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)
HAMAS ARAB LEADER SAYS GO TO JERUSALEM ON RAMADAN.
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN ( 500 million Dead )
REVELATION 6:7-8
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) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21 (RAGE OF THE LAST DAYS AGE SATAN WORSHIP AND DRUG SELLING AND JUNKIES)(THEY REFUSE TO REPENT OF THESE SINS)
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Evening Update: Opposition parties urge release of Winnipeg lab documents-Published February 22, 2024
The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois are calling for the immediate release of unredacted records on the firing of two scientists from Canada’s top infectious-disease laboratory. The researchers worked with China.The Globe and Mail reported that a special committee of MPs found censored documents on the firing of two scientists from the Winnipeg lab was redacted to shield the Public Health Agency of Canada from embarrassment, not to protect national security, a special committee of MPs says.The committee is recommending the majority of the documents be made public, according to a Feb. 19 letter obtained by The Globe, that was sent to House leaders of the four major parties.This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was sent to you as a forward, you can sign up for Evening Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters here. If you like what you see, please share it with your friends.Deadly 2021 attack on Muslim family in London, Ont., was terrorism, judge findsAn Ontario judge has determined that the attack on a Muslim family in London, which killed four people and injured a nine-year-old boy, was an act of terrorism.Nathaniel Veltman, 23, was convicted last fall of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after he used his truck to run down the family members, who were wearing traditional Pakistani clothing in London in June, 2021.Anastasia Svizina and her husband, Yevhen Svizin, Lali Dmytrieva and her son Misha made their way to the west coast of Ireland, after fleeing Mariupol.Theirs is a story of hope, pain and the struggles of two generations: a younger one looking forward and ready to start afresh, and an older one shaped by the past and pulled by the memories of home.Israeli strikes have killed at least 48 people in southern and central Gaza overnight, officials of the Hamas-controlled health agency say. European foreign ministers and UN agencies are calling for a ceasefire, with alarm rising over the worsening humanitarian crisis.Tensions were also rising in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on morning traffic at a highway checkpoint, Israeli police say.China has asked the International Court of Justice to give its opinion on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories, which it said was illegal.Meanwhile, a suspected missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set a ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden as Israel intercepted what appeared to be another Houthi attack near the port city of Eilat, authorities said.B.C.’s election-year budget: British Columbia rolled out its budget with financial relief for families and businesses, and record spending on health and education. The voter-friendly largesse will be financed by what is expected to be the highest deficit the province has ever recorded, and soaring taxpayer debt.Navalny’s mother under pressure: The mother of Russia’s top opposition leader Alexey Navalny says she has seen her son’s body and that she is resisting strong pressure by authorities to agree to a secret burial outside the public eye.Nuclear power pact: Montreal’s AtkinsRéalis and the Atomic Energy of Canada have reached a deal both say will accelerate development of a large new nuclear power reactor called the Monark, as governments around the world shop for low-emission methods of generating electricity.Ontario moves to overrule energy regulator: The province has introduced legislation that would strike down a decision in December by Ontario’s independent energy regulator on natural gas connections that it said would increase homebuilding costs. It also announced it would replace the Ontario Energy Board’s chair.Former Globe publisher honoured: Phillip Crawley has been awarded the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s prize for lifetime achievement in recognition of his decades-long career in journalism and his dedication to the industry.Auston Matthews’ hot streak: The Toronto Maple Leafs centre scored his 50th and 51st goals of the season last night, breaking a tie as the fastest U.S.-born player to reach 50 goals at 54 games.Canada’s main stock index gained almost 150 points Thursday, while its Wall St. counterparts soared, led by technology stocks after another blowout report from chipmaker Nvidia. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both surged to close at record highs.Unofficial closing data showed the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 456.54 points to 39,068.78, the S&P 500 gained 105.14 points to 5,086.94 and the Nasdaq Composite added 460.75 points to 16,041.62. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 145.68 points at 21,318.08.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.11 cents UScompared with 74.01 cents US on Wednesday.Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.“Both the Liberals and Conservatives must tell Canadians how they will get this country to 2 per cent within the next few years. There is going to be pain. Canadians need to know how each party would inflict that pain.” – John Ibbitson“Smith is advancing a long-term financial stability narrative not only with future generations in mind, but also as a way to distract from her decision to break a key UCP pledge from last May’s election campaign.” – Kelly Cryderman-If you’re scanning for viewing options this weekend, look no further than Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song’s debut feature and Oscar nominee Past Lives, which is finally available to stream. Other films to check out include Pedro Almodóvar’s short Strange Way of Life, which film editor Barry Hertz says “might be the best 30 minutes you’ll watch” this season.When an obscure Zimbabwean politician announced a takeover of the country’s biggest opposition party last October, its members were astonished and baffled. But they soon realized that their party was in deep trouble.Four months later, the Zimbabwean opposition is fragmented and leaderless, while the ruling party has exploited the confusion to secure a two-thirds majority in the national assembly – a crucial step in prolonging its 44 years of domination in the country.Sengezo Tshabangu, a textile and bricks businessman from western Zimbabwe who has held a series of minor positions in several opposition parties since 1999, shocked the country by installing himself as interim secretary-general of the Citizens Coalition for Change – and then ousting many of its MPs from Parliament. Read the full story by Geoffrey York and Jeffrey Moyo.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
STRONGS CONCORDANCE FOR VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE-SEE IT FOR YOURSELVES.
2554. chamas - Strong's Concordance - chamas: to treat violently or wrong - Part of Speech: Verb - Transliteration: chamas -Phonetic Spelling: (khaw-mas') - Definition: to treat violently or wrong - make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong -A primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat -- make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
SECOND ANGEL: The Middle East DR DOCTORIAN
Then Isawthat the second angel had a sickle in his hand,such asis used in harvesting. The second angelsaid, “Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the wayto Iran.” Isawthose countriesin a fewsplitseconds. “All of Turkey and those other countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another.” I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries.I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia – Iraq, Syria,Lebanon,Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor – full of blood. Isaw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; nuclear weapons were used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these words, “Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come.”The angel said, “The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God.” I saw fires rising to heaven.The angel said, “This is the final judgment My church shall be purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Watershall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries.” The angelshowed me that the United Nationsshall be broken in pieces because of the crisisin the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
FALSE FLAGS (SET UP OR STAGED BY SOMEONE)
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3409375633223151728#docid=-6703838290529161821
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3409375633223151728#docid=8697248641166616573
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3409375633223151728#
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
ISAIAH 54:3
03-King James Bible-For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
The right hand was a symbol of strength-Exodus 15:6, ” Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.”
EZEKIEL 17:15-24 (MUSLIM COUNTRIES HISTORY)
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
8 Assyria (SYRIA) also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be [e]confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE.
