Media Line

Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, speaks to The Media Line about the ongoing war in Gaza, Hamas’s controlling the next narrative, and the US’s calls to halt the Rafah operation. “And really now it’s in Hamas’s hands. If Hamas agrees to a 40-day cease-fire, and with this cease-fire to basically return the 33 hostages we agreed upon, then we’ll see a cease-fire for 40 days.” Avivi rightfully expected a renewal of the ground if Hamas didn’t agree to Israeli terms suitable for the hostage release. Asked about the Biden Administration's thoughts on halting the operation in Rafah, Avivi told The Media Line, “What the administration is saying is basically it’s calling Israel to lose the war. Israel cannot lose the war. Israel cannot go back to a reality where Hamas can build itself back to tens of thousands of militants on our borders, threatening all the towns along the border and threatening all of Israel with rockets.” He reiterated that Israel must achieve the real goals of the war and that it is not just about Gaza, referring to its ability to stand strong against Lebanon, Hezbollah, Iran, and militias in Syria and Iraq. The war, which followed the massacre of 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and the abduction of more than 250 hostages, has been a slow and tactical operation that has left tens of thousands of Gazans killed, including 15,000 whom Israel says are Hamas terrorists.Israeli forces are seen operating in the Gaza Strip on February 5, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) Avivi was deputy commander of 's Gaza Division in 2010-2011; he understands the terrain, mindset, and obstacles. As many question what has gone awry, he tells The Media Line it takes time. “This is due to how much the army shrunk the ground forces during the years. This has to do with the munitions and the pace that we are getting them,” Avivi says. “This had to do with the international pressure. But, overall, everywhere the IDF operated, Hamas was destroyed.” He speaks of two key stages: one to destroy the battalions, brigades, command, and control, and the second to clean up the area. “This can take years,” he says, reiterating that no one should expect an immediate end of the war because Hamas has time to fortify Rafah, and they are ready for this war. “Israel can win the war, can reach its goals by going to Rafah. The leadership of Hamas is in Rafah. All the hostages are there. All the remaining military capabilities—Hamas has really fortified Rafah.” Could the strategy have been different? Could the IDF have entered Rafah at the beginning of the war? Brig. Gen. Avivi didn’t feel this was feasible at the first stage of the war when they were attacking the northern part of Gaza. “The big question for me is, should they have had the IDF gone into Rafah when the IDF attacked Khan Yunis?” Avivi thought it probably would have been “wiser to launch the attack on Khan Yunis and Rafah first and then get control of the border with Egypt.” Avivi said that by cutting off Hamas’ capability to build itself, it also cut the chances of Hamas leaders and hostages being taken to the Sinai Peninsula. He went further to say that the way things are done “gives a lot of power to Hamas and it’s a big mistake. Israel needs to attack more and talk less. But this is the reality.” Avivi strongly criticized the IDF’s preparation and response to the October 7 events. He lamented the IDF's failure in its core duties of intelligence and defense, attributing these shortcomings to longstanding preconceptions among military leadership. He remarked, "They had a chance to really think differently, and they’re stuck with their own preconceptions. And the society is paying a heavy, heavy price for that. And it obviously means that we really need a change of leadership in the army." The Media Line asked if there were backup plans that were ready. Avivi replied, “So the army in the Southern Command had in the past a plan to take over all of Gaza. But again, these plans always need to be planned again once a new situation emerges. This situation is very different from what the IDF imagined.” “Most of the plans looked at Lebanon as the main challenge and Gaza more as defensive plans. To adjust plans is not so complicated. I don’t think this was the main problem,” he said. “The main problem was not being proactive in the understanding that war with Gaza is imminent.” “We in IDSF said it two years ago, that war is coming, that it’s imminent, that we need to take over the Gaza Strip, that we need a Six-Day War scenario, not a Yom Kippur War scenario. And unfortunately, Israel chose a Yom Kippur War scenario and now we have to deal with this.” On security threats from Gaza, Avivi emphasized the impossibility of tolerating a substantial hostile armed force near Israeli borders, advocating for a continuous military presence in Gaza to dismantle and prevent the resurgence of such groups. “The lesson learned is you cannot have a terror army on the other side of the border. This is not a reality Israel can have.” Asked to confirm reports that approximately 40 hostages are still alive in Gaza, he suggested that the actual number of survivors might be higher, stating, "I think that at least half of the hostages are alive, but definitely every day that passes puts them in danger. And when we talk about releasing certain hostages now and then waiting, what about the others?” He emphasized the urgency of a comprehensive military response to rescue all hostages as swiftly as possible. Avivi addressed rumors regarding mass graves allegedly linked to the IDF. He refuted these allegations by shifting focus to Hamas' tactics, stating, “It’s actually Hamas that wants to use these citizens as a human shield that is trying to block the citizens from going out of war zones. Hamas wants as many citizens as possible to die.” It is Hamas, he said, not the IDF, that is putting civilian lives at risk. Commenting on the oversight of warnings from female surveillance operators at the Nahal Oz military base, who had observed suspicious activities on the Israel-Gaza border prior to October 7, Avivi criticized the military leadership's response to these alerts: "I think that this is what happens when you try to process information through ideological narratives. And then the outcome is completely different. Instead of looking at the reality as it is, and listening to the facts as they are, the way the leaders of the army process this information is basically pretty much disregarding it." He described a significant disconnect between the reported observations and the leadership’s interpretation and response to those reports. Avivi recounted his visit to the scene of the October 7 attack and his conversation with a leading commander who assured him that the threats around the Gaza border fence were under control, claiming that Hamas was deterred. Avivi said the misplaced confidence was similar to that experienced before the Yom Kippur War, noting that the facts were ignored due to entrenched beliefs. He described how TV commentators often offer diverse interpretations of the same events and propose vastly different solutions to the same incident security challenges.  He also addressed the geopolitical landscape, calling for decisive US leadership against regional threats, particularly from Iranian-backed forces, to prevent global destabilization. He passionately argued for relentless pursuit of Hamas leaders, drawing a parallel to historical efforts against Nazis, underscoring a commitment to ensuring that those responsible for attacks against Israelis face justice.  “Even if it takes five years, 10 years, every single leader of Hamas must be destroyed,” he said. “Wherever they are, no matter in what country, no matter what happens, nobody can butcher our people the way they did and stay alive afterwards. They need to pay exactly as the Nazis paid. Israel hunted Nazis for years, and the Israeli society expects Israel to hunt these leaders until every single one of them is dead.” Discussing the challenges faced in managing aid during the ongoing conflict, Avivi addressed the dynamics of providing support to Palestinian areas while ensuring it does not empower Hamas. He explained the situation, stating that “we are feeding our enemies. But we understand that this is a basic condition of the US to continue and support Israel,” and adding, “It cannot be that at the end of the day, this aid arrives to Hamas, that Hamas then really spreads the aid and controls the society.” Regarding Israel's strategies for postwar Gaza, Avivi emphasized the importance of maintaining military and civilian control in the region to prevent Hamas from regaining power. He articulated the necessity of a sustained Israeli presence, stating, “Israel will have at least for a while to control militarily, even on the civilian side, Gaza until a new leadership is built. And it’s not going to happen in a day.” Avivi highlighted the historical and current complexities of Israeli-US relations and the broader implications of regional conflicts. Reflecting on past challenges, he recalled a critical moment in Israel’s War of Independence, when the United States demanded that Israel withdraw from the Negev and the Galilee. “And Ben-Gurion stood firm and said, this is not going to happen. We’re not going to withdraw.” In a recent article, The Media Line exposed the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthis, not only to fire missiles that can reach Israel and cause major disruption to the shipping industry but also to destroy the internet lines beneath Bab el Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, potentially impacting 2 billion people. Asked what should be done to mitigate this threat to global stability, Avivi urged the US to lead decisively: “We expect the US to show leadership as a global leader, to build a coalition, to stand strong, to be willing to use military power against the Houthis, against the militias in Iraq, but first and foremost against Iran, the generator of all this terror. And when the US doesn’t show leadership, then you see destabilization globally. And this is exactly what’s happening.” The full transcript of Brig. Gen. Avivi’s interview with The Media Line follows: Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: My pleasure. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Well, I think we’re in a very, very defining moment. On one hand, Israel is a moment from destroying Hamas. I mean, the moment Israel will go into Rafah, we’ll see a reality where Hamas is going to be destroyed as a governmental and military entity. But as we are planning to go into Rafah and the army is fully ready for this mission, we still have discussions about the hostages. And really now it’s in Hamas’ hands. If Hamas agrees to a 40-day cease-fire, and with this cease-fire to basically return the 33 hostages we agreed upon, then we’ll see a cease-fire for 40 days, and then, Israel is saying, we’ll renew the ground incursion. If Hamas won’t agree, I am expecting the Israeli government, the cabinet, to take a decision to start a full ground incursion into Rafah and bring back our hostages militarily and destroy Hamas as a governmental entity and destroy Hamas as a military entity by destroying the remaining brigade of Hamas in Rafah. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Well, what the administration is saying is basically it’s calling Israel to lose the war. Israel cannot lose the war. Israel cannot go back to a reality where Hamas can build itself back to tens of thousands of militants on our borders, threatening all the towns along the border and threatening all of Israel with rockets. This is not a reality Israel can go back to. There are clear goals of war and Israel has to reach these goals of war. This is not just about Gaza. This is about the ability of Israel to stand strong against all its enemies, against Lebanon, , Iran, militias in Syria, in Iraq. This is much bigger than Gaza. And calling Israel to lose the war is threatening Israel existentially against all its enemies. This is not an option. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: The only thing that I can say is not working well is the time it takes. And this is due to how much the army shrunk the ground forces during the years. This has to do with the munitions and the pace that we are getting them. This has to do with international pressure. But overall, everywhere the IDF operated, Hamas was destroyed. We have to understand that in a ground incursion, there are two steps. One is destroying the battalions, the brigades, the command and control. And then many of the terrorists are killed or apprehended and others dispersed. The second stage is really cleaning up the whole area. And this can take years. It’s not something we should expect to happen fast. Israel can win the war, can reach its goals by going to Rafah. The leadership of Hamas is in Rafah. All the hostages are there. All the remaining military capabilities—Hamas has really fortified Rafah. They are ready for this war. It’s going to be tough. But Israel, once we go in, will definitely destroy Hamas and the win will be decisive. Wars sometimes are long. We need to be a bit patient about reaching these goals. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Well, I’m not sure that the IDF could have done that at the first stage when we attacked the northern part of Gaza. The big question for me is, should they have had the IDF gone into Rafah when the IDF attacked ? Once the IDF brought the remaining divisions from the north to the south and launched an attack on the central camps and on Khan Yunis, probably it would have been wiser to launch the attack on Khan Yunis and Rafah first and then get control of the border with Egypt. And by that, cut completely Hamas’ capability to build itself and also the chances of maybe Hamas leaders and hostages being taken to the Sinai Peninsula, which is something that might happen. So yes, definitely the IDF could have done things differently. But now, you know, what’s important is to finish the job and to finish the job is going into Rafah. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: I think that the way things are done, it gives a lot of power to Hamas and it’s a big mistake. Israel needs to attack more and talk less. But this is the reality. Now we’re waiting for Hamas to see if they are releasing the hostages or not. And if not, then we have to operate. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: So the army in the Southern Command had in the past a plan to take over all of Gaza. But again, these plans always need to be planned again once a new situation emerges. This situation is very different from what the IDF imagined. Most of the plans looked at Lebanon as the main challenge and Gaza more as defensive plans. To adjust plans is not so complicated. I don’t think this was the main problem. The main problem was not being proactive in the understanding that war with Gaza is imminent. We in IDSF said it two years ago, that war is coming, that it’s imminent, that we need to take over the Gaza Strip, that we need a Six-Day War scenario, not a Yom Kippur War scenario. And unfortunately, Israel chose a Yom Kippur War scenario and now we have to deal with this. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Well, I think that when you build, when you enable building a huge, huge terror army meters from our border, once this army is deployed, it’s very hard to stop it. So really the lesson learned is you cannot have a terror army on the other side of the border. This is not a reality Israel can have. So in this case, when we’re talking about the day after Hamas, Israel will have to keep freedom of operation everywhere in Gaza and make sure that there is no reality where a terror army can be built again in front of our towns. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: No, I think there are more. I think that at least half of the hostages are alive, but definitely every day that passes puts them in danger. And when we talk about releasing certain hostages now and then waiting, what about the others? This is why it’s so important to mobilize the army and really reach all the hostages as soon as possible. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: I think that the IDF is really, really doing from the very first day everything it can to prevent collateral damage. Each time the IDF operated in an area, the citizens were called to move out of that area. The IDF opened humanitarian corridors. It’s actually Hamas that wants to use these citizens as a human shield that is trying to block the citizens from going out of war zones. Hamas wants as many citizens as possible to die. But even if you look overall at the numbers, and let’s stick to the numbers Hamas says and the IDF. Hamas is talking about 34,000 people killed; the IDF is talking about at least 15,000 terrorists we know we killed. So in a ratio of one to one almost. This is unprecedented. There is no army in the world that can reach such a ratio. Usually when you talk about densely urban areas and fighting a terror army that doesn’t even have a uniform and embeds itself in hospitals, in houses, in kindergartens, the ratio would be one to eight, one to nine, one to five, certainly not one to one. So in this sense, I think that the IDF is doing a very, very professional and good job really minimizing collateral damage. What can you share of the fact that the army was ill prepared? Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Definitely the army’s mission is to defend the borders, is to have the right intelligence, and even if intelligence lacks, to be able to stop any attack. And in this sense, the army failed completely. And they didn’t defend the citizens in the south. And I think that, you know, part of the building of IDSF, when we founded it four years ago, was exactly our feeling that there is a lot of preconception, that things are not done the right way, that there’s not a good understanding of the threats and the intentions, or we’re not doing the right things. And we really tried to convey the right ideas. And I think that part of the problem is that the leadership of the army didn’t listen to all the serious ideas we gave them. They had a chance to really think differently, and they’re stuck with their own preconceptions. And the society is paying a heavy, heavy price for that. And it obviously means that we really need a change of leadership in the army. I would assume that there also will be a huge change in the political leadership in the upcoming elections, maybe in a year or two, or whenever this will be. And people are very frustrated by the reality we see. And there is an overall sense that Israel needs new leadership and new direction, whether it’s in the army or in the political sphere. No one believed them. Why? Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: I think that this is what happens when you try to process information through ideological narratives. And then the outcome is completely different. Instead of looking at the reality as it is, and listening to the facts as they are, the way the leaders of the army process this information is basically pretty much disregarding it. They said, OK, yes, they’re training, they’re doing this, they’re doing that. But they don’t really mean it. They’re not going to do anything about that now. This is something that maybe will be a problem in the future.  I can tell you that I visited the region of Gaza three days before the attack. And I had the chance to meet one of the leading commanders. And I asked him, what’s going on? What’s going on with the riots in the border, around the fence, and so on? And he said, no, listen, they’re deterred. They’re not going to do anything, and so on. They really believed that, no matter what were the facts. The same happened in the Yom Kippur War. All the facts were there. Everything was seen. All the intelligence was. The problem is, how do you process what you see? I mean, you see it, by the way, every day. You see something happening. Then you see people commenting about it, let’s say on TV. And each one takes the same facts and basically understands something completely different from these facts. So you have a terror attack, for example. One guy will say, OK, there is a terror attack. We need to withdraw. We need a two-state solution. Another one will look at it and say, no, there was a terror attack. We need to apply sovereignty. We need to build more towns. We need to strengthen the army. So facts are not enough. Question is, how do you process them afterwards? How do you assess the situation? Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: I think that the Israeli government, the cabinet, must stick to the strategy of destroying Hamas. Even if it takes five years, 10 years, every single leader of Hamas must be destroyed. Wherever they are, no matter in what country, no matter what happens, nobody can butcher our people the way they did and stay alive afterwards. They need to pay exactly as the Nazis paid. Israel hunted Nazis for years, and the Israeli society expects Israel to hunt these leaders until every single one of them is dead. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Well, I can tell you that according to international law, when you fight a war, doing a siege is part of the war. Instead of that, we are feeding our enemies. But we understand that this is a basic condition of the US to continue and support Israel. So humanitarian aid is flowing into Gaza. I think that it’s time that Israel takes responsibility of this humanitarian aid. It cannot be that at the end of the day, this aid arrives to Hamas, that Hamas then really spreads the aid and controls the society. The way to really destroy Hamas as a governmental entity is by Israel, at least for a while, taking responsibility and really dealing also with the humanitarian side. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Well, from a military point of view, Israel must be responsible for what’s going on in Rafah. In Gaza, we need to control the Egyptian border. We need full freedom of operation everywhere in the Gaza Strip until we completely dismantle all the terror infrastructure. And even afterwards, to make sure that they cannot build it again. From a civil point of view, I think that the day after Hamas, the moment Hamas is destroyed, Israel will have at least for a while to control militarily, even on the civilian side, Gaza until a new leadership is built. And it’s not going to happen in a day. Anybody who thinks that one day after Hamas, immediately there will be a civil leadership in Gaza managing a city, I think it’s completely disconnected from reality. This is not how wars work. The IDF will need to control for a while until they are able to build a new representation and local leadership in the cities. TML: United States apparently believes that they have to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas. And once achieved, they’re going to look to Hezbollah to try to do the same. Is it really that simple? Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: No, there is no deal between Israel and Hamas. Hamas needs to be destroyed completely. Israel cannot do deals with the devil. Israel needs to destroy them. And we cannot allow the existence of Hamas in Gaza. And only after they are destroyed, we can really focus on the northern border and bring security to the citizens in the north. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: I remember in the Independence War, when the Independence War ended, and Israel liberated the Negev and the Galilee, that the US, being a superpower that just won the Second World War, that just three years before attacked Japan with two atomic bombs, demanding from Israel to withdraw from the Negev and the Galilee. And Ben-Gurion stood firm and said, this is not going to happen. We’re not going to withdraw. And he didn’t withdraw. He did what’s right for Israel. And yes, there was a price to pay. The US embargoed us for years. They didn’t supply weapons to us. But we saved the Negev and Galilee. So also now, we need to make sure that Israel does what’s good for Israel. We’re not a tiny country. This is not 600,000 people. We are a major power that is able to really take care of its own interests. And we expect our biggest allies to stand with us and not endanger us. And yes, there can be disagreements. Israel is not supposed to do everything that the US thinks it’s good for them. For us, it’s existential. For the US, it’s about elections. And we need to take care of our existential needs. And I think that if we do so, we’ll be more respected, not less. TML: The Iranian-backed and Yemen-based Houthis are not just firing missiles which have reached Israel, but they control areas in the Bab el Mandeb Strait and , causing major disruption to the shipping industry. They told The Media Line that they’re capable of doing a heck of a lot more. And experts in Yemen told us they have the capability to destroy the internet lines at the bottom of the ocean, which could impact 2 billion people. What do you think should be the course of action? Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Well, I think what you are describing is a global problem that needs to be dealt with globally. It’s not Israel’s problem. This is a global problem. And there we expect the US to show leadership as a global leader, to build a coalition, to stand strong, to be willing to use military power against the Houthis, against the militias in Iraq, but first and foremost against Iran, the generator of all this terror. And when the US doesn’t show leadership, then you see destabilization globally. And this is exactly what’s happening. I couldn’t imagine the Houthis daring to do something or talking like that if the US would have shown strength the way they are supposed to. Now, at the end of the day, they will have to do so. The question is, what will be the price before and how much destabilization we’ll see before the US understands that they need a coalition, and they need to deal with the threats. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Yes, I’m very optimistic. I think that we got a historical chance to really deal with the most pressing national security issues. And I know this for sure, that the bigger the win will be, the more decisive it will be, the greater the golden age of Israel and the Jewish people will be the day after. So we really have a lot to look forward to. But in order to reach this golden age, we must stay united, strong, resolute, and focus on one thing and one thing only: victory. This is what we need to be focusing on: victory on all fronts. Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: Thank you very much.

