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)
NEW OF THE WORLD TODAY.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
STRONGS CONCORDANCE FOR VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE-SEE IT FOR YOURSELVES.
2554. chamas - Strong's Concordance - chamas: to treat violently or wrong - Part of Speech: Verb - Transliteration: chamas -Phonetic Spelling: (khaw-mas') - Definition: to treat violently or wrong - make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong -A primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat -- make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
SECOND ANGEL: The Middle East DR DOCTORIAN
Then Isawthat the second angel had a sickle in his hand,such asis used in harvesting. The second angelsaid, “Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the wayto Iran.” Isawthose countriesin a fewsplitseconds. “All of Turkey and those other countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another.” I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries.I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia – Iraq, Syria,Lebanon,Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor – full of blood. Isaw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; nuclear weapons were used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these words, “Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come.”The angel said, “The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God.” I saw fires rising to heaven.The angel said, “This is the final judgment My church shall be purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Watershall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries.” The angelshowed me that the United Nationsshall be broken in pieces because of the crisisin the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
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)
ISAIAH 54:3
03-King James Bible-For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
The right hand was a symbol of strength-Exodus 15:6, ” Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.”
EZEKIEL 17:15-24 (MUSLIM COUNTRIES HISTORY)
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.
PSALMS 83:3-7
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,(HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
8 Assyria (SYRIA) also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be [e]confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE.
ISRAEL IS ALWAYS ACCUSED OF COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST THE ISLAMIC COCKROACH PEDOPHILIA DEATH CULT. BUT THE BIRD MIGRATION OF SPRING IS COMING NEXT MONTH. WHEN 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS ARE IN ISRAEL.IF RUSSIA, GERMANY AND A PILE OF ISLAMIC DEATH CULT COCKROACH COUNTRIES COME AGAINST ISRAEL.THE COCKROACH SLAUGHTER MIGHT OCCUR. THE BIBLE SAYS THIS WAR AGAINST THE COCKROACH ISLAMIC COUNTRIES MUST OCCUR WHILE THE SPRING OR FALL BIRD MIGRATION IS IN ISRAEL.GOD AND ISRAEL WILL SLAUGHTER THESE ISRAEL HATERS AND THE MIGRATING BIRDS WILL EAT THE GENICIDAL COCKROACHES BODIES AND BLOOD. 300 MILLION COCKROACHES DRY NUCLEAR BONES WILL BE BURIED IN MASS GRAVES IN THE JORDAN VALLEY.WHY IS BIDEN SUCH A SUCKUP COWARD OF IRAN. BIDEN CLAIMS AT HIS BRAIN DEAD TIME HE WILL GET BACK AT THE HOUTHIS. BUT ITS IRAN BEHIND THESE COCKROACH ATTACKS ON AMERICA. THIS OBAMA-BIDEN MUSLIM TERM SUCKHOLES UP TO IRAN WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.THEN THAT IDIOT AUSTIN THIS MORNING AT 11AM SAID WE ARE NOT AGAINST IRAN. WELL IF THEIR NOT AGAINST IRAN.THEY SURE ARE AGAINST ISRAEL.WHO IRAN AND ALL THE COCKROACH COUNTRIES WANNA DESTROY FROM THE EARTH.AND THEY WANT TO STEAL HALF OF JERUSALEM FROM ISRAEL. THE PA OR HAMAS LEADER ON MEMRI SAID-WE DON'T WANT LAND. WE WANT ISRAEL DESTROYED FROM THE EARTH.THEN WE ISLAMIC DEATH CULT PEDOPHILE COCKROACHES CAN JUST TAKE ISRAEL.AND ALSO BRAIN DEAD BIDEN-HARRIS AND NIKKI HALEY TEAM JUST RUNS ON ONE BATTLE. ABORTION (MURDER OF GODS CREATED BABIES (NOT WOMENS). THESE LOONEY TOONS THINK MURDERING GODS AND YOUR OWN CHILD IS THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE TO KEEP LIBERAL SILLY WOMEN AFTER THEIR OWN LUSTS HAPPY AND VOTING FOR THE DEMOLIBNUTS.THESE IDIOTS BY PROMOTING ABORTION WILL BE BURNING IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER RIGHT BESIDE THE ABORTIONISTS FOR MURDERING GODS CREATED CHILDREN. SO GOOD LUCK ON YOUR BABY MURDER ONLY VOTING TOPIC. YOU DEMOLEFTWINGNUTS WORSHIP THE DEATH OF BABIES ON THE ALTAR OF SEX BECAUSE YOU GOT NO RESPECT FOR LIFE OF A CHILD. AND ONE MORE THING ALSO 2 POLICE OFFICERS WERE BEAT UP BY 7 OR 8 MIGRANTS IN NEW YORK. WELL BRAIN DEAD BIDEN AND HIS OPEN SHIT IN YOUR DIAPER BORDER POLICY. LETTING TERRORISTS COME IN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO MAKE AMERICA A 3RD WORLD-KILL AMERICAN CITIZENS COUNTRY. AND TO RULE THE WESTERN COUNTRIES. LIKE I KEEP SAYING WOMEN AND GIRLS CAN COME IN OUR COUNTRIES NO PROBLEM. BUT BAN ANY MALE 7 YEARS OR OLDER FROM EVERY COUNTRY ON EARTH. NOW THATS HOW YOU CONTROL LOONATIC CRIMINALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD FROM COMING TO WESTERN COUNTRIES.
NATO chief to US conservatives: US alliance 'a good deal' by AFP Staff Writers-Washington (AFP) Jan 31, 2024
NATO's chief on Wednesday told US conservatives that the alliance was a "good deal" for the United States and created jobs, as likely presidential candidate Donald Trump fuels doubts about assisting Ukraine.Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was visiting Washington where he met Republican lawmakers as an impasse in Congress holds up new US aid to Ukraine, which President Joe Biden argues is critical to combatting Russia's nearly two-year-old invasion.Speaking at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Stoltenberg made an economic argument, saying that US arms manufacturers have exported $120 billion to European allies and Canada over the past two years."What you produce keeps people safe. What allies buy keeps American business strong. So NATO is a good deal for the United States," the alliance chief said.He said that only a "small fraction" of US annual military spending had destroyed "a substantial part of Russia's combat capacity.""Supporting Ukraine is not a charity. It is an investment in our own security," he said."Ukraine must prevail. And it can -- but it needs our continued help."Stoltenberg will later travel to the deeply Republican state of Alabama to see a Lockheed Martin plant that has produced Javelin anti-armor weapons for Ukraine.Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in November, has voiced misgivings about Ukraine aid and NATO.The former president has mused about withdrawing from NATO and said it was unfair to commit the United States to defend other members of the 31-nation alliance.He also voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and questioned whether Ukraine can emerge victorious from the invasion.Stoltenberg met Tuesday with Washington's top Republican, House Speaker Mike Johnson. In a joint statement issued by NATO, the two said that the alliance was "good for Europe and good for the United States.""We discussed the importance of sending a clear, decisive message to President Putin that he will not win his war of aggression in Ukraine," it said.But Congress remains at an impasse, with Republicans refusing to approve $61 billion for Ukraine requested by Biden as they press for harsher measures against migrants at the Mexican border.
US strikes 10 Huthi drones, downs unmanned Iranian aircraft-By W.G. DUNLOP-Washington (AFP) Feb 1, 2024
American forces carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, the US military said Wednesday.A US warship also shot down an anti-ship missile fired by the Huthis and later downed three Iranian drones, Central Command (CENTCOM) said.While the United States has recently launched strikes on the Huthis and other Tehran-supported groups in the region, both it and Iran have sought to avoid a direct confrontation, and the downing of three Iranian drones could heighten tensions.Early on Thursday local time, US forces targeted a "Huthi UAV ground control station and 10 Huthi one-way UAVs" that "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region," CENTCOM said in a statement, using an abbreviation for unmanned aerial vehicle.CENTCOM earlier announced that the USS Carney had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Huthis, and then downed three Iranian drones less than an hour later.It did not specify if the drones shot down by the naval destroyer were designed for attack or surveillance.American forces also destroyed a Huthi surface-to-air missile on Wednesday that CENTCOM said posed an imminent threat to "US aircraft" -- a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels' ability to threaten international shipping.It did not identify the type of aircraft that were threatened or the exact location of the strike, only saying that it took place in "Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen."- Persistent attacks -The Huthis began targeting Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.US and UK forces have responded with strikes on the Huthis, who have since declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.Some of the US strikes have been carried out against missiles that CENTCOM has said posed an imminent threat to ships, indicating a robust surveillance effort focused on Huthi-controlled territory that likely involves military aircraft.The United States also set up a multinational naval task force to help protect Red Sea shipping from the Huthis' repeated attacks on the transit route, which carries up to 12 percent of global trade.In addition to military action, Washington has sought to put diplomatic and financial pressure on the Huthis, redesignating them as a terrorist organization earlier in January after previously having dropped that label soon after President Joe Biden took office.But the Huthis' attacks have persisted, with the rebels saying Wednesday that they targeted an American merchant ship bound for Israel with "several appropriate naval missiles that directly hit the vessel."Maritime security firm Ambrey said a commercial vessel was reportedly targeted with a missile southwest of Aden, and that the ship reported an explosion on its starboard side, but did not mention its nationality.Earlier, the Huthis said they fired multiple missiles at American destroyer the USS Gravely -- a claim that came after CENTCOM said the warship downed an anti-ship cruise missile launched "from Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Red Sea."Anger over Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza -- which it launched after an unprecedented attack by Hamas in October -- has grown across the Middle East, stoking violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, as well as Yemen.
Three Pro-Palestinian Rallies In Berlin Feature Chants For Israel's Elimination, Antisemitic Speeches; Organizing Body, 'Samidoun,' Is Banned-January 31, 2024- Special Dispatch No. 11108
Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, protests erupted on German streets. Some contained explicit antisemitic rhetoric and calls to annihilate the Jewish state. The "Samidoun – Palestine Prisoner Solidarity Network," the foreign arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), led numerous rallies and vigils throughout Germany, riding a wave of increasing support for the Palestinian cause. Following the seemingly unrestricted Samidoun activities in Germany, Germany's interior minister, Nancy Faeser, imposed a nationwide ban on the organization and its activities at the beginning of November. Samidoun operates in Germany mostly under the umbrella of the outlawed "Hirak e.V." and "Hirak – Palestinian Youth Mobilization – Youth Movement Germany." Both have an extensive base of followers.Just hours after learning of Hamas's October 7 attacks in Israel, members of Samidoun distributed sweets to people in Berlin's majority Arab district, Neukölln, which has a large Palestinian Arab population, to celebrate the killing of Jews. This was followed by weekly public gatherings which continue until today. Protected by the "Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution" (Verfassungsschutz), the battle cry, "From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free," a mainstay of pro-Palestinian marches, and the wearing of the black-and-white keffiyeh, or scarf, which is now associated with Palestinian Arabs, are ubiquitous at these gatherings and marches.Wearing the keffiyeh is prohibited if it covers a person's face. Berlin police stated they could restrict or prohibit an outdoor gathering if they believed public safety was in immediate danger, and this could involve banning keffiyehs. This has been done, occasionally. However, the ban on Samidoun has not stopped its protests.The German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, issued a press release, saying that:"… organizing spontaneous celebrations in Germany in response to the horrible terrorist attacks of HAMAS against Israel show the antisemitic, inhuman world view of Samidoun in a particularly repugnant way. The ban on the activities of HAMAS and Samidoun and the dissolution of 'Samidoun Germany' end these activities in Germany. Antisemitism has no place in Germany – no matter where it originates from."Additionally, the statement explained that Samidoun, specifically, "compromises and jeopardizes the peaceful coexistence of Germans and foreigners and of different groups of foreigners in Germany, and compromises and jeopardizes public order because it supports violence to reach political goals and causes such violence."Antifa and anti-imperialist Germans, including student unions, women's and LGBTQ initiatives, Islamist fundamentalists, and both Turkish right- and left-wing radicals in Germany, are affiliated with Samidoun and its proxies.[1] In her statement, Faeser acknowledged that Samidoun's antisemitic views were egregious, as were the joyous gatherings on German streets in support of the atrocities Hamas committed. She reiterated that such behavior is impermissible in Germany and would be met "with the full force of the rule of law."[2] In practice, this meant a limitation on street marches and online organizing activity, which serves as a key mobilizing tool.Earlier last year, Faeser called for a ban on pro-Palestinian protests following a nationwide outcry responding to reports, supported by video footage, showing openly antisemitic rhetoric and calls for the annihilation of Israel, while glorifying imprisoned Palestinian terrorists. The call by the interior minister was a firm stance on the federal level. However, immediate steps to apply a ban on the state level ground were not in sight. Samidoun continues to mobilize for anti-Zionist demonstrations in Germany, including "Palestinian Prisoners' Day" on April 17, "Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day" on the last Friday of Ramadan, (April 14), and "Nakba Day" on May 15, remembering Palestinian Arabs who were displaced when Israel was created.Samidoun's Response To Being Banned Nationwide In Germany-The ban of Samidoun elicited an immediate outcry by sympathizers and affiliates of the organization, calling for the ban to be revoked. On November 2, 2023, Samidoun published a statement responding to its operational ban on German soil, titled: "The German Government Outlaws and Dissolves the Samidoun International Network of Solidarity with Political Prisoners." The German officials responsible for the issue are accused of being complicit with the "ongoing genocide on Gaza" to "repress dissidents [... while] choosing to support these [Israeli] attacks by waging a campaign of terror and repression against those who dare to speak out against these ongoing crimes, who want to mobilize people to put an end to destruction, war, occupation and colonialism [...] racist assault on the Palestinian and Arab community. Samidoun in Germany is led by Palestinian refugee youth, and the German media has engaged in a blatantly racist smear campaign intended to incite the most racist and fascist forces in the country against the Palestinian community, which is the largest in Europe [...]"[3]The statement is accompanied by a photograph depicting a group of protesters, of whom several hold a large banner with the inscription: "Against Repression – Solidarity With Samidoun Germany."The webpage of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution claims that Samidoun's online presence in Germany is either blocked or no longer accessible in Germany. While it appears that the main social media accounts of "Samidoun Germany" are no longer accessible, its webpage is indeed viewable in Germany. However, it appears that Samidoun operates underground. under the umbrella of several left-wing organizations, thus acting on German soil, but camouflaged by other groups. On its webpage, Samidoun (1/3) a screening event (1/4) of the 2021 published film "Fedayin: Georges Abdallah's Fight" organized by the "Palästina-Bündnis Hamburg" at the "Internationales Zentrum B5" venue in Hamburg.[4] B5 is a community center and among the most significant meeting points for left-wing extremists, some of whom are said to advocate the use of violence in the form of an armed struggle, according to the Hamburg Department of Interior and Sport.[5] The community center also hosts Palestinian solidarity initiatives.Samidoun's promotional poster of the screening of the film, "Fedayin: Georges Ibrahim Abdallah's Fight," organized by an affiliate, "Palästina-Bündnis Hamburg."Samidoun promoted an event to be held on January 15, 2024, called, "No Space For Genocide -Ambassador At Bonn University." The event was convened to protest the university's invitation to Israel's ambassador to Germany, Ron Poser. The protest was organized by a pro-Palestinian group, "Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost [A Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Near East]."[6] "Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost" promoted its protest on its X (formerly Twitter) account to demonstrate at the University of Bonn under the slogan: "No Space for Genocide-Ambassador at Bonn University."Samidoun announced a protest on January 15 organized by the "Global South United" initiative in Berlin under the banner: "Strike Is Resistance – Stop The Genocide In Gaza /Demo and Strike."[7] The action aimed to signal to the German state that there would be continuous activism on behalf of Gaza, even if faced with repercussions, including arrest, expulsion from the university, termination from work, or visa cancelations. These repercussions would be imposed if there were incitement of hatred toward Jewish people, or trivialization of the Holocaust.A poster from "Global South United" promoting its rally in Berlin held under the slogan: "Strike Is Resistance – Stop The Genocide In Gaza /Demo and Strike."[8]More Than 2,000 Participants Gathered For Pro-Palestine Protests, Despite Restrictions, On New Year's Eve-Visible and prompt action by police enforcing the ban on incitement have yet to be implemented, as evidenced by the pro-Palestinian protests held on New Year's Eve, called Sylvester, in Berlin. Last year, before the Israel-Hamas war, there were riots during New Year's festivities, when rioters attacked police officers, firefighters and medical personnel with fireworks.[9]Despite the deployment of over 3,000 police officers and over a thousand firefighters to prevent riots in Berlin, protests were scheduled for the afternoon and evening of December 31, 2023, in the districts of Neukölln and Kreuzberg, the locations of the previous New Year's riots. The afternoon protest, organized by Palestinians and Allies, Jüdische Stimme, Revolution Germany, Arbeiterinnenmacht, Revolutionäre Linke, and Das Vereinigte Palästinensische Nationale Komitee. The protest began with 180 demonstrators and finished with around 2,000 attendees. The participants were under orders to disperse before midnight.However, the protest march organized by "Global South United" proceeded as planned, despite the prohibition. The organizers of the protests held under the umbrella of "Kein Feiern Bei Genozid" (No Celebration During Genocide), and those entities affiliated including Palästina Spricht followed the global call for action on New Year's Eve by the "Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights" consisted of a display of solidarity with the Gazan people; participants wore wearing Palestinian kaffiyehs and other solidarity symbols, and hoisting the Palestinian flag.[10] A Description Of Recent Pro-Palestinian Gatherings In Germany-The Badil Center is an organization, registered with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, enjoys a special consultative status with the United Nations. Badil advocates for the rights of Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons, focusing on strengthening their rights under international humanitarian and human rights law.[11] Badil Center's "Call For Action" New Year's campaign poster.The Berlin-based "Palestinians and Allies" promoted a New Year's Day solidarity protest in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg. The protest was organized with "Jüdische Stimme," "Revolution Germany," "Arbeiterinnenmacht," "Revolutionäre Linke," and "Das Vereinigte Palästinensische Nationale Komitee."[12] The poster above, from "Global South United," promoted its solidarity march on New Year's Eve, from Richardplatz in the Neukölln district to Hermannplatz.[13] Pictures and videos from the pro-Palestinian protest marches were shared on social media such as TikTok and Instagram.On TikTok, the user "mudiblick" shared impressions from the pro-Palestinian march through the Berlin districts of Kreuzberg and Neukölln. The accompanying caption reads: "[...] my resolution [...] it's a strong call for a free Palestine, the immediate stop of the genocide, an end to ethnic cleansing, and liberation from occupation. Today, there's no reason to celebrate; instead, let's stand together for justice, freedom and an end to oppression."[14]A crowd of protesters hoisting numerous Palestine flags.Several Muslim women, presumably Palestinian Arab, can be seen among the crowd of protesters. They are holding an oversized banner depicting a symbol of bombed Gaza. The women can be seen with the tawhid gesture, a raised index finger, professing the belief in the oneness of Allah.Protesters on New Year's Eve with Palestinian flags and kaffiyehs.Protesters kneeling on the street.A boy can be seen wearing a keffiyeh embossed with the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.On TikTok, the user "Oya Tezcan" posted photos from the rally held through Neukölln. Participants chant, "Viva, viva Palestine."[15] The group "Palestinians and Allies" shared photos on its Instagram page of the largest protest march in Berlin's city center. A large crowd of protesters can be seen with hoisted Palestinian flags, keffiyehs, chanting "Shame On You [Germany]", referring to Germany's support for Israel..[16] Protesters demonstrate in the Neuköllln district with Palestinian flags; many participants wear keffiyehs, chanting, "Free, Free Palestine"; "Revolution – End The Occupation"; "Run Down The Occupation"; "Gaza Gaza Don't You Cry"; "Palestine Will Never Die"; "Shame On You [...]"[17] A large march was held in the heart of Kreuzberg, around Kottbusser Tor, where demonstrators chanted, "To International Solidarity," accompanied by Palestinian flags; many wore keffiyehs.[18]
[1] Verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/hintergruende/DE/auslandsbezogener-extremismus/samidoun.html.
