WASHINGTON — First Lady Melania Trump will meet with freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel and his wife, Aviva Siegel, on Wednesday at the White House.
The first lady will have a private, sit-down conversation with the Siegels in the White House&#8217;s Blue Room, where they will discuss how Hamas forcibly took the Siegels from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023, and held them hostage — Aviva Siegel for 51 days, and Keith Siegel for 484 days.
Aviva Siegel was released during the first hostage deal in November 2023. Hamas released her husband on February 1, 2025, during a ceasefire that was brokered by President Donald Trump before he even took office, following his wife&#8217;s meetings with both the president and first lady.
One of these meetings was included in the first lady&#8217;s new film, &#8220;Melania,&#8221; showing Melania Trump and Aviva Siegel sharing an emotional moment in Manhattan as they discuss the plight of Siegel&#8217;s husband. Melania Trump hugs Siegel as she weeps into her shoulder, and the first lady promises to pray for Keith Siegel, who was still in Hamas captivity at the time.
One of the final title cards in &#8220;Melania&#8221; states that the first lady &#8220;played a key role in securing the release of Keith Siegel after 484 days as a hostage in Gaza, just 12 days after the inauguration.&#8221;
&#8220;I will always use my influence and power to fight for those in need,&#8221; the first lady says in the documentary film.
Keith Siegel, 66, is a dual Israel-U.S. citizen who moved from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Israel in 1980. He is a father of four and a grandfather of five. He is an occupational therapist by trade and reportedly learned Arabic to communicate with the Gazans who worked in his kibbutz prior to Gazan civilians and Hamas massacring his neighbors.
<div id="attachment_1038181" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/melania-trump-to-meet-with-hamas-hostage-she-helped-bring-home/palestinian-israel-conflict-hostage" rel="attachment wp-att-1038181"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1038181" class="wp-image-1038181 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196440906-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196440906-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196440906-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196440906-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196440906.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Hamas fighters escort American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Gaza City on February 1, 2025, as part of the fourth hostage-prisoner exchange.  (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
He is a vegetarian with a particular love for classic American breakfast pancakes, a rarity in Israel. After his release, a Keith Siegel’s Pancake House <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-847923">pop-up opened</a> in Tel Aviv, selling the same pancakes his family had made him known for while they campaigned for his freedom. During that time, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum compiled a cookbook featuring his pancake recipe, which he made for his family every Saturday morning.
His daughter later said she received hundreds of photos each weekend from people around Israel cooking her father’s pancakes. The proceeds from the pancake house went to helping the family get back on their feet.
Siegel opened up about the horrific conditions of his captivity last year in an interview with Lesley Stahl, claiming he witnessed Hamas terrorists sexually assaulting female hostages in front of him.
“I witnessed a young woman who was being tortured by the terrorists. I mean literal, you know, torture, not just in the figurative sense,” he said. “I saw sexual assault with female hostages.”
He was initially held with his wife, but following her release, Siegel said conditions became worse, and he was often beaten and starved.
In the interview, Siegel quickly put interviewer Lesley Stahl in her place after she asked if Hamas actually starved Siegel, or if the terrorists simply didn’t have food themselves.
“No, I think they starved me and they — they would often eat in front of me and not offer me food,” Siegel said.
Siegel also said that Hamas shaved all the men’s heads and genitals as a way to humiliate them.
“I think they thought it was maybe, it amused them or, you know, humiliating. I felt humiliated,” Siegel said.
<div id="attachment_1038183" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/melania-trump-to-meet-with-hamas-hostage-she-helped-bring-home/palestinian-israel-conflict-gaza-hostage" rel="attachment wp-att-1038183"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1038183" class="wp-image-1038183 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196449012-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196449012-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196449012-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196449012-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2196449012.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Hamas secures an area before handing over an Israeli-American hostage to a Red Cross team in Gaza City on February 1, 2025. (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Siegel was kept in a suffocating tunnel 33 feet underground and says he was given very little food and water.
Siegel’s ribs were reportedly broken when he was taken captive, and his condition deteriorated so badly that former hostage Emily Damari said she offered to switch places with him so he could be released sooner, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-839135">The Jerusalem Post reported</a>.
Hamas also used him for propaganda. He appeared in an April 2024 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obQ7vpgWHiU">video</a> speaking Hebrew and looking frail before beginning to cry.
Due to being a hostage, he was unable to say goodbye to his mother, Gladys, who passed away in December 2024 in North Carolina. The family chose to shield her from the news of her son’s captivity before she died, according to the American Jewish Committee.
Two weeks after he was released, Siegel recorded a video message praising Trump for helping secure his freedom.
&#8220;President Trump, you are the reason I am home alive,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You are the reason I was reunited with my beloved wife, four children, and five grandchildren. Thank you for your continued fight against terror and for your bold leadership that has brought me and many others back home to our families, to safety and to security.&#8221;
Siegel, his wife, and other hostages met with Trump in the Oval Office in March 2025, where they <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-844850">thanked him</a> for their freedom.