Hamas chief claims flexibility in truce talks, calls for Ramadan march on Jerusalem-Ismail Haniyeh, Qatar-based leader of Gaza terror group, urges Iran’s allies to step up attacks on Israel-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 5:54 pm
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh claimed on Wednesday the Islamist terror group was showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel over a potential hostage release deal but was at the same time ready to continue fighting.In a televised speech, Haniyeh also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank to march to Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray on the first day of Ramadan on March 10, seemingly raising the stakes in the indirect talks for a truce agreement.Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism, where two biblical Temples once stood, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque located there is the third-holiest site in Islam, making it a central flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Israel said on Monday it would allow Ramadan prayers at the mosque during the upcoming holy month but said there would be limits according to security needs, setting the stage for possible clashes if crowds of Palestinians take up Haniyeh’s call.Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Hamas on Tuesday of attempting to “take Ramadan, with an emphasis on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and turn it into the second phase of its plan that began on October 7.”US President Joe Biden said Monday he hoped that a deal between Israel and Hamas would be agreed upon by next Monday, allowing for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas since the shock October 7 attack on Israel.Despite Biden’s optimism, Israel and Hamas appear to be far from seeing eye-to-eye on the terms of the deal, which purportedly includes a six-week pause in fighting and the release of some 40 hostages in exchange for 400 Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel.An unsourced Army Radio report on Wednesday morning said Hamas representatives had termed the proposed outline presented by mediators “a Zionist document,” and objected to the fact that it did not accede to Hamas’s demand for an end to the war (a nonstarter for Israel), did not include an Israeli agreement for the full return to northern Gaza of internally displaced residents, and envisaged what the group saw as too few Palestinian security prisoners being freed in return for Israeli hostages.At the same time, Hamas has reportedly yet to provide Israel with a list of the living hostages it holds, and Israeli sources have said that negotiations cannot proceed without it.Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet on Thursday evening amid efforts to secure the deal.Despite the slow pace of the negotiations, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi expressed hope on Wednesday afternoon that a deal would soon be reached.“We hope that in the coming days we will reach a ceasefire and that there will be real relief for the people of Gaza,” he said, according to the Ynet news site.In his speech, Haniyeh also called on the self-styled Axis of Resistance — consisting of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — as well as Arab states to step up their support for the Palestinians in Gaza.“It is the duty of the Arab and Islamic nations to take the initiative to break the starvation conspiracy in Gaza,” Haniyeh said, referring to insufficient food reaching the enclave’s residents amid UN warnings that many in the Strip are in danger of starvation.While United Nations agencies and aid groups have said the ongoing war has made it increasingly difficult to bring vital aid to much of the coastal enclave, Israel has blamed humanitarian organizations inside Gaza, saying hundreds of trucks filled with supplies sit idle on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas, Gaza has received more than 13,830 trucks of humanitarian aid, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians, said last week.According to the update, 254,210 tons of supplies have been transferred to the Gaza Strip, including 167,080 tons of food.While the war, which began on October 7 with the murderous Hamas terror assault on southern Israel, has no clear end in sight, representatives of Hamas and Fatah are expected to meet in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the formation of a unified Palestinian government and the rebuilding of Gaza, the RIA state news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Palestinian ambassador to Russia.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov also confirmed to the news agency that such a meeting was planned.
A giant gift’: Settler leaders hail IDF approval of borders for new W. Bank settlement-Planning proposals for now-legalized outpost seek some 3,600 housing units; ‘We will continue the settlement momentum throughout the land,’ says Smotrich-By Jeremy Sharon-Today, 4:10 pm-FEB 28,24
Settler leaders on Tuesday hailed the formal approval of municipal boundaries for a new West Bank settlement, a step that implements a government resolution from February 2023 legalizing nine previously illegal outposts in the territory.Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who was a key player behind the development, celebrated the decision, as did local settlement leaders from the Gush Etzion region where the settlement is located.The new settlement, which will be named Mishmar Yehuda, is essentially the legalization of the Mitzpe Yehuda outpost, which is also known as Kedar Tzon Farm and encompasses some 417 dunams (100 acres) of land.It is located just south of the large Maale Adumim settlement in the Judean Desert but will nevertheless be appended to the Gush Etzion Regional Council whose main settlements are considerably further south.Commander of IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox formally approved the municipal jurisdiction for Mishmar Yehuda on Sunday.According to the Peace Now organization, which campaigns against settlement construction and Israeli rule in the West Bank, the land on which the new settlement will be built was registered in the name of an Israeli company based in the Kiryat Arba settlement in the southern West Bank in 2014, which says it bought the land from Palestinian owners in 1992.The local planning committee of the Gush Etzion Regional Council held a hearing on planning proposals for the new Mishmar Yehuda earlier this month where plans were presented for the first phase of construction in the settlement of some 3,600 housing units for the religious-Zionist community.An architect who presented the plans said that there was the potential to build some 13,000 housing units in total in the new settlement.Peace Now said that documents from the Housing and Construction Ministry showed that it had paid NIS 2.7 million in fees to a planning company to draw up plans for Mishmar Yehuda.The local planning committee does not itself have any power to approve construction. That is under the authority of the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration, which is yet to be presented with any plans for Mishmar Yehuda.Smotrich warmly welcomed the approval of Mishmar Yehuda’s municipal boundaries, saying it came following “diligent work” over the course of a year by the Settlements Administration within the Defense Ministry, which he controls.Smotrich was the driving force behind the February 2023 cabinet resolution to legalize nine outposts, as stipulated in the coalition agreement between his Religious Zionism party and Likud.The Settlements Administration was set up at Smotrich’s demand in February 2023, giving him sweeping powers over civilian issues, including settlement planning and construction, in the West Bank.Smotrich said that the Settlements Administration would now prepare a masterplan for the new settlement.“We came to this land to build and to be built up in it. We will continue the settlement momentum throughout the land. Congratulations to Gush Etzion, congratulations to the settlements, and congratulations to the State of Israel,” said Smotrich on Tuesday.The outgoing head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Shlomo Neeman, said the development was “a very sweet and dramatic event,” a “giant gift” to the residents of Gush Etzion, and “our best response to terrorism, to those who want to dispossess us from the land of our forefathers.”Peace Now denounced the development as a step that would further entrench the conflict with the Palestinians.“Anything that will God forbid be built in the new settlement, Israel will eventually be forced to evacuate,” said the organization.“The plan is a severe blow to Israel and to the possibility of reaching a two-state solution. Instead of planning a future of peace and security, the government is planning for us the continuation of the conflict, the deepening of the occupation, and unfortunately also the continuation of bloodshed.”