[2] Verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/hintergruende/DE/auslandsbezogener-extremismus/samidoun.html.
[3] Samidoun website.
[4] Wordpress.
[5] Hamburg.de/innenbehoerde/archiv/232042/b5-sitz-und-treffpunkt-artikel/
[6] X.
[7] Samidoun website.
[8] Global South United.
[9] Kas website.
[10] Picuki website.
[11] Badil.org/about
[12] Pcuki website.
[13] Pcuki website.
[14] Instagram, Picuki website.
[15] TikTok.
[16] Instagram.
[17] TikTok.
[18] TikTok.
After Using The Fighting In Gaza To Justify Attacks On U.S. Forces In Iraq And Syria, Iran And Its Proxies Temporarily Suspend Operations Due To Fear Of Large-Scale U.S. Response Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestinians | Special Dispatch No. 11110-JAN 31,24
On January 28, 2024, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that three American soldiers had been killed and multiple personnel, at least 34, were wounded in a drone attack on the Tower 22 logistical base in northeastern Jordan, near the Syrian border.[1] U.S. President Joe Biden blamed "radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq" for the attack and warned that "we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing."[2] According to Jordanian government spokesman Muhannad Al-Mubaidin the U.S. forces were "cooperating with Jordan in the fight against the terrorist danger and to secure the borders."[3] Tower 22 is located near the Al-Tanf base in Syria, where U.S. forces are deployed; the base plays a significant role in limiting the establishment of Iranian influence in the region and in fighting the Islamic State (ISIS).To date, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but on the same day, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the umbrella organization of several Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militias headed by the Hizbullah Brigades and the Al-Nujaba Movement,[4] claimed that it had carried out three attacks on U.S. bases in Syria, including Al-Tanf and Al-Rukban, near the Jordanian border.[5] These attacks are part of the escalation in attacks beginning in mid-October 2023 by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq against U.S. bases and forces in Iraq and Syria, which it claims are in response to what it calls the "massacres" Israel is carrying out in the Gaza Strip as part of its war on Hamas that followed Hamas's bloody attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and the U.S. support for Israel.In response to these attacks, the U.S. has carried out a number of strikes on militia positions in Iraq and Syria, killing several senior officials.[6] However, it appears that this time the U.S. has made it clear that the coming response will be much harsher because of the three dead and many wounded U.S. service members.In the U.S., fingers were pointed at the Iran-backed Shi'ite militias, particularly the Hizbullah Brigades, as responsible for the attack on Tower 22.[7] President Joe Biden warned that "we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing."[8] Two days later, Biden said that he had decided on a U.S. response, and added that the U.S. sees Iran as responsible for the attack since it supplies weapons to the Hizbullah Brigades. However, he stressed, "I don't think we need a wider war in the Middle East."[9] Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "We will respond, we will respond strongly... at a time and place of our choosing," adding that "that response could be multi-levelled, come in stages, and be sustained over time."[10]-It appears that the U.S. threats and warnings have intimidated Iran and its proxy militias. On January 30, Hizbullah Brigades secretary-general Abu Hussein Al-Hamidawi declared a suspension of military and security operations against the "occupation forces" and "recommended" that the organization's operatives adhere, from now on, to "passive defense" if attacked. Al-Hamidawi sought to absolve Iran from any responsibility, stating that it knows nothing about jihadi activity and that it even opposes escalation against the U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. He also promised that his organization would continue to defend the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip "by other means."[11] A Syrian opposition website reported that Iran's IRGC had ordered the militias loyal to it in Syria, and particularly in Deir Al-Zour in the eastern part of the country, to halt their military activity against U.S. bases in Syria.[12]-At the same time, it appears that this response by Iran and its proxy militias is strictly tactical and aimed at preventing an extensive U.S. attack. That is, it does not mean that it is backing down from the strategy implemented by Iran and its proxies in recent years – the main aim of which is attacking U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria in order to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region so as to allow Iran to establish its control there. Throughout these years, MEMRI has published many reports about threats by these elements to attack the U.S. presence in Syria that is preventing Iran and its various proxies from establishing their own presence in the region. It should be noted that since the establishment in October 2022 of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shayya' Al-Sudani, which includes political parties from several Iran-backed Shi'ite militias, such as Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq, the number of attacks on U.S. forces fell significantly in both Iraq and in Syria. This was due to the decision by the militias, that are also members of the government, to suspend military operations against the American forces in order to allow the government to rehabilitate Iraq economically and in its military and security spheres which they hoped would ultimately lead to the departure of the U.S. forces through diplomatic channels.[13] This decision greatly displeased Iran and several of the militias it supports, headed by the Al-Nujaba Movement, all of which viewed it as a betrayal, and they continued to threaten military operations against the American forces.[14]-Thus, it appears that Iran and its proxies viewed the war in Gaza as a pretext for the renewal of attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, and the reimplementation of their strategy aimed at forcing the U.S. to withdraw from the region. The Hizbullah Brigades' decision to suspend attacks on U.S. forces, that they claim were being carried out, in this phase, in order to defend and support the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip against what they refer to as Israeli "aggression," even though this "aggression" is ongoing, is additional proof that this is a pretext, and that at the moment of truth, the militias are prioritizing their security over aiding the Palestinians.It is reasonable to assume that Iran and its proxies will be on the lookout for another opportunity or pretext to renew their attacks on U.S. forces in the region, so as to compel them to withdraw and allow Iran to actualize its aspiration of controlling the region.This report will focus on the threats to U.S. forces in Syria and the attacks carried out against them in recent years on the orders of Iran and the Syrian regime, as covered in many MEMRI reports:The Syrian Regime Threatens To Carry Out Military Operations Against U.S. Forces, Urges "Popular Resistance"The threats and attacks against the U.S. presence in Syria by the Syrian regime and its allies began in mid-2018, after the regime and its allies successfully expelled the Syrian opposition from most of the country, and after ISIS was defeated by the U.S.-led global coalition against it. Senior Syrian regime officials, Syrian state media, and regime affiliates threatened to attack U.S. bases and forces in Syria and encouraged a "popular uprising" against them.
US federal judge says Israel plausibly committing genocide, Biden must take note-California court says it does not have jurisdiction, dismisses petition accusing White House of genocide complicity, urges US government to examine support for Israel’s war-By ToI Staff and AP Today, 2:39 pm-FEB 1,24
A federal court in the United States said Wednesday in response to a petition that Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza is aimed at wiping out the local population and therefore may be genocide.The United States District Court for the Northern District of California found Israel’s military offensive “is intended to eradicate a whole people and therefore plausibly falls within the international prohibition against genocide.”The petition filed by Defense for Children International–Palestine charged the US government, on behalf of Palestinian rights groups and Palestinians in Gaza and in the US, with “failure to prevent and complicity in the Israeli government’s unfolding genocide against them, their families, and the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.” It urges the government to block aid to Israel.War erupted when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Thousands of attackers from the Gaza Strip who invaded Israel also abducted 253 people, about half of whom are still in captivity.Israel responded with a military offensive aimed at removing Hamas from power in Gaza and releasing the hostages.Washington and the international community have become increasingly concerned by the civilian death toll in the fighting. Israel says it strives to avoid hitting civilians but that Hamas has deliberately embedded itself in the local population to use them as human shields.While dismissing the petition on jurisdictional grounds, the court urged US President Joe Biden’s administration “to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza.”Judge Jeffrey White based the decision on “uncontroverted” testimonies by seven Palestinian relatives of people killed during the war, along with “expert opinion proffered at the hearing on these motions as well as statements made by various officers of the Israeli government.”It also leaned on the recent decision by the International Court of Justice to not reject outright South Africa’s case accusing Israel of “genocide.”“It is every individual’s obligation to confront the current siege in Gaza,” White wrote but noted he didn’t have jurisdiction over the matter.White heard testimony last Friday in federal court in Oakland in the unusual lawsuit filed in November on behalf of Palestinian human rights organizations and people whose family members were killed by Israeli forces following the October 7 assault by the terror group Hamas.The complaint sought an order requiring that Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “adhere to their duty to prevent, and not further, the unfolding genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza.”White declined to issue a preliminary injunction and dismissed the case. But he was critical of the administration, writing, “There are rare cases in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the Court. This is one of those cases.”He conceded the plaintiffs’ point that “it is plausible that Israel’s conduct amounts to genocide,” and he implored the White House “to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza.”The lawsuit asked the court to declare that the defendants had violated their duties to prevent genocide and to not be complicit in the commission of genocide. It sought immediate relief, including ordering the president and other US officials to exert their influence over Israel to stop its bombing to lift the siege in Gaza and to stop providing or facilitating the sales of weapons and arms to Israel.It also asked the court to order the defendants to stop obstructing attempts by the international community to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The United States vetoed in December a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.Plaintiffs included Defence for Children International, based in Ramallah, West Bank, and Palestinians in Gaza and in the US, including Waeil Elbhassi, a US citizen of Palestinian origin who lives in San Ramon, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Oakland.Last week’s hearing in California came the same day as the top court of the United Nations rebuked Israel for its wartime conduct and ordered its government to do all it could to prevent death, destruction, and any acts of genocide but stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive.The political branches of the US government have wide authority over foreign policy, as the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled when the family of US college student Rachel Corrie tried to sue US bulldozer maker Caterpillar for aiding Israel in war crimes. Corrie was run over and killed in 2003 while trying to stop the demolition of a house in Gaza. The IDF said its soldiers could not see her.Still, the lawsuit has brought fresh attention to the thousands of Palestinian Americans and other advocates calling for a ceasefire. They have repeatedly taken to the streets calling for the US to stop supplying weapons to Israel and have demanded local city and county governments adopt ceasefire resolutions despite local US officials having little sway over foreign policy.After listening to hours of testimony Friday, White called the issue before him “the most difficult judicial decision that I’ve ever made,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.Plaintiff Laila El-Haddad, a journalist in Maryland, said she had lost nearly 90 members of her extended family to Israeli attacks, the newspaper reported.Dr. Omar Al-Najjar, also a plaintiff, said he works at a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah where more than 2,000 new patients a day require treatment for severe injuries or illnesses, but there is little to no medicine, the newspaper reported.The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claimed Thursday that at least 27,019 Palestinians have been killed and 66,139 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, including 118 killed and 190 injured in the past 24 hours.The terror group’s figures are unverified, don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, and list all the fatalities as caused by Israel — even those believed to have been caused by hundreds of misfired rockets or otherwise by Palestinian fire.Israel has previously said it has killed some 10,000 Hamas members, in addition to some 1,000 killed in Israel in the aftermath of the terror group’s October 7 invasion and onslaught.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards pull officers from Syria following alleged Israeli strikes-Iranian casualties in a string of recent attacks reportedly induce Tehran to rely more on local Shia groups to maintain country’s influence; remaining officers keeping low profile-By Reuters Today, 1:10 pm-FEB 1,24
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have scaled back deployment of their senior officers in Syria due to a spate of deadly strikes blamed on Israel and will rely more on allied Shiite groups to preserve their sway there, five sources familiar with the matter said.The Guards have suffered one of their most bruising spells in Syria since arriving a decade ago to aid President Bashar Assad in the Syrian war. Since December, the alleged Israeli strikes have killed more than half a dozen of their members, among them one of the Guards’ top intelligence generals.As hardliners in Tehran demand retaliation, Iran’s decision to pull out senior officers is driven partly by its aversion to being sucked directly into a conflict bubbling across the Middle East, three of the sources told Reuters.While the sources said Iran has no intention of quitting Syria – a key part of Tehran’s sphere of influence – the rethink underscores how the consequences of the war ignited by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel are unfolding in the region.Iran, a backer of Hamas, has sought to stay out of the conflict itself even as it supports groups that have entered the fray from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria – the so-called “Axis of Resistance” that is hostile to Israeli and US interests.One of the sources – a senior regional security official briefed by Tehran – said senior Iranian commanders had left Syria along with dozens of mid-ranking officers, describing it as a downsizing of the presence.The source did not say how many Iranians had left and Reuters was unable independently to determine that.The news agency could not reach the Guards for comment and the Syrian information ministry did not respond to emailed questions for this story.However, the Lebanese al-Mayadeen news channel, affiliated with Hezbollah, denied the report that the Guards have scaled back the deployment of their senior officers in Syria.Quoting “reliable sources,” the media outlet said that Iranian advisors were asked to remain in Syria, but without their families.Iran has sent thousands of fighters to Syria during the Syrian war. While these have included members of the Guards, officially serving in the role of advisers, the bulk have been Shiite militiamen from all over the region.Three of the sources said the Guards would manage Syrian operations remotely, with help from ally Hezbollah. The Lebanese terrorist group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Another source, a regional official close to Iran, said those still in Syria had left their offices and were staying out of sight. “The Iranians won’t abandon Syria but they reduced their presence and movements to the greatest extent.”The sources said the changes so far had not had an impact on operations. The downsizing would “help Tehran to avoid being pulled into the Israel-Gaza war,” one of the sources, an Iranian, said.Since the Gaza war erupted, Israel has stepped up a years-long campaign of air strikes aimed at rolling back Iran’s presence in Syria, attacking both the Guards and Hezbollah, which in turn has been exchanging fire with Israel across the Lebanese-Israeli border since Oct. 8.Israel rarely comments on its attacks in Syria and has not declared responsibility for the recent strikes there. In response to Reuters’ questions, the Israeli military said it did not comment on foreign media reports.‘Intelligence breach’In one of the attacks, on Jan. 20, five members of the Guards were killed, Iranian state media reported, including a general who ran intelligence for the Quds Force, which is responsible for the Guards’ overseas operations. The strike flattened a Damascus building.Another, on Dec. 25 outside Damascus, killed a senior Guards adviser responsible for coordinating between Syria and Iran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers at his funeral.Reuters spoke to six sources familiar with Iranian deployments in Syria for this story. They declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject.Three of the sources said the Guards had raised concerns with Syrian authorities that information leaks from within the Syrian security forces played a part in the recent lethal strikes.Another source familiar with Iranian operations in Syria said the precise strikes had prompted the Guards to relocate operational sites and officers’ residences, amidst concerns of an “intelligence breach.”Iranian forces came to Syria at Assad’s invitation, helping him to beat back rebels who had seized control of swathes of the country in the conflict that began in 2011.Years after Assad and his allies won back most of Syria, Iran-backed groups still operate across large areas.Their presence has cemented a zone of Iranian influence stretching through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean, helping to counterbalance Tehran’s regional adversaries including Israel.Three of the sources said the Guards were once again recruiting Shiite fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to deploy to Syria, echoing earlier phases of the war when Shiite militias played a part in turning the tide of the conflict.The regional official close to Iran said the Guards were drawing more on Syrian Shiite militias.Gregory Brew, an analyst with Eurasia group, a political risk consultancy, said the failure to protect Iranian commanders had “clearly undermined Iran’s position” but Tehran was unlikely to end its commitment to Syria to preserving its role in Syria.Russia has also supported Assad, deploying its air force to Syria in 2015, and any weakening of Iran’s role there could play to its advantage. “Moscow and Tehran are working more closely together but their relationship may be strained if they compete openly in Syria,” Brew said.Russia said this month it expected President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi to sign a new treaty soon, amid strengthening political, trade and military ties between the two nations.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Iran begins construction of four new nuclear plants-Islamic Republic denies that it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons, despite global suspicions-By AP Today, 3:27 pm-FEB 1,24
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran began construction on four more nuclear power plants in the country’s south, with expected total capacity of 5,000 megawatts, the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.Iran seeks to produce 20,000 megawatts of nuclear energy by 2041.The country has one active nuclear power plant, a 1,000-megawatt plant that went online with help from Russia in 2011. Iran is also building a 300-megawatt plant in the oil-rich Khuzestan province, near the western border with Iraq.The IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said last year that Iran has increased the rate at which it is producing near-weapons grade uranium.Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in the report that Iran “in recent weeks had increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023,” according to an IAEA spokesperson. Iran had previously slowed the rate at which it was enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, which is just a short technical step away from the weapons-grade level of 90%.The West has long suspected that Iran is acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies it is seeking such weapons.IRNA quoted Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s atomic agency, saying it will take up to nine years to complete the new plants.The report said the four new plants are being built in the port town of Sirik on Iran’s east coast, some 1,150 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran.Nasser Shariflou, the head of the project, told IRNA that the project will cost some $20 billion and will create 4,000 jobs. Each plant is expected to use 35 tons of nuclear fuel per year.
