David Moed

[Saul Sadka @Saul_Sadka]

If King Abdullah actually thought that “Israel’s expansionist ambitions in the region know no bounds,” would he build a vast royal palace complex (red) actually abutting the Israeli border (blue)?!

The truth, of course, is that this is all performative: the Israelis are his protectors and utility suppliers; the USA are his financial backers and military muscle. He put his palace complex there so that when, inevitably, Jordan reverts to the Middle Eastern mean—clan warfare, tribal raids, and chaos—he will have a toehold to retreat to under the protection of the IDF.

[Eitan Fischberger @EFischberger]

So it turns out that Hamas runs a WhatsApp group with all of Gaza’s journalists, where Hamas “managed the discourse and the narrative.”

These outlets have "journalists" in Gaza:

Reuters, AP, NYT, CNN, Wapo, PBS, NPR, BBC, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and Drop Site News

[Captain Allen @CptAllenHistory]

Back when the “West Bank” and Gaza were under full Arab control, the first chairman of the PLO said the quiet part out loud.

One week before the 1967 War, Ahmed Shukairy explained what “victory” meant as nearly 500,000 Arab troops massed on Israel’s thin borders: “If war breaks out with Israel, few Jews will survive.” Any Jews who remained would be “shipped” out of the country. But, Shukairy said, “It is my estimation that none of them will survive.”

The Troy Record, June 2, 1967

It was never about borders.
It was never about settlements.
It has always been about eliminating Jews from the Land.

[David Moed @David_Moed]

@katie_k8nurse @TheNobbleNobs @JacobL1994_ Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam, the secretary-general of the Arab League, declared in 1947 that, a war due to the proposed creation of a Jewish state, would lead to "a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and the Crusades."

[Jacob L @JacobL1994_]

You have to remember that Israelis are basically the only surviving Jews outside the Anglosphere, after the 20th century saw the destruction of almost every Jewish community in Eurasia. Very few Jewish families started and ended the 20th century in the same place.

As such, when you tell them they have some kind of moral or legal obligation to give any part of their country over to Arabs, who not only already have a continent sized swathe of territory, but also immediately set about trying to murder them the last time Israelis handed them any land, they’re probably going to tell you to get fucked.

If they had stayed in Gaza everyone would have been objectively better off. Tens of thousands of people would still be alive. The trial run of Palestinian statehood ended in Arab Einsatzgruppen going door to door murdering Jewish civilians followed by one of the largest and longest urban battles in modern history.

A Palestinian state would just be that, but bigger. Israelis will literally go to any lengths humanly possible to stop that, and since they’re a nuclear state and heavily militarized society populated by some of the most high-agency people on the planet, they ultimately have the final say.

Thus, this ending with Palestinian territorial self determination of any kind is predicated on them being disabused of their genocidal fantasy of driving the Jews into the sea. Anyone who supports them in that impulse is just helping get them killed.

All your solidarity is doing is feeding their sick fantasy of mass beheadings in Tel Aviv, and ultimately, most of the heads that end up rolling whenever they act on those fantasies tend to be theirs.

[Avi Kaner ابراهيم אבי @AviKaner]

A fact often omitted from discussions about Israel’s borders:

The 1949 Armistice Line between Israel and Jordan, commonly called the “Green Line,” was explicitly NOT established as a permanent international border.

The Israel-Jordan General Armistice Agreement said so in remarkably clear language.

Article VI(9):

“The Armistice Demarcation Lines… are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto.”

Article II(2) went further, stating that nothing in the agreement would prejudice either side’s “rights, claims and positions” in an eventual peaceful settlement and that the armistice provisions were “dictated exclusively by military considerations.”

Article IV(2) explained the purpose of the lines: to mark the point beyond which the armed forces of the two sides would not move.

In other words, the Green Line was an armistice demarcation line drawn after the 1948 war, not a mutually agreed permanent political border.

[Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs @jerusalemcenter]

An Iranian tries Israeli snacks for the first time.

Bamba passed the test, but apparently, it tastes a little like Nowruz. @Arvand_Group joins @sogandsf on Spill the Chai.

Full episode links in the comments 👇

[Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson]

Marco Rubio just gave the greatest explanation of how Trump’s New Venezuela Oil Deal will reshape the entire global order:

“Those oil fields were previously dominated by China and Russia, as well as Iran. Iran had some concessions, and they are no longer there.”

“Now those fields will become productive and will generate royalties and income for the Venezuelan people, eventually through a democratically elected government, we hope sooner rather than later.”

This deal will change the west and America for generations. No more will the west have to rely on OPEC and the Middle East for energy and it will benefit the Venezuelan people in the process.

[Saint Javelin @saintjavelin]

Many of you will remember this iconic picture from the early days of full scale invasion.

The Ukrainian soldier in this photo is Serhiy "Борцуха" - "Bortsukha" although others called him "Borets" [The Fighter].

He was a soldier in the "Tengri" sniper group of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) in the early days of the full-scale invasion.

Here he is seen riding a bike into Irpin, with an RPG on his handlebars and two more RPG rounds on his back.

In the spring of 2022, Ukrainian soldiers rode bicycles and used grenade launchers against tanks, aviation, and ballistic missiles.

Unfortunately, this warrior was killed a few days ago in an airstrike while serving as commander of a marine unit.

