JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
WAR WITH IRAN - DAY 76 MAY 14,26 - SUNKIN RUSSIAN SHIP IN 24 MAY HAVE HAD NUKE MATERIALS FOR NORTH KOREA.
THE
NEXT US-ISRAEL HIT ON IRAN SHOULD BE VERSE 37. ALL OFFENSIVE NUKE SITES
MISSLES,DRONES,AND OF COURSE KHEMENI AND THE IRGC GUARDS.THEN AFTER
IRANS REGIME CHANGE. MUSLIMS COME TO JESUS BY THE MILLIONS.
JEREMEIAH 49:32-39 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITES AND ALL OFENSIVE WEAPONS DESTROYED IN IRAN)
Jeremiah 49:32-39
32
Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a
spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of
their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of
them, says Yahweh.
33 Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a
desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of
man sojourn therein.(Location & Size: It was strategically located
along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea), a major trade route connecting
Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia.)
34 The word of Yahweh that came to
Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam,(IRAN) in the beginning of the
reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus says Yahweh of
Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS)
the chief of their might.(MISSLES AND NUKE SITES)
36 On Elam (IRAN)
will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will
scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where
the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(SINCE 1979 IRANIANS HAVE GOTTIN OUT
OF IRAN BECAUSE OF KHEMENI AND HIS APOCOPOLIPTIC DEATH CULT
BELIEF-BLACK HATER 12ERS)
37 I will cause Elam (IRAN) to be dismayed
before their enemies, and before those who seek their life;(ISRAEL THE
LITTLE SATAN AND THE U.S THE BIG SATAN) and I will bring evil on them,
(MISSLES) even my fierce anger,(FIRE) says Yahweh; and I will send the
sword after them,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) until I have consumed them;
(DESTROYED THEM ALL NUKE SITES,MISSLES ETC)
38 and I will set my
throne in Elam,(IRAN WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION) and will destroy
from there king (KHEMENI, ISLAM) and princes, says Yahweh.(IRANIAN ARMY
GUARDS)
39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring
back the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) says Yahweh.(WERE IN THE LATTER DAYS
NOW)
WHEN ARE THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL IN THE SPRING TIME.(GET READY ISLAM TO BE BIRD SEED FOR THESE BIRDS)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m0bXU5Xqc5M
The
500 million migratory birds in Israel during the spring arrive from
Africa and head toward Europe and Asia, with the peak migration
occurring in March and April. While migration starts in late February,
the most intense movements, particularly of birds of prey, storks, and
pelicans, occur during the third week of March and continue into April.
Key Details on the Spring Migration
Peak Period: Mid-March through April.
Main
Migration Route: The birds use the Great Rift Valley, which includes
the Hula Valley and Eilat, acting as a "bottleneck" where millions of
birds fly through the narrow land bridge.
Best Spots: The Hula Lake
Park (Northern Israel) and the Eilat Birding Center (Southern Israel)
are primary locations for observing the migration.
Key Species:
Hundreds of thousands of white storks, along with black kites, raptors,
and pelicans, pass through over these months.
uration: The spring migration runs from late February and continues into June, though the heaviest traffic is in March/April.
The
500 million migratory birds fly over Israel in the fall between late
August and mid-December. The peak migration period for the autumn, when
the highest volume of bird traffic occurs, is typically October and
November.
Key Fall Migration Details
Location: The Hula Valley (Agamon Hula Park) in northern Israel is the premier spot to witness this phenomenon.
Timing: Migration starts as early as late June with some waders, but intensifies from mid-August through November.
Peak Festival: The "Annual Hula Valley Bird Festival" is usually held in November to align with the peak migration traffic.
Key
Species: Many birds of prey (raptors), including honey buzzards and
steppe eagles, cross during this time, along with massive flocks of
storks and cranes.
While roughly 500 million birds pass through in
the autumn on their way to Africa, the same number crosses again in the
spring (mid-February to May) on their way back to Europe and Asia.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23
Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they
have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the
sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24
Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath
seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in
travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of
war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I
will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it
shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN
DAMASCUS)
US president: 'I am not going to be much more
patient'Trump says ‘decimation’ of Iran’s army ‘to be continued’ after
he and China’s Xi discuss Hormuz-Trump: Xi pledged China won’t send
military gear to Iran; US House narrowly rejects bid to rein in Trump’s
war powers; Netanyahu: ‘The regime of terror in Iran is weaker than
ever’By Jacob Magid,Nava Freiberg-and Agencies Today, 4:50 am
US
President Donald Trump counted “the military decimation of Iran” among
his administration’s accomplishments in a social media post on Thursday,
adding, “to be continued!”The phrase, included in a lengthy Truth
Social post, suggested he may resume the war against Iran after he
returns from his trip to China on Friday. A ceasefire took effect in the
US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic in early April, though
American-Iranian talks have yet to lead to an agreement.“I am not going
to be much more patient,” Trump said in an interview aired on Thursday
night on Fox News’ “Hannity” program. “They should make a deal.”US
Central Command head Admiral Brad Cooper said in testimony to a US
Senate committee on Thursday that the war had significantly degraded
Iran’s military capability but that it retained the ability to
strike.Tensions also remain high over the Strait of Hormuz, the key
pathway for the global oil supply that Iran has blocked since the war
began in late February. On Thursday, a ship anchored off the east coast
of the United Arab Emirates was seized and was heading toward Iranian
waters, the British military said, while India said a cargo ship was
sunk amid the battle over the strait.Trump said earlier that Chinese
President Xi Jinping had offered China’s help to open the strait, and
pledged not to send military equipment to aid Iran in the war.“He said
he’s not going to give military equipment… he said that strongly,” Trump
told the “Hannity” show, after the two leaders met in Beijing. “He’d
like to see the Hormuz Strait open, and said, ‘If I can be of any help
whatsoever, I would like to help.'”After talks between Trump and Xi on
Thursday, the White House said the leaders had agreed that the strait
should be open and that Xi made clear China’s opposition to the
militarization of the strait and any effort to charge a toll for its
use.He also expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce
China’s future dependence on the strait, and the leaders agreed that
Iran should never obtain nuclear weapons, the readout said.Tehran denies
seeking such weapons, but it has enriched uranium to levels that have
no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from
checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile
capabilities.US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer affirmed on Friday
that Chinese officials made clear that Beijing wants to see the strait
reopen without restrictions or tolls and that Beijing will act
pragmatically to limit military support for Iran.“It’s really important
for China to have the Strait of Hormuz open, no tolling, no military
control, and that was clear from the meeting. So we welcome that,” Greer
told Bloomberg television in a live interview from Beijing.“With
respect to Chinese involvement with Iran, our view is the Chinese are
being very pragmatic, and they don’t want to be on the wrong side of
this,” Greer added. “They want to see peace in that area. President
Trump wants to see peace in that area. So we have a lot of confidence
that they will do what they can to limit any kind of material support
for Iran.”Trump is keen to elicit Chinese support to end a war that has
become an electoral liability as it drags on towards key US midterm
elections in November. But analysts doubt Xi will be willing to push
Iran hard or end support for its military, given its value as a
strategic counterweight to the US.In an interview with CNBC from
Beijing, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he believed China
would “do what they can” to help open the strait, something “very much
in their interest.”Before the war, about a fifth of global oil and
liquefied natural gas supplies passed through the waterway. But
diplomacy has been on hold since last week when Iran and the US each
rejected the other’s most recent proposals.US House rejects bid to rein
in Trump’s war powers-The Republican-led US House of Representatives
narrowly defeated a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the war
until hostilities are authorized by Congress, but the effort failed by
the closest possible margin.The House voted 212 to 212 on the war powers
resolution, meaning it failed because it needed a majority to pass,
despite more Republicans backing the effort than previouslyThree of
Trump’s fellow Republicans – Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick
of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky – backed the resolution,
and one Democrat – Jared Golden of Maine – opposed it.It was the third
House vote this year on an Iran war powers resolution, and the first
since the conflict hit a 60-day deadline on May 1 for Trump to come to
Congress about the war. Trump declared then that a ceasefire had
“terminated” hostilities against Iran. There also have been seven failed
votes in the US Senate.The votes have been getting tighter, with
Trump’s fellow Republicans holding just a slim majority in both
chambers.Democrats have called on Trump to come to Congress for
authorization to use military force in the Iran conflict, noting that
the US Constitution says only the legislature, not the president, can
declare war.Republicans — and the White House — say Trump’s actions are
legal and within his rights as commander-in-chief to protect the US by
ordering limited military operations when the country faces an imminent
threat.Netanyahu: ‘The regime of terror in Iran is weaker than
ever’Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Israel’s military
achievements against Iran and other foes in remarks at Ammunition Hill
during the Jerusalem Day state ceremony on Thursday.“The regime of
terror in Iran is weaker than ever, and the State of Israel is stronger
than ever,” Netanyahu declared, adding, “We will continue to fight
decisively against every threat of radical Islam.”Netanyahu repeated his
assertion that if Israel had not launched military campaigns against
Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs in June 2025 and earlier
this year, “Iran would already possess a nuclear bomb today.”Netanyahu
claimed successes in the recent conflicts against Iran and its terror
proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, saying, “The power we have projected on
every front [and] the alliance — closer than ever — with President
Trump’s administration in the United States, our determination to strike
those who seek our destruction deep within their territory, far beyond
our borders, the buffer zones we have created around us in Gaza,
Lebanon, and Syria – all these have transformed the face of the Middle
East.”