will reportedly meet with officials from British universities this month in response to new encampments and protests against the war in Gaza that have sprung up on campuses this week. At least seven including a walkout and encampments. In a statement to The Media Line, The University of Warwick’s Warwick Jewish Society said that while it respects pro-Palestinian students’ rights to protest, Jewish students have found the demonstrations troubling. The organization stated that protesters have recently called for an “intifada until victory.” “The language and symbols used in these protests far too often cross the line into promoting hatred and violence… Jewish students on campus feel intimidated and unsafe when masked protesters chant references to terrorist attacks,” the group wrote in an email. Rally in London United Kingdom in support of Israel (credit: Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI)) Sunak will hold a summit with vice-chancellors of universities later this month over concerns about possible antisemitism on campuses, according to British news outlets.  “Whilst we firmly believe in the power of rigorous free speech and debate, the right to that does not include the right to harass others,” said a government spokesperson, according to The Daily Telegraph.  This week, protesters barricaded themselves at a University of London library.  Stella Swain, who works for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has helped organize protests on some campuses, told The Media Line that students from other universities have contacted her group in the last few days to start demonstrations. She said that while the encampments were inspired by those in the US, protests had been taking place on British campuses for months beforehand. “All of the student encampments in the UK have made it very clear that there is no space for racism or hate of any kind,” she said.  Swain said her group was mostly funded by fees paid by organization members who want universities to stop partnering with companies involved in the arms trade with Israel. Swain stated that she hoped that similar scenes of unrest, which have happened in the US, would not happen in the UK. “In terms of the way that the British police force functions, [it] is very different to the way the US police force functions,” she said. The British Commons leader Penny Mordaunt stated in Parliament that protests should face an “extremely strict response” if they have similar “disgusting” scenes as in the US. Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UK’s program director for law and human rights, told The Media Line that it is up to not the universities, to decide whether to act against protesters.  Southerden said that the protests are protected by the UK’s Human Rights Act, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression and assembly.  “It may well be legitimate to take action against a particular individual if they are engaging in racist harassment or intimidation,” he said, adding, “But that isn’t necessarily a basis for a blanket ban on a protest altogether.” The Union of Jewish Students, which is in the UK and Ireland, stated on Thursday that protesters have called to “globalize the Intifada. “While students have a right to protest, these encampments create a hostile and toxic atmosphere on campus for Jewish students,” the group wrote in a statement. A University of Warwick student, Fraser Amos, who is participating in the encampment, told British broadcaster LBC that Jewish people are also taking part and that antisemitism would not be accepted. “We don't accept that there is any opposition between the freedom of the Palestinians and the freedom of Jewish people,” Amos said. Colin Davis, a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Bristol, where students have protested, told The Media Line that he supported the demonstrations and hoped they would lead to universities calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. “Universities also need to reconsider whether it is appropriate to be receiving funding from arms companies,” he wrote in a message to The Media Line. “These links seriously compromise the mission of the university, which should be for its teaching, research and civil engagement to be working towards a brighter future, rather than causing harm,” Davis wrote.

