QUEBEC 4.1 EARTHQUAKE.

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)

 QUEBEC 4.1 EARTHQUAKE.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING (BUT WILL NOT KILL EVERY BODY WITH WATER)(BUT 50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE (4 BILLION PEOPLE) FROM NUCLEAR WAR)(THE BIBLE SAYS BY FIRE OR ATOMIC BOMBS THIS TIME)
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6  I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9  I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator and baby murderers by abortion) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.so was not yet deemed a threat to land.The storm was located about 580 miles (930 kilometers) west-southwest of the southernmost tip of the Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), the center said.The storms churned in the Atlantic as rescuers in the U.S. Southeast searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene struck last week, leaving behind a trail of death and catastrophic damage.

Minor earthquake rattles western Quebec, with effects being felt in Ottawa and eastern Ontario-Earthquake experienced in Western Quebec on Sunday had a depth of 18 kilometres and a 4.1 magnitude.Earthquakes Canada-By Vanessa TiberioStaff reporter

A 4.1-magnitude earthquake in western Quebec also shook parts of eastern Ontario early Sunday morning, with some residents in Ottawa reporting they felt the effects. The earthquake happened just after 8 a.m. some 180 kilometres north-northwest of Ottawa, with a depth of 18 kilometres. There are no reports of damage, according to Earthquakes Canada. Kris Gabriele lives near Ottawa and he said he was inside a hot tub when the earthquake struck. “I felt a little rumble and the satellite dish started rattling right above us. I looked up and could see it subtly shaking” he said. “I asked my wife if she could feel that, to which she said no, but I could.” Gabriele said he felt what he describes as a “rumble” type of feeling. “I said, ‘I bet it was an earthquake. X will be all over it if it is.” Gabriele said there were no signs of damage at his home from the quake. “We’ve had these before, it’s no big deal” he said. “It’s just like a large truck driving by.”Residents in the Gatineau, Que., Pembroke, Ont., and Montreal also reported to Earthquakes Canada that they felt the earthquake with a weak or light intensity.According to Natural Resources Canada, an earthquake occurs in the Western Quebec Seismic Zone — the area in which the recent earthquake falls under every five days on average.Seismologist John Cassidy posted on X that earthquakes in Southeastern Canada are “not a regular occurrence” but “not uncommon either.”Earthquakes in this region are often low to moderate, although the region has experienced large and destructive earthquakes in the past, according to Natural Resources Canada. While the region typically experiences more than 600 earthquakes a year, Natural Resources Canada said that only about 25 quakes are felt by people in the region per year.

INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.

2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements (NUKES) shall melt with fervent heat,(BLAST) the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.(BUT ITS NO END OF THE WORLD HOGWASH)
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,(BY NUKES INCLUDING 3 BILLION PEOPLE) what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.

ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2  I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3  I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15  So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17  So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)

REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)

REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.

MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

The state needs to step in, offer a very strong shoulder'IDF chief: Israel beat Hezbollah militarily, but ‘true victory’ means reviving north-Meeting with Northern Command top brass in south Lebanon, Halevi calls on state to ‘step in’ to help region’s burden as some 70,000 residents set to remain displaced until March-By ToI Staff Today, 4:15 am-DEC 29,24

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Sunday that the military had won a “clear victory” over Hezbollah, but that “true victory” would be achieved only when Israel’s north is revived.Nearly 70,000 northerners remain displaced after being evacuated last October. The IDF’s current estimate is that they will be unable to return until the end of February, and on Sunday the government okayed an aid package to let the evacuation continue until then.Speaking at a situational assessment on the Lebanon front, the IDF chief said that “a victory, in the long run, is that there will be a lot of citizens, a lot of tourism, that the restaurants that were here, and the cafes, and the people who come to ride bicycles, and the agriculture here, will all thrive.”“And the state needs to step in, offer a very strong shoulder,” he added.Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, head of the IDF Northern Command, as well as Brig. Gen. Yiftah Norkin, the commander of the 146th Division, which participated in the ground offensive against Hezbollah, and Col. Omri Rosenkrantz, the commander of the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade, which is tasked with the western portion of the Lebanese border, attended the assessment.The IDF still has troops in southern Lebanon, which Israel is to vacate by the end of January under a ceasefire agreement it signed with Hezbollah on November 27.The agreement stipulates that the IDF be replaced in southern Lebanon by the official Lebanese army and international peacekeeping force UNIFIL, while Hezbollah is to retreat north of the Litani, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border with Israel.Hezbollah and Israel have accused each other of violating the ceasefire. On Saturday, a Hezbollah mouthpiece opined that the “resistance” should resume hostilities with Israel over its attacks on southern Lebanon.Israel has denied the attacks violate the agreement, saying they targeted Hezbollah fighters who themselves violated it by operating south of the Litani. The IDF says it has killed at least 44 operatives since the ceasefire came into effect.Unprovoked, the terror group started firing rockets at Israel on a near-daily basis on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group invaded southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take some 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.Israel escalated operations against Hezbollah in September, all but decimating its leadership, in a bid to secure the return of home of some 60,000 northerners who had been displaced by the terror group’s persistent rocket fire.Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

NYT account reveals why Israel feared Hezbollah pager operation was compromised-Israel detonated the pagers days after realizing some devices were being sent to Iran for examination; had earlier used drone to kill Hezbollah technician who suspected they were rigged-By ToI Staff Today, 1:24 am-DEC 29,24