Ship said seized, diverted to Iran, another sunk, in
latest Strait of Hormuz actions-British navy monitor says vessel
anchored off coast of UAE has been nabbed; India condemns sinking of
cargo ship carrying livestock off Oman, 114 crew rescued-By Agencies,
Nava Freiberg-and ToI Staff 14 May 2026, 5:17 pm
A ship anchored
off the east coast of the United Arab Emirates has been seized and was
heading toward Iranian waters, the British military said Thursday, while
India said a cargo ship was sunk amid the volatile, simmering battle
for control of the Strait of Hormuz.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade
Operations Center said it received reports that the vessel was taken by
unauthorized personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers,
or 44 miles) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of
Hormuz.Fujairah is an important oil export terminal and the UAE’s main
port outside of the Persian Gulf. It has been repeatedly attacked during
the war with Iran.UKMTO did not name the ship and said it is
investigating. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the
seizure.Meanwhile, an Indian cargo vessel carrying livestock from Africa
to the United Arab Emirates was sunk in waters off the coast of
Oman.India condemned the attack and said all 14 crew members had been
rescued by the Omani coastguard. Vanguard, a British maritime security
advisory firm, said the vessel had been hit by a missile or drone which
caused an explosion.Iran’s foreign minister, meanwhile, accused the UAE
of direct involvement in military operations against his country, during
a BRICS meeting in New Delhi, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr
news agency.“I didn’t name the UAE in my statement for the sake of
unity. But the truth is that the UAE was directly involved in the
aggression against my country. When the attacks started, they didn’t
even issue a condemnation,” Araghchi said, according to Mehr news, in
response to comments made by the Emirati representative.Earlier this
week, a report said that the UAE, which has been repeatedly attacked by
Iran since the start of fighting, carried out strikes on Iran, though it
has not publicly acknowledged taking such action.The accusation came
hours after Israel said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had quietly
visited the UAE during the Israeli-US war with Iran, though the UAE
swiftly denied that any secret visit had occurred.Araghchi also called
on BRICS member states – which include Brazil, Russia, India, China,
South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Indonesia – to condemn what he said
were violations of international law by the United States and Israel,
and to prevent the politicization of international institutions, in a
statement on his Telegram account.“The West’s false sense of superiority
and immunity must be shattered by all of us,” he wrote.Iran’s
semi-official Fars news agency, meanwhile, reported that the Islamic
Republic has begun allowing some Chinese vessels to transit through the
Strait, following an understanding over Iranian management protocols for
the waterway.The news came as US President Donald Trump was in Beijing
to meet with leader Xi Jinping on a much-anticipated visit. The leaders’
talks were expected to focus, among other things, on the war with Iran,
which has seriously disrupted trade in oil, gas, and other products and
rattled the global economy.A White House statement issued as the two
were meeting said the sides “agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must
remain open to support the free flow of energy,” and that “Iran can
never have a nuclear weapon.”US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said
that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is in China’s best interests and he
believes Beijing will do what it can to reopen the waterway.“I think
they’re going to do what they can,” Bessent said in an interview with
CNBC from Beijing. “China, it’s very much in their interest to get the
strait reopened, and I think they will be working behind the scenes to
the extent anyone has any say over the Iranian leadership.”In an earlier
interview from Air Force One, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had
made a similar argument to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, noting that China has
ships in the Gulf, one of which was struck by Iran over the
weekend.“I’m sure Iran didn’t do it deliberately but they did it, it
happened,” Rubio said. “And so that’s why these Chinese ships are stuck
in there.”He added that Iran’s behavior is “a huge source of
instability. It threatens to destabilize Asia more than any other part
of the world because it’s heavily reliant on the straits for
energy.”Rubio also argued that China has an economic interest in getting
shipping to flow through the Strait of Hormuz again, as if other
countries are struggling, “they are going to be buying less Chinese
product and the Chinese exports are going to drop precipitously. So it’s
in their interest to resolve this.”But diplomacy to end the war has
been on hold since last week when Iran and the United States each
rejected the other’s latest proposals, sticking to initial demands that
each considers to be “red lines.”Iran has largely shut the Strait of
Hormuz to ships apart from its own since the United States and Israel
launched their bombing campaign two-and-a-half months ago, causing the
biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies. The US paused the
bombing last month but added a blockade of Iran’s ports.Still, Iran
appears to be making more deals with countries to allow some ships to
pass through the strait – if they accept Tehran’s terms.A Japanese
tanker crossed on Wednesday after Japan’s prime minister announced that
she had requested help from the Iranian president. A huge Chinese tanker
also crossed on Wednesday.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said 30 vessels
had crossed the strait since Wednesday evening, still far short of some
140 that typically crossed daily before the war, but a substantial
increase if confirmed.Israel and the US launched their campaign against
Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its
nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran has responded with
missile and drone strikes across the region.The pause in bombing that
began on April 8 was to allow for what Trump said were promising peace
talks. But after a single round of talks in Pakistan last month, there
has been little progress and no further face-to-face meetings.
Inside
story Diplomat: Iran offer shows it thinks it's in driver's
seat-US-Iran talks stalled after Tehran tried skirting up-front nuke
concessions — officials-Washington wanted temporary ceasefire that
included Iran compromises on its nuclear program, but Islamic Republic
demanded permanent truce followed by separate talks on enrichment-By
Jacob Magid-13 May 2026, 7:40 pm
WASHINGTON — Talks between the
US and Iran on a deal permanently ending the war between them hit
another dead end over the weekend after Tehran submitted a proposal that
sought to push off concessions it would make regarding its nuclear
program, a US official and two diplomats from mediating countries told
The Times of Israel on Tuesday.The US had been waiting for a week and a
half for Iran to respond to its proposal that envisioned Tehran agreeing
to have its stockpiles of enriched uranium transferred out of the
country and agreeing not to enrich uranium for an extended period of
time, the three sources said.But when that response finally came on
Sunday, the US saw that it didn’t include any concessions regarding
Iran’s nuclear program. Instead, it offered an Iranian commitment to
immediately hold talks on the nuclear file once a permanent ceasefire
was in place that would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,
the sources said, offering details on the breakdown of talks that had
not been published to date.Iran’s response, bucking US demands that it
make up-front concessions regarding its nuclear program, demonstrated
how emboldened the Islamic Republic feels after weathering nearly six
weeks of US and Israel strikes followed by an American blockade of its
ports, one of the diplomats said. “It thinks it’s in the driver’s
seat.”While the US proposal effectively envisioned an extension of the
temporary ceasefire already in place since April 8, Iran’s proposal
detailed a permanent end of hostilities between the countries that
included guarantees not to restart the war, according to the three
sources.Both proposals did envision follow-up, technical negotiations on
the nuclear file, but the US sought some concessions up-front
pertaining to Iran’s stockpiles of over 400 kilograms of highly-enriched
uranium, which are thought to be buried deep underground, below at
least one of the three nuclear facilities struck by American bombers in
June 2025.The United States has also long demanded that Iran agree to
never again enrich uranium, though US President Donald Trump indicated
earlier this week that he would have been satisfied with a commitment
from Tehran not to enrich for a very extended period.While the Trump
administration desperately seeks to end Iran’s disruption of maritime
shipping lanes that has wreaked havoc on the global economy, Washington
views Tehran’s response as an attempt to drag out the nuclear issue
indefinitely, the US official said.Trump on Monday called Iran’s
response “garbage,” suggesting that it put the fragile ceasefire
currently in place at risk.He also claimed that Iranian negotiators had
told their American counterparts that they were prepared for the US to
retrieve Tehran’s stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium, but then
refrained from putting that concession in the response paper submitted
over the weekend.Iran has offered no public indication that it is
prepared to make such a concession.“Two days ago, they said, ‘You’re
going to have to take it.’ We were going to go with them. But they
changed their mind because they didn’t put it in the paper,” Trump told
reporters.He also claimed that Iranian negotiators had also “guarantee[d
that they wouldn’t obtain] nuclear weapons for a very long period of
time,” only to leave that out of Tehran’s official proposal as well.The
fact that Trump indicated he would have accepted such a guarantee, even
though it was not indefinite, appeared to be out of step with his
longstanding insistence that he intends to ensure Iran can never obtain a
nuclear weapon.Addressing criticism that he has no coherent plan in
dealing with Iran, Trump insisted, “I do have a plan. The plan is that
Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”The two diplomats from mediating
countries said that the talks are largely on hold until Trump returns
from his trip to China on Friday.Before departing, Trump huddled with
his national security team on Monday to discuss potential military
operations that could be launched against Iran to coax Tehran into
making nuclear concessions, the US official said.Trump has said he is
considering resuming Project Freedom, which sought to guide stuck ships
out of the Strait of Hormuz before it was halted after just one day last
week.But the second diplomat from one of the mediating countries
questioned the utility of such an operation in reopening the straits,
given that mere verbal threats by Tehran to continue disrupting Hormuz
are likely to keep many international shipping firms away.Further
complicating efforts to reach an agreement has been the intensifying
criticism in the US of Pakistan’s mediation efforts.After CBS News
reported on Monday that Pakistan allowed Iranian military aircraft to
park at its airfields, Republican senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham
berated Pentagon chiefs at a congressional hearing over Washington’s
continued use of Islamabad’s mediating services.However, Trump, before
leaving for China on Tuesday, told reporters that the Pakistanis have
been “great.”But the second diplomat speculated that the criticism could
lead Islamabad to shrink its role in talks to merely passing along
messages, rather than actively pushing the sides toward compromise, to
avoid coming under fire from the more hawkish wing of the Republican
party that is skeptical of any deal with Iran.That style of more passive
mediation has been the preferred approach of Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and
several other countries in the region that have periodically passed
along messages between the US and Iran over the past several months.
