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)
RUSSIA RETALIATES AGAINST UKRAINES LONG RANGE WEAPONS FROM U.S.
WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
The King of Jerusalem[1] was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Crusader state founded by Christian princes in 1099 when the First Crusade took the city.Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, himself refused the title of king, and instead chose the title "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre". Thus, the title of king was only introduced for his successor, King Baldwin I in 1100. The city of Jerusalem was lost in 1187, but the Kingdom of Jerusalem survived (also known as the "Second Kingdom of Jerusalem"), moving its capital to Acre in 1191. The city of Jerusalem was re-captured in the Sixth Crusade, during 1229–39 and 1241–44. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was finally dissolved with the fall of Acre and the end of the Crusades in the Holy Land in 1291.After the Crusader States ceased to exist, the title of King of Jerusalem was claimed by a number of European noble houses descended from the kings of Cyprus or the kings of Naples. The (purely ceremonial) title of King of Jerusalem is currently used by Felipe VI of Spain. It was claimed by Otto von Habsburg as Habsburg pretender, and by the kings of Italy until 1946.
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.
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
toenquire 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)
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)(50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
DR SAMUEL DOCTORIANS VISION - SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] 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. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons 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. Water shall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries."The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
DANIEL CHAPTER 9:24-27 EXPLAINED.
24 Seventy weeks (70X7=490 YEARS) are determined upon thy people (ISRAEL) and upon thy holy city,(JERUSALEM) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.(JESUS ANNOINTED WITH HOLY OIL AS KING OF JERUSALEM FOREVER).
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, (7X7=49 YEARS) and threescore and two weeks:(62X7=434 YEARS) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.(490-49-434=7 YR PERIOD WERE GOD DEALS WITH ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM (NOT THE CHURCH-THE TRUE CHURCH IS IS IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS FOR THAT LAST 7 YEAR PERIOD.)(DANIEL 9:26-27 IS IN THE FUTURE WHEN GOD DEALS ON EARTH WITH ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM FOR THAT FINAL 7 TEAR PERIOD. WHEN ALL OF ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED BY MESSIAH JESUS.)(AT THE END OF IT)
26 And after threescore and two weeks (69X7=483 YEARS)(ONE 7 YEAR PERIOD UNTIL PROPHECY IS FULFILLED) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince (ROMANS) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(2ND TEMPLE AND JERUSALEM) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(NOW THE FINAL ISRAEL-JERUSALEM COUNTDOWN FOR MESSIAH JESUS RETURN THE LAST 7 YEARS)
27 And he (HE WHO? HE HERE IS THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE LEADER THAT MAKES THE FINAL 7 YR CONTRACT WITH ISRAEL AND MANY MUSLIM COUNTRIES FOR A 7 YR PERIOD, AND THE EU WILL GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY FOR THIS LAST PERIOD) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week (3 1/2 YEARS IN) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, (THIS FALSE MESSIAH OR ROMAN LEADER STOPS THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE 3RD TEMPLE AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE 7 YR DEAL. A JEW MURDERS HIM WITH A SWORD WOUND AND HE HAS A FALSE RESSURECTION-SATAN INCARNATES IN HIS BODY. AND BRINGS HIM BACK TO LIFE.AND HE THEN SITS IN THE 3RD TEMPLE CALLING HIMSELF GOD AS THE WORLD SAYS HES JESUS REINCARNATED. AND BY THIS FALSE RESURRECTION GOD SENDS THIS STRONG DELUTION ON THE EARTH THAT ALL THE LOST WILL WORSHIP THIS ROMAN LEADER AS GOD AND ACCEPT HIS NAME, NUMBER OR NUMBER OF HIS NAME IN THEIR MICROCHIP IMPLANT. THAT THEY MIGHT BE DOOMED, DAMNED TO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER. WHO WORSHIPS THIS ROMAN LEADER AS GOD.) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(WARS NON STOP DURING THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR PERIOD. HAMAS DEATH CULT HOSTAGE RELEASE.