The New York Times on Sunday reported that Israel detonated thousands of boobytrapped pagers, which it had covertly sold to Hezbollah, six days after learning that the terror group was sending some devices to Iran for close examination. The newspaper’s account of the years-long deep penetration of the terror group by the Mossad and Israeli military intelligence is the most detailed to be published to date.The report cited two dozen current and former Israeli, American, and European officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified information. It detailed Israel’s two decades of surveillance of Hezbollah’s leadership and the decision to keep Washington in the dark about the plan to assassinate the terror group’s long-time leader, Hassan Nasrallah.According to the report, earlier in 2024, Israel carried out a drone strike to kill a Hezbollah technician who suspected there might be explosives in the walkie-talkies that, like the pagers, Israel had covertly sold the terror group.The September 17 pager detonation, which killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives and maimed thousands, marked the beginning of Israel’s escalation against Hezbollah, after almost a year of the terror group’s persistent rocket fire that displaced some 60,000 residents of the north. Israel invaded Lebanon 10 days after the targeted explosions, beginning with airstrikes in which most of Hezbollah’s leaders, including Nasrallah, were killed. By the end of November, a battered Hezbollah signed a ceasefire agreement with Israel.The Iran-backed terror group, unprovoked, began its near-daily rocket attacks against Israel on October 8 of last year — one day after its fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.According to the New York Times, the boobytrapped devices were not yet fully in place at the time of the Hamas invasion and Hezbollah’s entry into the war. The newspaper confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided against a large-scale counteroffensive in Lebanon, preferring to focus on Gaza, over the advice of some Israeli officials, including then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.By August 2024, Mossad chief David Barnea and military intelligence chiefs were urging a short campaign to neuter Hezbollah’s rocket capabilities and push it away from the border, said the Times, citing a senior Israeli defense official.Then, according to several unidentified officials cited in the report, new intelligence showed the long-planned pager operation was in danger, especially in light of a September 11, 2024, discovery that some devices had been taken to Iran for inspection.With the pager operation apparently compromised, Netanyahu met with top security chiefs on September 16 to decide whether Israel should “use it or lose it,” according to four Israeli security officials.The Times also elaborated on a report last week from CBS’s “60 Minutes” that Mossad had registered shell companies in Budapest and Sofia to handle the sale of the pagers to Hezbollah. CBS said Hezbollah had some 5,000 pagers in use at the time of the blasts.The pagers were first delivered in the fall of 2023, the Times report noted, and it also cited Hezbollah’s purchase of some 15,000 booby-trapped walkie-talkies since 2015.20-year surveillance of Hezbollah culminated in hit on Nasrallah-The New York Times said that the foundation of Israel’s surveillance effort was laid in the 2006 war with Hezbollah. For example, according to three Israeli security officials cited by the newspaper, Israel planted tracking devices on Hezbollah’s Fajr missiles, which yielded information on the terror group’s munitions and facilities. During that war, Israel bombed the sites and destroyed the missiles.Israel also developed near-constant tracking of the terror group’s leaders by recruiting people to bug their hideouts. In the case of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr, whom Israel killed in July, keeping track of his movements included knowledge of his multiple rendezvous with four mistresses, whom he made his wives in the months before he was killed. They married in separate phone-based ceremonies arranged by Hashem Safieddine, who was killed by Israel in October, when he emerged as Nasrallah’s heir-apparent.Israel reportedly decided to strike Nasrallah after learning of a plan to move him to a different bunker that would have been harder to hit.Netanyahu approved the strike that killed the terror chief immediately before the premier addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 27 — when he decried Nasrallah’s grip on Lebanon.According to the Times, confirming previous reports and comments by the prime minister, Netanyahu discussed the strike with top Israeli officials in Israel the night before taking off for New York, and gave the operation the green light after landing.Jerusalem chose not to update the White House on the imminent elimination of Nasrallah, avoiding any opposition by Washington, trusting that the US would support Israel if Iran retaliated.The report cited Israeli intelligence, shared with Western allies, that Nasrallah, in his very last days, seemed skeptical that Israel would try to kill him, maintaining that the country was not interested in an all-out war. After the strike that killed the long-ruling terror chief, intelligence sources determined that he died of suffocation, together with a top Iranian general based in Lebanon.

IDF: Hospital chief arrested, is suspected Hamas operative-IDF: 19 terrorists, no known civilians, killed in Gaza hospital raid; Hamas said 50 dead-Israel says 240 suspects arrested at Kamal Adwan hospital — including its director and 15 participants in Oct. 7 onslaught; 600 civilians evacuated; IDF wraps up Jabalia operation By Emanuel Fabian 29 December 2024, 10:58 pm

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that a military raid, completed Saturday, on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza had killed 19 terror operatives, without any known civilian casualties, after Hamas-run health authorities previously claimed — and some international media reported — that 50 people had been killed, including hospital staff.While providing new details on Sunday about the operation, army sources indicated that, with the raid complete, the IDF was close to wrapping up its operations in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area.Kamal Adwan Hospital was described by the IDF as “Hamas’s last bastion in Jabalia,” after hundreds of terror operatives allegedly used the medical facility as a shelter from Israeli strikes.According to the military, the terror operatives returned to Kamal Adwan after the IDF last operated in the medical center in late October.The IDF said that, of 940 Palestinians who passed through an army checkpoint outside the hospital, 240 were detained for being alleged members of terror groups. In all, some 600 civilians and another 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated from Kamal Adwan.Of the 240 terror operatives, the IDF said that at least 15 participated in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which started the ongoing war. Several others are considered to be prominent commanders in the Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups, the military said.Several operatives who carried out a deadly attack on troops in Jabalia earlier this month were also nabbed, the IDF added.The IDF said some of the terror operatives posed as medical staff and patients, and some tried to leave on stretchers and in ambulances. Of a first group of 21 patients leaving the hospital, the military said that 13 turned out to be suspected terror operatives.The director of the hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, was also detained. The IDF said he is suspected of being a Hamas operative.The IDF said that the Kamal Radwan raid marked one of the largest single arrest operations in Gaza since the beginning of the war.The IDF has been operating in the Jabalia area since early October, facing relatively fierce resistance by remaining Hamas cells there, military sources said.Over the last few weeks, the IDF operated in areas near Kamal Adwan, as part of efforts to clear routes to enable the raid on the hospital over the weekend. Numerous explosive devices were neutralized in the area surrounding the hospital, the IDF said.Before launching the operation, the IDF said it enabled the evacuation of 350 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel to other hospitals, in an effort coordinated by the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).The IDF said its 401st Armored Brigade approached the hospital from two directions on Friday morning, surrounding it within an hour. The soldiers also neutralized a large explosive device planted on a road leading to the medical center, according to the military.At the same time, two Hamas cells attempted to flee from the hospital, and they were killed in drone strikes, the IDF said.Within another hour, civilians sheltering at the medical center, along with patients, began to evacuate, following calls by the IDF to leave. As part of the evacuation, they passed through a military checkpoint, at which point those suspected of being terror operatives were taken into custody.Meanwhile, the patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were taken to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, where the IDF delivered fuel, generators, and other medical equipment from Kamal Adwan.After the hospital was cleared of all Palestinians, members of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit carried out “precise activities” inside the hospital, during which they located and captured weapons, including grenades, handguns, ammunition, and other military equipment, according to the IDF.The IDF acknowledged that only a few weapons were found in the hospital itself, but said that numerous weapons were located and seized in apartments surrounding Kamal Adwan, which were used by Hamas as fighting positions, some of which were boobytrapped.During the operation, three operatives launched RPGs at an armored personnel carrier from an area near the hospital, the IDF said. There were no injuries among the Israeli forces, and the operatives behind the attack were killed, according to the military.The IDF said it did not fire directly at the hospital, did not target any medical staff, and was unaware of civilian casualties in the operation.Kamal Adwan Hospital is now out of service after its staff, patients, and equipment — including generators and critical medical equipment — were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital, also located in Jabalia.Before the evacuation, the IDF also operated at the Indonesian Hospital to ensure that no terror operatives were holed up there, military sources said.The IDF said it has no plans to demolish Kamal Adwan following the raid there. A military source said troops would remain in the area of Kamal Adwan to “closely monitor” the hospital to ensure it does not return to serve as a base for terrorists. Military sources said that there are still other operations to carry out in Jabalia against remaining Hamas cells, but, in general, the IDF is close to completing its mission there, following the hospital raid.Israel has been at war against Hamas in Gaza — and other Iranian-backed forces that have joined the war — since October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel from the enclave, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.Hamas has fought from within hospitals throughout the war and periodically hid some of the Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7 inside them. International law generally prohibits targeting hospitals during wartime, but hospitals can lose this protection if used for military purposes.Since October of this year, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in northern Gaza, stating that its goal is to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the area.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Soldier killed in northern Gaza as five rockets fired into Israel-Fighter jets hit rocket launchers amid resurgent fire from Strip; fourth baby dies of hypothermia in Gaza tent city; IDF says it killed six Oct. 7 perpetrators last month-By Emanuel Fabian-and Agencies 29 December 2024, 9:01 pm

