Pakistan’s defense minister threatens ‘illegitimate’ Israel after inking pact with Saudis, Turkey

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/pakistans-defense-minister-threatens-illegitimate-israel-after-inking-pact-with-saudis-turkey/

Khawaja Asif urges Muslims to form ‘united military front’ against Jewish state, which he calls ‘a product of the Balfour Declaration’ while ignoring UK role in his own country’s creation

Khawaja Asif urges Muslims to form ‘united military front’ against Jewish state, which he calls ‘a product of the Balfour Declaration’ while ignoring UK role in his own country’s creation.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday told a news outlet in his country that “Israel is a threat to the entire Muslim world,” and called for “a united military front” against it, just a day after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed a joint defense agreement.

“In the context of Israel, all Muslim countries must unite. I have no doubt about this,” Asif said

“Israel is a product of the Balfour Declaration, which was established in the 1940s as an illegitimate state, and it could pose a direct threat to any of the countries in the region,” he continued, referring to the 1917 British declaration of support for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish People in the Land of Israel, setting the stage for Israeli independence three decades later. Pakistan was similarly established on the basis of a British declaration in 1947, just a year before the founding of Israel.

Asif, who has in the past called Israel “evil and a curse for humanity,” and a “cancerous state,” told the interviewers that his fierce opposition to Israel will not change even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defeated in this year’s elections, which are set for October 27.

“No matter who comes to power in Jerusalem – whether it’s [former premier Naftali] Bennett or any other leader – the differences are only marginal,” Asif said.

“Their attitude towards the Palestinians and their anti-Islamic mindset will not disappear. They continue to incite Muslim countries against each other,” he charged, “and as long as the Palestinian issue is not permanently resolved, the Islamic world must stand against them as one.”

There was no immediate Israeli reaction to Asif’s threat. After his since-deleted social media post earlier this year labeling Israel “cancerous,” in which he also called “to get rid of European jews [sic],” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his “call for Israel’s annihilation is outrageous,” particularly coming from a member of a government “that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace,” referring to Islamabad’s role as a mediator in talks between Washington and Tehran on ending the US-Israel war against Iran. Israel is not a party to those negotiations.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel. It voted against the establishment of modern Israel at the UN in 1947, does not recognize Israeli sovereignty, and says it will not do so until a Palestinian state is established along the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital. During a visit to India in 2018, Netanyahu said: “We are not enemies of Pakistan and Pakistan should not be our enemy either.”

That same year, the Mossad spy agency seized a trove of nuclear documents from a Tehran warehouse in 2018, detailing Iran’s program to build nuclear weapons, which reporters from the New York Times who viewed the archive said was carried out with foreign assistance, “Much [of which] was clearly from Pakistan.”

Separately Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the trilateral pact that Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a day earlier is technically the same as NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense agreement, meaning that an attack on any of the three countries would be considered an attack on them all.

In this photo released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from left, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan pose for photo prior to their meeting to discuss the Iran war, in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 29, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency, Fidan said a committee of ministers similar to that within NATO would be formed as part of the alliance, as well as a general secretariat based in Saudi Arabia. Egypt could potentially join the pact once certain technical matters are resolved, he said.

Fidan added the accord was not targeting Iran and declared the safety of commercial ships in the Red Sea was a Turkish interest, therefore requiring Ankara to be involved in a Saudi-led military coalition aimed at thwarting attacks by Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi rebels.

He stated that the allies would decide through consultations what degree, form, and format of support they would ask for in the event of an attack, but that no country would be considered a threat as long as a member state is not attacked.

Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army, has said the pact was open to expansion to other regional countries and did not seek to replace any existing alliances.

“NATO is a giant military alliance where there are 32 countries. We have started here as three countries and we have to take very humble but concrete steps,” Fidan said, adding efforts to finalize the pact had been underway for two years and eight months.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Ancient Hydraulics: Ancient Bath Complex Found North of Suez Canal

https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-904863

Complete bath complex, ancient hydraulic system uncovered north of Suez Canal

The layer is marked by remnants of ancient Cypriot pottery and Greek amphorae

     Aerial photos of ancient bathing complex

Archaeologists unearthed the first complete bathing facilities to be found, at the Tell Nasser archaeological site in Port Said, Egypt.

The complex was found during the first excavation season in the area, which sits roughly 40 km south of Port Said and 1.5 km north of the Suez Canal.

Preliminary study of the site's archaeological layers revealed a clear succession of settlement, beginning in the late fourth and early third centuries BCE.