US envoy Hochstein meets PM, FM and IDF chief-Defense official says major chance for Lebanon truce after US envoy visits for talks-Lebanese source says Beirut seeking changes to US-backed ceasefire proposal; according to Israeli defense official, deal with Hamas also seems possible for first time in a while-By Emanuel Fabian and Reuters Today, 5:45 am-NOV 22,24
There is a substantial chance of Israel reaching a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, a senior Israeli defense official told reporters Thursday, saying that a US-backed agreement that would see Hezbollah gradually withdraw north of the Litani River and the Lebanese Army retake responsibility for southern Lebanon is in reach.US special envoy Amos Hochstein was in Israel Thursday meeting separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz along with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, to discuss the ceasefire negotiations.Hochstein held meetings with the Lebanese side in recent days and said that “additional progress” had been made.Under the potential ceasefire, the Lebanese Army would be responsible for preventing Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in southern Lebanon.According to the defense official, if Israel sees Hezbollah attempting to rebuild infrastructure in southern Lebanon, it would notify the Lebanese Army via the US to act against the terror group. If no action is taken by the Lebanese Army, Israel reserves the right to act, the official said.The official added that the IDF will also maintain the right to act to thwart any immediate threat, such as identifying Hezbollah operatives preparing to carry out an attack or a weapons shipment destined for the terror group.Lebanese civilians will be able to return to their damaged villages in southern Lebanon under the potential agreement, and Israel does not plan to hold on to a security zone in southern Lebanon. Instead, Israel says it will act against any Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon as necessary, either directly or by notifying the Lebanese Army via the US.The UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, will likely still have a presence in southern Lebanon after a potential ceasefire is signed, though Israel does not see it as an important player in enforcing the removal of Hezbollah.Following Hochstein’s meetings in Israel, US officials told Channel 12 news that they acknowledged that gaps remained between the sides, but insisted the sides were nearing a deal and could seal an agreement within days.A senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut wants changes to the US proposal to ensure a speedier withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon and to give both parties the right to self-defense.Lebanese officials requested the changes during meetings in Beirut this week with Hochstein. The amendments sought by Lebanon, details of which have not previously been reported, indicate Hochstein still has work to do to seal a ceasefire agreement which he said was “within our grasp” during a visit to Beirut on Tuesday.The Lebanese official said that Lebanon wanted to see Israeli troops “withdraw immediately after the ceasefire is declared so the Lebanese army can deploy in all areas” and so displaced people could return to their homes.The official added that the Israeli position was a withdrawal within 60 days of the truce being announced.A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately respond to questions about Israel’s stance on the language of the truce deal.Israel sent ground forces into south Lebanon on October 1 as part of its stepped-up offensive against Hezbollah, which began targeting northern communities and military posts a day after the Hamas terror onslaught in October 2023 that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.The official said the current draft deal referred to a pull-out from “Lebanese borders” while Lebanon wanted a specific referral to “the Lebanese border” to ensure that Israeli troops would withdraw from the frontier in full, not in part.Lebanon has also sought language in the proposal that would preserve the right of both sides “to self-defense,” the Lebanese official said, without elaborating.The Lebanese official said there was no language in the US draft deal on Israel continuing its strikes against Hezbollah and that Lebanon rejected any breach of its sovereignty.Official says Hamas showing openness to deal-The senior Israeli defense official briefing reporters Thursday also said that after months of impasse, for the first time in a long while there is a good chance of reaching a hostage deal with Hamas.The Gaza-ruling terror group is under a lot of pressure but refuses to surrender, the official said, adding that the terror group is potentially interested in a deal.The official said Israel is closer to reaching a deal due to a change in Hamas’s position.Hamas is ready to agree to a deal that doesn’t include announcing an official end to the war in the Gaza Strip, according to the official.The potential deal will include a first-stage 42-day ceasefire, in which several hostages will be released-Hours later, a member of Israel’s negotiating team told the Kan public broadcaster that the claims made by the senior defense official in a briefing with reporters were inaccurate. Kan’s source added that he has no idea what the anonymous briefer was talking about and that no such optimism exists among those actually involved in the negotiations.It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Man killed in Nahariya rocket barrage as US envoy comes to Jerusalem for truce talks-Medics say Braen Direktor, 27, was killed by shrapnel as he took cover; IDF strikes on Beirut and Tyre after US envoy leaves Lebanese capital to meet with Netanyahu-By Emanuel Fabian and Agencies 21 November 2024, 4:30 pm
A 27-year-old man was killed by a barrage of rockets on the northern city of Nahariya on Thursday as the US special envoy to the region held meetings with Israeli leaders in hopes of securing a ceasefire to end fighting with the Hezbollah terror group.In Lebanon, airstrikes hit a Beirut suburb and other areas, including the coastal city of Tyre, and the Israel Defense Forces warned civilians in both places of more strikes to come.The strikes came hours after US envoy Amos Hochstein left Lebanon for Israel, where he brought high hopes for a long-sought deal to a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday morning. He was scheduled to meet later Thursday with Defense Minister Israel Katz.With fighting continuing for now, Hezbollah launched at least two dozen rockets into Israel’s north in a series of attacks, including a late morning bombardment in which at least 10 rockets were launched toward the northern coastal city of Nahariya, according to the IDF.Medics said shrapnel from one rocket struck a playground in the city, killing a man who had apparently been taking cover next to a low wall, rescuers said.He was declared dead at the scene, the Magen David Adom medical service said.The victim was named as Braen Direktor, a 27-year-old from the northern town of Maalot-Tarshiha.Two women were also lightly injured during the rocket attack, MDA said.The army said most of the rockets had been intercepted but impact sites were found in and around the city. According to Channel 12 news, three rockets hit the coastal town.Some 25 rockets were fired at the north of the country over the morning, some of which were intercepted, the IDF said. A drone launched from Lebanon was also shot down by the Air Force over the Western Galilee, the IDF said.