Archaeologists dig up clues on Philistines from psychedelic plants in ancient temples-New study examines remains of food, seeds, flowers found in Gath that were used in ancient Greece in worship of female deities, indicating foreign influences on Philistine culture-By Ariella Oldfield Today, 11:09 am-FEB 28,24
A new study into the archaeological remains of food and plant matter found at two Philistine temples in the biblical city of Gath has revealed new details on the extinct culture’s traditions and how they were seemingly influenced by other historic Mediterranean cultures.Some of the plants found in both temples are known for their medicinal or psychoactive properties and were also used in ancient Greece in temples mostly dedicated to female deities such as Hera, goddess of marriage and childbirth; Artemis, goddess of vegetation, chastity, and childbirth; and Demeter, goddess of agriculture.The study, published in Scientific Reports this month, focused on two temples that were built on top of each other in the 10th century BCE and 830 BCE and destroyed by biblical King Hazael in his conquest of Gath, which is located in modern central Israel by the Judean foothills.It looked at plants found in the temples including remains of cereals, fruits, weeds, and herbs that researchers believe were prepared in situ as part of the cultic practices in the temples and were eaten, sacrificed, and used for decorations.Findings at the temples included loom weights, cooking facilities, and a storage jar from Jerusalem, which indicated that some offerings in the temple came from the biblical kingdom of Judea. The loom weights also provided evidence that women weaved in the temples for the goddess Asherah, the mother goddess in Canaanite and Philistine traditions.The Philistines originated in the Aegean Sea and settled in modern-day southern Israel in the 12th century BCE. They disappeared sometime around the 7th century BCE and while they are mentioned in the Bible and in Egyptian and Assyrian texts, their traditions and religion have remained largely a mystery.Co-writer of the study Prof. Aren Maeir of Bar Ilan University told The Times of Israel that the temples were “the first from an early period in Israel that have undergone a deep study of botanical remains.”He added that the discovery of “several plants that are known to be connected mainly to female deities in Greece” provided an indication of the foreign influences on Philistine culture, which may stem from the fact that some Philistines likely originated from Greece.Among these plants was the chaste tree, with some 100 fruits from the plant being discovered in the temples. The plant was significant to Spartan cults who used it in rites of worship for Artemis and Asclepios, god of medicine. It was also used by the Heraion cult in Samos.Another plant researched was the crown daisy flower, which was commonly used as medicine and insecticide in ancient times, and the flowers were used to weave garlands to crown statues of Artemis.The chaste tree and crown daisy, which both bloom colorful flowers, were likely used both as part of rituals and as decoration for the Philistine temples they were found in alongside various types of leaves and garlands from other plants found at the site.The two plants were discovered alongside poison darnel, which is a hallucinogenic and was historically used by midwives as a fortifying medicine.Lead researcher Dr. Suembikya Frumin said that the Philistine temples were the “earliest known ritual uses” of the chaste tree, crown daisy and silvery scabious — another plant found in the temples.“These widespread Mediterranean plants connect Philistines with cultic rituals, mythology, and paraphernalia related to early Greek deities, such as Hera, Artemis, Demeter, and Asclepios,” she said.The discovery of these psychedelic and medicinal plants led researchers to believe that adding medicinal and mood-affecting plants to food was part of the Philistine rituals to enhance their spiritual effects.The plants found in the temples were diverse in their harvesting times, spanning from March to December. As such, the researchers believe that like many other religions, including Judaism, the Philistines based their religious practices around the changing seasons.While examining harvest times, the researchers noted that grapes, another of the plants found in the temples, are harvested in the summer and are not long-lasting or traded over long distances. This indicated that the temples were last used in late summer or early autumn, which the researchers estimated was when the city of Gath was destroyed.Maeir explained that this discovery was significant because while examination of the destruction surrounding the temples revealed that the city was destroyed in 830 BCE, the study was able to narrow it down to a time of year, probably sometime around September.Both temples were oriented in similar directions in relation to the sun similarly to the Heraion of Samos, where the direction corresponded to mid-summer celestial events that were used to celebrate fertility and human eminence. Symbols of this period included symbolic purification in open water sources like rivers or lakes, which the researchers believed was also part of the Philistine rituals as the temples were built near a river.“The study revealed that the Philistine religion relied on the magic and power of nature, such as running water and seasonality, aspects that influence human health and life,” Frumin said.In future studies, Maeir added, the researchers would look at other findings from the temple and the surrounding area, as well as research other aspects of the plants they found.
Campaign protesting Biden’s support for Israel makes impact in Michigan primary-Group called Listen to Michigan jubilant as tens of thousands vote ‘Uncommitted’ in line with its call to punish US president for backing Israel in war on Hamas-By JTA and ToI Staff Today, 12:05 pm-FEB 28,24
A campaign to protest US President Joe Biden’s support of Israel by voting “Uncommitted” in the Michigan Democratic presidential primary declared victory on Tuesday night, as early returns showed the movement garnering more than 10 percent of the vote.Biden still won the primary overwhelmingly. But the Uncommitted movement, also called Listen to Michigan, had set a goal of drawing 10,000 votes — the margin by which Donald Trump won the state in the 2016 presidential election. Shortly after 11 p.m., with a bit more than a third of the vote counted, more than 45,000 people had voted Uncommitted.“Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations,” Listen to Michigan said in a statement as votes were still being counted. “Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his re-election due to the war in Gaza.”The campaign was initiated by activists from Michigan’s large Arab-American population, which numbers more than 300,000. Since the early days of the Israel-Hamas war, Arab and Muslim Americans have warned that Biden’s staunch support of Israel could cost their votes in November. Layla Elabed, the lead organizer of the campaign and sister of Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, said Tuesday’s result shows that the protest movement has reached a critical mass.“Today’s results and our delegation represent a historic inflection point for creating a Democratic Party that aligns with the majority of its voters who want a ceasefire and end to unrestricted weapons funding for Israel’s war and occupation against the Palestinian people,” Elabed said in a statement.“We don’t want a Trump presidency, but Biden has put [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu ahead of American democracy,” she added. “We cannot afford to pay the bill for disregarding Palestinian lives should it come due in November.”Jewish backers of the campaign include Andy Levin, the former congressman who is a scion of a leading Michigan Jewish political family and who was defeated in 2022 by a candidate who had the backing of the centrist and right-wing pro-Israel community.“We have a huge victory tonight,” he said at Uncommitted headquarters in Dearborn, the Detroit suburb that is the center of the state’s Arab-American community. “This is a victory of American democracy.”Critics of Listen to Michigan say it may end up playing into the hands of former US president Donald Trump, who won the Michigan Republican primary handily and is almost certain to face Biden in a rematch in the general election. Biden won the state by about 150,000 votes in 2020 but is trailing Trump in polls this year.“Those who voted ‘uncommitted’ in this Michigan primary did so knowing that President Biden would easily win,” Halie Soifer, the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and a Michigander, said in a statement. “That will not necessarily be the case the next time he’s on the ballot when any vote for a third-party candidate, protest position, or non-vote is effectively a vote for Donald Trump.”Since Hamas’s October 7 invasion of Israel, which launched the war, Biden has supported the war effort and rejected calls to force Israel into a permanent ceasefire. But he has been more open in recent weeks about his unhappiness with Netanyahu, criticizing him for not being more precise in Israel’s counterstrikes and for obstructing the entry of humanitarian aid. The White House is also pushing for a temporary humanitarian ceasefire.The Hamas-led attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians amid horrific atrocities including widespread incidents of gang rape, torture, and mutilation of victims. The thousands of attackers who burst through the border with the Gaza Strip also abducted 253 people who were taken as hostages in Gaze. Of those 130 remain captive, of whom Israel has assessed that dozens are no longer alive.Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Hamas-run health authorities, though these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 12,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.Listen to Michigan claims the war amounts to a genocide against the Palestinians, a charge common among pro-Palestinian activists that Israel and its allies roundly reject, blaming Hamas for firing from civilian areas.Opponents of the campaign and observers acknowledged before results were in that the Uncommitted movement would have a strong showing. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Biden ally, said on MSNBC on Tuesday that she expected the Uncommitted vote to be “sizable” and added, “there’s a lot of people who are hurting.” The Biden campaign has sent senior proxies to the state to meet with leaders of its Arab-American community.Democratic Majority for Israel, a pro-Israel advocacy group, noted in a statement ahead of the vote that almost 20,000 people voted Uncommitted in 2020 when the war in Gaza wasn’t an issue. But that year, the Uncommitted vote amounted to just over one percent, a far smaller proportion than in 2024. As of 10:30 p.m. almost a quarter of Wayne County, which includes Detroit as well as Dearborn, voted Uncommitted this year.Uncommitted wasn’t Biden’s only challenger on the ballot. US Rep. Dean Phillips, a Jewish Minnesota Democrat who is running a long-shot campaign against Biden, was garnering less than 3% of the vote.
