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)
SOLAR STORM CAUSES NORTHERN LIGHTS (LOOK OUT EARTH WORSHIPPERS) THIS SHOULD START HEATING THE SUN BIGTIME NOW.NOT CAUSED BY HUMANS.GODS JUDGEMENT ON SINNERS.
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.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
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)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
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)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
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.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
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.
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)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
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)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
IDF unleashes wave of strikes on southern Lebanon-Hezbollah fires barrage of rockets at Kiryat Shmona, causing blazes, property damage
Military says out of 35 rockets launched, 15 downed by Iron Dome; terror group says salvo in response to killing of technician, rescue worker for Hezbollah ally
By Emanuel Fabian-and AFP Today, 10:34 pm-MAY 10,24
Hezbollah fired a barrage of 35 rockets from Lebanon at the northern city of Kiryat Shmona sparking fires in the surrounding areas Friday, while the military responded with a wave of strikes on the terror group’s positions.The military said around 15 of the projectiles were downed by the Iron Dome, while others struck the city, causing damage to property. Footage from inside the city showed damage to buildings and burned out vehicles.A large crater could be seen in the road where one of the missiles impacted the ground.Rockets falling outside of the city sparked large fires in the hills along Route 90. The Israel Fire and Rescue Services said 10 firefighting teams were at the scene.The Israel Defense Forces said it shelled the sources of the fire with artillery. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack.Hezbollah terrorists fired “a salvo of Katyusha rockets” at Israel’s north “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on… civilians, most recently in Tayr Harfa,” the group said in a statement, referring to the death of a technician and rescue worker affilated with an allied movement earlier in the day.In a separate statement, the terror group also claimed a rocket salvo on an army base in northern Israel, saying its operatives launched a second attack with “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at troops who were assessing the damage at the base.The IDF said it carried out a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in six different areas in southern Lebanon, hitting five buildings used by the terror group and a military post used to launch rockets at northern Israel, in the towns of Odaisseh, Khiam, Rab al-Thalathine, Deir Siriane, Ayta ash-Shab, and Mhaibib.Earlier in the day, three anti-tank missiles were fired at Kibbutz Misgav in the Upper Galilee next to the Lebanon border, according to Hebrew media reports.There were no reports of casualties in the incident, though one of the missiles hit a building, causing some damage.Additionally, two armed Hezbollah operatives were struck by the Israeli Air Force in southern Lebanon’s Yaroun, the military said.The IDF said the pair were spotted by troops of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit near a building known to be used by the terror group. A short while later, the building was struck by fighter jets.Fighter jets hit additional Hezbollah sites in Kafr Kila and Blida, the IDF added.Amid the IDF strikes, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said a first responder from a rescue group affiliated with the Shiite Amal movement, and a telecoms technician were killed “as a result of the Israeli aggression on Tayr Harfa.”The rescuer belonged to the Risala Scout Association, while the technician worked for Power Tec, which undertakes maintenance work for private mobile service provider Touch.The technician and colleagues from Ogero telecom provider were carrying out “maintenance on the transmission poles,” the NNA said, adding they had sought permission from the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, or UNIFIL.The Risala Scout Association, which operates in south Lebanon, said the rescuer was killed when his team went to a location that had come under Israeli bombardment.“The second strike came quickly, and one of the young men was martyred,” a source from the association told AFP.A source within Touch said the strike hit a team that had been doing maintenance work in Tayr Harfa.“We lost communications with them because the station was hit,” the source told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.“There were people from our team and from another company that does maintenance work for us, and there were also paramedics,” the source added.There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 14 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.Hezbollah has named 296 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 60 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, where some 70,000 people have been evacuated to avoid the fighting.
First rocket fire on Beersheba since December-Four IDF soldiers killed as battles rage across Gaza; tanks said to advance into Rafah-Security cabinet said to approve measured expansion of op in southern part of Strip, risking clash with Biden; dozens of gunmen killed in fighting, tunnels found
By Emanuel Fabian-and Agencies Today, 6:26 pm-MAY 10,24
Four Israeli soldiers were killed and several wounded as fierce battles raged across the Gaza Strip on Friday, while Hamas fired rockets at the southern city of Beersheba for the first time since December, lightly injuring a woman.Israeli tanks reportedly advanced on a main road dividing the eastern and western halves of southern Gaza’s Rafah on Friday, amid heavy clashes taking place in the area, as well as in Gaza City in the north of the Strip.The four soldiers were killed in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood. According to an initial IDF probe, they were hit by an explosive device or devices in an alleyway.The troops had been raiding a school complex where the military had indications of Hamas activity. Weaponry and at least one tunnel were discovered in the area of the school.The IDF has returned several times to the Zeitun neighborhood since the war’s outbreak, as Hamas has managed to regroup in areas previously cleared by the army.The soldiers were identified as Sgt. Itay Livny, 19, from Ramat Hasharon; Sgt. Yosef Dassa, 19, from Kiryat Bialik; Sgt. Ermiyas Mekuriyaw, 19, from Beersheba and Sgt. Daniel Levy, 19, from Kiryat Motzkin. All four were from the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion.Another officer and soldier of the 931st Battalion were seriously wounded in the same incident.Their deaths bring the toll of slain troops in the IDF’s ground offensive in Gaza and amid operations on the border to 271.Separately, another two soldiers of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 9th Battalion were seriously wounded by RPG fire on a tank in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.When the Israel Defense Forces launched its operation in eastern Rafah late Monday, it said troops had captured part of the Salah a-Din road, along with the Rafah Crossing to Egypt.According to a report by Reuters, it appeared that tanks had pushed further along the road on Friday, although still within a zone that the IDF ordered to be evacuated.Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of the city, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and operatives of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.Hamas claimed to have ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of the city, a sign the IDF had penetrated several kilometers from the east to the outskirts of the built-up area of the city.The Israeli military said Friday that it had killed dozens of gunmen as it continued to operate in eastern Rafah, as well as in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.Israel ordered civilians out of the eastern outskirts of Rafah earlier this week. The military has estimated that around 150,000 Palestinians in the east Rafah area have evacuated already.Around a million more Palestinians, who fled other parts of the enclave during the war, remain in the city itself, and they have not been called to evacuate yet as the operation remains limited in scope amid hostage negotiations with Hamas.Still, the security cabinet voted on Thursday night to approve a “measured” expansion of the IDF’s operation in Rafah, Hebrew media reported.The expansion was deemed as measured in what Israel hopes will not cross the line into what the United States deems as a “major operation.”US President Joe Biden warned earlier this week that he would halt certain offensive weapons shipments to Israel if it entered into the population centers of Rafah due to concerns over the one million-plus civilians sheltering there.The Axios news site cited two sources who say the expansion will be limited enough so as to not upset the Biden administration, while a third source warned the moves could be interpreted by the US as a step too far.The security cabinet also voted to instruct Israel’s hostage negotiating team to continue its efforts to try and reach a hostage deal by putting together a new proposal in the hopes of reaching a breakthrough, Axios reported.Far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich voted against the decision but were outnumbered.In east Rafah, troops of the Givati Brigade located several tunnel shafts and killed dozens of gunmen, and the 401st Armored Brigade killed several more gunmen in close-quarters combat and by calling in airstrikes in the area of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, the IDF said Friday.The military also said the Air Force and 215th Artillery Regiment carried out several strikes in Rafah over the past day, targeting sites used by Hamas to launch rockets and mortars at troops and at Israel.Also Friday, five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of Beersheba, according to the IDF. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome while the other four hit open areas, it said.A 37-year-old woman was lightly wounded by shrapnel, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said, adding that the woman was taken to Soroka Hospital for treatment.The shrapnel also caused some damage to a city park. It was not immediately clear if it was caused by a direct impact or a large fragment that fell and caused the damage.The last time rockets were fired from at Beersheba, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Gaza, was in December.-Several mortars and rockets were also launched from the Rafah area at the southern border communities of Sufa, Kerem Shalom and Nir Yitzhak and at troops in Gaza on Friday.Some of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome, as sirens sounded in the border towns.Meanwhile, in Zeitoun, where the IDF launched a pinpoint operation early Thursday, the military said fighter jets struck several gunmen and Hamas sites, including a booby-trapped building.The IDF reported that in recent days, Nahal troops killed several gunmen, including by calling in airstrikes, as well as captured weapons and intelligence materials in the Zeitoun area.In central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, the IDF said reservists of the Yiftah Brigade spotted a cell of gunmen leaving a known weapons depot and moving toward the forces, before calling in an airstrike against them. The weapons depot and another operative in the area were targeted in separate strikes, the military said.More than 40 more targets, including tunnels, anti-tank missile launch positions, buildings, observation posts and other infrastructure were struck by the Air Force in other areas of Gaza, the IDF adds.In an unusual incident in southern Gaza on Friday, twelve soldiers were hurt after being stung by wasps, the military said. The incident occurred amid an operation by the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade in the border area, near the Israeli community of Nirim.A tank had driven over a large wasp nest, leading thousands of insects to sting the troops. One of the soldiers was listed in moderate condition, and the other 11 were lightly hurt, the IDF said. They were taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.The ensuing war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, though data issued by the Hamas-run authorities cannot be independently verified, and is believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.Israel has said it has killed some 15,000 terror operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7, while 267 soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Announces more funding for campus Jewish chaplaincy service-As pro-Palestinian encampments spread to UK campuses, Sunak seeks to head off unrest-British PM meets with university heads after warning of antisemitism, with ‘students and academic staff being targeted, threatened, and assaulted simply for being Jewish’
By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 10:02 am-MAY 11,24
About three dozen pro-Palestinian protesters crawled out of their tents Thursday morning at Cambridge University, grabbed coffee and tea and sat in a circle for the daily briefing.Drink water, display the Palestinian colors, don’t talk to reporters, their leader said at the 43-tent encampment beneath the gothic spires of King’s College Chapel. In case of trouble, one group member hovered along the adjacent King’s Parade wearing a neon yellow vest marked “Police Liaison.”But after the third night of the encampment, there had been no need for the police despite a small number of counter-demonstrators, according to protesters and local merchants. At most, the group’s chanting on Monday led a few customers to abandon their sidewalk café tables and head indoors, said Beverley Atay, manager of the Copper Kettle across the street.“They’re just expressing their point of view, which is their right,” she said, watching the scene outside the café’s windows.Despite the relative calm at Cambridge and other UK campuses, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak summoned university leaders to his Downing Street offices on Thursday in an effort to head off the kind of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel student unrest that has gripped the US in recent weeks.Before the meeting, Sunak warned of “students and academic staff being targeted, threatened, and assaulted simply for being Jewish.”“We will always protect freedom of speech and the right to protest,” Sunak wrote in the Times of London. “But just as importantly, universities have a profound duty to remain bastions of tolerance, where such debate takes place with respect for others — and where every student feels safe and at home, whatever their faith or background.”Sunak’s intervention came after pro-Palestinian protesters built encampments at about a dozen UK universities over the past two weeks as some students and academics call on the institutions to cut ties with Israel over the war against Hamas in Gaza.That has raised concerns about a repeat of the violence recently seen at Columbia University in New York and the University of California at Los Angeles, where police moved in to make dozens of arrests after protesters refuse to remove encampments. The unrest has already spilled over to some European countries, with police breaking up encampments in Vienna and Amsterdam in recent days.For some Jewish students in Britain, the protests are an uncomfortable addition to a year already marred by a rise in antisemitism. Many say they feel unsafe or unwelcome on campus.The number of antisemitic incidents at the UK’s 142 universities tripled last year as tensions rose over the war in the Middle East, according to the Communities Security Trust, which works to combat antisemitism in Britain.