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)
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL AND THE ENEMIES OF THE WEST
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA)(JORDAN) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
PSALMS 83:3-7 (COUNTRIES AGAINST ISRAEL)(EXCEPT JORDAN)
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
ISRAEL-WEST ENEMIES EZEK 38:4-6,15-19
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts,(RUSSIA-ARAB/MUSLIMS) thou, and many people with thee,(AFRICAN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES) all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
DANIEL 11:44 (CHINA WITH RUSSIA-MUSLIMS)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
EZEKIEL 39:1-6 ISRAELS ENEMIES DESTROYED
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(disolved from atomic bomb) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(disolved from atomic bomb) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(disolved from atomic bomb)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA)(JORDAN) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
PSALMS 83:3-7 (COUNTRIES AGAINST ISRAEL)(EXCEPT JORDAN)
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
ISRAEL-WEST ENEMIES EZEK 38:4-6,15-19
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts,(RUSSIA-ARAB/MUSLIMS) thou, and many people with thee,(AFRICAN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES) all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
DANIEL 11:44 (CHINA WITH RUSSIA-MUSLIMS)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
EZEKIEL 39:1-6 ISRAELS ENEMIES DESTROYED
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(disolved from atomic bomb) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(disolved from atomic bomb) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(disolved from atomic bomb)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
OTHER ISRAEL STORIES
https://israndjer.blogspot.com/2019/08/israel-attacks-iranian-proxys-in.html
Hezbollah plans ‘calculated strike’ on Israel that won’t spark war — report-Sources close to Iran-backed terror group say retaliatory measure for Israeli strike in Syria and alleged Lebanon raids will be limited, unless ‘matters develop’-By TOI staff-27 August 2019, 7:26 pm
Hezbollah is planning to launch a “calculated strike” on Israel in response to a series of alleged Israeli raids, but will seek to avoid an all-out war with the Jewish state, sources close to the Lebanese terrorist group told Reuters on Tuesday.One Hezbollah source said a measure was “being arranged in a way which wouldn’t lead to a war that neither Hezbollah nor Israel wants.”“The direction now is for a calculated strike, but how matters develop, that’s another thing,” the source added.Tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have skyrocketed since Saturday night, when two of its members were killed in an Israeli strike in Syria, and drones crashed in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut, in an incident also blamed on Israel. On Monday, Lebanon claimed Israeli drones attacked a Palestinian base in the country’s east.Israel took credit for the Syria raid, but has not commented on the other strikes. The model of UAV used in the Beirut attack has raised considerable questions about the drones’ provenance, with analysts suggesting they could be Iranian.Israel said the strike inside Syria had thwarted a plot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to launch explosives-laden drones into Israel, overseen by powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who heads the IRGC’s expeditionary Quds Force.At least five people were killed in the strike, including two Hezbollah members that Israel identified and said were trained in Iran, and an Iranian combatant.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday threatened retaliatory strikes against Israel.“I say to the Israeli army along the border, from tonight be ready and wait for us,” he said in a televised speech. “Do not rest, do not be reassured, and do not bet for a single moment that Hezbollah will allow… aggression of this kind.”Nasrallah called the Beirut drones the first such “hostile action” since a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah which took the lives of 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.Israel’s military has been gearing up for a possible reprisal attack from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group that is part of the Lebanese government, deploying extra troops to the northern border and limiting some movement along the frontier.On Monday, an Israeli military official warned that any Israeli response would be disproportionate, and Israel sent a message to Lebanon via the US that it would not limit its response to Hezbollah but would view all of Lebanon as a legitimate target, according to reports by Israeli news outlets.On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon, Nasrallah and the head of the Quds Force to “be careful” with their words and actions.Netanyahu told a conference in Jerusalem that Nasrallah “knows very well that the State of Israel knows how to defend itself well, and to repay its enemies.”“I want to say to him and the Lebanese state, which is hosting this organization that aims to destroy us, and I say the same to Qassem Soleimani: Be careful about your words, and even more cautious about your actions.”Netanyahu went on to suggest that Nasrallah “calm down.”Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, asking him to use his “influence to prevent a further escalation of tensions between Israel and Lebanon.”According to Hariri’s office, the Lebanese prime minister told Lavrov that the attack in southern Beirut was “a dangerous act and aggression” and that he’s counting on Russia’s role to “avoid more escalation and tension and to send message to Israel to stop violating Lebanese sovereignty.”Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that senior US officials were putting pressure on Lebanon to rein in Hezbollah in order to avoid an escalation in violence, and were also attempting to defuse potentially explosive tensions.According to the paper, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Lebanese officials that Israel “did not intend to change the rules of the game” with the attack on the Iranian drone plot, explaining that the attack that killed Hezbollah personnel in Syria “was necessary to prevent an expected offensive from the Iranian side and that the Israeli forces confirmed that the headquarters was emptied of humans before bombarding it and that it didn’t intend to cause human casualties from Hezbollah’s ranks.”He also reportedly said of the drone crashes in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh that “there was no intention to undertake an attack,” blaming the issue on a malfunction.Agencies and Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
Gazan terrorists fire mortar shells at Israel; IDF retaliates with airstrike-One projectile strikes open field in south, causing no damage, three others land inside the Strip, amid soaring tensions-By Judah Ari Gross-toi-27 August 2019, 4:31 pm
Palestinian terrorists fired four mortar shells at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with one of them landing inside Israeli territory, the army said.In response, an Israeli aircraft bombed a Hamas observation post east of Juhor ad-Dik in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces.No injuries were reported on either side.The military said one of the shells cleared the border and struck an open field in Israeli territory, causing no damage. Three appeared to have landed inside Gaza.The shell that hit Israel triggered rocket alert sirens in the area where the mortar landed, the army said.The volley came amid a flurry of rocket attacks and mutual threats between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip. Israel has accused the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad of being behind the recent violence from the enclave.Senior Egyptian intelligence officials invited Hamas leaders to Cairo for talks aimed at restoring calm and a delegation led by two top Hamas members was slated to leave Gaza late on Monday, according to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster.A delegation from the Islamic Jihad is expected to head to Cairo in the coming days as well.Since the start of August, an uptick in rocket fire and attempts by Palestinian gunmen to cross from Gaza into Israel have been met with IDF airstrikes on Hamas targets, threatening a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the ruling terror group.On Sunday night, three rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, causing some damage but no injuries. The rockets prompted reprisal Israeli strikes, and on Monday, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians announced it had reduced fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant.Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun — known formally as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — said the downsizing of the shipments was ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also defense minister.Later Monday, Abu Rukun warned Gaza residents that the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group was actively trying to ignite a fresh war in the region.Hamas has denied it directed the latest rocket fire.Israel maintains that Hamas, as the Strip’s ruler, is ultimately responsible for all attacks emanating from the territory, while saying that it believes the Islamic Jihad is instigating the current unrest.The mortar attacks also came amid heightened tensions throughout the Middle East, as Israel squared off against Iran and its proxies in multiple countries, taking responsibility for an airstrike in Syria and being blamed for others in Lebanon and Iraq as well as an exploding drone incident which damaged a Hezbollah terror group complex in Beirut.The Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate for the Syria attack, which killed some of its members.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Netanyahu warns Hezbollah, Lebanon to calm down, be careful amid attack fears-Prime minister also cautions Iran general Qassem Soleimani as troops in north brace for promised retaliation from terror group; US said to send message to Beirut to cool tensions-By TOI staff-27 August 2019, 1:03 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah to “calm down” Tuesday, as Israel braced for a possible retaliation from the Lebanese group in the north despite reported efforts by the US to cool tensions between Beirut and Jerusalem.“I heard Nasrallah’s speech. I suggest he calm down,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony in Jerusalem.In a fiery speech Sunday, Nasrallah vowed to exact revenge on the Jewish state following an Israeli strike against a weapons storage facility in Syria on Saturday night that left Hezbollah fighters dead. Israel has also been blamed for the apparent explosion or crash of two drones in a Hezbollah-controlled area of Beirut and an air raid on a Palestinian camp deep inside Lebanon.Israel said the strike inside Syria had thwarted a plot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps to launch explosives-laden drones into Israel, overseen by powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who heads the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’s expeditionary Quds Force.“[Nasrallah] knows full well that Israel knows how to defend itself well and pay back its enemies in kind. I want to tell him and Lebanon, which hosts this organization that is trying to destroy us, and I say this to Qassem Soleimani: Be careful what you say and be more careful what you do.”Israel’s military has been gearing up for a possible reprisal attack from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group that is part of the Lebanese government, deploying extra troops to the northern border and limiting some movement along the frontier.On Monday, an Israeli military official warned that any Israeli response would be disproportionate, and Israel sent a message to Lebanon via the US that it would not limit its response to Hezbollah but would view all of Lebanon as a legitimate target, according to reports by Israeli news outlets.Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that senior US officials were putting pressure on Lebanon to rein in Hezbollah in order to avoid an escalation in violence, and were also attempting to defuse potentially explosive tensions.According to the paper, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Lebanese officials that Israel “did not intend to change the rules of the game” with the attack on the Iranian drone plot, explaining that the attack that killed Hezbollah personnel in Syria “was necessary to prevent an expected offensive from the Iranian side and that the Israeli forces confirmed that the headquarters was emptied of humans before bombarding it and that it didn’t intend to cause human casualties from Hezbollah’s ranks.”He also reportedly said of the drone crashes in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh that “there was no intention to undertake an attack,” blaming the issue on a malfunction.Pompeo reportedly told Lebanese officials that the US “acknowledges that what happened is a violation of international resolutions, but [holds] it is still possible to bring the situation back under control.”Pompeo also urged Beirut, in the newspaper’s words, to “take a public position that prevents Hezbollah from carrying out military action against Israel.”Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and others have expressed worries that an Israeli reprisal could drag the country back into war.The pro-Hezbollah paper said Britain and France were also involved in efforts to calm the situation. On Monday, Hariri met with envoys from the US, UK, France, China and Russia to complain about Israeli violations of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 and set up a peacekeeping force on the border.According to the report, unnamed French and British representatives “suggested that guarantees would be given that Israel will not repeat its aggression and warning that Israel will deliver a major blow to Lebanon if Hezbollah responds with an attack along the borders.”It quoted UN envoy to Lebanon Jan Kubis as telling Lebanese President Michel Aoun and parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Monday that Israel made a mistake, but “Lebanon should take advantage of the opportunity to go to the Security Council to receive a condemnation of all Israeli violations from the ground, air and sea,” and expressing “readiness to help Lebanon receive such a resolution.”Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, told Kubis that Lebanon saw the alleged Israeli strikes as a “declaration of war.”According to al-Akhbar, Hezbollah has rejected the international pressure to pull back from plans to retaliate.In one of the last direct confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah — after the IDF allegedly killed two of the group’s members and an Iranian general in a 2015 airstrike — the Tehran-backed militia carried out an antitank guided missile attack on two Israeli military humvees in the disputed Shebaa Farms area along the Israeli-Lebanese border, killing two soldiers and injuring seven.
Beirut UAV raid, blamed on Israel, said to hit Hezbollah precision missile parts-Drones targeted two components necessary to turn terror group’s simple rockets into accurate missiles, according to unsourced UK Times article-By Judah Ari Gross-toi-27 August 2019, 6:03 pm
A drone attack on a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut early Sunday that was attributed to Israel targeted the Lebanese terror group’s precision missile project, the British Times newspaper reported Tuesday.In the predawn hours of Sunday morning, two copter-style drones crashed in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut, an area of the city known to house Hezbollah members and offices.One of the unmanned aerial vehicles was reportedly brought down by teenagers who pelted it with rocks. It was recovered by Hezbollah and taken away for study. The other drone exploded while still in the air, causing damage, according to Lebanese officials.Hezbollah has claimed that its media offices were damaged by the blast.However, according to the Times, the explosion set fire to two crates that held materials for a Hezbollah program to turn its stock of simple rockets into precision-guided missiles — a project that is of deep concern to Israel as it would significantly increase the threat posed by these projectiles.Expanded version of the above: pic.twitter.com/1VC5Cw6L7T— Richard Spencer (@RichardJSpencer) August 27, 2019-One of the crates contained a “computerized control” unit and the other held a specialized industrial mixer that is used to make solid-state fuel, the Times reported, providing no source for the information.The outlet said that these two crates were being held in Dahiyeh temporarily before being transferred to the factory where the actual work on the precision missile project was being performed.Israel has accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group of setting up factories in Lebanon to develop precision-guided missiles and vowed to thwart its efforts. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has denied the existence of the factories but said his organization does possess such weaponry.Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel for the drone strike earlier this week. However, the model of UAV used in the attack has raised considerable questions about the drones’ provenance. Israeli officials have refused to comment on the event.The reported Beirut drone attack came after Israel on Saturday carried out airstrikes in neighboring Syria to thwart what it said was a plot to fly explosives-laden drones into the country.Nasrallah on Sunday said two Hezbollah members were among those killed in the Syria strike. They were buried in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, amid a large turnout of party supporters.On Tuesday, Hezbollah said the drone that crashed in Beirut contained an explosive device weighing more than five kilograms (11 pounds).“Experts dismantled the first drone that crashed in Beirut’s southern suburbs, it was found that it contained a sealed explosive device” of around 5.5 kilograms, Hezbollah said in a statement.“We confirm that the purpose of this first drone was not reconnaissance but the carrying out of a bombing attack,” it added.The latest discovery, Hezbollah said, confirms that Sunday’s drone attack involved not one but two explosive-rigged drones — one which exploded and the other that did not because of a technical failure.While both Hezbollah and the Lebanese military insist the drones were sent by Israel, several well-connected Israeli commentators, including a former IDF general, said the drones appeared to be of Iranian origin.Official Lebanese state media released a photograph of the quadcopter-style UAV that crashed. It appears to be based on a civilian model with extremely limited range that the Israeli military would likely be unable or uninterested in using for a sensitive operation like conducting reconnaissance on, or attacking, a Hezbollah stronghold.Earlier on Monday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun denounced the alleged Israeli drone attack as a “declaration of war.”It was the first such “hostile action” in Lebanon since a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, the Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday, vowing retaliation.Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, is a major political actor in Lebanon and also a key government backer in war-torn Syria.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
With virtual reality, Israeli soldiers train in simulated terror tunnels-IDF using computer technology to teach troops to navigate Hamas and Hezbollah underground passages-By Alexandra Vardi-toi-27 August 2019, 4:16 pm
AFP — An Israeli soldier carefully eyes the narrow, damp tunnel carved from surrounding rock through a tightly strapped black headset.He is not in one of the attack tunnels built by Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah under the border with Israel, but one of a new generation of soldiers using virtual and augmented reality to train.In a small computer-lined room, T., a 20-year-old member of Yahalom, or Diamond — the special operations unit of the army’s combat engineering corps — simulates an advance along the narrow passage.His head sweeps from side to side and up and down, while his hands probe walls invisible to the onlooker.“We see everything, even falling drops of water,” says the soldier, who cannot be named for security reasons.“I really feel like I’m there,” he tells AFP. “I feel the humidity, the sense of being stifled.”The headset displays every detail of the virtual tunnel — a reconstruction of one of several subterranean infiltrations uncovered by the army — allowing instructors to guide T. in real time.In December, the Israeli army launched an anti-tunnel operation on the Lebanese border dubbed “Northern Shield.” Israel said it had found six tunnels, while UN officials confirmed three reached into the Jewish state’s territory. Hezbollah planned to use them to abduct or kill Israeli soldiers or civilians, and to seize territory in the event of hostilities, according to the military. They ran for dozens of meters and some reached a depth of 55 meters (180 feet).In recent days, fresh tensions have erupted between Hezbollah and Israel; the Iran-aligned Shiite movement blamed the Jewish state for a drone attack on its Beirut stronghold. Israel has not commented. Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah called it the first such “hostile action” since a 2006 war between his movement and the Jewish state. He threatened retaliation.The Israeli army is also on the lookout for tunnels dug into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. They are used by terrorists and, on the Egyptian border, smugglers trying to circumvent a blockade on the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli army says it has destroyed several tunnels that ran into its territory and were designed as attack launchpads. The Egyptian army has vigorously hunted for and blocked smuggling tunnels from its side of the frontier.Jerusalem says the blockade is in place in order to prevent weapons and other military equipment from entering the Strip. Israel and Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, have fought several wars and engaged in numerous clashes over the past 12 years, with the terrorist group launching thousands of rockets and mortars into Israeli territory.‘Technology is essential’-Until recently the domain of video game creators, the virtual world has in recent years made inroads into medical, aerospace and military research, where it is increasingly used for training.“Technology is an essential part of the fight,” which justifies heavy investment, says H., commanding officer of Yahalom’s training center at a military base in central Israel.The Hezbollah tunnels exposed by Israel have been digitally scanned and appear on a soldier’s headset as they are in reality.“The soldier sees what a tunnel looks like,” says H.Since it is not always possible to train in the field, the virtual world allows personnel to familiarize themselves with a hostile underground environment without leaving their base, he added. There are a dozen soldiers on the current course; 100 have been through it since it began three years ago.While virtual reality (VR) aims to place the person in a simulated world, augmented reality (AR) allows elements to be added in a real-world environment. Both aim to provide a multi-sensory experience. Soldiers can experience scenarios where there are obstacles such as holes, cables, or explosive devices and simulate the hand movements they will need to defuse a real bomb.