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L'Orient-Le Jour
5 days ago
- Health
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Gaza Health Ministry reports 2,000 page list of the 58,380 killed by Israel
BEIRUT — The Gaza Health Ministry released on Wednesday a list with the names of all Palestinians killed since the beginning of the Israeli offensive against the enclave, between Oct. 7, 2023, and July 15, 2025. The document, published on the ministry's official Telegram channel, comprises 2,086 pages and details for each of the 58,380 people killed their name, age, gender and identification number. It is the first time that the Palestinian territory's health authority has issued a list containing all the victims it has officially registered. 54 percent children, women and elderly Among them are around 953 children under one year old, including the first nine names on the list, which are those of infants killed on the very day of their birth. In total, 17,921 children are among the victims, as well as 9,497 women between 18 and 59, and 4,307 people aged 60 and over (including both men and women), a total of 31,725 people. They thus represent 54.3 percent of those directly killed by bombings or gunfire from the Israeli army. The only figure put forward by the Israeli army is that of "20,000 Hamas terrorists and members of other organizations" allegedly killed since Oct. 7, 2023. This estimate is not supported by any list of names or other evidence or sources, and would therefore, according to the Israeli army, mean that 75 perecnt of the 26,655 men aged between 18 and 59 who have been officially killed in Gaza would be members of Palestinian armed factions. The figures provided by the Health Ministry do not distinguish between combatants and civilians among the authenticated violent deaths. Consulted by L'Orient Today, the list does not contain the names of several Hamas leaders whose deaths have been confirmed by the Israeli army, such as its former chief, Yahya Sinwar, or the ex-commander of its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammad Deif. The Health Ministry does not include in its statistics the indirect deaths, such as those caused by diseases or malnutrition, nor does it count the people still missing under the rubble, who Gazan authorities estimated at more than 11,000 in January 2025. The most recent official number of injured, available on the ministry's Telegram channel and dating from July 9, stands at 137,409. Since the start of the war, the U.N. has repeatedly denounced the humanitarian and health catastrophe and the risk of famine caused by the policy of blocking humanitarian aid or fuel, as well as the systematic targeting of vital infrastructure such as hospitals and water systems. Recent independent studies have indicated that the total number of deaths in Gaza could be underestimated by 40 percent compared to reality. According to a study published in late June by British and Palestinian researchers, the real number of Palestinian victims could already have reached the 100,000 deaths mark. Since July 15, Israeli attacks have continued across the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, the Health Ministry reported 93 additional people killed in the past 24 hours. On Thursday morning, at least 22 Palestinians were killed, according to medical sources cited by al-Jazeera. The human rights organization Amnesty International published a report in December 2024 accusing Israel of "committing genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza. After a complaint filed by South Africa against Israel, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) established in its order of Jan. 26, 2024, the risk of genocide.
Memri
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Jihadi Groups Look To AI For Recruiting The Next Generation
Terrorist groups have a new tool in their toolbox – Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is being used by a rising generation of members of Hizbullah, Hamas, and Yemen's Ansar Allah Movement (Houthis) and their ilk to win new supporters and followers. Pro-ISIS and pro-Al-Qaeda figures involved with these groups' online activity frequently discuss, on their closed encrypted platforms, how to best use AI. As one ISIS supporter recently exhorted, "In order to move forward in the future, we need to learn how to use the new technology." Children's high susceptibility to AI-generated content opens new opportunities for their exploitation by terrorist groups. Policy should be set in place now to respond to and counter this activity, which is evolving at a breakneck speed. The young extremists being trained on AI are themselves radicalizing others with it, particularly their peers. AI-generated content disseminated online by terrorist organizations provides an easy path to indoctrination. The Al-Azaim Media Foundation, a media outlet linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), just released an extensive article in its English-language monthly magazine "Voice of Khurasan" discussing the use of AI in military and geopolitical environments. The article also emphasized that AI is important not only to "scientists" and "scholars" but that it is becoming a force shaping war and even education. On May 27, Europol announced a coordinated effort focusing on the online radicalization of minors online by finding thousands of links directing them to jihadi and violent extremist and terrorist propaganda. According to the announcement, terrorist organizations and their online supporters are "tailoring their message and investing in new technologies and platforms to manipulate