On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the deaths of three people killed when a missile launched by an Israel Defense Forces tank inadvertently struck a Catholic church in Gaza.
On Thursday morning, a stray missile struck the Holy Family Church; nine people were also injured, one of whom is in critical condition.
&#8220;Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza&#8217;s Holy Family Church,&#8221; Netanyahu said, as Israel National News <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/411846">reported</a>. &#8220;Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful. We are grateful to Pope Leo for his words of comfort. Israel is investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting Holy Family Church on Thursday morning. One of the injured is in critical condition. civilians and holy sites.&#8221;
“Israel expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty,” Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oren Marmorstein <a href="https://x.com/OrenMarmorstein/status/1945790701280649412?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">stated</a> on X. “The IDF is examining this incident, the circumstances of which are still unclear, and the results of the investigation will be published transparently. Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians.”
The IDF issued a statement saying, &#8220;The IDF is aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene. The circumstances of the incident are under review. The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them.&#8221;
A telegram sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Leo <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-demands-ceasefire-after-gazas-catholic-church-hit-apparent-israeli-strike">read</a>, &#8220;His Holiness Pope Leo XIV was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, and he assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness.” Pope Leo also apparently called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
The terrorist group still holds roughly 50 hostages from its October 7, 2023, massacre of over 1,200 Israelis. Although only 20 are believed to be alive, Hamas has not released them or the bodies of the dead hostages.

Visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Meets With Congressional Lawmakers On Capitol Hill

‘Every Innocent Life Lost Is A Tragedy’: Netanyahu’s Statement After IDF Mistakenly Hits Catholic Church

Benjamin Netanyahu

Catholic Church

Gaza

Global Politics

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

World

For most American families, the Fourth of July is a joyful celebration — grilling burgers in the backyard, watching fireworks light up the summer sky, and reflecting on the freedoms we’re fortunate to enjoy. We honor liberty, independence, and the founding ideals that shape this country.
For our family, it’s a reminder of the freedom that’s been denied to our son for far too long.
Omer is an American citizen — a kind, optimistic, sports-loving 21-year-old who grew up on Long Island. He was the kind of person who lights up a room, instantly makes new friends, and goes out of his way to include everyone. For over 600 days, Omer has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, alongside 49 others. He was taken from his army post on October 7, 2023. And to this day, no deal has brought him home.
The Fourth of July was always one of Omer’s favorite holidays. He loved everything about it — the spirit, the energy, the sense of unity it brought. One of his most vivid memories was joining a small-town Independence Day parade in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during a cross-country Jewish youth trip. He soaked in the atmosphere — the music, the laughter, the feeling of belonging to something bigger than himself.
Omer had every reason to take a traditional path after high school. He was accepted to SUNY Binghamton and could have started a comfortable American college life. But instead, he chose to serve. He took a gap year in Israel and enlisted as a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. His final post was near the Gaza border, where his mission was to protect nearby civilian communities.
The values we honor on Independence Day — freedom, justice, and human dignity — aren&#8217;t just words we say once a year. They are the foundation of this country. And when those values are threatened — when Americans are held by terrorists for nearly two years — they demand more than celebration. They demand action.
<div id="attachment_942937" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-942937" class="size-large wp-image-942937" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2199158540-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: Ronen Neutra and Orna Neutra speak about their son, Omer Neutra, who was killed by Hamas during a roundtable discussion with the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on February 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. Three more hostages were released on Feb. 8 as part of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2199158540-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2199158540-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2199158540-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2199158540.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images</div>
We have witnessed America&#8217;s incredible power in recent months. President Trump and his administration have shown that this nation can achieve the impossible when it sets its mind to it. We watched with profound gratitude as they secured the release of so many hostages, including American Edan Alexander. This is what America does — we fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. We are a nation that stands up for the vulnerable. We leave no one behind.
President Trump recently said it&#8217;s time to bring all the hostages home — and time for the war to end. We agree. Immense strength has been shown over the past 21 months. Incredible military achievements against Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Now, it is time for that strength to deliver peace.
But peace cannot begin until every hostage comes home.
There is no real end to the fighting in Gaza while 50 hostages remain in underground tunnels, cut off from the world, and while families like ours live in daily anguish. Peace cannot be built on the backs of unresolved suffering.
This is not a partisan issue. This is not just an Israeli issue. It is an American issue — and a human issue. Omer is one of our own, but so are the other 49 souls still trapped in darkness. If we mean what we say when we salute the flag or sing the national anthem, we cannot remain silent while any innocent person is held by a U.S.-designated terror group.
&#8220;Peace through strength&#8221; isn&#8217;t just a slogan. It&#8217;s a principle — one that must now lead to freedom for the living, dignity for the dead, and closure for families still waiting. The United States has influence, and it has leverage. It has shown it can move mountains when it chooses to act.
We call on President Trump to press regional leaders, allies, and stakeholders to come to the table and finalize a comprehensive deal. Not in phases, not with half-measures — but a deal that brings every hostage home. A deal that leaves no one behind — not the Americans, not the Israelis, not the Thai workers, not the elderly, not the men — every single one.
Omer is not a symbol or a headline. He is a son. A friend. A teammate. A young man who has always stood up for others. In that sense, he represents the very ideals we celebrate each Fourth of July. And he represents every hostage still waiting for freedom.
So this year, as Americans gather in backyards and parks, as fireworks light up the sky and flags wave proudly — we ask you to think of Omer. And of the 49 others still waiting to come home.
Don&#8217;t just wave the flag. Live its meaning. Call your elected officials. Say Omer&#8217;s name. Say all their names. Remind your representatives that freedom is not complete until it reaches every corner of human suffering.
Let this Independence Day be more than a celebration. Let it be a declaration of conviction—and the beginning of the end of this nightmare.
Because freedom means nothing if we stop fighting for those who’ve lost theirs.
* * * 
Orna and Ronen Neutra are the parents of American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The 2024 Republican National Convention

