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)
TUESDAY MARCH TO KEEP GAZA AS ISRAELS GOD GIVIN LAND.OCCURS IN ISRAEL.I AGREE TOTALLY-GAZA IS ISRAELS LAND.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
I AGREE TOTALLY WITH MAKE GAZA A GOD GIVIN ISRAELI SETTLEMENT AS WELL AS THE WEST BANK. THE REST OF GODS GIVIN LAND TO USE SYRIA, LEBANON WILL COME SOON AFTER I BELIEVE. BUT GET ALL THE GAZANS AND WEST BANK ARABS OUT OF ISRAEL TO LIVE IN HAMONAH IN THE JORDAN VALLEY.
I FINALLY REALISED HOW GOD WILL PUT THE HOOK IN PUTINS JAW TO MARCH AGAINST ISRAEL.THE OIL PRICES HAVE TO GO REAL LOW. SO RUSSIA IS NOT MAKING ANY PROFIT OFF THE BARRELS OF OIL. THIS WILL BE THE HOOK THAT GOD USES TO FORCE RUSSIAS PUTIN TO MARCH TO ISRAEL TO STEAL THE OIL AND NATURAL GAS AND THE MINERALS.AND OF COURSE THE MUSLIMS WILL GLADLY MARCH WITH PUTIN.TO KILL EVERY JEW IN ISRAEL.
Thousands sign up for Independence Day march backing Gaza resettlement-‘We will march together in order to demand the settlement of the entire Gaza Strip,’ says ultranationalist MK endorsing Tuesday rally-By Jeremy Sharon-12 May 2024, 10:26 pm
Pro-settlement activists and organizations are set to stage a mass march Tuesday, Independence Day, calling for the resettlement of the Gaza Strip, in an event expected to draw thousands of participants.The Nachala Settlement Movement, which has a history of radical settler activism, is the principal group organizing the march, along with other hardline religious-Zionist and ultranationalist groups, including Hotam, Sovereignty, and The Jewish Truth, among others.The march will set out from Or Haner junction, just several kilometers from the Israeli border with northern Gaza, and end at the Sderot observation point that overlooks Gaza.According to an online registration page for the march, over 4,000 people were already signed up for the march as of Sunday night, with organizers hoping for some 10,000 participants.Israel evacuated its settlements in the Gaza Strip, with their 8,000 residents, in the 2005 Disengagement, action that was raucously opposed at the time by the settler movement. Since Hamas took over the territory in a bloody coup in 2007, Israel and the terror group have fought numerous conflicts, with the worst being the current ongoing war following the Hamas-led atrocities of October 7.Israeli leaders have said they have no plan to resettle Gaza, and any attempt to do so would lead to an intense international backlash.Unlike similar marches staged since the war with Hamas began, there will be no effort to breach the Gaza border fence, with a Nachala staff member stating that the event will be “conducted in accordance with the law,” and that it had been coordinated with the security services.MK Limor Son Har Melech of the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party endorsed the march on Sunday, and insisted that only the rebuilding of settlements in Gaza would ensure Israeli security in the long term.“Settlement is the order of the hour. That’s how we win, that’s how we guarantee security, that’s how we strengthen the Jewish people,” said Son Har Melech in a video message promoting the march she posted on X.“We are going home. We will march together with thousands of the people of Israel in order to demand the settlement of the entire Gaza Strip. To make clear forever that whoever harms the people of Israel loses everything, and to guarantee total victory in [this] war.”Nachala put out a slick promotional video for the event last week, showing a man failing to light a traditional Independence Day barbecue in his garden, before excitedly joining up with a group of activists headed to the rally.And the organization has built a large social media campaign typical of its large set-piece events, pushing activists to post ads for the rally on social media and sharing videos, promos, gifs and other media to promote the event.Nachala has also obtained the endorsement of the parents of at least two IDF soldiers who were killed during the October 7 Hamas invasion and in the subsequent battles in Gaza, as well as the father of Eitan Mor, one of the Israeli hostages being held captive by Hamas.“True victory is only the subjugation of the enemy, meaning the full conquest of the territory, the expulsion of all the terrorists, and settlement in the Gaza Strip. Only in that way will we achieve victory,” Mor’s father Zvika told Channel 14 news on Tuesday.The activist movement to build new settlements in Gaza in the wake of the October 7 atrocities and the war against Hamas in Gaza is a reflection of the same goals expressed by senior politicians and coalition parties, including the Religious Zionism party and its leader Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the Otzma Yehudit party and its leader National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.Both ultranationalist leaders endorsed the idea of building Jewish settlements in Gaza during a conference organized by Nachala in January.Smotrich declared from the stage “God willing, we will