— NWS news (@nws_report) November 21, 2024-Nahariya, a city of some 60,000 eight kilometers (five miles) from the Lebanese border, has been repeatedly attacked since fighting intensified in late September, including a strike there last week that killed two people.Nahariya Mayor Ronan Marli told the Kan public broadcaster that retribution for Thursday’s strike should be “very heavy.”“People are being killed here by rockets as they walk in the streets,” Marli said. “Until there is a signed agreement, we need to hit hard until they [Hezbollah] beg for an agreement.”Hochstein’s arrival in Israel appeared to point to optimism that a deal may be coming together, after two days of talks in Lebanon that the US mediator said had notched significant progress and put a deal “within our grasp.”The envoy has been nudging Israel and Hezbollah’s Lebanese interlocutor toward a deal that would end the war and bolster enforcement of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon meant to be free of Hezbollah arms. Among the remaining sticking points is Israel’s insistence that any deal allow the IDF to continue hitting Hezbollah if needed.Ahead of Hochstein’s arrival in Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said: “In any agreement we will reach, we will need to maintain freedom to act if there are violations.”Hochstein held talks with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer Wednesday evening.Hochstein and Netanyahu were slated to meet in Jerusalem early Thursday afternoon, according to a Likud statement.The meeting coincided with the International Criminal Court deciding to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza, a move likely to complicate international efforts to broker an agreement in Lebanon or the Strip.Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah escalated into open war in September after months of near-daily drone and rocket fire from Hezbollah that drew Israeli reprisals.In Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hochstein met twice with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.Israel carried out successive rounds of heavy strikes in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold after Hochstein departed. The IDF warned people to evacuate the area before the strikes.Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported “three violent strikes on Haret Hreik” neighborhood. Three strikes in the same area were also reported at dawn.Several airstrikes were also reported in the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre. The strikes come shortly after the IDF issued evacuation orders for several neighborhoods, saying it was going to strike Hezbollah targets.Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, published maps alongside the announcement, which called on civilians in Burj el-Shemali, al-Housh, and Maashouq to immediately evacuate and head north of the Awali River.“Hezbollah’s terror activities force the IDF to act forcefully against it in these areas, and we do not intend to harm you. Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities, or weapons is putting his life in danger,” Adraee said.Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern Israeli towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Palestinian terror group Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in the south, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 44 civilians. In addition, 71 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
All 14 other Security Council members vote in favor-US vetoes UNSC resolution demanding Gaza ceasefire not conditional on hostage release-American officials say they offered compromises that were rejected, cast blame on Russia and China; US allowed a similar resolution to pass in March-By Jacob Magid,Agencies and ToI Staff 20 November 2024, 8:52 pm
The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the unconditional release of all hostages, but did not make one contingent on the other.All other members of the 15-seat council voted in favor of the resolution, which was sponsored by the panel’s 10 non-permanent members. It came some thirteen months into the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, which began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.“A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it,” said Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood.Wood said the US had sought compromise, but the text of the proposed resolution would have sent a “dangerous message” to Hamas that “there’s no need to come back to the negotiating table.”The text submitted on Wednesday called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” and, in the same sentence, for an “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” but it did not draw an explicit link between them.A senior US official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of Wednesday’s vote, said Britain had put forward new language that the US would have supported as a compromise, but that was rejected by the elected members.#BREAKING: The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza.The US vetoed the resolution because it did not condition a ceasefire on the release of the 101 hostages still held by Hamas. pic.twitter.com/tlMRlBuwDe — Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 20, 2024-The official claimed some members were more interested in bringing about a US veto than compromising on the resolution, accusing US adversaries Russia and China of encouraging those members.“China kept demanding ‘stronger language’ and Russia appeared to be pulling strings with various… members,” the official said.“There’s some sense that some… members regret that those responsible for the drafting allowed the process to be manipulated for what we consider to be cynical purposes,” the official added.BREAKING: The UN Security Council is voting on Wednesday on a draft resolution demanding immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.This is without linking or conditioning it on the release of hostages held by Hamas. pic.twitter.com/yJrCNDsID5 — Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) November 20, 2024-Notably, though, the US abstained on a resolution in March that called for an immediate ceasefire during the Ramadan holy month along with an immediate and unconditional release of the hostages in Gaza.In the March resolution, the demands for a ceasefire and a hostage release were merged into the same sentence at the request of the US, which argued then that this was sufficient to prevent it from vetoing. The US argued then that the resolution effectively conditioned a ceasefire on a hostage deal even though this linkage wasn’t explicit in the text.Pressed to explain the apparent discrepancy, a US official told The Times of Israel that the March resolution was time-bound, whereas Wednesday’s was not.While the March resolution indeed called for a ceasefire during Ramadan, the text also adds that members want the deal to “lead to a lasting sustainable ceasefire.” Moreover, US officials did not at the time use the time-bound nature of the resolution to justify the decision to allow it to pass.What the US did say, at the time, was that it could not vote in favor of the March resolution because it didn’t include a condemnation of Hamas.The US official told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that Washington feared that the latest “resolution had the potential only to buoy Hamas.”