Public frustration at unrest and poor economy threatens turnout in Iran elections-Officials have urged citizens to vote for parliament but unlike previous years haven’t released figures on expected turnout
By AP Today, 1:27 pm-FEB 28,24
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran is holding parliamentary elections this Friday, yet the real question may not be who gets elected but how many people actually turn out to vote.Widespread discontent over the cratering economy, years of mass protests rocking the country, and tensions with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program and Iran’s support for Russia in its war on Ukraine have many people quietly saying they won’t vote in this election.Officials have urged people to cast ballots but tellingly, no information has been released this year from the state-owned polling center ISPA about expected turnout — a constant feature of past elections. Of 21 Iranians interviewed recently by The Associated Press, only five said they would vote. Thirteen said they won’t and three said they were undecided.“If I protest about some shortcoming, many police and security agents will try to stop me,” said Amin, a 21-year-old university student who gave only his first name for fear of reprisals. “But if I die from hunger on the corner of one of the main streets, they will show no reaction.”Over 15,000 candidates are vying for a seat in the 290-member parliament, formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Terms runs for four years and five seats are reserved for Iran’s religious minorities.Under the law, the parliament has oversight over the executive branch, votes on treaties and handles other issues. In practice, absolute power in Iran rests with its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Hard-liners have controlled the parliament for the past two decades — with chants of “Death to America” often heard from the floor.Under parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard general who supported a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999, the legislature pushed forward a bill in 2020 that greatly curtailed Tehran’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.That followed then-US president Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of America from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 — an act that sparked years of tensions in the Middle East and saw Iran enrich enough uranium at record-breaking purity to have enough fuel for “several” nuclear weapons if it chose.More recently, the parliament has focused on issues surrounding Iran’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, for women after the 2022 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, which sparked nationwide protests. The protests quickly escalated into calls to overthrow Iran’s clerical rulers. A subsequent security crackdown killed over 500 people, with more than 22,000 detained.Calls for an election boycott have spread in recent weeks, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, a women’s right activist, who called them a “sham.”“The Islamic Republic, with its ruthless and brutal suppression, the killing of young people on the streets, the executions and the imprisonment and torture of men and women, deserves national sanctions and global disgrace,” Mohammadi said in a statement.The boycott calls have put the government under renewed pressure — since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s theocracy has based its legitimacy in part on turnout in elections.On Wednesday, Khamenei himself urged people to vote, describing it as a national duty. “There is no reasoning behind not voting,” he said. “It does not solve any problem of the country.”“If the election is weak, all face harm,” he added.Though ISPA, the polling agency, conducted election surveys in October, its results have not been made public. Figures from politicians and other media outlets suggest a turnout of around 30%.In the 2021 presidential election that brought hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi to power, the turnout was 49% — the lowest on record for a presidential vote. Millions of ballots were declared void, likely from those who felt obligated to vote but did not want to cast a ballot.The 2019 parliament race saw a 42% turnout.Separately, Iranians will also vote on Friday for members of the country’s 88-seat Assembly of Experts, an eight-year term on a panel that will appoint the country’s next supreme leader after Khamenei, 84.Barred from that race is former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate under whose term Iran struck the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.Some who spoke to the AP said Iran’s economic woes were the reason they are staying away from the polls. Inflation is reportedly at around 50%, with unemployment around 20% for young Iranians.“I will not vote,” said Hashem Amani, a 55-year-old fruit merchant in southern Tehran. “In 2021, I voted for Raisi to become president in hope that similar people in the government can work together and make a better life for me. What I got in return was rocketing prices for everything.”Morteza, a 53-year-old taxi driver who gave just his first name fearing reprisals, also expressed disenchantment.“Why should I vote?” he asked. “I voted many times in the past yet I am paying for schooling of my three daughters. … I am still a renter and continuously I keep moving to a poorer area.”Others, like 42-year-old Marzieh Moqaddam, insisted they would vote. She compared voting to a religious duty and insisted the country needs “to improve the Islamic culture, like the hijab.”However, Abbas Kazemi, a 32-year-old bank clerk, offered a far different reason why he is heading to the polls — protecting Iran’s legislature from the influence of the hard-liners that have controlled it for decades.“We have to keep the election alive, otherwise hard-liners will shut it down forever,” he said.
Two IDF soldiers killed in Gaza; foreign nations airdrop civilian aid into enclave-Israel says no limit set on truck deliveries to Strip; hostage release negotiations continue in Qatar as families of captives march to Jerusalem-By Emanuel Fabian-and Agencies Today, 5:03 pm-FEB 28,24
The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that two soldiers had been killed in battles against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Meanwhile mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States continued to strive for a path to a temporary ceasefire and hostage release amid the bitter fighting, with negotiators seeking a six-week pause in the nearly five-month war.And as a round of negotiations was held in Qatar, families of hostages abducted during Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel begin a march from the Gaza area toward Jerusalem to demand the government agree to a deal for their release.The IDF announced two officers had been killed fighting Tuesday in northern Gaza, raising the ground toll in the offensive against Hamas to 242.They were named as Maj. Iftah Shahar, 25, a company commander in the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion, from Paran, and Cpt. Itai Seif, 24, a platoon commander also in the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion, from Yeruham.Shahar had until recently served as an officer in the Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag unit. He had been sent to the infantry unit to replace a seriously wounded Givati company commander.The IDF said another seven soldiers of the Tzabar Battalion were seriously wounded in the same incident.Shahar and Seif were killed and the seven other soldiers were injured as a result of an explosion in a booby-trapped building in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood on Tuesday.As global concerns mount over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where over 2 million people reside, the IDF said it coordinated the airdrop of food and medical supplies by several nations to the southern Gaza Strip over the previous two days.Some 160 packages of humanitarian aid were airdropped to 17 locations along the southern coastline of the Strip using American, Egyptian, Emirati, French and Jordanian planes, the IDF said.Additional packages of food, medical supplies and fuel were also airdropped to a Jordanian field hospital in Khan Younis, the IDF said.The Jordan News Agency reported that King Abdullah II, who is Supreme Commander of the Jordanian military, participated in an airdrop Tuesday. According to the report, six C130 aircraft flew in from Amman, three of which were from the Royal Jordanian Air Force alongside three others from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and France.The IDF said the recent airdrops were in addition to trucks of humanitarian aid that enter the Strip daily.A convoy of 31 trucks carrying food entered the northern Gaza Strip Wednesday, according to the military liaison to the Palestinians, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. COGAT added that close to 50 trucks had traveled to the northern part of the enclave over the past three days, and that “there is no limitation on the amount of humanitarian aid for the civilians in Gaza.”Northern Gaza is seeing a spiraling humanitarian crisis, with aid agencies unable to get into the area because of the fighting, and frenzied looting of the few trucks that do enter.Overnight, (Feb 28.) A convoy of 31 trucks carrying food made its way to northern Gaza Strip.Over the last 3 days, close to 50 trucks were transferred to the northern Gaza Strip.There is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid for the civilians in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/WSfEuickGL— COGAT (@cogatonline) February 28, 2024-Israel has denied fault for the low numbers of trucks entering the enclave and blamed humanitarian organizations operating inside Gaza, saying hundreds of trucks filled with aid sit idle on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing. The UN, in turn, says it can’t always reach the trucks at the crossing because it is at times too dangerous.Additionally, Israel has long accused Hamas of appropriating and stealing aid from an increasingly desperate civilian population.In other operations, the IDF said it killed dozens of Hamas operatives across the Gaza Strip over the previous day, releasing footage of a strike on a gunman who tried to flee after opening fire at troops. The military said it carried out overnight airstrikes on eight “significant targets” in an area from which rockets were fired at Ashkelon on Tuesday.Several more sites in the area, including tunnel shafts, were also struck, the IDF added.In southern Gaza, the IDF said troops raided Hamas sites, captured weapons, and killed a five-man Hamas cell in a vehicle using a guided munition.In Khan Younis fighter jets struck buildings where Hamas operatives were gathered and preparing to attack troops, the IDF said, while ground troops killed several gunman in clashes.The military said it was continuing to operate in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, where soldiers killed several Hamas gunmen and located weapons over the past day.The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry reported that 91 people were killed overnight during Israeli strikes. It said that since the start of the war, at least 29,954 people had been killed in Gaza. The figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 12,000 terror operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.War erupted when Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel responded with a military campaign to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza and free the 253 hostages who were abducted by terrorists during the October 7 attack.The security cabinet was set to meet Thursday evening amid efforts to secure a deal that would see a temporary ceasefire and the return of the 130 hostages still held in Gaza — not all of them alive.Families of hostages began a four-day march from the south of the country to Jerusalem as they lobby for the government to quickly reach a deal that will secure freedom for their loved ones.A US-drafted proposal reportedly provides for a six-week pause in fighting during which some 40 hostages would be freed in exchange for some 400 Palestinian security prisoners.There have been conflicting reports on whether a deal is close at hand, and Israeli officials in recent days have said Hamas has signaled it is preparing to reject the terms of the latest proposal offered by mediators.Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that while the terror group is showing flexibility in talks for a potential deal, it is prepared to continue to fight.The terror leader additionally called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank to march to the flashpoint Temple Mount on the first day of Ramadan.Meanwhile, Hamas claimed to have fired 40 Grad rockets from Lebanon at IDF bases near Kiryat Shmona in the north of the country.The IDF identified only some 10 rockets crossing the border, one of which struck a building in Kiryat Shmona, causing damage but no injuries.Earlier, another four rockets were fired at the city, which caused no damage.There has been daily violence across the border with Lebanon since October 8 when Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah began launching attacks on Israel it says are a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza. The level of violence has crept upwards with Hezbollah firing dozens of rockets at northern areas earlier in the week while the IDF has pounded the terror groups assets with airstrikes reaching further and further into Lebanon.