Amazon MGM’s “Melania” World Premiere

Melania Trump To Meet With Hamas Hostage She Helped Bring Home

General

Hamas

Melania Trump

October 7

U.S.

The body of the final hostage held in Gaza was returned to Israel on Monday.
The body of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old special-forces police officer who was killed in action on October 7, 2023, was returned to Israel, ending a long effort to force Hamas terrorists to hand over hostages. Gvili was killed while fighting off Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians who crossed into Israel, massacring, raping, and kidnapping more than a thousand people near the Gaza border. His body was held captive for 842 days.
“We have returned Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, a hero of Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the Knesset. “There are no more hostages in Gaza.&#8221;
Netanyahu added that the yellow ribbon pin worn by people around the world to draw attention to the hostages held can now be removed.
“For &#8216;the sons have returned to their borders and the daughters have returned to their borders,’” Netanyahu said, quoting the Bible.
Israeli Defense Forces’s Southern Command completed Operation &#8220;Courageous Heart” to return Gvili after searching since October for his body. His body was found in a cemetery near Gaza City.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Footage of the IDF recovering the body of the final hostage.
The return of Ran Gvili means all of the hostages are home after 842 days. <a href="https://t.co/AvinMQxzPQ">pic.twitter.com/AvinMQxzPQ</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/2015849942795841629?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gvili’s parents fought tirelessly to keep their son&#8217;s name in the news after the remaining living hostages returned in October. They met with Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, and other members of his administration.
Trump celebrated the news of the final hostage body returning to Israel, congratulating his “great team of Champions.”
“Just recovered the last Hostage body in GAZA. Thus, got back ALL 20 of the living Hostages, and ALL of the Dead!” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115962223670668620">posted</a>. “AMAZING JOB! Most thought of it as an impossible thing to do.”
Gvili was recovering from a serious shoulder injury on October 7, 2023, but left the hospital, put on his uniform, and headed south to join the fight against Hamas. He reportedly helped survivors of the Nova music festival before going to join the fight at Kibbutz Alumim.
At 10:50 a.m., he sent text messages saying he had been wounded in the leg. That was the final time his loved ones heard from him.
In total, 255 hostages from the Gaza Strip were rescued and brought back home – 168 of them alive and 87 deceased. Twelve Americans were kidnapped, with only eight being freed alive.
Gvili’s return marks the first time since 2014 that no Israelis are being held in Gaza. Before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, four Israelis were already in the Strip, including Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin Israeli who crossed into Gaza in April 2015, and Avera Mengistu, who entered in 2014. Both were later released alive in February 2025. Hamas had also held the bodies of the Israeli soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed in the 2014 war and whose remains were returned in 2025.
Many of the hostages who have returned testified that they were held for long periods in dark tunnels and subjected to torture, severe starvation, and physical and sexual abuse.

The Israeli army found the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza

‘Most Thought Of It As Impossible’: Final Hostage Body Returns From Gaza After 842 Days