US
president: 'I am not going to be much more patient'-Trump says
‘decimation’ of Iran’s army ‘to be continued’ after he and China’s Xi
discuss Hormuz-Trump: Xi pledged China won’t send military gear to Iran;
US House narrowly rejects bid to rein in Trump’s war powers; Netanyahu:
‘The regime of terror in Iran is weaker than ever’By Jacob Magid,Nava
Freiberg-and Agencies Today, 4:50 am-MAY 14,26
US President
Donald Trump counted “the military decimation of Iran” among his
administration’s accomplishments in a social media post on Thursday,
adding, “to be continued!”The phrase, included in a lengthy Truth Social
post, suggested he may resume the war against Iran after he returns
from his trip to China on Friday. A ceasefire took effect in the
US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic in early April, though
American-Iranian talks have yet to lead to an agreement.“I am not going
to be much more patient,” Trump said in an interview aired on Thursday
night on Fox News’ “Hannity” program. “They should make a deal.”US
Central Command head Admiral Brad Cooper said in testimony to a US
Senate committee on Thursday that the war had significantly degraded
Iran’s military capability but that it retained the ability to
strike.Tensions also remain high over the Strait of Hormuz, the key
pathway for the global oil supply that Iran has blocked since the war
began in late February. On Thursday, a ship anchored off the east coast
of the United Arab Emirates was seized and was heading toward Iranian
waters, the British military said, while India said a cargo ship was
sunk amid the battle over the strait.Trump said earlier that Chinese
President Xi Jinping had offered China’s help to open the strait, and
pledged not to send military equipment to aid Iran in the war.“He said
he’s not going to give military equipment… he said that strongly,” Trump
told the “Hannity” show, after the two leaders met in Beijing. “He’d
like to see the Hormuz Strait open, and said, ‘If I can be of any help
whatsoever, I would like to help.'”After talks between Trump and Xi on
Thursday, the White House said the leaders had agreed that the strait
should be open and that Xi made clear China’s opposition to the
militarization of the strait and any effort to charge a toll for its
use.He also expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce
China’s future dependence on the strait, and the leaders agreed that
Iran should never obtain nuclear weapons, the readout said.Tehran denies
seeking such weapons, but it has enriched uranium to levels that have
no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from
checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile
capabilities.US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer affirmed on Friday
that Chinese officials made clear that Beijing wants to see the strait
reopen without restrictions or tolls and that Beijing will act
pragmatically to limit military support for Iran.“It’s really important
for China to have the Strait of Hormuz open, no tolling, no military
control, and that was clear from the meeting. So we welcome that,” Greer
told Bloomberg television in a live interview from Beijing.“With
respect to Chinese involvement with Iran, our view is the Chinese are
being very pragmatic, and they don’t want to be on the wrong side of
this,” Greer added. “They want to see peace in that area. President
Trump wants to see peace in that area. So we have a lot of confidence
that they will do what they can to limit any kind of material support
for Iran.”Trump is keen to elicit Chinese support to end a war that has
become an electoral liability as it drags on towards key US midterm
elections in November. But analysts doubt Xi will be willing to push
Iran hard or end support for its military, given its value as a
strategic counterweight to the US.In an interview with CNBC from
Beijing, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he believed China
would “do what they can” to help open the strait, something “very much
in their interest.”Before the war, about a fifth of global oil and
liquefied natural gas supplies passed through the waterway. But
diplomacy has been on hold since last week when Iran and the US each
rejected the other’s most recent proposals.US House rejects bid to rein
in Trump’s war powers-The Republican-led US House of Representatives
narrowly defeated a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the war
until hostilities are authorized by Congress, but the effort failed by
the closest possible margin.The House voted 212 to 212 on the war powers
resolution, meaning it failed because it needed a majority to pass,
despite more Republicans backing the effort than previously-Three of
Trump’s fellow Republicans – Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick
of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky – backed the resolution,
and one Democrat – Jared Golden of Maine – opposed it.It was the third
House vote this year on an Iran war powers resolution, and the first
since the conflict hit a 60-day deadline on May 1 for Trump to come to
Congress about the war. Trump declared then that a ceasefire had
“terminated” hostilities against Iran. There also have been seven failed
votes in the US Senate.The votes have been getting tighter, with
Trump’s fellow Republicans holding just a slim majority in both
chambers.Democrats have called on Trump to come to Congress for
authorization to use military force in the Iran conflict, noting that
the US Constitution says only the legislature, not the president, can
declare war.Republicans — and the White House — say Trump’s actions are
legal and within his rights as commander-in-chief to protect the US by
ordering limited military operations when the country faces an imminent
threat.Netanyahu: ‘The regime of terror in Iran is weaker than
ever’Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Israel’s military
achievements against Iran and other foes in remarks at Ammunition Hill
during the Jerusalem Day state ceremony on Thursday.“The regime of
terror in Iran is weaker than ever, and the State of Israel is stronger
than ever,” Netanyahu declared, adding, “We will continue to fight
decisively against every threat of radical Islam.”Netanyahu repeated his
assertion that if Israel had not launched military campaigns against
Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs in June 2025 and earlier
this year, “Iran would already possess a nuclear bomb today.”Netanyahu
claimed successes in the recent conflicts against Iran and its terror
proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, saying, “The power we have projected on
every front [and] the alliance — closer than ever — with President
Trump’s administration in the United States, our determination to strike
those who seek our destruction deep within their territory, far beyond
our borders, the buffer zones we have created around us in Gaza,
Lebanon, and Syria – all these have transformed the face of the Middle
East.”
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD
(8 BILLION ON EARTH) (DO NOT EVER LISTEN TO ANYBODY THAT SAYS THE WORLD
IS ENDING.ITS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN-4 BILLION WILL BE LEFT ON EARTH TO GO
INTO JESUS" 1000 YEAR RULE)(THAT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE THE END OF THE
WORLD TO ANY ONE, DOES IT-NOT ME.THE EARTH IS JUST RENOVATED.NEVER
ENDED.
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.(CAN YOU SAY
TORNADOES,HURRICANES,VOLCANOES,EARTH QUAKES,LANDSLIDES,FLASH
FLOODING,EXPLOSIONS,SNOW STORMS,THEN FINALLY NUKESAND ANY OTHER
JUDGEMENTS THE EARTH CAN VOMIT THE SINNERS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH
WITH.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there
shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and
troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11
And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE
SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great
signs shall there be from heaven.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7
By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,
being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the
stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE
WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for
fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
GENESIS 16:11-12
11
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with
child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF
THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And
he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS)
man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be
against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against
him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL
ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the
morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF
THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM
MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
And here are the
bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or
peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels
land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the
future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq
west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe
23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN
THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE
FUTURE.
Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN
HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - HALF OF EARTHS
POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead
with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
And here are
the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war
or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only
Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land
in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half
of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18,
Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY
OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND
IN THE FUTURE.
Russia tests new nuclear-capable ICBM, which Putin
boasts as world’s ‘most powerful’Sarmat, known by NATO as Satan II, is
Russia’s first post-Soviet ‘super heavy’ missile; Putin says it carries
warhead 4 times bigger than any US missile, will deploy this year-By
Agencies 13 May 2026, 2:22 pm
MOSCOW — Russia will deploy its new
Sarmat strategic nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile at the end
of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after his forces
tested it on Tuesday, describing the missile as “the most powerful in
the world.”The planned deployment of the missile — designed to deliver
nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United
States or Europe — follows years of setbacks and delays.Putin, in
televised comments, said the yield of the warhead was more than four
times greater than any Western equivalent and its range exceeded 35,000
km (21,750 miles).Sarmat, referred to as “Satan II” in NATO designation,
is the first ICBM produced in post-Soviet Russia to be classed as
“super heavy.”“It has the ability to penetrate all existing and future
anti-missile defense systems,” Putin said Tuesday.“This is the most
powerful missile system in the world,” he boasted.Western security
analysts say Putin has made exaggerated claims for the capabilities of
some of Russia’s new generation of nuclear weapons, part of a
modernization program he first announced in 2018.Sarmat has seen
failures in the past — one test in September 2024 left a deep crater at
the launch silo, according to Western experts.State TV showed Sergei
Karakayev, commander of Russia’s strategic missile forces, reporting to
Putin on what he said was a successful Sarmat test-launch on
Tuesday.“The deployment of launchers equipped with the Sarmat missile
system will significantly enhance the combat capabilities of the
ground-based strategic nuclear forces in terms of guaranteeing the
destruction of targets and solving strategic deterrence problems,”
Karakayev said.Since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, Putin has
repeatedly reminded the world of the size and power of Russia’s nuclear
arsenal in statements seen by the West as attempts to deter it from
intervening too strongly on the side of Ukraine.Pavel Podvig, a senior
researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, said the
deployment of Russia’s “largest missile” this year was realistic, but
added it will not lead to a “significant change in the deterrent
potential of Russia’s strategic forces.”The Kremlin said it had notified
the United States of the launch, the state news agency TASS
reported.Even though Moscow and Washington agreed to reestablish
high-level military dialogue shortly after New START expired, there were
no immediate signs of renewing or prolonging it.US President Donald
Trump has repeatedly pressed for a new treaty to include China, whose
arsenal is growing but still significantly smaller than those of Russia
or the US, but Beijing has publicly rejected the pressure.Trump had been
mostly silent on Russian calls to extend New START, which was signed in
2010 and imposed the last restrictions on Moscow and Washington after
decades of agreements dating from the Cold War.Both countries have
repeatedly accused each other of failing to adhere to the agreement.
Mystery
of sunken Russian ‘ghost ship’ grows after explosions reported while
carrying alleged nuclear reactors to North Korea-By Ronny
Reyes-Published May 12, 2026, 1:14 p.m. ET
The mystery of how a
Russian cargo ship sank deepened after it was revealed that the vessel
suffered multiple explosions while allegedly carrying two nuclear
reactors believed to be bound for North Korea, according to a new
report.The prevailing theory suggests that the West might have been
involved in the incident that saw the Ursa Major sink 60 miles off the
coast of Spain on Dec. 23, 2024, CNN reported.The ship, also known as
the Sparta 3, appeared to have been hit by a rare type of torpedo that
breached the ship’s hull and forced it to sink to the bottom of the
Mediterranean Sea, according to Spanish investigators.The investigation
suggested that the only thing that could have breached the ship was the
Barracuda supercavitating torpedo, a powerful weapon of which only the
US, a few NATO countries, Russia and Iran are believed to be in
possession.In the aftermath of the incident, the ship’s Russian captain
allegedly told Spanish investigators that Ursa Major was hauling
“components for two nuclear reactors similar to those used in
submarines,” with the sailor unsure if the reactors were loaded with
atomic fuel, CNN reported.The captain, identified as Igor Anisimov,
reportedly told investigators that he believed the cargo would be
diverted to the North Korean port of Rason to deliver the reactors.The
ship, which has a license to carry atomic materials, departed Russia on
Dec. 11, 2024, with its public manifest making no mention of nuclear
reactors or materials on board, only empty shipping containers, two
large cranes and two large “manhole covers.”The voyage came just two
months after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un committed to sending
thousands of soldiers to help Russia retake its Kursk region following
Ukraine’s surprise counter-invasion, which served as a humiliating blow
to Moscow strongman Vladimir Putin.It has long been believed that Russia
had provided technical expertise to North Korea as part of an exchange
for the soldiers, with Kim notably eager for Pyongyang to have its own
nuclear submarine.Europe had been tracking Ursa Major’s movements, with
the Portuguese navy deploying aircraft to locate the ship and its
military escort vessels in the Mediterranean.By the morning of Dec. 22,
the Portuguese navy dropped its tail, according to its military, with
the ship then caught slowing down off the Spanish coastline.The ship’s
curious movements prompted Spanish rescuers to radio in the vessel, but
the Russian ship claimed all was fine, according to Madrid.About 24
hours later, the Ursa Major issued an urgent call for help after
suffering three explosions, likely near its engine room, with the blasts
killing two crew members.The emergency became even more tense as one of
the Russian military escort ships, the Ivan Gren, arrived shortly to
order nearby vessels to stay at least two nautical miles away from the
damaged ship, demanding that Spain return the rescued crew
immediately.Video of the maritime rescue shows how Spanish rescue crews
were unable to enter the ship’s engine room, which was sealed shut, CNN
reported.While the ship appeared to be stable, it sank to the bottom of
the sea once the Ivan Gren fired a series of flares over the scene, with
four explosions similar to underwater mines erupting soon after,
according to the outlet.Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un shaking hands
between North Korean and Russian flags.
