How Hamas’s internal cracks are becoming impossible for Gazans to ignore - opinion

How Hamas’s internal cracks are becoming impossible for Gazans to ignore - opinion

MOHAMMED ALTOOLL

In the Middle East, defining moments are not always measured by the size of an explosion or the number of casualties. Sometimes, they are measured by the reaction that follows. After Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the killing of Haddad, one of Hamas’s most prominent military council commanders, what drew attention inside Gaza was not only the assassination itself, but the silence that followed it.

In previous years, funerals of senior Hamas commandersoften turned into massive public displays of loyalty and defiance. Streets would fill with crowds, chants, and military symbolism. This time, however, many Gazans noticed something different. The turnout appeared smaller, public enthusiasm seemed weaker, and social media reactions revealed emotions rarely expressed so openly before: exhaustion, indifference, and in some cases, even schadenfreude.

These reactions did not come only from Hamas’s political opponents or from civilians devastated by years of war and economic collapse. Some also appeared to come from individuals previously associated with Hamas’s own social environment. Many revived old conversations about internal rivalries, repression, and the atmosphere of fear that has shaped life in Gaza for years.

In a politically closed and deeply conservative society like Gaza, shifts in public opinion are not always expressed through demonstrations or polls. Sometimes they are reflected in whispers, in silence, or in what people choose not to do. For many Gazans, the relatively weak public response to Haddad’s funeral carried a deeper political and social message.

Questions are now growing inside Gaza about whether Hamas still possesses the same solid popular base that once gave the movement its legitimacy after taking control of the Strip in 2007. After years of war, blockade, displacement, and economic collapse, many Gazans no longer view political factions through the same ideological lens. Priorities have changed. People increasingly want electricity, safety, freedom of movement, jobs, and education more than revolutionary slogans.

At the same time, Hamas recently allowed Fatah to hold its eighth conference inside Gaza under the protection of Hamas-controlled police forces, while statements attributed to Yasser Abbas, son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, accused Hamas of carrying out a “military coup” against the Palestinian Authority. For many Gazans, this contradiction raised difficult questions. How can Fatah continue to describe Hamas as its political and military rival while simultaneously coordinating with it on the ground in Gaza?

For residents who lived through the violent 2007 Hamas-Fatah split, such scenes reinforce the growing belief that Palestinian division has evolved into a closed political system in which both sides reproduce their own power structures while ordinary civilians remain excluded from meaningful political representation.

On social media, many Gazans criticized Fatah’s eighth conference as yet another recycling of aging leadership figures incapable of offering a realistic vision for Gaza’s future or involving younger generations in political decision-making. Yet frustration is no longer directed at Fatah alone. Hamas itself is facing what may be the deepest crisis of public trust since it seized control of Gaza nearly two decades ago.

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Communist Dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel Threatens ‘Bloodbath’ Against America as Cuba Stockpiles 300+ Russian and Iranian Drones

Communist Dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel Threatens ‘Bloodbath’ Against America as Cuba Stockpiles 300+ Russian and Iranian Drones in Desperate Panic Under Trump’s Crushing Pressure

Jim Hᴏft

Cuba’s blood-soaked communist dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel lashed out Monday, warning that any U.S. military action against his crumbling island prison would unleash a “bloodbath with incalculable consequences.”

The thug-in-chief, who has spent years crushing dissent, jailing protesters, and turning Cuba into a starving socialist dumpster fire, took to X to spew his hollow threats after explosive reports revealed his regime has been quietly amassing over 300 military drones from Russia and Iran.

Just days ago, reports emerged that the Trump administration was weighing aggressive options amid growing national security concerns surrounding Cuba, while CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly warned Havana that it could no longer function as a “safe haven for adversaries.”

According to classified intelligence cited by Axios, Cuban officials have acquired more than 300 military drones of varying capability since 2023 and have held discussions about how such systems could be used in the event of hostilities with Washington.

Potential targets discussed include the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, American military vessels, and possibly even locations in southern Florida, including Key West.

Diaz-Canel wrote on X:

“The threats of military aggression against Cuba from the world’s greatest power are well-known.

The threat itself already constitutes an international crime. If it were to materialize, it would trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences, plus the destructive impact on regional peace and stability.

