03b Israel

Israeli soldiers jailed for desecrating Virgin Mary statue — RT World News– www.rt.com

pgnewser May 12, 2026 0

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Two Israeli soldiers were sentenced to several weeks in military prison for desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

Last week, a photo surfaced showing a service member hugging the statue in the predominantly Christian village of Debel, near the Israeli border, and placing a cigarette in the statue’s mouth. The image sparked outrage on social media and prompted an official investigation.

On Monday, IDF spokeswoman Ariella Mazor said the soldier posing with the statue and the soldier filming him were sentenced to 21 and 14 days behind bars, respectively.

“The IDF views the incident with great severity and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” Mazor wrote on X.

Israeli military kills six in Lebanon, issues more displacement threats | Israel attacks Lebanon News– www.aljazeera.com

pgnewser May 12, 2026 0

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Israel’s military has killed six people in an air raid on a house in southern Lebanon, the latest violation of a United States-brokered truce that has only ever existed on paper.

The Israeli attack on Monday night targeted a house in the Kfar Dounin municipality, some 100km (60 miles) south of Beirut, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said.

Israel Wants U.S. Dollars out of Military -mindfulintelligence.com

pgnewser May 11, 2026 0

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to phase of U.S. financial support of its military down to zero.

He stated, “I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have,” he said. “Because we receive – we receive $3.8 billion a year. And I – I think that it’s time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support.”

Go Deeper

Lebanon accuses Israel of deliberately targeting medics — RT World News– www.rt.com

pgnewser May 11, 2026 0

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Two health workers were among 51 people killed in the latest wave of IDF strikes on the country, Beirut has said

The Lebanese Health Ministry has accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of deliberately targeting medics during airstrikes on the country.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue to intensify despite a US-brokered ceasefire between the sides, which took effect in mid-April.

The latest wave of IDF strikes on Lebanon left 51 people dead, including two medics, the country’s health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

“The Israeli enemy continues to violate international laws and humanitarian norms, adding more crimes against paramedics, as it directly targeted two points of the Health Authority in Qalawiya and Tibnin, Bint Jbeil district, in two raids,” the statement read.

IDF kills Hamas commander linked to Oct. 7 Nova massacre in Gaza airstrike– www.foxnews.com

pgnewser May 6, 2026 0

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it eliminated Hamas Commander Anas Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, who infiltrated Israel and participated in the Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival Massacre.

Hamed was killed during a targeted Monday strike in Gaza, the IDF announced Tuesday.

“The IDF struck yesterday in the center of the Gaza Strip and eliminated Ans Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, Nukhba commander in the Hamas terror organization, who raided the territory of the State of Israel and the Nova festival during the murderous massacre on October 7,” the IDF wrote in a Tuesday morning post on X.

The IDF called Hamed an “immediate threat to IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip,” and said he was “eliminated in a precise airstrike.”

Israelis’ wealth grows 80% in six years– en.globes.co.il

pgnewser May 6, 2026 0

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Rising stock markets along with growth in pension and provident fund savings have generated unprecedented wealth for the Israeli public in the past few years. According to Bank of Israel figures released last week, at the beginning of 2026 (February) the Israeli public’s portfolio of financial assets was worth a record NIS 7.4 trillion. This represents growth of NIS 1.1 trillion within a year, and an 80% rise within six years. At the beginning of 2020, the public’s portfolio was worth NIS 4.1 trillion.

The continual growth in the financial assets portfolio, which includes money held in bank accounts, savings programs (provident funds, pension funds, and mutual funds), and securities, provides a glimpse into the way in which Israelis have managed their money in recent years, the level of risk that they tend to take, and their impact on prices in the local stock market.

Appetite for risk

A glance at the make-up of the public’s financial assets shows that Israeli investors’ appetite for risk has grown considerably. At the end of 2022, the proportion of risk assets (stocks and bonds) in the portfolio was 39%. By the beginning of 2026 it had jumped to 48%.

Feds Launch Investigation into New York City Public Schools Over Pro-Hamas Teachers– slaynews.com

pgnewser May 5, 2026 0

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The Trump administration has launched an investigation into New York City Public Schools over allegations that pro-Hamas activism by educators may have crossed the line into anti-Semitic instruction targeting Jewish students.