This July 4th, Freedom Demands We Bring The Hostages Home

Hamas

Hostages

Israel

New York City

October 7

Opinion

President Trump

The following excerpt is taken from the new book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Proportionality-Israels-Just-Gaza/dp/B0F841ZJTX">Beyond Proportionality: Israel&#8217;s Just War In Gaza,</a>&#8221; by Thane Rosenbaum (Wicked Son/Post Hill Press, May 2025).
* * *
<h3>INTRODUCTION: “J’accuse!” — The Case Against Israel</h3>
At the turn of the nineteenth century, a political scandal in France galvanized public opinion all over the world. Known as the Dreyfus Affair, at its root was the inexorable display and mass hatred of Jews. This same antisemitic fervor, which a few decades later would materialize into the Holocaust, had been around for two millennia. Occasionally, it would manifest itself in pogroms and mass expulsions. Along the way, it went from latent to lethal, and emanated from a lie.
This time, however, the antisemitism was organized, sanctioned by the government, fueled by the press, and openly embraced by many people who regarded themselves as highly cultivated and civilized. Artists and intellectuals took a special interest in joining the mob. And it came pre-packaged with an easily disproved conspiracy theory involving a treasonous Jewish military officer.
Jews in France had long enjoyed the full panoply of civil rights. Indeed, during the French Revolution, France had become the first European nation to emancipate its Jewish population. For nearly a century, French Jews had participated in every facet of cosmopolitan life among the professional classes and cultural elite. But suddenly, they found themselves facing a backlash unlike anything they had experienced before.
The Dreyfus Affair made the unspoken hatred of Jews not just acceptable but fashionable. Seemingly overnight, Jews in France went from being socially accepted and having a sense of security to being on the receiving end of wild denunciations for their clannishness, duplicity, greed, and dual loyalty.
And much like Nazi Germany, the nerve center of these societal convulsions burned brightest on university campuses, in the pages of the mainstream press, and wherever artists and writers congregated. The fact that it all originated from an easily disprovable lie was of little concern. The case against Dreyfus was merely a pretext to something far worse.
<div id="attachment_942309" style="width: 417px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Proportionality-Israels-Just-Gaza/dp/B0F841ZJTX"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-942309" class="size-large wp-image-942309" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-407x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Post Hill Press/Wicked Son" width="407" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-407x576.jpg 407w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-212x300.jpg 212w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-1448x2048.jpg 1448w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-scaled.jpg 1810w" sizes="(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px" /></a>Credit: Post Hill Press/Wicked Son</div>
Captain Alfred Dreyfus was an officer on the French military general staff accused of passing state secrets to Germany — the despised aggressor nation that during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had humiliated France and annexed Alsace and Moselle. Someone had to be blamed, and Dreyfus, a high-ranking Jewish officer, fully assimilated yet perceived as a foreigner, was an easy fall guy even though there was no actual evidence of his wrongdoing. The French legal system relied upon forged documents — manufactured by military counterintelligence — to falsify his guilt. The letters were not even in Dreyfus’ handwriting.
That’s not to say there was no spy within the ranks of senior military officers. But it wasn’t Captain Dreyfus. Two years after he was court-martialed for treason and shipped off to Devil’s Island, a notorious tropical hellhole where many prisoners died of disease and malnutrition, the French Army uncovered evidence implicating the true culprit — Major Walsin Esterhazy, who had sold secret documents to the German Embassy. But by then the nation was awash in anti-Jewish bigotry. Dreyfus should have been exonerated instantly. Instead, he was returned to France to face a new trial, where he was once again convicted and given an enhanced sentence.
Newspapers around the world covered the trial and its aftermath. A slogan representative of the times referred to Dreyfus as “the Jew who is everywhere but belongs nowhere.” It should come as no surprise to learn that the Dreyfus Affair roughly coincided with the publication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, another forged document, this one alleging a Jewish conspiracy to conquer the world.
Events shifted dramatically when one of France’s leading intellectuals, the novelist and playwright Émile Zola, wrote a lengthy front-page essay — famously titled “J’Accuse&#8230;!” — in which he charged the French government and legal system with a coverup. Zola wrote, “Here&#8230;are the facts which explain how a miscarriage of justice could be made; and the moral evidence, the financial circumstances of Dreyfus, the absence of reason, his continual cry of innocence&#8230;the hunting for the ‘dirty Jews,’ which dishonours our time.” Given the public embarrassment to the nation’s institutions, Zola himself was brought to trial and convicted of libel. He fled to London.
Eventually, the obsession with Dreyfus dissipated. The French government and its people finally came to recognize that they had been handed a convenient excuse to shift blame away from France’s military and rest it instead with a familiar villain. National regret ensued, and by 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated, and his rank restored.
But anyone familiar with these events can’t help but see the parallel with what is happening today. The global reaction to Israel’s eighteen-month-long war in Gaza has had many of the same elements: heightened emotions, irrational arguments, distorted histories, the rejection of obvious truths, forged documents, falsified facts, misapplied laws, antisemitic stereotypes, and worldwide anti-Jewish rage. But instead of a single Jewish officer serving as the focal point, this time it was the Jewish state, and its professional military, who stand falsely accused — and with much the same imagery. Thus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often depicted as drinking the blood of Palestinian children.
Such fabrications are all the more paradoxical given the events that preceded and fully justified Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas. These sensationalized condemnations completely overlook and ignore what started the conflict in the first place. On the morning of October 7, 2023, southern Israel was invaded — by land, air, and sea — by six thousand Palestinians from Gaza. Most were terrorists with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but many were ordinary civilians. It was a planned and coordinated attack that lasted several hours and targeted the concert-goers at the Nova Music Festival, most of whom were young peace-loving Israelis.
* * *
<div>
<div class="a-cardui-content a-cardui-uninitialized _about-the-author-card_carouselItemStyles_peekableContent__hWM3i" data-a-max-height="80">
Thane Rosenbaum is an essayist, law professor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction titles, including the novels, &#8220;How Sweet It Is!&#8221;,&#8221; The Stranger Within Sarah Stein,&#8221; &#8220;The Golems of Gotham,&#8221; &#8220;Second Hand Smoke,&#8221; and &#8220;Elijah Visible.&#8221; His articles, reviews and essays appear frequently in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Huffington Post and Daily Beast, among other national publications.
</div>
</div>
This excerpt from &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Proportionality-Israels-Just-Gaza/dp/B0F841ZJTX">Beyond Proportionality: Israel&#8217;s Just War In Gaza,</a>&#8221; by Thane Rosenbaum is published by permission from Post Hill Press/Wicked Son.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT

When Lies Turn Deadly: The Century-Old Script Behind Today’s Anti-Israel Fury

Anti-Semitism

Books

France

Jewish

Middle East

Authorities in the United Kingdom said they are considering an investigation after rapper Bobby Vylan led anti-Israel chants at the Glastonbury Festival over the weekend.
Video <a href="https://x.com/JewsFightBack/status/1938995077084520670" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> to X showed Vylan repeatedly shouting &#8220;free, free Palestine,&#8221; and each time the crowd yelled it back. The same exchange happened when Vylan began screaming &#8220;death, death to the IDF,&#8221; using the acronym for the Israeli Defense Forces. &#8220;From the river to the sea&#8221; was also said by the performer.
&#8220;We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon,&#8221; Avon and Somerset Police <a href="https://x.com/ASPolice/status/1939025011844485405" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. &#8220;Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.&#8221;
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The Glastonbury Festival posted a statement on Instagram criticizing the rapper, who is part of the punk duo that also goes by the name Bob Vylan.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Glastonbury. 
The UK’s biggest music festival. 
Over 200,000 in attendance.
On stage, Bob Vylan screamed: 
“DEATH! DEATH TO THE IDF!” 
And the crowd screamed it back.
This is how mainstream Jew-hatred has become. 
Absolutely disgusting. <a href="https://t.co/TC95dtEf0l">pic.twitter.com/TC95dtEf0l</a>
— Jews Fight Back 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@JewsFightBack) <a href="https://twitter.com/JewsFightBack/status/1938995077084520670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer&#8217;s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs,&#8221; the statement <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DLeuti8t5zC/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=87256ce5-88c3-4b8d-9c48-7f4f9df99e48" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
It added, &#8220;However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.&#8221;
Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2025/music/global/glastonbury-appalled-bob-vylan-death-to-idf-chant-1236443589/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that BBC, which aired Bob Vylan&#8217;s set, called the comments made during the performance &#8220;deeply offensive&#8221; and said it had no plans to make the set available on demand.
The news outlet also <a href="https://variety.com/2025/music/global/kneecap-leads-keir-starmer-chant-glastonbury-uk-1236438911/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> the hip-hop group Kneecap led chants of &#8220;f&#8212;&#8221; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and &#8220;free Palestine&#8221; at the same festival. Mo Chara, one of the band’s members, is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2qq2n3800o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fighting</a> a terrorism charge after displaying a Hezbollah flag during a prior show.
The Israeli Embassy in the United Kingdom <a href="https://x.com/IsraelinUK/status/1939019339161563147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X that it was &#8220;deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival,&#8221; adding, &#8220;Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy. But when speech crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing, it must be called out — especially when amplified by public figures on prominent platforms.&#8221;

Bobby Vylan

Police Consider Criminal Charges After Rapper Leads ‘Death To The IDF’ Chant At Festival

Music

United Kingdom

Israel Defense Forces announced on Saturday that Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa — one of the Hamas terrorists who helped to plan the October 7 massacre and train those who carried it out — had been &#8220;eliminated.&#8221;
&#8220;ELIMINATED: eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa — one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing. Issa led Hamas’ force build-up, training, and planned the October 7 massacre,&#8221; read the X post announcing the news. &#8220;As Head of Combat Support, he advanced aerial &amp; naval attacks against Israelis. The IDF &amp; ISA will continue to locate and eliminate all terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🔴 ELIMINATED: eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa—one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing.
Issa led Hamas’ force build-up, training, and planned the October 7 massacre. As Head of Combat Support, he advanced aerial &amp; naval attacks against Israelis.
The IDF &amp; ISA will… <a href="https://t.co/pzf7DgQc19">pic.twitter.com/pzf7DgQc19</a>
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1939026068499001408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The post included a photo of Issa and several key details about who he was and what he did for the terrorist organization that was based in Gaza.
According to the post, he &#8220;was a key source of knowledge and one of the last remaining senior Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip,&#8221; and he had &#8220;played a significant role in the planning and execution of the October 7th massacre.&#8221;
The IDF also noted that Issa &#8220;was one of the founders of the Hamas military wing&#8221; and had been instrumental in building up the forces in Gaza, where he also &#8220;served as the Head of the Training Headquarters&#8221; and was working to help rebuild operational capabilities that had been compromised by the ongoing war.
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A longer statement from the IDF read, in part, &#8220;Yesterday (Friday), in a joint activity, the IDF and ISA struck and eliminated the terrorist Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa in the area of Sabra in Gaza City. Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa was a senior figure in Hamas’ military wing and was considered one of the founders of the terrorist organization. His current role was Head of Combat Support Headquarters in Hamas’ military wing.&#8221;
&#8220;Throughout the war, and over the past few days, Issa served as Head of the Combat Support Headquarters, and advanced aerial and naval terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip,&#8221; the statement continued.
&#8220;The IDF and ISA will continue to operate to locate and eliminate all terrorists from the different terrorist organizations who took part in the brutal October 7th massacre,&#8221; the IDF concluded.

