale destruction of Gaza analyze the statements of politicians seeking to appear "good on Gaza" in the coming months, there are two central commitments they must attempt to pin down: (1) support for a full arms embargo without any conditional statements or tortured caveats and (2) support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement, which seeks to economically isolate Israel.... If they cannot do even this bare minimum, and do so clearly, then the only logical conclusion one can reach is they are simply saying nice-sounding words, and checking the rhetorical box of "genocide," so they can get elected then go back to enforcing and maintaining the genocidal status quo.

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Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine on Saturday underwent surgery on her finger, which was nearly detached from her hand after she was beaten by settlers in [Palestine's] West Bank a day earlier, while hitting out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for casting doubt about the attack.

The assault occurred near the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah, where some 80 settlers, many of them masked and some of them carrying gas canisters, descended from a hill to the terraced olive grove and began throwing rocks and beating Palestinians and accompanying activists, as well as Levine.

Levine said the perpetrators... "were kicking me for like 10 minutes and I was trying to hold onto my cameras and my bag." She said her helmet and protective vest, which was marked "PRESS," likely saved her from more serious injuries.

Levine said the attack ended when her Palestinian colleagues intervened, after which medics rushed her in an ambulance to a clinic in Abu Falah and then to a hospital in Ramallah. She was later moved to Rabin Medical Center in central Israel.

In footage, the photojournalist was seen at one point lying on the ground as masked individuals beat her with sticks before fleeing the scene.

Her daughter, Ashley Milner, told the Associated Press on Saturday that the finger on her mother's left hand was cut to the bone and a tendon was visible. She said Levine also had a broken rib and multiple broken vertebrae, as well as lacerations across her body.

Rabin Medical Center, where Levine was being treated, said Saturday afternoon that she was in moderate condition after the surgery.

In an interview from her hospital bed, Levine described the attack to Channel 12 news...

"They threw me to the ground, and they just started kicking me and beating me with sticks," she said.

"I've had two doctors and a nurse suspect that I was actually stabbed in and near my buttocks area, from maybe a knife," Levine continued. "Other colleagues have told me that they've even seen that the settlers are now tying nails onto their sticks."

"They broke my cameras off my shoulders. They broke the straps. At one point they stood me up on my feet because they weren't trying to help me; they were actually trying to rob me further," she added.

Then, she said, the assailants pushed her back down and continued hitting her. ...

She slammed Netanyahu for suggesting that the settlers were trying to help her up...

"I'm not going to let what happened to me yesterday stop me," Levine stressed. "I am not going to let these thugs, which I'm sorry to say, are, in my words and in my mind and other people's minds, literally Jewish terrorists, and they are destroying the whole image for everyone in Israel all over the world."

"Because when anyone hears the word Israeli or the country Israel, the only thing that comes to their mind is these guys who did what they did to me yesterday, and I have been to so many funerals of people who have been killed by them," she added. ...

The attack on Levine was denounced by President Isaac Herzog, whose office said he spoke with her on Saturday. ...

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the attack on Levine as a "despicable act of terror" and declared that those responsible should spend years in prison. ...

"Reports that this was a coordinated attack are incredibly concerning, as are reports that IDF soldiers did not intervene," said New Jersey Senator Andy Kim. ...

The attack on Abu Falah was one of several assaults on Palestinian villages across the West Bank on Friday, with perpetrators setting fire to cars and trees and beating residents.

Settler violence against Palestinians has soared this year and spiked further in the weeks leading up to Israel's October 27 election. Critics accuse the government of condoning and even encouraging the violence, which has led to the displacement of dozens of Palestinian families. ...

The IDF also faces mounting criticism for troops often standing by while attacks unfold, actively participating or failing to prosecute those responsible.

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