“We are seeing language emanating from these encampments and protest movements such as calls to globalize the intifada,’’ said Edward Isaacs, president of the Union of Jewish Students, which serves students across the UK and Ireland. “These are not meaningless political statements, these are direct calls for violence and they have no place on campus.”Sunak’s office said he invited vice chancellors from some of the UK’s top universities to discuss efforts to tackle antisemitism on campus. Vice chancellors are the top academic and administrative officials at British universities.As part of the effort, Sunak announced that the government would provide an additional 500,000 pounds ($623,000) to the University Jewish Chaplaincy Service to support Jewish students.The rise in antisemitism in Britain mirrors a trend seen across Europe and the US following Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, according to major Jewish organizations.Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during the attack. An additional 252 people were abducted — it is believed that 128 of them are still held in Gaza, not all of them aliveIsrael’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry that have not been verified. The Hamas death tolls don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants and include at least 15,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.The war has inflamed tensions around the world, triggering pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests on US college campuses where disruption and confrontations with counter-protesters have brought police intervention. Israel and its supporters say many of the protests are antisemitic, while critics claim Israel uses such descriptions to silence opponents.So far, European student protests have remained relatively muted compared with those in the US, although London has seen large protests on a regular basis that have at times featured antisemitic banners and chants.One of the primary reasons is the different roles the US and European countries play in the Middle East, said Georgios Giannakopoulos, a history professor at City University of London who has studied student protests.While the United States is a global superpower that has supported Israel since its creation in 1948, European countries have different histories and less direct ties to Israel.“But what this movement now seems to suggest, slowly picking up pace in some UK universities, is that UK students not only want … to oppose the war in Gaza, but they also want to show their solidarity to their American counterparts who they feel are being repressed quite heavily,” Giannakopoulos said.By calling in the vice chancellors, Sunak has inserted himself into the debate about balancing the right of free speech against the right of all students to pursue their education without fear of intimidation.Sally Mapstone, president of the higher education trade body Universities UK, said universities have a duty to provide a safe environment for everyone on campus and they are taking that responsibility very seriously amid recent tensions.“We want to work with government (and with the Department for Education) to do everything we can to generate a culture which de-escalates the tensions that we are seeing at the moment and allows reasoned debate without the opportunities for harassment, which are concerning,” Mapstone, who is also vice chancellor at the University of St. Andrews, told the BBC.
Police dismantle anti-Israel encampment at MIT, begin clearing at other campuses-Police in riot gear also clear out encampments at Penn and University of Arizona; MIT president says encampment ‘no longer safely sustainable’By AP and ToI Staff Today, 5:30 pm-MAY 10,24
Police early Friday dismantled a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel tent encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and moved to clear protesters from the University of Pennsylvania’s campus in Philadelphia, just hours after police tear-gassed protesters and took down an encampment at the University of Arizona.In Cambridge, Massachusetts, video showed police roaming through the MIT encampment and organizers said about 10 students had been detained. Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but was dispersed by 6 a.m.At the University of Arizona, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas late Thursday at protesters before tearing down an encampment that included wood and plastic barriers on campus. In a statement, the University of Arizona said it made the decision because the encampment violated school policy.“A structure made from wooden pallets and other debris was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. in violation of the policy,” the school said in a statement. “University officials issued warnings to remove the encampment and disperse. The warnings were ignored.”The school also said that police vehicles were spiked, and rocks and water bottles thrown at officers and university staff.In Philadelphia early Friday, police detained people who were at an encampment that has been in place at the University of Pennsylvania’s campus for more than two weeks. Officers moved in after giving pro-Palestinian protesters a warning to leave campus or face possible arrest.Tensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the United States and increasingly in Europe. Some colleges cracked down immediately, while others have tolerated the demonstrations. Some have begun to lose patience and call in the police over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.The pro-Palestinian protest movement began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia University in New York City. It has since swept college campuses nationwide, with more than 2,500 people arrested. Encampment at @MIT has been removed-pic.twitter.com/foejybkvgx — Talia Khan (@TaliaKhan_MIT) May 10, 2024-The move at MIT comes several days after police first attempted to clear the encampment only to see protesters storm past barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the campus in Cambridge.Before removing the encampment, MIT earlier in the week had started suspending dozens of students involved in the encampment, meaning they wouldn’t be able to take part in academic activities or commencement.Protesters insisted the move would not stop them from demanding that MIT end all ties to the Israeli military.“This is only going to make us stronger. They can’t arrest the movement,” Quinn Perian, an undergraduate student at MIT and organizer for MIT Jews for Ceasefire, said. “We are going to continue and won’t back down until MIT agrees to cut ties with the Israeli military. MIT would rather arrest and suspend some students than they would end their complicity with the genocide going on in Gaza.”BREAKING: pro-Palestinian protesters surround and start chanting at facilities officers trying to put up flood lights at the encampment at the University of Arizona. They also began shaking the golf cart and I witnessed one spitting on an officer. pic.twitter.com/zghTd7HqzS — Ellie Wolfe (@elliew0lfe) May 10, 2024The encampment had been up for at least two weeks and especially angered Jewish students, who have held counter-protests nearby. They covered a lawn with small Israeli flags and put up posters of some of the people abducted by terrorists during the October 7 attack in which some 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 252 were kidnapped.MIT President Sally Kornbluth, working to strike a balance between recognizing the suffering in Gaza with concerns about the “safety of our community,” warned Monday the encampment would have to be removed.“This prolonged use of MIT property as a venue for protest, without permission, especially on an issue with such sharp disagreement, is no longer safely sustainable,” she wrote to the MIT community.Anti-Israel protesters have contested that their movement, which calls for universities to disclose investments in Israeli companies and divest from them, is peaceful and not antisemitic. Many Jewish students, however, have reported being harassed, and chants calling for the elimination of Israel are often heard.