IDF-Combat-Drone-Unit

October 7th Mastermind ‘ELIMINATED,’ Israel Defense Forces Say

October 7th Mastermind 'ELIMINATED,' Israel Defense Forces Say

Terrorism

President Trump’s strike on Iran is a seminal turning point for American foreign policy.
For years and years and years, we have been boxed into the idea that every war is the Iraq War.
Critics of President Trump — of “Peace through Strength,” going all the way back to World War II, particularly on the Left but now on the horseshoe theory Right as well — have suggested that people who do advocate for American military action liken everything to the lead-up to World War II, to Neville Chamberlain and Munich. They say not everything is World War II. Not every war is the Iraq War.
You might notice that the vast bevy of people who keep complaining about President Trump&#8217;s strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities keep comparing this to the Iraq War. That’s crazy.
These people who keep saying that a one-off strike on a nuclear facility — which is significantly more like killing Osama Bin Laden or killing Qasem Soleimani or killing Anwar al-Awlaki — is somehow more akin to the Iraq War: a full-scale, hundreds of thousands of troops ground invasion of a country in the Middle East, followed by a 20-year effort to rebuild the country and remold the government.
You have to be empty-headed to make that comparison.
But there is an Iraq War syndrome that has set in the American body politic that suggests that every military action is like the Iraq War. It&#8217;s very much like the Vietnam War syndrome that set in after the end of the Vietnam War, when every military action was supposed to be exactly what America did in Vietnam. It took Ronald Reagan breaking the Soviet Union in order for that to begin to end, and it truly ended when George H. W. Bush helped win the first Gulf War.
The lesson of Vietnam and Iraq is not: “Military power, or the threat of its use by the United States is bad,” or even worse, “The United States itself is bad,” which is an argument that is being made all the time by the horseshoe theory Left and the horseshoe theory Right.
The real lesson here is that victory is a possibility. Victory can be achieved if the commitment is clear and if the goal is defined.
President Trump had a goal. He defined that goal. He made a commitment to that goal. And then he pursued an action in pursuit of that goal.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2223-trump-s-masterstroke-what-comes-next?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The same people who are suggesting that President Trump is wrong to bomb the nuclear facilities are the same people who suggest that the United States was wrong to use the atomic bomb to end World War II, or that America has been historically evil over the course of decades. The Howard Zinn Left and the Tucker Carlson Right shake hands on this particular prospect.
But that perspective is wrong. And it is not just wrong, it is a nefariously bad perspective, because it damages America.
The world is better off because of American power — properly used. Of course power can be misused; anyone can misuse their power. We&#8217;re the most powerful country in the history of the world, with the most powerful military in the history of the world.
But — when you use your power properly, you can effectuate good things happening.
President Trump is not George W. Bush. He ran against George W. Bush’s foreign policy. President Trump has never engaged in a long-term nation building project, nor will he. He defined this mission specifically.
<div id="attachment_938485" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-938485" class="size-large wp-image-938485" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2220648176-864x576.jpg" alt="US Vice President JD Vance, from left, US President Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, during an address to the nation in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. Trump said the US military struck three sites in Iran on Saturday, marking the first American involvement in direct attacks against Iranian nuclear assets in its conflict with Israel. Photographer: Carlos Barria/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2220648176-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2220648176-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2220648176-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2220648176.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Carlos Barria/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
I do not actually think that the people warning about a “quagmire” are saying something understandable. I think they are saying something dishonest. I think they are lying to you.
Israel and the United States are not talking about regime change. When President Trump says that there may be regime change in Iran, he means from the Iranian people. That&#8217;s the same thing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. Do you think Netanyahu, from a country of 9.7 million people, two million of whom are Arabs and two million of whom are ultra-Orthodox Jews, that tiny country is going to deploy hundreds of thousands of troops to Iran to engage in nation-building? Do you think the United States is going to do that?
If Iranians don&#8217;t overthrow the regime, that&#8217;s their prerogative. But that does not mean that you allow that regime to go nuclear.
All of this raises a question. What exactly is the opposition? What is the opposition here? What is the case against the strike on Iran?
You can basically make three cases: the constitutional, the pragmatic, and the ideological. I think there are a lot of people who are making the constitutional and pragmatic arguments who secretly want to make the ideological argument.
The ideological argument is that America is bad, that when America involves itself in foreign policy, we are doing something evil and immoral, that our enemies, our geopolitical opponents, never have their own philosophy or their own interests. They are always, in every case, driven by American blowback. The only reason people are bad in the world is because America did a bad thing to them, and then those people turn bad.
That, of course, is ignorant. It is stupid. It is wrong. Civilizations have different interests. Countries have different interests. Those countries are driven by interests that are not always about America. Iran pursued regional domination in spite of what America was doing, not because America was a threat to Iran.
Iran decided that it wanted to obliterate Israel, wanted to wipe Saudi Arabia from the map, and wanted to take control of Yemen, not because of America, but because that is the Iranian goal. Russia is invading Ukraine because that has been their longstanding policy, not because Ukraine was moving in a more pro-American direction. Russia decided it wanted to invade Ukraine because it has been Russian policy since the 1990s to reunify with Ukraine, or at least turn it into a proxy regime.
Countries have their own rationales. The ideological case, a Howard Zinn-America-Hating-First case, has been adopted by many on the horseshoe theory Right.
Then there are people masquerading as constitutionalists who are interested in the constitutionality of what Trump is doing. This idea that the War Powers Act (War Powers Resolution) somehow prevents the president of the United States from engaging in a one-off strike is absolute sheer nonsense. It is not true. First of all, there&#8217;s serious doubt as to whether the War Powers Resolution, passed by Congress in 1973, is even constitutional. It may, in fact, violate the Article II prerogatives of the President of the United States. Article II, Section II of the Constitution says, “The president shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states.” The president is the Commander-In-Chief.
Only Congress has the power to declare war under Article I, Section VIII, Clause XI.
But did we declare war against Iran? Is there a war against Iran? One-off airstrikes do not mean a full-scale war against a country. They don&#8217;t. If that&#8217;s true, then we&#8217;ve been at war many, many, many, many times since World War II, all across the globe. But that is not what war constitutes. The Supreme Court has said so.
The War Powers Resolution states: “In the absence of the declaration of war, the president must report to Congress within 48 hours after introducing U.S. military forces in hostilities, which must end within 60 days unless Congress permits otherwise.”
There&#8217;s only one problem. Do you think the United States is engaging in 60 days of on-the-ground hostilities with Iran? We barely engaged in 37 hours of hostilities with Iran. Does this amount to a War Powers Resolution violation?
Then there are those people “deeply worried” about the pragmatic effect of this, who were not worried a few years ago when President Trump killed Qasem Soleimani, and who didn&#8217;t seem particularly worried five minutes ago, before this all happened, when Iran had terror cells throughout the West, but now they&#8217;re very, very worried.
Iran has been pursuing terror attacks, including an attempted assassination of the current President of the United States, for decades. At this point, they have planted terror cells all throughout the world. If the idea is that planting terror cells buys Iran impunity and Iran can now act with complete impunity all over the globe, pursuing nuclear weapons, and that means you can&#8217;t do anything about it, then what is the purpose of American foreign policy? What is the purpose?
I&#8217;m not saying there isn’t a risk when you take action. I&#8217;m saying that the greater risk would be a nuclear-armed Iran with terrorist cells all across the West. That&#8217;s the bigger risk.
This “pragmatic concern” is, in reality, something else.
It is a belief that America&#8217;s foreign policy is inherently bad, that America is the nefarious actor in the world. It&#8217;s wrong and it&#8217;s stupid.
President Trump knew exactly what he was doing when he ordered the strike on Iran. 
And he was absolutely correct.