An IDF soldier was killed in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, the military announced, as a months-long operation in Jabalia appeared to approach its end, despite several instances of rocket fire from the enclave, which has been a rare occurrence at this stage of the war.The slain soldier was named as Staff Sgt. Yuval Shoham, 22, of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 9th Battalion, from Jerusalem.The Israel Defense Forces did not detail the circumstances of Shoham’s death.The killing brought Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against the Hamas terror group in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 394.Separately, a soldier with the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion was seriously wounded during fighting with Hamas terror group operatives in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun on Sunday, the military added.The incidents came as the IDF indicated that it was wrapping up its operations in northern Gaza’s Jabalia following the Israeli military raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital.Kamal Adwan Hospital was described by the IDF as “Hamas’s last bastion in Jabalia,” after hundreds of terror operatives allegedly used the medical facility as a shelter from Israeli strikes. According to the military, the terror operatives had returned to Kamal Adwan after the IDF last operated in the medical center in late October.There is no way to verify the military’s claims.The IDF has been operating in the Jabalia area since early October, facing relatively fierce resistance by remaining Hamas cells in the area, military sources said.The IDF said it had arrested hundreds of terror suspects at the hospital while facilitating the transfer of patients and civilians to other Gaza hospitals. The raid sparked a widespread outcry in the international community with Israel being accused of torching the hospital and killed civilians.Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck rocket launchers in Beit Hanoun, which had been used to fire two long-range rockets at the Jerusalem area on Saturday.There were no injuries or damage in Saturday’s rare long-range rocket attack from Gaza, as both projectiles were intercepted.When the strike was carried out, another rocket had been loaded into one of the launchers, the IDF said, releasing an image showing the launchers before they were hit.In a video published by the military, the rocket could be seen flying out of the launcher.More rocket fire-On Sunday, five more rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip, this time at the southern city of Sderot, along the border with the enclave, one of the largest rocket attacks from Gaza in recent months.According to the IDF, two rockets were intercepted, while the other three apparently struck open areas.There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage from the attack, which marked the third day in a row of rocket fire from the Strip.Rocket attacks from Gaza have been rare at this stage of the war, after frequent barrages during and in the months after the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which started the war.Following Sunday’s rocket fire, the IDF issued a fresh evacuation warning for civilians in a large area near the northern Gaza city of Jabalia.“Terror organizations are again launching rockets from these areas that have been warned several times in the past,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman said on X, attaching a map of the areas to be evacuated.Civilians were urged to head for shelters in Gaza City, in advance of the IDF launching strikes on the area.Strike hits Hamas cell in Gaza City hospitalAlso Sunday, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck a group of Hamas members who were operating out of a former hospital in Gaza City, the IDF said.Palestinian media reported at least seven dead and several others wounded in the airstrike on Al-Wafa Hospital.According to the IDF, the operatives were part of Hamas’s air defense unit in the terror group’s Shejaiya Battalion.“The terrorists operated in a command and control center that was established in a building that was previously used as Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City, and is not currently an active hospital,” the military said.The IDF said the operatives were using the command center at the former hospital to plan and carry out attacks against troops operating in Gaza “in the immediate future.”The military added that it took “numerous steps” to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure in the strike, including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.Artillery shelling also reportedly hit the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City Sunday morning, though there was no immediate comment from the IDF on that incident.Hamas commanders, Oct. 7 perpetrators killedThe IDF and Shin Bet also revealed on Sunday that 14 members of Hamas, including six who participated in the October 7 onslaught, were eliminated in a series of operations and airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip last month.As part of the IDF’s ongoing operation in the Strip’s far north, troops are working to locate and kill terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, the military and Shin Bet said.In one incident on November 27, the IDF said, troops of the Givati Brigade raided a Hamas position in Jabalia, where they killed Muhammad Abd al-Hamid Salah, a Hamas terrorist who “participated in the murderous massacre on October 7.”Another two Hamas commanders were killed in the same operation, according to the military.The IDF said an airstrike in Jabalia on November 26 killed Rasem Jawda, a Hamas company commander, Zahar Shahab, and Ali Ramadan, who all participated in the October 7 onslaught. Another two Hamas commanders were also killed in the strike, the military said.A separate strike on an unspecified date a month ago killed Muhammad Hamuda, who also participated in the October 7 attack, the IDF says. With him, five additional Hamas operatives were killed, the military added.Fourth baby dies of cold in Gaza-A fourth infant has died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly 15 months of war are huddled in tents along the rainy, windswept coast as winter arrives.Jomaa al-Batran, 20 days old, was found with his head as “cold as ice” when his parents woke up Sunday, his father Yehia said. The baby’s twin brother, Ali, was moved to the intensive care unit of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.Their father said the twins were born one month premature and spent just a day in the nursery at the hospital, which, like other health centers in Gaza, has been overwhelmed and is only partially functioning.He said medics told their mother to keep the newborns warm, but it was impossible because they live in a tent and temperatures regularly drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) at night.“We are eight people, and we only have four blankets,” al-Batran said as he cradled his son’s pale body. He described drops of dew seeping through the tent cover overnight. “Look at his color because (of) the cold. Do you see how frozen he is?”Another newborn, Jomaa Al-Batran, just 30 days old, loses his life to the cold in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/BDKe2qzR8Q — Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) December 29, 2024-An imam prayed over the shrouded infant, who was laid at his feet, barely larger than his shoes. After prayers, the imam took off his ankle-length coat and wrapped it around the father.“Feel warm, my brother,” he said.At least three other babies have died from the cold in recent weeks, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.Rainy and stormy weather in the region is expected to intensify over the next two days before slightly warmer conditions return later this week.Some 1.9 million Palestinians of the 2.3 million Gazan population are residing in the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone,” according to IDF assessments in July.The zone is located in the al-Mawasi area on the southern Strip’s coast, western neighborhoods of Khan Younis, and central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.The size of the zone has changed multiple times, according to evolving IDF operations against Hamas.War broke out in the enclave on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel from the territory, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 45,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle, as of November, and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7, 2023.Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.It is believed that 96 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages were rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Several reportedly killed in alleged Israeli strike near Damascus-Drone said to fire missiles at weapons warehouse causing massive blast; up to 11 reportedly killed; no comment from IDF-By ToI Staff 29 December 2024, 6:12 pm