Benjamin Netanyahu

Donald Trump

Gaza

Israel

A CNN panel discussion quickly veered off the rails when one guest claimed that Israel had invaded Gaza in much the same way that Russia invaded Ukraine.
The conversation took place on &#8220;CNN NewsNight,&#8221; hosted by Abby Phillip, and spiraled out of control when &#8220;The Majority Report&#8221; host Emma Vigeland argued that the United States lacked credibility in addressing the conflict between Russia and Ukraine after supporting Israel.
&#8220;I do think that the kind of elephant in the room here is the United States completely losing, and the Biden administration is immensely complicit in this as well, moral standing throughout the world due to our complicity in the genocide in Gaza. Which has made it very difficult for us to speak to Ukrainian sovereignty and having a bully like the Russian government invading their sovereign territory&#8221; she said.
Conservative commentator Scott Jennings was clearly taken aback, but when he attempted to debate the point, Phillip called him off and said there wasn&#8217;t time. Jennings pressed onward regardless, undeterred.
&#8220;We have to debate this, Abby. Oh, we don&#8217;t have time for the anti-Israel propaganda?&#8221; he began, and everyone at the table began talking at once. &#8220;Unbelievable. October the 7th was fine? Yeah, unbelievable.&#8221;
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;Oh well, we let it unspool for two minutes. But sure. I mean, honestly, I don&#8217;t understand. Israel is our ally. Not a single word in your speech for the atrocities that were committed on October the 7th. Not a single word,&#8221; Jennings continued.
&#8220;There shouldn&#8217;t be,&#8221; Vigeland doubled down. &#8220;We should cut off arms tomorrow.&#8221;
&#8220;Not a single word for the idea that Israel has every right to defend itself,&#8221; Jennings said, and Vigeland could be seen laughing as he added, &#8220;Not a single word for the fact that Hamas right now is killing people inside of Gaza — their own people. You seem to lay it all at the feet of Israel. Israel, a democratic ally, and your own country, and you have no negative word for the terrorists who raped and murdered and kidnapped, zero.&#8221;
Vigeland protested, saying that B&#8217;Tselem, an Israeli &#8220;human rights group&#8221; that has a clearly anti-Israel agenda, had referred to the situation in Gaza as a &#8220;genocide.&#8221;
&#8220;None, none,&#8221; Jennings said. &#8220;And you still don&#8217;t. You still don&#8217;t!&#8221;

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-GAZA-HOSTAGES

CNN Panel Explodes When Liberal Guest Claims Israel Invaded Gaza Like Russia Invaded Ukraine

Media

Politics

Scott Jennings

Ukraine-Russia War

In a move that drew near-uniform support on the House floor, lawmakers on Monday advanced a blunt, unambiguous message: those who took part in the Hamas-led October 7 atrocities in Israel will not set foot in the United States. The “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act of 2025,” introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), <a href="https://www.jns.org/house-passes-bill-to-bar-deport-oct-7-perpetrators/">sailed through the House</a> by voice vote—without objection—underscoring just how little patience remains in Washington for loopholes that allow terrorists to slip through America’s immigration system.
McClintock’s bill takes direct aim at anyone who “carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to or otherwise facilitated” the brutal rampage Hamas launched on October 7, 2023, a massacre that left more than 1,200 Israelis—children, infants, seniors—slaughtered for the crime of being Jewish. The bill explicitly includes members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and it arrives with 18 Republican co-sponsors, including Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Ann Wagner (R-MO).
Democrats signaled support but quibbled with the method. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) insisted that members of Foreign Terrorist Organizations are already barred from entering the United States, and argued that Congress has historically avoided naming specific attacks in the Immigration and Nationality Act—even after 9/11. McClintock countered that there is precedent, pointing to the Nazi Party and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), whose members are explicitly blocked under American law. “Does anyone seriously argue that we should repeal the sanctions against persons who aided and abetted the Nazis’ Holocaust?” he asked. “If not, why oppose extending the same sanctions to the Nazis’ would-be modern-day successors?”
50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at <a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="http://dailywire.com/cyberweek" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://DailyWire.com/cyberweek" data-sk="tooltip_parent">DailyWire.com/cyberweek</a>.
The timing of the bill’s passage wasn’t accidental. It comes on the heels of the shocking <a href="https://x.com/EFischberger/status/1979143145632772553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">arrest</a> of Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, a Gaza-born operative accused of helping coordinate the October 7 attacks, then waltzing into the United States on a fraudulent visa. According to federal prosecutors, al-Muhtadi organized fighters in Gaza, moved behind the first wave of terrorists entering Israel, and sent messages instructing attackers to “bring the rifles” and “get ready.” His phone even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/us/fbi-hamas-attack-louisiana.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uE8.zTMe.8-olRlhIWLLf&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare">pinged</a> an Israeli cell tower on the morning of the assault. Yet he made it into the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in 2024 and was later found working at a restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana.
For McClintock and his allies, that case alone is all the justification America needs. The bill now moves to the Senate—where an earlier version languished—and House Republicans are making clear they won’t accept another failure to act.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA)

House Overwhelmingly Passes Bill Blocking Oct. 7 Terrorists From Entering U.S.