“We worked in good faith, proposing language of our own and embracing other potential compromises to try to get to a consensus product. We ourselves made several proposals for the E10 to consider, including strong chapter seven language condemning Hamas. We also sought to bridge the gap by putting forward proposals, including a demand for an immediate ceasefire to include the release of all hostages,” the US official added.This was the fourth Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza vetoed by the US since the start of the war.In June, however, the Security Council did pass a resolution, sponsored by the US, that backed a staged ceasefire proposal that was being brokered at the time by Washington, Egypt and Qatar. That framework has yet to lead to an agreement, though, and the sides remain at an impasse.The resolution vetoed on Wednesday also called for increased humanitarian aid into the Strip and condemned “any effort to starve Palestinians” — an accusation levied at Israel by various international bodies that Israel categorically rejects, noting that it facilitates the entry of food aid into the enclave.American Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last week that “there must be no forcible displacement, nor policy of starvation in Gaza,” but the US has not gone so far as to accuse Israel of intentionally starving Gazans.Israel issued a formal promise to the US last week that it has no intention of forcibly displacing Palestinians in northern Gaza or withholding aid from the civilian population there, Axios reported.Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon thanked the US on Wednesday for vetoing the resolution in a short video statement posted to social media.“I would like to thank the United States of America for vetoing this shameful resolution which called for a ceasefire without a direct linkage and demand for the release of all the hostages. We will not stop until we bring back all of our boys and girls who are being held by Hamas,” he said.Ahead of the vote, Danon had called the text “a resolution for appeasement,” saying, “History will remember who stood with the hostages and who abandoned them.” I thank the USA for vetoing the Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire without conditioning it to the release of the hostages. We will continue the fight until all the hostages are released.????️???????? pic.twitter.com/dOIakgJl3w— Danny Danon ???????? דני דנון (@dannydanon) November 20, 2024-In March, Israel blasted the US for allowing the March resolution to pass.Other members of the council roundly criticized the US for blocking the resolution, which was put forward by the council’s 10 elected members: Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.“It is deeply regretted that due to the use of the veto this council has once again failed to uphold its responsibility to maintain international peace and security,” Malta’s UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier said after the vote failed, adding that the text of the resolution “was by no means a maximalist one.”“It represented the bare minimum of what is needed to begin to address the desperate situation on the ground,” she said.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 42,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle as of November and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 379.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)(50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.(ON EARTH)
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.(ON EARTH)
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 32:18-29 (NOTICE ALL THE COUNTRIES LAND PROMISED ISRAEL BY GOD ARE IN THE JORDAN VALLEY BURIED)
18 “Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:
19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised! (IN HELL FIRES)
20 They will fall among those slain by the sword. The sword is appointed! Let them drag her away along with all her multitudes.
21 Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’
22 Assyria (SYRIA) is there with her whole company; her graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who once spread terror in the land of the living.
24 Elam (IRAN) is there with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit.
25 Among the slain they prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed among the slain.
26 Meshech and Tubal (RUSSIA) are there with all their multitudes, with their graves all around them. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their bones, although the terror of the mighty was once in the land of the living.
28 But you too will be shattered and lie down among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.
29 Edom (JORDAN) is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.THIS IS RIGHT FROM 93:
SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] 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. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons 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. Water shall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries."The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
PSALMS 83:1-8 (GODS LAND PROMISED TO ISRAEL)
1 O God, do not remain silent;do not turn a deaf ear,do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they (ARAB,MUSLIMS) conspire against your people;they plot against those you cherish.(ISRAELIS)
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;(TREATIES) they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom (JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites, (EGYPTIAN ARABS SO CALLED PALESTIANS) of Moab (JORDAN) and the Hagrites,(EGYPT)
7 Byblos,(HEZBOLLOH) Ammon (JORDAN) and Amalek,(SYRIAN ARABS IN THE SINAI) Philistia,(ARABS) with the people of Tyre (LEBANON).
8 Even Assyria (SYRIA) has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
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.
THEIR IS NO DOUBT THAT GOD HAS PUT TRUMP IN OFFICE FOR A REASON. NOBODY COULD GO THREW ALL THE LIBERAL HITS AND SURVIVE WITHOUT GOD PROTECTING AND LEADING HIM LIKE DONALD JOHN TRUMP DID.OVIOUSLY GOD WANTS TRUMP IN THERE TO BE A PROTECTER OF ISRAEL. AND TO HELP THEM. UNLIKE THE ISRAEL HATING LIBERAL NUTJBS BIDEN AND HARRIS. NOW DONALD JOHN TRUMP REMEMBER ISRAELS MESSIAH AND CHRISTIANS MESSIAH IS JEWISH LIKE ISRAELIS. SO WE AS CHRISTIANS MUST SUPPORT OUR JEWISH KINGS PEOPLE ISRAEL. AND BESIDES IF WE GO AGAINST ISRAEL. ANYBODY OR COUNTRY WILL BE DESTROYED. TRUMP YOU WERE BLESSED BY GOD IN YOUR 1ST TERM FOR HELPING ISRAEL. DO NOT CHANGE THAT. IF YOU BLESS ISRAEL GOD WILL USE YOU FANTASTICALLY TO GIVE AMERICA A 2ND CHANCE TO STRIVE AND SURVIVVE. SO SUPPORT ISRAEL BIG TIME DONALD JOHN, AND YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL YOUR GOALS IN THE NEXT 4 YEARS.DONALD I BELIEVE GOD IS GIVING ISRAEL SOME OF THE PROMISED LAND RIGHT NOW PROMISED THEM.SO HELP THEM CAPTURE GAZA, THE WEST BANK, LEBANON.PART OF EGYPT AND SYRIA.
