Iran lays out six conditions for ending the war with the US and Israel, including war reparations from both, the closure of all American bases in the Mideast, and the extradition of anti-Iranian journalists.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Iran has issued sweeping demands it says must be fulfilled if the United States wants the current conflict to end, a senior Iranian political and security official said over the weekend.

On Sunday, the Iranian official spoke with Al-Mayadeen, a pro-Iranian Lebanese media outlet affiliated with the Iran-aligned Hezbollah terror organization.

The official said that regional mediators have conveyed various proposals to Iran regarding terms for ending the current war.

However, the official emphasized that the Islamic Republic has drafted a list of six demands that “must be taken seriously” if the United States is interested in ending the conflict.

First, the United States and Israel must halt all hostilities toward Iran and offer guarantees that they will not strike Iran again.

The US must also shutter all its military facilities in the Middle East.

Both Israel and the United States must pay Iran war reparations, compensating the Islamic Republic for damage suffered during the war.

Fourth, the US and Israel must stop all attacks on pro-Iranian proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran is also demanding that a new regime be established to govern the Strait of Hormuz.

Finally, Tehran insists that foreign journalists whom it asserts are hostile to Iran be prosecuted and extradited to Iran.

The official claimed that the conflict with the US and Israel, which has reportedly left more than 6,000 people in Iran dead and tens of thousands injured – mostly regime officials, soldiers, and militia members – is proceeding according to plans laid out by Tehran in advance.

“What Iran is currently implementing in its defensive war is a plan it prepared several months ago…stage by stage and with great strategic patience.”

Iran, he continued, has secured “full control” over Israeli airspace, claiming that Israel’s air defense network has been destroyed.

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After imposing ban on Al Jazeera, Israeli government votes to bar pro-Hezbollah channel from Lebanon from operating in Israel.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

The Israeli government approved on Sunday a plan to block Al-Mayadeen News, a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese TV station operating in Israel.

The plan, initiated by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, would block Al-Mayadeen websites and confiscate its equipment.

The Beirut-based station drew Israeli attention in July in the aftermath of Hezbollah’s deadly rocket attack in Majdal Shams where 12 children were killed on a soccer field.

Reporting from the soccer field the day after the deadly attack, reporter Hanaa Mahamid, claimed on the air that the children were killed in “an Israeli attack,” and insisted that Majdal Shams residents were skeptical that the rocket had been fired by Hezbollah. Mahamid referred to the area as “the occupied Syrian Golan” and described the town’s mood as “a scene of resistance to the occupation.”

Mahamid is an Israeli-Arab citizen and resident of Tira. It is believed that she broadcasted herself in Majdal Shams through her phone.

The ban on Al-Mayadeen is being enforced under the terms of the “Al-Jazeera Law,” which allows Israel to temporarily end the operations of news services deemed harmful to national security, including revoking press credentials, confiscating transmitters and blocking websites. The shutdown is not permanent but is subject to renewal every 45 days. The Knesset is currently advancing legislation that would extend the ban to renewable 90-day intervals.

The law is known as the Al Jazeera Law because it was first applied to the Qatari news station.

Efforts to ban Al Jazeera gained momentum in February after reporter Mohamed Washah was exposed as a Hamas commander. Soldiers recovered his laptop in northern Gaza and discovered he played a prominent role in the terror group’s anti-armor missile systems. In October, Al Jazeera was accused of endangering Israeli soldiers by exposing details of where forces were assembling, prompting the Cabinet to approve emergency regulations to temporarily shut down Al Jazeera operations in Israel.

The Tel Aviv District Court in July accepted the state’s request to ban the Qatari network, saying its broadcasts were “a real violation of state security.”

Hamas computer files subsequently seized by the Israeli military also confirmed that Al Jazeera reporter Ismail al-Ghoul was a member of the terror group.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 111 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.

Nearly 80,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes near the Lebanon border when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October. Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes. The attacks have killed 26 civilians and 18 soldiers.

Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

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An Al Mayadeen reporter claimed that an Israeli airstrike was the cause of the Majdal Shams massacre on Saturday. 

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said he is working to ban the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen TV channel from operating in Israel and is awaiting an opinion from the security establishment.

He was responding to Israeli anger after an Al Mayadeen reporter broadcast live from the Majdal Shams soccer field where 12 children were killed in a Hezbollah rocket strike.

Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based TV station, is a Hezbollah mouthpiece.

“We enacted the regulations in primary legislation. We requested an opinion from security officials as required by law for Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen and another channel or two,” Karhi said.

“We only received [an opinion] for Al Jazeera, and closed them. Al Mayadeen is still in progress. When the opinions are received, we will immediately act to close them,” he added.

“Allowing a Hezbollah reporter to broadcast from the scene of the massacre that Hezbollah carried out is absurd by any standard,” he said.

Reporting from the soccer field the day after the deadly attack, reporter Hanaa Mahamid, claimed on the air that the children were killed in “an Israeli attack,” and insisted that Majdal Shams residents were skeptical that the rocket had been fired by Hezbollah.

Mahamid referred to the area as “the occupied Syrian Golan” and described the town’s mood as “a scene of resistance to the occupation.”

Mahamid is an Israeli-Arab citizen and resident of Tira. It is believed that she broadcasted herself in Majdal Shams through her phone.

This comes against the backdrop of a court ruling that upheld the state’s ban on Al Jazeera.

On Friday, the Tel Aviv District Court accepted the state’s request to ban the Qatari network, saying its broadcasts were “a real violation of state security.”

The ruling said there was sufficient evidence that Al Jazeera’s broadcasts incited terror attacks, including a deadly stabbing attack in Beer-Sheva in March and several others in Jerusalem.