sit down for an intimate discussion with Felice Friedson, on the harrowing months of championing on behalf of their son, Hersh’s release from the hands of Hamas. They speak about their inner discussions away from the media, their heartbreaking challenges, and the moments of hope. The Goldberg-Polin family are Americans who moved to Israel, having previously lived in Chicago and Virginia. Rachel is slender, composed and articulate, each word crafted. Jon: tall, softer. Each has a complementary strength which has carried them through the most unthinkable path one can’t imagine, fighting to save their child’s life. On October 7, Hamas infiltrated Israel’s border with Gaza, massacring 1,200 people and taking 252 citizens and soldiers hostage. Currently, 133 hostages are still being held in Gaza and possibly beyond, as a cease-fire has faltered; each day that passes brings more complexity and grave concern. “Don’t worry about us … focus on yourself,” Rachel says to Hersh, believing he knows they are leaving no stone unturned to get him home, as we discuss the message Rachel and Jon want their son to hear today. “We have not stopped for one second in 209 days doing everything possible to bring him home, to bring home all of the hostages,” Jon tells The Media Line. Jon says that if a hostage agreement is not reached, it will bring grief not just to the families of the hostages. “Everybody in the region is suffering.” He says there are leaders who are staying silent or not doing enough but was overwhelmed by the outpouring of “goodness in the world, from all over the world.” Hersh and his mother, Rachel. (credit: Courtesy/The Media Line) “I actually think he thinks there is a whole entire universe that is fighting for him, and for all of them,” Rachel emoted about her son. Jon also praised the American administration for “their availability to us, their desire to get something done. … They have been really exemplary across the board.” They both cited the fact that, in Jon’s words, “Americans don’t like Americans—or anybody, but particularly Americans—being held hostage against their will,” and were heartened by the united front Democrats and Republicans were taking. Rachel noted that you don’t hear much about the other hostages being held, referring to the Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists who are among those held from 25 different countries. “I’m not sure that all of America knows the names of the eight American hostages who are still being held,” she told The Media Line. Tragically three of the Americans have been confirmed dead. Asked about their reaction to seeing the worrisome , a first proof of life of their bold son who lost an arm saving others, Rachel, as a mother was visually grasping the medical condition of her son’s arm which had been severed on October 7. “You know, the mother starts to worry about those things.” Physicians reached out to the Goldberg-Polin parents to tell them that Hersh needed at least two additional surgeries immediately. In 2014, Jon wrote an article about assistive technology for the disabled. Asked about his reaction to seeing Hersh with his severed arm on the famous visual of him bleeding and being whisked away, he told The Media Line that he had done some research on the technology space called assistive technology for people with all kinds of physical and emotional disabilities. “I’m very familiar with all kinds of rehabilitation, all kinds of technology, and rehabilitation centers around the world.” Citing contacts they have around the world in this field, their focus is to bring their son home and then get him the best care possible. Rachel and Jon discuss the importance of putting the human face to the story and getting it out to the public. Asked what questions one should or should not pose to the parent of a kidnapped person, Rachel, in despair, spoke about the pain she feels when asked “how are you.” “Do you not see the knife that’s sticking out of my heart? Why would you ask that?” She doesn’t feel people ask the question maliciously, but “I think all of our words can be more gently crafted,” she shares with The Media Line. As an educator who once led a trip of young people to teach about the Holocaust, Rachel remembers herself reflecting on the impossibility of the horror and addresses those who don’t believe October 7 happened. “I was actually standing in the barracks of a concentration camp in Poland, I myself was saying as I was standing in there, this can’t be real, because it was so horrible, I didn’t want to believe it.” “I would just like to tell them about my only son and show them the video that was made by the people who took him and show them the video by the people who are currently holding him.” Time magazine recently named Rachel one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Rachel sees herself as a symbol and representative of the collective issue. “Rachel Goldberg doesn’t belong on that list, but the hostage crisis absolutely belongs on that list,” she says. “I am the mother of a hostage, and they couldn’t fit all the mothers of all the hostages into that little box.” Rachel and Jon speak of missing normal family life, including moments of boredom. They miss the family time with their three children, including their two daughters, as Rachel used to sit at the table and would look at Hersh from her seat. Today she sits in Hersh’s seat so she doesn’t have to look at And, she says, “I haven’t cooked in 209 days.” The couple lean on each other for strength and have become a symbol of admiration for so many. “There is not a day or a moment when I pray that I don’t thank God that it’s Jon who’s my partner. And you know, what’s interesting is I remember those first few hours where we thought Hersh was dead on the 7th. … We hadn’t seen the video. … We didn’t know anything yet. And we had this horrifying conversation. And I do remember saying, but one day, we’ll be OK because we’re together,” Rachel said. She feels blessed and lucky to have Jon as her partner. “It is a completely torturous, agonizing, painful—not just emotionally, psychologically, but spiritually and physically. It is actually physically painful what we’re going through. And if I didn’t have a partner who could be really helpful in that, I don’t know what I would do.” The hostage families are still waiting and hoping for the hostage release to happen in an endless game of negotiations. “I just keep … focusing on the last 30 seconds where he speaks directly to us and to our daughters. That’s the part that I’m holding,” Jon said.

Dozens of Gazans are trying to cross the border to Egypt from Rafah, according to an Egyptian report on Monday. The report comes as an anticipated Rafah operation has seemingly moved forward. Israel has and of the over one million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant clarified that the invasion was being rolled out incrementally and in multiple stages so that if Hamas at some point agreed to a reasonable hostage exchange deal that was accepted by Israel, it could be halted. Maariv later reported residents from Rafah tried crossing to Egyptian territory from the western side of the border between Rafah and the Sinai Peninsula. According to the report, Gazans attempting to cross the border were stopped by Egyptian military forces. announced it was seeking temporary residency permits for tens of thousands of Palestinians who fled from Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas, which it says would ease conditions for them until the conflict is over.  Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis as it seen from Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 6, 2024 (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90) Diab al-Louh, the Palestinian ambassador in Cairo, said as many as 100,000 Gazans had crossed into Egypt, where they lack the papers to enroll their children in schools, open businesses or bank accounts, travel, or access health insurance - though some have found ways to make a living. Many of the Palestinians who have fled to Egypt paid agencies between $6,000-$12,000 to secure their passage, Many Gaza Strip residents are turning to GoFundMe to raise the necessary funds to escape and ensure the safety of their families. Relatives abroad are also using GoFundMe to secure donations aiding their departure from Gaza to Europe or nearby Arab nations. TZVI JOFFRE, YONAH JEREMY BOB, GIORGIA VALENTE/THE MEDIA LINE and Reuters contributed to this report.

Walid Omary, Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau chief, confirmed in a conversation with The Media Line that Israeli police arrived Sunday at a hotel where the network’s would have broadcasted from and confiscated broadcast equipment, closing off access to the room. “This is a very big mistake,” said Omary. “There are no security reasons; there are internal political reasons for this within Israel. Israel can no longer say it shares Western values and respects those values of democracy, liberalism, human rights, freedom of press and expression.” Israel’s government ordered the local offices of satellite news network to close on Sunday, bringing a long-standing dispute between the two to a climax. For years, Israel has voiced its dissatisfaction with the Qatari network, blaming it for incitement. Since the eruption of the war between Hamas and Israel this past October, the Israeli government has repeatedly threatened to shut down the network’s operations in the country. On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved the decision. “Al Jazeera correspondents have harmed the security of Israel and incited against IDF soldiers. The time has come to eject Hamas's mouthpiece from our country,” said Israeli after the decision had been made. A man walks near an Al Jazeera building in Doha, Qatar, May 5, 2024. (credit: Reuters/Arafat Barbakh) The measure will be in place for 45 days and can then be renewed. The move is believed to be the first time Israel has shut down a foreign news outlet. The channel’s various outlets are now blocked from being viewed in Israel; its website is inaccessible from the country. The move came as Qatari-mediated negotiations for a deal between Hamas and Israel on the release of Israeli hostages and a cease-fire in Gaza entered a critical phase. The main offices of Al Jazeera, located elsewhere in Jerusalem, were already shut down a while ago due to what Omary described as “long-time incitement” by members of Israel’s current far-right government. As a result of the recent government order, the network has stopped all work within Israel and is currently operating out of the West Bank territories under Palestinian Authority control. According to Nitzan Chen, director of the Israeli Government Press Office, a decision regarding the revocation of Al Jazeera journalists’ press accreditation has yet to be made. “The issue is subject to legal clarification,” Chen told The Media Line, refusing to answer any other questions on the sensitive matter that has sparked criticism of Israel. The network has 16 staffers currently unable to work in Israel. Al Jazeera employees a total of 57 people in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. While Israel claims that the network poses a security risk to the country, it has not released any evidence to back this claim. Israeli media reported that the heads of the national security services voiced their reservation regarding the timing of the move, as it could negatively impact the truce talks currently being mediated by Qatar. The station has differentiated itself from others in the Arab world, both by allowing for the expression of views contrasting those broadcast in state-run and closely censored Arab channels and by frequently interviewing Israelis—officials and others—whose voices were previously never heard in the Arab world. Omary denies the Israeli government’s claims about Al Jazeera posing a threat to Israel’s security. Part of the cabinet deliberations on the order to shut down the network are sealed from public access, making some of Israel’s accusations difficult to prove or disprove. “Al Jazeera glorifies Hamas and aids it by reporting on Israeli troop movements,” said David M. Weinberg, senior managing fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy. “It constantly seeks to drum up terrorism against Israelis during Ramadan, calling daily for West Bank Palestinians to rise up against Israel in sympathy with the Hamas in Gaza.” According to Omary, “This is all a lie. We constantly broadcast everything from Israeli officials—from government spokespeople to Israeli military spokesmen. We are always ready to have Israeli officials come and express their points of view. We do not incite against Israel and have never violated the law, including military censorship. The government knows very well they have no real accusations against us, this is being done for political reasons,” he added. Hours after the cabinet meeting, there were reports that the talks between Hamas and Israel had essentially collapsed and intense efforts by US officials were underway to salvage them. “Israel is trying to pressure Qatar in order to reach a deal on the hostages—this is the major reason,” said Omary. “It’s clear that Israel has delayed acting against Al Jazeera until now because of the role that Qatar was playing in the attempts to cut a hostage deal with Hamas,” Weinberg said. “Given the fact that the Qatari efforts seem to have failed, there is no longer any good reason to delay acting against Al Jazeera,” he reasoned. Meanwhile, there has been no official announcement from any of the parties involved in the talks that they have ended in failure. The move has been widely criticized both in Israel and internationally, coming under fire as a move that curtails the freedom of the press. “This is a dark day for the media,” read a statement from the Foreign Press Association in Israel. “With this decision, Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station.” The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has petitioned the Supreme Court, requesting to cancel the order. “There is a wide variety of effective measures Israel has at its disposal in order to protect its national security from media outlets who are accused of incitement long before closing down a network,” said Hagar Shechter, a lawyer at ACRI who is a signatory to the appeal. “The complete shutting down of a network is undemocratic and is reserved for dictatorships,” Shechter told The Media Line. “It may well be that Al Jazeera expresses a narrative that is uncomfortable for Israelis to hear, but during times of war, there is even greater importance to hear different narratives.” Journalists from Israel sometimes rely on Al Jazeera for their reports on the Arab world. The network reports and stories are often quoted by Israeli media outlets, also as a window for Israelis to see and hear Arab sentiment on pressing issues, including the current war. Earlier in the war, Israel shut down the Al Mayadeen network associated with the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization, claiming that the network was causing “substantial harm to national security.” Israel accuses the Qatari news channel of bias against it. Relations between Al Jazeera and Israel have always been tense but took a turn for the worse two years ago when a prominent journalist from the network, Palestinian-American Shireen Abu Akleh, was killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, an incident the Israeli military later apologized for. During the current war, a cameraman for the network was killed by an Israeli airstrike, and several other staffers were wounded. Al Jazeera and other networks have accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists, a claim Israel denies. Not everyone is opposed to the move. “This is long overdue,” Weinberg told The Media Line. “The network hosts the most antisemitic, anti-Western, radical Islamic preachers who poison the minds of millions against Israel and the West.” Israel is not the first country to clash with Al Jazeera. In 2013, Egypt stopped the English broadcasting of the channel, accusing it of incitement and detaining several of its journalists. Iraq also closed the station that same year. In 2017, Saudi Arabia blocked the network’s website, claiming it was favoring Iran as a regional power. “Israel should ask other dictatorships how well it worked out for them when they banned Al Jazeera,” said Omary. Throughout the years, several US officials have also criticized the network for having an anti-US bias, but no major move has ever been taken against it.

