LONDON, MONTREAL SUBWAYS TRIAL SURVEILLANCE FOR PUBLIC NUISANCE, SUICIDE PREVENTION.

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)

LONDON, MONTREAL SUBWAYS TRIAL SURVEILLANCE FOR PUBLIC NUISANCE, SUICIDE PREVENTION.

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..

Mother, teen son seriously hurt in Hezbollah rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona-15-year-old boy, 47-year-old woman reported in serious condition, taken to hospital by chopper; terror group says attack response to Israeli airstrikes, to support Gazans
By Emanuel Fabian-and Agencies Today, 2:18 pm-FEB 13,24

Two people were seriously wounded when a rocket struck the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Tuesday in an assault claimed by Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.The attack, which came in retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on a Hezbollah site a day earlier, was one of several incidents in which projectiles were fired into northern Israel Tuesday morning, and came hours after France announced a proposal aimed at calming the restive frontier.The Magen David Adom ambulance service said a 15-year-old boy and a 47-year-old woman were in serious condition after being injured by the rocket, which landed on a street in the largely evacuated city.The two, a mother and son according to Hebrew media reports, were evacuated by helicopter to Haifa’s Rambam Hospital, where doctors managed to stabilize them, the medical center said.Hezbollah said the attack came in retaliation for an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Talloussa on Monday, in which at least two members of the Iran-backed terror group were killed.Sirens had sounded in the northern city as the projectiles were fired from Lebanon.Earlier on Tuesday, several rockets fired from Lebanon hit the northern town of Margaliot, though no sirens sounded in the area. Ynet news reported that there were no casualties, though a number of impact sites were identified and some chicken coops sustained damage.Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in six civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of nine IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.Hezbollah has named 193 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 29 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 19 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.On Monday, a Lebanese security source told AFP that a local Hezbollah official was seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon earlier in the day.Hezbollah later announced the death of four of its fighters “on the road to Jerusalem” — the phrase the group has been using to refer to terrorists killed by Israeli fire since hostilities began.Two of the group’s fighters were killed in the Talloussa strike, while it was unclear where the other two were killed.Separately, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian terror group Islamic Jihad whose fighters are present in Lebanon, said two of its members were killed Monday.They died “at the border with occupied Palestine, in the south of Lebanon,” said a statement from the group, which is fighting in Gaza as an ally of Hamas.A handout picture provided by Hezbollah’s media office on Monday showed the terror group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah meeting with Islamic Jihad head Ziad al-Nakhala at an undisclosed location in Lebanon.War erupted in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 250 hostages, mostly civilians. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 360 people were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists.Israel has warned 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 on October 7.Since that date, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, though they have attempted to limit the scope of the attacks in an apparent bid to avoid all-out war.France has delivered a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending the hostilities and settling the disputed Lebanon-Israel frontier, according to a document seen by Reuters this week that calls for Hezbollah and other groups to withdraw 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

US House speaker rips Ukraine, Israel aid package as senators forge ahead on bill-Senate leaders, trying to support US allies, look to vote on $95 million plan despite opposition from Republicans who say it’s lacking on border security; House future uncertain
By STEPHEN GROVES and MARY CLARE JALONICK Today, 11:13 am-FEB 13,24

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson sharply criticized a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other countries late Monday, casting serious doubts about the future of the package just as Senate leaders were slowly muscling it toward a final vote.Senate leaders, trying to send a message that the US remains committed to its allies, were looking to overcome marathon speeches from a determined group of Republican senators and hold a vote to pass the bill in the early morning hours Tuesday.But Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said in a statement the package lacked border security provisions, calling it “silent on the most pressing issue facing our country.”It was the latest — and potentially most consequential — sign of opposition to the aid from House conservatives who have for months demanded that border security policy be included in the package, only to last week reject a bipartisan proposal intended to curb the number of illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border.“Now, in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,” Johnson said. “America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”The mounting opposition was a fresh example of how the Republican Party’s stance on foreign affairs is being transformed under the influence of Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee.Even if the package passes the Senate, as is expected, it faces an uncertain future in the House, where Republicans are more firmly aligned with Trump and deeply skeptical of continuing to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. The bill includes border security provisions and aid to Israel, both of which are largely supported by Republicans, in hopes of overcoming opposition to funds for Kyiv.Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and 17 other GOP senators have provided the votes to ensure the foreign aid package stays on track to clear the Senate, but Johnson has shown no sign he will put the package up for a vote.Support for sending military aid to Ukraine has waned among Republicans, but lawmakers have cast the aid as a direct investment in American interests to ensure global stability.The package would allot roughly $60 billion to Ukraine, and about a third of that would be spent replenishing the US military with the weapons and equipment that are sent to Kyiv.It would also provide $14 billion for Israel’s war with Hamas, $8 billion for Taiwan and partners in the Indo-Pacific to counter China, and $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza.“These are the enormously high stakes of the supplemental package: our security, our values, our democracy,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as he opened the chamber. “It is a down payment for the survival of Western democracy and the survival of American values.”Schumer worked closely with McConnell for months searching for a way to win favor in the House for tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine. But after the carefully negotiated Senate compromise that included border policy collapsed last week, Republicans have been deeply divided on the legislation.Sen. J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, argued that the US should step back from the conflict and help broker an end to the conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He questioned the wisdom of continuing to fuel Ukraine’s defense when Putin appears committed to continuing the conflict for years.“I think it deals with the reality that we’re living in, which is they’re a more powerful country, and it’s their region of the world,” he said.Vance, along with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and other opponents, spent several hours on the floor railing against the aid and complaining about Senate process. They dug in to delay a final vote.“Wish us stamina. We fight for you. We stand with America,” Paul posted on social media as he and other senators prepared to occupy the floor as long as they could.Paul defended his delays, saying “the American people need to know there was opposition to this.”But bowing to Russia is a prospect some Republicans warned would be a dangerous move that puts Americans at risk. In an unusually raw back-and-forth, GOP senators who support the aid challenged some of the opponents directly on the floor.North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis angrily rebutted some of their arguments, noting that the money would only help Ukraine for less than a year and that much of it would go to replenishing US military stocks.“Why am I so focused on this vote?” Tillis said. “Because I don’t want to be on the pages of history that we will regret if we walk away. You will see the alliance that is supporting Ukraine crumble. You will ultimately see China become emboldened. And I am not going to be on that page of history.”Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., became emotional as he talked about the drudgery of the Senate and spending time away from his family to get little done. “But every so often there are issues that come before us that seem to be the ones that explain why we are here,” he said, his voice cracking.Moran conceded that the cost of the package was heavy for him, but pointed out that if Putin were to attack a NATO member in Europe, the US would be bound by treaty to become directly involved in the conflict.Trump, speaking at a rally Saturday, said that he had once told a NATO ally he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to members that are “delinquent” in their financial and military commitments to the alliance. The former president has led his party away from the foreign policy doctrines of aggressive American involvement overseas and toward an “America First” isolationism.Evoking the slogan, Moran said, “I believe in America first, but unfortunately America first means we have to engage in the world.”Senate supporters of the package have been heartened by the fact that many House Republicans still adamantly want to fund Ukraine’s defense.Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, traveled to Kyiv last week with a bipartisan group that included Reps. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, as well as French Hill, R-Ark., Jason Crow, D-Colo. and Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.Spanberger said the trip underscored to her how Ukraine is still in a fight for its very existence. As the group traveled through Kyiv in armored vehicles, they witnessed signs of an active war, from sandbagged shelters to burned-out cars and memorials to those killed. During a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US lawmakers tried to offer assurances the American people still stood with his country.“He was clear that our continued support is critical to their ability to win the war,” Spanberger said. “It’s critical to their own freedom. And importantly, it’s critical to US national security interests.”The bipartisan group discussed how rarely used procedures could be used to advance the legislation through the House, even without the speaker’s support. But Spanberger called it a “tragedy” that the legislation could still stall despite a majority of lawmakers standing ready to support it.“The fact that the only thing standing in the way is one person who does or doesn’t choose to bring it to the floor,” she said. “The procedure standing in the way of defeating Russia — that’s the part that for me is just untenable.”

Feral dogs from Gaza enter Israel, compounding nature authority’s war woes-Ending 2023 with NIS 150 million deficit, Israel Nature and Parks Authority has one worker in Hamas captivity, 310 serving in the IDF reserves, 118 evacuated from their homes
By Sue Surkes-Today, 8:10 pm-FEB 13,24

Hundreds of feral dogs have entered Israel from the Gaza Strip since the start of the war against Hamas, but the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is almost powerless to do anything about it without a green light from the ministries of agriculture and environmental protection, INPA chief scientist Dr. Yehoshua Shkedy said Monday.On October 7, thousands of Hamas terrorists broke through the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip, killed 1,200, mostly civilians, and abducted 253 back to the enclave.Koby Sofer, an INPA inspector for the northern Gaza border area, estimated that 1,000 canines had entered Israel since then. He cited reports of packs trying to hunt gazelles and frightening soldiers.At this stage, given the current absence of rabies in Gaza, the dogs are not thought to be infected, Shkedy said, but they could be dangerous.Four years ago, a Bedouin toddler in the Negev in southern Israel — where there is a massive feral dog problem — died after being bitten by a stray dog.The INPA is permitted to cull feral dogs within nature reserves and a 500-meter (1,640-foot) radius around them.Along the Gaza border, however, the nature reserves are small.The INPA has asked Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman to secure the Agriculture Ministry’s agreement to grant a permit to cull the dogs outside of those limits.When inspectors were able to catch a feral dog, they handed it over to the nearest local authority, Shkedy added.The influx of dogs was just one negative impact of the war, INPA officials told journalists at a conference on Monday.CEO Raya Shourky said Ohad Yahalomi, a veteran INPA employee, responsible for patrols in southern Israel, was believed to be in Hamas captivity.Among a total workforce of 1,300, 310 employees had been called up to the IDF reserves, 118 had been evacuated from their homes, and 19 INPA sites were still closed to the public. Around 80,000 soldiers and residents of evacuated communities had been hosted at no cost to them in national parks and nature reserves since the start of the war, Shourky added.Overseas tourism dried up after October 7.Shourky said the authority finished 2023 with a NIS 150 million ($41 million) deficit, forcing her to freeze tenders, limit overtime pay and fire more than 500 seasonal staff.Both Shourky and Shkedy bemoaned extensive damage to open spaces in the north and south of the country caused by heavy IDF vehicles, as well as projectiles fired from Gaza by Hamas and from Lebanon by the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.Waste left behind by the IDF, close to the Gaza border, southern Israel. (Amnon Ziv)-The army had left piles of waste behind in many places, even though things were improving, they said. Projects such as the cutting of new roads for tanks along the Dishon and Aviv riverbeds in northern Israel had not only damaged ecosystems but left piles of rubble. Areas of Mount Hermon in the far north of the country had also been harmed.Shkedy said he was “most frightened” about what would happen after the war, with the creation of new military bases in the north and additional military posts along the Gaza border, along with all the infrastructure that would be needed.He feared new construction on open space adjacent to communities that were worst hit by the Hamas onslaught on October 7, and the increased noise, light and entry of alien species that would result.A handout photo of dead gazelles discovered in an agricultural area close to the Gaza border, January 21, 2024. (Koby Soffer/Israel Nature and Parks Authority)-Since October 7, 16 wild creatures  died of poisoning, compared with six during the same period last year, Shkedy reported. The victims included seven gazelles near the Gaza border, five of them pregnant females.The authority has long pressed the Agriculture Ministry to limit the kind of poisons farmers can buy and to provide stiffer punishments for perpetrators, but to no avail.