The probe was launched over allegations that teachers sought to sow “hatred toward Jewish students” during classroom instruction.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights confirmed it opened the probe after receiving complaints that teachers were promoting political messaging in classrooms and portraying Israel supporters as “genocidal white supremacists.”

U. Michigan Commencement Hijacked By Anti-Israel Prof.– legalinsurrection.com

pgnewser May 5, 2026 0

U. Michigan Commencement Hijacked By Anti-Israel Prof.– legalinsurrection.com
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A faculty commencement speaker at the University of Michigan used his spot to slam Israel. The president of the university said that those remarks deviate from the remarks submitted in advance:

I spoke about this on the Laura Ingraham show tonight:

 

Catholic University of America must allow pro-Israel event or face accreditation complaint: free speech group– www.thecollegefix.com

pgnewser April 21, 2026 0

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A national free speech group is calling on the Catholic University of America to allow pro-Israel speakers on campus – or else face an accreditation complaint.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a second letter to CUA leadership on Friday, asking it to remove its restrictions on Students Supporting Israel.

The intervention follows a proposal earlier this year for the group to host Israeli homeland security expert Dany Tirza as well as Jewish Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida, as The College Fix previously reported.

The university is requiring the club to host a pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel speaker.

While the school says this is part of their policy, that is only supposed to apply when an invited speaker takes a view contrary to the Catholic Church, such as if a club invited a pro-abortion speaker. However, the university did not even apply this policy, allowing the campus Democrats club to host a speaker who supports abortion, according to Student Supporting Israel’s leadership.

The Catholic university in Washington, D.C. allowed an event with an anti-Israel speaker, for example, but did not present the pro-Israel side, FIRE also said.

“We again strongly urge CUA to approve SSI’s event requests and assure students that the university will not condition event approval on student’s willingness to arrange for and host speakers opposed to their own viewpoint,” Program Counsel Jessie Appleby wrote to President Peter Kilpatrick.

Israel says image of soldier striking Jesus statue in Lebanon is authentic– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

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JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said on Monday (Apr 20) that it had determined an image circulating on social media that shows a soldier in south Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ is authentic and depicts one of its troops.

The image appears to show an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross.

Arab media reports indicated that the statue was in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon, near the border with Israel.

The Debl municipality told AFP that the statue was located in the village, but could not confirm whether it had been damaged.

Israeli NGO Files War Crimes Complaint Against Spain’s PM Alleging Iran Aid Enabled the Regime’s ‘Terror Machine’– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

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Spain’s prime minister is facing a complaint at the International Criminal Court alleging his government enabled Iran’s “terror machine” through dual-use exports, with the legal group behind the filing arguing that responsibility for war crimes extends to those who provide the means.

The complaint, filed Tuesday by Israeli legal advocacy group Shurat HaDin under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, calls on prosecutors in The Hague to open a criminal investigation — and consider issuing an arrest warrant — against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and other senior officials.

The complaint alleges that Spain’s socialist government approved the transfer of approximately €1.3 million in dual-use components to Iran in 2024 and 2025, including materials linked to detonators and explosive systems.

According to the filing, the items were not benign industrial goods but “critical components that enable explosive devices to function,” transferred under circumstances in which their use in attacks against civilians was foreseeable.

At the core of the case is the allegation that materials classified as civilian “dual-use” goods function as essential components in weapons systems.

Israel, Lebanon Agree To Direct Negotiations After “Productive” Talks: US– www.ndtv.com

pgnewser April 15, 2026 0

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Israel and Lebanon agreed to hold direct negotiations after “productive discussions” between the two sides in Washington, the United States said on Tuesday.

“The participants held productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

“All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue,” he said.

The announcement came after Israeli and Lebanese envoys held more than two hours of talks mediated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“The United States congratulated the two countries on this historic milestone and expressed its support for further talks, and for the government of Lebanon’s plans to restore the monopoly of force and to end Iran’s overbearing influence,” Pigott said.

And it “affirmed that any agreement to cease hostilities must be reached between the two governments, brokered by the United States, and not through any separate track,” he added.

Hezbollah official says group will not abide by any agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks– www.euronews.com

pgnewser April 14, 2026 0

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Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Lebanon on Monday to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington the following day, reiterating his group’s rejection of direct negotiations with Israel.