With evangelicals locked, Trump wooed Chabad, the Amish, Copts-The US president-elect won by decisive margins, but his campaign aggressively courted niche communities, knowing that every vote could be critical, particularly in swing states-By Peter Smith Today, 7:01 pm-NOV 22,24
AP — A visit to a revered Jewish gravesite. A social-media tribute to Coptic Christians. A billboard in Amish country.While Donald Trump’s lock on the white evangelical vote is legendary, he and his campaign allies also wooed smaller religious groups, far from the mainstream.As it turned out, Trump won by decisive margins, but his campaign aggressively courted niche communities with the understanding that every vote could be critical, particularly in swing states.Voter surveys such as exit polls, which canvass broad swaths of the electorate, aren’t able to gauge the impact of such microtargeting, but some backers say the effort was worth it.Trump directly reached out to members of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and visited the burial site of the movement’s revered late leader, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
Wearing a kippa, the Jewish ritual head covering (sometimes called a yarmulke or skullcap), Trump, who has Jewish family members, brought a written prayer to the “Ohel” and laid a small stone at the grave in keeping with tradition.The site in New York City, while particularly central to Chabad adherents, draws an array of Jewish and other visitors, including politicians.About two-thirds of Jewish voters overall supported Trump’s opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters. But the Trump campaign has made a particular outreach to Orthodox Jews, citing issues including his policies toward Israel in his first administration.Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowitz of Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida said it was moving for him to see images of Trump’s visit.“The mere fact that he made a huge effort, obviously it was important to him,” he said.Just one week before the election, meanwhile, Trump directed a post on the social media platform X to Coptic Christians in the United States — whose church has ancient roots in Egypt. He saluted their “Steadfast Faith in God, Perseverance through Centuries of Persecution and Love for this Great Country.”“This was the first time seeing a major US presidential candidate address the community in this manner,” said Mariam Wahba, a Coptic Christian and research analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute. “It was really a profound moment.”She said many Copts share the conservative social views of other Christian groups in the Republican constituency, and they may already have been Trump supporters. But the posting reinforced those bonds. Coptic bishops sent the president-elect congratulations after his victory and cited their “shared social and family values.”Some Assyrian Christians — another faith group with Middle Eastern roots — similarly bonded with Trump, whose mispronunciation of “Assyrian” at a rally created a viral video moment and drew attention to their support.Sam Darmo, a Phoenix real estate agent and co-founder of Assyrians for Trump, said many community members cited the economy, illegal immigration and other prominent voter issues. They echoed other conservative Christians’ concerns, he said, on issues such as abortion, gender identity and religious expression in public. But he said Trump supported various Middle Eastern Christians recovering from the Islamic State group’s oppressive rule.Darmo also credited Massad Boulos, father-in-law to Trump’s daughter Tiffany, for mobilizing various Middle Eastern Christian groups, including Chaldean Catholics, and other voters, particularly in Michigan, such as Muslims.“He brought all these minority groups together,” he said. “We’re hoping to continue that relationship.”But members of Middle Eastern-rooted Christian groups, and their politics, are far from monolithic, said Marcus Zacharia, founder of Progressive Copts, a program of Informed Immigrants, an organization that promotes dialogue on sensitive topics among such groups in the United States and Canada.He said many younger community members question Trump’s stances on issues such as immigration, and a sense that conservatives sometimes tokenize them by focusing on the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East while neglecting wider issues of repression in countries there that the US supports.He said there needs to be more informed dialogue across the political divide in these communities. “There is no more high time than these next four years to have that way of conducting conversations,” he said.Courting the Amish-Republicans also made an aggressive push for Amish voters, particularly in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where they are most numerous at about 92,000 (many below voting age).The GOP has made similar efforts in the past, even though researchers have found that less than 10 percent of them typically vote, due to their separatism from society. But Republicans used billboards, mailers, ads and door-to-door campaigning to drive turnout in Lancaster County, home base to the nation’s largest Amish settlement.On Election Day, Amish voters Samuel Stoltzfus and his wife Lillian Stoltzfus said they were supporting Trump, citing their anti-abortion beliefs.“We basically look at it as murder,” Stoltzfus, 31, said outside a polling center in the Lancaster County community of New Holland, where dozens of other members of the local Amish community voted. Trump has wavered on the issue, dismaying some abortion opponents, though many have said Republicans still align more closely to their views.Stolzfus added: “Make America great again and keep the moral values,” he said. “Let’s go back to the roots.”Steven Nolt, a history professor at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster College who studies the Amish and their voting patterns, said that while it’s too early to say definitively without further research, he doesn’t see evidence of a larger turnout this year.Lancaster County as a whole — most of which is not Amish — is a GOP stronghold that Trump won handily, though both parties’ votes edged up from 2020, according to unofficial results posted by the Pennsylvania Department of State.Trump’s biggest increases were in urban or suburban areas with few Amish, while some areas with larger Amish populations generally saw a modest increase in the Trump vote, said Nolt, director of the college’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.“Bottom line, percentage-wise, not much change in the parts of Lancaster County where the Amish live,” he said.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Kremlin 'certain' US got the message; Sweden says won't be 'intimidated' by Putin-by AFP Staff Writers.