and reach out to minors." Emphasizing the use of AI, it said that the "content, short videos, memes, and other visual formats" are "carefully stylized to appeal to minors and families that may be susceptible to extremist manipulation" and that it also "incorporate[s] gaming elements with terrorist audio and visual material." Among the recently released AI-generated animations distributed online by supporters of jihadi organizations include a series of videos created by a pro-Hizbullah and pro-"resistance" video producer in the UK who releases them on his Instagram account, where he has 182,000 followers and views of his videos have topped 20 million. One of his online followers spreading his videos was identified as the person chanting "Death to America" at a Dearborn, Michigan rally last year who also happens to be a teacher at private Islamic schools there. Other AI-generated animations created and distributed online by jihadi groups are videos glorifying the October 7 Hamas attacks and canonizing the group's slain leader Yahya Sinwar, along with its other dead leaders. AI videos and imagery created and shared by jihadis deliver threats to the U.S. and show jihadi armies conquering enemy territories. All of this is part of their efforts to indoctrinate children. AI-generated images and videos are being used to incite their target audiences to jihad and martyrdom, to emulate fighters even to the death, to carry out assassinations, and to commit arson – much like children playing violent video games. Another group using AI is Hizbullah. Its media outlets frequently have discussions about AI's importance. On October 25, 2023, two weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack, its affiliate Mayadeen Network posted on its website an AI animated music video warning that Israeli and U.S. aggression would spark a land, air, and sea invasion prompting Israelis to abandon the country as it is overrun by its gunmen on motorcycles and massively attacked with missiles. Pro-Hamas social media accounts have used AI to celebrate October 7 and indoctrinate young audiences. Cartoon Filistin-Palestinian Animations, a Telegram channel specializing in animated productions, published an AI-generated video showing Palestinian fighters and civilians manufacturing IEDs and carrying out attacks, including arson attacks using explosive balloons, as Israeli communities go up in flames. One more example is a AI-generated animated video for children glorifying Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida as a role model for Muslim children, posted by a Telegram channel affiliated with the East Turkestan Islamic Party (formerly the Turkestan Islamic Party, TIP) in early March 2025. Additionally, an AI-generated video depicting a take on the last moments of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was produced and aired after his death by the Turkish state-run TRT Network. In it, an AI-generated Sinwar figure "give[s] the details of [his] last battle" and how he "patrolled the streets, looking to hunt down Israeli soldiers." Iran-backed Shi'ite militias linked to designated terror organizations are also integrating AI-generated imagery in their propaganda efforts. On April 4, 2025, Sabereen News, an Iraq-based Telegram channel supporting all "resistance" organizations, published a series of OpenAI-generated images in the style of the Ghibli Japanese anime studio, aimed at children and young people. They depicted soldiers with sleeve patches resembling the emblems of Ansar Allah (the Houthis) in Yemen, Hizbullah in Lebanon, and Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The channel also released AI-generated images of U.S. President Donald Trump humiliated and defeated by the Houthis, in front of the wreckage of a plane pierced by a giant jambiya, the traditional Yemeni dagger. Another channel, affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq, published an AI poster showing the Houthi military spokesman standing triumphantly over a defeated, submissive Trump, with his foot on his neck. The Houthis also produced AI generated videos of attacks on Israel including one from October that included drones hitting Tel-Aviv. Jihadi groups in Syria too are using AI to reach the next generation. In a nod to its young online supporters, a year before it overthrew the Syrian government, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), formerly the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and now in charge of the country, posted, in December 2023, AI-generated images of its forces taking Aleppo. Although AI companies have promised to integrate strong safeguards for children into their technology, this does not appear to be happening. Also highlighting the danger of AI to youth and how easy they can be radicalized by it, in June the American Psychological Association issued a health advisory warning they are in a critical period for brain development. It urged all stakeholders to "ensure that youth safety is considered relatively early in the evolution of AI" so that the "same harmful mistakes that were made with social media" are not repeated. The companies must recognize that terrorist groups will benefit from this technology; they bear the responsibility to establish teams and develop algorithms for ongoing scrutiny of their products for this activity and to set industry standards for monitoring and blocking this use of them. Otherwise, a new generation will be inspired, recruited, and radicalized through AI, and aim to attack the U.S. and same cities where these companies are headquartered. *Steven Stalinsky is Executive Director of MEMRI.