South Africa asks World Court to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah-As part of genocide case, Pretoria urges ICJ to force Israel to allow unimpeded access for international officials, aid workers and journalists, amid expanding military op-By Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 11:34 pm-MAY 10,24
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war in Gaza, the UN’s top court said on Friday.In the ongoing case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of acts of genocide against Palestinians, the World Court in January ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians.Israel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has previously said it is acting in accordance with international law in Gaza, has called South Africa’s genocide case baseless, and accused Pretoria of acting as “the legal arm of Hamas.”In filings published on Friday, South Africa is seeking additional emergency measures in light of the ongoing military action in Rafah, which it calls the “last refuge” for Palestinians in Gaza. Israel says the operation in the southern city is crucial to defeating the remaining Hamas battalions holding out there.South Africa asked the court to order that Israel cease the Rafah offensive and allow unimpeded access to Gaza for UN officials, organizations providing humanitarian aid, and journalists and investigators.According to South Africa, Israel’s military operation is killing the Palestinians of Gaza while at the same time starving them by denying them humanitarian aid to enter.“Those who have survived so far are facing imminent death now, and an order from the Court is needed to ensure their survival,” South Africa’s filing said.In March, lawyers for Israel said South Africa’s repeated requests for additional measures were an abuse of procedures after the ICJ ordered it to increase the provision of basic humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip, including food, water, fuel, and shelter, due to what it said are worsening living conditions for Palestinians in the war-torn territory.Israel has asserted its offensive is aimed at Hamas, but faces a hard task avoiding civilian casualties, providing evidence that Hamas embeds itself and stores its weapons in civilian areas.Israel also blames the ailing humanitarian situation on aid agencies’ failure to distribute supplies, and on Hamas and armed groups who have looted trucks entering the Gaza. The agencies say their work has become far more difficult amid the fighting and a lack of security for aid convoys.Aid flow was further hampered when Israel’s Kerem Shalom Crossing with Gaza was shuttered for a few days this week following a deadly Hamas rocket attack, while the Rafah Crossing on the Egypt border has been closed since the IDF captured the Palestinian side of the terminal on Tuesday.The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said in April that there has been “a great surge in the amount of humanitarian aid going into Gaza.”In total, it said, more than 6,000 trucks carrying food, water, medical supplies and tents entered the enclave last month.“There is no limit to the amount of aid that can be facilitated into Gaza, and the month of April proved it,” it said on X.War erupted when Hamas-led terrorists launched the October 7 massacre on southern communities, murdering 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 252 hostages to Gaza.According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 34,943 Palestinians have been killed and 78,572 injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since October 7. The figures have not been independently verified, do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, and include at least 15,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.A total of 271 IDF soldiers have been killed in the army’s Gaza ground operation.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, generally rules within a few weeks on requests for emergency measures. It will likely take years before the court will rule on the merits of the overall genocide case. While the ICJ’s rulings are binding and without appeal the court has no way to enforce them.
‘Bring home the dead and the living’: Hostages’ families to rally ahead of Memorial Day-Families of captives declared dead in Gaza to speak in Tel Aviv, alongside French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy; anti-government protests urging elections to be held nationwide
By ToI Staff Today, 1:36 pm-MAY 11,24
Ahead of Israel’s Memorial Day, the families of hostages held in Gaza were set to rally to demand a deal on Saturday night in Tel Aviv, with a focus on the 38 captives who have been declared dead.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the organizers of the rally, said the demonstration would mourn the memory of the hostages who have been killed and their bodies are being held by Hamas.Israel is readying to mark Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and those killed in terror attacks, starting Sunday evening.According to figures released by authorities on Thursday, 1594 soldiers and civilians have been killed in combat or by terror since Israel’s last Memorial Day, marking the deadliest year for the country’s security forces and civilians in five decades.“Time has run out for the murdered hostages. We need a deal now that will allow us to bring home the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.Speakers were to include: Hagit and Ruby Chen, the parents of Itay Chen, whose body is held in Gaza after he was killed during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught; Richelle Tzarfati, the mother of Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered from Gaza in December; Maya Ahimas, sister of hostage Tomer Ahimas, who was killed fighting terrorists on October 7 and his body taken to Gaza; and French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.The rally is set to get underway at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square at 8 p.m.Ahead of the rally, a ceremony will be held to inaugurate artist Michal Rovner’s Cypress Avenue installation in honor of the hostages who were killed, with the participation of Yael Adar, the mother of Tamir Adar, who was killed on October 7 and whose body was taken to Gaza; Nirit Aloni, the mother of Noam, whose partner was murdered hostage Inbar Haiman; and Tami Baruch, the mother of hostage Sahar Baruch, who was killed during failed rescue attempt by the Israel Defense Forces.The rallies come as hopes fade for a hostage and truce deal between Israel and Hamas.On Monday, the terror group claimed to have accepted an agreement with Israel, though it later emerged that the proposal it said had come from Egyptian and Qatari mediators included several elements fundamentally different from those Israel had agreed to.Jerusalem swiftly rejected the proposal for falling short of its “vital demands,” but okayed dispatching a working-level delegation to the indirect talks in Cairo. After gaps could not be closed, the Israeli and Hamas teams departed Egypt on Friday.Talks have continued for months without a decisive breakthrough. Israel has said it is determined to eliminate Hamas, while Hamas says it wants a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration has said Hamas is the only party standing in the way of a deal.Anti-government protests-Amid an increasing convergence between the protests of the hostages’ families and the mass anti-government demonstrations that were a weekly event in the months