President Trump Returns To White House From New Jersey

Trump’s Strike On Iran: A Vital Turning Point In American Foreign Policy

Ben Shapiro

Donald Trump

Foreign Policy

Iran

Iran Nuclear

U.S. Military

On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces announced they had recovered the bodies of three Israeli hostages murdered by Hamas who had been held since October 7, 2023.
“The bodies of SSGT Shay Levinson, Yonatan Samerano and Ofra Keidar, who were held hostage for 625 days in Gaza, have been recovered in a joint IDF and ISA military operation,” the IDF announced.
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Bodies of 3 Deceased Hostages Recovered
The bodies of SSGT Shay Levinson, Yonatan Samerano and Ofra Keidar, who were held hostage for 625 days in Gaza, have been recovered in a joint IDF and ISA military operation.
May their memories be a blessing. <a href="https://t.co/8FUo9XJwXo">pic.twitter.com/8FUo9XJwXo</a>
&mdash; Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1936715024711450746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
Keidar, 71, from Kibbutz Be’eri, was mother of three and the wife of Shmuel Keidar, who was murdered by Hamas in their home, Israel National News <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/410445">reported</a>. “Yonatan Samerano was brutally murdered and abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists, including a UNRWA employee, after fleeing the Nova music festival. Yonatan was 21 years old at the time of his death.”
Levinson, 19, was a tank commander in the “Oz” Battalion and was captured fighting Hamas terrorists on October 7.
 “Yesterday was Yonati’s Hebrew birthday,” Samerano’s father Kobi stated. “On his 23rd birthday, on the very day he was born, our Yonati was rescued in a heroic operation by the brave soldiers of the IDF and the Shin Bet. From the first moment, I believed with all my heart that our army would bring back my son. I never stopped believing, and that’s exactly what happened.&#8221;
“Our hearts are with the Keidar, Samerano, and Levinson families today,” the Hostages Families Forum stated. “Alongside the grief and pain, their return provides some comfort to the families who have waited in agony, uncertainty, and doubt for 625 days. We wish to express our deep gratitude to the IDF and security forces who acted with dedication and courage. The return of all the hostages is an essential condition for the process of national healing and recovery.”
&#8220;Particularly against the backdrop of current military developments and the significant achievements in Iran, we want to emphasize that bringing back the remaining 50 hostages is the key to achieving complete Israeli victory. There is a historic window of opportunity—the significant regional achievements enable Israel to end the war from a position of clear strength. The return of all hostages through a comprehensive deal—this is in Israel&#8217;s interest, this is the next stage, and this is the victory of this war. There will be no victory until the last hostage returns,” the forum added.

Israeli-Hamas conflict

Israeli Forces Retrieve Bodies Of 3 Hostages Killed By Hamas

A female announcer on Iranian state TV had her anti-Israel rant truncated in a spectacular way when the Israel Defense Forces bombed the area near her studio.
“What you heard was the voice of the invader of the homeland,” the announcer declared. “The voice of the invader against the voice of truth and justice. What you saw was the voice you heard.”
Then, all hell broke loose.
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An Israeli strike on Iran was caught live on air. <a target="_blank" href="https://t.co/EyHI02B45Q" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/EyHI02B45Q</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1934643068659249239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener">June 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Israel struck buildings in Tehran belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, or IRIB, Iran&#8217;s state-owned media company, with the blasts seemingly heard live on television hours after the Israeli military said residents and workers in that part of the capital should leave,” The Wall Street Journal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-iran-attack-news?mod=hp_lead_pos4" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF had targeted “the Iranian regime&#8217;s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority.”
The incident was reminiscent of one during Israel&#8217;s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, when a Lebanese reporter, Fadi Boudia — who had been <a target="_blank" href="https://freebeacon.com/israel/watch-hezbollah-reporter-injured-as-bomb-lands-outside-his-home-during-live-tv-hit/" rel="noopener">known</a> to disseminate pro-Hezbollah propaganda — was about to conduct an interview when the IDF struck.
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WILD! Fadi Boudia, the presenter of the Lebanese &quot;Maraya International&quot; news network, was hit by an IDF attack in the Bekaa area during a live broadcast of his program. <a href="https://t.co/YuN0Vew3Zz">pic.twitter.com/YuN0Vew3Zz</a>
&mdash; Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) <a href="https://twitter.com/JewishWarrior13/status/1838271313258942774?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Israel has established clear dominance over Iranian airspace since its initial attacks on June 13, while pointedly trying to avoid civilian casualties.
“We just published an evacuation warning in Farsi for civilians in Tehran,&#8221; the IDF <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/IDF/status/1934608120258478237" rel="noopener">said</a> on Monday. &#8220;Israeli civilians do not get evacuation warnings before running to shelters. We aren’t the same.”
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We just published an evacuation warning in Farsi for civilians in Tehran.
Israeli civilians do not get evacuation warnings before running to shelters.
We aren’t the same. <a href="https://t.co/DglLpSF2lP">https://t.co/DglLpSF2lP</a>
&mdash; Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1934608120258478237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Iran has indiscriminately launched waves of ballistic missiles targeting Israel’s second, third, and fourth largest cities after Jerusalem: Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Petah Tikvah. Tel Aviv has roughly 475,000 people, Haifa has 290,000. Petah Tikvah has 255,000.
On Monday, the IDF <a target="_blank" href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/defense/artc-idf-destroys-a-third-of-iran-s-missile-launchers-establishes-air-superiority" rel="noopener">announced</a> it had destroyed one-third of Iran’s missile launchers. Israeli officials have said they achieved air superiority within 48 hours of the campaign&#8217;s initial attacks.
“The IDF has completely taken control of the airspace over Iran. This is a military fact — first of all,” IDF reserve lieutenant colonel Arie Zaiden <a target="_blank" href="https://global.espreso.tv/military-news-idf-to-expand-military-success-following-airspace-dominance-in-iran-idf-reserve-colonel" rel="noopener">stated</a>.
“Secondly, the IDF, as we are taught at all levels, commanders, officers, and so on: if you are successful, you need to expand on that success. The IDF is expanding on its success. &#8230; The IDF can now operate freely in Iranian airspace. We have enough ammunition. The U.S. gives us strong support. We also have international backing, so the operation continues. It&#8217;s not a victory, but it is clearly a turning point.”