The National
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Hamas set to accept Gaza truce terms but seeks 'assurances'
Hamas has accepted a deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, but is seekingassurances from mediators that some of its additional demands will be met, sources told The National on Friday. US President Donald Trump said earlier in the day that it would probably be known within 24 hours whether Hamas would agree to a 'final proposal' for a ceasefire. He said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire agreement, during which the parties would work to end the conflict. The sources said Hamas would convey its acceptance of the proposed deal along with a request for assurances from US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators about the implementation of some of its 'unpublicised' clauses. These include the return by Israel of the bodies of some of the group's leaders killed during the Gaza war, including Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed. They also cover the laying down and storing of the group's arms and the guaranteed return to Gaza of wounded Palestinians, who will be allowed under the deal to leave the strip for treatment abroad, the sources said. The clauses also include the creation of a 1km-deep safe zone on the Palestinian side of the entire Gaza-Israel border, which will be free of human habitation or any economic activity, including farming. According to these clauses, an unnamed Arab nation will supervise the storage of Hamas's weapons, and Israel will be prevented from excluding any area of Gaza from the distribution of badly needed humanitarian resistance. According to a two-page draft text obtained by The National on Friday, the proposed truce will last 60 days, during which Hamas will hand over in stages 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others who died in captivity. This handover will start on the first day of the truce and end on the final day, according to the text. In return, Israel will release more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including scores serving long terms. On the 10th day of the truce, Hamas is expected to provide 'comprehensive information' on the remaining hostages. In return, Israel will provide information on Palestinians it has detained since October 7, 2023, the day the Gaza war began with an attack on southern Israel communities by Hamas and its allies. 'The [US] President is serious about the commitment of the parties to the ceasefire and insists that negotiations begin during the temporary ceasefire,' the draft text reads. 'If successful, the negotiations will lead to a lasting resolution of the conflict.' The deal also provides for the flow of sufficient humanitarian assistance into Gaza, distributed by groups to be agreed upon, including the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent. It also provides for the two-stage deployment of Israeli forces away from proposed aid delivery routes in the south and north of Gaza, on the first and fifth day of the truce, following the release of eight living hostages and the remains of five others, respectively. Negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and the release of the rest of the hostages will begin on the first day of the truce, according to the text. Final "redeployment" of Israeli forces in Gaza will be part of the negotiations. The mediators will ensure that the negotiations are serious and will be extended past the 60-day truce period if they do not produce a deal by then. 'The President will personally make the announcement of the ceasefire. The United States and President Trump are committed to working towards guaranteeing the continuation of the negotiations in goodwill until a final agreement is reached,' the text states. Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 240 hostage during their attack on southern Israel. About 50 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with fewer than half of them thought to be alive. The Hamas attack prompted a devastating military assault by Israel that has so far killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza. The war has displaced the majority of the enclave's estimated two million population, with many having to flee more than once, and destroyed swathes of built-up areas. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US have been trying in vain since March to broker a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Assassinating Hamas leaders: A quick fix, but not long-term strategy, expert says
The expert said that targeted assassinations of senior terror leaders can bolster recruitment of new members to groups fighting Israel. Israel's long-standing practice of targeted assassinations of senior Hamas figures highlights limitations of Israeli and Western cultures when dealing with enemies of different cultural backgrounds, Middle East and cultural intelligence expert Roni Shalom told Maariv. He pointed out that "Israel has a long history of targeted assassinations of senior Hamas terrorists," citing figures such as Ahmed Yassin and, more recently, Yahya Sinwar. Shalom emphasized that these examples highlight the limitations of both Israeli and Western cultures when dealing with enemies from vastly different cultural backgrounds, adding, "Nurturing the enemy until it reaches unbearable proportions." Shalom explained that after enemies escalate their actions with horrific terrorist attacks, the Israeli security system often receives credit for eliminating threats perceived as a "ticking bomb." The cycle then repeats itself with the next target. He questioned whether this approach is effective in the Middle East, a region he referred to as a "harsh neighborhood." He raised a thought-provoking question about societies whose legitimacy isn't grounded in present achievements but in the expectation of future, often imagined, outcomes: "Is doomsday weaponry the elimination of charismatic figures who have reached key positions in these societies, particularly in terror organizations?" Shalom suggested that this might be an evasion of deeper questions, such as: "What are we doing here?"He pointed out that in the Middle East, such questions carry theological weight, offering people meaning and purpose in life. "In the Middle East, these questions have theological significance, providing people with meaning and purpose in life," he said. Shalom further examined cultural differences, particularly the relationship between two societies on a spectrum: on one side is the tradition of following and imitating established customs, and on the other is ideological innovation. He noted that societies built on imitating past traditions tend to replicate the collective according to fixed patterns. "The Israeli hegemony. Societies built on imitating past traditions tend to replicate the collective according to fixed patterns, so that harming someone, however senior, will allow the continuation of the survival of some sacred idea or another." Shalom concluded by discussing how different cultures perceive time. In polychronic societies, where the past, present, and future are interconnected and influence one another, there is less focus on immediate events. Instead, there is a belief that suffering in the present can be transcended for a better future. "Naturally, societies whose perception of time is polychronic, meaning the past, present, and future are intertwined and influence each other, are less affected by immediate events, as there is a perception that allows transcendence over current suffering for the sake of a blessed future," he explained. He also noted that in these societies, theassassination of senior figures serves a dual purpose: to recruit new members and to solidify the concept of martyrdom, which is then used as a tool for propaganda to boost morale. "For example, senior assassinations are used to recruit 'fresh meat' into organizations and resonate the martyrdom concept to instill this goal in the minds of young children – and through this, turning loss into a propaganda tool that strengthens morale." Shalom concluded that while targeted assassinations are an effective short-term tactic, they do not provide a long-term strategy for altering the fundamental dynamics of the struggle. "Eliminating senior figures is an effective tactic in the short term, but not a strategy for changing the face of the struggle for independence and the renewal of the only non-Arab and non-Islamic nation-state in the Middle East." He emphasized that while this tactic is useful for managing conflict, it is not a solution, and a broader approach that incorporates cultural intelligence is necessary to address the root causes. "This important tool is useful for managing conflict but not for resolving it, and requires a broader approach that addresses the components of the enemy's culture and uses tools from the world of cultural intelligence."