Far-right MK calls to
destroy mosques, rebuild temple-Chants of ‘death to Arabs’ at Jerusalem
Day march as Ben Gvir flies Israeli flag on Temple Mount-Extremist youth
mobs spit on, curse journalists before religious Zionist revelers crowd
into Old City’s Muslim Quarter; 13 arrested; police disperse left-wing
group that came to protect Palestinians By Charlie Summers,Sam Sokol and
Agencies Today, 12:01 am-MAY 14,26
Tens of thousands of
ultra-nationalist Israeli youths marched through the Old City of
Jerusalem on Thursday with cries of “Death to Arabs” and “May your
villages burn” during the nationalist Flag March, while far-right
politicians raised the Israeli flag on the Temple Mount and called to
destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuild the Temple as they marked
Jerusalem Day.Jerusalem Day, which commemorates the reunification of the
city under Israeli rule in the 1967 Six Day War, has largely become an
event associated with the religious Zionist community. The march, which
runs through the Muslim Quarter and ends at the Western Wall, has
frequently descended into violence amid anti-Arab chants and racist
provocations.This year was no different.Several far-right politicians,
including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, set the tone for
the day, ascending the Temple Mount before the Flag March began. The
ultranationalist police minister, who leads the Otzma Yehudit party,
went to the flashpoint site alongside his fellow party member MK Yitzhak
Kroizer. The pair waved an Israeli flag in front of the Dome of the
Rock shrine, which, along with the rest of the mount, is administered by
the Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem Waqf.“We restored governance on the
Temple Mount thanks to determination and deterrence. This year, Ramadan
was the quietest, thanks to deterrence. The Temple Mount is in our
hands,” Ben Gvir declared, before dancing and singing with the
flag.Kroizer was also seen prostrating toward the Dome of the Rock
alongside his children and father, Yehuda Kroizer, a prominent Kahanist
rabbi. “The time has come to get rid of all the mosques and work to
construct the Temple!” Kroizer later wrote on Facebook.The Temple Mount
is the holiest place in Judaism, as the site of the two biblical
temples. Revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, it is home to
Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, and the iconic Dome of
the Rock shrine.Though Jews are ostensibly barred from praying at the
site, the Israeli police, under the auspices of Ben Gvir, have
increasingly tolerated prayer there, sparking repeated condemnations
from Arab countries.The Temple Mount has often been a flashpoint for
regional violence.Marchers chant ‘Death to Arabs’At the march, the
anti-Arab chant “may your village burn” was heard many times throughout
the day. Some young men passed out decals calling for the revival of
Jewish settlement in Gaza, and many celebrants wore stickers calling for
Palestinians to be expelled from the territory.Marchers put up stickers
on shuttered storefronts lauding the death penalty law championed by
Ben Gvir, which mandates the punishment for Palestinians convicted of
lethal terror attacks, as well as the extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, who
advocated the expulsion of Arabs from the historic land of Israel.The
handful of Palestinian residents who dared open their shops in the
morning had closed by mid-afternoon, vacating the area entirely.
Revelers thronging the Muslim Quarter repeatedly called for “Death to
Arabs” and “revenge” against Palestinians while waving Israeli flags.At
times, crowds could also be heard chanting “Muhammad is dead,” in
reference to the Muslim prophet and founder of Islam.Jewish shop owners
whose businesses are on the Flag March route posted signs on their
property meant to protect it from ultranationalist vandals. One
cardboard sign placed over an ATM read, “Belongs to a Jew. Do not
damage. Thank you.”Many of the revelers came to the event in groups
affiliated with religious Zionist yeshivas, schools and youth movements.
As marchers gathered near the US embassy before setting out to the Old
City, small scuffles also broke out between boys from rival
yeshivas.Yehonatan Sopher, 21, said he has been participating in the
annual march since coming with his family as a child. This year, he said
he came with fellow students at a Jewish seminary where he studies in
northern Israel, spending the night in prayer and Torah study before
traveling to Jerusalem.“Jerusalem is one of the most meaningful things
in our religion,” he said. “It’s the root of everything.” He dismissed
the racist chants as the acts of a small minority of participants.Police
said they arrested 13 suspects involved in altercations and violence
over the course of the day, claiming such incidents were
“isolated.”Reporters attacked-Before the official march began, mobs of
right-wing teenagers roved through the Old City, kicking and spitting on
reporters while trying to steal their phones as they covered the
event.A horde of teenagers spat on this reporter while trying to steal
his phone as he filmed the main route in the Muslim Quarter, knocking
the device to the ground.Later, outside the Old City, members of the
same group again attempted to steal the phone while kicking and wishing
death upon this reporter.Before the official Jerusalem Day Flag March,
religious Zionist youth chant "death to Arabs," try to cover up my phone
camera lens. Advertisement The Old City is largely empty aside from
extremist youth and reporters. Palestinian residents have locked
themselves inside their homes pic.twitter.com/LyNYBcG9uA — charlie
summers (@cbsu03) May 14, 2026-Left-wing activists who came to the area
in a bid to escort and protect Palestinian shopkeepers were also
subjected to harassment and violence.Scuffles broke out when groups of
young marchers entered the Old City before the start of the march,
encountering Palestinians in the Christian Quarter. They threw chairs at
each other. Activists from Standing Together, a left-wing
Israeli-Palestinian coexistence group, who came to the Old City in a bid
to escort and protect Palestinian shopkeepers from far-right violence,
moved in to try to stop the confrontation, video circulated by the
organization showed.The volunteers, identifiable by their purple vests,
were kicked out of the area by police.“[Police] choose to remove us
[from the Old City], but right next to us, a group of settlers passed by
while shouting ‘death to Arabs’ and the police don’t do anything,” said
Alon Lee Green, one of the movement’s founders, as officers shoved him
toward the Old City’s exit.Accusing law enforcement of bias toward the
nationalist revelers, he protested: “Us, with the purple vests, who are
trying to stand up against the violence, the police decide to remove
violently.”“When we put our bodies on the line, it oftentimes reduces
the violence because settlers are less willing to attack when there are
Jews there or when we document what’s going on,” said Ori Shaham, the
group’s international spokesperson.Another group opposed to extremist
Jewish violence called Tag Meir held an annual “flower march” before the
crowds descended, handing out flowers to shopkeepers before they closed
early.Mustafa, a Palestinian resident of the Old City’s Via Dolorosa,
said young ultranationalist Israelis had broken into the courtyard of
his home, breaking glass and chanting “Death to Arabs.”“This is a black
day… I was inside the home when around 20 settlers came inside, they
broke the doors,” he told AFP.“If you push them, you’ll go to prison…
you can’t do anything,” he said.Western Wall gathering-While most of the
men and youths marched to the Western Wall via Damascus Gate, many
women took an alternate route that skirts the Muslim Quarter and enters
the Old City through Jaffa Gate, among them teenagers draped in Israeli
flags and parents carrying babies in their arms.The march culminated
with a mass gathering at the Western Wall.“It’s an extraordinary
atmosphere,” said Isabelle, 59, who drove two-and-a-half hours to watch
the sea of blue and white flags.Reuven, 37, who attended with his young
son, said: “Christians and Muslims can stay here, but this city, one
united city, belongs to the Jews.”To make way for the marchers, police
closed several roads to traffic, including the main thoroughfare between
west and east Jerusalem.In the afternoon, police announced they had
arrested a man who allegedly planned to carry out a terror attack during
the Jerusalem Day celebrations.Undercover Border Police officers
tracked the suspect down to a car wash in Abu Tor, a mixed Jewish-Arab
neighborhood in Jerusalem, where they apprehended him and passed him to
the Shin Bet for interrogation.
Inside story Diplomat: Hamas
using internal election as latest delay tactic-US thought Iran war would
hasten Gaza’s demilitarization. Instead, Hamas is emboldened-While
Washington believed conflict would leave a weakened Tehran unable to aid
its proxies, Hamas has dug in on refusing to disarm and, like its
patron, sought to drag out talks By Jacob Magid-14 May 2026, 6:22 am
WASHINGTON
— The US-Israeli war against Iran appeared to break out at an
inopportune time for the Board of Peace tasked with negotiating Hamas’s
disarmament.Just nine days earlier, on February 19, the US-led
international panel overseeing the postwar management of the Gaza Strip
secured $17 billion in pledges for humanitarian relief and
reconstruction in the enclave.The nascent Board of Peace’s ability to
galvanize such support — conditioned on Hamas giving up its weapons —
suggested that momentum in the international arena was moving against
the terror group.But the war quickly turned attention elsewhere in the
region. Gulf countries that had offered to donate the largest sums to
the Board of Peace suddenly found themselves among the hardest hit by
Iran’s retaliatory strikes, and now seem poised to deprioritize foreign
aid in favor of more national defense spending.But a senior US official
speaking to The Times of Israel days after the February 28 Iran war
launch was emphatically unbothered.“Hamas is watching what is happening
to Iran and understands that its last lifeline is fading away,” the US
official maintained, as Tehran was still in shock over the opening US
and Israeli strikes on the country’s leaders and military assets.Even if
the US needed to shift its focus to Iran for the brief period of time
that it expected the war to last, Hamas only stood to lose with each new
blow inflicted on its benefactors in Tehran, the senior US official
argued.Over two months later, however, that optimism appears to have
been premature.After a brief pause in the Board of Peace’s negotiations
with Hamas, the sides reconvened, only to see the Islamist terror
organization continue to spurn the panel’s framework for
disarmament.“Not only is Hamas emboldened by Iran’s ability to withstand
the war, but it is seeing the importance of holding onto your cards for
as long as you can,” said an Arab diplomat from one of the countries
involved in the Board of Peace talks.The Iranian card that the US most
badly wants is its nuclear program, which Tehran has thus far refused to
budge on in negotiations.For Hamas, the last key piece of leverage is
its arms, and while before the Iran war it appeared to signal
willingness to part ways with its heavy weapons, it has more recently
hardened its stance, the Arab diplomat said.Taking another page out of
Iran’s playbook, Hamas has sought to drag out negotiations over
disarmament. It has refrained from rejecting the Board of Peace proposal
outright, even indicating it is prepared to hold additional talks after
submitting a counter-proposal on April 2 that fell well short of the
board’s demands, the Arab diplomat explained.In recent days, though, it
has again signaled a desire to slow down negotiations, this time
explaining that it wants to wait until the results of its internal
leadership elections are in next week before proceeding with the
disarmament talks, the Arab diplomat said.In the meantime, the Board of
Peace’s Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov acknowledged on Wednesday that
Hamas is consolidating its power in the Strip, while dragging its feet
in disarmament talks, thereby stalling plans to rebuild the war-torn
enclave.“Diplomacy remains open, but the people of Gaza cannot be asked
to wait indefinitely while the same questions are being discussed a
second, third, fourth and fifth time,” he said.While Hamas was more
hesitant to criticize Mladenov as he settled into his position, it has
been quick to attack him more recently, in another indication of how
emboldened it is feeling.“Mladenov is not worthy of being responsible
for even one day of transitional management of our Palestinian people,”
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a statement on Wednesday.