settle and we will be victorious,” while Ben Gvir averred that it was “time to return home to Gush Katif” — the name of the Israeli settlement bloc in Gaza that was evacuated in the 2005 Disengagement, and endorsed what he described as “voluntary emigration” for Palestinians from Gaza.And in February, far-right settler activists broke through an Israeli military checkpoint at the Erez Crossing and crossed into Gazan territory, with some making it hundreds of meters into the Strip before being detained and returned by troops.Others set up two rudimentary, and largely symbolic, settlement structures beyond the walls of the Erez Crossing leading into Gaza, albeit still on Israeli territory, with a handful of activists reciting blessings upon what they said was their return to the Strip.It’s us or the monsters of Hamas, Netanyahu says at Memorial Day event-By Lazar Berman“It is us, Israel, or them, the monsters of Hamas,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the state’s main Memorial Day event at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.The campaign in Gaza, he says, is a choice between freedom and prosperity, versus despair, murder, and violence.“We are determined to win in this struggle,” says Netanyahu to a crowd of senior ministers, chief rabbis, the IDF chief of staff, diplomats, and bereaved families.“We will achieve the goals of victory, first and foremost, bringing all of our hostages home,” pledges Netanyahu.He says that unity is key in the war, which has says is a continuation of Israel’s War of Independence.“Only together we will win,” he says.
11:38 am‘We could have prevented it’: Shin Bet chief highlights agency’s October 7 failures in Memorial Day address-By Emanuel Fabian
At a Memorial Day ceremony for slain members of the Shin Bet, agency chief Ronen Bar vows that the security service will learn from its failures in the lead-up to Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.“It’s a difficult day for every bereaved family, it’s a difficult day for every citizen, it’s a difficult day for every Shin Bet employee, it’s also a difficult day for me personally,” Bar says.Ten members and veterans of the Shin Bet were killed since last Memorial Day, all in the October 7 attack.Bar says the Shin Bet failed to provide its vaunted security umbrella for the nation on October 7.“We all feel the loss, the feeling that we could have prevented it, and as the head of the agency and responsible for the agency’s activities, I feel it perhaps more than anyone,” Bar continues.He says the Shin Bet is undertaking an “in-depth” investigation of its role in the October 7 failures.“A painful and significant investigation. We will learn from this and correct what is required. This is our duty to the people of Israel and this is our duty to the fallen. Without the public’s trust in the state institutions and us, we have no right to exist,” Bar says.Bar says that the agency’s role in the war “is not over yet.”“We will not rest until we return all 128 hostages home, and the four who were there before. Those who are alive and those who are not. All of them. Because this is the real difference between us and them: We will sacrifice our lives for the citizens, they will sacrifice the lives of citizens for themselves,” he adds.
39min ago-Memorial Day siren brings Israel to standstill
The nation comes to a standstill as a two-minute siren rings out to mark Memorial Day for soldiers and other members of security services killed in the line of duty, as well as the victims of terror attacks.The siren marks the start of most major memorial ceremonies at cemeteries and memorial sites around the country. On Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the main ceremony begins with a flyover by jet fighters as President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu look on.
43min ago-Heavy fighting reported as tanks push into Jabaliya in northern Gaza-By Reuters and Emanuel Fabian
Israeli tanks, under cover of heavy fire from air and ground, have pushed further into Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, residents and Hamas media say.Tanks are advancing toward the heart of the camp, the biggest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, locals say. Residents say tank shells landed at the center of the camp and that airstrikes destroyed clusters of houses.The military yesterday said it had launched a new offensive against Hamas in Jabaliya, after identifying terror operatives regrouping there.A day earlier, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for Jabaliya, where it estimated 100,000-150,000 Palestinians were sheltering.Residents and medics claim several people were killed and wounded in a series of airstrikes on the camp overnight. The death tolls reported by Hamas officials are unable to be verified.In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, residents report heavy shelling and airstrikes on the eastern part of the city.The IDF has been operating in the eastern part of Rafah since last week.