Congress

House of Representatives

Terrorists

Tom McClintock

Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is facing a sweeping new federal lawsuit in North Dakota, alleging that it knowingly enabled more than $1 billion in crypto transactions for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad —funds that plaintiffs say helped finance the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent assaults.
More than 300 American victims and family members of those killed, wounded, or taken hostage on October 7, 2023, brought the suit under the Anti-Terrorism Act and its Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act amendment. The 284-page complaint names Binance, its co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, and top executive Guangying Chen as defendants, alleging they “knowingly, willfully, and systematically assisted” designated foreign terrorist organizations for years by providing a platform to transfer and launder hundreds of millions of dollars.
“From the outset, Binance boasted that it maintained no headquarters anywhere in the world. Its now-disgraced CEO and owner, Defendant Zhao, claimed the company was ‘based’ wherever he was situated at any given moment: ‘Wherever I sit is the Binance office. Wherever I meet somebody is going to be the Binance office,’” the lawsuit <a href="https://image.jewishinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/24144541/Balva-v.-Binance-Complaint-Filed-ECF.pdf?_gl=1*1e2w9w0*_gcl_au*MTg3NDcwNDMzNy4xNzYzNzM3OTQ1LjI0MjQzOTY0NC4xNzY0MDc4MjkwLjE3NjQwNzgyODk.&amp;_ga=2.108981378.1640150554.1764077904-684018400.1763737945">states</a>. “That is, Binance pitched itself to terrorist organizations, narcotics traffickers, and tax evaders as beyond the reach of any single country’s laws or regulations.”
The October 7 attack left 1,200 people in Israel dead and roughly 250 kidnapped. The plaintiffs argue that the scale and sophistication of Hamas’s assault — including weapon stockpiles and an extensive tunnel network — were made possible by covert funding streams funneled in part through Binance.
Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at <a href="http://dailywire.com/blackfriday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dailywire.com/blackfriday</a>.
“Binance rapidly grew to be the largest crypto trading platform globally because, as detailed below, it purposely attracted criminals including terrorist organizations like Hamas, the IRGC, Hezbollah, and PIJ to its platform and assisted them to launder money in order to maximize Binance’s trading volume and monetize criminal activities via platform fees,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit asserts that Binance intentionally built itself into a “refuge for illicit activity,” courting high-volume criminal users to boost revenues while evading United States oversight. It cites internal communications in which compliance officials remarked that customers were “here for crime” and joked about advertising Binance as a destination for laundering drug money. The complaint recounts multiple instances in which third-party compliance firms flagged Hamas-linked accounts. Yet, Binance allegedly declined to freeze or report them, instead warning certain customers to withdraw funds before scrutiny intensified.
“Binance not only knowingly provided financial services to Hamas; it actively tried to shield its Hamas customers and their funds from scrutiny by U.S. regulators or law enforcement—a practice that continues to this day,” the lawsuit states.
The filing expands on details disclosed in 2023, when Binance and Zhao pleaded guilty to violating United States anti-money-laundering laws and agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement — one of the largest in American history. Zhao resigned and served a four-month prison term before being pardoned last month by President Donald Trump. Chen was not charged. As part of its plea, Binance admitted it had failed to report suspicious Hamas-related transactions and had permitted millions of dollars in illicit transfers.
The new lawsuit goes further, alleging extensive previously undisclosed transactions involving Hamas, Hezbollah, and the IRGC, as well as a transnational gold-smuggling network in Venezuela that plaintiffs say funneled proceeds to Iran and its proxies via Binance-linked wallets. One Venezuelan woman, allegedly acting as a front for Hezbollah, received $177 million in crypto and withdrew $43 million in cash, according to the complaint.
The suit also identifies several Gaza-based exchange houses and sanctioned individuals who allegedly moved hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrencies through Binance accounts before and after October 7. Plaintiffs argue that assets flowing through these channels “could foreseeably be used to commit terrorist attacks” and that Binance’s actions “directly and materially contributed” to violence against Israelis and Americans.