Jerusalem
braces for clashes, friction as tens of thousands gather for annual
Flag March-More Palestinian shopkeepers close businesses ahead of
anticipated violence in Old City as thousands of police deploy in the
area; alternative march nixed, lacking government funds-By Charlie
Summers-14 May 2026, 12:52 pm
The capital was bracing Thursday
for clashes and widespread friction during Jerusalem Day, which is set
to see tens of thousands of national-religious revelers parade through
the Old City as part of the holiday’s annual Flag March.Thousands of
police and Border Police officers were deployed throughout Jerusalem
Thursday morning, particularly in the Old City. Palestinian shopkeepers
in the Muslim Quarter largely shuttered their businesses at the behest
of law enforcement.Jerusalem Day, which marks the reunification of the
city under Israeli rule in the 1967 Six-Day War, is typically associated
with the Flag March, an annual procession through the Old City to the
Western Wall, where mass prayer is held.Some extremist Jewish youth in
the lead-up to and during the parade have been known to harass and beat
Palestinians, as well as vandalize their property during the procession,
especially as it enters the Old City through the Muslim Quarter’s
Damascus Gate.A Palestinian shopkeeper, who declined to give his name to
The Times of Israel, said he planned to close his business at 3 p.m.,
several hours before the Flag March is set to enter the Old City.He
noted that in comparison to previous years, a larger number of business
owners decided not to open at all. Others were seen taping padlocks to
the entrances of their shops.The march typically takes place in the
afternoon of Jerusalem Day, which falls this year on Thursday evening
and ends Friday night, but has been moved up to Thursday afternoon,
before the holiday officially begins, to avoid running into the start of
the Shabbat day of rest.Most male participants were set to begin the
march on Thursday afternoon near Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue, where
several right-wing politicians were expected to give speeches.An
alternate route for women was set to begin on Bezalel Street and skirt
the Muslim Quarter, snaking around the perimeter of the Old City’s
southern wall.To make way for the marchers, police were expected to
close several roads to traffic, including the main thoroughfare between
West and East Jerusalem.“We call on participants to adhere to police
instructions and refrain from any acts of violence, physical or verbal,
to preserve the celebratory nature of the day,” police said in a
statement.Already at 10 a.m., Border Police stationed outside Damascus
Gate were checking the ID cards of some of those trying to enter the Old
City.Last year’s march saw several attacks on Palestinians and
journalists by marchers, who chanted anti-Arab refrains and plastered
stickers on shuttered shops, many with calls to expel Palestinians from
the Gaza Strip or praises for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir
and his far-right Otzma Yehudit party.Meanwhile, an alternative march
in West Jerusalem organized by the Ammunition Hill Memorial Site, widely
seen as intended for more liberal-leaning celebrants, was canceled at
the last minute.The Heritage Ministry — which was supposed to fund the
event — told Haaretz that the Finance Ministry did not transfer the
budget needed to hold the march.It had been set to begin outside the
Knesset, circle government buildings, Sacher Park, and the Valley of the
Cross, and then come to a close outside the National Library.Some 5,000
people had registered for the event, according to the outlet, and it
was to feature speakers such as Rabbi Benny Lau and journalist Jacky
Levy.Eyal Gur, a liberal activist involved in Saving Our Shared Home, a
Jerusalem-based protest group, said the event had been canceled
entirely.He further told The Times of Israel that some members of his
group would attend the start of the main march, where they planned to
pass out fliers to participants urging them not to harass or behave
violently toward Palestinian locals.Liberal lawmaker Gilad Kariv (The
Democrats party) said he submitted a request to the police to bar the
march from entering the Muslim Quarter, which was not accepted.“For
years, we have been calling on the police to change the route of the
Flag March so that it would not pass through the Muslim Quarter. Every
year, the police close their eyes,” he wrote. “The violent incidents and
racist incitement that take place under the auspices of the Flag March
are an embarrassment to Judaism, Zionism and the State of Israel.”
US
weighs focusing on rebuilding IDF-controlled parts of Gaza-Board of
Peace envoy: Hamas tightening its grip on Gaza, taxing those with
nothing left-Mladenov says disarmament plan wouldn’t force the terror
group to disappear as political movement, stresses Hamas would hand over
weapons to technocratic government and not Israel By Jacob Magid-14 May
2026, 2:48 am
The Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy said Wednesday
that Hamas is consolidating its power in the Strip, while dragging its
feet in agreeing to a US-backed framework for handing over its weapons
that has led to the stalling of plans to rebuild the war-damaged
enclave.“Hamas is consolidating its grip on the population. It is taxing
people in the street who have nothing left to give,” Nickolay Mladenov
said during a briefing with foreign reporters in Jerusalem.Mladenov held
the rare media engagement as the Board of Peace struggles to determine
how best to proceed after Hamas again bucked its disarmament proposal at
the start of May.Since then, the Board of Peace’s high representative
for the Gaza Strip has traveled twice for meetings with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials in Jerusalem, using the
opportunities to press Israel to adhere to its own commitments in the
October 2025 ceasefire deal, which established the Board of Peace to
oversee the postwar management of Gaza.Dismissing a question about
Israel resuming military operations to disarm Hamas, which it was unable
to do through two-plus years of war sparked by the terror group’s
attack on October 7, 2023, Mladenov asserted the only options on the
table are continuing the status quo or for Hamas to accept the
disarmament framework, which he asserted for the first time offers
Gazans a future.“Diplomacy remains open, but the people of Gaza cannot
be asked to wait indefinitely while the same questions are being
discussed a second, third, fourth and fifth time,” he said, indicating
that negotiations with Hamas have not ceased
completely.https://t.co/HmhIeqYtQG — Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov)
May 13, 2026‘No color zones’The Board of Peace envoy insisted that he
was committed to moving forward, but did not specify how he planned to
do so in light of Hamas’s intransigence.A US official told The Times of
Israel that Washington — which wields significant power within the Board
of Peace chaired by President Donald Trump — is considering shifting
from an all-or-nothing approach on reconstruction to focusing on first
rebuilding the eastern half of the Strip still controlled by
Israel.Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war envisions Israel
gradually withdrawing from that part of the territory, but conditions
that pullback on Hamas disarming.The US initially explored the framework
that prioritized construction in the IDF-controlled “green zone” over
the Hamas-controlled “red zone,” hoping to entice the vast majority of
the Strip’s 2 million Palestinians living in the coastal zone to move
there by offering housing solutions and jobs.However, Washington
abandoned the strategy after facing massive pushback from potential Arab
donor countries, which warned it would exacerbate the division of the
Strip.While the US may be reconsidering, Mladenov revealed Wednesday
that returning to the original plan would not be simple either.He
confirmed during the briefing a Tuesday report in the Kan public
broadcaster that Hamas recently blocked Palestinian workers from
reaching the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where they were contracted by
the Board of Peace to build the first new community on the Israeli side
of the yellow ceasefire line.However, Mladenov did not go as far as the
US official, appearing to reject the idea of concentrating
reconstruction efforts on a part of Gaza rather than the whole Strip.“We
have not designated any color zones in Gaza,” he said.‘Not asking Hamas
to disappear’Mladenov tried to frame the Board of Peace’s disarmament
proposal as something that Hamas need not view as a concession.“This is
not a message of coercion. It offers the Palestinians in Gaza, for the
first time in a very long while, a real choice,” he said, highlighting
the reconstruction projects that are ready for implementation if Hamas
agrees, adding that tens of thousands of public sector jobs will be
created for Palestinians within the first year.“Nothing in this
framework asks you to give up your identity, your faith, your history,
your dignity — in fact, it asks exactly the opposite,” Mladenov
argued.“We’re not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement. A
political party that disavows armed activity can compete in national
Palestinian elections, and the [disarmament] roadmap preserves that
possibility,” Mladenov added.It’s unclear whether Israel would be on
board with Hamas’s continued participation in Palestinian politics,
though the Trump administration has managed to curb some of Jerusalem’s
veto power.Israel had demanded an immediate handover of all Hamas
weapons, but the framework that the US-led Board of Peace adopted was a
gradual one that starts with the handover of heavy weapons and maps of
Gaza tunnel networks, followed by the decommissioning of all remaining
personal weapons over an eight-month period.‘One authority, one law, one
weapon’Offering some new details on the disarmament framework presented
to Hamas earlier this year, Mladenov said it is “based on the principle
of reciprocity.”“Each step that we suggest be taken by one side
triggers a step to be taken by the other, and each step is confirmed by
an independent monitoring mechanism before the next step is taken,” he
explained, adding the process doesn’t require trust between Israelis and
Palestinians in the absence of any.The framework includes a voluntary
buy-back option for armed Palestinians to be compensated for returning
their weapons, offering “conditional amnesty” for those who participate
and agree to live as law-abiding citizens moving forward. “We’re not
interested in retribution. We’re interested in transition,” Mladenov
said.Hamas officials who will lose their jobs as a result of their
replacement by the new technocratic government, called the National
Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), will be offered
reintegration support, including direct financial provisions.Members of
armed groups unwilling to accept the framework will be given the
opportunity to relocate to third countries, Mladenov said.Framing the
disarmament proposal as being in line with a long-held Palestinian
Authority principle, Mladenov summarized it as “one authority, one law,
one weapon” and insisted that all weapons in Gaza be under the control
of the NCAG.“We’re not asking Palestinians to surrender their weapons to
Israel. We’re asking them to consolidate institutions on which their
future depends,” he continued. “This is what reconstruction, Israeli
withdrawal and the political horizon depend on.”The 12-member NCAG has
yet to enter Gaza since being established in January, with the Board of
Peace hoping that Hamas accepts the disarmament proposal first.Hamas has
argued that it shouldn’t be expected to implement the second phase
disarmament portion of Trump’s 20-point plan, accusing Israel of
violating first phase commitments, with daily strikes deep into the
Hamas-controlled side of Gaza, routinely missed humanitarian aid
benchmarks, the unilateral expansion of the side of Gaza it controls and
the limited operation of the Rafah Crossing.Israel says it maintains
the right to target Palestinians posing a threat to troops.Hamas
terrorist Hamza Sharbasi is seen at the IDF’s Nahal Oz base during the
October 7, 2023, onslaught, in a photo released by the IDF on May 13,
2026. (Israel Defense Forces)The Israel Defense Forces announced on
Wednesday that it killed a Hamas terrorist last week who participated in
the raid on the military’s Nahal Oz base during the October 7, 2023,
onslaught.The IDF said the strike targeted Hamza Sharbasi, a commander
in Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion, who had posed a threat to Israeli troops
in Gaza. While not the target, the strike also killed Azzam al-Hayya,
the 23-year-old son of Hamas’s chief negotiator Khalil
al-Hayya.According to the military, Azzam al-Hayya was a member of
Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, “who recently held a central role in the
organization.”“Recently, Sharbasi operated near the Yellow Line and, in
the framework of his role, worked to advance terror plots against IDF
troops operating in the area,” the IDF said.Pressed on the alleged
Israeli ceasefire violations, Mladenov acknowledged them without
explicitly naming Israel but said the Board of Peace does not divide the
20-point plan into phases the way Hamas does.“You can talk about phase
one and phase two, but there is one 20-point plan, and we cannot pick
and choose what we implement,” he said.Last week, The Times of Israel
obtained a letter showing that the Board of Peace does not intend to
hold Israel to the terms of the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire if Hamas
does not accept the disarmament proposal.Mladenov’s increasingly tougher
approach in dealing with Hamas has sparked criticism from the terror
group, which was again voiced on Wednesday.“Mladenov is not worthy of
being responsible for even one day of transitional management for our
Palestinian people,” senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a
statement.