1hr ago-Bomb drones spark small fire in north — IDF-By Emanuel Fabian
Two explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon struck an area near the northern community of Beit Hillel earlier this morning, the military confirms.The IDF says the blasts sparked a fire that was extinguished a short while later.There are no injuries in the attack.No sirens had sounded in towns amid the incident, which the IDF says is under investigation.
Amid intensified Russian assault on Ukraine, Putin removes defense minister Shoigu-In surprise shakeup, Andrey Belousov is tapped as new minister while Shoigu becomes Security Council secretary; thousands of Ukrainians evacuated from Kharkiv as 9 villages taken-By AFP Today, 3:01 am-MAY 13,24
MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin moved Sunday to replace Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in a major shakeup to Russia’s military leadership more than two years into its Ukraine offensive, and days after a renewed military push.Putin proposed economist Andrey Belousov as Shoigu’s replacement, according to a list of the ministerial nominations published by the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament. The recommendation is certain to be approved by lawmakers.The move comes at a key time in the conflict with Russian troops advancing in eastern Ukraine and having just launched a major new ground operation against the northeastern Kharkiv region.Russia said Sunday it had captured four more villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region — a day after claiming the capture of five villages — as thousands of residents were evacuated from the offensive in an area where Russian troops were repelled in 2022.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “fierce fighting” was underway and governor Oleg Synegubov said “all areas” of the regional border with Russia were now “under enemy fire almost around the clock.”In the Russian city of Belgorod, emergency services said eight people were killed when a residential building was hit by a Ukrainian missile after it was intercepted by air defenses. In Ukraine, local prosecutors said four civilians had been killed in the Kharkiv region in the Russian ground offensive, which was launched on Friday.The Ukrainian army’s top commander said that although the situation was “complicated,” his forces were managing to hold back further Russian advances. But Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had “advanced deeply into the enemy defenses.”In the last few days, nearly 6,000 local residents have been evacuated, said Kharkiv governor Synegubov.Despite a string of military setbacks in the first year of the campaign — including the failure to capture the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and retreats from the Kharkiv and southern Kherson regions — Putin had stood by Shoigu until now.That included when Wagner paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a bloody insurrection last year calling for Shoigu’s removal.Explaining the timing of the decision, the Kremlin on Sunday said it needed the defense ministry to stay “innovative.”“The defense ministry must be absolutely open to innovation, to the introduction of all advanced ideas, to the creation of conditions for economic competitiveness,” state media quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying in a briefing on the appointments.“The battlefield is won by whoever is more open to innovation,” Peskov said. “That is likely why the president has settled on the candidacy of Andrey Belousov.”Belousov, who has no military background, has been one of Putin’s most influential economic advisers over the last decade.UK defense minister Grant Shapps said the Ukraine conflict had left more than 355,000 Russian soldier casualties under Shoigu’s watch as well as “mass civilian suffering.”“Russia needs a Defence Minister who would undo that disastrous legacy” and end the conflict, “but all they’ll get is another of Putin’s puppets,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.Siberian retreats-Shoigu, 68, was appointed defense minister in 2012 and has had a decades-long political career of unmatched longevity in post-Soviet Russia.His presence at the center of power in Moscow predates that of Putin himself.Prior to Russia invading Ukraine in February 2022 as part of a full-scale military campaign, he was seen as one of Putin’s most trusted lieutenants.The pair were regularly photographed on macho nature retreats in the Siberian wilderness, hunting and fishing together.In one famous snap from 2017 shared by the Kremlin, they are sitting bare-chested under the sun on a beach by a lake.On Sunday, Putin simultaneously issued decrees naming Shoigu as the new secretary of the Security Council, replacing his longstanding ally Nikolai Patrushev.The Kremlin also said Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff, would stay in post overseeing daily military operations in Along with Shoigu, Gerasimov had been targeted by a hardcore group of influential pro-offensive military bloggers for Moscow’s perceived military failures.Prigozhin, who marched on Moscow calling for the pair’s removal, died in an unexplained plane crash weeks after his aborted mutiny.Key moment-Putin is constitutionally required to name a new set of government ministers — or reappoint existing ones — following his victory in a March election devoid of opposition.Lawmakers in Russia’s rubber-stamp parliament need to approve the president’s nominations, which they are set to do over the coming days.The future of Patrushev, an arch-hawk who is sometimes seen as a possible successor to Putin, was unclear.There was no immediate high-level reaction to the shake-up in Ukraine.The changes come at a crucial time in the conflict, which had been showing signs of a stalemate for months.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Anti-Israel protests begin to fade as US universities close spring semester-As some graduating students use commencements to display support for Palestinians, University of Southern California cancels valedictorian speech over ‘security concerns’By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 11:02 am-MAY 13,24