before October 7, with some of the families accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of blocking a deal for political reasons, a separate demonstration calling for early elections was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv.Organizers called on participants to join with the hostages’ families to rally at the nearby entrance to the Defense Ministry at the conclusion of the anti-government protest.A protest calling for elections will also be held outside the President’s House in Jerusalem.Participants were set to gather at 8:45 p.m. in Paris Square, before marching to the President’s House at 9:45 p.m.In a nod to the traditional ceremony honoring outstanding citizens at the start of Independence Day, set to begin with the conclusion of Memorial Day on Monday evening, the Jerusalem rally will “honor the citizens who were revealed in all their glory during the war, in the face of the lack of the country’s leadership,” organizers said.Speakers were to include government critic Noam Tibon, a retired IDF general who mounted a mission to rescue his son, his wife and their two young children from their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz.Thousands were expected to call for elections in rallies at other locations across the country, organizers said.Some families of hostages, frustrated that after nearly seven months of war their loved ones are still in captivity, have turned against the government, speaking out publicly against the country’s leaders.The government’s popularity has plummeted since the beginning of the war, leading to growing calls for elections. It has faced blame over its failure to prevent the October 7 massacre, while some have charged it has fumbled when dealing with key matters relating to the conflict.Polls consistently show that were elections to be held, anti-Netanyahu parties would win a clear majority, with war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity, the largest party.A Channel 12 survey last week showed that 58 percent of voters asked think Netanyahu should resign.The war began when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people. The thousands of attackers who burst through the border with the Gaza Strip also abducted 252 people who were taken as hostages into the Palestinian enclave.Israel responded with a military offensive to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza, destroy the terror group and free the hostages.
Troops operate against Hamas regrouping in Gaza City’s Zeitoun-IDF calls on Gazans to leave additional Rafah neighborhoods as it presses operation-300,000 have left southern Gaza city to ‘humanitarian zone,’ military assesses; IDF also gearing up for fresh operation in north Gaza’s Jabaliya, as Hamas renews presence there
By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 12:36 pm-MAY 11,24
The Israeli military on Saturday morning began calling on Palestinians in additional neighborhoods of Rafah to evacuate the area, as it pressed on with an operation against the Hamas terror group in the city in the southern Gaza Strip.Last week, the Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation warning for the eastern outskirts of Rafah, before it pushed into the area.The latest warning covered the Rafah and Shaboura camps and the neighborhoods of Geneina and Khirbat al-Adas, slightly deeper into the city.Around a million Palestinians, who fled other parts of the enclave during the war, are sheltering in Rafah.In the initial evacuation zone and other areas of Rafah, around 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated to a designated “humanitarian zone,” according to IDF assessments.Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, published on Saturday morning a list of the new zones that needed to be evacuated.The IDF also dropped flyers, sent text messages and made phone calls with the evacuation instructions.The civilians were called on to move to the expanded humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi and Khan Younis areas in southern Gaza.Adraee also warned Palestinians against moving toward the Israeli border.The move came after Israel’s security cabinet voted on Thursday night to approve a “measured” expansion of the IDF’s operation in Rafah.The expansion was deemed as measured in what Israel hopes will not cross the line into what the United States sees as a “major operation.”US President Joe Biden warned earlier this week that he would halt certain offensive weapons shipments to Israel if it entered into the population centers of Rafah, due to concerns over the one million-plus civilians sheltering there.In a highly anticipated report to Congress, the Biden administration said Friday it found “credible and reliable” Israeli assurances that it will use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, allowing for the further transfer of American arms amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.However, in the strongest such statement from Biden officials, the US State Department report also said it was “reasonable” to assess that Israel has used US-supplied weapons since Hamas’s October 7 attack in instances that were “inconsistent” with its international humanitarian law obligations, but that it does not have complete information to verify Israeli forces did so.The IDF’s operation in Rafah has so far been limited to the eastern part of the city and the border crossing with Egypt.The IDF says troops have located several tunnel shafts and killed dozens of gunmen so far.On Friday, Hamas launched two barrages of rockets from Rafah and central Gaza at Beersheba, the first attack on the southern city in nearly six months. The attack lightly wounded a woman and caused damage to a public playground.The military on Saturday said it was also preparing to launch a new operation in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, after identifying attempts by Hamas to regroup there.A separate evacuation order was given for the Jabaliya area, where the IDF estimated between 100,000 and 150,000 Palestinians were.Civilians were being told to move to shelters west of Gaza City.“You are in a dangerous combat zone. Hamas is trying to rebuild its capabilities in the area, and therefore the IDF will work with great force against the terror organizations in the area in which you are located,” Adraee said in his announcement.It would be the second time the IDF operated on the ground in Jabaliya after it was captured during the first months of Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas. The IDF later withdrew from north Gaza.The evacuation order came as the IDF continued to operate in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, after similarly identifying Hamas regrouping there.Four soldiers were killed battling Hamas in Zeitoun on Friday.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have long faced criticism over their refusal to make a plan for the management of Gaza after the war.Hamas has reportedly reasserted significant civil control in a number of areas of the enclave after troops swept through and then left.The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.The ensuing war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, though data issued by the Hamas-run authorities cannot be independently verified, and is believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.Israel has said it has killed some 15,000 terror operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7, while 271 soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border.