Brad Cooper: Iran only has 10% of its drones
left-CENTCOM head: War massively reduced Iran’s capabilities, but it’s
still able to strike-Top US military commander in Mideast tells Senate
committee that Tehran’s defense industry set back by 90%, but IRGC
remains major force running Iran By Agencies and Jacob Magid-14 May
2026, 10:50 pm
Iran’s ability to threaten its neighbors and US
interests has been dramatically reduced by US bombings, and Tehran’s
defense industry has been set back by 90%, a senior US admiral said on
Thursday.However, US Central Command head Admiral Brad Cooper conceded
during testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee that Iran
still maintains a “very moderate if not small capability to continue
strikes” in the region and that Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard
is still a major force in running the country.In response to questions
from Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Cooper also said the US has the
military power to permanently reopen the Strait of Hormuz.However, when
Slotkin pressed on why Cooper hasn’t done so, especially amid rising gas
prices for Americans, Cooper deferred to policymakers amid ongoing
peace negotiations.In response to questions from Sen. Angus King, an
independent from Maine, about who’s in charge in Iran, Cooper said the
Revolutionary Guard is still “exercising significant authority.”However,
Cooper deferred to diplomats and negotiators on whether the
paramilitary force is part of the peace negotiations.The CENTCOM head
sought to underscore the tactical successes of the military campaign
against Iran that he oversaw and said the war had dramatically reduced
the danger posed by that country to the broader Middle East.Cooper
declined to directly address mounting news reports that Iran, which
stockpiled arms in underground facilities, had retained significant
missile and drone capabilities. Those reports cited US intelligence
sources.“Iran has a significantly degraded threat, and they no longer
threaten regional partners, or the United States, in ways that they were
able to do before, across every domain,” Cooper told the US Senate
committee.Cooper also said Iran was no longer able to transfer arms and
other resources to its main allies in the region: Hezbollah in Lebanon,
the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza. “Those transfer paths and
methods have been cut off.”Last week, the Washington Post reported that
the CIA recently told US President Donald Trump’s administration that
Iran can withstand the ongoing US naval blockade for at least three to
four months before severe economic hardship takes hold.“The leadership
has gotten more radical, determined and increasingly confident they can
outlast US political will and sustain domestic repression to check any
resistance” inside Iran, a US official told the Post. “Comparatively,
you see similar regimes lasting years under sustained embargoes and
airpower-only wars.”Iran also has managed to retain 75% of its mobile
missile launchers and 70% of its missiles, according to a document cited
in the report. Almost all of its underground storage facilities have
reportedly been restored and reopened as well.Relatedly, Cooper told the
Senate committee on Thursday that American forces have stopped using
high-end munitions to shoot down Iran’s drones, Cooper told the
committee.The nation’s limited stockpiles of expensive weapon systems,
including advanced missile interceptors, have become a lightning rod
during the Iran war. American forces were using them to defend against
Iranian drones. But Cooper says the US military is now using lower-cost
munitions.The admiral said Iran only has 10% of its drones left. Despite
a fragile month-long ceasefire, skirmishes have flared between Iranian
and American forces.Cooper also said that American forces have learned a
lot from the Ukrainian military, which is battle-hardened from its war
with Russia.“We adopted a large number of tactics, techniques and
procedures that the Ukrainians have passed us that have helped us defend
Americans,” Cooper said.Ukraine has passed on expertise to the US,
specifically regarding anti-drone warfare. Iran had launched swarms of
drones against US and allied forces, killing some Americans.
Activist
flotilla leaves Turkey for Gaza weeks after Israel intercepted previous
convoy-Over 50 vessels carrying 500 activists — including pair released
earlier this week after being arrested on similar flotilla two weeks
ago — head to Strip, with Israel readying for interception By AP, ToI
Staff and Emanuel Fabian-MAY 14,26
MARMARIS, Turkey — Dozens of
boats carrying activists and symbolic aid for Palestinians set sail from
Turkey’s Mediterranean coast on Thursday in the latest attempt to break
Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza — just weeks after Israel intercepted a
previous flotilla and detained two activists.More than 50 vessels
departed from the port in Marmaris in what the organizers of the Global
Sumud Flotilla described as the final leg of their journey to Gaza’s
shores. Channel 12 said the flotilla is expected to arrive around Monday
or Tuesday next week.The Israeli Navy is set to intercept the boats,
and in the past has done so well before the activists were able to get
close to Gaza’s coast.Israel has previously dismissed the flotillas as
publicity stunts, after their organizers rejected calls to transfer the
small amount of symbolic aid they had been carrying with them to Israel
or international organizations to be taken into the Strip and
distributed via official channels.The Global Sumud Flotilla will be the
third initiative in a year aiming at breaking an Israeli blockade on
Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has suffered severe shortages of food, water,
medicine and fuel since the Palestinian terror group invaded Israel in
October 2023, sparking two years of war in the coastal enclave.The
flotilla is being led by Turkish aid organization IHH, which is
designated in Israel as a terror organization and which organized the
2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla to Gaza.Dozens of boats from the Global Sumud
Flotilla set sail from Turkey, aiming to deliver aid to Gaza, as
activists said they were concerned about more possible interceptions by
Israeli forces https://t.co/91InoDxDo2 pic.twitter.com/v1oSB39I6d —
Reuters (@Reuters) May 14, 2026-The Navy is preparing for the
possibility that the activists will be violent and resist its efforts to
intercept them should they continue on their course to Gaza, an Israeli
security told reporters.In the Mavi Marmara incident, 10 Turkish
activists were killed in a violent confrontation with Israeli naval
commandos aboard a ship that aimed to break Israel’s naval blockade of
Gaza.Israeli forces intercepted the second flotilla in international
waters off Greece on April 30, expelling most of the 175 activists to
Europe, but arrested two of them, who were held for 10 days.Channel 12
said those two activists managed to make it back to Turkey in time after
they were released by Israel on Sunday, and boarded the flotilla that
departed on Thursday.Last month’s Israeli interception incident drew
protests and condemnation from several countries and raised questions
about what any nation can legally do to enforce a blockade in
international waters. Israeli officials said they had to act early
because of the high number of boats involved.Israel took the two
activists — Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian origin Saif Abukeshek
and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila — back to Israel where they were
interrogated and detained for several days. Brazil and Spain condemned
Israel for “kidnapping” their citizens.Organizers said the latest
efforts involve a regrouped fleet following Israel’s interception,
joined by additional boats. Nearly 500 activists from 45 countries are
said to be taking part.Last year, Israeli authorities blocked a similar
attempt involving about 50 vessels and some 500 activists, including
Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson
Mandla Mandela and several European lawmakers.Israel arrested, detained
and later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities
abused them. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.Previous efforts
to breach the blockade have also failed. The last time an activist boat
succeeded in reaching the strip was in 2008.
Israeli tech
company aiming to cool the Earth with masses of tiny particles-Stardust
Solutions wants to combat global warming by releasing millions of tons
of particles to reflect small amounts of sunlight, NYT reports, but
critics warn of dangers in playing with weather-By ToI Staff 14 May
2026, 9:35 pm
An Israeli tech company has revealed the content of
tiny particles it hopes will one day be used to combat global warming
by scattering millions of tons of them into the atmosphere to reflect
away sunlight, the New York Times reported Thursday.Stardust Solutions
had previously kept the makeup of its geoengineering particles a
closely-guarded secret, protected with nondisclosure agreements.As it
turns out, they are made from amorphous silica, which is a food
additive, and calcium carbonate, which is in eggshells and limestone.The
company, which is led by former figures from Israel’s nuclear program,
on Thursday began publishing research papers on its product.The idea is
to disperse the particles at high altitude where they would reflect
sunlight, cooling down the Earth.“This is a very powerful tool that will
be ready for testing very soon, and we want policymakers to start
thinking seriously, ‘What will it take in practice?’” chief executive,
Yanai Yedvab, told the Times.So far, the company has only tested the
particles in the laboratory and says it would not test them outdoors
unless it were in partnership with a government to lay down the rules
and limits of the test, according to the report.Founded in 2023,
Stardust Solutions has pulled in $75 million in funding from investors
and has applied for a patent. Registered as a US company with an Israeli
subsidiary, it has a lab in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv.The company
has two types of particles it is working on. The first could reflect up
to one percent of the sunlight, while the second, still in the testing
phase, could reflect more than that.Stardust executives estimate that a
starting project to begin cooling the atmosphere could cost around $10
billion. It would require some 10 million tons of particles dispersed
over several years, aiming to cool the atmosphere by 1.5 degrees
Celsius.It says the particles are biodegradable, not harmful to people
or animals, and would not build up in the soil or oceans.However, the
idea of meddling with the world’s weather faces pushback.More than 600
scientists and academics have called for an international ban on such
projects, while Tennessee and Florida have already banned
geoengineering.Critics cite concerns of unintended consequences and that
artificially cooling the planet might lessen calls for countries and
industries to cut back emissions that are causing climate change.