The layer is marked by remnants of ancient Cypriot pottery and Greek amphorae, confirming that settlement of the site began before the construction of the bathing complex.

The layers above it point to a Ptolemaic settlement phase during the second and first centuries BCE, represented by a collection of Rhodian amphora stamps found alongside other local and imported pottery.

Ancient hydraulic system unearthed at site

The discovery is significant for two reasons: the first being the documentation of the first complete bathing complex to be unearthed at Tell Nasser, and the second being confirmation that the site was settled prior to Ptolemaic period while showing that it was in use throughout the Roman period as well.

The discovery offers a full picture of ancient hydraulic engineering in the eastern Delta region and bears similarities to known Hellenistic baths found elsewhere in Egypt, including the recently discovered bath at Tell el-Herr in northern Sinai.

What sets the Tell Nasser complex apart from other bathing complexes found in Egypt is that it combines a private bathing unit with the public bath, together with a complete water supply and drainage system.

The private bathing unit is centered on a circular basin that measures at around 2.5 meters across, made of red brick and lined with moisture-resistant pink mortar.

Nearby is a low structure believed to have been used for heating water.

Evidence of continued use of complex through Roman period

The complex was likely built in the late first century BCE and remained in use through the Roman period, with architectural evidence pointing to a series of modifications over time.

Later though, during the late Roman period, parts of the complex appear to have been repurposed for storage, as suggested by Gaza amphorae recovered from the site.

The public baths consist of two circular rooms, or tholoi, each measuring about five meters in diameter.

The first room held five footbaths, three of which have survived in good condition.

Each of the five features a backrest, side armrests, and a rounded recess for the feet, along with three rectangular basins and a quarter-circular basin used to collect and distribute water.

The floor was finished in slip-resistant hydraulic mortar, with a drainage opening linked to the site's internal drainage network.

A complete hydraulic system had been uncovered during excavations.

The find included a six-meter-long water supply channel made of red brick, with part of the channel covered by a vaulted red-brick roof, and a complete drainage network.

An older channel was found beneath it, and remnants of residential walls were unearthed during excavations of the area, giving archaeologists evidence that the site went through even earlier phases of construction.

The discovery adds “new insight into the history of settlement and the development of architecture and public services in the eastern Delta during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.”

https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-904863

Extensive Ptolemaic-Roman Bathing Complex Unearthed in Egypt

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered an incredible bathing complex at the Tell Nasser archaeological site in Port Said. The complex is the first to be found in the region and helps us to better understand the settlement’s history, its architectural style, and evolution of public services in the eastern Nile Delta during Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The complex, which includes both public and private bathing facilities, demonstrates an advanced level of hydraulic engineering and suggests the area was occupied much earlier than previously thought.

Tell Nasser is located approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Port Said and 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Qantara West. The discovery underscores the archaeological significance of the Port Said region and highlights its potential for further historical research into the growth of settlements in the eastern Nile Delta.

Traces of a Pre-Ptolemaic Settlement

Preliminary analysis of the archaeological layers at Tell Nasser has revealed that the site was occupied long before the construction of the bathing complex. The earliest remains date back to the late fourth and early third centuries BC, preceding the Ptolemaic period. The presence of Cypriot-style pottery and Greek amphorae confirms the existence of an earlier settlement at the site.

Later Ptolemaic layers, dating from the second and first centuries BC, yielded stamped Rhodian amphorae along with a mix of locally made and imported pottery. These findings point to continued occupation and active trade in the region. The Tell Nasser excavation marks the first time a complete bathing complex has been scientifically uncovered in the area. The findings also indicate that the complex remained in use during the Roman period, undergoing architectural modifications while continuing to serve its original function.

Advanced Hydraulic Engineering and Design

The Tell Nasser bathing complex stands out as one of the most complete examples of ancient hydraulic engineering discovered in the eastern Nile Delta. While its design shares similarities with Hellenistic baths previously found in Egypt, such as the recently excavated bath at Tell El-Herr in North Sinai, the Tell Nasser complex is unique in its inclusion of both public baths and a separate private bathing unit, all connected by an integrated water supply and drainage system.

The private bath features a circular basin measuring about 2.5 meters (8 feet) in diameter, constructed from fired red bricks and coated with waterproof pink plaster. Archaeologists also discovered two oval foot baths, drainage channels, and a low-built structure likely used for heating water.

The public baths include two circular rooms, or tholoi, each measuring about 5 meters (16 feet) across. One of these rooms contains five foot-bathing stations, three of which are largely intact, complete with built-in backrests, armrests, and circular foot basins.