This year, a team of 27 worldwide are coming together at the March of the Living as a powerful force to commemorate the Holocaust through their cell phones. They are reaching millions of people using their content, trying to make a difference. The Media Line talked to passionate Israeli TikTokers about their experiences combating hatred and fighting for Israel on digital platforms.  Shayna Heidi is a member of the influencers team who has joined the 2024. She is a 32-year-old dancer, and most of her content is about the LGBTQ+ community. Since October 7th, Heidi has been creating explanatory content, advocating for Israel, and sharing updates about what is happening in Israel with her followers worldwide, facing backlash from those on the opposite side. Heidi admits that before October 7th, her platform was only about fun and dancing. After , she started explaining what was happening in Israel.   "Every video that I posted in English has gotten hate comments from people outside the country. That's just a fact. People were writing 'Free Palestine,' cursing Israel and me," shared Heidi.  March of the Living at Auschwitz, May 6, 2024. (credit: CHEN SCHIMMEL) "I don't try to get hate on my page, but I am and will defend the place where I live," she said to The Media Line. Heidi is also involved in helping Israeli followers emotionally.  "We do have to talk about what's going on. I try to talk more to teenagers about stress control, being safe, giving them space to talk," said Heidi.   Uri Cohen, a 30-year-old content creator, has been creating humorous content focusing on Israeli advocacy and combating antisemitism for the past three years. Uri makes fun of terror supporters and hatred toward Jews and speaks up for his country. Cohen shared with The Media Line that he categorizes his creations into two types of activism: first - making fun of haters who spread lies and antisemitic propaganda, and second - talking about the pain of Jews and Israelis in a more serious manner. "Jokes make it easier for me to deal with difficult subjects," he admitted.  According to Cohen, antisemitism is a persistent issue that has endured and will likely continue to exist despite efforts to eradicate it. "There are two ways to deal with this: to be sad and emotional or to take it to the funny part—laugh at the people that hate you so much. When you turn something serious and sad into a comedy, it becomes easier to deal with it," Cohen told The Media Line. Meanwhile, the influencer acknowledges that not every topic is humorous. "There are some things that you can't make fun of. For example, the massacre and the victims of October 7th," added Cohen.  By refusing to take individuals who produce antisemitic content seriously and mocking them instead, Uri demonstrates that their views have no place in society.  "This is my strategy," Cohen emphasized. Creating pro-Israel content online takes immense bravery in the face of bullying and threats directed towards those who support Israel and the Jewish community. "I think their hate is giving us power. It unites us. Our haters give us a lot of power and remind us that we must be together," Cohen shared with The Media Line.  As an active member of the LGBTQ+ community, Shayna Heidi expressed her sadness about members of the community actively supporting anti-Israeli movements all over the world, especially in the US universities campuses, where thousands of students protest against Israel, including the queer community that usually uses the slogans like "LGBTQ+ for Palestine." "Protesters, especially on campuses, don't know the history. We've seen that a lot on social media, too, but they just don't know the facts, and they're protesting, and it makes no sense," Heidi explained to The Media Line.  According to Heidi, you cannot be part of the LGBTQ+ community and protest for Palestine, as the values are on the opposite sides.  "It just shows that they're uneducated. I have tried myself to speak to people from the queer community in America, my friends, and I've lost many of them since October 7th because they refuse to listen and they don't care what we have to say," she said.  Heidi told The Media Line that anti-Israel protests have almost become a trend among young generations.  "It's become cool to protest about this. They believe they're protesting for human rights, but you can't protest for something unless you get all the facts down. It is just a trend, and they're all copying each other," she said.  At the same time, Heidi admitted that many influencers support Israel. Seeing creators all around the world using their platforms and talking about Israel, being willing to lose followers and get hate, gives her hope. "It pushes me forward to do what I do," she said. Although not part of the younger generation of influencers, Lea Schenirer is a popular content creator with 113 thousand followers on Instagram. She is a 66-year-old Pilates studio instructor, lecturer, and owner. Lea Schenirer is a second-generation Holocaust survivor, and her mother, who is also a Holocaust survivor, is one of the Mengele twins. Lea shared that her mother, Olga Grossman Shalmon, was four years old when she went through Mengele's experiments.  "I was born against all odds. Till today, no one knows what he put in the injections," she explained.  Schenirer told The Media Line that her mother and her twin sister were born in Kosice, in Czechoslovakia, and were taken to Auschwitz.  "Till today, my mother remembers everything there, every stone, every corner," explained  Schenirer.  Lea's mother managed to maintain her positivity despite going through unimaginable traumas. "My mom always covers her lips with red lipstick. She covers her lips with optimism. On the way to Auschwitz, the first thing she put on her lips was the red lipstick," said Schenirer to The Media Line. Schenirer shared that she believes that every person is born with a mission.  "It is my duty, as a second generation of the Holocaust, to pass the memory about it on," she explained. "It is important to approach all your platforms. For example, TikTok, a young platform, reaches the second and third generations and tells about the Holocaust survivors. They are heroes, and they give us an example of strength to remember that this can happen any time," added Schenirer.  Visiting Auschwitz for the first time, Uri Cohen explained how important the event was for him.  "I think that every Jewish person in the world needs to go to Auschwitz at least once. October 7th was a massacre that reminded us why we need to never forget about the Holocaust and about the antisemitism that still exists and will keep existing. Now, we also always remember our hostages". Shayna added that the March of the Living is also very personal for her. "Half of my family are Holocaust survivors. They're Hungarian. I grew up knowing that my grandparents were Holocaust survivors," she explained.  "This year, it's just so much bigger and stronger. We need to be united, all Jews from all over the world and all of Israel. We have to use our platforms to show what hatred can bring and say that this can never happen again. We need to keep fighting the evil and the hatred and do whatever we can to spread that," added Shayna.  "We don't have the privilege to break down in situations. Pain has strength, and the living, the starving for living, being alive is stronger than anything," Lea Schenirer told The Media Line.

World Press Freedom Day is celebrated annually on May 3. The declared it a global observance in December 1993 to remind governments worldwide to uphold press freedom. But during Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, the government has demonstrated a commitment to dismantling press freedom. Since , Russia has continuously violated fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech. It has also restricted the ability of journalists and independent media outlets to carry out their work and operate within the country. Most independent media outlets in Russia have been banned, blocked, discredited, or subjected to military censorship. These actions have forced many journalists to flee Russia, while those who remain often conceal their identities. From the beginning of the war until the end of 2022, 464 journalists immigrated to Israel, and 137 more have fled Russia for Israel since January 2023, according to Israel’s Aliyah and Integration Ministery. These journalists seek safety and the freedom to work with integrity in Israel. . Reporters Without Borders states that 64 journalists have been detained and seven have disappeared in Russia since 2022. In 2023 alone, Russian authorities arrested 34 journalists. Among those detained are two Americans: Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, charged with espionage, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, accused of not declaring herself a “foreign agent.” Sofya Kanevsky, a journalist for Novaya Gazeta Europe - a publication banned in Russia - spoke with The Media Line about Russia’s press crackdown. Kanevsky moved to Israel in 2018 and lived there for a year before returning to Russia. St Basil's Cathedral, Kremlin, Moscow (credit: Meghas/Wikimedia Commons) “I attended the 2019 protests in Moscow, where I witnessed ruthless crackdowns,” Kanevsky said. “I saw how my friends reported on the events, which inspired me to work for Novaya Gazeta.” Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper known for its liberal, democratic stance, covers sociopolitical issues, human rights, and investigative journalism. The paper and its staff have won numerous awards, but six of its journalists have been killed, likely due to their work. The paper’s editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his “efforts to preserve freedom of thought as an indispensable condition for democracy and peace.” Muratov and the newspaper staff auctioned off the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal and donated the proceeds - $103.5 million - to UNICEF to aid Ukrainian child refugees. On September 5, 2022, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court revoked Novaya Gazeta’s media license, effectively banning it in Russia. This move was based on a claim by Roskomnadzor, the government’s surveillance and censorship agency. Kanevsky recalled that when the war in Ukraine started, blatant media repression began in Russia. The government enacted laws against “fake news” and “discrediting the Russian army,” labeling people as foreign agents and imprisoning more journalists. Russia has enacted repressive laws targeting independent media, especially those deemed “foreign agents” or “undesirable organizations.” Journalists working for “undesirable” organizations can be imprisoned for their reporting. Outlets and journalists labeled “foreign agents” must comply with onerous auditing and labeling rules that drain resources. “We faced many restrictions, working day and night, exhausted and fearful of making a mistake like calling a war a ‘war’ instead of a ‘special military operation’ as required by authorities,” Kanevsky noted. When Russia banned Novaya Gazeta, its team split up to create new publications abroad. Kanevsky then joined Novaya Gazeta Europe, led by former deputy editor Kirill Martynov. In June 2023, Russian authorities labeled Novaya Gazeta Europe an “undesirable organization.” “I flew back to Israel, where I can now write more honestly about the war in Ukraine,” Kanevsky said. Kanevsky noted, however, that writing about Russia from abroad is challenging. “We’re starting to live in a bubble, but we try to keep ties with family and stay grounded,” she shared. Kanevsky feels the civic independence and freedom in Israel that is absent in modern Russia. “Here, you can protest without fearing being beaten with batons,” she said, admiring how Israelis openly express themselves. “I think it’s a national trait here. You can’t do to people what the state did in Russia. They rebel against any signs of dictatorship,” she added. Vladimir Raevskiy, a renowned journalist, was also forced to leave Russia. The television and radio presenter and two-time TEFI-Region award winner moved to Israel in February 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Though he has lived in London since August 2024, Raevskiy still feels patriotic toward Israel, which took him in during a difficult time. “Israel is my country. I am its citizen. Even in our darkest moments, from external threats to our mistakes, I remain a proud citizen,” he told The Media Line. Raevskiy commented to The Media Line on the Israel-Hamas war: “Despite leaving Israel, I want to be there when drones fly and war breaks out.” He was an active journalist in Russia, focusing on culture and history. He made television documentaries, hosted weekly radio shows on Silver Rain, and wrote columns for various publications. He also conducted interviews for the publication Medusa, now banned as a “foreign agent” and an “undesirable organization.” “I worked on culture and history, rarely talking about current events, but historical and cultural topics are closely tied to politics. I tried to emphasize this connection through deeper methods, avoiding simplistic analogies like ‘Hitler as Putin.’ All this collapsed in one morning,” Raevskiy recalled. Vladimir lost everything when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Already on a trip to Israel at the time, he stayed there with just two suitcases, immediately halting his work in Russia. “Our whole lives were turned upside down. We had just finished production on our biggest film, Free Theater in an Unfree Country. It was set to premiere in April 2022, and we were to return to Russia in early March, but everything got canceled," he said. Raevskiy immediately understood that he couldn't continue his work in Russia with integrity. He also knew that widespread state repression, especially against journalists, would become more frequent and brutal. “I couldn't say on air that today is a wonderful day when they're bombing Mariupol and hitting the maternity hospital," Raevskiy said. Once in Israel, Raevskiy worked on various media projects before focusing on his social networks, which eventually became a small media company. He shares his ideas and discusses culture on Instagram, YouTube, and Telegram. He also leads tours and has started performing historical stand-up in various countries. “Free journalism's future in Russia depends entirely on the political regime. Our profession is as discredited as possible,” said Raevskiy. He acknowledged that despite censorship and danger, Russia has produced many journalists who do excellent work in repressive conditions. In Israel, Raevskiy hasn't worked as a journalist, struggling to find a suitable publication.