An alleged Israeli airstrike near Damascus hit a weapons warehouse and killed several people according to Arab-language media outlets Sunday.Reports said there was an explosion in the city of Adra, on the eastern outskirts of the capital.A drone was said to have fired two missiles at the warehouse located in a commercial area.Initial media reports said that at least two people were killed, though that was not the final toll.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 11 people were killed, mostly civilians. It said there was a blast at a weapons depot belonging to the former Syrian regime and that it was “likely resulting from an Israeli attack.”According to the Observatory, Syrian locals in areas where there are weapons warehouses sometimes arrange for the contents to be blown up to prevent an Israeli airstrike that could kill people in the area. However, according to the observatory, it was not previously known that there was a weapons warehouse in the Adra area where the explosion happened.SOHR, run by a single person, has regularly been accused by Syrian war analysts of false reporting and inflating casualty numbers as well as inventing them wholesale.There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the alleged strike.An unconfirmed video shared on social media purported to show the aftermath of the attack. The video showed a building reduced to rubble with several bodies scattered among the debris.Earlier in December, after the rebels took control of Damascus in a lightning offensive, Israel launched a major operation to destroy Syria’s strategic military capabilities, including chemical weapons sites, missiles, air defenses, air force, and navy targets, in a bid to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile elements.In a move that drew some international condemnation, Israel also entered a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.Israel has said it will not become involved in the conflict in Syria and that its seizure of the buffer zone established in 1974 was a defensive move and a temporary one until it can guarantee security along the frontier.Israel has also signaled its desire to have “correct ties” with the new regime, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in early December.Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Julani, has said that his new regime is “committed to the 1974 agreement and we are prepared to return the UN [monitors],” referring to peacekeeping forces that manned the demilitarized zone alongside Syrian troops. He has also said he does not want conflict with Israel.Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations and have formally been in a perpetual state of war since Israel declared independence in 1948.While the fall of the Assad regime, which stood for over five decades, could provide a historic opportunity for recognition between Israel and its neighbor, the potential power vacuum in Syria could also lead to further chaos and serve as a breeding ground for a resurgence of terror in the region.

Syria could take four years to hold elections, de facto leader Sharaa says-Rebel chief who ousted Assad says drafting a new constitution could take three years, subsequent changes could take another By Hatem Maher and Menna Alaa 29 December 2024, 3:54 pm

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) — Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, the first time he has commented on a possible timetable for elections since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, Sharaa said in excerpts from the interview with the Saudi state-owned broadcaster. He also said it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.Sharaa leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that ousted Assad on December 8, ending decades of Assad family rule and a 13-year civil war. He said HTS will be dissolved in a national dialogue conference.On foreign ties, Sharaa said Syria has strategic interests with Russia. Russia has military bases in Syria, was a close Assad ally during the long civil war, and has granted Assad asylum.Sharaa said earlier this month that Syria’s relations with Russia should serve common interests.Sharaa also said he hopes the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will lift sanctions imposed on Syria. Senior US diplomats who visited Damascus this month said Sharaa came across as pragmatic and that Washington has decided to remove a $10 million bounty on the HTS leader’s head.

179 killed as plane crashes in South Korea, in country’s worst airline disaster-Jeju Air flight from Thailand declares ‘mayday’ over suspected bird strike, is then filmed landing and colliding with wall, erupting in fire; 2 crew members survive By KANG Jin-kyu and Hieun Shin 29 December 2024, 5:24 pm

MUAN, South Korea (AFP) — A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, smashing into a barrier and bursting into flames, killing everyone aboard except for two flight attendants plucked from the wreckage.A bird strike was cited by authorities as the likely cause of the crash — the worst-ever aviation disaster on South Korean soil — which flung passengers out of the plane and left it “almost completely destroyed,” according to fire officials.Video showed the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 landing on its belly at Muan International Airport, skidding off the runway as smoke streamed out from the engines, before crashing into a wall and exploding in flames.“Of the 179 dead, 65 have been identified,” the country’s fire agency said, adding that DNA retrieval had begun.Inside the airport terminal, tearful family members gathered to wait for news.An official began calling out the names of the 65 victims who had been identified, with each name triggering fresh cries of grief from waiting relatives.At least 177 people were killed in South Korea’s deadliest air accident when Jeju Air flight 2216 crashed at Muan International Airport. Investigators are looking into bird strikes and weather conditions as potential causes https://t.co/UCBiW1DBka pic.twitter.com/YqIqfqHFZR — Reuters (@Reuters) December 29, 2024-Only two people — both flight attendants — were rescued from the crash, the fire department said.“Passengers were ejected from the aircraft after it collided with the wall, leaving little chance of survival,” a local fire official told families at a briefing, according to a statement released by the fire brigade.“The plane is almost completely destroyed,” he was quoted as saying.Both black boxes — the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — have been found, deputy transportation minister Joo Jong-wan said at a briefing.Under floodlights, rescue workers used a giant yellow crane to lift the burned-out fuselage of the orange-and-white aircraft on the runway at Muan — some 288 kilometers (about 180 miles) southwest of Seoul.Bits of plane seats and luggage were strewn across the field next to the runway, not far from the charred tail, offering a glimpse into the catastrophic impact of the crash.‘Mayday’All of the passengers were Korean apart from two Thais, with the youngest a three-year-old boy and the oldest a 78-year-old, authorities said.“I had a son onboard that plane,” an elderly man waiting in the airport lounge, who asked not to be named, told AFP.“My younger sister went to heaven today,” a 65-year-old woman, who gave only her surname Jo, told AFP.The accident took place in a matter of minutes as Jeju Air Flight 2216 tried to land — with the control tower issuing a warning of a bird strike, and the pilot soon after calling “mayday.”“It took approximately three minutes from the control tower’s mention of a bird strike warning to the aircraft’s attempt to land on the runway again,” an official said.Video shows the plane coming off the tarmac and hitting a wall, but officials dismissed speculation that the length of the runway was a factor in the crash.Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan fire station, said the cause was “presumed to be a bird strike” but that the exact details would be announced after a full investigation.Low-cost carrier Jeju Air said it “sincerely” apologized — with top officials shown bowing deeply at a press conference in Seoul — and vowed to do all it could to help.Boeing said in a statement that it was in touch with Jeju Air and stood “ready to support them.”Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, December-Engulfed in flames-South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok, who only took office Friday, convened an emergency cabinet meeting and then visited the crash site at Muan.“The entire government is working closely together to manage the aftermath of the accident… making every effort to ensure thorough support for the bereaved families,” he said.The country declared a seven-day national mourning period effective from Sunday, with memorial altars to be set up nationwide.It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost carriers, which was set up in 2005.On August 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Jeju Air carrying 74 passengers came off the runway due to strong winds at the southern Busan-Gimhae airport, resulting in a dozen injuries.South Korea’s aviation industry has a solid track record for safety, experts say.A number of fatal aviation accidents have occurred globally due to bird strikes, which can cause a loss of power if the animals are sucked into the air intakes.In 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320 famously landed in New York’s Hudson River after bird strikes on both of its engines, in an incident widely known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” because there was no loss of life.

Suicide bomber kills police officer, wounds another in Iran-Identity of killer still unknown, but some media reports say perpetrator is linked to al-Qaeda-By Agencies 29 December 2024, 12:05 pm

TEHRAN, Iran — A suicide bomber killed a local police officer and wounded another in a southern Iranian port city, home to a large Sunni Muslim community, local media said Sunday.The hardline Javan Daily, a newspaper close to the country’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the attacker stopped Capt. Mojtaba Shahid’s car Saturday evening in Bandar Lengeh in the province of Hormozgan before detonating his vest.Shahid’s deputy, who was also in the car, has been hospitalized in critical condition, the paper reported, describing the attack as an act of terrorism.The city, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital Tehran, has no recent history of terrorism.No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but some local news outlets claimed Ansar al-Furqan, an al-Qaeda-linked Sunni armed group, was behind it.The attack came days ahead of the anniversary of two suicide bombings on January 3 in which nearly 100 people were killed at a memorial in southeastern Iran for top IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in Iraq in 2020 by a US drone. Islamic State claimed those two suicide bombings.