South Africa petitions Hague to block Israeli operation against Hamas in Rafah-Pretoria claims offensive could violate the Genocide Convention, in move that comes after ICJ last month refused South Africa’s request to order unilateral ceasefire
By Jeremy Sharon-Today, 7:33 pm-FEB 13,24

South Africa petitioned the International Court of Justice for a second time on Monday to halt Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, specifically seeking an order by the court to stop a looming assault against Hamas battalions in the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah.In a submission, the South African government said it was “gravely concerned” that the offensive in Rafah could violate the Genocide Convention and asked the court to consider issuing additional provisional measures against Israel to stop the operation.The IDF is preparing to stage an assault against the four largely intact Hamas battalions situated in the city, which sits along Gaza’s border with Egypt, and has already begun airstrikes and other attacks against the terror group. Israel also believes senior Hamas leaders are present in Rafah, or below it in Hamas’s military tunnel system, along with Israeli hostages the terror group is holding captive.In December, South Africa filed an application to the ICJ requesting it order Israel to unilaterally hold its fire against Hamas. Although the court found “plausibility” that Israel may have violated some terms of the Genocide Convention, it did not order Israel to halt its campaign, essentially rebuffing the notion that Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza.“The South African Government has made an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether the decision announced by Israel to extend its military operations in Rafah, which is the last refuge for surviving people in Gaza, requires that the court uses its power to prevent further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza,” the office of the South African Presidency said in a statement Tuesday.The statement issued by a spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that South Africa was concerned that “an Israeli military offensive against Rafah… has already led to and will result in further large scale killing, harm and destruction,” which it said would constitute “serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention” and the ICJ’s orders issued against Israel in January.The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on the new South African petition.Israel has accused South Africa of acting as the “legal arm of Hamas” through its application to the ICJ, and of hypocrisy for failing to challenge other war crimes in that court, such as those committed by the Assad regime in Syria and by the Houthis in Yemen.On October 22, South Africa Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. A delegation of the Iran-backed Hamas terror group, including senior members of the organization, visited South Africa in December to participate in a ceremony marking ten years since the death of Nelson Mandela.Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have frequently referred to Israel as a “cancer” and called for its destruction, and Tehran has funded, armed and trained Hamas fighters, including in the weeks before the October 7 atrocities committed by Hamas during its invasion of Israel.Earlier in January, Ramaphosa met with Sudanese warlord Mohamed Dagalo, head of the Sudanese rebel militia Rapid Support Forces, which US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the ongoing Sudanese civil war back in December.

No words to describe our joy’: Rescued hostages hail special forces who saved them-‘You called us diamonds, but you are the diamonds in the crown,’ says Louis Har, who was freed with Fernando Marman; relative says they never received meds, despite Qatar’s promise-By ToI Staff Today, 7:07 pm-FEB 13,24

The two hostages rescued in a daring overnight operation in Rafah on Monday expressed their profound gratitude to the special forces that worked to free them, in a recorded message from the hospital aired on Channel 12.Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued in a complex overnight operation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city.They were being treated at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan and have been listed in stable condition.Sitting alongside their spouses Tuesday, Har said in a message to his rescuers that he’s thankful for “every hug, every word you said to us… that wrapped us in affection and the feeling that we were home.”“There are no words to describe the feelings of joy that you have brought us home to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We felt our nation in your hands,” he said.“You called us diamonds, but you are the diamonds in the crown, a thousand thank yous,” Har said.Marman appeared to try to overcome emotion as he said, “I want to thank you. When I saw you, I felt the most safe in the world.”On Tuesday, Maayan Sigal-Koren told Army Radio that Har, who is her mother’s partner, was sent a hearing aid, glasses and medication, but never received them, despite a Qatar-brokered deal that was supposed to see this happen.Har has diabetes and hypertension for which he needs medication, among other conditions, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group supporting the families of the hostages.Sigal-Koren said the fact that Har didn’t have his meds compounded the challenges of captivity. “It added to other difficulties there, the psychological difficulties, the difficulty that his freedom was taken away,” she said.The Qatar- and France-mediated deal was meant to provide a three-month supply of medications for 45 of the hostages. Qatar announced nearly a month ago that the medications had arrived in Gaza, but there was never any confirmation that they had reached the hostages.Marman and Har’s long-planned rescue — only the second time that Israel has managed to successfully free captives by force since October 7 — came as a rare bright spot after four months of war that has seen troops sweep through a devastated Gaza, with international pressure growing daily for an end to the fighting.The pair were both abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on the morning of October 7, among 253 hostages kidnapped, as thousands of Hamas-led terrorists from Gaza stormed through southern Israel, massacring some 1,200 people and carrying out other atrocities against mostly civilian victims.“The diamonds are in our hands,” a member of the special forces could be heard calling over the radio in footage of the rescue released Monday.The call came at 1:50 a.m., approximately one minute after members of the Shin Bet security agency and the police’s elite Yamam counterterrorism unit used explosives to breach a second-floor apartment where the pair were being held and killed three terrorists guarding them.“The hostages are in our hands. There is gunfire against the force,” an officer can also be heard saying over the radio.The Haaretz newspaper quoted a commander from Yamam as saying that the two hostages were taken out of the building using ropes to avoid detection on the street outside.He said that the men were shocked at first by the explosions used to breach the apartment where they were being held, but “recovered quickly” and tried to aid their rescue as much as they could.They were hustled into armored vehicles to a makeshift helipad deep inside Gaza, then transferred to a military helicopter that brought them to Sheba Medical Center, wrapping up the entire operation within an hour.Footage from one of the APCs shortly after the rescue showed Shayetet 13 commandos asking Marman and Har how they were.“In shock,” one replied.“Do you feel good?” an officer asked Har, who responded: “Excellent.”The naval commandos gave the pair coats to wear before they headed out to the helipad. One of the soldiers also gave Har his own shoes, as Har was extracted barefoot, and could be seen tying the shoelaces for the former captive in the video.The soldiers also offered water bottles to the pair and asked if they needed blankets for warmth, which they refused.Har and Marman were taken hostage along with Clara Marman, 62, who is Marman’s sister and Har’s partner, their other sister Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and Gabriela’s daughter, Mia Leimberg, 17.The women and teenager were freed on November 28 as part of the weeklong truce deal that secured the release of 105 of the 253 hostages taken on October 7.Mia Leimberg gained particular attention after it emerged that she had had her pet dog Bella with her for the duration of her captivity.Marman, his sister Gabriela and her daughter Mia were visiting the kibbutz for the Simhat Torah holiday weekend.The extended family of five was hiding in their safe room that morning, trying to keep the heavy door jammed shut with a chair. When the terrorists broke into the home and ordered them out of the room, they were sure they were about to be killed.It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, including in Monday’s operation, and the bodies of 11 hostages have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 29 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively, as well as the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014.AP contributed to this report.

Families of Israeli hostages to file war crimes complaint against Hamas in The Hague-Some 100 relatives of Israelis held in Gaza will submit charges of kidnapping, sexual violence, torture and other allegations to the International Criminal Court on Wednesday
By Jeremy Sharon-Today, 4:45 pm-FEB 13,24

Some 100 family members of Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza are set to file a complaint of war crimes Wednesday against the leaders of the terror organization at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.Over the past four months, lawyers for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which is representing the hostages’ relatives, have prepared a legal submission demanding that arrest warrants be issued against the Hamas leadership for the October 7 atrocities.Several dozen lawyers together with around 100 representatives of the families of the hostages will file the complaint, while the forum says it expects several thousand Dutch Jews to turn up at the ICC for the submission.It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas during its savage October 7 assault remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops, and the bodies of 11 hostages have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.The complaint will include charges against Hamas leaders of “kidnapping, crimes of sexual violence, torture and other serious allegations,” the forum said in a statement to the press.Work on the submission to the ICC was led by Dr. Shelly Aviv Yeini of the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions at the University of Haifa along with attorney Yuval Sasson from the Meitar Law Offices firm, which assigned several dozen lawyers to help draft the complaint.The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights also participated in preparing the submission.The forum said that the “short-term goal” of the complaint was to obtain arrest warrants against Hamas leaders, which, it added, would “exert significant pressure to have the remaining hostages freed and serve as a mechanism for bringing about justice to the victims and their families.”Prof. Robbie Sabel of the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University noted that the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Kahn, has already stated that he is carrying out an investigation into Hamas’s actions, as well as Israel’s military operation in Gaza.But he added that the submission by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum could help further advance the investigation into Hamas.“If further evidence can be presented to the ICC then this may encourage the prosecutor to advance the investigation,” said Sabel. “The more information he has the more pressure there is to advance the investigation.”Sabel said that Khan has “a reputation for being a fair and reasonable lawyer” but added that he was “of course subject to public pressure.”He also cautioned that it typically takes a significant period of time for the ICC to issue arrest warrants after a complaint is filed.The ICC can prosecute individuals for serious violations of the Geneva Conventions that amount to war crimes, based on complaints submitted by international organizations, individuals, or parties to the court, while the court itself can also initiate examinations and investigations into possible violations of the laws of armed conflict.In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for children’s rights in the Office of the President, for the war crimes of the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied Ukraine to the Russian Federation, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.The Palestinian Authority accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in 2015, giving the court jurisdiction over Palestinian citizens in Palestinian territories, including Gaza. Israel has not ratified the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, and therefore sees itself as not subject to the court’s jurisdiction.

Senior Hamas official involved in West Bank attacks nabbed in Jenin raid-Omar Fayed, identified as a head of terror group’s military infrastructure, allegedly participated in recent shootings at IDF soldiers, planned further assaults-By ToI Staff Today, 4:29 pm-FEB 13,24

A senior Hamas official was arrested during an Israeli operation in the West Bank Palestinian city of Jenin, the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Police, and Shin Bet security service said.According to a joint statement, IDF reservists, Border Police officers, and Shin Bet officers arrested Omar Fayed, one of the heads of Hamas’s military infrastructure, during a joint operation.Fayed has been involved in a number of recent shooting attacks on IDF soldiers and planning other attacks, the statement said.Two members of the security forces were lightly wounded in the operation, the statement said, without elaborating.Violence in the West Bank has soared since October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst into Israel from Gaza by land, air, and sea in a shock assault in which they massacred more than 1,200 people and seized some 253 hostages. In response to the attack, the deadliest in the country’s history, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas from the Gaza Strip, where the terror group has ruled since 2007, and return the hostages.Since the beginning of the war, 3,050 suspects have been arrested in the West Bank, 1,350 of whom are affiliated with Hamas, the IDF said. Israeli Security Forces Arrest Omar #Fayed, One of the Senior Officials of the #Hamas Military Wing, #Jenin, #West #Bank https://t.co/7khyvpBbcg pic.twitter.com/47GirxxAxq— TRACTerrorism (@TracTerrorism) February 13, 2024-According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, some 300 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time.Based on military estimates, the vast majority of those killed since October 7 were shot during clashes amid arrest raids, and many of them, according to data seen by The Times of Israel, were armed with either a firearm or an explosive device.The IDF is aware of at least three cases of uninvolved Palestinians being killed by troops in recent months, and a handful of cases of settlers killing Palestinians, which are still under investigation.