Microphone on the background of the computer monitor.

Iran State TV Announcer Rants Against Israel. Then, All Hell Breaks Loose.

State TV

Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian terrorist infrastructure have predictably reignited debates about the legality of preemptive self-defense under international law. Let’s dispense with the posturing: these strikes were not only lawful, they were necessary, and there is nothing controversial about what happened — legally, morally, or strategically.
The concept of preemptive self-defense has long occupied a contested space in legal scholarship. Article 51 of the UN Charter affirms that:
<blockquote>Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs&#8230;</blockquote>
Critics argue that this language imposes a strict temporal requirement: self-defense can only begin after an armed attack has already occurred. But this interpretation has always been tenuous — and increasingly divorced from operational realities. The law is not meant to incentivize victimhood, which is why many scholars, more rooted in reality, point out that waiting for a missile to land before acting is not international law — it’s international suicide.
That debate, however, is irrelevant here. Because Israel’s right to self-defense is not merely being invoked preemptively.
For decades Iran has openly vowed to destroy the State of Israel, and they have taken many steps to assure the world that they actually mean it. Since October 7, Iran and its proxy forces — Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias in Syria and Iraq — have launched thousands of missiles and rockets at Israeli population centers. Each launch was not merely a political provocation, but a war crime: a direct attack on civilians. Under any reading of Article 51, these constitute armed attacks in the strictest legal sense.
And that brings us to the next question: Once the right to self-defense has been triggered, what exactly are its limits?
Customary international law, particularly as articulated in the Caroline doctrine, imposes two key conditions: necessity and proportionality. As Professor Amos Shapira has explained, the central issue is “the dimensions of the risk created by the adversary and the means reasonably necessary to repel, or remove, that risk.” Likewise, Hans Kelsen rightly warned that a right to self-defense that does not allow for the neutralization of the underlying threat is no right at all.
Israel’s response to persistent attacks falls squarely within this framework. The threat is not hypothetical. It is ongoing, declared, and demonstrated. Iran has openly vowed to destroy the State of Israel. Its proxies act constantly to make good on that promise. In recent days Iran has enriched enough uranium to build 15 nuclear bombs. The existential threat is, as the law requires, “instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation.”
In that context, Israel’s latest actions were proportionate and disciplined. Legally, Israel would have been justified in going much further. But it chose targeted, calibrated strikes instead — demonstrating not only military precision, but also strategic restraint.
Some commentators will nonetheless characterize these operations as escalatory or destabilizing. But that critique inverts the causality. The destabilization began with Iranian aggression. Israel’s actions are a stabilizing response — aimed at restoring deterrence and preventing further loss of life.
History has made one lesson painfully clear: peace is not the product of goodwill gestures or international declarations. It is secured by credible deterrence. The idea of peace through strength — long dismissed by the willfully naive — has never been more relevant. Israel’s recent actions embody this principle. When faced with an implacable adversary whose stated goal is your annihilation, strength is not a provocation; it’s a prerequisite for survival. And demonstrating that strength, responsibly and with restraint, is not just a legal right — it is a moral obligation to one’s citizens and allies.
To be clear, deterrence only works if it is believable. That is why the Israeli response was not just defensive—it was declarative. It sent a message not only to Tehran, but to every state and non-state actor watching: We are not passive targets. We will not wait quietly for missiles to rain down or for uranium to be weaponized. We will act, decisively and proportionately, to protect our people. That is how peace is preserved — not by appeasement, but by the unmistakable resolve to uphold red lines and enforce consequences.
There are only two sides in this war: Those who want to kill millions of innocent people, and those who do not. Each person must choose who they want to stand with. But regardless, the international legal system recognizes the right of states to defend themselves. That right is not a theoretical construct, nor is it a suicide pact. It exists for precisely moments like this one.
If the international community is genuinely committed to law and order, then Israel’s actions should not just be understood. They should be affirmed. In addition, Iranian leaders and regime-aligned institutions have repeatedly issued statements calling for the destruction or downfall of both America and Europe. If anything, the world should say thank you.
* * *
John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point and host of the &#8221;Urban Warfare Project Podcast.&#8221; He is the co-author of &#8221;Understanding Urban Warfare.” 
Mark Goldfeder is Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center and a law professor at Touro University.
Arsen Ostrovsky is a human rights attorney who serves as CEO of The International Legal Forum and senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

United Nations Security Council Meets To Discuss Israel’s Strikes On Iran

Israel’s Preemptive Strikes Were Legal And Necessary. You’re Welcome.

Israel's Preemptive Strikes Were Legal And Necessary. You're Welcome.