Explosion reported near ship in Red Sea as Houthi attacks from Yemen continue-UK maritime security agency says vessel, crew unharmed; in separate strike, missile reportedly fired from Yemen hits US merchant ship, with Iran-backed rebels claiming ‘direct hit’By AFP and ToI Staff Today, 3:27 pm-FEB 1,24
An explosion was reported near a ship off the Red Sea coast of Yemen, British maritime security agency UKMTO said Thursday, adding that both the vessel and crew were safe.“Master reports an explosion a distance off the vessel’s starboard side” west of the port city of Hodeida, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said, adding that “vessel and crew are safe and proceeding to the next port of call.”There was no immediate claim for the blast, which followed a flurry of Red Sea missile strikes by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.The Houthis, part of the anti-Western, anti-Israel “axis of resistance” of Iranian-backed groups, have been harassing Red Sea shipping for months, triggering US and British reprisal attacks.Earlier in January, the US designated the Houthis as a terror organization, partially restoring sanctions it lifted three years ago on the group whose repeated attacks in the Red Sea since Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught have significantly disrupted shipping in the key maritime corridor.The Houthis have launched more than 30 attacks on commercial shipping and naval vessels since November 19, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.In a separate attack, maritime security firm Ambrey said a missile fired from Yemen hit a merchant vessel early Thursday.“A merchant vessel was reportedly targeted with a ‘missile’ while underway… southwest of Aden, Yemen,” Ambrey said, adding that “the vessel reported an explosion” on board.“Ambrey was aware that a missile was fired from… Taez,” a Yemeni province that is partly in rebel hands, the firm said.The statement, which did not identify the ship or the flag it was flying, came after the Houthi rebels said they fired missiles at a US ship in the Gulf of Aden, south of the Red Sea, heading to Israeli ports.The missiles “directly hit the vessel,” which the rebels identified as “KOI,” Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on social media.The rebels say the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians and in protest at the war that has been raging in the Gaza Strip since October 7, when some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 240 hostages, mostly civilians.Anger over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza — launched with the aim of destroying the terror group — has grown across the Middle East, stoking violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, as well as Yemen.The Houthi attacks have prompted some shipping companies to detour around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade.
Activists block Gaza aid trucks at Ashdod Port after being barred from border by IDF-Continuing game of cat and mouse with security forces, protesters including far-right MK attempt to block trucks carrying humanitarian supplies for Palestinians in Strip-By ToI Staff and Emanuel Fabian-Today, 1:52 pm-FEB 1,24
Protesters blocked trucks carrying humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, demanding that no aid be allowed to enter the Strip via Israel while 132 hostages taken captive by terrorists on October 7 remain in captivity.The protest came days after the IDF designated the areas of both the Kerem Shalom and the Nitzana border crossings as closed military zones to prevent disruptions. Large groups of activists, including some families of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, protested daily at the crossing last week.Photos and videos circulating on social media on Thursday morning showed protesters arguing with truck drivers and attempting to check their loads to see which were headed for Gaza.Likud activist Orly Lev posted a photo from the protest on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption, “Now at the Ashdod Port, blocking aid to Nazis.”Ultranationalist MK and radical settlement activist Tzvi Succot also attended the protest, according to Channel 12 news.Some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from Gaza by land, air and sea on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid horrific acts of brutality.In response, Israel launched an extensive military campaign against the terrorist group, and the government initially said no aid would be allowed into Gaza.By the end of October, however, Israel was allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Strip through the Rafah crossing on the Gaza border with Egypt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since said multiple times that without minimal aid being given to Gaza, the IDF would be unable to complete its objectives in the war due to risks such as diseases.'The main slogan of this demonstration is no humanitarian aid to the enemy'i24NEWS correspondent @P_klochendler reports from Israel's southern city of Ashdod, where 100 demonstrators protest against aid entering #Gaza pic.twitter.com/ss0irx22sW— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) February 1, 2024-As part of a temporary truce deal in November, 105 hostages were released, and Israel promised to up the number of trucks carrying aid to 200 a day, but could not keep up with the demand with only one crossing open. As a result, Netanyahu announced in mid-December that Israel would reopen Kerem Shalom to allow more aid into the Strip.Over the past week, however, protesters have demanded that humanitarian aid for Gaza be withheld until the remainder of the hostages are released, and have rallied at the Kerem Shalom crossing daily to attempt to block the trucks.Officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration, who have pushed Israel to allow aid for Gaza throughout the war, urged Israel to ensure that the crossing remained open and aid continued to make it through despite the civil disturbances.Netanyahu repeated during a press conference on Saturday night that the aid was essential to success in the war, and added that officials were instructed to take care of the issue.
UN envoy meets freed hostages, families in probe of Hamas sexual violence on Oct. 7-Special representative on sexual violence in conflict vows to use all means at her disposal to free remaining captives, hears testimony of forensic evidence at IDF’s Shura base-By ToI Staff Today, 1:52 pm
A United Nations envoy vowed to use all means at her disposal to secure the release of hostages held by terror groups in the Gaza Strip as she paid a visit to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Wednesday, according to media reports.Pramila Patten, the UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, met with hostages who were freed from Hamas captivity and relatives of those still held hostage by terror groups in Gaza after being taken captive on October 7.Ynet news reported that Patten heard testimonies from the freed hostages and the family representatives, and promised to work for the release of the 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 believed to remain in Gaza.Later she met with Capt. (Res.) Avigail Bar Asher, head of the Military Rabbinate’s Casualty Identification Team at the IDF’s Shura base near Ramle, to hear testimony of processing forensic evidence from the the October 7 massacres.Patten was in Israel to probe a wave of allegations of Hamas sexual violence on October 7, collect details and “identify avenues for support,” according to the UN secretary-general’s spokesman.During her trip, Patten was scheduled to meet survivors, witnesses and representatives of security forces to collect evidence of sexual violence committed against women and men during the Hamas shock attack of October 7, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.According to international law, the use of sexual violence is considered a war crime. Thank you UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, for visiting Israel with the aim of studying closely the horrific, systematic, and extensive sexual and… pic-Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) January 29, 2024-The UN envoy was also expected to tour southern Israel, where thousands of Palestinian terrorists unleashed their attack, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The terrorists slaughtered entire families in their homes, raped and sexually assaulted victims, and tortured or mutilated some during the hours-long killing spree.During the attack, terrorists also seized 253 hostages, of whom Israel believes 132 remain in Gaza.Israel has criticized the UN for not responding quickly enough to victims’ accounts of rape and sexual assault during Hamas’s incursion into Israel.Israeli authorities are investigating sexual crimes during what was the most deadly attack ever on the country, amid overwhelming evidence from eyewitnesses and from footage recorded by the Palestinian terror group itself.In addition to witness testimony, police have video evidence, testimony from terrorists, and photographs of victims’ bodies that all point toward sexual assault.Freed hostages have also detailed accounts of sexual assault.Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a military campaign aimed at destroying Hamas that has killed at least 26,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. These figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.The IDF says it has killed over 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.AFP contributed to this report.