Stockholm (AFP) Nov 22, 2024-Sweden will not be intimidated by Russia's provocations, Defence Minister Pal Jonson said Friday after President Vladimir Putin hinted at strikes on Western countries supplying weapons to Ukraine.The Swedish minister's remarks came as he announced "substantial funding" to Ukraine for the procurement of long-range missiles and drones."The Russian escalation and provocation that we've been noticing recently is an attempt to scare us from supporting Ukraine, and that will fail. This will not happen," Jonson told reporters at a joint press conference in Stockholm with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov."Supporting Ukraine is both the right thing to do and it's a smart thing to do, and it's an investment into our own security, because (Ukraine's) security is also our security," he said."Ukraine has the full right, in accordance with international law, to defend itself inside and outside of its territory, and we're glad if we can further develop both your capability to produce long-range missiles and also long-range strike drones," Jonson told Umerov.Putin said Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a "global" war, criticising Ukraine's allies for granting permission for Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on Russian territory.In recent days Ukraine has fired US and UK-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already sky-high tensions in the nearly three-year-long conflict."We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities," Putin said.
Kremlin says certain US understood missile strike message.
Moscow (AFP) Nov 22, 2024 - The Kremlin on Friday said it was in "no doubt" that Washington had understood the warning from President Vladimir Putin following Russia's strike on Ukraine with a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads."We are in no doubt that the current administration in Washington has had the chance to familiarise itself with this announcement and understand it," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters a day after the strike.Putin on Thursday said the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a "global" war and did not rule out strikes on Western countries.Peskov said the message was "comprehensive, clear and logical".In recent days, Ukraine has fired US and UK-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already sky-high tensions in the nearly three-year-long conflict.Moscow says this makes Western countries that authorise Ukraine to use their missiles to hit Russia direct participants in the conflict."The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries, which produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine and subsequently take part in carrying out strikes on Russian territory, cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side," Peskov said.
What we know about Russia's Oreshnik missile fired on Ukraine.
Moscow (AFP) Nov 22, 2024 - The new intermediate-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik used by Russia in a strike on Ukraine is a nuclear-capable weapon that has not been previously mentioned in public.In an unscheduled television appearance on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike on the city of Dnipro had tested in combat conditions "one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems".He said missile engineers had christened the missile Oreshnik, or hazel tree in Russian.Putin said it had been deployed "in a non-nuclear hypersonic configuration" and said that the "test" had been successful and had hit its target.- Speed -Air defences cannot intercept the Oreshnik, which attacks at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3 kilometres per second, Putin said.Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds of at least Mach 5 -- five times the speed of sound -- and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept."Modern air defence systems... cannot intercept such missiles. That's impossible," Putin said."As of today there are no means of counteracting such a weapon," the president boasted.- Warheads -The Oreshnik missile could have three to six warheads, military expert Viktor Baranets wrote in the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid.Igor Korotchenko, editor of the Moscow-based National Defence journal, told TASS state news agency that based on video footage of the strike, Oreshnik has multiple independently guided warheads.In this case they were conventional, but it could also carry nuclear warheads, military experts said.The "practically simultaneous arrival of the warheads at the target" shows the system is "very effective", Korotchenko said, calling it a "masterpiece of modern Russian solid-fuel military missile construction".- Range -The missile was reported by Ukrainian media to have been fired from the Kapustin Yar range in the Astrakhan region, around 900 kilometres (550 miles) from Dnipro.Putin described the missile in Russian as "medium-range" but Russian military experts said the English term would be "intermediate-range".An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) has a range of 1,000-5,500 kilometres, a level below that of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).Military expert Ilya Kramnik told Izvestia newspaper that Oreshnik's range could be at the top end of intermediate, around 3,000 - 5,000 kilometres."In any case we witnessed the first combat use in history by Russia of an intermediate-range missile," Dmitry Kornev, editor of Military Russia website, told Izvestia.- Origins -The US Department of Defense described Oreshnik as an "experimental" missile based on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh ICBM.Little is known about Rubezh, a modification of Topol ICBM.TASS state news agency reported, citing a source, in 2018 that development of Rubezh was frozen under the state weapons programme up to 2027, to prioritise another system, Avangard.Russian weapons expert Yan Matveyev wrote on Telegram that Oreshnik probably had two stages and would be "quite expensive", heavy and not mass-produced.- Threat -Its range means "Oreshnik can threaten practically all of Europe" but not the United States, weapons expert Pavel Podvig, director of the Russian Nuclear Forces Project, told Russian Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti.The US and the Soviet Union in 1987 signed a treaty agreeing to give up all use of missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres.Both Washington and Moscow withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, each accusing the other of violations.Putin said Thursday that Russia will "address the question of further deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles based on the actions of the United States and its satellites".