NY Times: Tunnel under Al-Shifa Hospital used by Hamas ‘for cover, weapons storage’Citing classified intelligence information, newspaper says tunnel under Gaza’s main hospital was twice as long as IDF has said, had water supply and apparent communications area-By ToI Staff Today, 4:25 pm-FEB 13,24

A tunnel underneath the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City was used extensively by Hamas for military operations and is nearly twice as long as the Israel Defense Forces had revealed, the New York Times reported Tuesday.According to the report, based on classified Israeli intelligence documents the Times reviewed and information made public by the IDF, Hamas “used the hospital for cover, stored weapons inside it, and maintained a hardened tunnel beneath the complex that was supplied with water, power, and air-conditioning.”It said the tunnel was at least 700 feet long, making it twice the length the IDF had publicly revealed. It extended far beyond the hospital, which is Gaza’s main medical complex, likely connecting to the larger tunnel network used by Hamas in Gaza City, and included “underground bunkers, living quarters, and a room that appeared to be wired for computers and communications equipment.”Amid the war on the Palestinian terror group Hamas, Israel has presented evidence to back up long-standing allegations that Hamas used Shifa Hospital as a major operational hub and command center and that the hospital sat atop tunnels housing headquarters for Hamas fighters using patients as shields. The US has previously corroborated the evidence presented by Israel.Israeli forces found the tunnel under the medical center by following ducts that ran from rooftop air-conditioning units connected to the hospital’s electricity supply, the report said. The IDF also discovered the hospital’s water supply was connected to the tunnel.Images obtained by the Times showed the IDF found underground bunkers and living quarters in the subterranean space. In part of the tunnel that lay outside the hospital complex, soldiers found a room that appeared to have the infrastructure needed for computers and communication equipment. That part of the tunnel was not seen in a video released to the public by the IDF, the report said.Israeli troops entered the hospital on November 5, making the medical center a major focus of the Israeli operation against Hamas in Gaza, which was triggered on October 7 when some 3,000 terrorists stormed the border with Israel and unleashed an unprecedented attack on the country’s southern communities, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 253 as hostages in Gaza.  Over half remain as captives.In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas from Gaza and end the group’s 15-year rule, launching an aerial campaign and subsequent ground offensive to meet its goal.Israel claimed before the raid that there was a large Hamas command and control structure under the hospital. It also published footage from the hospital’s own security cameras showing hostages were brought there on the day of the attack.  But critics say the evidence so far does not back the assertion, according to the report.The IDF has said that it was not able to fully explore the booby-trapped tunnel complex under the hospital before it destroyed it. Israeli and Qatari officials, who asked not to be named, told the Times that there was a time constraint due to an approaching temporary weeklong lull negotiated for the end of November. The tunnel was destroyed before the IDF left the hospital on November 24.Though Hamas and Gaza officials have claimed Israel planted evidence, they have not directly refuted Israeli claims, the report noted. US officials, citing their own intelligence assessments, backed the Israeli version. US intelligence agencies obtained information that Hamas fighters had largely evacuated the complex days before Israel’s operation and destroyed documents and electronics as they left, according to an American official in January.Along with Shifa, Israel accuses Hamas of using other hospitals in the Strip for terror purposes.The Times report also clarified that what Israel had said was a tunnel entrance at the Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics was a water storage area constructed in 2016 and cited engineering plans as well as images of the hospital being constructed.The Times said that Shifa has a history of being used by Hamas fighters. In 2008, during a three-week conflict with Israel, a Times reporter saw Hamas fighters in civilian clothing inside the hospital. In 2014, during another bout of fighting with Israel, Hamas terrorists held news conferences at the hospital and used it as a meeting spot with journalists due to it being considered a location safe from assault.After the 2014 conflict ended, Amnesty International reported that Hamas used some abandoned areas of Shifa, “including the outpatients’ clinic area, to detain, interrogate, torture and otherwise ill-treat suspects, even as other parts of the hospital continued to function as a medical center.”Two self-described pro-Palestinian doctors from Norway who had worked in the hospital during the conflict refuted the claims and said at the time there were no Hamas fighters in the hospital.

Israel plans to move Rafah civilians to 15 tent cities along the coast – report-According to Wall Street Journal, Israel showed Egypt a proposal to get civilians out of Gaza’s southern city ahead of ground op; PM’s Office says several plans being discussed
By Lazar Berman-Today, 4:15 pm-FEB 13,24

Amid growing international concern over the Israel Defense Forces’ plans to conquer the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah, Israel has drawn up an evacuation plan for civilians along the coast, according to a Tuesday report.The Wall Street Journal reported that the plan envisions 15 sites containing 25,000 tents each across Gaza, running from the southern edge of Gaza City down to the Al Mawasi area north of Rafah.Israel has presented the plan to Egypt in recent days, the report said.An official in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel that there are several plans under discussion, none of which have been approved yet.Rafah, which sits on the Gaza-Egypt border, is the target of the next IDF offensive, according to Israeli leaders. The US and regional allies have warned of the humanitarian dangers of the IDF moving into the city, in which more than 1 million Gazan refugees are sheltering.Over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to provide “safe passage” for civilians out of Rafah without specifying where the large number of people massed near the border with Egypt would go.Citing Egyptian officials, the WSJ report said that Israel expects the camps, which would include medical facilities, to be funded by the US and Arab partners.Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UNs Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said on Tuesday that it had not been informed of any Israeli evacuation plan and was not a part of it.“Where are you going to evacuate people to, as no place is safe across the Gaza Strip, the north is shattered, riddled with unexploded weapons, it’s pretty much unlivable,” she said.“Enough is enough. Any further escalation would be absolutely apocalyptic.”The United Nations “will not be party” to any forced displacement of Palestinians currently living in Rafah, the spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the previous day.Netanyahu reportedly believes that, in the face of international pressure, Israel only has one month left to complete its operation in Rafah, aimed at dismantling the Hamas terror group’s remaining operational battalions in Gaza.According to a Channel 12 news report, the prime minister recently told the small war cabinet that the operation will need to be completed before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins around March 10.Last week, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Netanyahu had directed the IDF to draft a plan for evacuating the civilians in Rafah so that the operation could move forward.The PMO announcement came amid US warnings that Israel has not conducted the pre-operational planning necessary to ensure that civilians will be kept out of harm’s way and that failure to do so risks “disaster.”On Tuesday German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who will visit Israel on Wednesday, voiced concern about the looming offensive. She said Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorism, but this did not mean the expulsion of the population.The Canadian and British foreign ministers also expressed concern over a Rafah operation on Monday.US President Joe Biden is coming under growing domestic pressure to push Israel on a ceasefire in its war with Hamas, now in its fifth month, though he and other US officials have continued to stand behind Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the terror group’s devastating October 7 offensive.On Tuesday, Biden’s National Security spokesman, John Kirby, stressed that the US “never said that they can’t go into Rafah to remove Hamas. Hamas remains a viable threat to the Israeli people. And the Israelis and the IDF, absolutely, are going to continue operations against their leadership and their infrastructure, as they should. We don’t want to see another October 7.”Rather, Kirby continued, “What we’ve said is we don’t believe that it’s advisable to go in in a major way in Rafah without a proper, executable, effective, and credible plan for the safety of the more than a million Palestinians that are taking refuge in Rafah. They’ve left the north, and they certainly went south out of Khan Younis to try to get out of the fighting. So, Israel has an obligation to make sure that they can protect them.”As Israel was making plans to evacuate civilians from Rafah, senior Israeli officials were in Cairo on Tuesday for talks on a framework that would see the release of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza and achieve an extended truce. Senior officials from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar are also in the Egyptian capital to resume negotiations on a three-phase deal that would include a six-week pause in fighting.An agreement would see respite following four months of war in Gaza triggered by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, when terrorists slaughtered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 253 hostages to Gaza while committing brutal atrocities.In response, Israel launched an extensive military campaign aimed at eliminating the terrorist organization and returning the hostages.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the Palestinian death toll in the Strip since the start of the war has reached 28,064 people. 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 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.Reuters contributed to this report.

France proposes Israel-Lebanon truce deal pushing Hezbollah 10 km from border-Plan, which envisions talks on delineating land border, would leave terror group deep inside UN-mandated buffer zone south of Litani River, but neuter anti-tank missile threat
By Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 8:23 am-FEB 13,24

France has delivered a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending hostilities with Israel and settling the disputed Lebanon-Israel frontier, according to a document seen by Reuters that calls for Hezbollah and other groups to withdraw 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border.The plan, which would allow Hezbollah terrorists to remain well within a UN-mandated buffer zone, aims to end fighting between the Iran-backed group and Israel at the border. The hostilities have run in parallel to the Gaza war and are fueling concern of a ruinous, all-out confrontation.The three-step plan envisages a 10-day process of de-escalation ending with negotiations on the long-unresolved delineation of a land border between Lebanon and Israel.One French diplomatic source said the proposal had been put to the governments of Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah.France has historical ties with Lebanon. It has 20,000 citizens in the country and some 800 troops as part of a UN peacekeeping force.The document, the first written proposal brought to Beirut during weeks of Western mediation, was delivered to top Lebanese state officials including Prime Minister Najib Mikati by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne last week, four senior Lebanese and three French officials said.It declares the aim of preventing a conflict “that risks spiraling out of control” and enforcing “a potential ceasefire, when the conditions are right” and ultimately envisions negotiations on the delineation of the contentious land border between Lebanon and Israel.Hezbollah, which has attacked Israel in support of the Hamas terror group in Gaza, rejects formally negotiating a de-escalation until the war in Gaza ends, a position reiterated by a Hezbollah politician in response to questions for this story.While some details of similar mediation efforts by US Middle East envoy Amos Hochstein have been circulating in recent weeks, the full details of the French written proposal delivered to Lebanon have not previously been reported.Hochstein, who was heavily involved in shepherding talks that culminated in Israel and Lebanon demarcating a maritime border in 2022, has been engaged in shuttle diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon since last month in an effort to prevent an escalation of the conflict.“We made proposals. We are in contact with the Americans and it’s important that we bring together all initiatives and build peace,” Sejourne told a news conference on Monday.The plan proposes Lebanese armed groups and Israel cease military operations against each other, including Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, which have come in retaliation for incessant rocket and anti-tank guided missile attacks on towns, villages and military posts in northern Israel.Several non-state groups, including Palestinian terror groups, have mounted attacks on Israel from south Lebanon during the latest hostilities, though Hezbollah is the dominant power in the area with a fighting force widely seen to outgun the Lebanese army.The Lebanese armed groups would dismantle all premises and facilities close to the frontier, and withdraw combat forces – including Hezbollah’s elite Radwan fighters and military capabilities such as antitank systems – at least 10 kilometers north of the frontier, the document proposes.The proposal would leave Hezbollah fighters much closer to the border than the 30 kilometers (19 mile) withdrawal to Lebanon’s Litani River stipulated in a UN resolution that ended a war with Israel in 2006.But it would put northern Israel out of range of many of Hezbollah’s anti-tank guided missiles.The compromise seen as more palatable to Hezbollah than a retreat to the Litani, as Israel has demanded, one Western diplomat with knowledge of the two-page proposal said.Up to 15,000 Lebanese army troops would be deployed in the border region of south Lebanon, a Hezbollah political stronghold where the group’s fighters have long melted into society at times of calm.Asked about the proposal, senior Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters that the group would not discuss “any matter related to the situation in the south before the halt of the aggression on Gaza.”“The enemy is not in the position to impose conditions,” added Fadlallah, declining to comment on details of the proposal or whether Hezbollah had received it.One of the Lebanese officials said the document brings together ideas discussed in contacts with Western envoys and had been passed on to Hezbollah. French officials told the Lebanese it was not a final paper after Beirut raised objections to parts of it, the Lebanese official said.An Israeli official said such a proposal had been received and was being discussed by the government.Reuters reported last month that Hezbollah had rebuffed ideas suggested by Hochstein, who has been at the heart of the efforts, but that it had also kept the door ajar to diplomacy.Asked for comment on the proposal, a State Department spokesperson said the United States “continues to explore all diplomatic options with our Israeli and Lebanese counterparts to restore calm and avoid escalation.”The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The Lebanese official said several elements prompted concern in Beirut, including the demand armed groups dismantle premises and facilities close to the border, which the official said was vaguely worded and could be used to demand moves against Hezbollah-affiliated civilian institutions.Tens of thousands of people have fled homes on both sides of the border since the fighting began on Oct. 8.So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in six civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of nine IDF soldiers and reservists.Hezbollah has named 193 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, including three killed Monday in an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah site in the south Lebanon village of Tallouseh.Another 29 operatives from other terror groups have been killed in Lebanon, along with a Lebanese soldier, and at least 19 civilians, three of whom were journalists.The strikes from both sides have mostly been contained to areas near the border and Israel and Hezbollah have said they want to avoid all-out war.Numerous Western envoys have visited Beirut to discuss ways to de-escalate the fighting, mostly meeting with Lebanese state officials rather than Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States.One of the Lebanese officials said a French technical delegation returned to Beirut two days after Sejourne’s visit to discuss details, following the Lebanese objections.Another of the Lebanese officials said Beirut had not responded to the proposal, adding that it was neither signed nor dated and was therefore not deemed official enough to warrant a response.10 days to talks-The proposal maps out three steps over 10 days, starting with an end to military operations.Within three days, step two would see Lebanese armed groups withdrawing combat forces from the frontier and Lebanon would initiate the deployment of soldiers in the south. Israel would cease overflights into Lebanese territory.As the third step, within 10 days, Lebanon and Israel would resume negotiations on delimiting the land border “in a gradual way” and with the support of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL.They would also engage in negotiations on a roadmap to ensure the establishment of an area free of any non-state armed groups between the border and the Litani River.Hezbollah has previously signaled it could support the state negotiating a deal with Israel to settle the status of disputed areas at the border to Lebanon’s benefit. In 2022, it backed a deal to delineate a maritime border that ended a long-running dispute and let Beirut lease lucrative offshore natural gas plays.One of the issues to address is financing for the Lebanese army, severely weakened by a severe financial crisis in Lebanon.The proposal calls for an international effort to support the deployment of the Lebanese army with “financing, equipment, training”. It also called for “the socio-economic development of southern Lebanon.”