US official: Iranian and Hezbollah operatives in Yemen are aiding Houthi attacks-Special envoy tells Senate that Iran is ‘equipping and facilitating’ the rebel group’s assaults on ships in Red Sea, acknowledges they haven’t been deterred by US-led response-By AFP Today, 4:07 am-FEB 28,24
WASHINGTON — Operatives from Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah are working inside Yemen to support Houthi insurgents’ attacks on international shipping, a US official said Tuesday.Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, told a Senate subcommittee that Iran’s clerical state was “equipping and facilitating” the Houthi attacks, which have triggered retaliatory US and British strikes on Yemen.“Credible public reports suggest a significant number of Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah operatives are supporting Houthi attacks from inside Yemen,” Lenderking said.“I can’t imagine the Yemeni people want these Iranians in their country. This must stop,” he said.The White House said in December that Iran was “deeply involved” in planning the attacks, which the Houthis say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war.Lenderking, who has dealt with the Houthis since the start of US President Joe Biden’s administration as he helped diplomacy to freeze a brutal civil war, acknowledged that the rebels have not been deterred.“The fact that they continue this, and have said publicly that they will not stop until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza, is an indication that we’re not yet at the point, unfortunately, where they do intend to dial back,” Lenderking said.The bombing campaign drew skepticism from some senators from Biden’s Democratic Party.Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Middle East, agreed that the United States has “an obligation to respond” to attacks on shipping but added, “I do worry about the efficacy.”He noted that US and UK strikes have hit a number of sites struck by a massive 2015-2022 Saudi-led air campaign against the Houthis.“If 23,000 air strikes by the Saudis weren’t effective in moving the needle militarily and restoring deterrence, how can we be confident that our campaign of air strikes is going to have a different outcome?” Murphy asked.The Houthis, who control war-torn Yemen’s most populated areas, have previously reported the death of 17 fighters in Western strikes targeting their military facilities.The Houthi attacks have had a significant effect on traffic through the busy Red Sea shipping route, forcing some companies into a two-week detour around southern Africa.Last week, Egypt said Suez Canal revenues were down by up to 50 percent this year.
I don’t care who's mayor, as long as it's not the ass' In Tiberias, Haredi locals cheer for defeat of their secularist nemesis’s comeback bid-Exit polls indicate former mayor Ron Kobi lost race to candidate endorsed by influential ultra-Orthodox rabbis, in microcosm of Israel’s religious-secular divisions-Canaan Lidor-By Canaan Lidor-Today, 2:59 am-FEB 28,24
Outside an elementary school in Tiberias, a dozen-odd ultra-Orthodox boys trailed Ron Kobi, a mayoral candidate whose campaign focused on limiting the presence of the growing Haredi community in this iconic lakeside city.The children gathered around Kobi as he arrived at the Ehrlich Elementary School on Tuesday to vote. One of them hurled a wad of unused voting slips at Kobi, which scattered without hitting him. The children shouted “Bye-bye Ron Kobi, Bye-bye!” before two policemen shooed them away.The encounter in Kiryat Shmuel, a downtown neighborhood whose population is a mix of ultra-Orthodox and secular residents, was part of the tension in Tiberias. The northern city used to be known for its casual beach atmosphere, vibrant nightlife and tourist scene before a recent influx of Haredim, who currently account for 20 percent of the population.According to some exit polls, Kobi, a former mayor who has inveighed against the ultra-Orthodox, lost the election to former communications executive Yossi Naba’a, who is also secular but received the endorsement of major Haredi parties and prominent rabbis in Tiberias. The children who taunted Kobi by bidding him goodbye were celebrating his anticipated defeat.The competing approaches of Kobi, a hardliner who believes in uncompromising pushback against Haredim while they are still a minority, and the more accommodating position of Naba’a, represent two different attitudes toward the ultra-Orthodox on the national level as well.“You see, this is what the rest of the country will all look like unless we put a stop to it,” Kobi told journalists documenting the exchange with the boys. “Unless Tiberias votes Ron Kobi now, we will be another Bnei Brak by the next elections.”Kobi was elected in 2018 but lost the mayorship less than two years later when his party failed to pass a budget, partly because of his alienating approach to Haredim. The Interior Ministry, led by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, appointed a caretaker mayor who will be replaced by whoever wins Tuesday’s election.Tiberias’s population rose from 45,000 to 51,000 in five years, a growth that has been fueled by the arrival of Haredi families, mainly to new neighborhoods on the hills overlooking the city’s lakeside downtown.Some non-Haredi locals blame the ultra-Orthodox for the decline in tourism and nightlife here, but others argue this charge is unfair and that the Haredi influx merely coincided with other developments causing the slump.As for many ultra-Orthodox Tiberians, they regard the election as an opportunity to neutralize Kobi. To them, he’s a provocateur whose hostility to their lifestyles is dangerous hate speech. Kobi has repeatedly called Haredi communities parasitic and loosely linked them to organized crime, real estate scams, tax evasion, draft dodging, prostitution and violence.“I really don’t care who becomes mayor, as long as the ass doesn’t,” one Haredi man, Asher Dan, told The Times of Israel near the polling station. His rabbi, Isser Hacohen Kook, an influential figure in Tiberias, told him whom to vote for. Kook has publicly endorsed Naba’a for mayor.“I don’t know much about politics. I don’t like to elevate a man to godly stature. But the rabbi said to vote, so it’s okay. I have the name [of the candidate] written down somewhere,” said Dan, a man in his sixties who became religious at the age of 30, and whose father was a Hungarian Holocaust survivor. His mother’s family has lived in Tiberias for centuries.Overlooking the rundown square opposite Ehrlich Elementary, Dan blew a shofar. Around him, many election banners bearing a portrait of Rabbi Kook — he has endorsed a party for the city council elections, which are held conjointly with the mayoral ones — fluttered in winter gusts that carried election jingles sung in Hasidic musical style.This scene in Kiryat Shmuel “is horrifying,” one passerby, a secular kibbutz resident from the Tiberias area who works in the city as a social worker, commented to The Times of Israel. Speaking on condition of anonymity — he explained his work requires a nonpartisan approach — the kibbutznik added: “This isn’t even a Haredi neighborhood officially, but in practice, the whole of Tiberias is a Haredi neighborhood. It has been overrun.”Tiberias is one of Judaism’s so-called Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. Long before the dawn of modern Zionism, Jews were living in Tiberias, which was a center of study and thought as well as the final resting place of great sages.In addition to the grave of the 12th-century philosopher Maimonides, Tiberias features also the gravesites of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, a second-century Talmudic scholar, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, an 18th-century sage from Italy, and Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef, the second-century thinker and martyr of Roman persecution.This history factors into how some Tiberians think of Haredim. “They’ve been living here for centuries, so let’s take that into account when we speak about them,” said Dudik Sheetrit, another secular candidate for mayor, who according to exit polls garnered a single-digit percentage of the votes.Sheetrit advocates steps to curb ultra-Orthodox immigration to Tiberias, “but not because they’re Haredi,” he told The Times of Israel. “Socioeconomically, they’re a weak demographic and that’s not the target population to attract,” he said. Kobi, Sheetrit added, “invented a conflict between Haredim and seculars. In reality, there’s peaceful coexistence. They’re just not taking us where we need to be going as a city.”In parallel to the Haredi influx, Tiberias suffers from a “serious brain drain,” said Maya Haviv, a 23-year-old social media marketer who owns a small business with four employees. One of them recently quit because she’s moving to Tel Aviv, said Haviv, who ran for city council as part of Sheetrit’s party. “I don’t blame her, it’s difficult to work in high-tech here,” Haviv said of her resigning employee. “There are so few opportunities compared to Tel Aviv.”Haviv’s family has also been living in Tiberias for centuries, and this history is part of what’s keeping her here, she said. “Moving away is tempting. No more commuting for meetings, so many more opportunities,” Haviv said. She had looked for two months for an office to rent that was suitable for a startup before settling on an overpriced work area inside a hotel, she recalled.