This was posted earlier today by @UButusov

[Ali Al-Sakani | علي السكني @Alsakaniali]

#Yemen’s Deputy Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Sameer Al-Sabri: “The decision has been made to retake Sana’a [from the Houthis]. There are surprises we will not reveal now. We will be the ones to end this war after the militia started it.”

[Institute for the Study of War @TheStudyofWar]

NEW: Recent Iranian attacks on US regional assets indicate that Iranian decision-makers — particularly the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) faction that appears to be controlling decision-making — are dissatisfied with the current status of the war because Iran has not yet achieved its key objectives in the conflict, namely securing recognized control over the Strait of Hormuz. These decision-makers appear intent on trying to change the trajectory of the conflict through the use of military force.

Other Key Takeaways:

Iran is facing several constraints that are limiting its ability to achieve its political objectives in the war. The operational constraints imposed by US strikes are temporary, and Iran will likely try to reconstitute its degraded capabilities and develop new capabilities to adapt to the constraints on its military campaign.

Iran’s ongoing cash flow crisis will likely limit Iran’s ability to overcome these constraints in the near term. Iran is facing a shortage of foreign currency reserves and access to US dollars, which has been exacerbated by intensifying US economic pressure.

Iran is constrained by its relationships with the Gulf states because it seeks to increase political and economic costs on the United States while, at least at this time, avoiding actions that could push the Gulf states to support a resumption of large-scale US operations against Iran. Iran has also faced consistent opposition from the Gulf states toward its efforts to control shipping in the strait.

[Shin @hey_itsmyturn]

Honestly, been a couple of months that I gave up on taking DJT seriously, but this, is kinda true.
Economic situation in Iran is going south quickly, and nationwide petrol shortage is not that far.

[Open Source Intel @Osint613]

Iran’s former economy minister Ehsan Khandoozi: “All signs indicate that next month there will be both a civil uprising and a war.”

He says that planned increases in fuel and energy prices will further inflame unrest in Iran.

(A little look into what’s happening inside Iran)

[Jacob Ben-David Linker 🇺🇸🕎🇺🇸✡️🇺🇸🕎🇺🇸 @JacobALinker]

According to a bunch of European governments, if Israel builds in the area in Yellow, that would kill a two-state solution and destroy the contiguity of a Palestinian state

Because apparently the area east of the settlement bloc doesn't exist, nor can you just build an overpass

[Jacob Ben-David Linker 🇺🇸🕎🇺🇸✡️🇺🇸🕎🇺🇸 @JacobALinker]

E1 is Israeli in the Taba offer which Arafat later acknowledged he ought to have said yes to.

It's also assigned to Israel in the 1995 Beilin-Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) framework agreement.

E1 is a massively overhyped issue. It wouldn't change much at all.

[Imshin @imshin]

Jamalak Spa for men reopened in Gaza City!

Watch till the end to see the pampering!

This was a beauty center for women before the war "Jamalek Center", now it's apparently for men*, or perhaps there are separate days.

Timestamps: 5+6 days ago - Aug '26

*Jamalak is "your beauty" addressing a man, Jamalek is "your beauty" addressing a woman.

Thank you to the lovely friend who found Jamalak in its new version for me, but preferred to remain anonymous ❤️

#TheGazaYouDontSee

Links in 1st response

[Israel Foreign Ministry @IsraelMFA]

Turkey has the audacity to criticize Israel. But what are the facts on the ground?

Thousands of Turkish soldiers. Dozens of military bases and outposts across Syria, Iraq and Cyprus.

While Erdogan’s military aggression knows no borders, and Turkey occupies 36% of Cyprus, 5% of Syria and 2,000 km² of Iraq.

Israel temporarily controls merely 0.1% of Syria - a buffer zone to protect its citizens from proven security threats.

[Iran International English @IranIntl_En]

Iranian state media reported Monday that decrees by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appointing several senior military commanders will be released within hours.

Several top positions across Iran’s military and security establishment, including chief of staff of the Armed Forces as well as defense and intelligence ministers, have lacked permanent appointments since their previous holders were killed in US-Israeli airstrikes.
https://t.co/NtOCKSqNsW

[Qalaat Al Mudiq @QalaatAlMudiq]

Breaking.

The fate of the 2 Russian bases in #Syria has been decided.

A MoU has been signed to allow for the reorganization of the Russian presence in the country.

Damascus will assume management of civilian-oriented facilities, including Khemeimim Airport and the 4th commercial berth at Tartus port.

The military facilities will be converted into joint Syrian-Russian training centers.

The transition is expected to be completed within 3 months.

[Miad Maleki @miadmaleki]

Nearly every part of Iran’s oil economy, the oil company, the sovereign wealth fund, the banks, and the petrochemical sector, owes massive, growing sums to each other, with no real money moving through the system to pay any of it back.

Iran’s oil sector, long seen as the regime’s most reliable revenue source, has been buried in debt by its own officials’ admission.

The company that runs Iran’s oil, NIOC, just had its bank accounts frozen over unpaid debt. NIOC itself says the underlying tax bill is so large it’s essentially unpayable and was never even budgeted for.

Separately, Iran’s Oil Ministry owes about $17 billion to Iran’s sovereign wealth fund.

On top of that, Iran’s government just rescheduled 55 billion euros of oil-sector debt owed to the central bank and commercial banks.

Iran’s petrochemical companies separately owe the Oil Ministry another roughly $8 billion, forcing the government to borrow from the central bank and print more money, worsening inflation.