Anti-Israel protests are starting to dwindle on US campuses as universities wrap up the semester and adjourn for summer break, but the sentiments that drove the protests over the past few weeks still remain, with many college students taking advantage of graduation ceremonies to publicly oppose Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.A tiny contingent of Duke University graduates opposed pro-Israel comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina Sunday, with about 30 of the 7,000 students leaving their seats and chanting “Free Palestine” amid a mix of boos and cheers.Some waved the red, green, black and white Palestinian flag. Seinfeld, whose namesake sitcom was one of the most popular in US television history, was there to receive an honorary doctorate from the university.The standup comic-turned-actor, who stars in the new Netflix movie “Unfrosted,” has publicly supported Israel since it invaded Gaza to dismantle Hamas after the terror group attacked the country and killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7.The ensuing war has killed over 35,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.The small student protest Sunday at Duke’s graduation in Durham, North Carolina, was one of many campus events across the US this weekend, after weeks of student protests resulted in nearly 2,900 arrests at 57 colleges and universities.In a wave of unrest, students at campuses across the US set up encampments and called for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it. Students and others on campuses whom law enforcement authorities have identified as outside agitators have taken part in the protests from Columbia University in New York City to UCLA.Police escorted graduates’ families past a few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to block access to Sunday evening’s commencement for Southern California’s Pomona College.After demonstrators set up an encampment last week on the campus’ ceremony stage, the small liberal arts school moved the event 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Claremont to the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. Tickets were required to attend the event, which the school said would be protected with additional security measures.In April, police wearing riot gear arrested 19 protesters who had occupied the president’s office at the college, which has about 1,700 undergraduates.Demonstrator Anwar Mohmed, a 21-year-old Pomona senior, said the school has repeatedly ignored calls to consider divesting its endowment funds from corporations tied to Israel in the war in Gaza.“We’ve been time and time again ignored by the institution,” Mohmed said outside the Shrine on Sunday. “So today we have to say, it’s not business as usual.”At the University of California, Berkeley, on Saturday, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators waved flags and chanted during commencement and were escorted to the back of the stadium, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. There were no major counter-protests, but some attendees voiced frustration.“I feel like they’re ruining it for those of us who paid for tickets and came to show our pride for our graduates,” said Annie Ramos, whose daughter is a student. “There’s a time and a place, and this is not it.”This weekend’s commencement events remained largely peaceful.At Emerson College in Boston, some students took off their graduation robes and left them on stage. Others emblazoned “free Palestine” on their mortar boards.One woman, staring at a camera broadcasting a livestream to the public, unzipped her robe to show a keffiyeh, the black and white checkered scarf commonly worn by Palestinians, and flashed a watermelon painted on her hand. The keffiyeh and the watermelon are both symbols of the Palestinian national movement.Others displayed messages for a camera situated on stage, but the livestream quickly shifted to a different view, preventing them from being seen for long. Chants during some of the speeches were difficult to decipher.Protests at Columbia University, where student uprisings inspired others at campuses across the country, led the school to cancel its main graduation ceremony in favor of smaller gatherings.The University of Southern California told its valedictorian, who publicly backed Palestinians, that she could not deliver her keynote speech at its graduation ceremony because of security concerns. It later canceled its main graduation ceremony.At DePaul University in Chicago, graduation is more than a month away. But as the academic year closes, school leaders said they had reached an “impasse” with the school’s pro-Palestinian protesters, leaving the future of their encampment on the Chicago campus unclear.The student-led DePaul Divestment Coalition, which is calling on the university to divest from economic interests tied to Israel, set up the encampment nearly two weeks ago. The group alleged university officials walked away from talks and tried to force students into signing an agreement, according to a student statement late Saturday.