EXPERT: Star of Jacob will appear on Friday, September 27-What I see for them is not yet, What I behold will not be soon: A star rises from Yaakov, A scepter comes forth from Yisrael; It smashes the brow of Moab, The foundation of all children of Shet.Numbers 24:17-(the israel bible)-Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz-January 29, 2024
A brilliant but relatively unknown author and teacher referred to classical Jewish sources that described the tumultuous end of days in terms that were disturbingly similar to current events. The Zohar describes an unmistakable sign that heralds the appearance of the Messiah: the Star of Jacob first described in the Bible by Balaam. The Zohar gives a precise day and date that this pre-Messiah astral body will appear and recently, astronomers confirmed that on that precise date, a comet will appear in the heavens.Efraim Palvanov, a teacher and author, writes the blog Mayim Achronim (Final Waters), named for the little-known Jewish ritual of washing the fingers after a meal. Like the eponymous mitzvah, the blog covers Jewish subjects that are misunderstood or not normally discussed. In a recent lecture, Palvanov described the current wars, in Ukraine and Israel, as being consistent with end-of-days predictions recorded in classical Jewish literature.“I found something a few weeks ago that just really blew me away and I’ve been really excited to share it,” Palvanov said in the video. “But I’m gonna leave that to the end. We’ll save the best for last.”So don’t fall asleep.”Palvanov referred to lectures he gave two years ago during the pandemic in which he suggested that the world was in the pre-messiah period. This part of the lecture was described in an Israel365 News article last week. In the lecture, Palvanov explained that the current war in Ukraine and the more recent war in Israel were explicitly described in Jewish sources as being part of the Final Redemption. One of the sources, a midrash from Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer chapter 30, described three wars the “sons of Ishmael” (i.e. the Arabs) will wage in the end of days based on a verse in Isaiah:For they have fled before swords: Before the whetted sword, Before the bow that was drawn, Before the stress of war. Isaiah 21:15“One in the forest of Arabia [i.e. the west],” the midrash states. “One on the sea, and one in a big city.”“After the October seventh attack, it was revealed that many of the weapons used by Hamas came from North Korea, frequently through Russia,” Palvanov said. “The Kalashnikov rifles are the terrorist weapon of choice. This is all part of the new axis of evil made up of North Korea supported by China, Russia, and Iran. Many people don’t realize this, but North Korea is considered by some to be the largest criminal entity in the world, because they’re involved in crime everywhere all over the world. They’re the main producers of counterfeit American dollars. They are involved in human trafficking and they are one of the biggest drug dealers in the world. Because they are completely closed off, they don’t really have much income. Their main source of income is actually international crime, so they are a criminal entity.”Palvanov then cited the Zohar (32a) which describes how the Ministering Angel of Ishmael pleads to God, claiming that Ishmael (i.e. the Artabs) should have a stake in Israel because they are circumcised. “And in the future, the children of Ishmael are destined to rule over the Holy Land for a long time when it is empty from anything, like their circumcision which is empty and imperfect” the Zohar states. “And they will prevent the children of Israel from returning to their place until the reward for the merit of the children of Ishmael reaches completion.”The Zohar goes on, describing the fate of the sons of Ishmael after this period of grace ends.“The children of Ishmael will cause great wars in the world and the children of Edom will gather against them and wage war against them; one on the sea, one on dry land, and one near Jerusalem. And they will rule over each other but the Holy Land will not be given over to the children of Edom.”The children of Edom is the Christian West, for Edom is Rome (see Num. 24:19, Rashi) and Rome signifies Greece-Rome and the Roman Catholic Church, the foundations of Western Civilization-Palvanov noted that the US is leading an international maritime coalition to counter the Yemeni Houthis, who are shooting missiles and drones and blocking red sea traffic. “The description in the Zohar really fits into what’s going on over here” Palvanov notes, continuing in the Zohar.“At that time, a nation from the end of the earth will be aroused against evil Rome and wage war against it for three months. Nations will gather there, and [Rome] will fall into their hands, until all the children of Edom will gather against it [that nation] from all the corners of the world. Then God will be roused against them…He will destroy the descendants of Ishmael from the land, and break all the powers of [all the nations’ guardian angels] Above. There will not remain any power of any people on earth, except the power of Israel alone. This is the meaning of “God is your shade upon your right hand”. (Psalms 121:5)”“Some might say that ‘a nation from the end of the earth’ is referring to North Korea, or maybe China, somewhere from the far east, from the edge of the world,” Palvanoc speculated. “So the Gog and Magog War will last one year and there will be a three month war against the sons of Ishmael, driving them from the land of Israel,” Palvanov summarized. “This is what we are living through today.” “But this is the part I really wanted to get to,” he said. “We know that probably one of the oldest prophecies and oldest traditions that we have about the Moshiach (Messiah) comes from Balaam, a Gentile prophet who came to curse Israel and couldn’t curse them. Instead, he gives a prophecy that actually says ‘I will tell you what will happen at the end of days’.”What I see for them is not yet, What I behold will not be soon: A star rises from Yaakov, A scepter comes forth from Yisrael; It smashes the brow of Moab, The foundation of all children of Shet. Numbers 24:17“It’s one of the few places that the Torah uses the expression, ‘end of days’,” Palvanov notes. “Balaam says that he is looking far into the future and he prophesies that a star will emerge from Jacob. Of course, Christians adopted this in the nativity scene and the Star of Bethlehem,” Palvanov added.Church of St. Catherine in Bethlehem-He explained that the prophecy of the Star of Jacob was applied to Simon bar Kosiba, leader of the Second Jewish Revolt of 132 CE, whose adopted name, Bar Kochba, meant “Son of a Star” in Aramaic. The failure of the Bar Kochba revolt – which was considered a political Messiah – had a large impact on the interpretation of the Star of Jacob. The failure of the revolt led the sages to deemphasize the eschatology of the Star of Jacob. That led to a preference for the explanation that the Star of Jacob was no longer relevant since it was described as already happening in the time of King David.“There was always, even in ancient times, an association of Moshiach, or a potential Messiah with the star of Jacob. “Balaam even prophecies that this star will mark the end of Amalek.”He saw Amalek and, taking up his theme, he said: A leading nation is Amalek; But its fate is to perish forever. Numbers 24:20-The Zohar (212b) goes into detail, describing the Star of Jacob:“It is taught that in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will rebuild Jerusalem and reveal one firm star, glowing with seventy pillars of fire, and with seventy sparks flashing from it in the middle of the Firmament, and they will be reigned over by seventy other stars, and they will glow and burn for seventy days.”“And [the star] will be seen on the sixth day, on the 25th day of the sixth month. It will be gathered on the seventh day, at the end of seventy days. On the first day it will be seen in the city of Rome. On that same day, three high structures of that city of Rome will fall and a great edifice will fall. The ruler of that city will die. Then the star will spread out to be seen in the rest of the world.”The date described in the Zohar as the day on which the star will appear corresponds to the Hebrew date the 25th of Elul. The Zohar specifies that this date will fall on a Friday.“In that time, great wars will stir all around the four corners of the world and no faith will be found among [its people].”“In the middle of the world, when that star will shine in the middle of the Firmament, a great king will arise and rule the world, and his spirit will gain pride over all the kings, and he will awaken a war between both sides, and he will become strong against them.“…On the day that the star will be hidden, the Holy Land will tremble forty-five miles around the place of the Holy Temple, revealing an underground cave. From this cave will come out a blazing fire to burn the world. And from this cave a great branch will grow out, and it will rule over the whole world, and to it will be given the kingdom. The Holy Beings will gather to it. Then Mashiach will be revealed to the entire world…”The Zohar then describes what the world will be like in that pre-Messianic era.“The world, at the time that Moshiach will be revealed, will have been experiencing trouble after trouble, and the haters of Israel will grow stronger. Then, the spirit of Moshiach will be aroused against them, and the evil Edom will be destroyed. The entire land of Seir will be destroyed by fire.”“This is what we have been experiencing,” Palvanov explained. “One crisis coming right after another. The pandemic leading into hyperinflation leading into the Ukraine war leading into the war in Israel and the war with the Houthis.”“And just as the Zohar predicts, the ‘haters of Israel’ are increasing,” Palvanov said. “Antisemitism is reaching levels it hasn’t reached since the Holocaust. There are even reports that Chinese social media is full of antisemitism and there are no Jews in China. This type of Jew-hatred doesn’t make sense.”Palvanov then noted that on January 9, 2023, the headline news in astronomy was that a new comet had been discovered; C/’2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). “Astronomers say that it will be at its closest on Friday, September 27, 2024,” Palvanov noted. “That day corresponds to the 25th of Elul, just as the Zohar predicted. They estimate it will be visible for at least two weeks.”Palvanov noted that on the Shabbat, Jews around the world will be reading the Torah portions of Nitzavim and VaYelech which include this verse:Then My anger will flare up against them, and I will abandon them and hide My countenance from them. They shall be ready prey; and many evils and troubles shall befall them. And they shall say on that day, “Surely it is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us.”Yet I will keep My countenance hidden on that day, because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods. Deuteronomy 31:17-18“If we look back at the Zohar’s prophecy, it says that when the star will appear, three structures from the city of Rome will fall and the leader of that city will die,” Palvanov said. “If you’re going to go with the approach that the Third Rome is Moscow, and then the leader of that city will die you should know that there are rumors that Putin is in frail health and is even dying.”“Imagine what would happen if he did die,” Palvanov said. “That would have serious repercussions around the world, perhaps even more wars.”Palvanov suggested an alternative understanding.“If we go according to the idea that the third Rome is referring to the United States, since it is the most powerful ‘Rome’ of today, Biden is pretty much on his last legs and could die at any time.”“Both of these leaders are in frail health and getting old and if either of them were to die, if that’s what this prophecy is talking about, the repercussions would be pretty serious and it would just add to all the catastrophes that have been happening.”Palvanov added a disclaimer.“I’m not a prophet,” he said. “I’m just reading what the Zohar says and what the Talmud says. And there’s various ways to interpret it.” “The star is expected to appear in nine months so we have nine months to prepare,” he said. “And now’s the time to get ready to go live. Hopefully it will happen and if not, I’ll just have to take this video off down from YouTube and pretend it never happened. But that is always the danger of making predictions and this is only one interpretation. “So you can make it what you wish. I think it’s compelling.”“I think we should all hope and pray that this really is it because how much longer can we wait?” Palvanov concluded. “Enough is enough. We should all hope that this is it. Let’s just make it through the next twelve months and let’s be that generation that goes through the suffering but then brings about a better world. So hopefully, we can all experience it and see it and maybe our prayers and our mitzvot (deeds) and our study and all the good that we do will make a difference. So let’s do that. Let’s increase whatever we do. Let’s do more of it in the next year or so. And hopefully we’ll see good things.”
Explainer-How Israel and Lebanon are prepping for a war neither wants, but many fear is inevitable-Escalating violence on border — as Iran-backed terror group’s attacks in support of Hamas are followed by IDF responses — seems to be pulling sides into devastating conflict-By AP and ToI Staff Today, 10:43 am-FEB 1,24
BEIRUT — The prospect of a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrifies people on both sides of the border, but some see it as an inevitable fallout from Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Such a war could be the most destructive either side has ever experienced.Israel and terror group Hezbollah each have learned lessons from their last war, in 2006, a monthlong conflict that ended inconclusively. They’ve also had four months of low-scale skirmishes to prepare for another war, even as the US tries to prevent a widening of the conflict.Here’s a look at each side’s preparedness, how war might unfold, and what’s being done to prevent it.What happened in 2006? The 2006 war, six years after Israeli forces withdrew from south Lebanon, erupted after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed several others in a cross-border raid.Israel launched a full-scale air and ground offensive and imposed a blockade that aimed to free the hostages and destroy Hezbollah’s military capabilities — a mission that ultimately failed.Israeli bombing leveled large swaths of south Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. Hezbollah fired thousands of unguided rockets into northern Israel communities.The conflict killed some 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.A UN resolution ending the war called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and a demilitarized zone on Lebanon’s side of the border.UN Security Council Resolution 1701 called for the removal of armed personnel south of Lebanon’s Litani River, except for UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army and state security forces. But the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group has entrenched itself across much of southern Lebanon for decades, where it holds strong support and has regularly launched rockets against Israel, while Beirut does nothing to rein in the group.Despite the deployment of UN peacekeepers, Hezbollah continues to operate in the border area, while Lebanon says Israel regularly violates its airspace and continues to occupy pockets of Lebanese land, a charge Israel and the UN deny.How probable is war? An Israel-Hezbollah war “would be a total disaster,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last month, amid a flurry of shuttle diplomacy by the US and Europe.Smoke billows after Israeli bombardment over Lebanon’s southern town of Kafr Kila near the border with Israel on December 30, 2023, amid ongoing cross-border skirmishes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza continues. (AFP)-Iran-backed Hezbollah seemed caught off-guard by regional ally Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. The onslaught killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and another 253 were taken as hostages in Gaza. Israel responded with a military offensive to destroy Hamas and release the hostages.On October 8, Hezbollah-led forces began launching daily attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the border, with the terror group saying it is doing so to support Gaza. Israel has responded, hitting Hezbollah and other terror targets while also carrying out targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas figures in Lebanon. The situation is escalating gradually.More than 200 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also more than 20 civilians, have been killed on Lebanon’s side, and 18 on Israel’s.Tens of thousands have been displaced on both sides. There are no immediate prospects for their return.Israeli political and military leaders have warned Hezbollah that war is increasingly probable unless it withdraws from the border.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah hasn’t threatened to initiate war but warned of a fight “without limits” if Israel does. Hezbollah says it won’t agree to a ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border before there’s one in Gaza and has rebuffed a US proposal to move its forces several kilometers (miles) back from the border, according to Lebanese officials.Despite the rhetoric, neither side appears to want war, said Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon. However, “a miscalculation could potentially trigger a wider conflict that would be very difficult to control,” he said.How prepared are they? Both Hezbollah and the Israeli military have expanded their capabilities since 2006 — yet both countries are also more fragile.In Lebanon, four years of economic crisis have crippled public institutions, including its army and electrical grid, and eroded its health system. The country hosts more than 1 million Syrian refugees.Lebanon adopted an emergency plan for a war scenario in late October. It projected the forcible displacement of 1 million Lebanese for 45 days.About 87,000 Lebanese are displaced from the border area. While the government is relying on international organizations to fund the response, many groups working in Lebanon can’t maintain existing programs.The UN refugee agency has provided supplies to collective shelters and given emergency cash to some 400 families in south Lebanon, spokesperson Lisa Abou Khaled said. The agency doesn’t have funds to support large numbers of displaced in the event of war, she said.Aid group Doctors Without Borders said it has stockpiled some 10 tons of medical supplies and backup fuel for hospital generators in areas most likely to be affected by a widening conflict, in anticipation of a blockade.Israel is feeling the economic and social strain from the war in Gaza, which is expected to cost over $50 billion, or about 10 percent of national economic activity through the end of 2024, according to the Bank of Israel. Costs would rise sharply if there’s a war with Lebanon.“No one wants this war, or wishes it on anyone,” said Tal Beeri, of the Alma Research and Education Center, a think tank focusing on northern Israel security. But he said he believes an armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is inevitable, arguing that diplomatic solutions appear unlikely and would only allow Hezbollah’s strategic threats to increase.Israel has evacuated 60,000 residents from towns nearest the border, where there’s no warning time for rocket launches because of the proximity of Hezbollah squads.In a war, there would be no point in additional evacuations since the terror group’s rockets and missiles can reach all of Israel.After the October 7 attack, the war in Gaza had broad domestic support, even if there’s now a growing debate over its direction. Around half of Israelis would support war with Hezbollah as a last resort for restoring border security, according to recent polling by the think tank Israel Democracy Institute.In Lebanon, some have criticized Hezbollah for exposing the country to another potentially devastating war. Others support the group’s limited entry into the conflict and believe Hezbollah’s arsenal will deter Israel from escalating.How would war play out? A full-scale war would likely spread to multiple fronts, escalating the involvement of Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen — and perhaps even draw in Iran itself.It could also drag the US, Israel’s closest ally, deeper into the conflict. The US already has dispatched additional warships to the region.Hezbollah has 150,000 to 200,000 rockets and missiles of various ranges, said Orna Mizrahi of the Israeli think tank Institute for National Security Studies. This arsenal is at least five times larger than that of Hamas and far more accurate, she said.The terror group’s guided projectiles could reach water, electricity, or communications facilities, and densely populated residential areas.In Lebanon, airstrikes would likely wreak havoc on infrastructure and potentially kill thousands. Netanyahu has threatened to “turn Beirut into Gaza,” where Israel’s air and ground incursion has caused widespread destruction.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says that close to 27,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes close to 10,000 Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 gunmen inside Israel on October 7.Israel is far more protected, with several air defense systems, including the Iron Dome, which intercepts rockets with a roughly 90 percent success rate. But it can get overwhelmed if a mass barrage of rockets is fired.Some 40% of Israel’s population live in newer homes with private safe rooms fortified with blast protection to withstand rocket attacks. Israel also has a network of bomb shelters, but a 2020 government report says about one-third of Israelis lack easy access to them. Lebanon has no such network.Hezbollah has limited air defenses, while those of the Lebanese army are outdated and insufficient because of budget shortfalls, said Dina Arakji, with the UK-based risk consultancy firm Control Risks.The Lebanese army has remained on the sidelines over the past four months. In 2006, it entered fighting in a limited capacity, but it’s unclear how it would react in the event of a new Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah’s military is considered more powerful than the regular army.
'The head of the snake'-American Oct. 7 victims and families file $1 billion lawsuit blaming Iran for attack-67 plaintiffs claim Tehran ‘masterminded and funded’ assault on Israel, note reports that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad met in Beirut with Iranian military leaders-By ToI Staff Today, 9:41 am-FEB 1,24
Dozens of victims and families of US citizens killed or captured in the devastating Hamas-led October 7 massacre in Israel filed a US lawsuit Wednesday blaming Iran for the attack and seeking compensation.The 67 plaintiffs claimed that the attack, which killed 1,200 people and saw another 253 taken hostage, most of them civilians, was “masterminded and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” NBC News reported.“Iran bears direct responsibility for the October 7 Attacks,” says the lawsuit filed in the District Court for the District of Columbia. “Indeed, that point is essentially undisputed. The Iranian regime has openly flaunted its motive for aiding the horrors.” According to Bloomberg, the plaintiffs are seeking $1 billion in damages.On October 7, Hamas-led terrorists burst through the border from the Gaza Strip and rampaged murderously through southern areas of Israel, overrunning communities and slaughtering those they found. Entire families were murdered, women gang raped, victims tortured and mutilated. At an outdoor music festival, 360 people were killed. The terrorists also abducted 253 who were taken as hostages to Gaza, about half of whom remain in captivity. Some hostages were released during a November truce.At least 32 US citizens were killed in the attack.According to NBC, among the plaintiffs are those who were kidnapped or injured as well as families of those who were murdered.Natalia Ben Zvi, whose son Sagiv was murdered at the Nova music festival, told the Ynet outlet she was seeking justice for my son, “a beautiful and kind young man.”“As far as I am concerned, Iran is the head of the snake and no less responsible than Hamas,” Ben Zvi said.The lawsuit asserts that from April to June 2023, Iranian leaders met with chiefs of Hamas and the smaller, allied Gaza terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as other terror groups in Syria and Iran, “to encourage further acts of terrorism against Israel.”By August, the lawsuit claims, commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force were convening twice a week in Beirut with “Hamas, PIJ, Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed terror groups.” It cites the Wall Street Journal and other news reports about the meetings. The Quds Force is the IRGC unit tasked with operations outside of Iran’s borders. Among those who attended meetings was Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the lawsuit claims.On October 2, Iran gave the “green light for Hamas, PIJ, and the other Iran-backed groups to launch the pre-planned attack against Israel, using Iranian intelligence, training, and military supplies,” it claims.“Iran’s provision of funds, weapons, munitions, training, and intelligence to Hamas and PIJ provided those terror groups with material support and resources used to murder, torture, take hostage, and otherwise injure Plaintiffs, along with Israeli men, women, elderly, teenagers, children, toddlers, infants, and others,” it says.The lawsuit described atrocities committed by the attackers against their victims, among them US citizen Yonatan Siman-Tov, his wife, Tamar, and their three children who were asphyxiated to death as Hamas terrorists set fire to their home in the Nir Oz kibbutz.The lawsuit also includes graphic images of victims from the attacks.The plaintiffs also accuse Iran, the “sworn enemy of Israel and the United States,” of using the Hamas attack to derail efforts at normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.“As potential Israeli normalization with Saudi Arabia progressed, Iran prepared to reset the regional balance, including by attempting to unite Arab states around the Palestinian cause,” they argue.The lawsuit conceded that suing nation-states is complicated.“Plaintiffs recognize that prosecuting this litigation to completion may be complex and take time, but they are prepared to do whatever is required to deliver justice for the atrocities Iran directed, armed, and paid for,” it said.Attorney Alex Spiro of law firm Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart, and Sullivan LLP, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, told NBC News, “We expect to prove our case by several means, including affidavits from our clients as well as reports from experts on Iran and terror financing.”Iran’s mission to the US did not respond to media requests for comment.Natalie Raanan, 3rd left, Judith Raanan, right, are seen upon arrival in Israel after being released from Hamas captivity as government
Also Wednesday, released hostage Judith Raanan, and the relatives of two murdered victims, Itay Glisko and Daniel Levi Ludmir, filed a separate compensation lawsuit in New York. They are suing crypto exchange Binance for allowing Hamas to trade on its platform, as well as Iran and Syria for allegedly providing financial support and weaponry to Hamas, Bloomberg reported.The US State Department report “Country Reports on Terrorism 2021” states that “Hamas has received funding, weapons, and training from Iran and raises funds in Persian Gulf countries.”