“But this has been my family’s city for generations, I could never imagine living and working anywhere else,” she said.Those problems, she noted, “aren’t the Haredim’s fault. That’s just poor mayorship.” The decline in tourism and nightlife aren’t entirely on the Haredim either, she added. “Tiberias became less attractive when low-cost airlines began offering cheap flights to Cyprus, where everything is cheaper,” she said.“That has had a knock-on effect on nightlife, which is why many bars and dance clubs have closed down, whereas others close on Shabbat not out of religious coercion but to retain their kosher certificates and a Haredi clientele that keeps them afloat,” said Haviv. “These are complex issues. It’s much easier to blame the Haredim for shutting Tiberias down.”Dani Biton, a 70-year-old father of five, nostalgically recalls Tiberias’s heyday in the 1980s. “This was such a magnet. Parties deep into the night, pretty girls everywhere. This was the place to be. But it’s become much more Haredi, much more closed down. This is the reality and we need to adapt,” said Biton, who campaigned for Naba’a.“This was the past. We need to reinvent ourselves in ways that the Haredim can only amplify. We need to become a high-tech hub like Migdal Haemek and Yokneam have done,” continued Biton, a retired municipal employee. “We can do it, too. No one is stopping us, certainly not the Haredim. They are merely our excuse for failing.”Biton, a Likud member, notes that none of the mayoral candidates are from the ruling party, even though the party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a whopping 43% of the vote here in the previous national elections. “We’re disappointed in Likud. They have forgotten us. They’ve taken us for granted,” he said. The Likud candidate in Tiberias, former mayor Yossi Ben David, dropped out of the race several weeks ago following dismal polling results and went on to endorse Naba’a for mayor.Back at the balloting station, Avihu Sabti and Neria Hasin campaigned for the Religious Zionism party for the city council. They are both 18, but they cannot vote because they are among about 120,000 Israelis who are evacuees from border areas under threat from terror groups. These localities will hold their municipal elections in November instead.“We can’t vote but that doesn’t mean we can’t be part of the elections,” Sabti said cheerfully. He and Hasin are from Kiryat Shmona but have been living here since October, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas, which triggered a war with Israel when its terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and kidnapped 253 in Israel’s south on October 7. The evacuees are split roughly evenly between north and south.Sabti knows Tiberias well because his father lives here, he said. A traditionalist Jew, he has “a lot of respect for the Haredim because they preserve Judaism,” said Sabti, who is scheduled to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces this year. “But their radicalism scares me, plus they really should serve the country somehow. So I think here of all places, it’s extra important to strengthen Religious Zionism, which strikes a better balance,” he said of the far-right party.
Israeli official: 'Progress is slow and the gaps are large' Hamas said to deride deal outline as ‘Zionist document’ as Qatar sees ‘race against time’ Qatari mediators said to relay broadly negative response by terror group to 6-week truce framework; TV report details US formula for 40-for-400 hostage-prisoner exchange-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 1:26 amUpdated at 10:33 am-FEB 28,24
The emir of Qatar spoke of “a race against time” to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by terror groups in the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s Army Radio reported that Hamas representatives, in an unofficial response, had angrily rebuffed a proposed outline for a deal.Several Hebrew media reports late Tuesday and Wednesday said Qatari mediators had conveyed a Hamas response to the outline, which had been drawn up by the US and agreed on by Israel, Egypt and Qatar last Friday in Paris, though no formal Hamas response had been presented. While a report by the Kan public broadcaster on Tuesday evening quoted an Israeli official expressing “very cautious optimism” about the prospects for progress, an Army Radio report on Wednesday morning described a largely negative Hamas response.The unsourced Army Radio report said Hamas representatives had termed the proposed outline “a Zionist document,” and objected to the fact that it did not relate to Hamas’s demand for an end to the war, did not include Israeli agreement to the full return to northern Gaza of internally displaced residents, and envisaged too few Palestinian security prisoners being freed in return for Israeli hostages.The US-drafted proposal reportedly provides for a six-week pause in fighting during which some 40 hostages would be freed in exchange for some 400 Palestinian security prisoners.The Kan report said that Qatari officials updated their Israeli counterparts Tuesday on Hamas’s response to some aspects of topics discussed at the talks Qatar has been holding with Hamas representatives. An unnamed Israeli official was quoted by the broadcaster saying that “there is very cautious optimism, but progress is slow and the gaps are large.”The Kan report also said that Hamas has yet to provide a list of living hostages held in Gaza or a list of the Palestinian prisoners it wants released. Israeli sources have said that without those two pieces of information, negotiations cannot advance. There are 130 hostages abducted by terrorists from southern Israel on October 7 who remain in Gaza; Israel says about a quarter of them are dead.Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose country has been a key supporter of Hamas, denounced Israel during his speech in Paris on Tuesday, delivered at a dinner in his honor with his host, French President Emmanuel Macron.“We are in a race against time to bring the hostages back to their families and at the same time we must work to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people,” he said. “The world sees a genocide of the Palestinian people,” he asserted. “Hunger, forced displacement, savage bombardments are used as weapons. And the international community still hasn’t managed to adopt a unified position to end the war in Gaza and provide the strict minimum of protection for children, women, and civilians.”The war erupted after Hamas led a devastating attack against Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, amid horrific atrocities including widespread gang rape, torture and mutilation of victims. Some 3,000 attackers burst through the border with Gaza to rampage murderously through southern Israeli regions. Terrorists also kidnapped 253 people of all ages who were taken as hostages to Gaza.Israel responded with an air, sea, and ground offensive to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza, destroy the terror group, and free the hostages.The exchange ratio-Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 on Tuesday reported what it said was the American proposal for a key part of the potential hostage release deal: the number and nature of the Palestinian security prisoners who would be released in exchange for hostages held in Gaza since October 7.In all, the report said, the US proposed at talks in Paris last week that some 400 Palestinian terror inmates would be released in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages during the planned six-week truce.Twenty-one Palestinian security prisoners would be freed by Israel in exchange for the seven Israeli women who were to have been released on the final day of a previous truce, at the end of November, when Hamas reneged on the terms and the truce collapsed. That comes out to a three-to-one ratio.Ninety Palestinian security prisoners would be released in exchange for five Israeli women soldiers held hostage, an 18-to-one ratio. Fifteen of those prisoners would reportedly be major terrorists with blood on their hands, including several mass murderers. Another 90 prisoners would be released in exchange for 15 men among the hostages who are older than 50, a six-to-one ratio.One hundred and fifty-six prisoners would be released in exchange for 13 Israeli male hostages who are ill or injured, a 12-to-one ratio.Finally, according to the Channel 12 report, another 40 Palestinian security prisoners who were freed in the 2011 deal for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, but