control over areas with submarine communication cables raises fears of potential cyber warfare that could disrupt global internet connectivity amid and Bab al-Mandab Strait, posing significant threats to international trade and security in these waters.  Fahmi Mohammad, a technical specialist at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Sana’a, spoke to The Media Line about the extent of the Houthis’ technical capabilities to carry out such an attack and the extent to which the group’s leaders can exert political pressure through this card to achieve their goals. “The Ansar Allah group (the Houthis) controls the majority of the locations through which these cables pass,” he explained, noting that the fiber optic cables are located at the bottom of the sea and hundreds of meters below the earth’s surface. “Accessing [them] requires advanced capabilities that allow access to the depths of the sea and handling the cables.” Despite doubts about the , Mohammed does not rule out that the Houthis do have submarines and advanced weapons capable of carrying out such attacks “especially after Ansar Allah group announced It has many boats and submarines that are technically capable of reaching these cables.” Fahmy added that the Houthis, through the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the telecommunications and internet companies under its control, employ a group of engineers, some of whom work directly with the Chinese company Huawei.  Armed Houthi followers ride on the back of a pick-up truck during a parade in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and to show support to Houthi strikes on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in Sanaa, Yemen January 29, 2024. (credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS) “They [the Yemeni engineers] have sufficient technical capacity to participate in any military operation targeting submarine cables if Ansar Allah wanted that,” Mohammed confirmed. On February 24, HGC Global Communications Limited announced that access to the Internet in the East African country of Djibouti had become more difficult, according to the Associated Press. The press linked the outage incident to events in the Red Sea at the time. Additionally, the company said it was forced to intervene to divert and repair Internet traffic after four out of 15 submarine cables in the Red Sea were cut. Sixteen submarine cables pass through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, linking the continents of Asia and Europe and transporting 17% to 30% of global Internet traffic, serving more than two billion people. Speaking to The Media Line on condition of anonymity, Ali Al-Samman, a committee leader within Yemen’s Public Telecommunications Corporation, discussed the situation, noting he was not authorized to speak publicly. "The submarine internet cables that pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait are under our control,” he confirmed. “Any option proposed by the leadership of Ansar Allah group will be implemented to achieve its [the Houthis] goals, and it will not be reversed until the demands of Ansar Allah group, which is to end the siege on the Gaza Strip, is achieved." The same source added that the Houthis have the military and technological capabilities to control these cables fully. He said, "The Houthi’s political leadership took upon itself the duty of supporting the Palestinian cause and worked to do so through military operations.” “Yemen’s location, which intersects with the interests of the world, will preserve these interests unless they go against supporting the Palestinian cause,” Al-Samman explained. National Security and Strategy expert Omar Al-Raddad stressed to The Media Line that targeting submarine cables is an option for the Houthis if the American-British strikes continue and achieve their goals. "There are several factors that contribute to taking this option, including support from Iran, which may use this option to exert pressure during its discussions with the West, meaning, with support of Iranian technologies, there is an increased chance of such an attack occurring," Al-Raddad added. The Houthis control internet services in Yemen, including areas under the control of the internationally recognized government (IRG), and implement their policies in this sector according to their best interests. This includes blocking news websites and cutting internet services in some areas. Journalist Saddam Al-Huraibi spoke to The Media Line about this pressure card, stressing that the Houthis have used the internet and communications since their control of Sana’a. He added: “ I do not rule out that the Houthis will threaten or actually carry out military operations to target submarine cables in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.” Al-Huraibi confirmed that despite the televised statements by the Houthi’s leader, during which he spoke about continued military escalation and no intention to target submarine cables, leaders within the Houthi group hinted via social media platforms at the possibility of using this card within their military operations in the Red Sea. Pro-Houthi journalist Maher Al-Khaled confirmed this during an interview with The Media Line, saying, “Communication cables pass under lands which Yemen has sovereignty, and any option to use them is on the table if the United States, Israel, and their allies continue their military operations.” Since mid-November 2023, the Houthis have been targeting commercial ships heading towards Israel’s ports as part of operations that led to the detention of one ship, the sinking of another, and the exposure of many vessels to significant danger and even damage. In response to these operations, forces from the United States and Britain launched a series of attacks on Houthi targets. To respond to that, the Houthis declared that they would use all the available means for them to stand with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's comments, which labeled Hamas a terrorist organization, are an attempt to appear presidential ahead of a potential run for office in 2028, analysts told The Media Line. Imamoglu, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), is widely considered the most popular opposition politician in Turkey and is seen as a strong challenger for the country's top office in four years. During an interview with CNN, he said that any group that kills a mass amount of people is a terrorist organization. "Hamas, of course, carried out an attack in Israel that we are deeply saddened by, and any organized structure that carries out terrorist acts and kills people en masse is considered a terrorist organization by us," he said. Imamoglu quickly followed up his comments on Hamas by stating that he stands against the "brutal oppression of Palestinians." Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), accompanied by his wife Dilek Imamoglu, talks to media after casting his vote during the local elections in Istanbul, Turkey March 31, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/MURAD SEZER) A spokesperson for the AKP, Ömer Çelik, criticized Imamoglu for his comments, stating that they were "completely wrong." Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party, which is allied with Erdogan, said that Imamoglu's comment on Hamas meant he was turning his back on babies who had been killed. Yurter Ozcan, the CHP representative for the US, told The Media Line that he himself has in the past called Hamas a terrorist organization, as has the leader of the party, Ozgur Ozel, suggesting it is an official position of the party. Ömer Özkizilcik, an Ankara-based non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, believed Imamoglu's comments were aimed at an international audience and said the remarks were domestically unwise and would not help his popularity. Özkizilcik believed the remarks were aimed at the international community and that Imamoglu saw himself on the path to Turkey's top office. "It shows that Imamoglu has already begun to prepare for his presidential candidacy," Özkizilcik said. Salim Cevik, an associate at the Centre for Applied Turkish Studies at Germany's Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, told The Media Line that Imamoglu's comments were likely meant to show that he can talk about foreign policy and is capable of acting as president. "I am also not sure how smart it is to start commenting on foreign policy [on] such a controversial and sensitive topic," Cevik wrote in a message to The Media Line. Cevik stated that the Turkish president has used strong rhetoric in support of Hamas in response to the gains of the Islamist New Welfare Party, whose vote share in nationwide local elections last month seemed to have contributed to losses by Erdogan's Justice and Development Party. "He is, in a way, cornered. He takes more radical positions to prevent the growth of [the New Welfare Party], but this creates risks of alienating his more centrist voters," Cevik stated. While Erdogan rejected the killing of civilians days after the October 7 attacks, he became more strongly vocal against the Israeli government as the war in Gaza went on, calling Netanyahu a war criminal and Hamas a "liberation movement." The Turkish president and his top officials have met with Hamas, both abroad and in Turkey. Last month, Erdogan stated that he didn't believe Hamas would be forced to leave Qatar when asked by a journalist about the possibility of Hamas' headquarters moving to Turkey. "The situation in Gaza is what matters, not the whereabouts of Hamas leaders. Indeed, no such information has been provided to me regarding their position in Qatar concerning the matter you stated," he said, according to a transcription of the interview issued by his office. Özkizilcik believed it was not feasible for Turkey to host Hamas' headquarters and political risk as a member of NATO. Ties with the US are a central part of Turkey's security policies, and a worsening of relations has damaged Turkey's economy in the past. "A balancing act that Qatar was not 100 percent able to do, I doubt that Turkey can do such a balancing act," Özkizilcik said. He believed that it would be a security risk for Hamas to make such a move since many foreigners come to Turkey, a tourist hotspot, and it could face possible attacks from its enemies. "We have many people going in and out, and the Israeli Mossad is a capable intelligence organization. Qatar is much more safe for them than any potentially other place," he said.

Israeli officials are increasingly worried about the possibility of ICC arrest warrants and the negative impact they might have on held by Hamas. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who may be a target of an ICC warrant, voiced concerns about the court’s actions and confirmed that the Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring reports of impending ICC actions. “If an arrest warrant is issued against them [Israeli leaders], this is not the same as an indictment, or document containing the charges; this comes much later,” said Iain Edwards, a defense counsel at the ICC, during a conversation with The Media Line. An ICC arrest warrant, Edwards explained, primarily has reputational consequences, as it would only be issued if the Pre-Trial Chamber believed there were reasonable grounds for the warrant. Edwards continued, emphasizing that the practical consequences involve ICC member states executing , potentially restricting the target's movement. The individual risks arrest in any of the 124 member states, especially if Interpol issues a Red Notice. Benjamin Netanyahu (credit: Marc Israel Sellem, Flash 90) “The process starts when the prosecution asks a Pre-Trial Chamber to issue an arrest warrant after presenting sufficient evidence that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC,” Iain explained. “This process is set out in Article 58(1) of the Rome Statute and is strictly confidential. The target is not informed. The prosecution would also have to show that the arrest is necessary to ensure the person attends court, or to ensure that the person will not obstruct justice or interfere with the proceedings, or to prevent the person from continuing to commit crimes.” “The arrest warrant does not mean the person is guilty, only that the judges have examined a dossier of evidence provided by the prosecution and have determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe the person has committed one or more crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC,” he said. The prosecution must provide detailed information about the individual, their alleged crimes, and evidence supporting these allegations. The Pre-Trial Chamber then decides whether to issue a warrant, but this decision does not determine guilt. Verdicts come after thorough trials, with higher standards of evidence than those used to issue arrest warrants. Trials can last for years, during which accused individuals are often detained. If convicted, they inevitably face lengthy sentences. Convicted individuals can appeal before a panel of five judges, which decides if the Trial Chamber committed significant errors of fact or law. Iain explained that ICC arrest warrants are initially confidential, only being made public when the prosecution seeks to unseal them. They might stay sealed for specific member states “when it is known that the suspect is in that country and the court does not want the suspect to disappear,” or become public when international cooperation is needed. While he supports transparency, he emphasizes the need for balance in arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders: “If there were arrest warrants for high-ranking Israeli politicians or military figures, I would fully expect there also to be arrest warrants against Hamas leaders,” he said. “That would be a sensible and even-handed approach by the prosecutor.” The Media Line interviewed Anne Hertzberg, legal adviser at NGO Monitor, about the potential ICC arrest warrants and their impact on the Israel-Hamas conflict and hostage negotiations. Hertzberg noted that while Israel considers ICC developments, they do not dictate the country's military strategy. “Rafah has been debated and planned for many months. It’s the last holdout for Hamas and essential to victory in this war. Two weeks ago, Israel had strikes from Iran. Every day, . So, the ICC isn’t something the Israeli government can focus on. However, members of the political branch are working to limit the damage,” she added. Hertzberg believes that ICC arrest warrants could escalate global protests and pressure allies like the US and UK to push Israel. She warned that indictments against only Israelis would be troubling, particularly given the events of October 7 and the hostage situation. “Everything we’ve been hearing is related to indictments of Israelis, not Palestinians. I guess we’ll have to see what happens. Still, if it turns out that the indictments are only against Israelis, that would be egregious and outrageous,” she asserted. Hertzberg stated that if ICC prosecutor Karim Khan issues arrest warrants solely against Israelis, it will reveal much about the court's role in international conflicts, especially in anti-terrorism efforts. She noted that the US is not an ICC member and former President Donald Trump sanctioned the prosecutor and officials for opposing US interests. She speculated that while the Biden Administration wouldn't repeat this, they might engage in frank discussions with the prosecutor. “The US’s best leverage, of course, is funding. They can say they’re not going to fund and not cooperate. Last week, the ICC issued a paper on the principle of complementarity, which is one of the governing principles of the court. If a country is investigating charges, the ICC will not step in, but in the case of Israel, they repeatedly violated that principle. In that document, they were asking for money to set up field offices, presumably on the Egyptian border or in Gaza. So that’s one thing that could be withheld. Not giving the funds to open these offices and not giving the court as much support as they could. These are some ways Israel’s allied countries could exercise leverage,” she explained. Hertzberg criticized the ICC's cases, as well as the case before the and the International Court of Justice, as a form of political warfare. “Every war has its kinetic action, military action, and information warfare. This is clearly part of information warfare.” She warned ICC prosecutor Khan against falling into the trap of pursuing actions that could reinforce biases. Hertzberg also fears that the issuance of ICC arrest warrants against Israeli leaders will empower the current anti-Israel and antisemitic protesters even more. “Should the ICC go forward, I think it will amp these [anti-Israel protests] up to levels we have never seen. It will place Jews in the Diaspora in even more danger. One of the precepts of the ICC is the interests of justice, so Karim Khan should take a look at the interests of justice when he’s going forward and how his acts will be emboldening Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, hurting the hostages, and contributing to historical levels of antisemitism not seen since World War II,” she concluded.

The and fears of an impending Israeli military invasion in Rafah continue to impact tourism in Israel and Palestine, with no end in sight to the slump. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported a rise in tourist entries to 79,500 in March 2024 from 68,100 in February, though this was significantly lower than the 375,600 entries in March 2023. From January to March 2024, visitor entries totaled 206,700, a steep decline from the 966,200 tourists during the same period in 2023. Following the October 7 Hamas attack, international airlines ceased flights to Israel due to security concerns. Since began, tourist entries into Israel dropped dramatically, with only 180,000 arriving in the last quarter of 2023 versus an expected 900,000. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 415,300 Israelis traveled abroad in March 2024, up from 343,800 in February but still below the 746,300 who traveled in March 2023. PASSENGERS AT Ben-Gurion Airport get ready to leave Israel. (credit: GILI YAARI/FLASH90) Although some foreign airlines have resumed flights, tourism in Israel is gradually recovering but has not returned to normal. The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities reported that visitor numbers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem reached 2.5 million from January to the beginning of October 2023—around 278,000 visitors per month; since then, they have plummeted to less than 1% of this figure. The ongoing war is causing Palestinian cities to lose about $2.5 million daily, with 60% of these losses affecting Bethlehem. Specifically in Bethlehem, 90 antique stores and 450 crafts operators have suffered significant losses, leading to closures. The crisis has also deeply impacted the city’s tour guides, photographers, pottery workshops, and street vendors, leaving most jobless. “We used to have 35,000 employees in the tourist industry in Palestine, but so far, less than 3% are working,” Majed Ishaq, director general of marketing at the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, told The Media Line. “We have few religious tourists, mostly Christians, in the cities of Jericho, Nazareth, and Bethlehem, but most of them come through Jordan since many flights from abroad do not fly to Tel Aviv,” he added. Ishaq also noted that a major challenge is the omission of the Holy Land from the International Tour Operators Catalogue, as it is now deemed an unsafe travel destination. Meanwhile, neighboring countries like Jordan, Egypt, and even Syria are attracting more tourists, perceived as safer than Israel and Palestine. “Some of our tour operators from East Jerusalem can move freely within Israel and the Palestinian Territories, while others, mainly from the West Bank, require a permit to work in Israel,” Ishaq explained. “Due to the war, many have not managed to renew their permits, making it almost impossible to obtain Israeli authorization in time,” he added. Unlike Israel, which benefits from domestic tourism, travel is very difficult for Palestinians. It may take hours to pass through Israeli checkpoints, making travel between the Palestinian territories and Israel unbearable for a one-day visit, Ishaq stated. He also mentioned that the Palestinian Tourism Ministry is struggling financially due to the economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza and the loss of income from Palestinians who previously worked in Israel. In contrast, government subsidies in Israel are helping to keep parts of the industry afloat. “Our ministry is financially assisting those affected by the tourism downturn, paying 80% of salaries for those employed in travel agencies. We also provide marketing support,” Peleg Lewi, the international affairs adviser for the Israeli minister of tourism, told The Media Line. However, complications persist. “The situation for freelance guides is particularly complicated since they do not receive a salary. The ministry has tried employing them in schools, but this has not been very successful so far,” Lewi added. Lewi pointed out that domestic tourism, including visits from faith-related groups and discounted accommodations for those relocated from northern Israel, is helping the country withstand a crisis worse than COVID. However, the industry is concerned about potential military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in the north. “Despite we foresee not only religious tourism but also support from international activists and Muslims boosting our economy,” Ishaq asserted. On the other hand, Lewi speculated that “while overall foreign tourism in Israel may remain stable, Israelis’ travel abroad will change. Many are likely to choose destinations where they feel safer, and it’s probable that Western Europe won’t be among these.”