In this photo illustration, a Binance logo is seen displayed

Binance Accused Of Enabling Hamas Terror Funding Ahead Of October 7 Attack

Binance

Cryptocurrency

Terrorism

World

Federal prosecutors have accused Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, 33, of Louisiana, of taking part in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel and of gaining entry to the United States through a fraudulent visa application.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, al-Muhtadi wasn’t just a bystander. He’s accused of organizing armed fighters in Gaza, helping coordinate the assault, and crossing into Israel himself just behind the first wave of Hamas terrorists. Communications from that morning show al-Muhtadi instructing others to “bring the rifles,” “get ready,” and asking for bulletproof vests and ammunition. One message was blunt: “If you have a full magazine, bring it to me.”
The FBI complaint, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/us/fbi-hamas-attack-louisiana.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uE8.zTMe.8-olRlhIWLLf&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare">The New York Times</a>, reveals his phone connected to an Israeli cell tower on the morning of the attack — a damning indicator he may have crossed into Israeli territory. Nearby, 60 people — including American citizens — were slaughtered at a kibbutz. Though al-Muhtadi hasn’t yet been charged with directly murdering anyone, the evidence places him near the scene of the massacre and in contact with those actively involved.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
What makes this more disturbing? He got into the United States.
Al-Muhtadi allegedly applied for a U.S. immigrant visa under the name Mahmoud Almuhtadi, claiming to have no connection to paramilitary groups or terrorism. He entered America through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in September 2024 and later posted selfies on social media — holding a Glock — from Tulsa, Oklahoma. By May 2025, he was tracked to Lafayette, Louisiana, where he was working at a restaurant when the feds caught up to him.
And al-Muhtadi wasn’t acting alone. According to the complaint, he’s a known member of the National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) — a Gazan Marxist terror organization with a long, bloody track record of murdering Israelis. The DFLP has operated alongside Hamas in multiple attacks, including on October 7.
Despite being previously designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department, the DFLP was quietly removed years ago, supposedly due to its declining influence.
The DFLP is the same terror group responsible for some of the most <a href="https://www.camera.org/article/camera-backgrounder-democratic-front-for-the-liberation-of-palestine-dflp/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">brutal attacks</a> in Israel’s history:
<ul>
<li data-start="2729" data-end="2861">1974 Ma’alot Massacre: DFLP gunmen took an entire elementary school hostage, resulting in the murder of 27, including 22 children.</li>
<li data-start="2864" data-end="2951">1975 Jerusalem bombing: Seven civilians were killed by a DFLP bomb hidden in a wagon.</li>
<li data-start="2954" data-end="3073">2002 West Bank bus ambush: Nine killed, twenty injured when DFLP terrorists bombed and opened fire on a civilian bus.</li>
<li data-start="3076" data-end="3201">“Night of the Gliders” (1987): Six Israeli soldiers were murdered by DFLP operatives infiltrating from Lebanon using hang gliders. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
— Huge Breaking News: Louisiana Man Joined Hamas for October 7th Massacre —
Federal prosecutors in Louisiana accused a man of participating in the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on Israel and then traveling to the United States on a fraudulent visa, according to a criminal… <a href="https://t.co/aN1oumEHxe">pic.twitter.com/aN1oumEHxe</a>
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/EFischberger/status/1979142790282879102?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Full criminal complaint here:<a href="https://t.co/07sLISeqgZ">https://t.co/07sLISeqgZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/zn06qzm3YW">pic.twitter.com/zn06qzm3YW</a>
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/EFischberger/status/1979143145632772553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT

Terror Ties And Immigration Fraud: Louisiana Man Accused Of Joining Hamas Attacks On Israel

