Today, Hamas says it has 200 hostages, and that 50 more are held by other armed terror groups in Gaza {link}.  Keep in mind, the motives of all the participating actors to twist the truth.  If the Hamas claim is accepted, and considering how these groups operate, the 50 held by “others” are better off dead.

That said, today two of the USA hostages held by Hamas were released.  I’ll get into the predictability, the non-pretending version, of this play after the media outline of the release.  The White House also took a victory lap {SEE HERE}.

(CBS) – Two U.S. hostages, a mother and a daughter, have been released by Hamas, officials announced Friday. The freed hostages were identified as Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, according to a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office.

Additional details about the release weren’t immediately available. The pair are with the Red Cross, “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan reported.  A message posted to a Hamas-affiliated Telegram channel said the release was made for “humanitarian reasons.”  (read more)

♦ Non-Pretending Predictability.  Hamas, Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Biden administration are all working together.  This is a geopolitical dynamic of merged interests aligned in common cause against the nation state of Israel.  The transparency of a slow-drip hostage release, and the Western media spotlight upon it is predictable.

Everything is being done to stall, impede, slowdown and interfere in the Israeli War against Hamas.  Within this dynamic the Brotherhood, Qatar, Hamas and the White House have the same objective.  Trust me; Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia can see it very clearly.

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In advance of Biden’s national address, here’s my take on the policy agenda and what they won’t say.

Obama/Biden et al, want a Two State solution for Israel and the Palestinians.  I believe all efforts are underway to exploit the 10/7/23 terrorist attack to advance that agenda.  Netanyahu is being carefully painted into a position where the survival of Israel will be contingent upon accepting this two-state solution, which essentially means -in the long picture- the elimination of the Israeli state.

Biden will give the outward face of complete support toward Israel; however, the background work will be to protect Gaza, and thereby Hamas, and controllably expand -if needed- the regional conflict, such that a two-state solution becomes the only viable option for the survival of Israel.  Efforts by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood and by extension Iran, will appear to be confronted by Biden, but only insofar as the need for USA military support becomes more important and that process paints Netanyahu into a corner.

If I’m right, things are going to get really ugly/sketchy as Biden walks this ridiculous tightrope, and King Abdullah, President al-Sisi and MbS can see it coming.  FUBAR. Pray for the nation state of Israel.  Remember, with disposable one-term Biden in the White House, team Obama have no downside.

UPDATE: VIDEO ADDED

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Something about this story just doesn’t pass the proverbial sniff test.

It is 1,300 straight line miles from Yemen to Israel; add in the Red Sea path claimed, and you add another approximately 200 miles.  So, the claim is around 1,500 +/- miles.

The Raytheon built Tomahawk cruise missile, with GPS enabling, some of the most advanced cruise missile tech in the world, has a max targeting distance of 1,000 miles [LINK].  How the hell did Yemen get missiles and drones capable of flying 1,500 targeted miles?

Additionally, if Yemen had this level of missile technology available, the Houthi rebels would have flown them at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over the past decade during their war.

Now that I have shared that context, look carefully at how the statements are worded (emphasis mine).

(VIA ABC) – The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer in the Red Sea, on Thursday shot down multiple missiles launched by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen that the Pentagon said were potentially headed toward targets in Israel.

The ship intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and about eight drones, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a press briefing.

The preliminary U.S. assessment was that the USS Carney was not the target of any of the Houthi missiles or drones.

Information about the engagements was still being processed, Ryder said. “We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea potentially to targets in Israel.

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As the eyes of the world are paying attention, this is the image the people running the White House presented to the world.

[SOURCE – NBC News]

Take a good look at the optics, because professional Democrats are all about the optics. Meanwhile in Beijing, more than 20 heads of state -including Russia’s Vladimir Putin- are assembled to celebrate China’s 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

King Abdullah II (Jordan) refuses to meet with Biden.  President Fattah Abdel al-Sisi (Egypt) refuses to meet with Biden.  Both mentioned nations border Israel, the West Bank and Gaza respectively.  The only leader in the region that accepted Biden was Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, and that was specifically because the people around Biden demanded Netanyahu send an invitation.

Does that sound like “influence”?

Within that dynamic you will find the desperate reason for this next action by the White House.

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On the issue of foreign policy influence, and on the issue of rebranding his political campaign Joe Biden’s trip to Israel was abject failure. Jordan, Egypt and even the Palestinian Authority refused to meet with him. The only thing left for the team in control of Joe Biden to do, was shift the purpose of the trip into a dynamic of magnanimous Joe wanting to fly around the world to provide moral support.  Because Zoom and phone calls were not an option. lol

I’ll have more on this in a few minutes.  In the interim here’s the officially prepared speech that Joe Biden read as prepared for him by the people in charge of foreign policy. WATCH:

[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Please have a seat. I come to Israel with a single message: You are not alone. You are not alone.

As long as the United States stands — and we will stand forever — we will not let you ever be alone.

Most importantly, the — I know the recent terrorist assault on the people of this nation has left a deep, deep wound.

More than 1,300 innocent Israelis killed, including at least 31 American citizens, by the terrorist group Hamas.