Cargo is not designated as Israel-destined while en route-Houthi bypass: Quietly, goods forge overland path to Israel via Saudi Arabia, Jordan-Avoiding attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Israel-based firms run trucking routes from the ports of Dubai and Bahrain to Haifa-By Sharon Wrobel-14 February 2024, 12:47 am

The disruption of maritime trade in the Red Sea amid the ongoing assaults by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants on cargo vessels has prompted Israeli freight and logistics firms to bypass the dangerous waters and switch to alternative overland routes to transport goods from the Far East to Israel via Saudi Arabia and Jordan.Israel-based freight forwarder Mentfield Logistics is among the companies involved in establishing a commercial trade route circumventing the Red Sea by sending goods from the ports of Dubai and Bahrain overland on trucks passing through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and ending at Israeli ports. A second Israel-based firm, Trucknet, has also set up such a route.While Jordan has had a peace agreement with Israel since 1994, and the UAE and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords normalizing ties with Israel in 2020, Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel — though some progress has been made in that direction under US auspices.“Ships coming from China and India unload containers in the ports of Bahrain and Dubai, and then the cargo is loaded onto Jordanian trucks and is transferred overland to Israel via the King Hussein border crossing with Jordan, where Israeli trucks await the goods,” Mentfield CEO Omer Izhari told The Times of Israel. “Dozens of trucks a day, not just by us, are facilitating this route to shorten shipping times for goods from textiles to electronics, raw materials for industry, metal pipes, and aluminum.”Izhari explained that the goods, as they make their way through Saudi Arabia and Jordan, are not tracked as Israel-destined or Israeli goods as they are in transit until they get to Haifa port. This procedure, known as transshipment, is often used when there is no direct connection between two ports, and cargo therefore needs to be unloaded from one ship and transferred to another means of freight transportation by road or rail to complete a journey.As commercial ships have come under relentless missile and drone attacks by Houthi terrorists since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the world’s major shipping companies, including Denmark’s Maersk and German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, as well as oil giant BP, have temporarily suspended sending their vessels through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, a key trade route connecting Asia, Israel, and Europe.The Houthis, an Iranian proxy, say the Red Sea strikes are acts in solidarity with the people of Gaza during the ongoing war, which erupted after thousands of Hamas terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages on October 7.The Houthi crisis has forced container vessels heading to Europe from the Far East to divert to a longer route around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, increasing the shipping time of goods by two to four weeks and raising the costs per ship. The attacks on ships in and around the Red Sea have in the past weeks slowed trade between Asia and Europe.Compared to detouring around Africa, “the overland route saves around 20 days, so instead of 50 to 60 days, goods arrive within 20 to 25 days from China to Israel,” said Izhari.The idea of establishing a trade land bridge, connecting Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE from the Persian Gulf to Israel’s seaports, has been touted in recent years to facilitate the movement of goods.The idea gathered pace as business ties in the Middle East began opening up following the 2020 signing of the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered agreement that normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.“In the service that we offer, the goods are destined for Israel, but they go through transit to come to Israel and don’t travel or get tracked as Israeli goods,” said Izhari. “The Saudi government would not allow ‘Israeli goods’ to go through their territories.”“I’m not a politician, I am just a believer in peace, and I am hopeful that a bilateral agreement to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, similar to the Abraham Accords, will happen after the war, because we want to cooperate and work together,” he remarked.Founded 40 years ago as a family business, the Israel-based freight forwarder Mentfield, with a headquarters in the UK, specializes in air, sea, and road freight and provides global supply chain and logistics services including customs clearance. In 2021, Israeli investment fund Legacy Partners bought a 50% stake in Mentfield.The firm operates 31 offices in 11 countries, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, China, Hong Kong, as well as in Jordan, and employs a total of 650 people, of whom 250 work out of Israel.Israeli smart transportation company Trucknet Enterprise is another company that has established an overland route to bypass the Red Sea. Trucknet forged cooperation agreements with Emirati-based counterpart Puretrans FZCO and the Dubai port-operating company DP World to establish a bi-directional overland trade route for the transfer of goods from the Persian Gulf through Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Israel bypassing the Red Sea waterway.“There are dozens of Israeli companies that are collaborating with Dubai, Bahraini, and Jordanian companies to offer this shipping service,” said Izhari.Germany’s container shipper Hapag-Lloyd has also said that it is introducing land transit routes through Saudia Arabia to offer connections from Dubai’s Jebel Ali, Saudi ports Dammam and Jubail on the east coast with Jeddah on the west coast. It also offers a land route that links Jebel Ali with Jordan.Separately, Transportation and Road Safety Minister Miri Regev announced in January that Israel is working on a plan to enable the transfer of goods from India through Abu Dhabi via an overland transportation route to Israel to bypass the Houthi-menaced Red Sea. The overland route is expected to shorten shipping times by 12 days, Regev said.To open up additional alternative routes, Israel is also advancing the planned signing of a civil aviation agreement with Sri Lanka during Regev’s visit to India and Sri Lanka this week.

Hezbollah chief says won’t stop shelling north until Israel ends Gaza ‘aggression’In sixth speech since Oct. 7, Nasrallah dismisses diplomatic attempts to end hostilities on the Lebanon border, claims Lebanese civilians in combat area support his terror group
By Gianluca Pacchiani-Today, 11:38 pm-FEB 13,24

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, said on Tuesday that his terror group’s cross-border shelling into Israel would only end when Israel’s “aggression” on the Gaza Strip stops, and claimed diplomatic efforts so far to bring a halt to hostilities along the border have so far seemed to only benefit Israel.The Iran-backed Hezbollah has been trading fire with the Israeli military across Lebanon’s southern border in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, which launched a devastating assault in Israel on October 7 in which some 1,200 Israelis were massacred and 253 were taken hostage into Gaza.Israel, in response, launched a massive military campaign in Gaza in order to eradicate Hamas’s capabilities, remove it from power and return the hostages.In his Tuesday comments, Nasrallah said his group would only stop its attacks in the north if a full ceasefire was reached for Gaza. “On that day, when the shooting stops in Gaza, we will stop the shooting in the south,” he said in his sixth televised address since October 7.He said many foreign “delegations” had traveled to Beirut with “proposals” to end the hostilities in southern Lebanon, but said they only seemed to “have one goal, which is the security of Israel, the protection of Israel.”The foreign ministers of France, Britain and other countries, as well as senior US envoy Amos Hochstein, have visited Lebanon in recent weeks in an attempt to bring calm to the border.France’s foreign minister delivered a written proposal to Beirut that calls for fighters including Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit to withdraw 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, among other measures, according to a document seen by Reuters.Without specifying the French proposal, Nasrallah said one delegation had “presented a paper as a mediator.”“You read the paper — there’s nothing. There’s Israel’s security,” he said.According to Nasrallah, the plan did not take Hezbollah’s demands into consideration, particularly as regards territorial disputes along the border, which the French delegation suggested tackling at a later date, such as the Sheba Farms and the cross-border town of Ghajar, both currently under Israeli control. “Their priority [of foreign mediators] is Israel’s security,” the terror leader claimed.Vowing that his group would carry on its attacks on Israel, Nasrallah said that “all options are on the table.”“We were hoping that once the ceasefire is declared in Gaza, the attacks would stop in Lebanon. However, [Defense Minister Yoav Gallant] said that this will not be the case, that even if they stop their attacks on Gaza, they will continue to strike Lebanon,” he said, referencing options currently being studied by the IDF to carry out a large-scale operation to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities.“Gallant said he won’t stop, so don’t stop. We won’t stop either,” he warned, adding that Israel will have to evacuate “millions” of residents, and not just those in the north, if the conflict escalates.Nasrallah insisted that military pressure is an effective strategy and that security along the border with Israel since the Second Lebanon War was not guaranteed by Resolution 1701 — the UN Security Council decision that ended the 2006 conflict, which the terror group has violated for years — but rather by Hezbollah’s armed deterrence.“The enemy is not in a position to impose conditions on Lebanon. I call on Lebanese authorities to add new conditions to 1701 rather than implement it,” he said.Earlier Tuesday, a 47-year-old mother and her 15-year-old son were seriously wounded when a rocket struck the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Tuesday in an assault claimed by Hezbollah.The attack came in retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on a Hezbollah site a day earlier and was one of several incidents in which projectiles were fired into northern Israel Tuesday morning.Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in six civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of nine IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.Hezbollah has named 193 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 29 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 19 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.Reuters contributed to this report.

