The family of a hostage held by Hamas have told of how they have been unable to grieve for three relatives murdered by the terrorist group. Steve Brisley, who is campaigning to free his brother-in-law Eli Sharabi, also said he feared that time was running out for hostages. Mr. Brisley, 47, from Bridgend in South Wales, also revealed that neither he nor his family had been able to grieve for his sister, Lianne Sharabi and her daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, who were murdered in their home on Kibbutz Be’eri by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. As part of…

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday he has instructed the military to formulate a two-fold plan to evacuate civilians from the city of Rafah, the last neighbourhood where Gazans have sought refuge – and to defeat the remaining Hamas battalions. “It is impossible to achieve the war objective of eliminating Hamas and leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat”. “Therefore”, the statement continued, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF and the security establishment…

In a historic moment for space exploration, Axiom Space has successfully concluded its third all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission, aptly named Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), stands out as the first all-European commercial astronaut mission, bringing together astronauts from Turkey, Spain, Italy, and Sweden.  As the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida on Friday, marking the first human spaceflight of the year, the significance of this achievement reverberates not only in scientific circles but also in the hearts of those who recognise the collaborative efforts behind this mission. Paving the Way:…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly contemplating a deal that could see the release of Hamas’ top terrorist chief, Yahya Sinwar, who plotted the savage 07 October attacks on Israel. The deal would involve freeing him in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas. Sinwar, who has led the political wing of Hamas in Gaza since 2017, has a notorious history of orchestrating attacks on Israel and served 22 years in prison before being released in a 2011 prisoner exchange. The Israeli government initially said Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ military wing must…

The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against targets linked to Houthis in Yemen. It’s the first time strikes have been launched against the Iran-backed group since it started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year. An international alliance is backing the action, with a joint statement by the governments of Australia; Bahrain; Belgium; Canada; Denmark; Germany; Italy; Japan; Netherlands; New Zealand; Republic of Korea; Singapore; United Kingdom; and United States. It said, “Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The Houthis will…

The CIA assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s notorious Quds Force, in a drone attack in 2020 was designed to send a message to Iran’s most powerful leaders. Washington wanted Tehran’s ruling elite – those religious leaders and military chiefs responsible for exporting Shia terrorism around the Middle East and across the world – to understand that for them nowhere was safe. Soleimani’s death was public, dramatic and sent shockwaves across the Islamic republic. Within minutes of his demise, the attack, and what was left of Soleimani’s shredded body, was being broadcast around the world on TV…

President Biden on Friday at 1:30 pm ET will oversee the transfer of the bodies of three American service members who lost their lives in a drone attack carried out by Iran-backed militants last Sunday at an air base in Jordan. The killings mark the first time that US military personnel lives have been lost in the region since the 07 October Hamas attacks on Israel. The bodies of William Jerome Rivers, 46; Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23 will arrive at an air force base in Dover, Delaware, where they will be received with military honours.…

The past year’s wars in the Middle East have long been complex and devastating, shaped by a multitude of factors. In recent years, a new player has emerged on the battlefield: artificial intelligence (AI). AI’s role in these conflicts is multifaceted, offering both potential benefits and risks that deserve careful consideration. National security relevant AI systems broadly fall into two categories: upstream tasks, such as intelligence, surveillance, and information management; and downstream tasks, such as target selection and engagement. On the Offensive Side Over the past few years, the world has seen an ever-growing AI arms race, as countries and…

The past will not tell you what is about to happen but it can point you in the right direction of what you might expect to unfold, and yet we in the West are so wrapped up in the day-to-day business of getting by, politics, making money, and social interactions we fail to learn from our immediate and distant past. So while I would not recommend attempting to drive your geopolitical car by merely looking in the rear view mirror, that mirror does deserve a little more attention. Russia is such a case. The litany of illegal, inappropriate, and indifferent…

State-sponsored computer hackers are weaponising artificial intelligence to launch cyberattacks against western militaries, governments, and private companies, according to a leading industry chief. Potential targets will need to adopt a form of collective cyber defence to protect themselves from sophisticated attacks by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, the head of one cybersecurity company has said. In an interview with National Security News, Linda Zecher, the Chief Executive Officer of IronNet, a leading cyber security company, said that “bad actors” were now using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in cyber warfare as part of an attempt to disrupt…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday met with 26 representatives of 18 families in Jerusalem who have family members still held captive in Gaza. US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, announced on Wednesday a robust initiative for a second hostage deal, aiming for an extended ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Addressing the UN Security Council in New York, she said, “Hamas now has a choice to make”. “It can continue to dig tunnels, to plan for its next attack, to use civilians and civilian infrastructure as human shields, or Hamas can lay down its weapons and accept the…

  Iran has secretly supplied Sudan’s armed forces with combat drones in a new intervention which risks further destabilising the region.  The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has been equipped with the Mohajer-6, a single-engine unmanned aircraft which can carry up to four air-to-surface missiles and surveillance equipment.  The drone is manufactured in Iran by Quds Air Industries and is already believed to have been used in several battles in the Sudanese conflict.  Iran’s intervention in the nine-month conflict on the side of the country’s armed forces is linked to Tehran’s desire to increase its influence over the crucial Red Sea area. …