“There are elements one can face in a tunnel which are difficult to reproduce,” such as humidity, says the commander, but it serves as a good introduction to the subject.“It’s not very nice to be dozens of meters underground, cut off from the world,” says T. “Anything that can help you prepare is important.He says that the electronic training has made him “more ready to enter a tunnel” in real life.Not far from the “VR room” is a physical mock-up of a Hamas tunnel where soldiers can engage in combat exercises, polishing what they have learnt through VR.Three soldiers make their way inside, their faces covered with balaclavas, machine guns in their hands as they move through the rock passageway, narrow and dark.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Hezbollah plans ‘calculated strike’ on Israel that won’t spark war — report-Sources close to Iran-backed terror group say retaliatory measure for Israeli strike in Syria and alleged Lebanon raids will be limited, unless ‘matters develop’-By TOI staff-27 August 2019, 7:26 pm
Hezbollah is planning to launch a “calculated strike” on Israel in response to a series of alleged Israeli raids, but will seek to avoid an all-out war with the Jewish state, sources close to the Lebanese terrorist group told Reuters on Tuesday.One Hezbollah source said a measure was “being arranged in a way which wouldn’t lead to a war that neither Hezbollah nor Israel wants.”“The direction now is for a calculated strike, but how matters develop, that’s another thing,” the source added.Tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have skyrocketed since Saturday night, when two of its members were killed in an Israeli strike in Syria, and drones crashed in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut, in an incident also blamed on Israel. On Monday, Lebanon claimed Israeli drones attacked a Palestinian base in the country’s east.Israel took credit for the Syria raid, but has not commented on the other strikes. The model of UAV used in the Beirut attack has raised considerable questions about the drones’ provenance, with analysts suggesting they could be Iranian.Israel said the strike inside Syria had thwarted a plot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to launch explosives-laden drones into Israel, overseen by powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who heads the IRGC’s expeditionary Quds Force.At least five people were killed in the strike, including two Hezbollah members that Israel identified and said were trained in Iran, and an Iranian combatant.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday threatened retaliatory strikes against Israel.“I say to the Israeli army along the border, from tonight be ready and wait for us,” he said in a televised speech. “Do not rest, do not be reassured, and do not bet for a single moment that Hezbollah will allow… aggression of this kind.”Nasrallah called the Beirut drones the first such “hostile action” since a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah which took the lives of 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.Israel’s military has been gearing up for a possible reprisal attack from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group that is part of the Lebanese government, deploying extra troops to the northern border and limiting some movement along the frontier.On Monday, an Israeli military official warned that any Israeli response would be disproportionate, and Israel sent a message to Lebanon via the US that it would not limit its response to Hezbollah but would view all of Lebanon as a legitimate target, according to reports by Israeli news outlets.On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon, Nasrallah and the head of the Quds Force to “be careful” with their words and actions.Netanyahu told a conference in Jerusalem that Nasrallah “knows very well that the State of Israel knows how to defend itself well, and to repay its enemies.”“I want to say to him and the Lebanese state, which is hosting this organization that aims to destroy us, and I say the same to Qassem Soleimani: Be careful about your words, and even more cautious about your actions.”Netanyahu went on to suggest that Nasrallah “calm down.”Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, asking him to use his “influence to prevent a further escalation of tensions between Israel and Lebanon.”According to Hariri’s office, the Lebanese prime minister told Lavrov that the attack in southern Beirut was “a dangerous act and aggression” and that he’s counting on Russia’s role to “avoid more escalation and tension and to send message to Israel to stop violating Lebanese sovereignty.”Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that senior US officials were putting pressure on Lebanon to rein in Hezbollah in order to avoid an escalation in violence, and were also attempting to defuse potentially explosive tensions.According to the paper, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Lebanese officials that Israel “did not intend to change the rules of the game” with the attack on the Iranian drone plot, explaining that the attack that killed Hezbollah personnel in Syria “was necessary to prevent an expected offensive from the Iranian side and that the Israeli forces confirmed that the headquarters was emptied of humans before bombarding it and that it didn’t intend to cause human casualties from Hezbollah’s ranks.”He also reportedly said of the drone crashes in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh that “there was no intention to undertake an attack,” blaming the issue on a malfunction.Agencies and Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