IDF chief: Military achievements in Gaza are considerable but still a ‘long way to go’Halevi says IDF launches special op ‘every week’ to try and save hostages, will work to evacuate Rafah of civilians before offensive-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 10:39 pm-FEB 13,24

The Israel Defense Forces’ achievements in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip are greater than it had expected at this stage, but are still not enough to complete the campaign’s goals, the army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Tuesday.“We have been fighting for about four months and there is still a way to go,” Halevi said in a press conference from the Gaza border, vowing to continue fighting until the goals are reached.“In the past decades, there has not been an army that maneuvered in an area that is urban and dense, with high [buildings] and [tunnels] below the surface of the ground. IDF soldiers are dealing with this with great success and the military achievements are extraordinary. Unfortunately, there is also a price in casualties,” he added.The IDF has lost 569 soldiers since the beginning of the war on October 7, when Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 253. Of the IDF’s casualties, 231 were killed in the ground invasion in Gaza.Meanwhile, Halevi said, the war was continuing across Gaza in varying levels of intensity. Using the intelligence it gathers, the army is still fighting in the north of the Strip at locations where there is terrorist activity.“We come back for the second and third time to targets, kill more enemies, destroy more terror infrastructures and deepen the achievement,” he said.Responding to a question by The Times of Israel on when Palestinian civilians could return to northern Gaza, from where they were evacuated at the beginning of the ground offensive, Halevi responded that it was not yet safe enough for them to return.He said that at the beginning of the war, there had been some 15,000 Hamas terrorists in the north and that while they and their infrastructure had been mostly cleared, Hamas was still active there “nearly every day.”“We don’t want to create a situation in which the residents of the Gaza Strip mix with the enemy, thus risking their lives. That is why we are still isolating the north of the Strip,” he said.He promised that residents would be allowed to return as soon as the army was sure it had eradicated terrorism in the area.In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, Halevi said, “We are reaching places that the enemy did not imagine we would reach, destroying all the strategic assets of Hamas in a city that was considered the terror capital of the organization.”The chief of staff added that throughout the war, the IDF has killed 10,000 terrorists, including Hamas commanders and leaders, adding that the senior leadership still needed to be targeted.He also said the IDF would work to evacuate civilians from south Gaza’s Rafah before it launched its offensive there.“We know that it is more difficult for us to fight in an environment where there are over a million people and another 10,000 Hamas operatives,” he said.He said he appreciated other countries’ advice on the challenge, but that the IDF has shown that it is capable of targeting enemy forces in such complex environments.As part of the IDF’s activity in the south of the Strip, troops successfully rescued Louis Har and Fernando Marman on Monday, but Halevi said they did not know for certain that the daring rescue operation in southern Gaza’s Rafah would be successful.“Every week, we carry out special operations, while risking [troops’] lives in complex conditions with great uncertainty, to try and return hostages home,” he said. “This time we were successful. There were more operations that did not succeed or failed. We will not stop trying, and we will do it with great responsibility.”He added that the army is determined to bring home the rest of the hostages who are still held captive in Gaza.Asked how the IDF would respond if a truce-for-hostages deal was reached, Halevi said that if the political echelon decides on an agreement, and if the understandings require halting the fighting, the IDF would “know how to return” to the military campaign to dismantle Hamas when that pause ended.Halevi also promised to restore security and residents’ faith in the communities close to Gaza that were targeted on October 7.He said the security situation is “far better” today than it was on the eve of Hamas’s onslaught, and that the major difference was that the enemy was significantly less powerful because the IDF was destroying its capabilities.“We are building a far safer reality,” said Halevi. Residents of the so-called Gaza envelope area, who have been living mostly in hotels for more than four months, will be able to return with security, he promised.

IDF airs footage of Hamas leader Sinwar in Gaza tunnel: ‘We’ll catch him, dead or alive’Army said to identify terror chief, whose back is to camera along with family, by size of his ears and with AI; spokesperson says clip shows Hamas leaders only care for themselves
By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff Today, 10:25 pm-FEB 13,24

The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday released footage of what it said was Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar walking through a Gaza tunnel with several of his family membersIf confirmed, it would be the first time Sinwar has been spotted since he went into hiding ahead of Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari released the footage, as unnamed security officials again leaked to Hebrew media claims that the IDF was closing in on the terror chief. The release of the footage also came as top Israeli, US, Qatari and Egyptian officials were gathered in Cairo for negotiations aimed at reaching an extended truce and hostage deal.The one-minute-long clip, filmed on October 10, features Sinwar in a tunnel underneath the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, walking behind what appears to be his wife along with three of his children, who are led by Sinwar’s brother Ibrahim, according to the IDFSinwar appears healthy, in one piece, carrying a bag and wearing Adidas flipflops. One of his daughters is seen holding a doll.The video was taken from Hamas surveillance footage from the tunnels that was recently retrieved by IDF troops operating in the area.While Sinwar’s back is facing the camera, the IDF was able to identify him by the larger size of the figure’s ears and by using artificial intelligence, Channel 12 reported.An Israeli official told Channel 12 that the authorities are in possession of additional footage of Siwnar, including clips that were filmed more recently.“Every resident of Gaza [can now] see how Hamas leaders live underground and how they don’t think about anything other than themselves, their families and their money,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told the Al Arabiya network ahead of the airing of the footage.“One video or another is not what really matters. What is important is the intelligence that will allow us to reach senior Hamas officials and the hostages. The hunt for Sinwar will not stop until we catch him, dead or alive,” Hagari said in a press conference upon releasing the footage.He also said that earlier this month, troops detained close relatives of senior Hamas military commanders, including Sinwar.Among those detained are the father of Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade; and the son of Husni Hamdan, another senior Hamas commander, Hagari added, “In Shin Bet interrogations, they are providing us with a lot of intelligence.”He said Israeli troops raided the tunnel network seen in the October 10 footage, which is located under a cemetery in the Bani Suheila area of Khan Younis.The tunnels contained “bedrooms of senior Hamas officials and the office of the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade’s Eastern Battalion, from where he directed the attack on October 7,” the IDF spokesman said, adding that the network connects to tunnels where hostages were held, which the IDF published details on in recent weeks.Special forces raided another part of the tunnel, tens of meters belowground, where surveillance camera footage showed “the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the chief murderer Yahya Sinwar, fleeing with his children and one of his wives through the network of tunnels,” Hagari said.“In the footage, which was taken on October 10, at the beginning of the war, he escaped with his family underground to one of the safe accommodation complexes he had built in advance,” he added. “We are determined to capture him, and we will capture him.”“Following searches, we arrived at the compound where he was staying with other senior officials, hiding underground, while the war was going on above him,” Hagari said. “Senior Hamas officials resided in the compound in comfortable conditions. They have food and bathrooms, along with safes with personal funds of millions of shekels and dollars in cash.”The IDF subsequently aired a clip showing troops giving a tour of one of the tunnels where Sinwar, his family and other senior Hamas officials hid during the war.The video shows that the tunnel has two bathrooms, a stocked kitchen, an area to sleep in, and a separate room that the IDF said belonged to Sinwar himself, in which soldiers found a safe with millions in cash.Last week, Channel 12 reported that the security establishment believes Sinwar has been “out of contact” for at least 11 days, not making any contact with Qatari and Egyptian mediators during that period as talks on a possible truce continue.The reason for the disconnect was not clear and could be because he is on the run, engaged in a tactical ruse or simply unable to make contact due to the ongoing communications problems in Gaza.Several decisions were made by Hamas in the past few days without him, though not necessarily ones relating to the hostages deal, Channel 12 said.Kan reported that the Israeli security establishment’s assessment was that Sinwar was not involved in the issuing of Hamas’s response to the Qatari hostage deal framework earlier this week, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed as “delusional.”The IDF reveals footage obtained from the Gaza Strip showing senior Hamas commander Muhammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in a car driving through the major tunnel revealed earlier today by the military. c.twitter.com/PPr0jOSKSp— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 17, 2023-The Hamas response included a clause stating that the deal would be “subject to the approval of the Hamas leadership in Gaza.”Channel 12 reported on Friday that Israel asked the Qatari mediators for Hamas to have a new representative appointed for its final decision-making in the hostage talks.The inability to reach Sinwar has led to slowdowns in the talks, the network said.However, none of the reports regarding Sinwar’s status have been confirmed by either side.In December, the IDF released footage obtained from the Gaza Strip showing senior Hamas commander Muhammed Sinwar, Yahya’s brother, in a car driving through a major tunnel revealed by the military.According to the IDF, the construction of the major tunnel network that was uncovered near the Erez border crossing was led by Muhammed Sinwar. It was the largest-ever Hamas attack tunnel discovered by the military.

WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

 1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
 
ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20  And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21  And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22  And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went
to enquire of the LORD.
23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)

Diplomat says more work needed to reach an agreement-Progress reported toward six-week-long hostage deal as intel chiefs huddle in Cairo-Top officials from Israel, Egypt, Qatar and US discuss truce that reportedly would include guarantees the parties will continue talks toward a permanent ceasefire-By AP and ToI Staff Today, 5:40 pm-FEB 13,24

Israel and Hamas are making progress toward an extended truce and hostage release deal, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the talks, as key meetings were held Tuesday between the sides in the Egyptian capital.A senior Egyptian official said mediators have achieved “relatively significant” progress in the negotiations shortly before Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, CIA chief Bill Burns, Egyptian intel chief Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani met in Cairo to advance the talks further.The Egyptian official said the meeting would focus on “crafting a final draft” of a six-week humanitarian pause, with guarantees that the parties would continue negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire.A Western diplomat in the Egyptian capital also said a six-week deal was on the table but cautioned that more work is still needed to reach an agreement. The diplomat said Tuesday’s meeting would be crucial in bridging the remaining gaps.Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive talks with the media.While the officials did not disclose the precise details of the emerging deal — including how many hostages would be released — the sides have been discussing varying proposals for weeks.Israel reportedly proposed a two-month halt in the fighting in which hostages would be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and top Hamas leaders in Gaza would be allowed to relocate to other countries.Hamas rejected those terms. It laid out a three-phased plan of 45 days each in which the hostages would be released in stages, Israel would free hundreds of imprisoned Palestinians, including senior terrorists, and the war would be wound down with Israel withdrawing its troops. That was viewed as a nonstarter for Israel, which wants to topple Hamas before ending the war.But US President Joe Biden signaled on Monday that a deal might be within reach.“The key elements of the deal are on the table,” Biden said alongside visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II, adding, “There are gaps that remain.” He said the US would do “everything possible” to make an agreement happen.Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was in the midst of his own regional tour pegged at discussing the Israel-Hamas war, visiting Qatar, Syria and Lebanon, where he met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for talks that his office said were aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza.During the meeting with Nasrallah on Saturday, Abdollahian claimed that Iran “absolutely never sought to expand” war in the region,” saying he believes that “war is not the solution.”The terror group said Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah discussed developments in Gaza, the situation in southern Lebanon — where Hezbollah trades fire on a daily basis with Israel across the border — and other fronts on the “axis of resistance.”Talks are moving forward even after Israel intensified its offensive in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have fled to seek shelter from fighting elsewhere. An Israeli hostage rescue mission freed two captives held in the town along the Egyptian border, a raid that killed at least 74 Palestinians according to Hamas health officials, whose figures don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.Israel has made destroying Hamas’s governing and military capabilities and freeing the hostages the main goals of the war, which began when thousands of Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 253 others captive, including women and children. Tens of thousands of Israelis were displaced from destroyed communities.The war has wrought massive destruction in the Gaza Strip, with more than 28,000 people killed, according to Gaza-based Hamas health officials. That figure cannot be independently verified and includes some 10,000 Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 gunmen inside Israel on October 7.