United States

Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid said on Monday that Israel cannot — and should not — root out every member of the terrorist group Hamas as it begins to implement the provisions of the peace deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Hamid was speaking with CNN anchor Brianna Keilar about the still-unfolding situation in Gaza when he argued that Israel should offer amnesty to &#8220;low-level&#8221; members of Hamas who have agreed to lay down their weapons — and those &#8220;who were not implicated in October 7.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
On CNN, Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid says Israel &#8220;shouldn&#8217;t kill low-level members of Hamas, people who where not implicated in October 7&#8221; because &#8220;Hamas is a popular movement&#8221; and must be integrated into the new Gaza government. <a href="https://t.co/27I823cqHN">pic.twitter.com/27I823cqHN</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1977808584512844004?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;How do you disarm Hamas – that is not quite clear how that&#8217;s to be worked out,&#8221; he began. &#8220;But also it&#8217;s good that in the 20-point plan there is a path for Hamas who commit to peaceful coexistence and give up their arms to get amnesty or to get safe passage out of Gaza, because at the end of the day, there are still going to be – there still will be a significant Hamas presence, so you can&#8217;t just pretend they don&#8217;t exist. And you can&#8217;t eradicate every single member of Hamas, nor should you, that would just be — that didn&#8217;t even happen, not that I like this comparison too much —&#8221;
&#8220;You say &#8216;nor should you,'&#8221; Keilar appeared to be taken aback. &#8220;Your case for that is what?&#8221;
&#8220;I mean you can&#8217;t — you shouldn&#8217;t kill, like, low-level members of Hamas, people who were not implicated in October 7th,&#8221; Hamid asserted. &#8220;October 7th was done by a small group of senior military commanders — Israel should have the right to kill them, and has killed many of them if not most of them, right? So — but Hamas is a popular movement and there has to be some way to bring in the low-level members into the political process because you don&#8217;t want them to play spoiler.&#8221;
&#8220;If they feel like they have no path forward, if they feel — you don&#8217;t want them to go back to arms again or to find ways to kind of undermine the path toward a kind of peaceful settlement,&#8221; he continued, comparing Hamas to the Nazis in post-war Germany. &#8220;And even if you take the example of denazification, low- and mid-level members of the Nazi Party were reintegrated into German society. It&#8217;s not as if everyone was imprisoned or executed, because you can&#8217;t do that at such a large scale. If you&#8217;re talking about a movement that has tens of thousands of people and many more sympathizers, you have to find a way to bring people into the process and integrate them.&#8221;
The peace deal currently being implemented stops short of forcing Hamas out altogether despite Israel&#8217;s repeated insistence that Hamas cannot be allowed to govern in Gaza.

TRT World Forum 2019

‘Hamas Is A Popular Movement’: WaPo Reporter Tells CNN ‘Low-Level’ Terrorists Should Get To Stay

'Hamas Is A Popular Movement': WaPo Reporter Tells CNN 'Low-Level' Terrorists Should Get To Stay

Israel has uncovered a memo it says was written by deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in which the terrorist leader gave detailed instructions for Hamas&#8217;s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, specifically ordering Hamas terrorists to target civilians and broadcast the atrocities across the world in real time.
The six-page document, discovered in a bunker after the assassination of Hamas leader Muhammed Sinwar in May 2025 and obtained by the New York Times, was disseminated to Hamas commanders in August 2022. The Times consulted document expert Sima Ankona, who said that the handwriting in the memo matched other documents known to be authored by Sinwar.
&#8220;The memo,&#8221; the Times reports, &#8220;calls for fighters to target soldiers and civilian communities — as well as to broadcast the violent acts so as to evoke fear in Israelis and destabilize the country. Commanders then issued similar instructions on Oct. 7, according to hours of previously unreported communications between commanders and subordinates intercepted by Israel during the assault.&#8221;
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a> 
The memo undermines Hamas&#8217;s claims that the Oct. 7 attack was directed primarily at the Israeli military.
&#8220;Two or three operations, in which an entire neighborhood, kibbutz, or something similar will be burned, must be prepared,&#8221; the memo read — and while there were no specific instructions for militants to kill or kidnap civilians, they were ordered to set fire to homes &#8220;with gasoline or diesel from a tanker.&#8221;
The Israel Defense Forces intercepted communications in which Hamas commanders appear to have repeated several of the memo&#8217;s directives to burn homes and kibbutzim.
“Start setting homes on fire,&#8221; a communication from a Gaza City battalion commander named Abu Muhammed read. &#8220;Burn, burn. I want the whole kibbutz to be in flames.&#8221;