Hundreds — hundreds of young people at a music festival of — the festival was for peace — for peace — gunned down as they ran for their lives.

Scores of innocents — from infants to elderly grandparents, Israelis and Americans — taken hostage.

Children slaughtered. Babies slaughtered. Entire families massacred.

Rape, beheadings, bodies burned alive.

Hamas committed atrocities that recall the worst ravages of ISIS, unleashing pure unadulterated evil upon the world.

There is no rationalizing it, no excusing it. Period.

The brutality we saw would have cut deep anywhere in the world, but it cuts deeper here in Israel.

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President Trump delivered remarks to reporters before entering the New York City courtroom today, noting the hospital blast in Gaza City -likely the result of a failed Hamas missile launch- that killed over 500 people Tuesday.

“It’s a terrible thing, it’s a shame,” President Trump said. “The attack on Israel should have never happened. And it would not have happened if they had a different president, I can tell you that.” WATCH:

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In discussion of the Middle East, the current dynamic of Hamas attacking Israel, and the necessary, albeit perhaps painful response that will now be delivered by Israel, some have noted Obama’s fingerprints are all over this.  It’s true, and it is worth remembering the history of this as it pertains to the U.S. triggering the Arab Spring as the first deployment of Obama’s foreign policy.

Obama didn’t travel to Cairo, Egypt for his first foreign policy trip accidentally; he did it with great intent and purpose.

The layers and layers of ideologues he and Hillary embedded in the institutions of the State Dept are as deep as the layers of ideologues Obama embedded in Main Justice and the intelligence community.

The time when Barry needed to give directions is long past. The embeds are self-aware, acting on purpose, and the outcomes we see today are simply manifestations of that activity.

It is also worth remembering there’s an entire new generation of people, who were in their 20’s and 30’s comfortably oblivious to what was taking place between 2009 and 2017, when the embeds were installed.  That era of the American people is only now starting to have their own slow awakening to the damage as it surfaces.

When Obama aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, only a small percentage of the American people actually saw the big picture and realized the potential for long term issues.  Few people understood the nature of how political Islam would manifest with the extremist ideologues under their guide of the Brotherhood as an organization. Al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah et al, all fall under the extremist rubric of the Brotherhood, or what might be considered authentic Islam.

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Joe Biden was literally in the air, flying toward the region when Jordan’s King Abdullah just cancelled the summit between Egyptian President al-Sisi, Abdullah and Biden. This is more than a little sunlight on who Abdullah was talking about earlier when he said, “the usual suspects were trying to create Defacto issues on the ground.”

(Reuters) Jordan has cancelled a summit it was to host in Amman on Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders to discuss Gaza, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. (link)

Now tell me again, why Joe Biden is going to Israel?   What strategic value is within this visit?

Yesterday I provided some of my own thoughts on the motives.  “The people behind Joe Biden are sending him to Israel for (1) part of a rebranding effort; and (2) to impede Netanyahu and buy time for Hamas.”

Today, Caroline Glick affirms my perspective and also gives some troubling information about: (a) the White House demanding an invitation; and (b) Anthony Blinken threatening Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back the ground invasion or the U.S. will not allow munitions and bombs Israel needs for resupply.   WATCH:

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EU President Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to provide the Palestinian/Hamas effort with $50 million in supplemental assistance to support the resistance effort against Israeli retaliation.

EU Announcement – “President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to the Secretary General of the UN António Guterres this afternoon, in the context of her on-going contacts with regional leaders.

Following this call, she said: “The Commission will immediately increase the current humanitarian aid envelope foreseen for Gaza by 50 million euros. This will bring the total to over 75 million euros. We will continue our close cooperation with the UN and its agencies to ensure that this aid reaches those in need in the Gaza strip. The Commission supports Israel’s right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorists, in full respect of international humanitarian law. We are working hard to ensure that innocent civilians in Gaza are provided support in this context.”

Commissioner Lenarčič said: “The Commission is doing everything in its power to provide humanitarian support to civilians in the Gaza strip. This tripling of EU humanitarian assistance will help ensure that civilians in Gaza can be provided with the basic necessities required. It is essential that safe and unrestricted access for humanitarian aid is ensured.”  (Read more)

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Oh man, this is going to make the leftist/globalists go nuts.  Keep in mind, King Abdullah of Jordan is speaking directly, forcefully and without pretending on the eve of Barack Obama and Joe Biden launching an effort to use the Gaza crisis to stir up regional trouble.

This video snippet is absolutely perfect, from the position of those pragmatic nationalists who want a long-term solution that applies pressure on the Palestinian people to solve their own problems.  They want Hamas; they have Hamas.  King Abdullah, along with Egyptian President al-Sisi, are not going to be pawns in the refugee games Obama and Biden intend on playing.

Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz had requested Jordan take in Palestinian refugees; Abdullah shut that down immediately and without equivocation.  King Abdullah, speaking on behalf of President al-Sisi, just crushed Scholz in front of the international media and draws a red line.  WATCH: 

[Also, eff the AFP who have blocked CTH from their video segments.]

You will not see these remarks by King Abdullah II shared widely on Western media, because it just doesn’t fit the Palestinian refugee narrative.

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