Along with its NATO allies, Turkey is taking part in a large military exercise, practicing carrying out maritime strikes to defend soldiers in Eastern Europe. The exercise is taking place amid heightened tension over nuclear warfare.  The military alliance stated that the Neptune Strike 24-1 exercise will deter and showcase for the “uncertain global stage.” Turkey’s flagship naval carrier, the TCG Anadolu, is participating in a show of solidarity alongside Swedish jets patrolling the alliance’s airspace. Ankara approved in January after delaying a decision for over a year and a half. Sweden officially joined NATO in March.  The Reuters news agency reported that the Neptune drills would include long-range flights to simulate strikes in defense of militaries in Eastern Europe. Slovak Army soldier stands guard near a NATO's symbol during a ceremony in Slovakia's capital Bratislava to mark the country's entrance to NATO, April 2, 2004. (credit: REUTERS/PETR JOSEK) Aylin Ünver Noi, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Haliç University, told The Media Line that the military alliance needs to illustrate solidarity for its deterrence to work, especially in such “unpredictable” times.  “We don’t know how NATO’s deterrence [would] work to prevent Russia’s aggression or to change its behavior with regards to Ukraine,” she said. Turkey faces multiple security threats in the region, including across the Black Sea in the north. To the south, it borders Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Conflict and political repression in those three countries have brought millions to Turkey in search of refuge.  As a member of NATO, Turkey benefits from being allied with multiple nuclear powers and sharing in the collective defense principle, which states that countries will help a fellow member state if it is attacked. “Turkey knows how important NATO [is] for its own security,” Ünver Noi said. “We’re living in a very dangerous period.” In March, Turkey took part in a NATO drill led by Poland, which the alliance said was its largest military exercise since the Cold War. The Neptune exercise, which started last Friday and will run until May 10, includes using a nuclear-powered French naval ship, which will be under NATO command for the first time. In a press release about the Neptune exercise, NATO said it proves that the alliance “is able to face any threat from any direction faster, more persistently, and with more capable and stronger unity than ever before.” The drills come amid heightened tensions with Russia after Poland, which borders Ukraine, said it is open to hosting nuclear weapons. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that such nuclear facilities would be a target for his country, according to a report from the Russian state news agency TASS. There have been signs that Ankara is improving relations with its Western allies since lifting its objections to Sweden entering NATO. The US agreed to sell Turkey F-16 fighter jets as a sign of the improving relationship.  On Monday, the Turkish state news agency reported that Ankara would support Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s candidacy for the NATO secretary general. That announcement followed a meeting between Rutte and Erdoğan in Turkey on Friday. Yusuf Can, an analyst and coordinator for the Wilson Center’s Middle East program, told The Media Line that Turkey could potentially support Poland hosting nuclear weapons. However, it would be cautious because of the risk of escalating tensions with Russia. Can said exercises such as Neptune allow Ankara to show itself as a committed NATO member, despite holding positions that have gone against many of the alliance’s policies. Republican Senator Rick Scott, who represents Florida, said last October that NATO should reconsider keeping Turkey in the alliance because Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.  Earlier this month, Erdoğan held a meeting in Istanbul with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which his office stated was about delivering aid to Gaza. Taking part in the drills, Can said, gives other countries reason to vouch for Ankara’s role in NATO during complicated times such as these. “Turkey having taken part in these drills helps its image in the alliance and the world,” he said. It can be said that balancing the need for Western allies while maintaining a relationship with opponents of NATO has been Turkey’s modus operandi well before Erdogan took power. “Turkey is in the middle of everything compared to the other NATO members,” Can said. “Turkey has a war on its north and south and all over its borders. That’s one of the main reasons Turkey needs NATO—that comfort zone, that security guarantee.”

Larry Hebert stood in front of the holding a rectangular sign that read, “Active-duty airman refuses to eat while Gaza starves.” Next to the wording was a photo of a malnourished Palestinian child with hollow brown eyes that stared wherever the sign pointed. Behind Hebert and his poster, throngs of children and their families enjoyed the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll that was being hosted by President Joe Biden. Hebert isn’t the first active-duty airman to take a very public stand in support of Gaza. The self-immolation of US Air Force Airmen Aaron Bushnell in front of the Israeli Embassy on February 26, 2024, gained international attention. The 25-year-old, who had been raised in a religious cult, livestreamed his suicide. Bushnell yelled, “Free Palestine!” as he burned. Busnell’s death inspired Hebert to act. The Veterans for Peace (VFP) member took leave from his duty station in Spain to protest in Washington, DC on behalf of Gazans. He did not plan to follow Bushnell’s extreme measures but hoped to raise awareness via a modified hunger strike. The airman held his sign in , protesting in front of young children as they searched for Easter eggs. VFP is a nonprofit organization of military veterans who oppose military spending and war. Among the numerous recognizable names on the organization’s advisory board are political activist Ralph Nader, filmmaker and Vietnam veteran Oliver Stone, presidential candidate Dr. Cornel West, and Ukrainian peace activist Yurii Sheliazhenko. Its national director, Mike Ferner, told The Media Line that VFP has marched in numerous pro-Palestinian rallies “all over the country by the score, plus national ones in DC.” VFP provided The Media Line with a press release titled “Veterans Express April 15th Outrage Over ‘Genocide Tax’” in which the organization says it joined “millions of Americans outraged to have our pockets picked again on April 15, to pay a Genocide Tax of $17.8 billion for military aid to Israel on top of $250 billion in current dollars sent since 1970.” However, this opinion does not reflect the majority of allies in the US-initiated Global War on Terror, a military campaign launched by the US after September 11, 2001. Some service members have trained alongside their Israeli counterparts in military exercises like Juniper Oak. Referring to pro-Palestinian protesters, former US Army Specialist Meir Ben David told The Media Line via Threads: “[Operation Iraqi Freedom] 1-2 vet here. Launch them into the sun. They’re terrorist sympathizers … a threat to democracy, civil society, and anyone they dislike. Launch them into the sun.” Retired US Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jerry “Buckeye” Yates, who received two Purple Heart medals for injuries incurred during combat operations in Iraq, provided a blunt response when asked how he felt about US college students embracing Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas. “F*ck them. I’m with the Jews,” Yates told The Media Line. Pro-Palestinian protesters have also drawn the ire of combat veterans in the US Congress. “I encourage people who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic: Take matters into your own hands. It’s time to put an end to this nonsense,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a former US Army infantryman who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division, said on his X account after keffiyeh-clad protesters blocked traffic across the . According to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 82 US military veterans currently serve in the US House of Representatives. Seventeen veterans hold seats in the US Senate. The bulk of these veterans voted for the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act that passed last week. Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), who served in the elite SEAL Team Six unit, was one of a handful of veterans who voted no on Israel aid, but not for his lack of support for Israel. “I’ve been to a lot of battles in my life, and I’ve never seen the president of the United States send aid to the enemy while allied troops are under fire. This bill included more than $9 billion for Biden’s USAID to send money to Gaza, and thereby sending it directly to the front lines of Hamas. No aid for Gaza until an unconditional surrender and release of hostages,” Zinke said in a press release. It was more of a symbolic vote as this bill had overwhelming support and passed the US House of Representatives 366-58. Hamas continues to hold over 130 hostages, including six Americans, who were taken during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. A proof-of-life video of American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin was released by Hamas on April 24, 2004. Clint Van Winkle is a Washington, DC-based correspondent for The Media Line and a US Marine Corps combat veteran who led Marines in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Qatar has emerged as a pivotal mediator between Israel and Hamas in the ongoing conflict between the two parties. Even as , the Gulf state has also been accused of promoting anti-Israeli and antisemitic narratives through official remarks, reporting from Qatari-owned news outlet Al Jazeera, and the financial support of protest movements. Experts say that this seeming contradiction is part of Doha’s foreign policy strategy, characterized by playing all sides while prioritizing its own interests. told Israel’s Kan News over the weekend that the hostages were in increasing danger with each passing day without an agreement, attributing the delays to “narrow political considerations.” He expressed Qatar’s dissatisfaction with the commitment levels of both Israel and Hamas, stating, “Both Israel and Hamas can do more to reach a deal now.” He revealed that Qatar was reconsidering its role in mediation due to doubts about the seriousness of the involved parties. “We are doing all that we can right now, and we need more pressure on both sides in order to reach a deal,” he said. On Monday, Essa Al-Nassr, a member of the legislative council, the Consultative Assembly of Qatar, addressed an Arab League session. His remarks led to accusations of antisemitism and incitement to violence and terrorism. “There will be no peace nor negotiations with the for one reason: because their mentality does not recognize negotiations, but rather only … breaking promises and lying. … They only recognize one thing, which is killings, since they are killers of prophets,” he said, repeating a common antisemitic trope. Despite remarks such as these, and despite Qatar’s involvement in spreading an anti-Israel narrative across US university campuses and on mainstream and social media, Qatar remains a central mediator between Israel and Hamas. Hamas parade in Gaza (credit: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah AJ/TZ) “Qatar is perceived in Israel as a reasonable mediator, as an actor that actually can bring results to the table,” Ariel Admoni, Qatar researcher and doctoral candidate at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, told The Media Line. From the American and Israeli perspective, Admoni said, antisemitic remarks and anti-Israel advocacy from Qatar are seen as “the cost of doing business.” He said that Qatar pursues anti-Israel activism as a way to please the public and attract attention. Despite that activism, Israel sees Qatar as the actor most poised to broker a deal to bring back the hostages. Omri Brinner, a UK-based geopolitical and terror financing consultant and a research fellow at the International Team for the Study of Security in Verona, Italy, told The Media Line that Qatar is Israel’s only viable option as a mediator since Qatar has full access to Hamas’ leadership and significant leverage over Hamas. “While Qatar is a sympathizer of the Muslim Brotherhood and of Islamic regimes, it also wishes to maintain and strengthen its status as a legitimate and moderate actor,” he said. Some other possible mediators, such as Egypt and Turkey, do not hold the same strategic weight Qatar does, Brinner said. Both countries are significantly poorer than Qatar, he explained. Beyond that, “Turkey is too anti-Israeli to be trusted to be an honest broker by Israel, and Egypt is too anti-Hamas to be considered as an honest broker by Hamas,” he said. Qatar is seen to promote some Israeli interests despite the country’s antisemitic and anti-Israel advocacy, allowing it to come across as an honest broker. “I can describe the relations as poisonous symbiotic relations,” Brinner said. Admoni explained that Qatar does not see a contradiction between its promotion of anti-Israel narratives and its choice to maintain relations with Israel. “Al Jazeera, antisemitic remarks, and terror funding are just the other side of the coin of Qatari foreign policy, to attract attention, to be an influencer in the region,” he said. “Qatar’s claim, which makes perfect sense, is that it is playing with both sides to secure its existence,” Brinner said, attributing this strategy to Qatar’s vulnerability in the region. He explained that Doha aims to position itself as an indispensable actor for both sides, aiming to maintain relations with the pro-stability coalition led by Saudi Arabia—which includes the UAE, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority—as well as the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, which includes the Syrian regime, Hizbullah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Shia militias in Iraq, and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian territories. “Qatar, despite its wealth, is a tiny country in a highly volatile and contested area. It can be crushed in a day by the larger forces in the region,” Brinner said. Qatar’s attempt to become indispensable to the countries around it is part of an effort to secure its future, he explained. Admoni described Qatari foreign policy as “a sophisticated game.” “It’s all done at the same time,” he said, noting that while Qatar is mediating between Israel and Hamas, the emir visited Nepal and Bangladesh and the finance minister met with high-ranking officials in the US banking system. Qatar is not committed to any side, he explained. “They are committed only to themselves,” he stressed. According to Brinner, Qatar’s confidence in its strategy of playing all sides was bolstered after the Gulf Cooperation Council lifted its blockade on Qatar in 2021, leaving Qatar with the upper hand. Brinner said that Qatar is likely not the party to blame for the lack of a permanent cease-fire and hostage-release deal. “Both Israel and Hamas believe they can improve their positions dramatically, so neither side is willing to make compromises that would suffice for the other side. I don’t think there’s a better mediator on the state level,” he said. Admoni, on the other hand, said that Qatar’s two-faced foreign policy might be part of the problem. “We can see the fact that during the negotiation, Qatar talked with Israeli officials, but at the same time attacked them in press conferences,” he said. He also noted that Qatari news outlets are attacking the US relentlessly, even as the US and Qatar seem to have grown closer than ever. “Qatar takes care only for itself and for that reason, I think that some of the actors in the region don’t like the Qatari attitude,” he said, pointing out that Tunisia lately refused financial aid from Doha. “Maybe this is the reason that they weren’t able to bring more results in terms of a hostage deal,” he said, he said, noting that while the Qatari approach occasionally succeeds, there is a false belief in Israel and the US that Qatar completely controls Hamas and can dictate its actions. “Many Hamas officials will not simply follow Qatar’s wishes,” he observed. He pointed to Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, as an example; Sinwar shows appreciation for Qatar’s financial support but does not always comply with its directives. “Reports over the years have indicated that Sinwar and Qatar often clashed. Similarly, other Hamas officials have had disagreements with Qatar,” he continued.