However, in recent years, as global temperatures have gone up, many
researchers and some environmentalists have been more open to studying
solar geoengineering methods, the report said.Prakash Kashwan, a
professor of environmental studies at Brandeis University, has warned
that solar geoengineering could alter weather patterns, impacting food
production and economies.He highlighted those who live in South Asia,
East Africa, and Latin America, where annual monsoons are vital for
crops.“There’s this social risk for at least two billion people that is
directly connected to the lack of scientific understanding about how
interfering with the global temperature thermostat is going to interfere
with the monsoon formation,” he told the Times. “We don’t have a
solution for those kinds of risks.”
Abbas promises to hold
presidential vote; no timeline given-Fatah gathers for first election in
decade, as PA’s Abbas pledges to continue reforms-3-day confab climaxes
with vote for 18-member committee expected to play key role in
post-Abbas era; PA president pans Israeli withholding of Ramallah’s
funds-By AFP, Nurit Yohanan and Jacob Magid-14 May 2026, 6:31 pm
Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party on Thursday began a
three-day conference to elect its highest leadership body for the first
time in 10 years, as it faces existential challenges in the wake of the
Gaza war.In an address opening the conference in Ramallah, Abbas pledged
to press ahead with reforms within the PA, saying he was prepared to
hold long-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections.“We renew our
full commitment to continuing work on implementing all the reform
measures we pledged… We are ready to hold presidential and legislative
elections,” Abbas said in an address to the congress, though he did not
provide a timeline for the vote.“The Palestinian people are the only
people in the world living under occupation. Holding our conference
today on our homeland’s soil confirms our determination to continue on
the democratic path and open the way for youth and women,” the
90-year-old veteran leader said.Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are
under mounting pressure from the United States, the European Union and
Arab states to implement reforms and hold elections, amid widespread
accusations of corruption, political stagnation, and the body’s
declining legitimacy among Palestinians.The international community also
wants the PA to play a key role in eventually running the Gaza Strip
again after it was devastated in the war sparked by the October 7, 2023,
Hamas invasion of southern Israel. Israel, however, bitterly opposes
the involvement of the PA.The conference is being attended by
approximately 2,580 Fatah members, the majority of them in Ramallah,
though several hundred are also spread across Gaza, Cairo and
Beirut.They are expected to elect 18 representatives to the Fatah
Central Committee and 80 to the party’s parliament, known as the Fatah
Revolutionary Council.The Fatah Central Committee is expected to play a
key role in the post-Abbas era, with many observers wondering whether he
might finally step down after more than two decades at the helm,
despite the lack of a clear successor.‘Serious challenges’The conference
comes as the Palestinian national movement faces some of its “most
serious challenges in our struggle,” Jibril Rajoub, the current
secretary general of the Fatah Central Committee, told AFP ahead of the
congress.He expressed hope that the conference, repeatedly delayed,
would contribute to “ensuring and protecting the establishment of a
Palestinian state on the world’s agenda and protecting the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of
the Palestinian people.”Abbas, in his opening remarks, criticized
Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian tax revenues that
Jerusalem collects on the PA’s behalf. Far-right Finance Minister
Bezalel Smotrich has refused to sign off on the monthly transfers for
over a year, preventing the PA from paying tens of thousands of
employees, bringing the West Bank economy to the brink of collapse.The
amount of withheld funds — which are supposed to make up the majority of
the PA’s budget — has climbed to over $5 billion.“The continued holding
of Palestinian Authority funds by Israel is an unprecedented event that
violates the agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel,
as well as international law,” Abbas said in his Fatah conference
address.Abbas also criticized Israel over its actions in Gaza, saying:
“What is happening in Gaza is an unprecedented humanitarian
catastrophe.”He also dismissed accusations of corruption against the
Palestinian Authority, saying they were vague and unsubstantiated. “No
one should just say ‘corruption’ and go to sleep. Give me the name of a
specific person, and within five seconds, he will be under
investigation,” Abbas said.One of the reforms most demanded by the
international community was of the PA’s welfare system, which included
payments to the families of terrorists and slain attackers.Last year,
Abbas signed a decree ending the policy, strictly conditioning welfare
payments on the financial situation of the applicant, rather than their
time served in prison.A US State Department report from last month
determined that the reform isn’t being properly implemented, though, the
PA has rejected the findings, which relied on Israel and NGOs highly
critical of Ramallah.Fatah has historically been the main component of
the PLO, which includes most Palestinian factions but excludes terror
groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad over their refusal to accept the group’s
charter, which includes recognition of Israel and support for a
two-state solution.In recent decades, Fatah’s popularity and influence
have dwindled amid internal divisions and growing public frustration
over the stagnation of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.The sense
of disappointment led to a surge in support for rival Hamas, which made
huge political gains in the West Bank in 2006 elections that it won
handily, before going on to expel Fatah from the Gaza Strip almost
entirely after a bout of factional fighting.Hani al-Masri, director of
the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies
(Masarat), told AFP that Fatah now merely uses the PLO to provide itself
with legitimacy, “a legitimacy that is eroding in the absence of a
unified national project, elections and national consensus.”Rajoub
nonetheless declared that the conference was a first step towards
“putting the Palestinian house in order, to build a partner for
establishing a [Palestinian] state.”Succession-Fatah is the main party
within the PA, which much of the international community views as a
natural partner in rebuilding and running the Gaza Strip after the
devastating war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack.But Fatah remains
marginalized in the territory, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
repeatedly vowed that it, the PA and Hamas will have no role in
post-war governance.Instead, a new government of Palestinian technocrats
has been established to replace Hamas in Gaza, though the panel’s entry
into the Strip has been stalled by the terror group’s refusal to give
up its weapons.Despite repeated declarations from Fatah that it is
working as a “united front,” major figures are absent from Thursday’s
conference, notably Nasser al-Kidwa, a key Palestinian leader who is
boycotting the gathering.“This conference is illegitimate, and this
leadership that has usurped power is illegitimate, and its time is up,”
said Kidwa, a nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.Key
figures competing to replace Abbas include Rajoub and PA deputy Hussein
al-Sheikh.Meanwhile, the president’s eldest son, Yasser Abbas, is on the
ballot to join the central committee, having risen in prominence over
recent years after he was named the president’s special representative
despite often residing outside of the West Bank.Among others present on
Thursday were Zakaria Zubeidi — the former head of Fatah’s military wing
in Jenin who had been serving a life sentence in Israel for involvement
in attacks in which Israelis were killed and was released in the
October 2025 hostage deal — as well as Arab Israeli MK Ahmad Tibi.
LUKE 19:40
40 And He answered and said unto them, “I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Archaeology
in Jerusalem always provides surprises'Mysterious ancient tunnel,
possibly thousands of years old, discovered in Jerusalem-Dating and
purpose of structure near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel still not clear;
archaeologists say its construction required significant resources and
manpower By Rossella Tercatin-14 May 2026, 4:26 pm
An ancient
tunnel, whose purpose and dating are still cloaked in mystery, has been
discovered near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel in Jerusalem, the Israel
Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Thursday.The tunnel, which extends
about 50 meters (164 feet), was unearthed during a salvage excavation
ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood in the area (all
construction projects in Israel are required by law to include
archaeological surveys).“At the beginning, we thought it might just be a
natural cave, but then we realized that it could not be the case,” IAA
co-director of excavation Zinovi Matskevich told The Times of Israel
over the telephone. “A huge investment of manpower and resources went
into building this tunnel.”The tunnel includes a staircase and an
entrance.“We were not able to excavate it completely,” Matskevich said.
“Even for us, it would be a tremendous amount of work. However, we dug
some test pits and found that, in some places, the ceiling is almost
five meters high, which is huge. So we started to ask ourselves, when
was it done, and for what purpose?”At this stage, however, the
archaeologists have not been able to determine either with a good degree
of certainty.“We did consider this possibility that it was a modern
structure, [connected] to the complicated history of the 20th century,”
Matskevich said. “This is not the case. There is a huge accumulation of
material, many stages of accumulation, so it’s not modern.”The tunnel
was filled with debris that IAA experts estimate accumulated over
hundreds, and possibly thousands, of years.Asked whether any artifacts
were found to help date the structure, Matskevich explained that they
did come across pottery fragments and even prehistoric flint tools from
the Neolithic period, but these were not connected to the construction
of the tunnel itself.At the same time, the area where the tunnel is
located also includes other ancient structures that could be associated
with it.“Ramat Rachel is just half a kilometer west from our cave, and
it was occupied from the Iron Age [1200-586 CE] until Islamic times
[7th-11th centuries CE],” Matskevich said. “We see many ancient
administrative buildings from both the Iron Age and Roman times that
required a lot of stones, and our best guess is that the tunnel was
actually a quarry.”Some quarrying debris was found on the tunnel floor,
and a shaft was carved into the tunnel ceiling, which might have been
used for ventilation. These elements support the hypothesis that the
tunnel was used for quarrying, possibly to reach a layer of soft
chalkstone.According to Matskevich, the tunnel was probably built at
least 2,000 years ago, in Roman times, and likely even earlier, but they
cannot be sure.What is clear is that at some point, many people made a
considerable effort to dig it, and therefore someone made a very
conscious choice.“Archeology in Jerusalem always provides surprises,”
Matskevich said. “At the same time, I have been working in Jerusalem for
more than 20 years, and I have never found anything as surprising and
fascinating as this tunnel, providing us with so many questions.”
'Coins
were the Instagram of the first century BCE'-2,000-year-old coin with
earliest menorah image returned to Israel after seized in US-Joint
operation also sees return of 2,500-year-old silver coin, one of two
known examples in the world, as officials stress importance of
international cooperation to combat looting By Rossella Tercatin-14 May
2026, 4:43 pm
Two rare coins dating to over 2,000 years ago have
been returned to Israel, following a joint law-enforcement operation
between Israel and the United States, the Israel Antiquities Authority
said in a statement on Tuesday.One of the coins bears the earliest known
depiction of the seven-branched Jewish menorah, along with a showbread
table used in the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. It was minted
in bronze in the first half of the first century CE, when the Second
Temple was still standing.The other coin, a 2,500-year-old silver coin
most likely minted in the ancient city of Ashkelon, is only the second
of its kind known worldwide.According to the IAA, the coins were
unearthed by looters and smuggled abroad. They were set to be sold at
auctions in the US but were seized in a joint operation between the IAA
Theft Prevention Unit, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan
District Attorney’s Office, and US Homeland Security.The artifacts were
handed over during a ceremony in New York on Monday.Both coins are very
representative of the period and location they came from, according to
Robert Kool, head of the IAA Coin Department.“What makes this coin so
interesting is the iconography,” Kool told The Times of Israel over the
phone, referring to the menorah.The value of bronze coins was
significantly lower than that of gold or silver coins, and they are much
more common to find in archaeological excavations and on the
market.Yet, the Hasmonean coin saved in the US represents something of
an exception, both because only a few dozen like it have been identified
(a relatively small number for a bronze coin) and because of the highly
symbolic value of its engravings.Mattathias Antigonus was the last of
the Maccabees, the family of high priests who, over a century earlier,
defeated the Greek Seleucids in the story celebrated with the Jewish
holiday of Hanukkah.He was supported by the Parthians, the group that
ruled Persia and other territories in the East at the time, who in 40
BCE conquered the land of Israel from the Romans and installed
Mattathias as king of Jerusalem.“Herod was seen as an usurper, and
Mattathias was not only the king, but also the high priest,” Kool noted.