Hezbollah

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Iran Nuclear Deal

United Nations

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, who famously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greta-thunberg-sailed-new-york-avoid-contributing-ashe-schow">avoids</a> air travel for environmental reasons, was forced to board a plane on Tuesday after Israel deported her following the Israel Defense Force&#8217;s interception of what officials called her Gaza-bound &#8220;selfie yacht.&#8221;
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Tuesday via X that Thunberg “departed Israel on a flight to Sweden” via France, sharing pictures of the 22-year-old buckled in an airplane seat near the lavatory.
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Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France). <a href="https://t.co/kWrI9KVoqX">pic.twitter.com/kWrI9KVoqX</a>
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/1932337642886021543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Three other activists were also transported for deportation, while eight others — reportedly <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/thunberg-3-other-flotilla-activists-booted-from-israel-8-held-for-refusing-deportation/">including</a> a European Parliament member — refused to sign the required paperwork and are awaiting a judicial hearing to authorize their deportation.
According to The Times of Israel, Thunberg told her lawyers that refusing to sign the deportation papers would do more harm than good.
“I do more good outside of Israel than if I am forced to stay here for a few weeks,” Thunberg told her lawyers, per The Times of Israel. “If we choose to stay here against the will of the Israeli authorities and are arrested for a few weeks, it will harm our cause.”
Thunberg and the 11 other anti-Israel activists attempted to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greta-thunbergs-flotilla-circled-by-israeli-forces-en-route-to-gaza">break</a> the Israeli blockade of Gaza over the weekend, despite numerous warnings from the IDF, and bring in less than a truckload of humanitarian supplies to the active war zone.
Israeli authorities mockingly dubbed the vessel the &#8220;selfie yacht,&#8221; asserting the mission was merely a publicity stunt, given the minuscule amount of aid on the flotilla.
“The tiny amount of aid that wasn’t consumed by the &#8216;celebrities&#8217; will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” the Israel Foreign Ministry <a href="https://x.com/Israel/status/1931983917545869409">wrote</a> on X. “More than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and close to 11 million meals were transferred by the GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) directly to civilians in Gaza.”
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve provocations and selfies.”
Before her deportation, Thunberg posted a pre-recorded video claiming she had been &#8220;kidnapped&#8221; by Israel, a claim that generated criticism in the wake of hundreds of Israelis being taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” she said. “I urge all of my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”
President Donald Trump mocked the Swede on Monday, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/donald-trump-has-a-recommendation-for-greta-thunberg-after-her-selfie-flotilla?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Donald+Trump+Has+A+Recommendation+For+Greta+Thunberg+After+Her+%E2%80%98Selfie+Flotilla%E2%80%99">suggesting</a>, &#8220;I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,&#8221; and recommending she enroll in &#8220;anger management&#8221; classes.

Greta Thunberg Deportation

Greta Thunberg Deported From Israel After ‘Selfie Yacht’ Intercepted

Greta Thunberg

News

Professional activist Greta Thunberg was roundly mocked for a video she posted to social media in which she claimed she&#8217;d been &#8220;kidnapped in international waters,&#8221; either by Israeli officials or by forces loyal to Israel.
Thunberg, wrapped in a keffiyeh, stared into the camera and claimed, &#8220;If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel.&#8221; She then called on people to &#8220;put pressure&#8221; on the Swedish government to do everything they could to get her back.
But as critics quickly pointed out, Thunberg&#8217;s &#8220;hostage video&#8221; was recorded and shared before the &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greta-thunbergs-flotilla-circled-by-israeli-forces-en-route-to-gaza">Freedom Flotilla</a>&#8221; — also dubbed the &#8220;Selfie Flotilla&#8221; — was ever even intercepted by Israeli officials. They also noted that once they were detained, Thunberg and her fellow activists were treated humanely — a courtesy not afforded the hostages taken by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
&#8220;Imagine pre-recording a video claiming you were &#8216;kidnapped&#8217; by Israel- then going ahead and doing the exact thing that gets you legally detained. Nice choreography,&#8221; Hen Mazzig posted. &#8220;You weren&#8217;t kidnapped, Greta. You trespassed into an active war zone. You were warned. Repeatedly. And you went anyway-cameras rolling. Real hostages don&#8217;t get to pre-record their statements. Real hostages are held by your Hamas friends underground in Gaza- starving, tortured, and forgotten by activists like you.&#8221;
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Imagine pre-recording a video claiming you were “kidnapped&#8221; by Israel- then going ahead and doing the exact thing that gets you legally detained. Nice choreography.
You weren&#8217;t kidnapped, Greta. 
You trespassed into an active war zone. 
You were warned. Repeatedly.
And you went… <a href="https://t.co/LNJ4aEzx4g">pic.twitter.com/LNJ4aEzx4g</a>
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) <a href="https://twitter.com/HenMazzig/status/1931883778244292843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Greta filmed a video claiming she’s been &#8216;kidnapped.&#8217; In reality, her boat was peacefully boarded, and she’s being brought to shore—where she’ll likely be deported and return to Sweden to continue her selfie activism. The same can’t be said for the 55 hostages still trapped in Hamas’s terror tunnels—starved, tortured, and forgotten for over 20 months,&#8221; Aviva Klompas added.
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Greta filmed a video claiming she’s been “kidnapped.” In reality, her boat was peacefully boarded, and she’s being brought to shore—where she’ll likely be deported and return to Sweden to continue her selfie activism.
The same can’t be said for the 55 hostages still trapped in… <a href="https://t.co/sDyHsNvBst">pic.twitter.com/sDyHsNvBst</a>
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) <a href="https://twitter.com/AvivaKlompas/status/1931879455087079795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;No, @gretathunberg, you little self-righteous provocateur, you are not a &#8216;hostage&#8217; or ‘kidnapped’. You were treated peacefully, with dignity, provided food by Israel and will now get to go home. But you know who actually are hostages?&#8221; Arsen Ostrovsky posted.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
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No dear <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GretaThunberg</a>, you little self-righteous provocateur, you are not a &#8216;hostage&#8217; or ‘kidnapped’. You were treated peacefully, with dignity, provided food by Israel and will now get to go home.
But you know who actually are hostages? <a href="https://t.co/eaNWKNhpHX">pic.twitter.com/eaNWKNhpHX</a>
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ostrov_A/status/1932066544546197659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Piers Morgan weighed in as well, saying, &#8220;Oh shut up, @GretaThunberg &#8211; you attention-seeking narcissist. What an insult to the actual hostages in Gaza who really WERE kidnapped. This stupid stunt is all about your ego, and will make zero difference to the plight of innocent Palestinians caught up in this dreadful war.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Oh shut up, <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GretaThunberg</a> &#8211; you attention-seeking narcissist. What an insult to the actual hostages in Gaza who really WERE kidnapped. This stupid stunt is all about your ego, and will make zero difference to the plight of innocent Palestinians caught up in this dreadful war. <a href="https://t.co/T5Tej2fgZ4">https://t.co/T5Tej2fgZ4</a>
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) <a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1931988536812544212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Greta Thunberg records video saying she’s been kidnapped by Israel- then sails directly into a war zone to ensure she’ll be intercepted,&#8221; Brandon Straka posted. &#8220;Even Jussie didn’t have the nerve to announce his hate crime BEFORE it happened.&#8221;
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Greta Thunberg records video saying she’s been kidnapped by Israel- then sails directly into a war zone to ensure she’ll be intercepted. 🤦🏻‍♂️
Even Jussie didn’t have the nerve to announce his hate crime BEFORE it happened. <a href="https://t.co/L6IctcmPhW">pic.twitter.com/L6IctcmPhW</a>
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandonStraka/status/1931898283171180884?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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‘Freedom Flotilla’ And Greta Thunberg Prepare To Depart Italy For Gaza