Gazan terrorists fire mortar shells at Israel; IDF retaliates with airstrike-One projectile strikes open field in south, causing no damage, three others land inside the Strip, amid soaring tensions-By Judah Ari Gross-toi-27 August 2019, 4:31 pm
Palestinian terrorists fired four mortar shells at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with one of them landing inside Israeli territory, the army said.In response, an Israeli aircraft bombed a Hamas observation post east of Juhor ad-Dik in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces.No injuries were reported on either side.The military said one of the shells cleared the border and struck an open field in Israeli territory, causing no damage. Three appeared to have landed inside Gaza.The shell that hit Israel triggered rocket alert sirens in the area where the mortar landed, the army said.The volley came amid a flurry of rocket attacks and mutual threats between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip. Israel has accused the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad of being behind the recent violence from the enclave.Senior Egyptian intelligence officials invited Hamas leaders to Cairo for talks aimed at restoring calm and a delegation led by two top Hamas members was slated to leave Gaza late on Monday, according to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster.A delegation from the Islamic Jihad is expected to head to Cairo in the coming days as well.Since the start of August, an uptick in rocket fire and attempts by Palestinian gunmen to cross from Gaza into Israel have been met with IDF airstrikes on Hamas targets, threatening a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the ruling terror group.On Sunday night, three rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, causing some damage but no injuries. The rockets prompted reprisal Israeli strikes, and on Monday, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians announced it had reduced fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant.Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun — known formally as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — said the downsizing of the shipments was ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also defense minister.Later Monday, Abu Rukun warned Gaza residents that the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group was actively trying to ignite a fresh war in the region.Hamas has denied it directed the latest rocket fire.Israel maintains that Hamas, as the Strip’s ruler, is ultimately responsible for all attacks emanating from the territory, while saying that it believes the Islamic Jihad is instigating the current unrest.The mortar attacks also came amid heightened tensions throughout the Middle East, as Israel squared off against Iran and its proxies in multiple countries, taking responsibility for an airstrike in Syria and being blamed for others in Lebanon and Iraq as well as an exploding drone incident which damaged a Hezbollah terror group complex in Beirut.The Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate for the Syria attack, which killed some of its members.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Netanyahu warns Hezbollah, Lebanon to calm down, be careful amid attack fears-Prime minister also cautions Iran general Qassem Soleimani as troops in north brace for promised retaliation from terror group; US said to send message to Beirut to cool tensions-By TOI staff-27 August 2019, 1:03 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah to “calm down” Tuesday, as Israel braced for a possible retaliation from the Lebanese group in the north despite reported efforts by the US to cool tensions between Beirut and Jerusalem.“I heard Nasrallah’s speech. I suggest he calm down,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony in Jerusalem.In a fiery speech Sunday, Nasrallah vowed to exact revenge on the Jewish state following an Israeli strike against a weapons storage facility in Syria on Saturday night that left Hezbollah fighters dead. Israel has also been blamed for the apparent explosion or crash of two drones in a Hezbollah-controlled area of Beirut and an air raid on a Palestinian camp deep inside Lebanon.Israel said the strike inside Syria had thwarted a plot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps to launch explosives-laden drones into Israel, overseen by powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who heads the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’s expeditionary Quds Force.“[Nasrallah] knows full well that Israel knows how to defend itself well and pay back its enemies in kind. I want to tell him and Lebanon, which hosts this organization that is trying to destroy us, and I say this to Qassem Soleimani: Be careful what you say and be more careful what you do.”Israel’s military has been gearing up for a possible reprisal attack from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group that is part of the Lebanese government, deploying extra troops to the northern border and limiting some movement along the frontier.On Monday, an Israeli military official warned that any Israeli response would be disproportionate, and Israel sent a message to Lebanon via the US that it would not limit its response to Hezbollah but would view all of Lebanon as a legitimate target, according to reports by Israeli news outlets.Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that senior US officials were putting pressure on Lebanon to rein in Hezbollah in order to avoid an escalation in violence, and were also attempting to defuse potentially explosive tensions.According to the paper, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Lebanese officials that Israel “did not intend to change the rules of the game” with the attack on the Iranian drone plot, explaining that the attack that killed Hezbollah personnel in Syria “was necessary to prevent an expected offensive from the Iranian side and that the Israeli forces confirmed that the headquarters was emptied of humans before bombarding it and that it didn’t intend to cause human casualties from Hezbollah’s ranks.”He also reportedly said of the drone crashes in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh that “there was no intention to undertake an attack,” blaming the issue on a malfunction.Pompeo reportedly told Lebanese officials that the US “acknowledges that what happened is a violation of international resolutions, but [holds] it is still possible to bring the situation back under control.”Pompeo also urged Beirut, in the newspaper’s words, to “take a public position that prevents Hezbollah from carrying out military action against Israel.”Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and others have expressed worries that an Israeli reprisal could drag the country back into war.The pro-Hezbollah paper said Britain and France were also involved in efforts to calm the situation. On Monday, Hariri met with envoys from the US, UK, France, China and Russia to complain about Israeli violations of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 and set up a peacekeeping force on the border.According to the report, unnamed French and British representatives “suggested that guarantees would be given that Israel will not repeat its aggression and warning that Israel will deliver a major blow to Lebanon if Hezbollah responds with an attack along the borders.”It quoted UN envoy to Lebanon Jan Kubis as telling Lebanese President Michel Aoun and parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Monday that Israel made a mistake, but “Lebanon should take advantage of the opportunity to go to the Security Council to receive a condemnation of all Israeli violations from the ground, air and sea,” and expressing “readiness to help Lebanon receive such a resolution.”Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, told Kubis that Lebanon saw the alleged Israeli strikes as a “declaration of war.”According to al-Akhbar, Hezbollah has rejected the international pressure to pull back from plans to retaliate.In one of the last direct confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah — after the IDF allegedly killed two of the group’s members and an Iranian general in a 2015 airstrike — the Tehran-backed militia carried out an antitank guided missile attack on two Israeli military humvees in the disputed Shebaa Farms area along the Israeli-Lebanese border, killing two soldiers and injuring seven.
Beirut UAV raid, blamed on Israel, said to hit Hezbollah precision missile parts-Drones targeted two components necessary to turn terror group’s simple rockets into accurate missiles, according to unsourced UK Times article-By Judah Ari Gross-toi-27 August 2019, 6:03 pm
A drone attack on a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut early Sunday that was attributed to Israel targeted the Lebanese terror group’s precision missile project, the British Times newspaper reported Tuesday.In the predawn hours of Sunday morning, two copter-style drones crashed in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut, an area of the city known to house Hezbollah members and offices.One of the unmanned aerial vehicles was reportedly brought down by teenagers who pelted it with rocks. It was recovered by Hezbollah and taken away for study. The other drone exploded while still in the air, causing damage, according to Lebanese officials.Hezbollah has claimed that its media offices were damaged by the blast.However, according to the Times, the explosion set fire to two crates that held materials for a Hezbollah program to turn its stock of simple rockets into precision-guided missiles — a project that is of deep concern to Israel as it would significantly increase the threat posed by these projectiles.Expanded version of the above: pic.twitter.com/1VC5Cw6L7T— Richard Spencer (@RichardJSpencer) August 27, 2019-One of the crates contained a “computerized control” unit and the other held a specialized industrial mixer that is used to make solid-state fuel, the Times reported, providing no source for the information.The outlet said that these two crates were being held in Dahiyeh temporarily before being transferred to the factory where the actual work on the precision missile project was being performed.Israel has accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group of setting up factories in Lebanon to develop precision-guided missiles and vowed to thwart its efforts. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has denied the existence of the factories but said his organization does possess such weaponry.Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel for the drone strike earlier this week. However, the model of UAV used in the attack has raised considerable questions about the drones’ provenance. Israeli officials have refused to comment on the event.The reported Beirut drone attack came after Israel on Saturday carried out airstrikes in neighboring Syria to thwart what it said was a plot to fly explosives-laden drones into the country.Nasrallah on Sunday said two Hezbollah members were among those killed in the Syria strike. They were buried in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, amid a large turnout of party supporters.On Tuesday, Hezbollah said the drone that crashed in Beirut contained an explosive device weighing more than five kilograms (11 pounds).“Experts dismantled the first drone that crashed in Beirut’s southern suburbs, it was found that it contained a sealed explosive device” of around 5.5 kilograms, Hezbollah said in a statement.