Many Hamas fighters in Rafah fleeing northward -- official-Sinwar not hiding in Rafah, officials tell ToI, as PM publicly prioritizes IDF op there-Officials say recent intel placed the Hamas leader in underground tunnels around Khan Younis, as the accused October 7 mastermind continues to elude Israeli forces in Gaza
By Jacob Magid-Today, 5:23 am-MAY 11,24
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not hiding in Rafah, two officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Friday, as the Israel Defense Forces moves to expand its operations in Gaza’s southernmost city.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has elevated a potential IDF operation in Rafah to the top of his public agenda, with the targeting of Hamas’s leadership believed to still be a major Israeli war aim as well.The IDF has had some success on this front, killing Hamas military wing deputy commander Marwan Issa — considered the terror group’s No. 3 leader in Gaza — along with other senior commanders in recent months. But Sinwar and his deputy — military wing chief Mohammed Deif — have remained elusive, despite repeated claims by Israeli officials that the IDF was closing in on them.The two officials speaking to The Times of Israel were unable to say with certainty where Sinwar is currently located, but they cited recent intelligence assessments that placed the Hamas leader in underground tunnels in the Khan Younis area, some five miles north of Rafah.A third official — an Israeli one — asserted that Sinwar is still in Gaza.Israel has made eliminating Sinwar a key element of its goal to destroy Hamas. In February, the IDF released footage of what it said was Sinwar walking through a tunnel with several family members, the first time he was apparently spotted since going into hiding before the devastating October 7 onslaught he’s accused of orchestrating, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.IDF ground forces began operating in Rafah on Monday, launching a targeted operation in the eastern part of the city aimed at taking over the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt. The security cabinet voted Thursday to approve a measured expansion of the Rafah operation in what is aimed at remaining within the scope of what Washington is willing to accept.US President Joe Biden said he would stop sending certain offensive weapons to the IDF if Israel went forward with a major ground offensive in the population centers of the city where over one million Palestinians are sheltering. He already withheld a shipment of high payload bombs last week amid fears they’d be used in Rafah.Netanyahu has pledged to launch a major offensive in Rafah for months, arguing that the operation is essential for defeating Hamas, which has four of its remaining six active battalions located in the city.But one of the officials speaking to The Times of Israel said many Hamas fighters in Rafah have fled northward as Israeli threats of an invasion intensified in recent weeks.While Israel says 18 of Hamas’s 24 battalions have been dismantled, the terror group’s fighters have managed to regroup and return to areas previously cleared by the IDF.The IDF was operating in the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeitoun this week for the third time since the war’s outbreak, with security officials warning that the IDF would be forced to continue playing this game of cat and mouse with Hamas until the Israeli government advances a viable alternative to Hamas rule.While much of the security establishment would like to see the Palestinian Authority — or at least Palestinians linked to the PA — fill the vacuums that the IDF is briefly creating through its operations throughout the Strip, Netanyahu has rejected the idea outright, as his far-right allies have pushed for Israel to permanently occupy the Strip and re-establish settlements there.Absent a diplomatic strategy to compliment the military operations, many of the IDF’s achievements on the ground have been short-lived, the Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
Hamas rethinking strategy, says talks are back to square one-US: Ongoing IDF op in Rafah doesn’t amount to major offensive we’ve warned against-White House says it’s watching ‘with concern,’ urges Israel to reopen Rafah Crossing for humanitarian aid; calls collapse of hostage talks ‘deeply regrettable’ but efforts continue-By Jacob Magid-Today, 4:12 am-MAY 11,24
The White House said Friday that the US does not believe the IDF’s operation in Rafah over past the day amounts to a wide-scale military operation, which President Joe Biden warned would lead him to halt offensive weapons shipments to Israel.“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that what we’ve seen here in the last 24 hours connotes or indicates a broad, large-scale invasion or major ground operation. It appears to be localized near the crossing largely with the forces that they had put in there at the beginning,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.At the beginning of the week, Israel launched an operation to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing, which it said was being used for terror purposes. The crossing has since been shuttered, with Israel offering no timetable for when the crossing will be reopened for the delivery of aid.On Thursday night the security cabinet voted to approve a measured expansion of the operation.Israel has ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, as it has carried out repeated airstrikes and engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists in the area.“We’re watching this with concern,” Kirby said during a briefing with reporters. “Every day that crossing is not available and usable for humanitarian assistance, there’s going to be more suffering, and that’s a deep concern to us. We urge the Israelis to open up that crossing to humanitarian assistance immediately. That aid is desperately needed, and we urge them… to be as careful, precise, and discriminate as they can.”The US has offered tepid support for the limited operation to remove Hamas from the Rafah Crossing area, but warned that its stance could shift if the offensive widened to civilian areas or if the delivery of humanitarian aid was hampered for a sustained period, with Biden saying Wednesday that he could halt arms transfers to Israel if it launches a wide-scale invasion. That came after the White House confirmed a delay in the transfer of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs over concerns that the IDF could use them in Rafah, as it has in other parts of Gaza.According to a Lebanese report, Israel is planning on breaking its offensive into smaller, separate operations in different areas in Rafah so as not to draw the ire of the United States and the international community.Touching on efforts to reach a hostage and truce deal, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby called the departure of Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams from talks in Cairo “deeply regrettable,” after the latest round of meetings again failed to yield an agreement.“We’ve seen the comments that officials from both sides have made speaking to the impasse that they’re at right now,” Kirby told reporters in a briefing.“But we are working hard to try to keep both sides engaged in continuing the discussion — if only virtually — and to continue to work on the actual text itself. We still believe that a deal was possible… The gaps remaining can be surmounted, but it’s going to require leadership, some moral courage and it’s going to require continued ability to compromise and to negotiate in good faith. We’re not giving up on that,” Kirby added.