Greta Thunberg Mocked Over ‘Hostage’ Video: ‘Even Jussie Didn’t Have The Nerve’

Greta Thunberg Mocked Over 'Hostage' Video: 'Even Jussie Didn't Have The Nerve'

Pro-Hamas

The Israeli Defense Forces intercepted and boarded the “Freedom Flotilla,” which Greta Thunberg and her fellow activists planned to sail to Gaza. 
Upon boarding the vessel named “Maldeen” around 3:00 a.m., IDF troops gave the 12 left-wing activists aboard sandwiches and water.
“All the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted to X. “They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over.”
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All the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed. They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over. <a href="https://t.co/tLZZYcspJO">pic.twitter.com/tLZZYcspJO</a>
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/1931885257604645074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
In a statement, the ministry said the boat was being taken to Israel and the passengers will be returned to their home countries.
In a <a href="https://x.com/HenMazzig/status/1931883778244292843">prerecorded video message</a>, Thunberg said she was &#8220;kidnapped&#8221; by the IDF.
&#8220;If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I urge all of my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.&#8221;
The group, which has been mocked as the “selfie flotilla,” is using the voyage as a publicity stunt in its attempt to break the Israeli blockade and bring humanitarian supplies to Gaza. The passengers are primarily left-wing activists, including Thiago Ávila of Brazil <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greta-thunbergs-brazilian-flotilla-buddy-attended-funeral-hezbollah-leader-hassan-nasrallah?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Greta+Thunberg%E2%80%99s+Brazilian+Flotilla+Buddy+Attended+Funeral+Of+Hezbollah+Leader+Hassan+Nasrallah">who has a long record</a> of anti-Israel radicalism—including attending the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-says-prepared-deal-with-greta-thunbergs-flotilla-en-route-gaza?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=IDF+Says+It%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Prepared%E2%80%99+To+Deal+With+Greta+Thunberg%E2%80%99s+Flotilla+En+Route+To+Gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IDF SAYS IT’S ‘PREPARED’ TO DEAL WITH GRETA THUNBERG’S FLOTILLA EN ROUTE TO GAZA</a>
The ministry pointed out that the 59-foot boat included less than a single truckload of aid, while more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the last two weeks. The Trump administration-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation successfully delivered more than 8 million meals to Gazans since its operation began less than a month ago, according to the organization.
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies,” the ministry said. “The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.”
According to United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, the flotilla was surrounded by 5 IDF speed boats prior to being intercepted.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/christian-pro-israel-conference-cancels-after-overwhelming-number-of-credible-terror-threats?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Christian+Pro-Israel+Conference+Cancels+After+%E2%80%98Overwhelming%E2%80%99+Number+Of+Credible+Terror+Threats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHRISTIAN PRO-ISRAEL CONFERENCE CANCELS AFTER ‘OVERWHELMING’ NUMBER OF CREDIBLE TERROR THREATS</a>
“I am with the flotilla online,” <a href="https://x.com/franceskalbs/status/1931838973502214364?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">she posted</a> to X. “The captain is instructing the team to stay calm and seated, with their passports and life jackets on. I hear them speaking with Israeli soldiers as I type&#8230; saying they are carrying humanitarian aid and go in peace. For the time being they are just circled. I am with them, recording everything.”
Albanese later added that the boat is continuing to sail, while the speedboats are “watching.”
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I just spoke again with the Flotilla, incl its Comm Room in Catania
All looks calm and safe now. Speedboats watching; but the flotilla continues its sailing.
It will be a long night. And as they say and we say, &quot;we are together&quot;. <a href="https://t.co/ya43ZyN7yF">https://t.co/ya43ZyN7yF</a>
&mdash; Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) <a href="https://twitter.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1931848494630772976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Alert. Our bot [sic] is being surrounded,” Ávila <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DKqCft2xVp6/?igsh=dGVpMmNsOWg0amNy">posted to Instagram</a>. 
French member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan, was also detained.
On Sunday morning, Israel’s Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, <a href="https://x.com/israel_katz/status/1931679051657175188?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">announced</a> that he instructed the IDF to prevent the “hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza &#8211; and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-recovers-bodies-of-two-american-hostages-in-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IDF RECOVERS BODIES OF TWO AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN GAZA</a>
Katz called Thunberg “antisemitic Greta,” adding that she and her friends should turn back because they will “not reach Gaza.”
“Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organizations – at sea, in the air, and on land,” Katz said. 
The IDF previously told The Daily Wire that it is “prepared for a wide range of scenarios which it will act upon in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
The group has been tasked with implementing President Trump’s<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-humanitarian-aid-delivered-gaza?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=15&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Sends+Aid+To+Gaza.+Israel+Will+Not+Distribute+It."> aid initiative</a>, designed to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches Gazan civilians while preventing Hamas from seizing supplies — a problem that has persisted since the war began following the group’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry released a statement, reiterating that &#8220;the maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to unauthorized vessels under a legal naval blockade.&#8221;
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With recent reports of a “celebrities yacht” heading to Gaza, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to clarify the following:
The maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to unauthorized vessels under a legal naval blockade, consistent with international law. 
The yacht…
&mdash; Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/1931851553800949987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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An earlier version of this article mistakenly claimed that Liam Cunningham was aboard the Madleen. It has been confirmed that he was not onboard the vessel after it departed.

Greta Thunberg Flotilla

IDF Intercepts Greta Thunberg’s Freedom Flotilla: ‘The Show Is Over’

Greta Thunberg’s Flotilla Reports Being Circled By Israeli Forces En Route To Gaza

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