Fundamentally, nothing has changed in the basic relationship'US envoy denies ties with Israel have changed: Only ‘1 set of munitions’ held back-In interview, Jack Lew seeks to downplay Biden’s much-panned threat to withhold arms if full Rafah assault goes ahead: ‘I’m hoping we don’t end up with real disagreements’By ToI Staff Today, 7:00 am-MAY 13,24
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew insisted Sunday evening that “fundamentally, nothing has changed in the basic relationship” between Israel and the US — despite the decision last week by US President Joe Biden’s administration to delay a shipment of high-payload bombs to Israel, and Biden’s declaration that he would not supply offensive weapons to Israel for a major IDF offensive affecting population centers in southern Gaza’s Rafah.Noting that military aid from Washington to Jerusalem has increased since war erupted in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Lew stressed in a Channel 12 interview that only “one set of munitions” had been held back, and that “everything else keeps flowing.”The two sides “need to keep talking through” issues that relate to the use of “large diameter bombs, heavy bombs, particularly when there’s the possibility of them being used in densely populated urban areas,” he said.“But I think it’s a mistake to think that anything has fundamentally changed in the relationship,” he repeated.Asked about Biden’s stated intention not to supply offensive weapons to Israel “if they go [into] these population centers,” Lew replied: “What the president said is that he doesn’t think it is a good idea to have a massive ground campaign in a heavily populated area. But he specifically said that 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs shouldn’t be used in that setting.”Lew noted, however, that Biden has made clear that Israel, thus far, has not engaged in the kind of major ground operation in Rafah that the US opposes. To date, the Rafah operation has not “crossed over into the area where our disagreements lie. I’m hoping we don’t end up with real disagreements.”Pushed by interviewer Yonit Levy, who asked whether the president was really saying, stop the war and don’t topple Hamas, the ambassador demurred and said the US had stressed from the start of the war that Israel has a responsibility to protect innocent civilians.Asked whether the goal of the war remains to eliminate Hamas, he said the US “would never have used that language.”“The challenge is to reduce Hamas to the point that it’s no longer a threat,” said Lew. “We have said consistently that Hamas should not be either a political or a governing body. That doesn’t mean that you’ve eliminated every last member of Hamas.”“We’ve never said that it’s not a legitimate goal to go after the four battalions” that Hamas maintains in Rafah, added Lew. “We’ve said there’s a better way to do it,” including through “targeted operations.”Addressing criticism, including from within the Democratic Party, that Biden’s withholding of arms is pandering to the far-left and helping Israel’s enemies, Lew noted that the administration had just endorsed continued military aid. It did so, it said on Friday, despite concerns that some US weapons may have been used in instances inconsistent with international humanitarian law.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded “that there would be no interruption in US aid for Israel,” said Lew. “That’s of huge consequence. There’s a lot of people criticizing that decision. I think it was the right decision,” he added, and advised: “You look at that in the context of one shipment of heavy bombs being delayed. You have to look at it in broader context.”Asked about the state of the hostage-truce negotiations, Lew said “people are misunderstanding” what has happened in the last week. “A proposal that Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar put together to send to Hamas came back with changes. The changes are not acceptable to Israel. And we’ve said they’re not acceptable, but you can continue to negotiate… We’re still pushing all parties to stay engaged.”Relating to a report that the US is offering sensitive information on Hamas leaders’ whereabouts to Israel, with the implication that it has been withholding such intel thus far, Lew said, “We’ve been helping for some time on these things,” and that the US and Israel have a “common objective to defeat Hamas, to find the leaders of Hamas, to close the border to smuggling… We’re sharing quite broadly.”Lew said he could not answer when asked how the war would end, but noted it was “already Israel’s longest war since the War of Independence” in 1948, and Israel has “paid a dear price.”“Everyone wants this war to end, I hope. We certainly want it to come to an end that leaves Israel safe and secure, so that your sons and daughters don’t have to go and fight, and people can get back to their homes and live in their homes. And that ought to be our common goal.”