A Sophisticated Water Management System

The sophisticated water management system is built around a fired-brick channel nearly 6 meters (20 feet) long, which was raised above ground and partly covered by a vaulted brick roof to protect the water as it flowed through the complex.

     Circular bathing room

In addition to the main conduit, excavators found an integrated drainage network, an older water channel beneath the primary one, and buried residential walls. These findings confirm that Tell Nasser experienced multiple phases of construction prior to the establishment of the bath complex.

The complex was likely built in the late first century BC and remained in use until the second century AD. This timeline is supported by pottery recovered from the site, including lamps, plates, and tableware. During the Late Roman period, parts of the complex were converted into storage areas, as evidenced by the discovery of Gaza amphorae. The artifacts recovered, including stamped Rhodian amphorae bearing Greek names, have been crucial in dating the site’s archaeological layers and reconstructing its history from the pre-Ptolemaic period through the Roman era.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/tell-nasser-bath-complex-00103044

     Some coins found at site

The earliest layer predates the Ptolemaic period, dating to the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC, and is represented by Cypriot pottery traditions and Greek amphorae, confirming the existence of an earlier settlement before the construction of the bath complex. The subsequent layers indicate Ptolemaic occupation during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, represented by a collection of Rhodian amphora stamps together with locally produced and imported pottery.

The excavations also uncovered a complete hydraulic system, including a main water-supply channel built of fired brick and extending nearly six m. The channel was elevated above ground level to protect the water during transport, and part of it was covered by a barrel-vaulted brick roof. The mission also revealed a comprehensive drainage network, as well as an extension of a fired-brick wall beneath the water channel. In addition, archaeologists uncovered an earlier water channel beneath the current supply channel, together with the remains of residential walls beneath the overlying deposits, confirming earlier building phases at the site.

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2026/07/31/complete-bathing-complex-discovered-at-tell-nasser-archaeological-site-in-port-said/

After centuries in India, the last Cochin Jews try to keep their history alive

apnews.com/article/kochi-india-cochin-jews-preserve-history-86dc7f2069338cd5903b562330a4b12f

KOCHI, India (AP) — As the sun set over Kochi’s historic Jew Town neighborhood, Keith Hallegua donned a gray kippah and began a solitary walk to the synagogue at the end of his cobbled street.
It was Shavuot, the Jewish holiday commemorating God giving the Torah to Moses. Hallegua reached the 458-year-old Paradesi Synagogue where he knew he would pray alone — without a minyan, the quorum of 10 males required for a communal service there.
Hallegua is the synagogue’s last local congregant — the only Jew left in Jew Town.
Across the city at the centuries-old Kadavumbagam Synagogue, Elias “Babu” Josephai remembered the “chukkunda” — fried dough balls his grandmother used to make for Shavuot.

“It wasn’t much,” he said, wiping away tears. “But at that time, it was everything.”

They ache for what’s already gone and work to preserve what’s left.
In the 1950s, much of the Jewish community in Kochi (historically known as Cochin), a seaport on India’s southwestern coast, immigrated to Israel. They left behind their homes, synagogues and cemeteries, including those in Jew Town, which has long-been the official name of the neighborhood.

The burden of being the last Jews

Hallegua and Josephai stayed. Now they represent the final chapter for the Cochin Jews who have lived peacefully — and without fear of antisemitism — for centuries alongside Hindu, Muslim and Christian neighbors. There are now fewer than 5,000 Jews in all of India, the world’s most populous country.

Visitors walk past a sign featuring a map of Kochi and details about the Paradesi Synagogue and the Jewish cemetery in the historic Jew Town neighborhood. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