Telegraph
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The frontline in the war against Hamas is no longer in the Middle East
Militarily, Israel's campaign against some of the nastiest, most cunning terrorist forces that ever existed has been pretty darn successful. The IDF has torn through the heart of Hamas's power structure, killing off its thugs one by one, from Yahya Sinwar to Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa, the military chief and October 7 mastermind who was reportedly eliminated this week. The Israelis have largely neutered Hezbollah, destroying vast numbers of its rockets and taking out much of its leadership. Bashar al-Assad is now a distant memory, and Jerusalem used the opportunity of his regime's collapse to wipe out large quantities of Syrian armaments. With its proxies humbled or gone, Iran was humiliated by Israel's aerial assault. The extent of the damage to the Iranian nuclear programme is disputed, but nobody can surely deny that the ayatollahs' ability to harm Israel and the West has been degraded. Unfortunately, on the other front in the war against Hamas, the enemy is global, worsening, and there is no end in sight. That is because in the case of Hamas's useful idiots in the West, the enemy lies within. It lies in seminar rooms, on campuses, in hospitals, schools, on the streets, and obviously all over our culture, as the 'death to the IDF' chants at Glastonbury make clear. This, of course, is only the real-world manifestation of an intifada already globalised on TikTok. There are daily reminders, each more ghoulish than the last, of how the enemies of freedom and justice are gliding to victory on this front, fuelling and, amazingly, lending legitimacy and momentum to a public, murderous passion against Israeli (and non-Israeli) Jews. Witness the reports of the treatment of Noa Argamani, one of the Israeli hostages kidnapped from the Nova music festival and rescued by Israeli forces in June last year, at an event in Canada the other day. She shared a post on X, stating that members of the University of Windsor's Palestinian solidarity group had surrounded a Jewish fundraiser she was attending, 'blocking the only entrance and shouting at Jewish attendees'. In a clip, a voice is heard shouting: 'Hamas is coming'. Argamani keeps a brave face. She says she will not let 'terror sympathisers control the narrative' but unfortunately no amount of right gets in the way of a world drunk, not for the first time, on wrong. Somehow, ferocious periods of moral and actual violence like the one we are in always seem to have Jewish lives as the punchline. There is something eerily familiar about it all. Hamas came. Hamas kidnapped me. Hamas murdered my friends. But I won; I survived. Now, I speak for those who can't. I'll keep exposing Hamas' crimes and fighting for the hostages' release—including my partner, Avinatan. I refuse to let terror sympathizers control the narrative. — Noa Argamani (@ArgamaniNoa) June 28, 2025 Efforts to defeat this hydra also appear to be failing. No sooner did Trump try to deport Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia University's pro-Palestinian activist, than he became the darling of the Left. I reckon we can expect a mayoral candidacy from him in future, should the likely tenure of Zohran Mamdani as the next mayor of New York, another man shot to prominence on the back of his criticism of Israel, ever come to an end. Outside of Gaza, in the streets of US cities, where Jews and Israelis until recently did not feel especially unsafe, the war is most decidedly hot, and literal, not figurative. If you were in any doubt about that, recall the fatal shooting of the Israeli embassy workers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim last month, followed by shouts of 'I did it for Palestine' by the alleged killer. Who can seriously say that such a horrifying act of evil will never happen again? Israel will never accept terror against its own people. It has proved that with devastating effectiveness in the time since October 7. The difference with the West is becoming ever more stark.