Women were 'tied to beds while their captors stared at them'Teens forced to perform sexual acts on each other: Report to UN details Hamas torture-Government document compiles grim details of abuse of hostages, including whipping, branding with heated iron, isolation, binding, starving, maltreatment and psychological torment By Michael Bachner and Diana Bletter 29 December 2024, 12:03 pm

While in captivity in Gaza last year, two Israeli teenage hostages were forced to perform sexual acts on one another, and their captors sexually abused them, according to new details from a Health Ministry report set to be presented to the United Nations.The testimony and many other damning details are included in a report cataloging the physical, sexual and mental anguish the now-former abductees — some of them children — were subjected to, and the lasting effects it has had on them.It is set to be submitted this week to Alice Edwards, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.Compiled from the testimonies of hostages who were released under a November 2023 deal and those who were rescued by Israeli forces, the report details how they were burned and beaten, starved and humiliated, as well as how the abuse impacted their mental and physical health even long after they were freed.It marks the first formal report by the Health Ministry about the hostages’ experiences.However, some of the most graphic details included in a Hebrew-language copy of the report issued by the ministry, were absent from the English-language version. It was unclear why there was a discrepancy or which version would end up being filed to the UN.While the Health Ministry did not answer a Times of Israel query on the matter on Sunday, the Ynet news site quoted an unnamed ministry source claiming the discrepancy was an “honest mistake that will be fixed before the report is filed to the UN.”WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT-To protect the hostages’ identities, their names, ages and family statuses — as well as their genders, in the cases of minors — were not included.According to the report, the terrorist captors forced two minors to perform sexual acts on one another and compelled them to take off their clothes in front of them, touched their private parts, and whipped their genitalia.The same two former hostages also reported that “they were held bound and were beaten throughout their captivity. Signs of binding, scars, and marks consistent with trauma were found,” the report says.“Additionally, two young children had burn marks on their lower limbs,” the report adds. “One child stated that the burns were the result of a deliberate branding with a heated object. Both the child and adults who were with him in captivity described the incident as a purposeful branding event, not an accident. It was described as an extremely traumatic experience.”The report says that some hostages were kept for days in darkness, with their hands and feet bound, and received little food or water. They were beaten all over their bodies, and some had hair pulled out.“One of the returned hostages described being sexually assaulted at gunpoint by a Hamas terrorist,” the report says. “On several occasions, captors forced women of all ages to undress while others, including the captors, watched. Some women reported that the captors sexually assaulted them. In addition, some women reported that they were tied to beds while their captors stared at them.”Israel has previously presented reports and released testimonies from hostages detailing sexual abuses in captivity, which Hamas has denied.Some former hostages have spoken publicly. Earlier this year, freed hostage Amit Soussana told The New York Times of how she was forced to perform “a sexual act” on one of her captors.Conditions were ‘designed to torture the hostages psychologically’A total of 251 hostages were abducted from Israel on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led onslaught in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people.Ninety-six of them remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.Released hostages related to authorities that they were deliberately separated from other family members who were being held. In one case, a woman was held in complete isolation, in darkness, bound, receiving very little water and food and not getting treatment for injuries.“The hostages were denied medical treatment for acute injuries caused during October 7 and subsequently, in addition to for untreated chronic conditions,” the document says. “Fractures, shrapnel wounds, and burns were treated inadequately, leading to complications which required additional surgeries, that could have been prevented with proper care.“The captors also tortured those injured by performing painful procedures without anesthesia. Many hostages also suffered from untreated chronic conditions (e.g., heart failure, diabetes, hypothyroidism), leading to severe short-term medical deterioration. In one case a hostage died from untreated medical complications,” it goes on.Captives, including children, were forced to watch videos of the October 7 atrocities. Many of the terrorists who took part in the attack filmed it, including extreme acts of cruelty.The men, meanwhile, “endured severe physical abuse, including continuous starvation, beatings, burns with galvanized iron (branding), hair-pulling, confinement in closed rooms with a limited amount of food and water, being held in isolation with hands and feet tied, and being denied access to the bathroom, which forced them to defecate on themselves.”The report says that the captivity “was designed to torture the hostages psychologically, break their morale, and make them easier to control. Their time in captivity was marked by intense trauma: family separation, immobilization, arbitrary and frequent transfers, and exposure to further violence.”Some captives, the document says, “witnessed the killing of other captives, further deepening their sense of helplessness and hopelessness.“In captivity, the hostages were often subjected to solitary confinement, poor sanitation, severe medical neglect, lack of sleep, starvation, sexual abuse, violence, threats, and brainwashing through media designed to break their spirit and make them submissive.”Deliberate starvation and pre-release excess feeding-According to the report, “about half of the returned hostages described being deliberately starved during their captivity. They were given a poor diet, which often led to hunger that worsened over time. In addition to inadequate nutrition, they were kept in dark spaces, increasing the risk of vitamin D deficiency.”Adult hostages lost an average of eight to 15 kilograms (18 to 33 pounds) — 10-17 percent of their original body weight — while among child captives there was an average loss of 10% in body weight, though in one extreme case, a girl lost as much as 18% of her weight.The report says that as last year’s ceasefire deal approached, the captors gave the hostages more food and provided them with fresh clothes, apparently in an attempt to present their conditions as better than they were.“Those who received excess food before returning to Israel were at risk of Refeeding Syndrome and electrolyte imbalances such as hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypophosphatemia, particularly among elderly hostages. In cases with complex medical backgrounds, these electrolyte disorders can be life-threatening,” the report says.The practice raised concerns among Israeli authorities as to the health dangers of eating too much food immediately after a period of starvation. In particular, authorities are concerned about the fate of the remaining hostages who have now been held for over 440 days in captivity. Efforts are ongoing to finalize another, mediated ceasefire to release more hostages, and authorities are concerned their captors may also try to overfeed them before a potential release.Troubles continue even after return-Even after returning home, some adults and children suffered acute anxiety and panic attacks, as well as sharp mood swings that include extreme depression, the report says.“Even those who appeared strong initially showed difficulties adjusting to reality, sometimes experiencing dissociative episodes,” it says. “Some returned hostages had paranoid anxieties, fearing retaliation against their loved ones still in captivity if they spoke about their experiences.”Some had difficulty leaving home or speaking above a whisper, a reflection of the silence that some were ordered to maintain by their captors. Some were unable to return to their regular lives, whether at work or school.Former hostages have had difficulty sleeping at night, while some, in particular children, suffer sharp pains that have no medical explanation. Some hostages have eating disorders, either eating too little or overeating. Some children secrete food away.Some reported “severe nightmares and sleep deprivation, trying to avoid repeating nightmares. Some experienced derealization, struggling to accept their presence in the Israeli hospital as real, rather than a dream from captivity. They avoided anything that reminded them of their traumatic experiences, including certain foods,” the report says.Many returned hostages “experience fear, restlessness, emotional detachment, and confusion. Some were afraid to leave their rooms, even in the hospital’s protected areas.”Doctors and psychologists who compiled the report noted that the released hostages said they are unable to fully recover while they know there are others still being held.Some have “survivor’s guilt,” feeling responsible for being rescued while their loved ones remain in Gaza.Health Minister Uriel Buso said in a statement last week that it is “a significant report that depicts the atrocities that hostages suffered and reveals to the world the cruelty of the enemies we are dealing with.”“The testimonies brought here are a wake-up call to the world to put more pressure on Hamas and its supporters to release all of them [the remaining hostages] now,” Buso said.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the report painted “a grim reality of the physical abuse and psychological torment” endured by the hostages.It urged a comprehensive deal “to secure the immediate release of all hostages.”Stuart Winer and AFP contributed to this report.