But the Cochin Jewish community’s complex history includes both religious freedom and internal divisions over class and colorism. Hallegua is a Paradesi Jew, the once-dominant group whose fair-skinned, Sephardic ancestors from Spain and Portugal fled the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th century. They brought enslaved people with them, and their freed descendants, known as the Meshuchrarim Jews, were relegated to a lower social status and had to fight for religious equality.
Josephai is a Malabari Jew. The group’s darker-skinned ancestors trace their roots back more than 2,000 years, to King Solomon’s time. They also faced past discrimination from the Paradesi community. While these divisions didn’t survive after the Cochin Jews migrated to Israel and elsewhere, the bitter remnants still haunt the community’s legacy.
Though Hallegua and Josephai rarely meet, both are intensely proud of their ancient heritage.
Josephai spent years resurrecting Kadavumbagam Synagogue, the last functioning Malabari house of worship. Services are rare; it’s up to Josephai to light the lamps and keep the prayers going, often alone. He weeps for the past, when the synagogue was filled with people, prayers and songs.
“That will never come back,” he said.
Hallegua is the last local member of Paradesi Synagogue, which now relies on tourists and visitors to have a quorum for services.
“Quite often, I walk to the synagogue and I ask HaShem (God), why have you done this?” Hallegua said. “I never hear a response.”
On a recent morning, tourists crowded the Paradesi Synagogue and Synagogue Lane, the street it anchors. Former homes are now occupied by spice warehouses and stores selling antiques and handicrafts. Historically, the Jewish community played a major role in the spice trade in Kochi, a hub for black pepper, cardamom and nutmeg.
The synagogue’s entryway leads to a main hall with blue and white Chinese porcelain tile floors. Nineteenth century Belgian crystal chandeliers and colorful glass lanterns adorn the sanctuary. A carved teakwood Torah ark stands at the western wall facing Jerusalem. As in other Kochi synagogues, the women’s section is upstairs. Visitors slip off their shoes, in keeping with regional etiquette.

               

A nun walks through the main hall with its blue-and-white Chinese porcelain tile floor at the Paradesi Synagogue. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

“Synagogue trustee M.C. Praveen says his life’s mission is protecting Cochin Jewish history. Praveen, a Hindu, spent his childhood in Jew Town, attending school with Hallegua’s family members, eating Shabbat dinners, playing cricket near the synagogue.I want to make sure future generations know the history of this town and the people who lived here,” said Praveen, who seeks guidance from the community’s former residents and their far-flung children.
The connections transcend geography. Trustee Shulamit Kotzer, 55, was born in Jew Town and spent vacations there after moving to Israel at age 2. She dreams of opening a hotel in the neighborhood.
“I consider Cochin not a second home, but my home,” she said.
Earlier this year, synagogue leaders opened a museum showcasing Kochi’s Jewish history. It features the settlement’s original deed: two copper plates bearing a Hindu king’s charter from 1000 CE granting the community religious freedom.

Preservation efforts transcend religious ties

Praveen is not the only non-Jew trying to ensure the community’s culture survives. Thaha Ibrahim, a Muslim, forged a profound connection with the late Sarah Cohen, one of the neighborhood’s Jewish matriarchs. He now runs her embroidery shop on Synagogue Lane. Cohen, or “Sarah aunty” as he calls her, taught him how to do Cochin Jewish embroidery.

Keith Hallegua, center, walks past a handicrafts store toward the 458-year-old Paradesi Synagogue in the historic Jew Town neighborhood. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

“I’m teaching my son to do this embroidery so he can continue Sarah aunty’s legacy,” he said.
Ibrahim lights Shabbat candles on Fridays and closes his shop on Saturdays. Muslim-Jewish tensions elsewhere in the world are not a deterrent, he says.
“This is not about religion, it’s about human connection.”
Across the city in Ernakulam, Josephai shoulders the preservation of Malabari Jewish heritage. The 12th century Kadavumbagam Synagogue, which he saved after vandals destroyed it, is tucked behind the store where he sells aquarium fish and plants. The renovated interior features hand-crafted tile and a red-and-gold Torah ark.
Josephai is proud that people of different faiths helped him rebuild. A Muslim donated the lamps, a Christian gave a Ten Commandments plaque, a Hindu foundation paid for the chandeliers.
An oil lamp hangs in front of the ark, its flame kept burning by Josephai. He also keeps the synagogue prayers going, a promise made to his grandmother after his siblings moved to Israel in 1972.

An Indian man prostrates himself in a traditional Hindu gesture of obeisance to the Torah ark during his visit to the Kadavumbagam Synagogue. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Elias Josephai, a Malabari Jew, speaks to The Associated Press at the Kadavumbagam Synagogue. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

“Every Jew has a dream that his last breath should be in Israel,” he said. “I believe my last breath should be inside this synagogue.”
Josephai, 70, hopes a Jewish organization will take over the synagogue, along with the library and museum he is building.
“Once I’m gone, there is no one who can tell these stories,” he said. “But this is our fate and that’s how it is.”
Thapan Dubayehudi, a Malabari Jew who moved to Vienna in 2022, called Josephai “a one-man army” keeping the history alive. He remembers sitting with Josephai as they assembled and lit hundreds of lamps in the sanctuary during Hanukkah.
“I’d carry that memory with me if God gives me 90 years of life,” he said.

A strong identity that is both Indian and Jewish

Keith Hallegua, a Paradesi Jew, stands next to his dining table as his cat walks past at his home in the historic Jew Town neighborhood. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Keith Hallegua also stayed to fulfill family responsibilities.