“We reject negotiations with the usurping Israeli entity…We call for a historic and heroic stance by cancelling this negotiating meeting,” Qassem, whose Iran-backed group has been at war with Israel since 2 March, said in a televised address.

The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations between the two countries.

Lebanese authorities have stressed that Beirut first wants to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, but Israel has dismissed that prospect, saying it prefers instead to focus on formal peace talks with Lebanon itself, with which it has technically been at war for decades.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that “we want the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weapons and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations.”

Italy suspends defense pact with Israel over ‘the current situation’– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 14, 2026 0

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Tuesday that she has suspended her country’s defense cooperation agreement with Israel over the conflicts throughout the Middle East.

Meloni said at an event in the northern city of Verona that her government “has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel in consideration of the current situation.”

Her announcement came about a week after the Israeli military fired warning shots at an Italian peacekeeping convoy outside Beirut, Lebanon. No one was injured in the incident, which Meloni called “completely unacceptable,” while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned the Israeli ambassador to Rome for a third time since 2024.

The 2003 Memorandum of Understanding was ratified by Italy in 2005 and is renewed automatically every five years.

Pope Leo XIV says he does not fear Trump in feud over Iran war – National– globalnews.ca

pgnewser April 13, 2026 0

Blurb:

U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump’s broadside against him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, telling reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration.

“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”

U.S. set to begin Iranian ports blockade, partial blockade of Strait of Hormuz after talks fail– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser April 13, 2026 0

Blurb:

Pope Leo has responded to President Trump’s attack on him by saying he has “no intention to debate” Mr. Trump on Iran.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump lashed out at the pontiff on social media, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” he added.

Leo had called Mr. Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable” and encouraged people to contact “political leaders … to ask them, tell them to work for peace.”

Middle East crisis live: US blockade of Iranian ports to begin later today as Trump says he doesn’t care about further talks | US-Israel war on Iran– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser April 13, 2026 0

Blurb:

If you’re just tuning in to today’s live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, here’s the latest to bring you up to speed. It’s 9.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 2am in Washington DC.

  • Donald Trump has said he doesn’t care if Iran comes back to negotiations with the US after the weekend talks in Pakistan ended without a deal. “I don’t care if they come back or not,” Trump told reporters in Maryland on Sunday. “If they don’t come back, I’m fine.”

  • Trump said earlier that the US Navy would start blockading the Hormuz strait and also prohibit every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran. US Central Command said later it would begin a blockade of all Iranian Gulf ports and coastal areas on Monday at 10am ET (5.30pm in Iran and 1400 GMT), effectively seizing control of maritime traffic in the strait of Hormuz.

  • Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that “approaching military vessels to the strait of Hormuz is considered a violation of the ceasefire”.

  • Oil prices rose in early market trading after Trump’s blockade announcement. The price of US crude oil rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent crude oil – the international standard – rose 7% to $102.29. Australia’s share market dropped sharply on Monday morning.

  • Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf taunted Trump on X, saying in a post: “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.” Earlier he said Trump’s new threats would have no effect on the Iranian nation: “If you fight, we will fight … We will not bow to any threats.”

  • Trump and his advisers are looking at resuming limited military strikes in Iran in addition to the US blockade of the Hormuz strait, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials and people familiar with the situation.

Pope Leo XIV blasts ‘delusion of omnipotence’ fueling US-Israeli war in Iran– abcnews.com

pgnewser April 13, 2026 0

Blurb:

ROME — In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.

Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held.

New Israeli policy targeting Christian schools in Jerusalem could threaten their future existence– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser April 7, 2026 0

Blurb:

The Israeli government instituted a policy prohibiting Christian Palestinian teachers who live in the West Bank from working in any of the 15 Christian schools in Jerusalem in a move that threatens to weaken the two-millennia presence of Christians in the Holy City.

School principals in Jerusalem recently received letters from the Israeli Ministry of Education stipulating that beginning in September they are required to only hire teachers who reside in the city and hold Israeli-issued qualifications.

The March 10 directive comes in the wake of a bill approved last July by the Education Committee of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) aimed at prohibiting Palestinian teachers who earned their degrees at institutions in the West Bank from teaching in Israel or the occupied East Jerusalem.