The ruling also cited Al Jazeera’s live feed broadcast from Gaza and an instructional video the network aired explaining how to use a proximity charge to damage a tank.

“This is, therefore, a real danger to the state’s security, although it doesn’t necessarily imply an intent to cause harm on the part of the channel,” the ruling said.

Israel shut down Al Jazeera’s news operations on May 5, revoking the network’s press credentials, confiscating transmitters and blocking its websites.

The shutdown is not permanent but is subject to renewal every 45 days. The Knesset is currently advancing legislation that would extend the ban to renewable 90-day intervals.

Efforts to ban Al Jazeera gained momentum in February after reporter Mohamed Washah was exposed as a Hamas commander.

Soldiers recovered his laptop in northern Gaza and discovered he played a prominent role in the terror group’s anti-armor missile systems.

In October, Al Jazeera was accused of endangering Israeli soldiers by exposing details of where forces were assembling, prompting the Cabinet to approve emergency regulations to temporarily shut down Al Jazeera operations in Israel.

While that move received across-the-board support from the security and diplomatic establishment, it was never implemented as Qatar emerged as a mediator between Israel and Hamas for a hostage swap.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 115 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead.

Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.

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The Biden administration has however decided that its personnel are journalists and the Pentagon should answer their questions.

By Daniel Greenfield, Frontpage Magazine

The Biden administration negotiates with terrorists so why not take questions from them too?

During some of the press circuses during the Trump administration, it was pretty obvious that basic standards for what a press outlet had gone down the toilet. Playboy shouldn’t have a correspondent at press briefings.

And now neither should Hezbollah.

On Wednesday, Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, fielded a question during a briefing about tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border from Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese outlet with ties to Hezbollah. She also took a follow-up question from the publication.

“The Pentagon is answering questions put to it directly by Al Mayadeen, a Hezbollah propaganda outlet. What the hell is any U.S. government spokesperson doing talking to Hezbollah?” wrote Michael Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of its Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East.

Al Mayadeen was launched during the Syrian Civil War to provide a counterpoint to Al Jazeera siding with the Sunnis. Israel shut it down after Oct 7.

But you can look at Al Mayadeen headlines such as…

“‘Israel’ would lose war against Hezbollah within 24 hours”

“Israeli officials’ jaws drop over Hezbollah’s complex operations”

and

“The scenario of overthrowing the regime in #Iran is impossible and this is completely out of the question.”

…and decide just what it is.

The Biden administration has however decided that its personnel are journalists and the Pentagon should answer their questions.

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The government intends to close the station’s office, confiscate its equipment, and block Al Mayadeen from using communications infrastructure to broadcast.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israel’s Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi signed an order on Monday morning banning the activities of Al-Mayadeen, a Hezbollah-affiliated TV station based in Beirut.

Karhi signed off on the order after getting authorization from the political-security cabinet.

Like Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, the Lebanese Al Mayadeen has been accused of serving as a propaganda channel for the Hamas terrorist group following its Oct. 7 mass slaughter of Israeli civilians.

The channel employs an Arab-Israeli reporter by the name of Hana Mahamid, who uses the Hamas terror group’s name for the current war of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.”

A recent investigation by Israel’s Makor Rishon newspaper found that Al Mayadeen broadcast photos of Israeli soldiers in a way that allowed Hamas terrorists to identify their locations. The station also repeats Hamas propaganda saying residents of northern Gaza should not evacuate to the safety zone in the south of the Strip, so they can be used as human shields.

Mahamid was recently confronted by Channel 12’s Haim Etgar, who accused her and the channel of broadcasting the propaganda of Hamas.

The government intends to close the station’s office, confiscate its equipment, and block Al Mayadeen from using communications infrastructure to broadcast.

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Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is expected to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to note the decision to close Al Mayadeen at the next Political-Security Cabinet meeting.

By TPS

The Israeli government is considering shutting down the activities of the Hezbollah-affiliated, Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV news channel in the country, according to Hebrew media reports.

On Monday, the government approved emergency regulations allowing foreign channels hostile to the Jewish state, such as Al Jazeera and Al Mayadeen, to be prevented from operating in Israel during the war.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is expected to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to note the decision to close Al Mayadeen at the next Political-Security Cabinet meeting, according to Kan News, which also reported that the security forces support closing Al Mayadeen.

In order to do so, approval must be given by the Political-Security Cabinet and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Like the Qatari regime’s Al Jazeera, the Lebanese Al Mayadeen has been accused of serving as a propaganda channel for the Hamas terrorist group following its Oct. 7 mass slaughter of Israeli civilians.

The channel employs an Arab-Israeli reporter by the name of Hana Mahamid, who uses the Hamas terror group’s name for the current war of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” according to a report in Makor Rishon.

According to the report, Al Mayadeen broadcasts photos of Israeli soldiers in a way that allows Hamas terrorists to identify their locations. It also repeats propaganda Hamas pushes saying residents of northern Gaza should not evacuate to the safety zone in the south of the Strip, so they can be used as human shields.

On Monday, Mahamid was confronted by Channel 12’s Haim Etgar, who accused her and the channel of broadcasting the propaganda of Hamas.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Government Press Office demanded explanations from the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, and the New York Times over the conduct of six Gaza-based photographers who were present during the Oct. 7 attacks.

The report published on Wednesday by HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog, questioned whether the photographers had advance knowledge of the attacks, in which 1,400 people were killed.

The National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement on Thursday saying it “views with utmost gravity that photojournalists working with international media joined in covering the brutal acts of murder perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on Saturday, October 7th, in the communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip.”

The statement added: “These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics,” and demanded that action be taken against the photographers.

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