US blames Iran proxies for deadly Jordan strike, weighs response-Since beginning of Israel-Hamas war, 166 attacks undertaken by Iranian-backed militias against American targets in the region-By AP and ToI Staff Today, 9:13 am-FEB 1,24
WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three US service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, as US President Joe Biden weighs his options to respond to the strike.Iran threatened to “decisively respond” to any US attack on the Islamic Republic after the US said it held Tehran responsible. The US has signaled it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in the wake of the Sunday drone attack that also wounded more than 40 troops at Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that has been crucial to the American presence in neighboring Syria.National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the US believes the attack was planned, resourced and facilitated by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group that includes the militant group Kataib Hezbollah. He said Biden “believes that it is important to respond in an appropriate way.”He said Biden was continuing to weigh his options, but Kirby said “the first thing you see won’t be the last thing,” adding it “won’t be a one-off.”Kirby dismissed a statement by Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah announcing “the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government.” He said the group cannot be taken at face value, and he added that “they’re not the only group that has been attacking us.”As of Wednesday, Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-aligned militias had launched 166 attacks on US military installations since Oct. 18 — 67 in Iraq, 98 in Syria and the one in Jordan, according to the US military.The US has struck back at the militias a few times over the past three months. On Oct. 27, US fighter jets struck two weapons and ammunition storage sites in eastern Syria near Boukamal that were used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed groups.Also in Syria, fighter jets dropped bombs on an IRGC weapons storage facility near Maysulun in Deir el-Zour on Nov. 8. And US airstrikes targeted a training facility and a safe house in the Bulbul district of Mayadin on Nov. 12.On Dec. 26, the US launched strikes on three locations in Iraq used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, and on Jan. 23, the US struck three sites in Iraq, again targeting Kataib Hezbollah.Any additional American strikes could further inflame a region already roiled by the ongoing war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The war began with Hamas attacking Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 253 hostages. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says over 26,000 people have since been killed in the fighting, though these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed nearly 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.Violence has erupted across the Mideast, with Iran striking targets in Iraq, Pakistan and Syria, and the US carrying out airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels over their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Some observers fear a new round of strikes targeting Iran could tip the region into a wider war.A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said American F/A-18 fighter jets on Wednesday struck and destroyed 10 Houthi drones that were prepared to launch.The US military’s Central Command said later Wednesday that the guided missile destroyer USS Carney had shot down one anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden. The Carney also shot down three Iranian drones, Central Command said.The Iranian warnings first came from Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He gave a briefing to Iranian journalists late Tuesday, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.“The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the country, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” IRNA quoted Iravani as saying. He described any possible Iranian retaliation as a “strong response,” without elaborating.The Iranian mission to the UN did not respond to requests for comment or elaboration Wednesday on Iravani’s remarks.Iravani also denied that Iran and the US had exchanged any messages over the last few days, either through intermediaries or directly. The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera, which is based in and funded by Qatar, reported earlier that such communication had taken place. Qatar often serves as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.But Iran’s government has taken note of the US threats of retaliation for the attack on the base in Jordan.“Sometimes, our enemies raise the threat, and nowadays we hear some threats in between words by American officials,” Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami, who answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said at an event Wednesday. “We tell them that you have experienced us, and we know each other. We do not leave any threat without an answer.”The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prays at the grave of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)-“We are not after war, but we have no fear of war,” he added, according to IRNA.Kirby, for his part, said the US doesn’t “seek a war with Iran. We’re not looking for a broader conflict.”On Saturday, a general in charge of Iran’s air defenses described them as being at their “highest defensive readiness.” That raises concerns for commercial aviation traveling through and over Iran as well. After a US drone strike killed a top general in 2020, Iranian air defenses mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board.Meanwhile, attacks by the Houthis and counterattacks by the US continue in the Red Sea.The private security firm Ambrey reported Wednesday night that a ship was targeted with a missile southwest of Aden, Yemen, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis claimed an attack on a vessel at the time called the Koi, a Liberian-flagged container ship. The ship’s managers could not be immediately reached for comment. It was unclear if the reported missile attack caused any damage or injuries.A missile launched Tuesday night targeted the USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, Central Command said in a statement. No injuries or damage were reported.A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement Wednesday morning, calling it “a victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people and a response to the American-British aggression against our country.”Saree claimed the Houthis fired “several” missiles, something not acknowledged by the US Navy. Houthi claims have been exaggerated in the past, and their missiles sometimes crash on land and fail to reach their targets.Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Mideast and Europe.The Houthis hit a commercial vessel with a missile on Friday, sparking a fire that burned for hours.The US and the United Kingdom have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes targeting the Houthis as allied warships patrol the waterways affected by the attacks. The European Union also plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within three weeks to help defend cargo ships against the Houthi attacks, the bloc’s top diplomat said Wednesday.
In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief-Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier-By ToI Staff, Agencies and Lazar Berman-Today, 5:56 pm-FEB 1,24
A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza.The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source.The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, and offers the possibility of a pause in fighting in Gaza for the first time since late November, as well as the release of all 136 hostages still in Gaza, not all of whom are alive.The proposal was also discussed by the Israeli war cabinet earlier this week and was to be discussed again on Thursday evening.In Cairo, the negotiating parties were to discuss the length of the potential truce, among other details, including the number of Palestinian security prisoners Israel will be required to release in return.According to Kan news, the Qatari and Egyptian mediators are pushing for an extended pause in fighting that would last longer than two months, and which would not end before the last day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which is expected to run from around March 10 to April 9, 2024.Key elements of the deal are said to have not been finalized, and an unidentified central sticking point is said to remain unresolved.While Hamas has said it will not sign onto any deal unless Israel commits to a withdrawal and permanent end to the war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to pull troops out until “total victory” has been achieved — which he defines as largely eradicating Hamas.A Palestinian official close to the talks said on Thursday that Hamas is unlikely to reject the Gaza ceasefire proposal it received from mediators this week, but will not sign it without assurances that Israel has committed to ending the war.“I expect that Hamas will not reject the paper, but it might not give a decisive agreement either,” the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.“Instead, I expect them to send a positive response, and reaffirm their demands: for the agreement to be signed, it must ensure Israel will commit to ending the war in Gaza and pull out from the enclave completely.”Jerusalem is highly unlikely to agree to this.According to reports from both Israeli and Palestinian sources, the envisioned hostage deal is designed to occur in three stages.Citing a draft of the proposed deal read by “officials involved in the talks,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the US is “pushing for a ceasefire deal that could stop the war in Gaza long enough to stall Israel’s military momentum and potentially set the stage for a more lasting truce.”The three-part deal being considered by both parties would start with a six-week truce in which Israel would be required to end all military operations, including drone surveillance, according to the report. All civilian hostages would be freed by Hamas, and Gazan civilians would be able to move freely around the Strip. Humanitarian aid, which is currently all but unable to reach the northern part of the Strip, would be able to be distributed without limitations.During the second stage of the deal, female IDF soldiers would be released in return for increased humanitarian aid, ensuring that hospitals, water services and bakeries could resume operations as normal.Hamas has also demanded that Israel free 150 Palestinian security prisoners for each released female soldier hostage, the report stated, adding that that ratio is one of the issues under contention.The third and final stage of the deal would see Hamas return all males it considers to be IDF soldiers — which includes all civilians whose age makes them eligible for reserve duty. Hamas would also return the bodies of dead hostages, of which there are at least 29, during this final stage.Hamas will also require Israel to release an undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners during this final stage, and will potentially require them to be high-risk Palestinians serving sentences for murderous attacks, including those captured inside Israel on October 7.Along with Hamas’s demand that the truce lead to a permanent ceasefire, the issue of the Palestinian prisoners is expected to be one of the main areas of disagreement. Netanyahu stressed on Wednesday that Israel will not agree to a deal “at any cost,” and that it will not end the war, pull the IDF out of the Gaza Strip or “release thousands of terrorists.”In addition, the Journal reported, Hamas could refuse to release a small group of hostages and instead hold onto them as a future bargaining chip or as human shields.The reported plan for a six-week truce would be the longest pause in fighting since October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists launched a shock assault on southern Israel in the early morning hours of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.In a single day, the terrorists attacked more than 20 communities, killed 1,200 people, including 360 at an outdoor music festival, and seized 253 hostages.In response, Israel vowed to end Hamas’s rule over Gaza, which it has controlled since 2007. An aerial campaign and subsequent ground operation has laid waste to much of the Palestinian enclave, displacing around 85% of its 2.3 million residents, but has so far failed to reach the terror group’s top leadership, believed to be hiding in a vast underground tunnel network.The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Thursday that more than 27,000 people had been killed since the start of the war, though these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 9,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside The only pause in fighting that both sides have successfully agreed to since the start of the war was a weeklong truce in late November, during which 105 civilians were released from captivity in exchange for 240 Palestinian security prisoners, none of them serving time for murder or serious terrorism charges.International aid agencies have since pleaded for an extended respite to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the enclave, where food is scarce and unaffordable and healthcare services are barely functioning.If the representatives in Cairo choose to move forward with the deal in its current form, they will then turn to Hamas’s leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar for his approval, Channel 12 reported. The process could take until the end of the week.
WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went
to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
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, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
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)
Israeli green thermal storage company signs 7-year deal with Wolfson Hospital-Brenmiller Energy tech will replace diesel boilers, is expected to help cut fuel oil use to ‘nearly zero,’ reduce pollution, and save up to $1.3 million annually-By Sue Surkes-Today, 5:56 pm-FEB 1,24
Israeli thermal energy storage company Brenmiller Energy announced Thursday that it has signed a seven-year, $3.55 million project with Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, outside Tel Aviv.Gadi Davidovitz, chief engineer at the public hospital, said the project was expected to reduce the facility’s fuel oil consumption to “nearly zero.”Brenmiller’s technology, already in use in Israel, the US, Romania, Italy and Brazil, seeks to help industry wean itself off fossil fuels. Its units comprise electrical heaters and crushed rock in which energy can be stored at very high temperatures. The source of energy might be solar, wind, or the grid (during off-peak hours, when energy is relatively cheap). Heat can also be taken from exhaust pipes, or from the burning of biomass (plant-based materials).The energy can be released, whenever needed, as steam, hot water, or hot air.In the case of Wolfson Medical Center — the first hospital in which Brenmiller is installing its technology — the units will replace old diesel boilers that are both costly and polluting.According to estimates from the Finance Ministry, which had to approve the deal, the electric heat provided by Brenmiller’s technology could save the hospital up to $1.3 million annually and cut the hospital’s local carbon footprint by 3,900 tons per year.Brenmiller will provide the upfront money, and the hospital will repay it over seven years out of savings made.The Israel Innovation Authority will give the company a grant of up to $450,000 to get the project off the ground.Brenmiller’s chairman and CEO, Avi Brenmiller said, “This is just the beginning of wide-scale thermal energy system adoption, which we believe will become the standard in clean energy storage for industrial and municipal facilities worldwide.”Last year, it opened its first production plant, in the southern Israeli city of Dimona.
Biden Doctrine’: US reviews options for recognizing Palestinian state-Ah, those who plan iniquity And design evil on their beds; When morning dawns, they do it, For they have the power.-Micah 2:1-(the israel bible)-JNS-February 1, 2024
The major foreign policy shift would face deep opposition within Israel.The Biden administration is bucking decades of U.S. foreign policy by considering a plan to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, despite deep opposition to the move within Israel.Both Axios and The New York Times reported on Wednesday about this potential major shift in the American approach towards Palestinian statehood, which hitherto has emphasized direct negotiations between Jerusalem and Ramallah.According to the Axios report, which cites two U.S. officials familiar with the situation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken requested a review of policy options for the recognition of a Palestinian state after Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza concludes.In the months since the Oct. 7 terrorist assault on southern Israel, the Biden administration has been pushing for Palestinian statehood as part of a major normalization pact and regional security initiative between Israel and Saudi Arabia.The Palestinian issue was not reportedly seen as a major obstacle to a Jerusalem-Riyadh detente before the Hamas attack, but the Biden administration’s stance has apparently changed and the Saudis are emphasizing a pathway to a Palestinian state as a precondition for normalization.A senior U.S. official told Axios that some inside the Biden administration believe that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state should be the first step in talks to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead of the last.This goes against the doctrine of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sees increasing relations with the wider Arab world as the key to solving the Palestinian issue, as exemplified by the 2020 Abraham Accords, which saw Israel establish diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in a deal brokered by the Trump administration.Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious coalition is firmly against establishing a Palestinian state.There is also widespread opposition among the Israeli public to the creation of a Palestinian state.According to the most recent “Peace Index” survey released by Tel Aviv University last week, when asked whether they support the creation of a “Palestinian” state alongside Israel, 66% of Jewish respondents said they opposed such a move, while 27% expressed support for the creation of a “Palestine.”New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that the Biden push to possibly recognize a demilitarized Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip “would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.”He continued, “Biden administration officials have been consulting experts inside and outside the U.S. government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take.”According to Friedman, the “Biden doctrine for the Middle East” would also include a strong stance against Iran, including a military response against Iranian terror proxies in the region in retaliation for the killing of three U.S. soldiers at a base in Jordan in a drone attack. It would also involve a “vastly expanded” U.S. security alliance with Saudi Arabia that would include Israel-Saudi normalization.Furthermore, Axios reported on several options the Biden administration could take, including bilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, withdrawing its veto power against the United Nations Security Council admitting “Palestine” as a full U.N. member state, and urging other countries to recognize a Palestinian state. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Monday that the U.K. was considering recognizing a Palestinian state.Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Washington on Thursday to discuss the Gaza war and plans for the day after fighting in Gaza ends, as well as Israel-Saudi normalization. Dermer held similar talks with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday.Moreover, Blinken will visit Israel for three days beginning on Feb. 3, his sixth trip to the Jewish state since Hamas invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.Israeli soldiers are risking their lives to protect us all from Islamic terrorism. But they need our help. Sign up for Israel365 Action to receive updates on how YOU can help fight Hamas and its supporters in the United States and around the world.
Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine-New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran-By Lazar Berman-Today, 12:32 pm-FEB 1,24
US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday.The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.”White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman.What he termed the new “Biden Doctrine” would include boosting US ties with Saudi Arabia alongside a normalization of ties between Riyadh and Jerusalem, and maintaining a tough military stance against Iran and its proxies.Before the Hamas assault on October 7, Riyadh was bargaining hard for security guarantees from Washington, as well as assistance with a civilian nuclear program that would have uranium enrichment capacity, as part of a normalization deal.Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January that he was prepared to normalize relations with Israel as part of rebuilding the Gaza Strip after the war, two US officials relayed to The Times of Israel, noting that he indeed is conditioning that deal on Israeli steps toward Palestinian sovereignty.Hamas’s mass onslaught in Israel is “forcing a fundamental rethinking about the Middle East within the Biden administration,” Friedman wrote.“If the administration can pull this together — a huge if — a Biden Doctrine could become the biggest strategic realignment in the region since the 1979 Camp David treaty,” he contended.Friedman, who is close to Biden and has disseminated messages to Israel through his column recently, argued that the emerging doctrine would include a stepped-up US campaign against Iran, including a firm military response to the death of three American soldiers this week.He also maintained that Israel is losing the war in Gaza because of the damage it has suffered on the global stage and the fact that it doesn’t have a realistic plan for who rules the Strip after the military campaign.Friedman’s column comes a day after a report in Axios, which cites two officials, saying that Blinken had asked the State Department to review the policy options available to the US on the issue of a Palestinian state and present them for discussion.Asked about the report during a press briefing on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Matt Miller downplayed the immediate significance, but confirmed that the administration is “actively pursuing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state – with real security guarantees for Israel, because we do believe that is the best way to bring about lasting peace and security for Israel, for Palestinians, and for the region.”Miller also stressed that this “has been the longstanding position of the United States” and did not represent a shift in policy.“There has been no policy shift in the administration. We have made quite clear publicly that we support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. That has been the policy of the United States for some time. It has been the policy of this administration.”In recent weeks, Netanyahu has drawn global condemnation — and defied the United States, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid — by ostensibly rejecting calls for a Palestinian state.Netanyahu’s office said in January that Israel “must retain security control over Gaza,” even after “Hamas is destroyed,” days after the prime minister had rejected Palestinian sovereignty over the West Bank and proclaimed Israel’s need to have “security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River].”Netanyahu appears to have been careful, though, not to categorically reject all forms of Palestinian statehood.His comments came after an NBC report that the Biden administration was looking past the premier to advance a two-state solution — and hours after Blinken said Israel cannot achieve “genuine security” without a pathway to a Palestinian state.The two leaders spoke by phone that same week, and afterward Biden expressed hope that a two-state solution could be achieved even with Netanyahu in office if the Palestinian state is demilitarized. A CNN report the next day indicated that Netanyahu told Biden that he was not ruling out a Palestinian state entirely.Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends a session during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, January 16, 2024. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)-The Wall Street Journal also reported that the US, Egypt and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to accept a comprehensive plan that would end the war, see the release of hostages held in Gaza, and ultimately lead to full normalization for Israel with its neighbors and talks for the establishment of a Palestinian state.War erupted after Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israeli communities, massacring some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 253 others. Israel then launched a massive military operation aimed at vanquishing Hamas and freeing the hostages.It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, not all of them alive.
THIS IS SO REDICULAS-BLAMING ISRAEL FOR LOOTING BECAUSE THEY LOOK AFTER PETS.ISRAEL GET RID OF THESE USELESS ISLAMIC COCKROACHES IN GAZA ONCE AND FOR ALL. THE COMPLAINTS AGAINST ISRAEL ARE JUST REDICULAS BRAIN DEAD LIKE BIDEN NONSENSE.
Israeli pets were taken into Gaza as souvenirs on Oct. 7-Israeli troops’ rescue of animals in Gaza fuels pro-Palestinian ‘looting’ charges-Some anti-Israel activists focus on the issue of pets being brought into Israel as complementary evidence to support a narrative of wrongdoing by Israeli soldiers in Gaza-By Canaan Lidor-Today, 11:26 am-FEB 1,24
The dog that Matan Roza took out of Gaza initially appeared like one of the many strays that roam the enclave, both now and before the Israeli ground campaign there.But on their second encounter, Roza, a father of four from Ma’ale Levona, noticed that that dog was not afraid of men the way many local dogs are. It responded to commands in Hebrew, Roza said, and his fellow reservists realized it was a purebred Malinois, a breed known also as a Belgian sheepdog, which can cost hundreds of dollars in Israel.“I figured that the chance that it’s an Arab dog is very low,” Roza told The Times of Israel last week on the phone from inside Gaza, where he’s serving in the reserves as a car mechanic. “I called him onto the Hummer and off we went,” Roza said of the dog, which had no tag or chip.The dog, which Roza later advertised on social media and gave away for free, is one of multiple animals — including many dogs and cats, at least one parrot and three horses — that Israeli troops have taken out of Gaza following the ground invasion by Israel in October.Seen by some as an act of kindness or rectification, the issue has also drawn accusations that it is an act of organized looting or pillage, which is prohibited by international law and the Geneva Convention.As Israel faces the much graver charge of genocide at the International Court of Justice – an allegation that Israel and its allies reject outright – some anti-Israel activists are focusing on the issue of pets and other animals being brought into Israel as complementary evidence to support a narrative of immorality by Israeli troops in Gaza. Others who support Israel, meanwhile, point to the care of animals as proof of the opposite.“They’re looting. They’re stealing people’s pets, they’re stealing people’s jewelry. They’re even posting videos of themselves doing it,” Richard Medhurst, a British-Syrian journalist, said in a recent video. Medhurst, who has an outspoken pro-Palestinian agenda and more than 370,000 followers on X, showed an Israeli soldier cuddling a kitten and said: “This is probably someone’s cat.”In his video on the Odysee platform titled “Israel Looting People’s Pets and Jewelry In Gaza,” Medhurst conceded that Gaza has many strays, but argued the one in the photo appears to be a pet. “Look at the condition of the animal,” he said.The Middle East Monitor, a prominent pro-Palestinian news agency based in London, last month posted on its Facebook page (1.2 million followers) a video it said showed “Israeli soldiers in the northern part of Gaza plundering camels and donkeys from local villagers.”The video, which features an arid, mountainous background, appears to have been taken in the Negev Desert inside Israel. With a tongue-in-cheek reference to alleged IDF gear shortages in the current war, it shows a soldier riding a camel and saying: “Israelis, thanks for all the equipment donations! Look at the progress we’re making, we set off on a donkey and now we’re riding a camel.”International law has relatively few provisions that address the issue of animals specifically, according to Tal Mimran, a Hebrew University of Jerusalem scholar of international law and program director at the Tachlith Institute for the promotion of democracy and the rule of law. Taking animals to rescue them would likely not violate the law but it might if the animal is taken to become the property of the taker, or someone they represent, he said.“The Geneva Convention prohibits ‘pillage’ but does not define it,” Mimran said. “Whether taking an animal constitutes pillage would depend on multiple factors such as: Was the animal taken from someone’s possession or the street? Was it taken with the intent of stealing it or rescuing it? Is it taken into the possession of the person who took it, or handed off to authorities for its rescue?” Mimran said.Roee Shpernik, founder of the animal welfare nonprofit Glass Walls, dismissed the animal-looting allegation against Israeli troops as “nonsense.” Gaza, he said, “is a Third World place, where animals’ lives count for little, with few exceptions. Animals being brought to Israel are rescued. No one’s stealing their animals.”Shpernik, 39, has been running a situation room focused on rescuing animals, mainly dogs, from Gaza and the now-evacuated border area inside Israel. Many smaller dogs and purebreds that are “most likely Israeli” are spotted in Gaza and rescued by reservists, he said. But they’re not the only ones crossing over.“Gaza dogs, whole packs of ferals, are crossing into Israel because the borders are open for army movement. Reservists are bringing in many others. Thousands of dogs have lost their homes in Israel. It’s a catastrophe,” said Shpernik, whose life partner is Tal Gilboa, the Prime Minister Office’s consultant on animal welfare. Her nephew is among the 136 people believed to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.Still, some animals brought over from Gaza to Israel may have a significant monetary value.Last month, a soldier named Shai Rabi took three horses out of Gaza with his commanding officer’s permission, he confirmed to The Times of Israel. Rabi declined to answer any of The Times of Israel’s follow-up questions.Avi Tzur, the owner of the horse feed manufacturing business Shiluveybar, who donated food to Rabi for the animals from Gaza, said the horses “appeared to have been stolen from Israel” in the first place based on the condition and material of their horseshoes and other signs, he said.“Not that it matters. They were emaciated, starving and without care. They would have died there,” he added. Rabi led the horses from Gaza City into Kibbutz Zikim, about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away. A building contractor, Rabi had the horses transported from Zikim to Kfar Baruch near Afula, where he lives, Tzur said.Responding to a query by The Times of Israel on claims of looting animals and other items, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s unit said it is looking into the incident involving Shai Rabi. “As a rule, the IDF does not permit soldiers to transfer animals from Gaza to Israel. Requests to do so are considered only in unusual cases where the animal is wounded and in need of assistance,” an IDF spokesperson said, adding the army does not tolerate looting.Last month, the IDF confirmed it has received a handful of complaints about looting in Gaza by Israeli troops and that at least three are the subject of a military police investigation. That statement did not specify the alleged loot.Ben Ozeri, an Israeli animal welfare activist who has helped care for multiple animals brought from Gaza, also dismissed the animal looting claim. “I’m not a jurist but if the choice is between ‘looting’ a horse or any other animal to save it and letting it die a slow, horrible death, I’m in favor of ‘looting,’” he said.When it comes to looting animals, Ozeri added, “Palestinians, and not only Hamas terrorists, engaged in it wholesale on October 7.” According to Ozeri, he has seen at least a hundred videos, uploaded by looters to social media, of Gazans taking animals they looted from Israel to the Gaza Strip on October 7, when some 3,000 terrorists invaded Israel and murdered about 1,200 people and abducted another 253.One of the hostages, Mia Leimberg, 17, was abducted along with her dog, a Shih Tzu named Bella, from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Leimberg, who was released with Bella in November as part of a prisoner swap that allowed 105 hostages to go free, told Israel Hayom that she hid Bella under a coat during the abduction. Her captors saw she had a dog only when the time came to climb down a ladder into the tunnel where Leimberg and other hostages were kept. They let her keep Bella, and the dog survived on meager leftovers for 50 days in captivity.Others have been separated from their pets since the Hamas onslaught. A husky named Luna that was in Nir Oz on October 7 was later identified by her Israeli owner, Tal Rokni, who survived the massacre, in TikTok videos from Gaza. Disoriented and held on a short leash, the dog identified as Luna is seen barking frantically in the video, which someone titled “a dog from the settlements” in Arabic. Luna has not been found to this day.The terrorists were not the only ones who crossed into Israel. An unknown number of civilians followed in their wake, many of them pillaging and looting equipment, farm animals, pets and souvenirs from border kibbutzim and moshavim.“Several horses were looted for sure, dogs, cats – the ones the looters and terrorists didn’t torture and kill, that is, and there were many such cases,” said Ozeri. “I even saw a bird in a cage being taken to Gaza,” he added.The bird may have been Nappie, a female cockatiel that belongs to Yasmin Ra’anan, a survivor of the massacre of Kibbutz Be’eri. After the onslaught, Ra’anan, 56, discovered that Nappie and her cage were missing.“I assumed they killed her,” she told The Times of Israel. But days later, a reservist posted online images of himself with a friendly cockatiel on his shoulder in Gaza, with a plea to share the picture in the hope of finding the owner in Israel.On December 27, a soldier brought back Nappie to Ra’anan, the caretaker of Be’eri’s petting zoo. She has had Nappie for over eight years. Sobbing with relief, Ra’anan was too emotional to even thank the soldier. A video of the reunion shows Ra’anan repeating the animal’s name for minutes while crying and holding Nappie close to her chest.
The school's problem is bigger than just this one vote'Just before Holocaust Day, Columbia Law student senate rejected a club to fight antisemitism-Governing body puts kibosh on proposed group for second time, citing its use of the IHRA antisemitism definition, which opposing students call ‘pernicious and insidious’By Cathryn J. Prince-Today, 11:25 am-FEB 1,24
NEW YORK — On the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Columbia University Law School student senate rejected a request from a coalition of non-Jewish and Jewish students to organize a club whose sole purpose is to combat antisemitism.The 49-member forum rejected the formation of Law Students Against Antisemitism (LSAA) in part because it planned to incorporate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The United States government has itself adopted the definition for various uses, including in determining whether a university complies with Title VI.Students opposing the formation of the group called the IHRA definition “a pernicious and insidious definition of antisemitism.”The IHRA deems antisemitic: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor; applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation, and equating contemporary Israeli policy to Nazi policies.”The Columbia Law student senate did not respond to a request for comment.Coming as antisemitic and anti-Israel demonstrations continue to roil the Upper West Side campus, the decision was as predictable as it was upsetting, said several Columbia students.“I was heartbroken — not because I was surprised, but because I was right,” said third-year law student Marie-Alice Legrand. Following the vote, Legrand wrote on Linkedin that this is the second time the law school’s student senate has voted against the club’s formation since an organization with the same name, Law Students Against Antisemitism, was similarly nixed in 2022.Legrand, who is non-Jewish and Black, said she has lost friends because of her outspokenness. I was heartbroken — not because I was surprised, but because I was right“I was blacklisted by the Black community, so to speak. I have a different set of friends now, but I don’t want to live in a world where Jewish people are afraid, Legrand said. “I am affected by antisemitism, we all are — because hate spreads.”Martin Pritikin, the dean of Purdue Global Law School and a Harvard Law School graduate, said the club’s rejection may very well be discriminatory. (There is already an approved Jewish Law Students Association, as well as a Columbia Law Israel Organization (Koleinu). Both groups seem to be inactive.)-The Columbia Law senate’s executive board has a host of responsibilities including presiding over meetings and maintaining senate records, as well as accounting for student funding, said Pritikin.Because some of that funding comes from mandatory student fees for all students enrolled at Columbia University, regardless of school, one could argue that the university is obligated to ensure the law student senate isn’t violating student rights, Pritikin said.“If anybody should be sensitive to due process it is law school students,” Pritikin said, adding that it appears the senate “exercised power in a manner that harms Jewish students.”According to Akiva Shapiro, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a graduate of Columbia Law School, the law school’s problem is “broader and deeper than one specific vote.”“With the rise of antisemitism and regular calls for Jewish genocide ringing throughout Columbia’s campus since October 7, including from Columbia students, there is a critical need for Law Students Against Antisemitism at this moment,” he said.“This vote only highlights that the adults in the room — the administration of Columbia University, and Columbia Law School in particular — need to take back control of the school from student leaders who have apparently been infected by antisemitic tropes, slander, and propaganda,” Shapiro said.Therefore, Shapiro said, administrators ought to move the student-group approval function from the student senate to the administration, “and immediately approve the formation of Law Students Against Antisemitism.”Legrand, who said she’s not prepared to stop fighting for the right of the group to establish itself, said the discourse in the law school devolved immediately after the October 7 Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that saw 1,200 people brutally murdered, the vast majority of them civilians, and a further 253 kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where many are still being held — though not all are thought to be alive.“There was a lack of compassion and a level of cruelty I never experienced. People actually celebrated October 7,” Legrand said.Legrand was referring not only to social media posts and campus demonstrations but also to the 20 Columbia University student groups that signed a statement justifying the massacre. Among those groups were several official Law School groups including the Middle Eastern Law Students Association at Columbia Law School; Empowering Women of Color at Columbia Law School; Columbia Law Students for Palestine; The National Lawyers Guild at Columbia Law School; Columbia Law’s Restorative Justice Collective; and the Columbia Law and Political Economy Society.In the statement, they said that “occupied peoples have the right to resist the occupation of their land” and that the “weight of responsibility” for all casualties “undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government and other Western governments, including the US government.”None of the groups signed on the statement responded to requests for comment.Given that the law school’s web page touts the school as an “inclusive and engaging community” that urges students “to learn from viewpoints and experiences different from their own in a supportive and welcoming environment,” the rejection also smacks of hypocrisy, said Legrand.“The level of double standard doesn’t even begin to cover it anymore. I’ve never witnessed so much hypocrisy; it breaks my brain,” Legrand said.
US CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY
https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/money-and-payments-20220120.pdf
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
MARK OF THE BEAST (engraved microchip in your hand or forehead)
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
REVELATION 16:1-2
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER BRAIN DEAD NUTJOBS WANT TO DESTROY OUR ECONOMIES WHILE CONTROLLING OUR LITTLE SHEEPLE SELVES. GOD WILL HAVE THE LAST SAY ON EARTH. NOT NO SATAN, HIS WORLD POLITICIAN AND HIS FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER POPE FRANCIS.AND ALL THE BABY MURDERING LIBERAL PUPPETS.
ID.me verifies 50M users while IDnow, Tools for Humanity sign up digital wallet partners-Feb 1, 2024, 12:18 pm EST | Bianca Gonzalez
ID.me has announced it has verified 50 million users’ IDs in the ID.me identity wallet. IDnow and netID are collaborating for a European digital identity wallet and Kresus will bring World ID to the digital wallet in its super-app.ID.me reaches 50 million verified users-ID.me has announced 50 million users have a reusable identity credential verified to the federal standards for consumer authentication, NIST Identity Assurance Level 2.Remote identity verification to IAL2 requires biometric matching.After a user verifies their identity in ID.me’s identity wallet, they can login and consent to release their identity to access services at government, private, and non-profit organizations. The process is secure and minimizes friction for users.With ID.me, users can verify their identity through video-chat and in person. It is designed to address barriers for communities that have been historically left behind by past forms of verification such as those without credit history, unhoused groups, and tribal users. An agency that implemented ID.me found that users in Puerto Rico saw double the pass rates when compared to a data broker provider the agency formerly used.To date, ID.me has issued digital wallets to more than 119 million people. Among them, 90 million use MFA. The login and digital ID tied to the account can be used at 15 federal agencies and 40 state government agencies. The wallet is also accepted across over 600 brands for social login, hotel guest check-in, account recovery, and other use cases.ID.me recently announced a partnership with healthtech firm OtisHealth to simplify the process of healthcare record requests.IDnow and netID partner on German identity wallet alternative-Identity verification platform provider IDnow announced it will work with the netID Foundation to introduce the netID Wallet for netID users in Germany as an alternative to U.S. platforms.The netID Wallet app will be available later this year and will make it easier for users to access their reusable identities.After a user verifies their identity upon creation, they can elect with whom they would like to share their data with. With a new version of the eIDAS regulation expected to be implemented in 2024, the netID Wallet facilitates meeting the goal that all EU citizens should have a digital identity by 2030.World ID coming to Kresus App-Kresus will bring World ID from Tools for Humanity to the Kresus App, according to an announcement from Kresus Lab.Kresus App is a web3 all-in-one super app that uses digital identity tools to streamline crypto and NFT transfers. The Web3 app seeks to onboard users in airline, travel and hospitality industries.Kresus will also provide Tools for Humanity with technical support on product strategy and engagement.Kresus announced in March it raised $25 million in Series A round funding led by Liberty City Ventures with contributions from JetBlue Ventures, Craft Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Marc Benioff, and The Winklevoss twins.
Nigeria contracts Pakistan’s digital ID agency to upgrade NIN middleware-NIMC scaling enrollments with more biometric devices-Feb 1, 2024, 12:12 pm EST | Chris Burt
The digital identity authorities of Pakistan and Nigeria have signed a strategic partnership agreement to expand their collaboration.Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has entered into a contract under the collaborative agreement to help modernize the middleware solution used by Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). The contract is with NIMC’s Project Implementation Unit, and will enable a more advanced identity ecosystem, according to the announcement. The contract was signed following a thorough pre-assessment and set of recommendations, and is intended to improve the efficiency, security and interoperability of the back-end system Nigeria uses for its national ID, the partners say.The upgraded back-end will support NIMC’s plans to scale enrollment and identification operations.The agencies discussed project timelines and how to align key objectives at a meeting held at NIMC headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.NIMC has issued more than 104 million National Identification Numbers (NINs) to Nigerians so far, and hopes to reach 148 million this year.NADRA also has deals in place to supply digital identity software to ID authorities in Kenya and Somalia.More enrollments kits distributed-Additional biometric enrollment devices have been deployed to all states in Nigeria, following approval from NIMC Director General and CEO Abisoye Odusote-Coker, the agency has announced.The devices are already in use, having been installed to supplement those already in the field. NIMC says the deployment has reduced how long applicants must spend on the process, and increased how many people are served each day.Monitoring and evaluation teams from NIMC will visit NIN enrollment and updating centers across Nigeria, in part to help address allegations of widespread corruption.
Socure digital ID platform approved by State of Texas-Signs auto finance company for customer onboarding-Feb 1, 2024, 12:01 pm EST | Bianca Gonzalez
Identity verification provider Socure has announced that the state of Texas and Exeter Finance will use the Socure ID+ platform for onboarding.Socure to support the state of Texas with digital identity verification services-The Socure ID+ Platform has been authorized by the Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program (TX-RAMP). State agencies can now use the platform for identity verification and fraud prevention as users access government services.The state of Texas will implement the platform as part of a larger goal of implementing the digital ID infrastructure in the state. The platform will reduce the need for manual verification and can help state and federal governments reach groups that have been historically underserved by legacy systems.Socure’s platform can auto-approve up to 94 percent of hard-to-identify individuals such as Gen Z, millennials, and those who are new to the country.Socure is “well on [its] way to reaching full approval at the federal level through [its] progress toward FedRAMP Moderate authorization,” according to Matt Thompson, senior VP and general manager of the public sector at Socure. “We look forward to partnering with state agencies in Texas to safeguard identities and prevent fraud using Socure’s advanced AI technologies.”Socure announced it received StateRAMP authorization in January and anticipates completing full FedRAMP Moderate authorization in 2024. It joins NEC Corporation of America as a company offering a TX-RAMP authorized product.Exeter Finance to use Socure ID+ Platform for customer onboarding-Socure announced that indirect auto finance company Exeter Finance LLC will use the Socure ID+ Platform for customer onboarding to enhance risk management and customer experience.The Socure ID+ platform reduces false positives by 13x and reduces third party and synthetic identity fraud by up to 95 percent.“We’re thrilled about the opportunity to make our customer onboarding process even more robust as we embark on this new partnership with Socure,” said Tony Kutiper, Executive VP of origination. “It’s imperative now more than ever to continue to enhance our verification safeguards and increase our vigilance wherever we can as the abilities of AI continue to expand.”
Moscow, Dubai ramp up biometric payments in public transportation-Feb 1, 2024, 11:52 am EST-| Ayang Macdonald
A new touchless biometric fare payment service is set to be trialed by the Moscow Metro with new equipment for the system already installed at turnstiles in a number of stations.According to an announcement, the first stage of the trial for the new service will begin in the first quarter of this year with employees of the Metro Transport Complex, and later passengers.Ahead of the pilot, Metro officials say equipment is already in place at the turnstiles of Nakhabino, Zelenograd-Kryukovo, Likhobory and Three Stations Square stations.Speaking about the development, Maksim Liksutov, deputy mayor of Moscow for Transport, says the deployment of the biometric fare payment system by Moscow Metro is part of a move by authorities to make the travel experience seamless and secure for metro users. The deputy mayor says they will continue to introduce biometric fare payment for different transport systems within the Moscow Metropolis.The new service can be accessed by users of the Moscow Metro app on Google Play or the Apple App Store, and the announcement adds that it is already available at all metro stations, Moscow Central Circle (MCC), Aeroexpress (airport rail link) and for regular river transport.Last year, Moscow Metro introduced the fare payment app, which requires passengers to link their biometrics to the Moscow Residential Social Card used by about five million Moscow residents.Approximately 150,000 people are said to make trips with Moscow Transport every week using contactless biometric payments, and over 80 million people in the last two years of its operations.Dubai transport system to introduce digital ticketing-In Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) seeks to transform its card-based ticketing system (nol-card) into a digital service using face biometrics.This follows the award of a contract worth 350 million Emirati Dirham (US$95 million) for setting up digital public infrastructure to enhance payments within the city’s transport system, Edge Middle East reports.Last October, the RTA showcased a face-biometrics payment system for public transportation during a tech exhibition event for startups.Mattar Al Tayer, RTA director-general and chairman of the Executive Board of Directors, says the investment is in line with the RTA’s seven-year Digital Strategy Roadmap (2023-2030), as well as the cashless Dubai initiative.The official explains that the payment system, which will be based on a digital wallet, will optimize the use of data and ease integration of public transport systems with private sector payment services.
Privately, ACCS, Idiap and AVPA join forces to protect age estimation from generative AI-Jan 31, 2024, 6:47 pm EST | Chris Burt
Generative AI services are emerging that can potentially be used to thwart online facial age estimation systems, just as those systems are mandated in a growing number of jurisdictions.A collaboration between the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), Idiap Research Institute, the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) and Privately SA has been announced to develop tools to defend against spoof attacks with generative AI.The project, referred to by Privately in a LinkedIn post as “Safeguarding Age Estimation and Digital IDs from Emerging Threats Posed by Generative AI,” is funded by a grant from Innovate UK and Innosuisse.“I think we can all agree, Age Assurance systems are going to be pretty useless if a 12 year old can simply spoof them with an easily available App,” explains ACCS Executive Director Tony Allen in a separate LinkedIn post. “In order to maintain confidence in the efficacy of the systems, we need a suite of test assets (sometimes called a test harness) and agreed protocols and standards for applying those tests.”Privately brings its experience with biometric age and ID verification systems, while Idiap will contribute its highly-regarded biometrics research expertise. The ACCS is the steward of the UK’s age estimation standards, and the AVPA is the industry’s global advocacy and support organization.The roadmap for the project begins with comprehensive research, and will proceed to “deliver tangible and immediate benefits” for the age estimation sector.ID R&D CSO and Co-founder Konstantin Simonchik notes the threat injection attacks pose to biometric security and the lack of established standards, asking “how can we ascertain that the injection tests conducted are thorough and comprehensive?”The collaborative research project intends to provide an answer to this pressing question, Allen says.
Incognia locks $31M in series B funding for biometric, location ID offerings-Jan 31, 2024, 6:31 pm EST-| Joel R. McConvey
Having secured $15.5 million in Series A funding in mid-2022, Incognia has announced the closing of double that amount in Series B funding for its behavioral biometrics and location identity products. The funding is led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from FJ Labs and several existing investors, according to a press release.“This funding from Bessemer is further recognition of our innovative approach, and their support of Incognia is particularly significant given Bessemer’s expertise in the fraud prevention industry,” says André Ferraz, co-founder and CEO of Incognia. “Bessemer has a strong track record of supporting game-changing SaaS solutions from companies like Twilio, Shopify, Toast, and Auth0, and we’re thrilled to be listed among these trailblazers in tech.”The money will bolster existing operations in North America and EMEA, expansion into new verticals for consumer internet and financial services, and product development. The firm’s location authentication technology combines device fingerprinting and exact location intelligence data to generate a single flexible risk signal. It provides device tamper detection with location spoofing prevention, tamper-proof location verification for user ID, and phishing-resistant account security.Per the release, used individually or in combination, these features result in an 80 percent reduction in account takeovers, a 51 percent reduction in fake account creation, and an 84 percent reduction in new user abandonment.“After years of development, André and the Incognia team have unlocked the power of highly precise location awareness coupled with best-in-class device fingerprinting to generate fraud prevention signals, unlike any other vendor in the market,” says Charles Birnbaum, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “Incognia is quickly emerging as a market leader addressing fraud across a variety of customer segments, which is critical in today’s environment as fraudsters become increasingly sophisticated thanks to recent GenAI breakthroughs and the global proliferation of real-time payments.”The numbers support his claim: since the June 2022 Series A funding, the company has tripled revenue, realized 200 percent net revenue retention and converted 100 percent of trials.Headquartered in California, Incognia also operates offices in New York, São Paulo and Recife.
Australia Digital ID Bill criticized for biometrics testing barrier, phased rollout-Jan 31, 2024, 5:45 pm EST | Bianca Gonzalez
National banks and a biometric testing provider have expressed concerns in submissions to parliament on the Digital ID Bill that will govern the Australian Government Digital ID System (AGDIS). BixeLab commented that the bill as it stands can hinder testing integrity. Banks and others have also argued the private sector should access digital IDs at the same time as state governments, rather than maintain its current multi-step plan, according to InnovationAus.The Digital ID Bill was first introduced to Parliament in November and includes a number of rules referring to biometric testing. BixeLab submitted an inquiry to parliament supporting the oversight of accreditation by a regulator as outlined in the bill, arguing that it will facilitate change in response to the emergence of novel threats.The company opposes that the bill leaves it up to the discretion of the regulator as to whether or not independent testing would be required. The committee should “consider an amendment … to make explicit that testing … may be prescribed to be independent of accredited entities,” the submission reads.A clause in the bill bans the collection of racial or ethnic attributes, which hinders BixeLab and other testing providers from using such data to assess racial bias in biometric algorithms, it notes. Additionally, the bill as it currently stands limits the retention of biometric data for testing to 14 days.The two-week timeframe “is not a sufficient period to complete testing and associated fraud investigations for more complex and novel threats and attacks,” says BixeLab. It suggests the maximum period for retaining data should be extended to at least 28 days, and preferably to 60 days.BixeLab also says the three month accreditation period for testing entities could be extended.The bill outlines which entities will be able to implement AGDIS in a series of phases but not when each phase is expected to begin. As the bill stands today, state and territory governments would have access in the second phase and citizens could use digital IDs to access private sector services in the third phase. The private sector, including current digital ID providers like IDVerse, will only be able to access government services in the fourth and final phase.The Department of Finance argues that a phased-in approach will give the government a chance to see that the system is operating as planned before continuing to roll out digital IDs.The National Australia Bank (NAB) argues that whether an organization meets security standards should determine when they can access digital IDs – not an arbitrary deadline.“Accreditation should be the barometer of an entity’s maturity and applicability for joining the system – not an artificially constructed timeline which does not relate to an organization’s capability to satisfy the state requirements,” states NAB’s submission to parliament.Australian Payments Plus (AP+), which runs the ConnectID digital ID system that Commonwealth Bank of Australia and NAB currently use, says that the government is prolonging national cybersecurity risks by dragging its feet on private sector access.Equifax, one of the two largest private users of the government’s currently available identity verification services, says in its submission that delays in private sector access could “undermine consumer confidence in dealing with business and government” as digital identity fraud becomes more sophisticated.Other submissions from civil rights groups call for stronger restrictions on law enforcement’s access to the system.
Regulatory dust settles around Clearview, leaving one big facial recognition market-Jan 31, 2024, 4:12 pm EST-| Chris Burt
Regulatory changes and court decisions around the world leave Clearview AI with a limited, but vast target market for its facial recognition: American law enforcement.CEO Hoan Ton-That tells MLex Market Insight that the company has reached a “turning point” in its fight against litigation. He also believes the company has moved beyond misconceptions among the media about how facial recognition is used.The company has emerged from a series of disputes in court with what Ton-That sees as a solid position. A proposed settlement in Illinois “is a really big deal” for Clearview, he says, while a Vermont judge denied a request from the state’s Attorney General for partial summary judgement in December.The judge cited Clearview’s submission that its assistance of investigations into the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, Ukraine’s war effort and in defense of the innocent, saying: “The court cannot say that any reasonable Vermonter would find that the privacy violations ensuing from Clearview’s product outweigh the benefits.”Ton-That does not see Clearview entering the European market. He cites the AI Act and GDPR as evidence that “Europe is taking a different view on not just data privacy, but AI and technology in general.” Neither is Clearview planning to set up operations in the UK, Australia, Canada, or other countries it has faced legal or regulatory pushback in.Australian police supplied forensic material to an international database that was analyzed by U.S. law enforcement with Clearview’s facial recognition last year as part of Operation Renewed Hope. This has prompted fears Down Under that Crikey reports police are reticent to even talk about with the press.In the U.S., dealing exclusively with law enforcement puts Clearview outside of the jurisdiction of most of the state laws recently passed.“We’ve been growing quite quickly, especially in our state and local business now, in the US,” Ton-That says. “The federal business is really growing as well. It’s also at an inflection point where a lot of these US federal government customers have gone through their privacy policies, training policies around facial recognition.”Clearview faces ongoing legal challenges in the U.S., including a call for California authorities to investigate its data-collection practices. Ton-That believes that Clearview is on solid ground in that regard. The company scraped data from platforms without creating accounts, which would have obliged it to follow the platforms’ terms of service.An Israeli company called Bright Data was recently found by a U.S. District Court judge to have acted legally when scraping data from Meta’s Facebook and Instagram because it was not logged in.Testing for accuracy-Misconceptions in the media may be less of a problem for Clearview than in the past, but they are still easy to find.Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Washington held a public hearing to discuss a potential contract with Clearview last week, local CBS affiliate KEPR reports.Washington Defender Association Felony Resource Attorney Sheri M. Oertel claimed that the company’s facial recognition algorithm has not been tested for accuracy or racial disparities. The claim is unchallenged by KEPR, despite having submitted algorithms to NIST’s ongoing biometric vendor test series since 2021. Ton-That specifically told Biometric Update in an email at the time that the company first submitted its technology to the 1:1 assessment, rather than the 1:N application it is normally used for, in order to have its demographic differentials evaluated.An assessment of the bias of an algorithm submitted by Clearview in December, 2023 can be viewed on the NIST website.Comments by Oertel reported by the Tri-City Herald, however, clarify what she means about the testing being inadequate: “They haven’t gone out and checked low quality, low light video surveillance that you get from a convenience store. They haven’t checked partial faces,” she said.