In 1996, a global movement of farmers called La Via Campesina coined the term “” to describe a powerful and innovative concept and vision of a better food future.  They defined food sovereignty as “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” While “food security” is another widely used term today, it differs from the concept of food sovereignty. “Food security doesn’t imply where the food is taken from and doesn’t take into consideration any power balance,” Aymen Amayed, a researcher at the Arab Reform Initiative and an agronomist and political activist within Tunisian civil society, told The Media Line. Regarding domestic food production, . In fact, more than 50% of the food consumed within the country is imported from abroad. This is although Tunisia produces food for export to foreign countries, such as olive oil, dates, and strawberries.  Plants grow in Ghar El Melh's 'Al-Qataya', where farmers say a unique and traditional agricultural system is at risk of extinction due to climate change, in Ghar El Melh, Tunisia, November 2, 2021. (credit: ZOUBERI SOUISSI / REUTERS) “We are producing too much food for export, and this costs a lot in terms of local workforce and water supplies,” said Amayed, who emphasized that climate change has created even more water shortages, worsening the already problematic situation.  In addition to the many agricultural products being imported, such as seeds and fertilizers, local food has also been subjected to price pressure and fluctuations related to currency exchange rates.  A more concerning unintended consequence of all the imports of and tree seedlings is that the country’s rich bio-genetic heritage is gradually disappearing. In addition, local farmers find themselves at the mercy of pesticide sellers.  “The Tunisian farmer can produce his own seeds, but he can not sell them. Most of the seeds are imported, along with the technology used to produce them. Local seeds do not fit into a specific catalog, which is done on purpose to use only the hybrid ones,” Habib Ayeb, a researcher and geographer at the University of Paris 8 in Saint-Denis, told The Media Line.  “Food sovereignty is fundamental to end the circle of a new ‘colonial economy’ that still ties Tunisia not only to France, its historical colonial power but to every European country. Despite our national independence, we are still not overall free,” added Ayeb, who is also a filmmaker and co-founder of Observatoire de la Souverainetè Alimentaire et de l’Environnement “Using local farmers is a way out of a growing intensive agricultural industry and confiscation of land used mainly for foreign production,” he added.  The issue of food sovereignty in Tunisia has become a high priority, not only among local NGOs and civil society but also among government officials, who are trying, step by step, to protect the country by imposing taxes and legal obstacles for foreigners. Their efforts are an attempt to diminish massive foreign investments that may steal land from local farmers. “President Saied is not talking directly about new policies, but we see more regional and local authorities engaging in this topic, acknowledging the importance of local production,” added Amayed. Tunisia is among the North African countries that are playing an increasingly pivotal role in protecting local farmers and their seeds. While concerted efforts are being made through the state-owned Bank of Seeds, the path to full food sovereignty is still a long one. “Our neighboring countries are facing more challenges in the path of food sovereignty because of their political regimes and their laws that facilitated foreign capital investments and land exploitation. Morocco is a clear example of this phenomenon,” he explained further. Tunisia’s struggle for food sovereignty is intertwined with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in other Arab countries, according to Amayed. “Almost 100% of the activists and NGO members [in Tunisia] are part of the [global] BDS campaign. It is a matter of land rights and of fighting against imperialism. We also cooperate with activists and small farmers’ groups in Palestine,” he said. “The Palestinian struggle is our main struggle at the moment. Food is a personal choice, and not consuming certain products has a clear impact,” Amayed concluded.

Hamas, through a senior official, stated its with Israel and transition into a political entity if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders. The official, , considered Sinwar’s right hand, expressed these views during a recent interview amidst stalled cease-fire negotiations.  Al-Hayya indicated this would only be a temporary stance until Palestinians retain their “historic right to all Palestinian lands.” The Palestinian politician suggested Hamas' willingness to join the Palestine Liberation Organization and form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank and the dissolution of its military wing. Despite the devastation caused by recent hostilities, Al-Hayya dismissed Israeli attempts to eradicate Hamas but spoke about a possible truce soon.  Dr. , a lecturer at Birzeit’s University and former minister of labor for the Palestinian Authority, provided his perspective to The Media Line. "It's worth waiting to see if this statement reflects a significant shift," he noted, highlighting a common inconsistency between individual remarks by Hamas leaders and the group's official stance. Dr. Khatib further explained the internal dynamics within Hamas: "The statement can also reflect dissent and the debate within Hamas. Different leaders have different views, but it could also be a tactic, considering the imminent threat of the Israeli army to enter Rafah."  He added that while the promise to dissolve the military wing and pursue a sovereign state was notable, "Hamas being willing to put its guns down isn’t something you hear every day. Dissolving the military wing of Hamas and falling in line with a Sovereign Palestinian State on the 1967 borders would bring a powerful change.” Hamas parade in Gaza (credit: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah AJ/TC) “Whatever the reasons they make this statement now, it’s important to dialogue with Hamas because they are a very relevant part of Palestinian internal politics. Whether the Israelis like it or not, that’s the fact. Even if the statement made by Al-Hayya has conditions unlikely to be accepted by Israel, it is important to continue the dialogue, and this is also true for America and other Western countries,” he concluded. While Dr. Khatib emphasizes the importance of dialogue with Hamas despite skepticism about their intentions, some suggest a more cautious perspective, questioning the sincerity of Hamas' statements and suggesting that their motives may be influenced by the immediate threat of Israeli military action. Chuck Freilich, former deputy national security adviser and senior fellow in INSS, told The Media Line, “Hamas is aware of its imminent demise if the IDF enters Rafah. Making remarkable statements, such as the one made by Al-Hayya, gives them more time and feeds into the narrative believed by their supporters worldwide. Still, Israeli leaders should pursue this dialogue in the future if we have a different government.” “If this statement made by Al-Hayya is serious, then they should be open to dialogue after the Israeli conducts its plans to go into Rafah. It's doubtful that Israel would entertain such dialogue, as it remains committed to dismantling Hamas. After Hamas is removed from Rafah, then the Palestinians should announce an initiative with their top leaders or with a formal declaration,” concluded Chuck Freilich. While Hamas has previously maintained a hardline stance against Israel, this shift towards a potential two-state solution represents a notable concession. However, it remains unclear if this signifies a permanent resolution to the conflict or merely an interim step toward Hamas' longstanding goal of Israel's destruction.  Israel nor the Palestinian Authority have yet to comment.

Starting April 17, pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University established the launching a campaign demanding that the university divest from Israel. The New York-based Ivy League school joins universities across the United States, such as Emerson, Vanderbilt, Yale, and the University of California, Berkeley that have seen similar protests, along with a rise in reported antisemitic incidents. The Media Line spoke to former Israeli Ambassador to the US and Columbia alumnus , who expressed deep concern over the situation. He described the current campus climate as "intolerable, unacceptable, and exceedingly dangerous," impacting not only Jews but also the broader Western society. Oren traced the origins of these sentiments back to the 1960s youth revolutions.  After their initial failure, he said, these movements embedded themselves in academia, subtly promoting anti-establishment ideologies over decades. “They went back into the campus and spent 50 years instilling their ideas into students and professors to inspire government officials and corporate executives on this particular set of self-declared anti-establishment ideas as trojan horses for antisemitism.”  Oren drew parallels between the 1968 anti-war riots and today's campus movements, which he views as pro-war due to their exclusion of Israel. This shift has notably affected disciplines like American Studies, which have become distinctly anti-American, Oren continued. He also pointed out that even some Jewish academics have joined the anti-Israel chorus, failing to recognize the potential negative consequences for themselves. “They fail to see that this path also ends badly for them.”Demonstrators pray outside an entrance to the Columbia University campus as they protest in solidarity with Pro-Palestinian organizers, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, US, April 18, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS) Reflecting on Passover, Oren cited the Haggadah's story of the Wicked Son, which he believes mirrors the stance of those who don’t identify with their own people and criticize Israel's defenders. “It's the best image for these people who keep saying that if you defend Israel, you’re a bad Jew. Eventually, they’ll become one of the bad Jews themselves. This movement is a deep-seated cultural trend that has taken decades to evolve, and undoing it may also take decades,” said Oren. Oren criticized university administrators for not taking a firmer stand earlier. “These demonstrations are orchestrated and funded from outside. These aren’t spontaneous demonstrations,” he said. He called for an FBI investigation into the protests' origins, emphasizing the threat they pose to campus safety. “Jewish students, professors, and staff .  Oren stressed the limits of free speech, particularly when it incites violence or supports terrorism, “which, by the way, is illegal in America,” he said. “These people need to be prosecuted, but in the end, this isn’t a job for local police. This requires federal agencies to stop foreign agents from sewing chaos in America and its allies,” concluded the former ambassador. Ariel Beery, a 2005 Columbia graduate, echoed Oren's sentiments about the long-term origins of these antisemitic trends. Beery discussed the strategy of Israel's enemies, who, unable to defeat Israel militarily, have turned to soft power and funding guerrilla groups to challenge Israel. "These protests represent the soft-power strategy of Israel's enemies," he stated. “Anti-Western interests recognized that the leverage point was students and professors,” he said. “Many of these academics would shape many minds, so even if a small percentage of those students remain anti-Zionist years after flirting with the idea, the compounding effect becomes significant.” Beery also highlighted the influence of certain academic and financial practices at Columbia during his time there. “As a student at Columbia from 2002 to 2005, I worked at the Middle East Institute as a research assistant. One of my regular duties was to type up and send thank you notes from the director to various donors, most of whom were oil companies or their proxy organizations and foundations. Nearly none of these were reported by the university at the time,” he said.  “Many donations,” he asserted, “are made just below the legal reporting requirement.” “As a research assistant at the Middle East Institute, I observed how donations just below the legal reporting requirement influenced the curriculum," he revealed. According to Beery, these contributions supported courses in local high schools that presented a curriculum biased against Israel, perpetuating negative perceptions among young students. “One day, the new director, Rashid Khalidi, who sat on a newly donated Edward Said Chair, asked me to send a letter he wrote to Saudi Aramco,” shared Ariel. “In the letter, he thanked them for their generous donation to enable professors from the institute to teach a course on Middle East studies in local high schools using a curriculum not friendly toward Israel. Courses such as that one have persisted for decades. This is one reason hundreds of high school students in New York find the motivation to protest Israel and target their teachers. Such programs were regularly sponsored, a visible example of how Israel’s enemies worked first to capture academic departments and then to propagate messages throughout the next generation of politicians, business, and community leaders,” Ariel concluded.

