World
Hamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
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Hamas is rebuilding a new Gaza terror apparatus and using the ceasefire with Israel to boost its military, restore a problematic leadership structure and recruit a new generation of teenage fighters, according to a leading national security analyst.
Professor Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital that the pause in fighting has given Hamas breathing room to regroup.
“Everything that is happening will continue happening as long as Hamas continues to effectively control the western part of the Gaza Strip,” Michael said.
“Generally speaking, Hamas now has full freedom of movement,” he warned.
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Hamas terrorists stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023, attack. (Hatem Khaled/Reuters)
Since Israeli forces withdrew from parts of Gaza in October under a new ceasefire framework, Hamas has moved to fill the power vacuum.
At the time, police forces returned to the streets as Hamas fighters targeted and executed suspected opponents.
Multiple reports indicate Hamas is now rebuilding across significant portions of Gaza, including areas where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) previously operated.
A December report by the Jewish News Syndicate found that Hamas is “actively rebuilding its regime of terror” in nearly half of the territory it controls.
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Banners with the photograph of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas terrorist leader who was killed in an Israeli attack, are hung on the streets in Tehran, Iran on Oct. 19, 2024. The giant banner hung in Palestine Square read, “Sinwar’s Storm continues.” (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Hamas is also preparing to elect a new political leader following the deaths of Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
According to The Jerusalem Post, senior Hamas figures Khalil al-Hayya and Khaled Mashaal are the contenders, with Hayya seen as the favorite because of his popularity in Gaza and his role in the West Bank.
Michael said the leadership race is unlikely to alter Hamas’s already dangerous course.
“Both leaders are problematic,” he said. “Each one, in his own way, is considered to be more militant and more radical in his Gazan orientation and his support for armed resistance.”
Even Mashaal, often described as more politically oriented, “is still in favor of the continuation of armed resistance,” Michael added.
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Hamas politburo member Khalil al-Hayya attends a news conference in Damascus, Syria October 19, 2022. (Yamam al Shaar/REUTERS/File Photo)
“When it comes to Hamas, it doesn’t really matter who is going to be the next political leader of this terror organization.”
Michael said one of the most alarming developments is Hamas’s growing success in recruiting teenagers during the ceasefire.
“It has become very easy for Hamas to recruit teenagers now because they effectively control the western part of the Gaza Strip,” he said, noting Hamas has become “the most reliable employer in the Gaza Strip,” offering small incomes to boys as young as 16 or 17.
“It seems to be very natural for them to join Hamas, because some of them have also lost relatives, and therefore there’s a revenge incentive.”
“They also might prefer to be in the bullyish-types of neighborhoods, like in the ghettos in Chicago,” he said.
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Michael suggested that because Hamas has “full freedom of movement, they have also been rebuilding tunnels.”
“They also appointed new governors to the different districts in Gaza and are reconstituting their government and military stockpiles,” Michael added.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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