UKRAINE AND THE WEST DID NOT EVEN KNOW WERE IT CAME FROM.SURE THEY SAY RUSSIA BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN CHINA OR IRAN THAT SHOT IT ALSO.THE U.S AND UKRAINE WERE SCARED DEMOCRATLESS AS NO ONE HAS EVER SHOT A MISSLE THAT STOPS WERE THE COUNTRY WHO SHOT IT WANTS. THEN SHOT 5 INDIVIDUAL MISSLES AFTER IT WAS SITTING THERE.PUTIN WENT ON TO SAY IT WAS JUST A CLONE OF THE ONE THAT WOULD SHOOT 5 NUKES ON ANYBODY.
NATO, Ukraine to meet Tuesday over Russian missile strike-by AFP Staff Writers.
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Nov 22, 2024-NATO and Ukraine will hold talks next week in Brussels over Russia's firing of an experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile, diplomats said on Friday.Ambassadors from countries in the NATO-Ukraine Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the strike on the city of Dnipro, officials told AFP.Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Moscow had hit Ukraine using a new-generation intermediate-range missile -- which he hinted was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload.A spokeswoman for NATO said: "Deploying this capability will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter NATO allies from supporting Ukraine."Putin said in an address to the nation the missile strike was in response to Ukraine firing long-range weapons supplied by the United States and Britain into Russia.The Kremlin leader also warned that Moscow felt "entitled" to hit military facilities in countries that allow Ukraine to use their weapons against Russia.Ukraine recently fired US- and UK-supplied longer-range missiles at Russian territory for the first time, ramping up already sky-high tensions over the conflict, which is nearly in its third year.Leading NATO power the United States accused Russia of "escalating at every turn" in Ukraine.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow informed Washington, via an automatic nuclear de-escalation hotline, that it was launching the hypersonic missile half an hour before it was fired.
Ukraine parliament cancels session over threat of Russian attack-By Victoria LUKOVENKO with Sergii VOLSKYI with Florent VERGNES in Dnipro.
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) Nov 22, 2024-Kyiv shuttered parliament on Friday for one day, citing a potential Russian missile attack after President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to the West by launching a new intermediate-range missile at Ukraine.Moscow's 33-month invasion of Ukraine escalated this week with Russia's first launch of a nuclear-capable mid-range ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro on Thursday.The Kremlin said Friday that a hawkish address by Putin, in which he threatened to strike the West and said he was "ready for any scenario," had been "understood" in the United States.Putin had said Moscow reserved the right to strike countries that allow Kyiv to hit Russian territory with their weapons, after the US and the UK gave the green light for Kyiv to do so.NATO and Ukrainian officials are due to meet Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the escalation, diplomatic sources told AFP.In Kyiv, which is frequently targeted by Russian drones and missiles, parliament cancelled its usual Friday questions to the government over fears of a strike.The central area where it is located houses the presidency, the central bank and other government buildings. It has until now been spared of bombings -- unlike the rest of the capital -- and access is strictly controlled by the army.Several MPs said they were working remotely and that Friday's session had been scrapped.- 'Increased risk of attacks' -"There are signals of an increased risk of attacks on the government district in the coming days. Also in Kyiv and Ukraine in general," MP Yevgenia Kravchuk told AFP.The presidency, however, assured its office was working "as usual in compliance with standard security measures: if the alarm sounds, we will be in shelters."The apparent heightened risk comes two days after the embassies of several countries, including the US, said they were closed, citing the threat of a Russian attack.In Moscow meanwhile, Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov said Moscow's advances in the war-battered eastern Ukraine had "accelerated" and also "ground down" Kyiv's best units."We have, in fact, derailed the entire 2025 campaign," Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said of the Ukrainian army in a video published by the Russian defence ministry.Russia later said its forces had "liberated" the frontline village of Novodmytrivka, about 10 kilometres (six miles) north of Kurakhove, an embattled civilian hub in the eastern Donetsk region that the Krmelin claims is part of Russia.Observers of the conflict say Moscow and Kyiv racing to gain battlefield advantages ahead of January 2025, when Donald Trump -- who has vowed to end the war without saying how -- is due to take office in the US.Belousov spoke a day after Putin had addressed Russians, saying the war in Ukraine, which he launched on February 24 2024, had taken on "elements of a global character."Putin said Russia had hit Dnipro with a new type of ballistic missile called the Oreshkin and that Moscow could launch more such missiles depending on "the actions of the United States and its satellites."The attack, which apparently targeted an aerospace manufacturing plant in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, sparked immediate condemnation from Kyiv's allies.- 'Anything can happen' -It also shocked residents of Dnipro, which has suffered routine Russian bombardments throughout the invasion.Vladimir Riga, 66, was on his way to work when he saw "an explosion".He said the attack damaged a rehabilitation centre and AFP saw workers boarding up the windows of the damaged building after the attack.Asked if it marked a new turn in the conflict and if he feared an escalation, Riga said, "of course I am afraid. Anything can happen."The Russian attack also provoked calls for calm from Moscow's allies, including China.- 'Terrible escalation' -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday described Russia's deployment of the medium-range missile as a "terrible escalation."The Russian attack came after Ukraine recently fired US- and UK-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time.Washington said it had granted Kyiv permission to fire long-range weapons at Russian territory as a response to the Kremlin's deployment of thousands of North Korean troops on Ukraine's border.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a strong response from world leaders to Russia's use of the new missile.Russian strikes meanwhile killed at least two civilians in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy near the border with Russia and one person in the Donetsk region city of Kramatorksk, local authorities said.burs-oc/jbr
What we know about Russia's Oreshnik missile fired on Ukraine.