IDF said its probe found troops had no intel on hostages' location-Report: Hostage told rescuers he heard Hebrew in nearby tunnel, but was ignored-IDF didn’t adapt operations in Rafah even after Farhan al-Qadi tipped off IDF and Shin Bet debriefers; 6 hostages were executed days later by Hamas guards as troops approached By ToI Staff 29 December 2024, 5:03 am

An Israeli hostage freed by the IDF in August reportedly told his rescuers that he had heard a woman speaking Hebrew shortly before his extraction from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah.Nonetheless, the army failed to take his testimony into account. Six other hostages were executed nearby when their Hamas guards heard Israeli troops approaching days later.Farhan al-Qadi testified that he heard a woman say “Good morning,” in Hebrew several weeks before his August 27 rescue, Channel 12 reported on Saturday.Qadi immediately informed his rescuers of what he had heard and repeated the assertion during his debriefing by the IDF and Shin Bet, which took place two days before Hamas executed female hostages Eden Yerushalmi and Carmel Gat along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov and Almog Sarusi on August 29.Only on August 31 did the IDF briefly halt its activities in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood where the hostages were found, as it held a fresh assessment on the possibility that additional captives were in the area. The bodies of the six hostages were discovered hours later and returned to Israel.Saturday’s Channel 12 report came days after the IDF presented its findings from an investigation into the hostages’ execution, including an assertion that troops did not have any concrete intelligence that there were any Israeli captives in the area where they were operating.The IDF said Tuesday that its probe determined that troops only had general indications that Israeli abductees could be in the area, but nothing more.The army probe asserted that forces operated carefully due to such a possibility, even though the military had assessed that no captives were being held in the area.The IDF’s probe found that it was aware of possible hostages in the area, and despite the chance being seen as low, the military operated in a careful manner.The IDF said it had drawn various conclusions from the incident, from the strategic to the tactical level, including regarding the army’s intelligence. Ultimately, the military acknowledged it had failed in its mission to bring those hostages back home alive.The IDF probe also confirmed that forensic findings located in the area of the tunnel indicate that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was later killed in the area in October, was at the location at some point. The IDF was unable to confirm if he had been in the tunnel at the same time the hostages were.There have been reports that the six may have served as human shields for Sinwar until they were executed.Several of the hostages attempted to fight off their killers and defend each other before being executed, their families were reportedly told by the Israel Defense Forces.

Anticipating Trump administration, Iran says 2025 ‘important year’ for nuclear program-Islamic Republic fears US president-elect will renew previous ‘maximum pressure’ policy; Iranian rial has fallen 18% since Trump’s re-election By Reuters and ToI Staff 28 December 2024, 8:56 pm

Iran, bracing for a possible re-imposition of incoming US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy, said on Saturday that 2025 would be an important year for its nuclear program.In 2018, Trump withdrew from a deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015, under which Iran agreed to curb uranium enrichment in return for the relaxation of economic sanctions.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters in Beijing that “2025 will be an important year regarding Iran’s nuclear issue.” In the remarks aired by Iran’s state TV, he added that he had discussed the issue in talks with his Chinese counterpart.He did not mention Trump by name, however, or spell out how the year might be significant. In the past Iran has accelerated the program in response to new sanctions and pressure.Iranian leaders’ main concern may be that Trump could empower Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, while further tightening US sanctions on its crucial oil industry.While Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ostensibly opposes the manufacturing of a nuclear weapon, Iran is enriching uranium at levels that are only relevant for the assembly of such bombs. The Islamic Republic is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, with Jerusalem vowing not to allow the regime to build a bomb.Sanctions from the Trump administration could further hurt Iran’s already weakened economy.The Iranian rial hit a new all-time low against the US dollar on Saturday amid uncertainty about Trump’s arrival in the White House on January 20.The rial plunged to 820,500 to the dollar on the unofficial market, compared to 808,500 rials on Friday, according to Bonbast.com, which reports exchange rates. The bazar360.com website also said the dollar was being sold for about 820,500 rials.Facing an inflation rate officially at about 35 percent, Iranians seeking to shelter their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies, gold or cryptocurrencies.The rial has dropped about 18% compared to the dollar since Trump was elected in November.

IDF completes raid on north Gaza hospital, says some 240 terror suspects arrested-Military says facility was a ‘key stronghold’ for Hamas, detains hospital’s director, Oct. 7 terrorists; also says it evacuated hundreds of patients to other hospitals By Emanuel Fabian 28 December 2024, 8:56 pm