Worldcoin’s Hong Kong premises raided in ‘proactive’ look into breach of data privacy laws-Jan 31, 2024, 2:54 pm EST-| Joel R. McConvey
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong has staged raids on multiple locations used for identity verification by iris biometrics firm Worldcoin, objecting to its scheme to offer crypto tokens to anyone willing to have their irises scanned. The Standard reports that Worldcoin offices in Yau Ma Tei, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Cyberport, Central and Causeway Bay saw raids from the privacy watchdog, in what senior personal data officer Lo Dik-fan calls a proactive investigation into potential contravention of regulations related to collecting sensitive personal data.“The office is concerned that the operation of Worldcoin in Hong Kong involves serious risks to personal data privacy,” says Lo, as quoted in the South China Morning Post. The Privacy Commissioner’s office has stated its intention to identify anyone who volunteered for an iris scan in exchange for ten WLD tokens (approximately HK$19.55, US$2.50 each) and to question Worldcoin’s leadership about its protocol for obtaining consent.The Privacy Commissioner’s office has no formal authority to suspend Worldcoin’s operations in Hong Kong. However, the raids are the latest in what has become a series of familiar stories about governments alarmed to find Worldcoin setting up shop in their jurisdiction, with no clear idea what the company intends to do with the iris biometric data they collect. Apparently erring on the side of caution, Lo Dik-fan has called on citizens of Hong Kong to avoid non-governmental activities that collect sensitive personal data.Worldcoin, the firm founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Sam Altman and Alex Blania, is aware that it has something of an image problem, as evidenced by recent moves to redesign its iris scanner, a five-pound mirrored sphere called the Orb, into something less like a Star Trek weapon and more like a beloved Apple product. The reimagined Orb is set to debut sometime in the first half of 2024.“Worldcoin was established to help create access and participation in the global digital economy while preserving privacy. Worldcoin does not seek to know who a person is, just that they are human and unique. As such, any information used to verify unique humanness is promptly deleted by default,” a Worldcoin Foundation representative told Biometric Update in an emailed statement.“Worldcoin welcomes regulators, including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD), and consumers to inquire and seek information or clarifications about its programs available to the people in their communities, cities, countries or regions. The Worldcoin Foundation is committed to full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations governing the processing of personal data in the markets where Worldcoin operates. This includes, but is not limited to, The Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.”This post was updated at 10:54am Eastern on February 1, 2024 to correct the number of WLD tokens offered to verified individuals, add the statement from Worldcoin Foundation and clarify the locations searched by police.
Precise Biometrics takes another step in expanding beyond Nordics-Jan 31, 2024, 1:09 pm EST | Masha Borak
Swedish identification software maker Precise Biometrics is expanding outside the Nordics region by setting up a dedicated sales team for its facial recognition visitor system YOUNiQ Visit in Benelux.The Benelux sales team, covering Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, will be based in Amsterdam where the company is already present. The sales team will be established in collaboration with a local sales partner and operational in the first quarter of 2024.“We are committed to offering our innovative visitor system to organizations across Europe,” says Joakim Nydemark, CEO at Precise Biometrics. “The Netherlands represents a market with great potential and our presence in Amsterdam will strengthen our position as one of the leading players in visitor systems in Europe.”Access systems YOUNiQ Access and YOUNiQ Visit (EastCoast) help authenticate visitors to offices, hotels and other establishments through a facial recognition camera. Precise Biometrics says that more than 700 customers are using the software in the Nordics, including Swedish access solution conglomerate Assa Abloy, manufacturing company Alfa Laval, telecommunications company Telia and French food service and facilities management firm Sodexo.Precise Division’s march into Europe follows last year’s management reshuffles ollowing losses. In December, the company also struck a reseller agreement with Scandinavian SystemHouse Solutions (SHS) for its YOUNiQ Access biometrics as an add-on for Integra systems.
Prepare now for when quantum computers break biometric encryption: Trust Stamp-Jan 30, 2024, 5:53 pm EST-| Bianca Gonzalez
Digital identity and trust provider Trust Stamp has released a white paper explaining the threat of quantum computing to biometric systems and making recommendations to minimize the risks.Quantum computers will open opportunities to solve problems in biometrics, drug synthesis, financial modeling, and weather forecasting, among other areas, according to Trust Stamp. But they will also be able to decrypt most of the encryption systems used to secure the internet and protect data today.While experts expect quantum computers will not be able to scale to defeat such systems for at least another ten years, the white paper claims, entities should address “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) attacks proactively.Through an HNDL approach, an attacker could capture encrypted data pending the availability of quantum computing-enabled decryption. It is worth noting that this cyber threat would be heavily resource-intensive to perform. Such an attack would most likely only be feasible by a nation-state and would target information that would remain extremely valuable for decades in the future.Still, HDNL is an especially concerning threat for biometric PII, due to its relative permanence.Certain data encryption methods are particularly vulnerable. Asymmetric, or public-key cryptography, uses a public and private key to encrypt and decrypt information. One of the keys can be stored in the public domain, which enables connections between “strangers” to be established quickly.Because the keys are mathematically related, it is theoretically possible to calculate a private key from a public key. While conventional computers are not able to perform these calculations, quantum computers can solve problems such as factoring integers through Shor’s algorithm, rendering all public key cryptography (PKC) systems insecure.Passkeys, digital signatures and digital certificates could potentially be decrypted after quantum computing scales, posing a risk to biometric systems that use them for verification.Symmetric or secret key encryptions and hash functions will generally maintain their security, the white paper says. Symmetric encryptions use one key to encrypt and decrypt information and are often used between two parties with a well-established relationship, such as mobile communications and banking links.Hash functions produce unique outputs from any given input. Changing the input at all will result in a completely different hash value. Hash functions are also irreversible. Hashes are often used to verify that data has not been altered or to check digital credentials. Wicket‘s biometric ticketing system, for instance, stores and compares hash functions taken from biometrics to authenticate attendees instead of the raw data itself. Other biometrics providers working with hashing include Keyless and ZeroBiometrics.Specifically, AES symmetric encryption with larger keys and SHA-2 and SHA-3 hash functions with larger hashes will “generally remain secure,” the white paper reads.Quantum-resistant algorithms will avoid vulnerabilities like using a key size that is too small or an algorithm that can be represented by a finite group.NIST has been running a competition to evaluate and standardize new quantum-resistant public-key algorithms. Google has also proposed a quantum-resilient algorithm of its own.
Digital IDs support financial inclusion in PNG, govt services in Cyprus, Bosnia, Barbados-Jan 31, 2024, 1:02 pm EST | Bianca Gonzalez
Papua New Guinea’s new Digizen digital ID program could be key to unlocking financial inclusion for the majority of citizens who live without a formal ID. In Cyprus, a digital initiative will allow citizens to access digital IDs through a new app. Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens can activate digital IDs online, while Barbados removes a hard deadline to apply for digital IDs altogether.Digizen ID could promote financial inclusion in Papua New Guinea-Papua New Guinea’s digital identification, Digizen ID, could be key in bringing financial inclusion to the majority of its citizens who lack access because of a lack of a formal ID, according to Business Advantage PNG.“Around 80 per cent of Papua New Guineans lack ID documents and, for individuals, that means they are excluded from financial services and they are stuck in poverty,” said Digizen CEO Kimmo Koivisto at the Innovation PNG 2023 conference.Lack of a formal slows economic growth by limiting who can participate in the formal economy.Under the supervision of the Bank of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Digizen has implemented a method of obtaining a digital ID even if a citizen does not have any previous ID or a mobile phone.Officers from MiBank and MamaBank, two microfinance institutions, use a tablet-based enrolment system that can operate offline to capture face and fingerprint biometrics. Identities are then confirmed by a local community authority such as a village chief.Identities are then confirmed by community authorities such as the village chief. The process reduces time to confirm identity from “months to minutes. A whole village can be done in a day,” said Koivisto.The pilot program is backed by the Asian Development Bank, who has funded a number of other projects for financial inclusion.So far, 2,500 Wewak and Maprik-based farmers and traders have enrolled in the trial and were immediately able to open bank accounts. They were able to use their new ID cards to immediately open bank accounts.“The central bank now needs to take the next step in terms of its regulatory standard around customer due diligence and make a decision whether the biometrics that are captured under this digital project will be sufficient to meet full KYC [Know Your Customer] criteria,” says Tony Westaway, CEO of MiBank.As of today, commercial banks still require a passport or driver’s license to open an account.The Bank of PNG launched the digital ID pilot for the program back in 2022.Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina ramp up digital govt initiatives-Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides announced a series of policies to promote a digital citizen initiative that leverages digital IDs and electronic signatures to sign up for government services at the 2024 Governance Program, according to KNews.The initiative features an app that would allow citizens to sign applications for benefits and formal documents electronically. Digital passports and other official documents would be accessed through the digital citizenship app.At the same time, Representatives from the Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IDDEEA) said at a press conference that citizens will be now able to activate their digital IDs on the agency’s website, according to Sarajevo Times.Citizens can use the site to view personal records, check the status of violations, and sign documents digitally. The government plans to implement a digital wallet in line with Europe’s regulations by the end of 2024.arbados ditches deadline for digital ID applications-Meanwhile, in Barbados, the Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology Marsha Caddle announced that the government is removing the January 31st deadline to apply for the new national ID card instead of extending it. Barbadians can still use their old IDs.As of January 26, 243,320 out of 269,090 Barbadians had registered for digital IDs including 108,338 people over the age of 50, according to a Ministerial Statement. Because of the widespread uptake, the government does not need to urge those who haven’t done so yet.
Veridos supplying new digital ID cards for Macau-Feb 1, 2024, 2:36 pm EST-| Ayang Macdonald
German biometrics and identity solutions firm Veridos is providing the latest generation of digital ID cards for the Macau Special Administrative Region.According to an announcement, the Macau Electronic ID Cards (MEID) have been designed with the Lumen ID Echo security feature which the company says is the first in the world. The Lumen ID Echo feature is a secondary color image of the cardholder, integrated into the transparent window of the card, complementary to the traditional black and white photo feature on ID cards. It is part of Veridos’ CLIP ID, a new secure color photography technology. The MEID is a completely contactless identity card with a sophisticated UV design and state-of-the-art security features, says Veridos. Per the announcement, the new project, which is the upgrade of an existing collaboration, includes setting up a new centralized personalization software and a new card application management system, to integrate additional features.The card supports biometric identification and digital signatures to enable access to online public services.“With the delivery of MEID cards, we are successfully concluding another chapter in the collaboration between Veridos and Macau, which has been setting new trends in global sustainability documents worldwide since 2002,” says Marc-Julian Siewert, CEO of Veridos. “With the recently delivered ID cards and the technological ecosystem, Macau also acts as a trendsetter worldwide, combining the latest security features and innovative design.”The digital ID card rollout is the newest step in long standing relations between Veridos and the identification services office (Direcão dos Serviãos de Identificaãos) of the Macau government. The partnership has existed since 2002 and was renewed in 2016.Veridos also has the contract to supply digital ID for cross-border travel between Southern African neighbors Botswana and Namibia.Macau has been testing an iris biometrics system for its border-crossing program.
Digital transformation plans progress in ASEAN region-Jan 15, 2024, 5:21 pm EST | Masha Borak
The world is about to receive its first region-wide digital economy agreement covering areas such as digital ID, digital payments, data flows, trade and much more.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is hoping that its ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) will harmonize digital economies across the 10-country bloc. But while policies can help digital transformation, socio-economic differences across the region and different regulatory regimes are posing challenges, writes Joo-Ok Lee, the World Economic Forum head of regional agenda for Asia-Pacific, in a new explainer on the initiative.ASEAN Economic Ministers set the terms for negotiations on the framework in September 2023. Meetings are expected to continue until 2025.Some countries have already started collaborating on the digital economy, including Thailand and Singapore’s work on cross-border payments and the PromptPay and PayNow systems.The ASEAN digital economy is estimated to grow from approximately US$300 billion to almost US$1 trillion by 2030. The World Economic Forum is helping to establish the initiative alongside the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund.Philippines prepares for biometric voter registration-The Philippines is moving ahead with its project to allow voters to cast votes outside their province of origin. The Register Anywhere Program (RAP) was proposed by the country’s Commission on Elections (Comelec) and includes submitting identity credentials and biometrics to register.The agency is currently readying registration sites in preparation for the voter registration period that commences on February 12. Applicants have been instructed to submit only government-issued IDs, the Philippine News agency reports.“RAP registration sites will be set up in malls, universities, or government offices/agencies in all capital cities and towns and HUCs [highly urbanized cities] nationwide,” Comelec says. The program will also be held in select church organizations, private establishments, government agencies and educational institutions, the agency added.The Register Anywhere Program was trialed during the voter registration period for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in January 2023.Malaysian state wants its own digital ID-The Malaysian state of Sarawak wants to establish its own digital identification called Sarawakpass by 2025.Similar to Singapore’s Singpass, holders would be able to use the digital ID to access a wide array of services, including financial, private and public services such as the Autonomous Rapid Transit system, The Borneo Post reports.“Meaning all will be cashless. You just need to have one card and get all the services that you need,” Premier of Sarawak Abang Johari Openg said at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) last week.The Sarawakpass will also be used as a digital platform for the state to disburse targeted assistance to the 2.9 million citizens of the state situated on the island of Borneo, according to the Premier.Malaysia is planning to roll out its nationwide digital ID, MyDigital ID, by July next year.The U.S. government has also already taken steps to mitigate HNDL risks. In May 2022, the national government issued a mandate to all federal agencies with sensitive data to deploy symmetric encryption systems to protect quantum vulnerable systems by deploying symmetric encryption systems by the end of 2023.Trust Stamp suggests that biometrics can be protected from quantum computing decryption by converting biometric templates to a token that can be canceled and updated. Raw biometric features should not be stored.Not coincidentally, Trust Stamp’s Irreversibly Transformed Identity Token IT2 is a protected biometric that can be revoked. There is no function that can recreate it and most of the original information is discarded.Dr. Niel Kempson, Trust Stamp’s executive advisor on technical capability said that IT2’s algorithm “is quantum-proof by design. If an enterprise or NGO is implementing or reviewing a biometric system today, it should actively look into the HNDL risk. It makes no sense to implement or maintain technology that will probably be unusable within the next decade, implicitly gambling on future solutions with unknown complexity and cost.”Trust Stamp has also announced that ManTech, an intelligence platform provider for the federal government, will integrate Trust Stamp’s identity authentication as part of a teaming agreement.