Cuba poses no threat, nor does it have aggressive plans or intentions against any country. It has none against the U.S., nor has it ever had any—something the government of that nation knows full well, particularly its defense and national security agencies.

Cuba, which already endures a multidimensional aggression from the U.S., does have the absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military onslaught. Yet that cannot be wielded, either logically or honestly, as an excuse for imposing war on the noble Cuban people.”

This isn’t the first time the desperate Cuban dictator has run his mouth against President Trump’s no-nonsense America First agenda.

As The Gateway Pundit has reported repeatedly, Díaz-Canel has been sweating bullets since Trump returned to the White House and ramped up sanctions, exposing the regime’s weakness and accelerating its inevitable collapse.

Back in January, the communist strongman directly threatened America and vowed to “resist” Trump’s pressure. In March, he ranted about preparing to repel a U.S. invasion.

And just last month, Trump himself declared that the “great strength” of the American military would soon bring a “new dawn for Cuba.”

Israel At 78: The Growing Call To Rebuild The Third Temple

Israel At 78: The Growing Call To Rebuild The Third Temple

 PNW STAFF

The banners waving through Jerusalem this year were not only blue-and-white Israeli flags. During the recent Jerusalem Day celebrations, another symbol appeared again and again among crowds marching through the Old City: images of a future Third Temple standing upon the Temple Mount. For some, it was political theater. For others, it was a declaration of destiny.

The timing felt significant to many Israelis. This year marked Israel's 78th birthday as a modern state -- a milestone many religious Jews increasingly connect to what they see as the gradual restoration of biblical Israel after nearly 2,000 years of exile. 

To them, the rebirth of the nation in 1948 was never the end of the story. Jerusalem's reunification in 1967 was another step. And now, growing numbers believe the next phase may center around the Temple Mount itself.

What was once considered a fringe religious aspiration inside Israel is steadily moving closer to the mainstream. The idea of rebuilding a Third Temple in Jerusalem -- on the very site where the First and Second Temples once stood -- is no longer confined to obscure activist circles. It is now openly discussed by rabbis, politicians, members of the military, and growing segments of Israeli society still reeling from the trauma of October 7.

And for Christians who study Bible prophecy, those developments are impossible to ignore.

During Jerusalem Day events, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made headlines once again after ascending the Temple Mount and declaring that Israel had "restored sovereignty" over the site. He celebrated what he described as increased Israeli control and praised stronger security measures that, in his words, produced one of the quietest Ramadan periods in years.

His words were not accidental.

The Temple Mount remains the single most explosive religious site on earth. Jews regard it as the location of the First and Second Temples. Muslims revere it as the site of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Since Israel captured the Old City during the 1967 Six-Day War, a fragile arrangement has remained in place in which Israel controls security while the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf oversees daily administration.

But men like Ben-Gvir increasingly argue that arrangement should end.

His decision to raise the Israeli flag on the mount during Jerusalem Day celebrations sent a message not only to Israelis, but to the entire Middle East: there is a growing movement inside Israel that no longer wishes to merely visit the Temple Mount -- it wants to reclaim it.

That movement has been growing for years.

Organizations like the Temple Institute have spent decades preparing for the possibility of a future temple. Temple vessels have been recreated. Priestly garments have been sewn. Training for ritual practices has resumed. Even discussions surrounding red heifers and purification rituals -- once dismissed as symbolic religious curiosities -- are now taken seriously by many observant Jews.

The preparations go even further. The Temple Institute has also completed a massive golden menorah intended for a future temple and placed it on public display overlooking the Western Wall. The organization has also worked extensively on training men believed to be descendants of the biblical priesthood for future temple service and has even developed architectural plans and educational models envisioning how a Third Temple could function in modern Jerusalem. What once sounded symbolic increasingly appears methodical and deliberate.

The movement no longer feels theoretical.

And now some rabbis are pushing for tangible action.

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu recently called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli leadership to establish a synagogue directly on the Temple Mount as a first step toward expanded Jewish worship there. Speaking opposite the mount during Jerusalem Day events, Eliyahu declared that the Islamic structures currently standing there are tied to Israel's exile and insisted that a future Jewish Temple will one day rise again.

"In the meantime, until the Temple is built, there needs to be a synagogue here," he said. "Now the Muslims already understand that it is not theirs; we need to take hold."