Australia to ban doxxing after pro-Palestinian activists target hundreds of Jews-Details of some 600 people on a private WhatsApp group were leaked online; Jewish community leadership welcomes move as protection against ‘shameful and dangerous practice’
By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 5:31 pm-FEB 13,24

The Australian government said on Tuesday it will outlaw doxxing — the malicious release online of personal or identifying information without the subject’s permission — after pro-Palestinian activists published personal details of hundreds of Jewish people in Australia.Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the proposed laws, which have yet to be drafted, would involve issuing take-down notices to social media platforms and imposing fines for the intimidation tactic.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had asked for legislation to be brought forward as part of a broader reform of privacy laws.“The idea that in Australia someone should be targeted because of their religion… it’s just completely unacceptable,” he said.The government was responding to Nine Entertainment news reports last week that pro-Palestinian activists had published the names, images, professions, and social media accounts of Jewish people working in academia and the creative industries.Pro-Palestinian activists distributed a nearly 900-page transcript that leaked from a private WhatsApp formed last year by Jewish writers, artists, musicians, and academics, Nine newspapers reported last week. The transcript was accompanied by a spreadsheet that contained the names and other personal details of almost 600 people, purportedly the group’s membership.Author Clementine Ford, who was one of several activists who posted links to the leaked information, said that it shouldn’t be considered doxxing.“This chat demonstrated extremely organized moves to punish Palestinian activists and their allies,” Ford posted on Instagram.However, some of those whose details were released have reported they suffered abuse online in the wake of the leak.Dreyfus said the new laws would strengthen Australian protections against hate speech, but provided scant detail about how they would work.“The increasing use of online platforms to harm people through practices like doxxing, the malicious release of their personal information without their permission, is a deeply disturbing development,” Dreyfus, who is Jewish, told reporters.“The recent targeting of members of the Australian Jewish community through those practices like doxxing was shocking but, sadly, this is far from being an isolated incident,” Dreyfus added.There has been an increase in reports of antisemitism in Australia since the Palestinian terror group Hamas’s devastating attack on Israel on October 7 and during the ensuing war.The Australian government’s online safety watchdog defines doxxing, which is also known as “dropping dox” or documents, as the “intentional online exposure of an individual’s identity, private information or personal details without their consent.”Asked for his definition, Dreyfus said doxxing was the “malicious release, publicly, of personal information of people without their consent.”“We live in a vibrant multicultural community which we should strive to protect,” he said.The government’s plan to outlaw doxxing was welcomed by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which represents Australia’s Jewish community.“We look forward to working with the government to ensure the full extent of the harm caused is understood and that the new laws effectively protect Australians from this shameful and dangerous practice,” council president Daniel Aghion said.Monash University cybersecurity expert Nigel Phair applauded the idea of a law against doxxing, but questioned how it could be enforced.“It’s really difficult for policing agencies to police such laws when, really, they just don’t get the access to the data. Really, it’s the social media companies who bear the responsibility,” Phair told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.“Our law enforcement agencies, dare I say, are already swamped with online investigations with the amount of crime that we have online. Adding this to it without any additional resources and the really integrated work with the social media platforms — it just won’t do much,” he added.Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission civil rights organization, said it has launched a campaign calling on the government to immediately introduce anti-doxxing laws.“Governments do not need to wait for someone to be violently attacked, killed or driven to suicide because of this malevolent doxing to act,” Abramovich said in a statement Monday. “We know that people are often inspired to do crazy things when they are radicalized online, and this doxing is dangerous and will have real-world consequences.“The deliberate online targeting and harassment of Australian Jews, akin to digital terrorism, has now reached fever pitch, and it’s clear that these anti-Israel radicals are determined to make our lives a living hell,” he said. “It’s imperative that governments step in and protect the victims who have already been subjected to death threats and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

US CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY
https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/money-and-payments-20220120.pdf

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

MARK OF THE BEAST (engraved microchip in your hand or forehead)

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

REVELATION 16:1-2
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

I KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.)

THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo

THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.

LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

A new way to thwart facial recognition targets surveillance camera sensors-Feb 9, 2024, 11:01 am EST    | Masha Borak

As facial recognition surveillance spreads, researchers and privacy-minded individuals have been trying to come up with ways to thwart the technology, using masks, garish makeup, flamboyant clothing and even wearable face projectors. Chinese researchers have now come up with a way to avoid facial recognition that targets the surveillance camera directly.The new solution could be used in products that need to accomplish a visual task that doesn’t include detecting faces, such as detecting if there is a human around and their posture, Zhu Wenjun, co-author of the paper, told science-focused new site Tech Xplore.“CamPro is more suited to certain specialized cameras, such as those used in smart homes for elderly fall detection, etc.,” Zhu says.The anti-facial recognition technique targets the camera sensor turning it into hardware that is unable to capture the facial features for identification only detecting human activity instead. The solution is called CamPro and scientists from Zhejiang University in China are terming the technique “privacy preservation by birth.”Unlike some of the other hardware-based approaches to thwarting facial recognition which focus on processing images after they were captured by the camera, CamPro targets the images while they are generated by the camera sensors. This makes sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) more resilient to hackers and leaks, a problem that has been plaguing countries such as China at a concerning scale. As more citizens voice privacy concerns, Chinese regulators have been trying to stymie the use of biometrics by businesses.The scientists claim they have tested the solution on ten facial recognition models. According to their findings, CamPro was able to reduce face identification accuracy to 0.3 percent while having little impact on non-sensitive vision applications.The technique relies on adjusting the image signal processor (ISP) which processes images received from an image sensor. Image signal processors are used to convert raw data from an image sensor into an RGB format, making it viewable to humans. They are also used to control camera sensors, for example, adjusting shutters and ISO sensitivity.Zhu’s team, however, has found that image signal processors could be used for preventing facial recognition.“Due to the decoupled design of the image sensor and ISP, ISPs often provide a set of tunable parameters to cater to different sensors,” Zhu says. “CamPro leverages these tunable parameters of the ISP to achieve the functionality of privacy protection.The paper, written by researchers from the Ubiquitous System Security Laboratory, was accepted by the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS) 2024 and pre- published their paper on ArXiv.

Washington legislators vote together to OK biometric age verification for alcohol-Feb 13, 2024, 5:56 pm EST- Jim Nash

Washington State senators have unanimously approved a bill that would allow biometrics to be used for age verification. Its use would be optional for bar owners and imbibers.The legislation must now be taken up by the state’s lower house and, if approved there, signed by the governor. Liquor regulators say bar owners should get more guidance on use of the systems.The Senate’s version (SB 6179) would make it legal to verify a patron’s age using hardware and software that reads fingerprints, palms, irises, faces, voices or other biometrics, the text of the bill specifies. It is not currently illegal to use biometrics for age checks in the state, but the bill could provide greater clarity for businesses, according to the Washington State Standard.The data gathered could not be used for any purpose than the obvious and consumers would have to be told what data is being collected. If it’s to become law, it would have to be signed by the governor by March 7.Biometrics company Wicket is among those that provides face biometrics for authentication at events. The Cleveland Browns football team deployed Wicket systems at alcohol concession stands, for example.

Congressional report advocates inching when miles are needed to curb China AI-Feb 12, 2024, 4:33 pm EST-| Jim Nash

The U.S. government should change how it uses sanctions to curb Chinese aggression, according to a House of Representatives committee.Policies should target problematic industry sectors with blacklists along with organizations that endanger populations internal to China and external, states a report by a select committee on competition about American venture capital and the Chinese Communist Party.For all practical purposes, the report is a call for the U.S. government to end all private-sector investment in foreign biometrics and other forms of AI.More specific, the government needs to stop venture capital firms aiding in any way the development of technologies that are used to threaten U.S. dominance in strategic technology or to oppress minority populations in China. Among facial recognition providers, the report notes GGV’s investment in Megvii, Sequoia Capital China backing Yitu, and Qualcomm Ventures funding of SenseTime.Of course, not only is this a rearguard, and thus capitulatory, policy, it’s supposed to leave a mark on 30 years of U.S. government policy designed to entice domestic businesses to send their manufacturing and jobs to China.In 66 pages, the report doesn’t mention outsourcing or offshoring once, the reason for this mess. There is symmetry in the document, though, in that it doesn’t offer a novel response, either.After 66 pages, the authors of the report offer just two recommendations.First, the U.S. should write laws that bar U.S. investment in blacklisted Chinese companies. The existing laws intended to stop U.S. investment in companies attached to the People’s Liberation Army have done little to change the status quo except to spur China to catch up to the West’s technology base faster than most thought possible.Second: Target specific industry sectors, not just industry giants.No word on how to do that. Given how intertwined the two economies are and the number of small businesses fueling China’s growth, the effort might be like swinging at molecules with a flyswatter.Something has to be done, of course. De-incentivizing venture investment, a theme in this report, is essential, but not in this kind of seat-of-the-pants, reactionary way.But if someone is passing around 66-page reports about how China is an industrial and military threat (and it is), that report should have ideas for disentangling the economies while leaving research to thrive.It should have ideas for creating incentives to bring industries back to the U.S. AI, robotics and metal printing could provide something China cannot: almost real-time, small-lot and greener goods. That would be finally delivering on the promise of IT: mass customization.But the House should go ahead and make VCs the doulas (with doomsday dens in their mansions) of the electronic technology. It’ll keep them away from the controls of the nation.