Israel opens 3rd crossing into northern Gaza to ‘increase aid routes’ during war-Dozens of WFP flour trucks enter Strip via Western Erez Crossing, which complements two other entrances into Strip’s battered north-By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff 12 May 2024, 11:52 pm
Israel on Sunday announced the opening of a new crossing into the northern Gaza Strip for humanitarian aid deliveries, the third crossing enabling the passage of aid to the Strip’s north.The so-called Western Erez Crossing is located in the Zikim area, on the coast abutting the Strip’s northern border, the Israeli military and the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said.Built by IDF engineering units along with the Defense Ministry’s engineering department and Crossings Authority, the crossing was opened “as part of the effort to increase aid routes to the Gaza Strip, and to the northern Gaza Strip in particular,” the military said.The army said dozens of trucks ferrying flour from the United Nations’ World Food Program had been delivered from Ashdod Port to the Gaza Strip through the new crossing after “undergoing security checks.”After Hamas’s shock October 7 assault on the Gaza border communities, in which nearly 1,200 people were killed and over 250 abducted, Israel stopped the transfer of almost all aid shipments into the Gaza Strip, easing the blockade only gradually over the following months.As the humanitarian situation in the Strip deteriorated, Israel faced mounting international pressure to accelerate the transfer of supplies into the embattled enclave, where hunger conditions reached famine levels, according to the United Nations. Aid organizations said that the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel’s ground offensive began, is especially difficult to reach.Currently, three crossings are actively being used to transfer humanitarian aid from Israel to Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip: Western Erez, opened on Sunday; Eastern Erez, opened earlier this month adjacent to the existing Erez Crossing; and Gate 96, the military’s entrance to central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, used for the first time for aid deliveries in March.In southern Gaza, the Kerem Shalom Crossing is being used for humanitarian aid deliveries, while the Nitzana Crossing with Egypt is being used to inspect some of the trucks.The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the Strip’s main entrance for humanitarian aid since the war began, is currently closed during the IDF operations in the area, making additional openings into Gaza critical, especially in the event of a full-scale offensive on Rafah, which Israel says is essential for dismantling Hamas.Besides land crossings, humanitarian aid is also being delivered via airdrops, and the United States is due to begin deliveries via a floating pier off the coast of central Gaza soon.Activists from the right-wing Tzav 9 movement, who have attempted to block aid from entering Gaza on several occasions, critical of the transfer of supplies while hostages remain in Hamas captivity, panned the opening of the new border crossing, calling its announcement on the eve of Memorial Day a “shameful” act.Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had announced in April Israel’s intent to construct the crossing into Gaza’s much-battered north, saying Israel planned to “flood” the Strip with some 500 aid trucks a day — about the number that had entered Gaza daily before the war.Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Warns further arms may be withheld if major Rafah op starts-Blinken urges Israel to lay out postwar plan so ‘Hamas can’t govern Gaza again’Israel has ‘means and will’ to investigate violations of international law, says top US diplomat, defending inconclusive State Dept. report
By Jacob Magid,ToI Staff and Reuters 12 May 2024, 10:26 pm
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the White House had not seen an Israeli plan for the Gaza Strip’s post-war governance, nor had Jerusalem presented Washington with a credible plan to evacuate civilians Rafah ahead of a military operation there.In a series of interviews with major US networks, Blinken said that absent a post-war plan for Gaza, Israel would have to either stay in the Strip indefinitely and face an “enduring insurgency” from thousands of remaining Hamas gunmen, or withdraw — “as we believe they need to do” — and be left with “a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos, anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again.”Netanyahu and his government have long faced criticism over their refusal to make a plan for the management of the Strip after the war, and the prime minister has refused to hold substantive cabinet discussions on the matter due to concerns they could collapse his coalition.Netanyahu has rejected efforts to include the Palestinian Authority in postwar planning, arguing that the more moderate foil to Hamas, which