“We confirm that the purpose of this first drone was not reconnaissance but the carrying out of a bombing attack,” it added.The latest discovery, Hezbollah said, confirms that Sunday’s drone attack involved not one but two explosive-rigged drones — one which exploded and the other that did not because of a technical failure.While both Hezbollah and the Lebanese military insist the drones were sent by Israel, several well-connected Israeli commentators, including a former IDF general, said the drones appeared to be of Iranian origin.Official Lebanese state media released a photograph of the quadcopter-style UAV that crashed. It appears to be based on a civilian model with extremely limited range that the Israeli military would likely be unable or uninterested in using for a sensitive operation like conducting reconnaissance on, or attacking, a Hezbollah stronghold.Earlier on Monday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun denounced the alleged Israeli drone attack as a “declaration of war.”It was the first such “hostile action” in Lebanon since a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, the Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday, vowing retaliation.Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, is a major political actor in Lebanon and also a key government backer in war-torn Syria.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
With virtual reality, Israeli soldiers train in simulated terror tunnels-IDF using computer technology to teach troops to navigate Hamas and Hezbollah underground passages-By Alexandra Vardi-toi-27 August 2019, 4:16 pm
AFP — An Israeli soldier carefully eyes the narrow, damp tunnel carved from surrounding rock through a tightly strapped black headset.He is not in one of the attack tunnels built by Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah under the border with Israel, but one of a new generation of soldiers using virtual and augmented reality to train.In a small computer-lined room, T., a 20-year-old member of Yahalom, or Diamond — the special operations unit of the army’s combat engineering corps — simulates an advance along the narrow passage.His head sweeps from side to side and up and down, while his hands probe walls invisible to the onlooker.“We see everything, even falling drops of water,” says the soldier, who cannot be named for security reasons.“I really feel like I’m there,” he tells AFP. “I feel the humidity, the sense of being stifled.”The headset displays every detail of the virtual tunnel — a reconstruction of one of several subterranean infiltrations uncovered by the army — allowing instructors to guide T. in real time.In December, the Israeli army launched an anti-tunnel operation on the Lebanese border dubbed “Northern Shield.” Israel said it had found six tunnels, while UN officials confirmed three reached into the Jewish state’s territory. Hezbollah planned to use them to abduct or kill Israeli soldiers or civilians, and to seize territory in the event of hostilities, according to the military. They ran for dozens of meters and some reached a depth of 55 meters (180 feet).In recent days, fresh tensions have erupted between Hezbollah and Israel; the Iran-aligned Shiite movement blamed the Jewish state for a drone attack on its Beirut stronghold. Israel has not commented. Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah called it the first such “hostile action” since a 2006 war between his movement and the Jewish state. He threatened retaliation.The Israeli army is also on the lookout for tunnels dug into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. They are used by terrorists and, on the Egyptian border, smugglers trying to circumvent a blockade on the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli army says it has destroyed several tunnels that ran into its territory and were designed as attack launchpads. The Egyptian army has vigorously hunted for and blocked smuggling tunnels from its side of the frontier.Jerusalem says the blockade is in place in order to prevent weapons and other military equipment from entering the Strip. Israel and Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, have fought several wars and engaged in numerous clashes over the past 12 years, with the terrorist group launching thousands of rockets and mortars into Israeli territory.‘Technology is essential’-Until recently the domain of video game creators, the virtual world has in recent years made inroads into medical, aerospace and military research, where it is increasingly used for training.“Technology is an essential part of the fight,” which justifies heavy investment, says H., commanding officer of Yahalom’s training center at a military base in central Israel.The Hezbollah tunnels exposed by Israel have been digitally scanned and appear on a soldier’s headset as they are in reality.“The soldier sees what a tunnel looks like,” says H.Since it is not always possible to train in the field, the virtual world allows personnel to familiarize themselves with a hostile underground environment without leaving their base, he added. There are a dozen soldiers on the current course; 100 have been through it since it began three years ago.While virtual reality (VR) aims to place the person in a simulated world, augmented reality (AR) allows elements to be added in a real-world environment. Both aim to provide a multi-sensory experience. Soldiers can experience scenarios where there are obstacles such as holes, cables, or explosive devices and simulate the hand movements they will need to defuse a real bomb.“There are elements one can face in a tunnel which are difficult to reproduce,” such as humidity, says the commander, but it serves as a good introduction to the subject.“It’s not very nice to be dozens of meters underground, cut off from the world,” says T. “Anything that can help you prepare is important.He says that the electronic training has made him “more ready to enter a tunnel” in real life.Not far from the “VR room” is a physical mock-up of a Hamas tunnel where soldiers can engage in combat exercises, polishing what they have learnt through VR.Three soldiers make their way inside, their faces covered with balaclavas, machine guns in their hands as they move through the rock passageway, narrow and dark.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