NADRA and SBP lead collaborative reforms for financial stability in Pakistan-Feb 12, 2024, 12:36 pm EST    | Ghulam Shabir Arain

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) are leading transformative efforts in a strategic collaboration to strengthen Pakistan’s economic resilience. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and NADRA have partnered to extend the tax base through creative data integration, while the SBP has instituted a novel biometric verification requirement for foreign currency transactions above US$500. These recent developments demonstrate a dual-pronged strategy. Together, these efforts represent a comprehensive plan to tackle the country’s economic problems, promote openness, and move it closer to financial stability. NADRA’s role in digitalization-The Chairman of NADRA, Lt. Gen. Muhammad Munir Afsar, is working with FBR to expand Pakistan’s tax base. During a recent meeting with the Islamabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the main focus was on NADRA’s low-cost e-services platform, e-Sahulat, which has more than 17,000 living franchisees. Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President of ICCI, praised NADRA’s digitalization efforts during the conference and advocated for the creation of facilitation desks at ICCI. While acknowledging the burden FBR is placing on current taxpayers, he reaffirmed the business community’s support for expanding the tax base.A NADRA database for service suppliers should be created, according to VP ICCI Faad Waheed, who highlighted the database’s potential to encourage economic activity. A key component of effective citizen services is e-governance, according to Vice President Engineer Azhar ul Islam Zafar. Group Leader ICCI Khalid Iqbal Malik emphasized NADRA’s beneficial influence on international commercial relations while highlighting the organization’s successful foreign digital ID projects. Underscoring the significance of the FPCCI-NADRA collaboration, Zafar Bakhtawari believes it is essential to enabling businesses across the country. This partnership between ICCI and NADRA is a big step towards using technology in Pakistan to boost the country’s economy and implement tax reform.State Bank of Pakistan’s biometric verification mandate-To reduce dollar hoarding, the SBP will now require biometric identification for foreign exchange purchases larger than $500. The decision was considered on January 3, 2024, during a meeting of the SIFC Apex Committee. It contains a $5,000 annual restriction and a $5,000 purchase limit for travel purposes.Apart from the biometric mandate, the SBP has implemented a $10,000 daily purchase limit and a $100,000 annual cap. Notably, to combat illicit foreign exchange transactions, the Federal Investigation Agency will work with SBP and other pertinent agencies.According to a notification in 2021, the SBP first suggested requiring biometric authentication for purchases of $500 or more. The implementation of this will be largely dependent on exchange companies, who will keep copies of identification documents and use biometric verification for transactions over the threshold. These initiatives support the SBP’s overarching plan to counter hoarding and deal with the dollar issue, strengthening regulatory authority and openness in the field of foreign exchange transactions.Comprehensive reforms-To improve economic circumstances and strengthen financial institutions, SBP and NADRA are working together to achieve comprehensive reforms. With SBP placing limits on foreign currency purchases and NADRA requiring biometric identification for large transactions, the main goal is to promote accountability and transparency in financial activities. The joint endeavor seeks to counteract the practice of hoarding dollars and advance a more stable and responsible financial environment. Collaboration between NADRA and the business community-NADRA stressed the importance of working with the business community to improve economic stability during a recent meeting with the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The influential e-Sahulat platform was one of the major projects of NADRA that was highlighted in the discussion. With more than 17,000 active franchisees, this affordable e-services network guarantees safe payment and collection options, officials say. The business community applauded NADRA’s efforts to promote digitization, led by ICCI President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari. The joint goal is to make the most of NADRA’s activities to promote economic growth, provide effective services to the public, and help businesses generate income.Biometric verification and exchange reforms-Purchases of foreign currency are subject to strict regulations from the SBP, including the biometric authentication requirement for each transaction over $500. Declared at the special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) Apex Committee meeting, the SBP’s directive attempts to prevent dollar hoarding and guarantee transparency in currency transactions.In particular, the SBP has lowered the annual cap from $60,000 to $30,000 and decreased the U.S. dollar purchase limit for travel from $10,000 to $5,000. Exchange company purchases of more than $2,000 have to go through PKR accounts. For purchases of U.S. dollars, the central bank has set a $10,000 daily cap and a $100,000 annual limit.This action is a component of larger exchange firm sector changes that aim to improve regulatory oversight, transparency, and documentation. The Exchange Companies Manual was amended with a focus on strict limits on selling foreign currency to individuals, biometric verification for Pakistani nationals, and the retention of identity documents for transactions above $500. The SBP, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and other pertinent law enforcement agencies will work together to look into and stop illicit foreign exchange operations. All of these steps taken together constitute a comprehensive endeavor to regulate the exchange industry, guaranteeing responsibility and tackling problems associated with Pakistan’s ongoing dollar crisis.The government’s response to economic challenges-The Government of Pakistan has stepped up measures to combat dollar hoarding and smuggling in response to a serious scarcity of the currency, realizing that organized criminal organizations have been responsible for significant economic losses. Targeting individuals, organizations, and government officials engaged in illicit economic activity, a thorough crackdown has been launched.With the Pakistani currency appreciating by 3.5 percent vs. the U.S. dollar, this decisive action has produced outstanding results, resulting in a noteworthy gain of Rs11 in a single day. The price of gold per tola (11.66 grams) in Pakistan has reached Rs222,300 due to a 4.5 percent decrease in price, or Rs10,500, as a result of the exchange rate reaching Rs312 versus the dollar in early February.The State Bank and the FIA are working together to take joint action against illicit foreign exchange operations as part of the government’s proactive initiatives. The Director-General of the FIA and the SBP Governor held a high level meeting to discuss a comprehensive plan to capture and prosecute illegal foreign exchange operations and speculators nationwide. SBP and FIA-authorized teams are collaborating to stop illicit foreign exchange activity and speculation while making sure that all applicable regulations are followed.The government highlights that only banks and approved exchange organizations are allowed to conduct foreign exchange business in Pakistan, acknowledging the detrimental effects of illegal foreign exchange activities on the open market exchange rate. The objective of the crackdown is to reduce the difference between open market and interbank exchange rates, maintain currency market stability, and address the economic difficulties brought on by illicit operations and a scarcity of dollars.Enforcement and regulatory measures-A thorough strategy to identify and bring charges against individuals engaged in illegal foreign exchange operations so that reforms can be enforced was a key item in the presentation at FIA and SBP’s high-level meeting.Aiming to reinforce the legal framework governing foreign exchange transactions, the regulatory measures are expected to be approved at the next SIFC meeting. To preserve market integrity and stop illicit activities that have a negative influence on the currency market, these steps are essential. SBP and FIA’s cooperation demonstrates their dedication to implementing these changes for a stronger and more open financial system.The cooperative efforts of NADRA and SBP are essential components of a larger plan intended to strengthen Pakistan’s economic base. A proactive strategy for attaining long-term economic stability is shown in the coordinated efforts of regulatory agencies, financial institutions, and companies to improve openness, accountability, and collaboration. The combination of SBP enforcing reforms and NADRA pushing digitalization is a potential path for Pakistan’s economic growth and resilience.

Worldcoin Foundation announces grant winners-Feb 12, 2024, 11:37 am EST-| Masha Borak

The Worldcoin Foundation has announced the winners of its grant program designed to improve Worldcoin, a project that aims to enroll the world into its digital identity service by scanning people’s irises in exchange for cryptocurrency.The first Worldcoin Community Grants Program, Wave0, will distribute approximately 800,000 of its Worldcoin Tokens (WLD) to the winners, which include 28 projects spanning five continents. Trade publication CoinDesk has valued the total amount of grants at US$5 million.The winning projects pitched solutions for the World ID digital identity applications and protocols, user agents, hardware and operations.Among the grantees are Zanzibar, a project that encrypts biometric scans led by cryptographer David Chaum, Chain Partners, which proposed a hardware development project for Worldcoin’s iris-scanning device the Orb, and IDMaster, which pitched an alternative supply chain for Orbs relying on different hardware vendors. Other winners include companies such as Nethermind, which is building a social-graph-based proof of humanity on top of World ID, and Taceo, which aims to build an MPC-based iris code comparison service.The winners hail from countries such as Belgium, Canada, Czechia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and Uruguay While the announced winners received between 1200 and 185,000 WLD tokens, the Worldcoin Foundation has also promised to give out community grants of up to 5,000 WLD.The Cayman Islands-based non-profit issues the WLD token through its subsidiary World Assets. Alongside Tools for Humanity, the company co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman to develop Worldcoin, the foundation is a part of the complex business structure building the Worldcoin project.The main task of the project is to distribute to each person in the world some of its crypto, a concept inspired by the Universal Basic Income. To achieve this, the company plans to enroll every person in the World ID digital identity by scanning their irises and verifying their “unique personhood” while keeping them anonymous.The initiative, however, has been facing resistance from regulators worldwide, most recently in Hong Kong where the local privacy commissioner raided the company’s office. Governments’ concerns over the collection of biometric data, however, have seemingly not dissuaded people eager to get their hands on some free cryptocurrency with enrollments continuing across the world

London, Montreal subways trial surveillance for public nuisance, suicide prevention-Feb 13, 2024, 4:40 pm EST-| Joel R. McConvey

Public safety initiatives are going underground, as subway systems in the UK and Canada experiment with computer vision camera systems, but no facial recognition, for crime and suicide prevention.Weapons, ‘anti-social behavior’ among alert triggers for Tube pilot
In September 2023, the London Underground concluded a proof of concept at Willesden Green Tube station for an AI-assisted “Smart Station” to provide video analytics and real-time data insights on customer behavior. A final report on the pilot lays out design principles for further iterations of the system and defines use cases and triggers, which range from counting customer entries and exits, to real-time alerts triggered by patrons evading fares, leaning over the tracks, vaping, sitting on benches for too long, or unfolding their e-scooters.Although the partly redacted document specifies that no facial recognition is performed by the Smart Station platform, the pilot led to the testing of additional requirements for the fare evasion use case, including the unblurring of facial images to identify repeat offenders.A report on the program from Wired says municipal transit operator Transport for London (TfL), tested 11 algorithms, which issued more than 44,000 alerts, 19,000 of which were delivered to staff in real time. It also catalogs the expected list of objections and concerns from privacy and consumer advocates, who worry in particular about the accuracy of a system that claims to capture nuanced behavioral biometrics that are prone to misinterpretation.Warning signs tell AI when a Metro patron is likely to commit suicide-A somewhat more altruistic program is testing computer vision and behavioral analytics tools for preventing suicides in Montreal’s Metro system. The CBC reports that the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and researchers from the Center for Suicide Intervention (CRISE) are working on artificial intelligence to scan CCTV footage for signs of people in distress.Machine learning capable of recognizing warning signs can send real-time alerts to operators, who can take steps to mitigate harm. According to Brian Mishara, director of CRISE and a professor of psychology at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), the algorithm can presently identify one out of four people who will attempt suicide, based on their behavioral signals.Mishara says the system is a cheaper alternative to physical barriers or screens, which are still on STM’s wish list, but cost in the millions. The organization says it hopes to implement the AI system within two years.

Corsight exec argues facial recognition can strengthen new UK venue security law-Feb 13, 2024, 3:23 pm EST-| Joel R. McConvey

A proposed UK public security law named for the victim of the 2017 terrorist attack on Manchester Arena is set to undergo public consultation. A government release says Martyn’s Law, aka the Counter Terrorism Protection Bill, will stiffen safety provisions at venues hosting large public events, in honor of Martyn Hett, a 29-year-old UK man killed in the bombing of a concert by the pop singer Arianna Grande.In a piece for TheStadiumBusiness.com, Tony Porter, chief privacy officer at facial intelligence firm Corsight AI, makes the case that Martyn’s Law should embrace the responsible use of facial recognition technology as a crucial tool for improving public safety at mass gatherings. For Porter, the potential inconveniences and privacy risks that come with enhanced biometric security measures are insignificant compared to the damage that an attack like the Manchester bombing can inflict.“So significant are the capabilities and public safety potential within facial recognition to protect people whilst proportionality protecting privacy,” says Porter, “that the debate is no longer whether it should be deployed as a counter terrorism protective measure but how it can be properly delivered within the context of current law at large events.”“A negligible degree of intrusion is often a price worth paying for a safe and confident event in the modern era. That is the real world.”For Porter, the conversation is now about the effective and secure delivery of services. Ultimately, the Corsight AI CPO advises integrity and a commitment to standards from both providers and government partners. “The requisite governance and accountability arrangements should be agreed between the partners and set out in a protocol so that each organization is clear about their responsibilities with details provided as to obligations, expectations, and contingencies,” Porter says.Beyond governance and a pledge to behave, Porter recommends that FRT deployments are clearly justified on legal grounds, use certified equipment, and operate transparently and meticulously with regard to data protection impact and other risk assessment measures.“Apply rigorous safeguards, follow existing guidance, consult widely in cooperation with your partners and work in cooperation with the data regulator,” says Porter. In short, be a good neighbor in biometric technology.Many facial recognition deployments in the entertainment sector have been tied to large events – for instance, in Cardiff, where authorities used face matching algorithms to scan crowds attending concerts by Beyonce and Harry Styles for terrorists and pedophiles. To ensure Martyn’s law does not have a negative effect on smaller businesses, legislators have tiered the law according to venue capacity. Premises with a capacity under 800 will be considered standard, while those above will fall into the “enhanced tier.”The consultation, which addresses changes to standard tier legislation centered on outcomes rather than processes, opens on March 18. UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat is encouraging smaller premises to share their thoughts, declaring that “feedback will help ensure that Martyn’s Law stands the test of time.”