who have since been rearrested for further terrorist activities, would also be released.The TV report, which was unsourced, said the US proposal was put on the table in Paris.It also noted that despite US President Joe Biden’s optimistic talk Monday of a truce agreement by March 4, Israel remains pessimistic about an imminent deal coming to fruition.The Associated Press, adding further details to the behind-the-scenes contacts on a potential deal, cited a senior official from Egypt as saying Israel would allow displaced Palestinians to return to certain areas in northern Gaza. The Egyptian official said aid deliveries would be ramped up during the temporary ceasefire, with 300 to 500 trucks entering the beleaguered territory per day, far more than the daily average number of trucks entering since the start of the war.The deliveries to areas across Gaza would be facilitated by Israel, whose forces would refrain from attacks on them and on police escorting the aid convoys, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the talks with journalists.Sticking points-Despite Biden’s optimism, Israel and Hamas have for weeks been far apart on their terms for a deal, dragging out negotiations amid intermittent signs of momentum.AP noted that Israel wants all female soldiers included in the first phase of hostage releases, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing talks. Hamas views all soldiers as more significant bargaining chips and is likely to push back on this demand. The Egyptian official said the female soldiers were at this point being held off until after the first release.The Egyptian official said the sides were also discussing how many Palestinians would be allowed to return to northern Gaza and whether to limit their return to women and men over 50.Talks are also pinning down specifics of areas of Gaza from which Israel would withdraw troops during the truce, the Egyptian official said, adding that Israel wants Hamas to refrain from using areas it leaves as staging grounds for attacks. It also wants Hamas to stop firing rockets at southern Israel. Hamas has so far rejected both demands, the official said.On Tuesday, incoming rocket sirens sounded in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon for the first time in 10 days. Alarms were also activated in several nearby communities. A large fragment of an intercepted rocket landed on a parked car in Ashkelon. There were no injuries.A chunk of an intercepted rocket hit a car in Ashkelon, causing damage. MDA says no injuries. pic.twitter.com/lz2UHI7Twp— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 27, 2024-The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, based in Gaza and allied with Hamas, claimed responsibility, saying it fired several rockets at the city.Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip has greatly subsided in recent months, amid the IDF’s ongoing ground offensive against Hamas. The initial October 7 terror attack came under cover of a barrage of thousands of rockets fired at many areas in Israel.The potential deal leaves a door open for Israel to operate in the southern border town of Rafah once it expires. More than half of Gaza’s population has fled to the southern city on the Egyptian border. Israel wants to destroy what it says are the few Hamas battalions left standing there. However, the international community, including the US, has raised fears over the possible high civilian casualties from such an operation and Washington has demanded a plan that enables noncombatants to evacuate to safe zones. The IDF presented its plan for Rafah to the war cabinet on Monday evening.What remains to be negotiated? During the temporary ceasefire, unconfirmed reports have said, there would be provision for negotiations on further phases of a deal, to include the release of all other hostages, alive and dead, in exchange for more Palestinian security prisoners and a longer pause in the fighting.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to agree to a deal that came with too high a price. But the families of the hostages, whose plight has deeply shaken Israelis, are likely to ramp up pressure if others are freed. Netanyahu has also insisted that the war will resume after any truce, and will not end until “total victory” over Hamas.The US hopes a new deal would be a launching pad for implementing its vision for a postwar Gaza that would eventually lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. It wants Gaza to be governed by a revamped Palestinian Authority, which administers part of the West Bank. On Monday, the PA took a first step that could usher in US-backed reforms by disbanding its government.Israel wants to retain overall security control in the Gaza Strip and has rejected having world powers impose a state on it.Biden said on Monday that Israel would be willing to pause its war on Hamas in Gaza during the upcoming Islamic holy month of Ramadan if a deal is reached to release some of the hostages held by the terrorists.Israeli officials said Biden’s comments, including his prediction of a possible deal by March 4, came as a surprise and were not made in coordination with the country’s leadership.The start of Ramadan, which is expected to be around March 10, is seen as an unofficial deadline for a ceasefire. The month is a time of heightened religious observance and dawn-to-dusk fasting for hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.Fears of famine-Meanwhile, a senior UN aid official told the Security Council at least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – a quarter of the population – are one step away from famine, warning that widespread famine could be “almost inevitable” without actionOne in six children under 2 years of age in northern Gaza is suffering from acute malnutrition and practically all the 2.3 million people in the Palestinian enclave rely on “woefully inadequate” food aid to survive, Ramesh Rajasingham, director of coordination for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the council.The World Food Program “is ready to swiftly expand and scale up our operations if there is a ceasefire agreement,” WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told the 15-member council.“But in the meantime, the risk of famine is being fueled by the inability to bring critical food supplies into Gaza in sufficient quantities, and the almost impossible operating conditions faced by our staff on the ground,” he said.Emmanuel Macron said on X, formerly Twitter, that France and Qatar in a joint operation chartered humanitarian and medical aid on Tuesday for “the people of Gaza.”Macron said “75 tons of freight, 10 ambulances, food rations, 300 family tents” arrived in el-Arish airport in Egypt, near the Rafah crossing to Gaza.France and Qatar also mediated a deal in January for the shipment of medicine for the dozens of hostages held by Hamas. Qatar authorities said last week that Hamas has started delivering the medication.On Wednesday, the prime ministers of Qatar and France will chair an economic forum to boost investments in sectors such as artificial intelligence, health, green technologies, transport, and tourism.Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Hamas-run health authorities, though these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 12,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Gallant: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas hope to turn Ramadan into ‘2nd stage of October 7’In apparent jab at Ben Gvir, defense minister warns against ‘irresponsible statements,’ as police minister seeks unprecedented restrictions on Arab Israelis at Temple Mount-By Emanuel Fabian-27 February 2024, 10:21 pm