“There are no in-person meetings now in place… That doesn’t mean the process has to end… We’re still all in, and we’re still going to keep working on it,” he said.On Monday, Hamas claimed to have accepted a truce agreement with Israel, though it later emerged that the proposal it said had come from Egyptian and Qatari mediators included several elements fundamentally different from what Israel had agreed to. Jerusalem swiftly rejected the proposal for falling short of its “vital demands,” but okayed dispatching a working-level delegation to the indirect talks in Cairo.Hamas said Friday it is holding consultations to reconsider its negotiating strategy in light of Israel’s rejection of its counter-proposal in the talks, and the expanding IDF operations at the Rafah Border Crossing.The terror group claimed in a statement that Israel’s response to the hostage talks brought them back to square one — a similar charge that Israeli officials made in response to Hamas’s response to the hostage proposal crafted by mediators and green-lit by Israel last week.Hamas wants calmness and a real hostages-for-prisoners swap deal, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the war to continue, Hamas senior official Khalil al-Hayya claimed Friday.“Hamas did not suspend nor withdraw from the [truce] negotiations; the occupation turned against the mediators’ proposal,” Al-Hayya added in comments to Al Araby TV published by Hamas.The specifics of the proposal Hamas said it had accepted Monday (Arabic text here) differed in numerous regards from the reported terms of what the US had hailed as an “extremely generous” Israeli offer.Among the differences: Israel had demanded the release of 33 living hostages in a first stage, but the Hamas proposal would allow the group to free remains in place of living hostages, with most only to be released after the truce was over a month old; the Hamas proposal removes the veto Israel demanded on the release of certain Palestinian security prisoners, and raises the number of Palestinian security prisoners to be freed; the Hamas proposal provides for the free movement of Gazans back to the north of the strip, without security checks as required by Israel to prevent Hamas gunmen returning.The Hamas proposal also changes the timing of hostage releases within the phases, and some of the specifics on Israeli troop withdrawals. It also demands the release of all Palestinian security prisoners who were freed in the 2011 Shalit prisoner deal and have since been re-arrested.Significantly, Hamas said on Monday night that it regards itself as having accepted terms for an end to the war, whereas both the Israeli-backed text and the Hamas response refer to restoring “sustainable calm.” In an introductory paragraph, however, the Hamas text says the “framework agreement aims for … a return to sustainable calm in a way that achieves a permanent ceasefire.”Israel has consistently said it will not accept a deal that entails a permanent ceasefire, and that it will resume its military campaign after any truce-for-hostages deal in order to complete its two declared war goals: freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.According to CNN, Hamas created another major obstacle in the negotiations on Monday by demanding Israel agree upfront to an initial 12-week truce, rather than the six weeks in the original framework.War broke out between Israel and Hamas following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel which saw terrorists kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 252.It is believed that 128 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 12 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 36 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 34,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified, does not distinguish between combatants and civilians and includes some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.Two hundred and seventy-one soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border.Reuters contributed to this report.
US: Israel’s assurances on weapons use ‘credible,’ but ‘reasonable’ to assess otherwise-Seemingly contradictory report ordered by Biden clears way for further arms transfers, while asserting IDF likely breached international humanitarian law in specific cases
By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 2:46 amUpdated at 3:36 am-MAY 11,24
In a highly anticipated report to Congress, the Biden administration said Friday it found “credible and reliable” Israeli assurances that it will use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, allowing for the further transfer of American arms amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.However, in the strongest such statement from Biden officials, the State Department report also said it was “reasonable” to assess that Israel has used US-supplied weapons since Hamas’s October 7 attack in instances that were “inconsistent” with its international humanitarian law obligations, but that it does not have complete information to verify Israeli forces did so.The seemingly contradictory assessment came after the State Department was asked to report to Congress, under a new National Security Memorandum (NSM) that US President Joe Biden issued in early February, on whether it finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of American weapons does not violate US or international law.At the time the White House agreed to the review, wit was working to head off moves from progressive Democratic lawmakers and independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to start restricting shipments of weapons to Israel.The presidential directive also obligated the report to examine whether Israel has acted “arbitrarily to deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly,” delivery of any US-supported humanitarian aid into Gaza for civilians there.The report was issued on Friday as Biden has tried to walk an ever-finer line in his support of Israel since the Hamas-led atrocities that sparked the war, while he faces growing rancor at home and abroad. Last week, Biden took one of the first steps toward conditioning military aid to Israel, pausing a shipments of thousands of bombs over concerns over Israeli plans to invade of Rafah, and on Wednesday he threatened to halt further arms deliveries if the IDF moves into populated parts areas of Gaza’s southernmost city.Along with Israel, the report covered several other countries.“Embassies Bogota, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Nairobi, Abuja, Mogadishu, and Kyiv obtained the required assurances signed by the designated representatives of their respective countries, which were in turn reviewed by the State Department in order to determine credibility and reliability by March 24, 2024,” the State Department wrote.“While in some countries there have been circumstances over the reporting period that raise serious concerns, the USG [United States government] currently assesses the assurances provided by each recipient country to be credible and reliable so as to allow the provision of defense articles covered under NSM-20 to continue,” the report stated.The section of the report devoted to Israel begins by noting the October 7 onslaught that started the war, during which Hamas and other terror groups killed some 1,200 people and took 252 hostages into Gaza.“There are also credible reports that individuals associated with these organizations raped or committed other acts of sexual violence against women and girls killed and abducted on October 7,” the report said, stating that “Hamas does not follow any portion of and consistently violates international law.”The report then turned to Israel’s military offensive in response to the attack, which was launched with the aim of toppling Hamas and returning the hostages. The State Department relied on Hamas-controlled health ministry’s unverified figure of nearly 35,000 Palestinian deaths, which it said “international organizations generally deem credible” while acknowledging does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.The report also noted Israeli figures that “approximately half of the 34,700 killed in Gaza have been Hamas fighters,” but said “we do not have the ability to verify this estimate.”“Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether US defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of IHL or IHRL in Gaza, or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period of the report,” the State Department said.“Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.”The US government reviewed numerous reports that raise questions about Israel’s compliance with its legal obligations and best practices for mitigating harm to civilians, the report said.Those included Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure, strikes in densely populated areas and others that call into question whether “expected civilian harm may have been excessive relative to the reported military objective.”In the period after October 7, the report found, Israel “did not fully cooperate” with US and other international efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. But it said this did not amount to a breach of a US law that blocks the provision of arms to countries that restrict US humanitarian aid.It said Israel had acted to improve aid delivery since Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call early last month that Washington would withhold some arms supplies if the humanitarian situation did not improve.The report said individual violations do not necessarily disprove Israel’s commitment to international humanitarian law, as long as it takes steps to investigate and hold violators accountable.“Israel’s own concern about such incidents is reflected in the fact it has a number of internal investigations underway,” the report said.Following the release of the report, progressive Democrats who have been calling to restrict weapons transfers to Israel fumed, as it was not used in the way they ultimately hoped.“This report contradicts itself,” Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a briefing with reporters. Van Hollen has been one of the leading critics on Capitol Hill of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and the pressure applied by him and other Democrats is seen to have played a major role in Biden’s decision to order the report.“It provides a useful accountability structure, but it will be most useful if judgments can be made based on the facts and the law and not driven by what we wish the facts and the law were,” Van Hollen continued. “They’re ducking a determination on the hard… politically inconvenient cases.”“The report might create an atmosphere where people will push for more limitations on offensive weapons to Israel,” Van Hollen warned.But given that Congress is split and a sizable number of Democrats aren’t as critical of Israel’s military campaign as he is, it is less likely that such limitations will get very far on the Hill.Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the review “only contributes to politically motivated anti-Israel sentiment” and should never have been done.“Now is the time to stand with our ally Israel and ensure they have the tools they need,” he said in a statement.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) 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)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING (BUT WILL NOT KILL EVERY BODY WITH WATER)(BUT 50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE (4 BILLION PEOPLE) FROM NUCLEAR WAR)(THE BIBLE SAYS BY FIRE OR ATOMIC BOMBS THIS TIME)
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator and baby murderers by abortion) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.
Intense solar storm causes spectacular northern lights displays across the globe-Auroras seen in skies of US, north Europe and Australasia as result of most powerful solar storm in over 20 years; changes to Earth’s magnetic field could cause power disruptions.By Issam Ahmed Today, 7:57 am-MAY 11,24
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday, triggering spectacular celestial light shows in skies from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend.The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun — came just after 1600 GMT, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center.It was later upgraded to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm — the first since the so-called “Halloween Storms” of October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. More CMEs are expected to pummel the planet in the coming days.Social media lit up with people posting pictures of auroras from northern Europe and Australasia.“We’ve just woken the kids to go watch the Northern Lights in the back garden! Clearly visible with the naked eye,” Iain Mansfield, a think tanker in Hertford, Britain told AFP.“ Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4am this morning. I’m leaving today and knew I could not pass up this opportunity,” photographer Sean O’ Riordan posted on X alongside a photo.Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4am this morning. I’m leaving today and knew I could not pass up this opportunity for such a large solar storm. Here’s the image. I actually had to de-saturate the colours. Clouds glowing red. Insane. Shot on Nikon. Rt appreciated pic.twitter.com/210hlkmoeg — Sean O' Riordan (@seanorphoto) May 10, 2024-Authorities notified satellite operators, airlines and the power grid to take precautionary steps for potential disruptions caused by changes to Earth’s magnetic field.Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around eight minutes, CMEs travel at a more sedate pace, with officials putting the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.They emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet. The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings heightened activity.‘Go outside tonight and look’Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP that while the effects would be largely felt over the planet’s northern and southern latitudes, how far they would extend would depend on the storm’s final strength.“Go outside tonight and look would be my advice because if you see the aurora, it’s quite a spectacular thing,” he added. If people have eclipse glasses, they can also look for the sunspot cluster during the day.In the United States, this could include places such as Northern California and Alabama, officials said.NOAA’s Brent Gordon encouraged the public to try to capture the night sky with phone cameras even if they can’t see auroras with their naked eyes.“Just go out your back door and take a picture with the newer cell phones and you’d be amazed at what you see in that picture versus what you see with your eyes.”Spacecraft and pigeons-Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially lead to blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems.Spacecraft are also at risk from high doses of radiation, though the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.NASA has a dedicated team looking into astronaut safety, and can ask astronauts on the International Space Station to move to places within the outpost that are better shielded.Pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses could also be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Officials said people should have the normal backup plans in place for power outages, such as having flashlights, batteries and radios at hand.The most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event, occurred in September 1859, named after British astronomer Richard Carrington.Excess currents on telegraph lines at that time caused electrical shocks to technicians and even set some telegraph equipment ablaze.