“Never did I ever think that I would be the last Jew in Jew Town,” said Hallegua, who remained to care for his brother and mother.

His mind teems with memories. Singing the Paradesi Jewish tunes that blended Sephardic chants with local folk elements. The aroma of his mother’s chili chicken. His grandmother’s frantic cleaning ahead of Passover, Hallegua’s favorite season. The new clothes for Rosh Hashanah.

“That’s never going to come back,” Hallegua said.

He realizes his memories will vanish with him. It’s deeply painful, and some days he wants to leave Jew Town. But he is grounded by his homeland and its history.
As he once explained, “I was born a Jew in India and I shall die in India, a Jew.”

An iron stand with a message at the entrance to the historic Jew Town neighborhood. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Dismantling ICC

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/431347

USA vs ICC- Rubio vows to dismantle International Court “brick by brick"

The ICC’s witch hunt against America and Israel

     ICC

Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set the proverbial cat among the pigeons with his recent declaration of his intention to “dismantle" the International Criminal Court (ICC) and urged other nations to join in the effort. Rubio launched the campaign, vowing to employ “all the tools at our government's disposal" to "dismantle the ICC, brick by brick." Against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s escalating actions against the ICC, Rubio accused the court of “waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles," but with “the force of so-called international law."

A warped sense of justice?

The administration’s ire against the ICC dates back to President Trump’s first term, when it targeted the ICC for seeking to investigate alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan. Indeed, the second Trump administration has imposed a slew of sanctions against ICC officials for their attempts to investigate the US and Israel--neither of which is even a member of the ICC.

But the new trigger for the White House's intensifying its punitive action against the ICC was its scandalous issue of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

In a feeble ICC attempt to feign evenhandedness, warrants were also issued against Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Ismail Haniyeh-after their deaths-which, quite apart from the absurdity of equating the perpetrators of the October 7 massacre with those who responded to it, underscores the warped sense of justice the ICC purports to administer.

Gravely misinformed or grossly dishonest

The figure behind these measures was ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who initiated the request for the arrest warrants. Khan has since been forced to leave office following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. According to some sources, the arrest warrants were motivated, at least in part, to divert attention from these allegations.

Significantly, Khan is not the only chief ICC prosecutor against whom allegations of severe impropriety (conducted before, during, or after their term in office) have been leveled.

For example,Fatou Bensouda (2012-2021), who prior to her appointment as Chief ICC prosecutor held top posts in the Gambian judiciary under the brutal military dictatorship that ruled Gambia from 1994 to 2017. Bensouda claimed she had no knowledge of the human rights abuses of the regime she served. However, given her seniority and long association with the regime, this leaves one to ponder which is worse: Whether she really was oblivious of the abuses or whether she was not- whether she was gravely ill-informed or whether she was grossly deceitful.

Sexual misconduct & financial shenanigans?

Likewise, Bensouda's predecessor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, the ICC's first prosecutor (2003-2012), also fell under a cloud of suspicion-both while in office and after leaving it.

Thus, Ocampo was accused of sexual misconduct (2005) in South Africa by an ICC whistleblower. Although Ocampo's ICC cronies dismissed the charges, the whistleblower was vindictively dismissed by Ocampo himself-despite the ICC’s own internal Disciplinary Advisory Board’s call to rescind the dismissal. Undeterred, the whistleblower appealed to the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which found resoundingly in his favor, awarding him substantial monetary compensation, casting further doubts on the ICC’s integrity.

After leaving the ICC in 2012, Ocampo became the subject of several allegations concerning his financial and professional activities. (Also see here) These included the abuse of his position as former ICC prosecutor, shady financial shenanigans, and severe conflicts of interest. These allegations stemmed primarily from the far-reaching 2017 "Secrets of the Court" investigation by the European Investigative Collaborations, a nonprofit network of leading investigative journalists and media organizations established in 2015 to conduct collaborative cross-border investigations into issues of public interest. While the allegations did not result in actual judicial convictions, the ethical issues they raised served to tarnish his reputation, and, by association, that of the ICC’s judicial practices.

The Israeli angle

For Israel, Rubio’s initiative is a welcome development. For it serves to undermine the legitimacy of the ICC measures against senior Israeli personnel and expose just how the hypocrisy-ridden ICC has strayed from its lofty founding principles and noble aims.

For the fallen Karim Khan and his cronies, it perhaps reflects that Biblical maxim in Numbers 24:9: Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. And whoever curses Israel will be cursed."

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/431347