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday Israel has identified that Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are aiming to take advantage of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and turn it into “the second stage of October 7, and ignite the ground.”Speaking during an assessment at the IDF Central Command, Gallant said, “Hamas’s main goal is to take Ramadan, with an emphasis on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and turn it into the second phase of their plan that began on October 7. This is the main goal of Hamas, it is being amplified by Iran and Hezbollah.”“We must not give Hamas what it has not been able to achieve since the beginning of the war and converge the combat fronts,” Gallant warned.Hamas called its mass-murdering October 7 onslaught on southern Israel “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” in an effort to claim religious legitimacy for its atrocities.Announcing the brutal incursion, Mohammad Deif, the Hamas military commander, urged Arabs in Jerusalem and inside Israel, the Negev, the Galilee and northern Israel to “set the earth on fire under the feet of the occupiers” — a call that has so far remained unanswered by Arab Israelis.In comments apparently aimed at far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Gallant warned against “irresponsible statements from people who are supposed to be responsible” that could result in an escalation within a short time.Ben Gvir has sought to impose restrictions on West Bank Palestinians and prevent them from praying at the Temple Mount during Ramadan, and is even reportedly pushing for banning Arab Israeli citizens below the age of 70 from visiting the site amid the month of fasting. Netanyahu was said to have sided with Ben Gvir on the issue last week.The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, is considered the holiest place in Judaism, where two biblical Temples once stood, and the third-holiest site in Islam, making it a central flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Hundreds of thousands of Muslims crowd the site each Ramadan as religious fervor is heightened. While Israel has imposed restrictions on Palestinian access during times of heightened security tensions, it has refrained from imposing those rules on the country’s Muslim minority.With Ramadan set to begin the second week of March, Israeli officials have expressed worries that the sensitive period could amplify tensions stemming from Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has sparked worldwide Muslim anger toward the Jewish state.Last week, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar reportedly warned that the curbs could spark an angry backlash among Arab Israelis and play into the hands of Hamas, while Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was said to raise legal objections to the measure.War cabinet minister Benny Gantz said Wednesday the war cabinet was united in only seeking restrictions on specific individuals who are deemed dangerous, and “not on those who come to pray.” He added that Arab Israelis “are an integral part of Israeli society” who must enjoy equal rights.Earlier this month, a US official and an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that the Biden administration is highly concerned that Ben Gvir will try and spark tensions at the Temple Mount during Ramadan next month, in what Washington fears could drag the flashpoint issue of Jerusalem into the ongoing Middle East conflict that it’s seeking to contain.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
US: Israel assured us it wants a diplomatic solution-IDF chief warns Hezbollah to pay ‘very high price,’ as fresh barrage fired at north-Terror group claims to target base in Western Galilee, as Halevi visits area; dramatic footage shows moment rockets strikes highway, meters from motorists-By Emanuel Fabian-27 February 2024, 9:28 pmUpdated at 9:38 pm
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned on Tuesday that Hezbollah would “pay a very high price” for its continued attacks on northern Israel, as the terror group launched a new barrage of rockets at the Western Galilee while the army’s top general was touring the area.The volley of rockets came hours after dozens of projectiles were fired by Hezbollah at a sensitive military site in northern Israel, as the terror group continued attacks in response to strikes deep inside Lebanon a day earlier.“Hezbollah decided on October 7th, in the evening, that it is joining. For that it must pay a very high price,” Halevi said during an assessment in northern Israel, with the chief of the Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and the commander of the 146th Division, Brig. Gen. Yisrael Shomer.Halevi said the IDF was “taking the right steps” to enable some 80,000 displaced Israelis from Lebanon border communities to return to their homes. He said that as a result of the IDF’s actions, “Hezbollah is no longer close to the fence.”“I think that if we do the right thing, [the residents] will return first of all because of the security. To bring the people back here with security and quality of life, the state will know how to make an effort,” he added.A barrage of some 20 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee on Tuesday afternoon, according to the IDF, with Hezbollah claiming to have targeted the 146th Division’s base, which is tasked with the area Halevi visited.It was unlikely Hezbollah knew the army chief was touring the area when it launched its attack on the base, as the visit was only published hours later and the terror group made no mention of Halevi in its statements.Footage from the rocket attack posted to social media showed rockets impacting close to motorists on a highway in northern Israel.The clip showed a group of people driving on Route 89 in the Western Galilee, as rockets slammed into the road just a few dozen meters in front of them.Footage shows rockets impacting close to motorists on a highway in northern Israel earlier, following a barrage launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/ZrpEzgBP5Q— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 27, 2024-The barrage set off sirens in the communities of Manot, Admit, Avdon, Yaara, Arab al-Aramshe, Hanita, Eilon, Goren, Neveh Ziv, Klil, Abu Snan, Yarka and Amka.The Iron Dome air defense system intercepted projectiles that were heading toward populated areas.There were no reports of injuries.Amid the escalation, the US State Department said on Tuesday that the US does not want to see tensions rise further between Israel and Hezbollah, adding that Israel has assured Washington it wants a diplomatic solution to the issue.Speaking at a daily news briefing, department spokesperson Matthew Miller said tens of thousands of Israelis in the north faced a real security threat which needed to be addressed and Washington was pursuing a diplomatic path to resolve the issue.“We do not want to see either side escalate the conflict in the north and in fact,” Miller said.On Tuesday morning, Hezbollah fired a barrage of some 35 rockets at northern Israel, in what it said was an attack on an air traffic control base atop Mount Meron, in response to Israeli airstrikes on Monday near northeast Lebanon’s Baalbek — the deepest confirmed attacks in years — that killed two members of the terror group.The IDF said no damage was caused to the base, which is located some eight kilometers (5 miles) from the Lebanon border, in the morning attack.Later in the day, Hezbollah again targeted the air traffic control base. In a statement, the terror group said it fired anti-tank missiles at the base at around 3:45 p.m., causing damage.The IDF in the evening hours acknowledged that a missile struck the base, but said that “there was no damage to the site’s capabilities.”The Mount Meron air traffic control base has been targeted by Hezbollah several times amid the ongoing war, with slight damage caused in one of the attacks.The IDF added on Tuesday evening that it was striking Hezbollah sites in Lebanon in response to the missile attack and the barrage of 20 rockets on the Western Galilee.The latest exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group marked a significant escalation of violence in the already restive northern border region, uncorking fresh war fears after months of steadily rising tensions that have largely been kept in check.Hezbollah had previously responded to the Israeli strike in Baalbek with a barrage of 60 Katyusha rockets at the Golan Heights on Monday afternoon. There were no reports of damage or injuries in the attack.Earlier Monday, Hezbollah downed an Israeli Air Force drone, an Elbit Hermes 450 model, over the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon with a surface-to-air missile. The drones are used by the IAF for surveillance and attacks.In response to the Monday incident, the IDF said it launched the strikes on Hezbollah’s air defense unit near Baalbek, nearly 100 kilometers (more than 62 miles) from the border.In addition to the unprecedented strikes in Baalbek, the IDF said it eliminated a senior Hezbollah commander, Hassan Hussein Salami, in an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Monday.Salami, whose rank is equivalent to a brigade commander, was targeted while driving in the southern Lebanon village of Majadel. The IDF said Salami was the commander of a regional unit in Hezbollah and oversaw attacks on IDF troops and Israeli communities in northern Israel.Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it was doing so to support Gaza during the war there.So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in six civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 10 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.Hezbollah has named 219 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 34 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and more than 30 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.Israel has warned that it will no longer tolerate the presence of Hezbollah along the Lebanon frontier, where it could attempt to carry out an attack similar to the massacre committed by Hamas in the south on October 7.A failure of international diplomacy to force Hezbollah away from the border would necessitate an Israeli offensive, the country has said.Reuters contributed to this report