The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had completed an operation against Hamas at northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital and the surrounding area.Some 240 suspected terror operatives were detained, including the medical center’s director and 15 terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel.The Israel Defense Forces, which last operated against Hamas at Kamal Adwan in October, said the operation was launched because the hospital had “once again become a key stronghold for terrorist organizations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist operatives.”The army said the hospital was still used by Hamas “despite repeated calls to refrain from allowing [terror operatives] to exploit hospitals for military activities.”The operation was led by the IDF’s 162nd Division. At the start of the raid, the IDF said troops of the 401st Armored Brigade surrounded the hospital, detained several terror operatives, and killed additional gunmen.Members of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit then carried out “precise activities” inside the hospital, during which they located and captured weapons, including grenades, handguns, ammunition, and other military equipment, according to the IDF.Over 240 members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others suspected of being members of terror groups were detained amid the operation, the military said.The IDF said some of the terror operatives “tried to impersonate patients and medical staff, and some tried to escape in ambulances.”Among those detained was the director of Kamal Adwan, Hussam Abu Safiya, who the IDF said is suspected of being a Hamas operative.The Hamas-run health ministry also said Abu Safiya was detained, but a statement posted to his Instagram account said, “All that is being circulated about Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya being arrested is false news,” adding, “thank God he is fine, but the communications and network are very bad.”At least 15 of those arrested at the hospital and the surrounding area participated in the October 7 onslaught, according to the military. Several members of Hamas’s engineering and anti-tank forces were also arrested in the operation.The suspects were questioned by field interrogators from the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 and the Shin Bet security agency. The IDF said many admitted to interrogators that they had participated in “terror activity” in the hospital area.During the operation, the military said operatives launched RPGs and anti-tank projectiles at troops from an area near the hospital, and attempted other attacks.There were no injuries among the Israeli forces, and the operatives behind the attacks were killed, the IDF said. It added that a drone strike eliminated a cell of gunmen whose members tried to flee the area.Before launching the operation, the IDF said it enabled the evacuation of 350 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel to other hospitals, in an effort coordinated by the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).In the weeks prior to the operation, “tens of thousands of liters of fuel, food, and medical supplies for the essential functioning of the hospital” were delivered to Kamal Adwan.During the raid itself, the IDF said another 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, where 5,000 liters of fuel, two generators, and medical equipment were delivered “to maintain and operate essential systems in the hospital.”Hundreds of Palestinian civilians also left the hospital area “via defined evacuation routes,” the military added.The IDF denied that Israeli troops had set fire to the hospital as claimed by Hamas.IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani pushed back on Hamas’s account. “While IDF troops were not in the hospital, a small fire broke out in an empty building inside the hospital that is under control,” he said, adding that a preliminary investigation had found “no connection” between military activity and the fire.“Running with unsubstantiated reports on the cause of this fire shows nothing but questionable journalistic integrity,” said Shoshani.Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry had accused Israeli troops of setting fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the lab and surgery department, and said that 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital.The ministry also said Israeli troops had entered the hospital, taken staff and patients outside and forced them to strip in winter weather.Unverified video circulating on social media purported to show patients and staff being marched outside in front of IDF tanks.BREAKING: The Israeli occupation military has stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, forcing doctors and patients to walk on foot to the southern part of the region. pic.twitter.com/HCLLXAHx1N — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 27, 2024-The IDF last operated at the Kamal Adwan facility in late October, detaining dozens of terror operatives and locating and destroying weapons and terror infrastructure.At the time, the military released footage from the interrogation of a detained individual, who identified himself as a driver and paramedic for Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.He alleged in the footage that Hamas was using ambulances at the hospital to move operatives around.“Hamas military operatives are present. They are in the courtyards, at the gates of the buildings, in the offices,” he said when asked about the terror group’s operations around Kamal Adwan.“They operate ambulances to transport their wounded military operatives and to transport them for their missions,” he went on. “This is instead of using the ambulances for the benefit of civilians.”“We, the public in the northern Gaza Strip, are sick of this situation,” he said when asked if he had anything more to add. “We have had enough; they [Hamas] are stationed in the hospitals, stationed in the schools.”Hamas has fought from within hospitals throughout the war and even periodically hid some of the Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7 inside them. International law generally prohibits targeting hospitals during wartime, but hospitals can lose this protection if used for military purposes.Since October, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in northern Gaza, stating its goal is to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the area.Israel had ordered civilians to evacuate the area amid preparations to invade Gaza in October 2023 in response to the Hamas onslaught, which saw thousands of terrorists storm southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.

IDF intercepts rare 2 long-range rockets fired from Gaza at Jerusalem area-No injuries in attack, the second time this weekend that the capital was targeted, following an overnight missile from Yemen By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff 28 December 2024, 8:33 pm

Israeli air defenses on Saturday intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza’s Beit Hanoun toward the Jerusalem area, an increasingly rare occurrence after nearly 15 months of war.The Israel Defense Forces said both rockets were successfully intercepted, with no injuries or damage reported. Amid the attack, sirens sounded in Beit Shemesh and numerous surrounding towns, as well as in several communities near Gaza.Long-range rocket fire from Gaza has become increasingly rare as the war has progressed, with Hamas’s launching capabilities severely hindered by the IDF’s ground offensive. Hamas last carried out a long-range rocket attack on Tel Aviv in August. The terror group has not fired at the Jerusalem area in over a year.After the rockets were fired, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the Beit Hanoun area.The IDF’s Gaza Division and the Nahal Brigade began a new operation against Hamas in Beit Hanoun on Friday. Hamas has previously fired rockets from areas where the IDF advances in order to prevent the military from capturing them.The IDF said the operation was initiated “following intelligence information about the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the area, and as part of the effort to ensure the security of the residents of the border communities.”Before troops entered Beit Hanoun, Israeli fighter jets and artillery forces carried out numerous strikes in the area, targeting groups of Hamas operatives and sites used by the terror group, according to the military.The IDF said it is enabling civilians who have not yet evacuated the area to do so.The army has operated in Beit Hanoun several times since the beginning of the war, though it has not managed to reach every last rocket in Hamas’s possession.Houthis fire at Jerusalem-The rocket fire from Beit Hanoun marked the second time on Saturday that the Jerusalem area was targeted. Overnight, a ballistic missile fired from Yemen triggered sirens in the capital as well as the southern West Bank and Dead Sea areas.The Houthis in Yemen later took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have targeted the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel. The Iran-backed group claimed that the “missile successfully hit its target.”According to the IDF, however, air defenses successfully intercepted the missile. The only reported injury was of a person who suffered from acute anxiety, according to Magen David Adom ambulance services.The attack came hours after the Houthis said fresh airstrikes hit Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa on Friday, after they claimed to have carried out new attacks on Israel. Thursday saw Israeli airstrikes hit Sanaa International Airport and other targets in Yemen.The Houthis, a rebel group that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and Jews, have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year, according to the IDF. The vast majority of rockets and drones did not reach Israel or were intercepted by the military or Israel’s allies in the region.Rocket and drone alert sirens triggered by attacks from Yemen have sent millions of Israelis running for shelter in the middle of the night almost every night for the past 10 days.In the past month, the Houthis have fired 10 ballistic missiles and at least nine drones at Israel.The Houthis have vowed to keep up the attacks until the end of the war in the Gaza Strip that began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

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.

Isaiah 57:21
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

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.

Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Netanyahu recovering after successful prostate removal surgery — PM’s office-Premier awake and ‘in good condition,’ moved to underground, fortified recovery ward at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem; urology department head says procedure ‘went as planned’
By ToI Staff, Jeremy Sharon and Lazar Berman-Today, 2:24 am-DEC 29,24