publicly backs a two-state solution, is no different from the Gaza-ruling terror group in that it too refuses to accept Israel’s existence and promotes hatred of the Jewish state.And without a “credible plan” to evacuate Rafah, Blinken said, the “initial success” Israel might have from operating in the Strip’s southernmost city would not be worth it given the “high cost to civilians.” Undertaking a large-scale operation in the city without first evacuating its civilian population would pose a “red line” for US President Joe Biden, Blinken told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”Biden had on Friday confirmed for the first time his decision to withhold thousands of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs from Israel after the Israel Defense Forces launched a limited campaign near Rafah.White House officials had for months hinted, largely through leaks to the press, that Washington would not support an Israeli operation in Rafah, where about a million Palestinians displaced from the Strip’s north and center have sought refuge.Israel, which blasted Biden’s decision, says such an operation is critical to defeating Hamas. A limited operation Israel launched last week, occupying the Gazan side of the Rafah Border Crossing into Egypt, has not yet crossed the president’s “red line,” according to a report on the Axios news site.Blinken told CBS that the bomb shipment was the only US weapons package being withheld. However, he warned, if Israel “launches this major military operation to Rafah, then there are certain systems that we’re not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation.” He did not elaborate.The secretary had on Saturday reported to Congress about Israel’s compliance with international law in its use of US arms during the fighting in Gaza. The report, which was unrelated to the bomb shipment, found no specific violations justifying withholding US military aid from Israel, saying the chaos of war prevented verification of individual alleged breaches.Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure and tunnels “makes it very difficult to determine, particularly in the midst of war,” what happened in specific instances, Blinken said, defending the report, which was criticized by some lawmakers from Biden’s Democratic Party and human rights groups.WATCH: @SecBlinken says the U.S. does not apply “double standards” to Israel when it comes to holding the country accountable for actions in Gaza.“We treat Israel, one of our closest allies and partners, just as we would treat any other country.” pic.twitter.com/mU9VGLuq6T— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 12, 2024-Nonetheless, the report found that the scope of damage done to civilians in Gaza made it “reasonable to conclude that there were instances when Israel has acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law,” Blinken told NBC, adding that some harm to civilians could not be avoided since Hamas “intentionally embeds itself among civilians.”The US investigates each incident “critically,” Blinken said.“So does Israel,” he added, noting there were “hundreds, as we understand it, of open inquiries, into particular incidents that have taken place since October 7,” including criminal investigations.Blinken denied in the interview that Washington had double standards when assessing Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.“We treat Israel, one of our closest allies and partners, just as we would treat any other country,” he said, noting that Israel possessed “both the means and the will” to adjudicate potential violations of international law.“We have the same objective as Israel,” Blinken told NBC. “We want to make sure that Hamas cannot govern Gaza again. We want to make sure it’s demilitarized. We want to make sure that Israel gets [Hamas’s] leader.”“We have a better way” of accomplishing that than Israel’s planned Rafah invasion, Blinken argued, without offering specifics, adding that the US had held conversations with Israeli counterparts about such a plan, which Blinken said would aim to achieve “enduring security.”The US has several times lobbied for more limited pinpoint operations in Rafah, rather than a large-scale assault.“That’s what allies do. We’re clear-eyed, and we speak the truth to each other,” said Blinken. “That’s the nature of the relationship.”Asked if the U.S. is pausing any weapons shipments to Israel apart from 3,500 so-called ‘dumb bombs,’ @SecBlinken says “The answer to that is no,” but adds that if Israel invades Rafah, “there's certain systems that we're not going to be…supplying for that operation.” pic.twitter.com/yLQHpkG0lQ— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 12, 2024-Asked whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was undermining talks, mediated by the US, to secure a hostage and truce deal between Israel and Hamas, Blinken said that Hamas could have ended the war “from day one” by releasing the hostages and laying down its arms.