UNDP report reviews crucial role, next steps in building DPI in developing countries-Feb 13, 2024, 3:20 pm EST-| Ayang Macdonald

An assessment conducted by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has highlighted the UN agency’s massive contributions to the buildup of digital public infrastructure (DPI) in low-income countries (LDCs) over the past decade.The 126-page analysis, released last November and presented during the UN’s opening session of 2024, gauges support offered by the UNDP for the digitalization of public services in eight program streams across several thematic areas in many countries of the Global South.Covering the period 2015-2023, the evaluation comes in the early stage of the UNDP’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan and Digital Policy implementation. It is expected that it will inform the UNDP’s programming strategies at the global and country levels.The report notes variations at different levels of digitalisation in many countries either because of the governance system in place or the available digital infrastructure, underlining the difficulty which countries faced when the coronavirus pandemic pushed almost every transaction online.“The evaluation found that UNDP played a crucial role in enhancing digital public infrastructure, which is foundational for digital transformation of public services. Strategic preparedness at the corporate level enabled UNDP to respond swiftly to pandemic-related requirements, ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of public services,” says Isabelle Mercier, director of the IEO.The evaluation highlights the need to properly address data security and digital privacy as a fundamental right, but equally urges the UNDP to address issues of interoperability while also ramping up its support and collaboration in the development of DPI.“UNDP should continue its engagement in digital public infrastructure advancing user-focused design and streamlined digital offerings for key digitalization drivers such as digital legal identity, digital financial services and interoperability,” Mercier recommends.She also argues that additional attention is required for the least developed countries, “where digital ecosystems are in early stages. Further advocacy is needed for data privacy and legal identity management at the country level.”The UNDP is involved in several DPI development projects including the recently launched 50-in-5 initiative which seeks to support 50 countries in the full development of at least one component of their DPI ecosystem by 2028, as well as a fund-raising campaign which targets $400 million to support over 100 countries developing DPI.The UN agency also unveiled a digital ID governance framework at the close of last year.

India envisages additional measures against growing Aadhaar-enabled payments fraud-Feb 13, 2024, 12:42 pm EST    | Ayang Macdonald

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning additional fraud risk management measures after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) warned recently that Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) fraud via cloned fingerprints has taken a dangerous upward tick.In an exchange with Parliament’s standing committee on communications and information technology recently, the ministry said fraudsters were using “dummy fingers or rubber fingers” to illegally withdraw money from AePS accounts, according to Hindustan Times.AePS is a payments system getting increasingly popular in India especially in rural settings. It allows users to access their bank accounts using their Aadhaar biometrics, but without two-factor authentication.The ministry assured that in collaboration with authorities of Aadhaar and those of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), steps were being taken to ensure that the phenomenon sees a drop.The explanation to lawmakers comes after the parliamentary committee had sought information from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on any possible Aadhaar data leakages on the AePS and response measures that had been put in place, if any.The committee was reminded of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI’s) assurances in the past that no data in the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) had been compromised, and that as part of efforts to curb fingerprint cloning fraud on AePS, banks and other financial institutions had been called upon to implement firmer requirements for onboarding Business Correspondent agents. The UIDAI has also committed to introducing biometric liveness detection to AePS to reduce fraud, but its lack was clearly demonstrated by a series of incidents reported late last year.Per Hindustan Times, the parliamentary committee also quizzed MeitY over reports that the biometric data of more than 800 million Indians was in a compromising situation, a report the UIDAI denied saying the source of the said data is not linked to the Aadhaar database. However, MeitY said an incident analysis process was underway in collaboration with other concerned parties, apparently to shed more light on the situation.RBI to tighten onboarding measures relating to AePS-As a way of tackling the fraud problem, India’s central bank has come up with a proposal to revise the onboarding process for Aadhaar service providers, Economic Times of India reports.The RBI is quoted as saying in a regulatory policy statement from its Monetary Policy Committee released recently that the additional measures, to be announced shortly, will include “streamlining the onboarding process, including mandatory due diligence, for AePS touchpoint operators.”It is important to ensure the safety of the system given its growing popularity in rural areas of India, RBI deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said.In a similar vein, the RBI is also looking at using an authenticator app as a replacement for OTPs currently used for AePS authentication. This proposed authentication system will still require the use of a smartphone, writes Economic Times of India in another article.Some stakeholders in the banking sector have hailed the RBI’s move to introduce additional safety and security measures for AePS service onboarding.In the face of the rising AePS fraud, authorities have been pushing for the use of fingerprint liveness detection systems for payments authentication.

Luxembourg plans digital wallet, Bhutan uptake slows, Ukraine expands capabilities-Feb 13, 2024, 12:40 pm EST-| Bianca Gonzalez

Luxembourg has created a digital wallet in the interim until the EU releases its own version. At the same time, Bhutan is seeing a modest uptake of its wallet over the past four months. Ukraine is adding new capabilities to its digital wallet as it considers digital ID solutions for the military.Luxembourg to create digital wallet-Luxembourg Digitalisation Minister Stéphanie Obertin has announced efforts to create a digital wallet – which would include digital ID – for citizens, according to RTL Today. The initiative is intended to be temporarily in place until the EU releases a uniform platform.Citizens can voluntarily participate at no cost. The government will oversee its security.A release date for Luxembourg’s new e-wallet was not disclosed during the session of the Chamber’s digitalisation commission.Bhutan National Digital Identity sees 24K users in four months-Since its launch last year, Bhutan’s self-sovereign National Digital Identity (NDI) digital wallet app has been adopted by over 24,000 users in the four months it has been available. Still, the country has 800,000 citizens, and government officials hope to see more widespread adoption. Its creators consider the app’s issues with biometric verification to explain part of the cause, according to The Bhutan Live.Developed in partnership withGovTech Agency, which facilitates the country’s digital transformation, the NDI app is a secure platform to store and use digital IDs.The digital wallet does not automatically grant access to all government services, rather, agencies can authenticate individuals using the app.The app can be used for passwordless logins for government to citizen services and academic and employee credentials storage. It also integrates with systems such as the Royal University of Bhutan and Druk Holding and Investments (DHI).DHI CTO Jacques Von Benecke explained Bhutan’s adoption plan for its SSI-based digital ID to Biometric Update in an interview last year.Ukraine expands Diia capabilities, consider adding military ID-The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is considering adding a military ID to its Diia state services app, but the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said in a recent interview that it looks unlikely due to the presence of an undisclosed separate project, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.“I can’t give any spoilers yet,” he said. “Let’s just say that there could be a military ID in Diia. However, most likely, there will not be. We are currently working on this project separately.”Fedorov has previously said Diia will not be used to hold elections or issue draft notices, the latter of which is in response to a recent statement from Defense Minister Ruslan Umerov that Ukraine was considering using electronic notifications to invite men to join the military.A number of recent updates have expanded the app’s capabilities. With Diia, Ukrainian military members will soon be able to get married online via video. Patient accounts will also be available in the app, allowing citizens to more easily access information to make doctors appointments and get prescriptions for medicines.

Expansive facial recognition surveillance coming to Hong Kong, Bahrain, South Africa-Geolocation and biometrics combined to find missing Ukrainian children-Feb 12, 2024, 4:48 pm EST-| Joel R. McConvey

The use of facial recognition technology for law enforcement has proven controversial, but not enough to deter authorities around the globe from implementing new FRT schemes to tighten security and fight crime.HK police install 2,000 CCTV cameras, look to add 1000s more-The South China Morning Post reports that in Hong Kong, the Commissioner of Police is promising to draft guidelines for the use of personal information collected by a soon-to-be-installed network of 2,000 CCTV cameras. Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee says the use of facial recognition will not be ruled out for a subset of cases that is still being defined, but that “citizens do not have to worry,” because the police will use the technology lawfully.In Siu’s view, the 2,000 cameras to be installed in 2024 are insufficient for surveillance in a place as densely populated as Hong Kong. He anticipates many more will be added, pointing to as a comparison to Singapore, which has 90,000 operational CCTV cameras.The police’s confident assurances aside, policy experts say the introduction of facial recognition deployed for law enforcement in public places needs a set of guidelines and policies that can be put in place on the same timeline. The SCMP quotes lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, who expresses concern about the risk that AI tech will come into wide use before appropriate legislation can come into effect.“Most importantly, the government needs clear guidelines on the purpose, usage and storage duration of the data collected, while improving its data security systems,” Kong says. Others have called for the encryption and prompt deletion of facial data collected by the network.-Gulf nation seeks ace biometrics providers, wants no scrubs-Bahrain, which has embraced digital ID, is also considering facial recognition as a way to crack down on crime. Zawya reports that government officials for the island nation in the Persian Gulf have approved a proposal for FRT, which now awaits review by the Interior Minister while officials calculate the estimated costs of deployment. The proposal seeks top biometrics providers who can set up testing at airports, ports and other immigration checkpoints, and link their database with government entities.“We are not looking for cheap providers,” says Abdulla Abdullatif, chair of the Southern Municipal Council, in encouraging established biometrics and facial recognition providers to bid on the contract. “We want a system that’s responsible and at the same time effective, something that is similar to the technology highlighted in the popular American television series Person of Interest a few years ago.”While a complex system for predicting terrorist events is a tall ambition, other council members have proposed a pilot that scans a public roadway for traffic violations.South African province launches surveillance camera network-Gauteng, South Africa has launched a network of nearly 7,000 surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition software in an effort to reduce crime, local publication Briefly reports.The network was unveiled by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, with cameras located in townships, suburbs, informal settlements and hostels. The outlet reports a mixed reaction from locals. Lesufi previously suggested he would put a camera with facial recognition on every street, plus 500 drones in the air.A business in Gauteng introduced a biometric offering to reduce car-jackings late last year.Hackathon yields FRT to locate Ukrainian kids abducted by Russia-The use of facial recognition by law enforcement is often interrogated in terms of security crackdowns, but a story from the NL Times offers a glimpse at how the technology can aid in finding missing persons. During a hackathon organized by Dutch police and Europol, participating investigators used satellite images, advanced facial recognition, and geolocation to successfully find eight kids who have been displaced or exploited for Russian propaganda purposes.Speaking to Dutch news outlet AD, Vincent Cillessen of the Dutch police’s International Crimes Team says the expectation was that the hackathon would be a useful way to exchange knowledge, but that the gathering of experts soon figured out a pathway to a practical solution.“We are working with colleagues in Ukraine, and it is now up to the police there to share information with family members and start a criminal investigation into the possible perpetrators,” Cillesen says, adding that he hopes Ukrainian authorities can use the data to help get the children back.Russia has abducted and deported an estimated 20,000 kids since its invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.This post was updated at 11:11am Eastern on February 13, 2024 to include the Gauteng project.