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is awake and recovering after a successful prostate removal surgery at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, his office said in a statement late Sunday evening, adding that the premier had been moved to an underground, fortified recovery ward.“The surgery ended successfully without complications,” the PMO said in a statement. “The prime minister has woken up, is in good condition and is completely conscious.”He is expected to spend several days under observation in the fortified recovery ward.The prime minister was under full anesthesia for the procedure, which his office said was scheduled after doctors discovered an infection in his urinary tract resulting from a benign enlargement of the prostate.In a separate statement from the hospital, urology department head Prof. Ofer Gofrit said that the procedure “went as planned.”The prime minister’s statement also the team of surgeons who performed Netanyahu’s operation, which the Ynet news site reported lasted about two hours, as expected.The surgery was performed by a team of specialists including Gofrit, Ehud Gnessin, a senior urologist at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, and Prof. Mordechai Duvdevani, head of Ein Kerem’s Endourology Unit.Netanyahu’s defense lawyer on Sunday requested that the Jerusalem District Court cancel the hearings in which the premier was scheduled to give testimony in his criminal defense trial this week.The court quickly acceded to the request, adding that the hearings are “expected to resume next week, on Monday, January 6,” and wished the prime minister a full recovery.Hebrew media reported that Justice Minister Yariv Levin would fill in temporarily as acting premier during the procedure and that Defense Minister Israel Katz was authorized to convene the security cabinet if needed.Netanyahu, who has had a series of health issues in recent years, has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a healthy, energetic leader. During his trial this month, he boasted about working 18-hour days, accompanied by a cigar. But as Israel’s longest-serving leader, such a grueling workload over a total of 17 years in power could take a toll on his well-being.At 75, Netanyahu is among older world leaders including US President Joe Biden, 82, President-elect Donald Trump, 78, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 79, and Pope Francis, 88, who have come under scrutiny for their age and health issues.According to the Mayo Clinic website, patients who undergo a prostatectomy usually leave the hospital after one to two days, but “likely” are discharged with a catheter that is required for 7 to ten days after surgery.The website recommends patients resume activity “slowly over time,” and says patients can be back to their “usual routine in about 4 to 6 weeks.”In March, the premier was put under full anesthesia to undergo surgery for a hernia. That same month, he missed several days of work after contracting the flu.Last year, Netanyahu underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed after he suffered a “transient heart block.” The surgery came a week after he was hospitalized for what he said at the time was dehydration.The incident led to considerable speculation among many in Israel as to the health of the prime minister and to what degree details had been hidden from the public.A medical report released in January said Netanyahu was in a “completely normal state of health,” that his pacemaker was working correctly, and that there was no evidence of heart arrhythmia or any other problematic conditions.The prime minister began his testimony as the first witness for the defense in his trial on December 10 and has testified in court for six days so far.He is charged with several counts of fraud and breach of trust for his dealings with business tycoons and newspaper publishers, as well as one count of bribery for allegedly entering into an illegal quid pro quo agreement with Shaul Elovitch, the owner of the Walla news website and the Bezeq telecommunications giant, seeking better coverage on the site in exchange for lucrative regulatory approvals. He denies wrongdoing and has said the charges were fabricated by the state prosecution and police investigators in an attempted political coup.Agencies and Diana Bletter contributed to this report.

‘Get them out of that hell’: Israelis protest across the country, demand hostage deal-Hostage’s father urges Trump to pressure PM to sign agreement: ‘Netanyahu is trying to deceive you’; opposition figures lead rally against ‘toxic’ government By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff 28 December 2024, 11:29 pm

Thousands of people attended pro-hostage deal rallies and anti-government protests across the country Saturday night, the fourth night of Hanukkah, days after Israel and Hamas once again accused each other of derailing negotiations for a deal to release the captives held by Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in Gaza.The families of several hostages delivered remarks at a press conference in Tel Aviv before the rallies kicked off.Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to “deceive” US President-elect Donald Trump into believing that he was truly interested in reaching a deal with Hamas.“Dear President Trump, Netanyahu is trying to deceive you. Ending the war and returning all the hostages is in the interest of the State of Israel,” Cohen said. “You might be the last person who is able put pressure on Netanyahu. Do not compromise on a partial deal that will become a death sentence for the remaining hostages and will not bring about an end to the war.”“The talk from Netanyahu and the defense minister about continuing the war and maintaining military control of Gaza serves the extremists in government and is contrary to Israeli interests,” he added.Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, addressed Netanyahu during the press conference, accusing him of “rushing to torpedo” the latest efforts to reach a hostage deal.“Netanyahu is afraid of [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and is refusing to end the war, in complete contradiction to Israeli interests,” Zangauker said. “Netanyahu and [Defense Minister] Israel Katz are sitting in heated rooms and bragging about continuing the war, while my Matan and the other hostages are freezing and rotting in the tunnels.“The blood is on your hands,” she added. “End this war and get my Matan, and all the hostages, out of that hell.”Zangauker led the crowd in a chant: “Netanyahu don’t forget, history won’t forgive.”Saturday night also saw the Prime Minister’s Office deny a report by Channel 12 that Israel and Hamas could agree to a “limited” hostage deal as a gesture of goodwill ahead of the start of Trump’s second term in office. The report claimed both sides are interested in reaching a smaller deal in time for Trump’s inauguration on January 20.In a short statement, the PMO called the report “a complete lie.” A senior Arab diplomat also denied the report to The Times of Israel.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s rally in Tel Aviv Saturday night was kicked off by former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released last November and whose husband Oded remains in captivity. Lifshitz lit the Hanukkah candles at the start of the rally with her son Yizhar.Israel and Hamas have blamed each other over the past week for procrastinating in the hostage deal talks, which had appeared to gain new momentum in recent weeks.The Forum has assailed Netanyahu for apparently aiming to reach a deal that would initially release only so-called humanitarian cases — female, elderly or sickly hostages.“After 14 months, they’re all humanitarian,” the Forum said Thursday in an announcement of its weekend rallies and warning that the hostages may not survive the coming winter.Speaking to a crowd of hundreds at Hostages Square, Yair Mozes, son of hostage Gadi Mozes, said: “Again there are negotiations, and again we hear the prime minister and defense minister in public statements that only prevent the return of everyone.”Israeli negotiators were reportedly dismayed by Netanyahu’s statement to The Wall Street Journal last weekend that he wouldn’t sign a deal that ends the war, and Katz’s statement from Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor on Wednesday that Israel would retain security control of the Strip, seeing them as likely to harden Hamas’s position.“How much longer can this go on?” asked Mozes. “What more [must happen]? Everyone already knows [the hostages] don’t have any time left.”A block away from the Hostages Square rally, anti-government activists and some hostages’ families and their supporters protested in front of the Begin Road entrance to IDF Headquarters.That protest was bolstered by demonstrators from an earlier nearby event against the return of the government’s judicial overhaul.The anti-overhaul protest, organized by the Free in our Homeland movement, started with a march from Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to the junction, also known by activists as Democracy Square. At the protest, Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, vowed to topple the government and replace it with “loyalists of Zionism and democracy.”Golan, a former general who leads a merger of the left-wing Labor and Meretz parties, praised the audience for showing up week after week to protest against “this horrible government.”“You are the everyday heroes,” he said.He accused the government of running “toxic” propaganda that promotes “lies, racism and hatred”; “dismantling the justice system and democratic institutions”; prolonging the war in Gaza as a way to stay in power; and failing to establish a commission of inquiry into events leading up to the Hamas onslaught that sparked the war, “because they know that a state commission of inquiry will find them responsible for what happened on October 7, what happened before and what happened after.”“We are the power, and with that power we’ll toss them out, dry up the poison machine, and return this nation to a discourse of sanity,” he said.After Golan’s speech, iconic Israeli rock band T-Slam performed its 1990 protest song “Face of the Nation,” in which a corrupt politician promises material favors to people who vote for him.Danni Bassan, the lead singer, said the band had been scheduled to perform at the weekly protest against the judicial overhaul set to take place on October 7, 2023.Protesters also gathered in other cities across Israel, including Haifa, Herzliya, Rehovot, and Jerusalem.On Saturday morning, police arrested five people who had protested for a hostage deal outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, according to the Detainee Support Group, a team of lawyers who volunteer on behalf of detained anti-government protesters.Channel 12 reported that the protesters were detained on their way back from the two-dozen-strong, 20-minute demonstration. According to the report, police followed the group and accused them of violating noise laws. The protesters were interrogated and later released.