After the , tens of thousands of Israelis were evacuated from towns around Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Gaza. At the onset of the war, the helped 125,000 displaced residents find temporary housing. Under the leadership of Tourism Minister Haim Katz, the ministry secured 50,000 hotel rooms for displaced residents and set up a daily subsistence allowance program. The Tourism Ministry paid hotels 3.2 billion shekels ($850 million US dollars) and allocated 2 billion shekels for 100,000 displaced residents through Israel’s National Insurance Institute.  More than , approximately 7,000 evacuees are still living in hotels. Around 50,000 have returned home, having been given a special grant from the Tourism Ministry.  The Media Line spoke to the Tourism Ministry and the hotels that hosted evacuees about the experience of housing evacuees, the war’s impact on the tourism industry, and the future of tourism in Israel.  “Tourism stopped completely at the beginning of the war, as happened in every place in the world,” Tourism Ministry spokesperson Anat Shihor-Aronson told The Media Line. “From almost reaching the record of incoming tourism in 2023, as it was in 2019, to nothing-from 100 to 0.” Shihor-Aronson said that the Tourism Ministry initially did not plan to participate in the evacuation efforts. But when it was announced that displaced residents would be housed in public buildings such as schools, Tourism Minister Haim Katz proposed an alternative solution. “He said, ‘No way,’” Shihor-Aronson recounted. “We at the Tourism Ministry know how to work with hotels and immediately connected with the . We established a situation room in Tel Aviv in the hotel association building and brought tens of our employees and the people from the hotel association.” The team succeeded in placing evacuees in 50,000 hotel rooms in just a few days. About 90,000 evacuees were housed in hotel rooms at the beginning of the war, Shihor-Aronson said. As the war dragged on, many evacuees sought out other options for housing.  “The conditions are not easy, even though the hotels provided their best facilities and went beyond their duty to accommodate the evacuees,” Shihor-Aronson said. She added that the ministry provided displaced residents who preferred not to stay in hotels grants of 200 shekels ($53 US dollars) per adult and 100 shekels ($27 US dollars) per child daily for alternative housing. “It gets to 18,000 shekels [$4,770 US dollars] a month for a family of two parents and two children and 21,000 [$5,570] for a family of three children, allowing them to rent an apartment by themselves and still have money to live,” Shihor-Aronson said. “Many evacuees chose this.” The current governmental support for displaced residents is set to last until July 7. If the ministry’s services are still needed beyond that, they may be extended.  “Who knows what’s going to happen? We hope the war will end, but if we need to continue our services, we are completely ready to do so,” Shihor-Aronson said. Yossi Glazer, the southern district general manager of Fattal Hotels, Israel’s largest hotel chain, told The Media Line that the chain’s hotels housed over 20,000 people who were displaced from their homes.  “These evacuees were welcomed at all of our 40 hotels across Israel, from north to south, and hosted with great love and compassion,” Glazer said.  He said that about 90% of rooms in the hotels were used by evacuees. Most of those evacuees have returned home or moved to alternative residences by now, with many hotels no longer hosting any displaced residents.  “We opened our doors to evacuees only,” Glazer said. “Some stayed for weeks, some for months. For now, the majority left, except for two hotels: one in Eilat and one in Tel Aviv.” Although the period was highly challenging, the hotels were prepared for the crisis, Glazer said.  “Our work is to know how to adjust to every guest’s needs,” he explained. “In wartime, we have the opportunity to become a home for people. Besides all the basic needs, the room and amenities, we know how to adjust the food and change our menu so people have a variety that can fit for six months.” Glazer noted that the kindergartens, schools, and medical, dental, and mental health centers were opened at the hotels in order to meet the evacuees’ needs.  He said that helping the evacuees was a pleasure and honor and said that the families appreciated the hotels’ efforts. “They became our family, and we became theirs,” he said. “Our maids know the names of every dog in the hotel, every child, and every family. We celebrated weddings, bar mitzvahs, and birthdays. We have seen the births of more than 30 babies of Jewish families in our hotels.” “Some evacuees were very traumatized, and still, our staff knew how to hug them, listen, and host with much love,” he continued, “And more than that, we have more than 300 team members, men and women, who were called up for military service during these difficult times.” Koby Hatzoel, Fattal’s general manager for Tel Aviv and Herzliya, told The Media Line that the financial aspect of housing evacuees was not discussed at the beginning of the war.  “We didn’t even think about the finances. We just wanted to help the people pass this difficult time,” he said.  He said that the hotels began receiving financial compensation from the Tourism Ministry about one month after the war broke out.  While the costs of rooms were covered, the hotels will need additional funds for repairs after the evacuees leave.  “When people stay at the hotel so much time, with animals and with all their stuff, you need to renovate the rooms afterwards. We hope to get some support to do it,” Hatzoel said.  Tourism Ministry spokesperson Shihor-Aronson expressed optimism about the future of tourism in Israel.  “We are already preparing for the day after the war,” she said. “We keep in touch with everybody,” she continued. “We organize events to make the world keep Israel in mind all the time. We support our marketing routes, and we also participate in almost every tourism fair all over the globe, and the interest in Israel is still there.” Hatzoel expressed his gratitude for the domestic tourism still happening in the country. He noted that the chain’s hotels in Eilat, the Dead Sea, and Tel Aviv are fully booked.  “People want to go back to their routine and go on vacation,” he said, predicting that the hotels will do well during the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover and over the summer vacation.  Glazer, who manages hotels in southern Israel, said that Israelis are interested in domestic tourism as a way to relax during a tense year. He said that demand is highest in resort areas and in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The hotels have also begun hosting foreign visitors who are traveling on business or on solidarity visits, he said.  With strong demand amid a complex reality, Israel’s hotel industry has proven its resilience. “Tourism is no longer a luxury,” Glazer said. “It’s a basic need. We all know that Israel had some other crises in the past. We hope that we will return to normal levels of tourism, even in the third quarter of this year.”

As Jews across the globe prepare for the Passover holiday, Israel faces unprecedented challenges. In the heart of Jerusalem's bustling Mahane Yehuda market, The Media Line has captured the spirit and resilience of residents during this tumultuous period. Our new video feature brings you the voices of locals expressing their wishes for a happy in a year marked by conflict and hardship. Despite the joyous occasion, the mood in Israel is somber with ongoing war casting a shadow over the celebrations. Many soldiers are unable to join their families for the traditional . Over 100,000 Israelis continue to be displaced by the conflicts on the northern and southern borders, while more than 100 remain in captivity. Shoppers are seen at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) Our short video shows finding strength and lessons in the Passover story—a tale of liberation and triumph over adversity. You'll hear a range of perspectives on what Passover means in these trying times and how the enduring messages of resilience and hope continue to resonate deeply. Even in the darkest of times, the light of tradition and community shines through.

Pakistan formally classified the Zainebiyoun Brigade, a Shiite militant group purportedly , as a terrorist organization.   The move marks a significant step by Pakistani authorities to address concerns about extremist activities within its borders. Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs published a public notification on April 11 stating that “the Zainebiyoun Brigade is involved in activities that are deemed detrimental to the peace and security of the country,” according to a copy of the notification seen by The Media Line. This revelation underscores the seriousness of the threat posed by the group and strengthens the rationale behind Pakistani federal authorities' decision to designate the Zainebiyoun Brigade as a terrorist organization.   The notification further specified that the Federal Ministry has taken this action under the powers conferred by the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, by including the name of the Zainebiyoun Brigade in Schedule One, which lists banned organizations under the same law. Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks to pro-Kremlin journalist Vladimir Sovolyov, March 2024. (credit: screenshot) In January 2019, the US Treasury Department added the group to its financial blacklist, stating that it is composed of Pakistani nationals and provides “materiel support” to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  The Zainebiyoun Brigade, composed primarily of the Pakistani Shiite community, has been mainly operating in Syria, where it has provided support to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and actively engaged in a war against ISIS. The group's activities have drawn scrutiny from international observers, who have raised alarms about its potential to fuel sectarian tensions and instability in the region. According to the Iranian news website Iran International, the Zainebiyoun Brigade was “formed by the IRGC after the Syrian civil war began,” and has since “mobilized Pakistani Shiite militants who were then sent to fight forces opposite to Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Iran and Russia.” The media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces had confirmed in the past that law enforcement agencies successfully captured several militants belonging to the Zainebiyoun Brigade. When asked by The Media Line for further comment, they declined to answer due to the sensitive matter. However, an anonymous senior official familiar with the issue confirmed that “in the context of ongoing terror incidents in the country, Islamabad believes that the potential return of these fighters might exacerbate religious civil unrest in certain restive regions of the country. Given this concern, they advocate for measures to restrict the activities of this group.”  This official continued: “Pakistani and American intelligence agencies have collaborated closely to address this threat, aiming to uphold peace and security in the region.” “The decision to label the Zainebiyoun Brigade as a terrorist organization underscores Pakistan's commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms,” he added. The name ‘Zainebiyoun’ is derived from Syeda Zainab who is the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad. Zainab is well-regarded by Shia Muslims, and the name ‘Zainebiyoun’ signifies an association with her.  The Zainebiyoun Brigade's formal purpose was to defend the shrine of Syeda Zainab and other Shia sacred sites in Syria.  Since 2013, Pakistani Shiites have been actively involved in the .  Among the fighters are individuals from diverse backgrounds, including marginalized Hazara and Baloch communities, as well as Pashtuns from Parachinar in the Kurram District and Baltis from Gilgit-Baltistan. Similar to other Shiite foreign brigades operating in Syria, the Zainebiyoun Brigade is financed, trained, and supervised by the IRGC.  According to unconfirmed reports, more than 500 brigade fighters have been killed so far as a result of Israeli airstrikes and the war with ISIS. The majority of the deceased youth hailed from Kurram and Gilgit-Baltistan, two Shiite-majority regions in Pakistan.  The dead have been buried in the Iranian holy city of Qum, where a gathering is also organized in their memory every year. Iran's recruitment of Pakistani fighters adds yet another international dimension to Syria's civil war. It has deepened sectarian divisions across the Muslim world and drawn in most regional and global powers.  It was recently reported that some members of Pakistani origin were apprehended in international waters. In January 2024, the US Central Command Naval forces, including the Navy SEALs, intercepted an un-flagged ship in the Gulf of Aden. While searching the vessel, US forces seized Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry, including critical parts for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, a warhead, and propulsion and guidance components. The crew members are now under trial in the US. Recently, IRGC published an obituary about a person named Haider, who was identified through a DNA test.  He was the main recruiter for the brigade from the Parachinar area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Parachinar and the larger Kurram District have emerged as significant recruitment hubs for mercenaries affiliated with the Zainebiyoun Brigade. These districts have a predominantly Shia population, which shares religious and sectarian affiliations with the Zainebiyoun Brigade.  Both districts are situated near the border with Afghanistan, providing easy access for recruiters to tap into the pool of potential fighters. The region's proximity to facilitates the recruitment process and the movement of individuals willing to join militant groups.  Law enforcement agencies in Pakistan lack precise official figures regarding the participation of the Pakistani Shiite community in the Zainebiyoun Brigade activities in Syria.  However, an uncertain estimate suggests that the number of participants could be around 5,000. Syed Qandil Abbas, an Islamabad-based political analyst and professor at the School of Political and International Relations (SPIR) at Quaid-i-Azam University, told The Media Line: “The Zainebiyoun Brigade remained on the watch list of Pakistani security agencies during the last decade.” “This group has never been found involved in any anti-state activity in Pakistan, but as per a recent notification, it is engaged in certain activities which are prejudicial to the peace and security of the country,” he claimed.  Abbas explained to The Media Line that “the recent decision to ban the Zainebiyoun Brigade can be attributed to two main factors, considering its ideological orientation. Firstly, the brigade's primary responsibility was to safeguard the Shrine of Syeda Zainab in Syria. With the defeat of ISIS in Syria, the threats to this shrine have significantly diminished. Consequently, Pakistani security agencies are concerned about the potential return of Zainebiyoun fighters.” “Secondly, the Zainebiyoun Brigade is part of the Iran-backed 'Axis of Resistance,' which includes groups like Hizbullah in Lebanon, the Fatemiyoun of Afghanistan, the Haideriyon of Iraq, and the Hussainiyoun of Azerbaijan, among others,” he added.  According to Abbas, “These groups share an anti-Israeli stance, aligning with Iran's regional objectives. By increasing tension between Iran and Israel it is expected that these groups, including the Zainebiyoun Brigade, can emerge as an active threat to Israel and pro-Israel countries, including the United States.”  “Moreover,” he continued, “imposing a ban on the Zainebiyoun Brigade can be in line with US regional interests, as the Zainebiyoun Brigade along with Fatimiyon was already put under US sanctions in 2019.” Abbas also claimed that Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority has currently added four additional groups to its watch list. “However, the emergence of several splinter groups from declared terrorist organizations, such as the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, also poses significant threats to the peace and security of Pakistan and the wider region.”   Adeeb Uz Zaman Safvi, a Karachi-based senior defense and strategic analyst, retired Pakistani Navy captain, and a graduate of the US Naval War College, told The Media Line that “mostly non-state actors are involved in recruiting, funding, and operating organizations such as the Zainebiyoun Brigade.”  According to Safvi, “Pakistan's Foreign Office needs to work closely with intelligence agencies and other state organs to keep the relations on an even level. For the sake of regional stability, long-lasting peace, and mainly for our interest, we cannot afford to have strained relations with Iran.”  Safvi noted that “Pakistan’s hostile intelligence agencies are looking forward to creating misunderstanding at the first opportunity.” He urged the Foreign Office of Pakistan to collaborate closely with intelligence agencies and other state organs to ensure balanced relations with Iran. “Maintaining stable and amicable ties with Iran is imperative for regional stability, enduring peace, and, fundamentally, for Pakistan's interests.”