Yahya Sinwar

Hamas Leader Instructed Terrorists To Target Civilians On Oct. 7, Memo Reveals

terrorist attack

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu

LIVE UPDATES: Trump Returns To U.S. After Historic Trip To Israel And Egypt

Hostages

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump marked the second anniversary of the Hamas&#8217;s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by spending the afternoon with Edan Alexander, who was held in Hamas captivity for 584 days.
The president hosted the 21-year-old Alexander and his family at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared. The president also met with the family of Omer Neutra, who was killed by Hamas on October 7. Neutra&#8217;s body is still in Gaza, but the White House emphasized on Tuesday that Trump is &#8220;committed to bringing every hostage home.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, on the second anniversary of the October 7 attack, President Trump welcomed Edan Alexander, who was held hostage by Hamas for 584 days, and the family of Omer Neutra to the Oval Office.
President Trump is committed to bringing every hostage home.💛🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/GrvgrUTNkX">pic.twitter.com/GrvgrUTNkX</a>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1975666391425466767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
The Trump administration negotiated Alexander&#8217;s release in May 2025. He is an American, who was born in Rockville, Maryland and later moved to New Jersey. In high school, Alexander joined the Israel Defense Forces, and while he was at an outpost near Kibbutz Nir Oz, he was taken captive by Hamas during the October 7 massacre.
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Kassy Akiva <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-last-living-american-hostage-edan-alexander-released-following-trump-admin-efforts">previously reported</a> that Alexander had been seen in Hamas propaganda videos and is the first male IDF soldier who was abducted during the massacre to be released. While he was held in captivity, his parents were fighting tirelessly for his release by meeting with world leaders, aggressively keeping his name in the news, and speaking at high profile events.
<div id="attachment_982479" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-years-after-october-7-massacre-trump-welcomes-hamas-hostage-edan-alexander-to-the-white-house/hamas-releases-israeli-american-hostage-edan-alexander-in-gaza" rel="attachment wp-att-982479"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-982479" class="wp-image-982479 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214167360.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214167360.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214167360-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214167360-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>Edan Alexander is welcomed by Israeli forces after Hamas released him in Tel Aviv (Photo by Israeli Defense Forces / IDF/Anadolu via Getty Images)</div>
Hamas killed and kidnapped the body of the 21-year-old Neutra on October 7, 2023, but it was not until December 2024 that his family learned for certain that he had been killed that day. They had been told that he was being held hostage and had held out hope that he would survive.
&#8220;Omer Neutra (21) was born and raised in the United States and chose to immigrate to Israel as a lone soldier, enlisting in the Armored Corps after completing a preparatory year with the Tzabar Garin program,&#8221;the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement when Neutra&#8217;s death was known.
&#8220;Omer loved sports, playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball, and served as the captain of his school’s sports teams. Family and friends described him as a warm, optimistic, and caring individual who &#8216;lights up the room the moment he enters.'&#8221;
<div id="attachment_982477" style="width: 854px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-years-after-october-7-massacre-trump-welcomes-hamas-hostage-edan-alexander-to-the-white-house/released-israeli-american-soldier-edan-alexander-reunites-with-his-family" rel="attachment wp-att-982477"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-982477" class="wp-image-982477 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214163092-844x576.jpg" alt="" width="844" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214163092-844x576.jpg 844w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214163092-300x205.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214163092-768x524.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2214163092.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 844px) 100vw, 844px" /></a>Edan Alexander reuniting with his family (Photo by Israeli Defense Forces / IDF/Anadolu via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;President Trump recently said it’s time to bring all the hostages home — and time for the war to end,&#8221; Neutra&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-july-4th-freedom-demands-we-bring-the-hostages-home">parents wrote in a Fourth of July op-ed</a> for The Daily Wire. &#8220;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.&#8221;
&#8220;But peace cannot begin until every hostage comes home,&#8221; they argued. &#8220;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.&#8221;
&#8220;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.&#8221;

Edan Alexander

Two Years After October 7 Massacre, Trump Welcomes Hamas Hostage Edan Alexander To The White House