Those are extraordinary words.

The Third Temple is no longer merely the subject of prophecy conferences or theological speculation. It is increasingly entering political discourse, military culture, national identity, and public activism within Israel itself.

What once sounded impossible is now openly discussed in the streets of Jerusalem.

The flags waving during Jerusalem Day were not just symbols of nationalism. For many marching beneath them, they represented a belief that history itself is moving toward fulfillment -- and that the mountain at the center of Jerusalem may soon stand at the center of the world once again.

Earthquake hits southwest China; thousands evacuate, buildings collapse

Earthquake hits southwest China; thousands evacuate, buildings collapse

Reuters

 A magnitude 5.2 earthquake in China's southwest region of Guangxi early on Monday killed two and forced more than 7,000 in the city of Liuzhou to evacuate as search and rescue operations continue and authorities warn of transport disruptions.

 There were two confirmed deaths with one still missing, and four people were sent to the hospital, although none of them had life-threatening injuries, CCTV and state news agency Xinhua said.

• Thirteen buildings collapsed in the early hours of Monday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

• Transportation disruptions were also flagged by railway authorities as they inspected the integrity of rail line infrastructure.

• Communication and power lines, water and gas supply, and traffic in the affected area were operating normally, state media reported

Several Buildings Collapse After 5.2 Earthquake Hits China

Sagar Kar

A predawn earthquake shook the city of Liuzhou and surrounding areas in southern China on Monday, collapsing buildings and sending rescue teams scrambling in the dark.

The quake hit at 12:21 a.m. local time, centered in the Liunan District of Liuzhou, a city of more than four million people in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Both the USGS and China's seismological agency put the magnitude at 5.2, with a shallow depth of around 5 miles, or 8 kilometers. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more surface damage than deeper ones of similar strength.

Strong shaking rippled through Liuzhou and the surrounding region. About a dozen structures collapsed, trapping and injuring people inside. Xinhua news agency, citing local reports, said three people remain missing and four others have been taken to hospital.

Emergency, fire and police personnel were dispatched to the epicenter area almost immediately. By 2 a.m., 51 fire and rescue vehicles and 315 personnel were on the ground working the affected zone.

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck near Liuzhou in China's Guangxi region in the early hours of Monday morning, bringing down around a dozen structuresLocal authorities have been instructed to verify casualties and damage as quickly as possible, push forward search and rescue operations, get affected residents safely evacuated and keep a close watch on aftershock activity.

The Digital Revolution: Humanity’s Greatest Enemy?

The Digital Revolution: Humanity’s Greatest Enemy

Paul Craig Roberts

For several or more years I have emphasized that the digital revolution and artificial intelligence were, along with nuclear weapons, the worst of human mistakes.

People have gained an understanding of the destructive power of nuclear weapons, but they have been indoctrinated into seeing the digital revolution and artificial intelligence as a great boost to human productivity. Being promised more take-home money blinds them to the trap.

The digital revolution allows a far more effective control over the minds and behavior of populations than  Big Brother has in George Orwell’s 1984. The digital revolution makes possible the perfect Police State. People, of course, are too busy scrolling their cell phones to notice.

Another  concern is the security of information, One source of insecurity is that reportedly one EMF can wipe out the cloud where information is stored,  In analogue days if one library burned down, thousands of others had the same information.  Today the informations is in electronic form in the cloud. There is no backup.

Today the battles between humans and the AI the humans have created have begun. The founder of PocketOS, Jer Crane, asked AI to fix a bug in its software system. AI deleted the company’s production database, wiped out its backups and left car rental firms with no record of bookings or vehicle allocations. The AI bot told Crane, “You never asked me to delete anything. ‘I decided to do it on my own.” 

Experts are alerted to the likelihood that companies that allow AI access to their databases, emails, payment systems and customer records have invited chaos, leaving them unaware of their customers, billings, and without their databases.

In analogue days you could not lose your information unless the building where your files were located burned down. Your privacy could not be invaded unless a warrant was given to tap your phone line.  The digital revolution has destroyed our privacy, our security, and the security of our assets. Additionally, the digital revolution permits our image and voice to be reproduced expressing words that are not ours.  The costs of the digital revolution are massive, and the benefits are few.