“These coins were sending a message: ‘I am the king and the high
priest, and I’m safeguarding the most precious symbols and the Temple
for the Jewish people.”At the time, the Temple was still standing, but,
according to Yuval Baruch, a researcher of menorahs and head of the IAA
Archaeology Administration, only the priests could approach the
candelabra.“During the time of Mattathias Antigonus, access to the
menorah inside the Temple in Jerusalem was limited,” he explained in an
IAA statement in 2024. “We assume that no one (except the priests
themselves) could stand next to the menorah with drafting tools and draw
it, but could only look at it from afar. All people could do was
imprint the appearance of the menorah in their memory and later — sketch
or design it — from memory.”The coin also bears inscriptions in both
paleo-Hebrew script and Greek, the former reading “Mattathias the High
Priest,” and the latter “King Antigonus.”“He was the first to use this
double title in two languages,” Kool said. “On the one hand, he calls
himself the high priest; on the other, he wanted to portray himself as a
Hellenistic king, which is not surprising because they lived in a
Hellenistic environment, and in Hellenistic culture, it was quite
natural to have the high priest and the kingship combined.”The expert
explained that, in ancient times, minting coins served not only a
practical purpose but also a political statement.“Coins were the
Instagram of the first century BCE,” he said. “How would a ruler
disseminate his ideology otherwise, in a time when there were no
media?”In 37 BCE, Mattathias Antigonus was defeated by Herod, who turned
the region into a Roman vassal state.Coins bearing Jewish symbols were
minted again about a century later, during the First Jewish Revolt.The
other coin, returned to Israel in New York, depicts the Greek goddess
Athena with her helmet on the obverse and an owl spreading its wings on
the reverse, images similar to those on the Athenian silver tetradrachm.
It also featured the letters alef and nun in Phoenician script, the
first and last letters of Ashkelon, suggesting its origin.“During the
fifth and fourth centuries BCE, Ashkelon was a Phoenician city,” Kool
said.“The Phoenicians were great traders active across the
Mediterranean,” he added. “The coin imitates the Athenian tetradrachm,
which was basically the most important standard currency of its time in
the eastern Mediterranean.”Silver tetradrachms weighed about 17 grams.
Similar coins were minted in several locations at the time for
commercial use.However, the only other coin of the exact same type known
in the world is currently part of the Israel Museum collection.Also in
this case, the coin was not found in an archaeological excavation, but
rather acquired by Haim Gitler, chief archaeology curator and curator of
numismatics at the Israel Museum, in an auction in 1998.Since they are
detached from their archaeological context, artifacts from the antiquity
market cannot provide the same information as those retrieved during a
scientific expedition.According to Gitler, the letters alef and nun next
to the owl are likely to refer to Ashkelon, since adding the first and
last letter of a city name to indicate a coin’s origins was a known
phenomenon — though not all experts agree.“We can see two coins were
struck using the same dies, as in both, it looks like Athena is crying,”
said Gitler, referring to an imperfection in the image that resembles a
tear, showing that the same tool was used to manufacture them. “The
coin retrieved from the IAA was minted before the other one, because
it’s in better condition, which means the dies were less
deteriorated.”Gitler also said that the coins might not have been minted
in the city itself, but rather at a central Phoenician mint producing
coins for multiple Phoenician cities.According to the auction house he
bought the coin from, the artifact he acquired was part of a hoard found
in the Egyptian city of Ismailiya in 1983, made of several silver
tetradrachms from the period.“We believe that the Phoenician tetradrachm
we are discussing imitated Athenian coins dated between 420 and 405
BCE,” Gitler said.Gitler explained that it is not surprising that no
similar coin has ever been found in an archaeological excavation, as, in
general, there are many more known coins from the antiquity market than
from excavations.Kool reiterated the importance of working against
antiquity looting and illegal trade.“It really destroys culture, whether
in Israel or in any other country in the world,” he said.Both Israeli
and US officials stressed the importance of international cooperation to
eradicate the threat.“The illegal trade in looted antiquities is a
widespread international phenomenon, which requires cooperation between
countries and enforcement agencies around the world,” IAA Theft
Prevention Unit deputy director Eitan Klein said in a statement.“This is
a partnership that should serve as a model for the return of looted
cultural heritage around the world,” noted Col. Matthew Bogdanos, chief
of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s
Office.
Reporter's notebook 'He is the king, but I felt a
genuine warmth and concern'King Charles comforts wounded Jewish
community in London’s Golders Green-Visit comes weeks after terrorist
stabbing attack wounded two and arsonists torched ambulances of Jewish
EMT service amid unprecedented wave of violent antisemitism-By Lianne
Kolirin 14 May 2026, 8:43 pm
LONDON — Police once again locked
down the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green in northwest
London on Thursday — but unlike after the stabbing attack in which a
terrorist wounded two Jewish men last month, this time the cordon was
welcome, as residents of the area turned out in force to greet King
Charles III.The monarch visited the head office of Jewish Care, a
leading nonprofit health and social care organization serving the local
Jewish community, and met with the two men who were stabbed just feet
away from the building as he sought to express his support for the
country’s under fire Jewish community.British Chief Rabbi Ephraim
Mirvis, who was also at the meeting, along with Metropolitan Police
chief Mark Rowley, told Charles his visit was much appreciated by the
victims, 34-year-old Shloime Rand and 76-year-old Norman Shine.Mirvis
later wrote on Facebook: “Thank you, your Majesty, for coming today to
Golders Green to bring comfort and encouragement to our Jewish
community.”Charles was met by a cheering crowd of people who live and
work in the area, many of whom called out, “Long live the King,” as he
arrived. Some had come after hearing about the visit in the synagogue,
while others picked up the news while shopping at nearby stores such as
Kosher Kingdom.Speaking afterwards, Shine, who was stabbed in the neck,
said he had felt “genuine warmth” from the monarch.“The most inspiring
thing was that he didn’t let go of my hand,” said Shine. “I mean, it was
amazing. He is the king, but I felt a genuine warmth and
concern.”Somali-born Essa Suleiman, 45, has been charged with three
counts of attempted murder in connection with the stabbing on April 29.
He is accused of trying to kill another man before stabbing Rand and
Shine that day.The trip to Golders Green came the day after the king’s
speech that marked the opening of parliament at Westminster, in which
Charles outlined government plans to introduce tougher new legislation
to protect the Jewish community from growing antisemitism. It also
coincided with the publication of a letter by Prince Harry, who is
estranged from Charles, condemning the “deeply troubling” rise in
antisemitism in the country.The stabbings were the most recent in a
string of attacks on Britain’s Jewish community in recent months, amid
an unprecedented spike in antisemitism following Israel’s wars in Gaza
and Iran, which were sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.Two
men were killed during Yom Kippur services in a Manchester terror attack
this past October, and four ambulances belonging to the Jewish
volunteer emergency service Hatzola were torched by arsonists in March,
as the nonprofit Community Security Trust reported that 3,700
antisemitic incidents were recorded targeting the community of 290,000
last year.While at Jewish Care, Charles also met with representatives of
the emergency response service Shomrim, who were first responders at
the stabbing and apprehended the attacker.Outside, Charles chatted with
members of the Jewish community who had waited to catch a glimpse of
him.“It’s a dangerous world, isn’t it?” the king said, while speaking
with members of the public. When another person described the April 29
attack as “horrific,” Charles replied: “I know.”The visit was intended
to “reaffirm his steadfast support” for the Jewish community amid rising
security concerns following the attack, Buckingham Palace said in a
statement.He was presented with a loaf of challah from the popular Grodz
bakery, which has been a much-loved institution in London for over a
century, and also spoke with children from a local primary school.
Pasted to the railings behind the children was a sign decorated with
pictures of London buses and featuring the Hebrew wording for a prayer
traditionally recited upon seeing royalty.The King’s grandmother,
Princess Alice of Battenberg, was recognised as Righteous Among the
Nations for saving Jews during the Holocaust. Following the horrific
rise in antisemitism and the recent terror attacks targeting Jews, the
King has visited Golders Green today. At a… pic.twitter.com/Q77uxKOBZk —
Dov Forman (@DovForman) May 14, 2026-One woman, who asked to be named
only as Leah, explained the meaning behind the blessing.“The Jewish
people revere monarchy, whether they’re Jewish or not. And we are given
an opportunity of making a special blessing when you see monarchy in
real life, whether a king or a queen,” she said, adding that this is
different from the prayer for the royal family traditionally recited in
synagogue on Shabbat mornings. “It’s a special blessing to thank them
for the ability to live safely and for sharing the honor of their
kingdom with us — and that is what we all hope to say now.”Leah said she
has lived in the area for 36 years, after moving from New York.“This
country has always been very good to me — until now,” she said.A man who
asked only to be named as Yakir said he came down to join the gathering
after hearing about the king’s imminent visit at synagogue this
morning.“He should know what’s going on in the world and hopefully
things will get better. It must stop,” Yakir said of antisemitism in
Britain.Susan Winegarten, 77, had the wording for the prayer open on her
phone. There with her granddaughter, Winegarten told The Times of
Israel that she had previously recited it when she saw the royal
entourage on its way to the late Princess Diana’s funeral, and also
while as a guest with her husband at a garden party at Buckingham
Palace.Winegarten had also attended the procession for the coronation of
the king’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, when she was just 4 years
old. She described Charles’s visit at this difficult time for the
community as “lovely.”Winegarten said the stabbing took place down the
road from where she lives.“It was crazy,” she said. “The roads were all
blocked. I couldn’t get out, even to walk.”She said she was born and
spent much of her life in Golders Green, and could never have imagined
something like this happening. “It just doesn’t seem real,” she said.Zev
Stub and AFP contributed to this report