Critics across the political spectrum ripped New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday for a statement commemorating the second anniversary of the October 7 terror attack on Israel.
Mamdani posted a statement to his X account on Tuesday that reflects on the attack that marked the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. After commemorating the “horrific war crime,” the self-described “democratic socialist” dedicated most of his statement to condemning Israel for perpetrating “genocide” in Gaza, citing fatality numbers from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
“In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war: a death toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble,” said Mamdani, without noting that Hamas often uses civilian buildings for military functions, in which case those buildings <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule10">become</a> legitimate military targets under international law.
“Every day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language. I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered. Our government has been complicit through it all,” he continued. “This must end. The occupation and apartheid must end. Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
My statement on the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023. <a href="https://t.co/JlsXUeAeYd">pic.twitter.com/JlsXUeAeYd</a>
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1975550702056538512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
The statement drew backlash from the Right and the Left. Dan McLaughlin, a senior writer for National Review, was one of many who accused Mamdani of victim-blaming.
“If Israel’s war *in response to being invaded* is &#8216;genocidal,&#8217; most of the wars fought in the past century would meet that standard on the part of most of the combatants, even those resisting the conquest of their country &amp; the enslavement or extinction of their people,” <a href="https://x.com/baseballcrank/status/1975601985505432051">said</a> McLaughlin.
MSNBC columnist Michael Cohen <a href="https://x.com/speechboy71/status/1975572563033309558">hit</a> Mamdani as well: “On the second anniversary of October 7, one anodyne sentence on how murdering Jews is bad. And the rest is yet another seedy, pejorative attack on Israel.”
David Frum, a writer at The Atlantic, <a href="https://x.com/davidfrum/status/1975560012404826408">posted</a>: “This is a genuinely useful statement. The chilly formulaic language about the 10/7 atrocity &#8230; the intense angry passion of the denunciation of Israel&#8217;s self-defense &#8230; together they arrestingly reveal what the author cares about and what/who he does not care about.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout</a>
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said that not only should Mamdani’s statement disqualify him to run for mayor, but that anyone who endorses the Democratic candidate should be out of American politics.
Mamdani has <a href="https://www.zohranfornyc.com/endorsements">gained</a> support from notable Democrats such as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
“This statement is beyond disqualifying — anyone who endorses him for Mayor is completely unqualified too,” Lawler posted. “Any New York Democrat who supports this insanity needs to be defeated at the ballot box.”
Mamdani’s statement <a href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1975598416097857604">earned</a> reproach from Israel’s Foreign Ministry as well.
“​​Two years after Hamas launched its barbaric massacre against Israel and the Jewish people, Mamdani has chosen to act as a mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda — spreading Hamas’s fake genocide campaign,” the ministry responded. “By repeating Hamas’s lies, he excuses terror and normalizes antisemitism. He stands with Jews only when they are dead. Shameful.”

Zohran Mamdani

Mamdani Blasted For October 7 Post: ‘He Stands With Jews Only When They Are Dead’

New York City

WASHINGTON—Republicans are urging the IRS to prioritize revoking the tax-exempt status of eight organizations with alleged &#8220;links to designated foreign terrorist groups,&#8221; and others &#8220;linked to violence and unrest&#8221; across the nation.
The <a href="https://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/10.6.25-Letter-to-IRS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a>, from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano, comes on the second anniversary of Hamas&#8217;s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“From the international funding sources and activities of tax-exempt entities in the U.S., and the role of certain organizations in fostering antisemitism on college campuses, the Committee has remained steadfast in ensuring that all tax-exempt organizations are abiding by their exempt status,” the letter reads.
Smith referred some of the groups named in Tuesday&#8217;s letter to the IRS for revocation during the 118th Congress. In his letter, the chairman noted that shortly after the committee sent revocation letters, the Treasury Department designated Samidoun as a terrorist organization &#8220;that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Foreign Terrorist Organization.&#8221;
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>
However, Smith said that due to recent “political violence and the continued concerning actions by the previously referred organizations with ties to official foreign terrorist organizations,” he said it is important that the IRS takes action.
“These organizations have failed to operate for their tax exempt purpose. Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and in exchange, organizations must operate for stated exempt purposes,” Smith said.
Smith notes that the Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, and Islamic Relief USA, are “suspected of having terrorist ties to groups like Hamas,” and claims they use ties to “actively support and funnel resources in support of terrorism.”
The letter names the following organizations: Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, Islamic Relief USA, Alliance for Global Justice, WESPAC Foundation, Tides Foundation, Peoples Media Project (The Palestine Chronicle), and The People’s Forum.
It includes other groups: Alliance for Global Justice, WESPAC Foundation, and the Tides Foundation, which they say “disrupt college campuses, incite violence and intimidation, and illegal riot across the United States.”
Students for Justice in Palestine and Samidoun were cited as one of the notable projects, according to the letter.
Late last month, President Donald Trump issued a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/countering-domestic-terrorism-and-organized-political-violence/#:~:text=(j)%20The%20Commissioner%20of%20the,for%20investigation%20and%20possible%20prosecution." target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Security Presidential Memorandum</a> directing the IRS to make sure no tax-exempt entities are &#8220;directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism.&#8221;
The letter applauded the move and said Committee Republicans are &#8220;glad that the Trump Administration is taking the threat of tax-exempt entities with ties to political violence and terrorism seriously.&#8221;
Smith encouraged the IRS to prioritize examinations and vowed to continue their oversight work on tax-exempt organizations.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Republicans Mark Oct. 7 With Calls For IRS To Revoke Tax-Exempt Status Of Terrorist-Linked Groups

Scott Bessent

Taxes

Menu