Moscow, Nov 22 (AFP) Nov 22, 2024-The new intermediate-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik used by Russia in a strike on Ukraine is a nuclear-capable weapon that had not been previously mentioned in public.In an unscheduled television appearance on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike on the city of Dnipro had tested in combat conditions "one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems".He said missile engineers had christened the missile Oreshnik, or hazel tree, in Russian.Putin said it had been deployed "in a non-nuclear hypersonic configuration", and that the "test" had been successful and had hit its target.On Friday he said future tests would be carried out, including in "combat conditions", and ordered Oreshnik be put into serial production.- Speed -Air defences cannot intercept the Oreshnik, which attacks at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3 kilometres (1.6-1.9 miles) per second, Putin said.Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds of at least Mach 5 -- five times the speed of sound -- and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept."Modern air defence systems... cannot intercept such missiles. That's impossible," Putin said."As of today there are no means of counteracting such a weapon," the president boasted.Ukraine's GUR military intelligence wrote on Telegram that the missile took 15 minutes to fly from the Kapustin Yar range in the Astrakhan region to the city of Dnipro, a distance of around 800 kilometres (490 miles), reaching a final speed of over Mach 11.- Warheads -The Oreshnik missile could have three to six warheads, military expert Viktor Baranets wrote in the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid.Ukraine's GUR said it had six.Igor Korotchenko, editor of the Moscow-based National Defence journal, told the TASS state news agency that based on video footage of the strike, Oreshnik has multiple independently guided warheads.In this case they were conventional, but it could also carry nuclear warheads, military experts said.The "practically simultaneous arrival of the warheads at the target" shows the system is "very effective", Korotchenko said, calling it a "masterpiece of modern Russian solid-fuel military missile construction".- Range -Putin described the missile in Russian as "medium-range" but Russian military experts said the English term would be "intermediate-range".An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) has a range of 1,000-5,500 kilometres, a level below that of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).Sergey Karakayev, the commander of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces -- which controls its nuclear arsenal and intercontinental ballistic missile programme -- said Friday that Oreshnik can hit targets "throughout Europe".Military expert Ilya Kramnik told the Izvestia newspaper that Oreshnik's range could be at the top end of intermediate, around 3,000 to 5,000 kilometres."In any case we witnessed the first combat use in history by Russia of an intermediate-range missile," Dmitry Kornev, editor of Military Russia website, told Izvestia.- Origins -Putin said Friday that Oreshnik was "not a modernisation of an old, Soviet system," but a "modern, state-of the art" device.The US Department of Defense described Oreshnik as an "experimental" missile based on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh ICBM.Little is known about Rubezh, a modification of Topol ICBM.The head of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces said the missile, a "ground-based medium-range system", had been constructed based on an order from Putin issued in July 2023.The head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said his agency knew of just two prototypes of the missile, although there could be slightly more, and the weapon is "not yet in serial production".Russian weapons expert Yan Matveyev wrote on Telegram that Oreshnik probably had two stages and would be "quite expensive" and heavy, with mass production unlikely.Putin said Friday that Russia had a "stockpile" of them and ordered the missile be put into "serial production."- Threat -Both Putin and missile forces commander Karakayev said Oreshnik could be as powerful as a nuclear strike if deployed alongside other conventional long-range weapons."The mass use of such a type of such weapon will be comparable to the use of a nuclear weapon," Karakayev said in a televised meeting.Putin bragged that no other countries possess a missile like Oreshnik and that it was impervious both to current and future air defence systems.The United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 signed a treaty agreeing to give up all use of missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres.Both Washington and Moscow withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, each accusing the other of violations.Putin said Thursday that Russia will "address the question of further deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles based on the actions of the United States and its satellites".
Putin says will carry out more Oreshnik missile tests in combat.
Moscow, Nov 22 (AFP) Nov 22, 2024-Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow would carry out more tests of the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in "combat conditions," a day after firing one on Ukraine."We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and character of the security threats posted to Russia," Putin said in a televised meeting with military chiefs.Russia fired the new-generation missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro early Thursday in a major escalation of the weaponry being deployed in the nearly three-year conflict.The Kremlin boss also ordered the missile, which flies at speeds of Mach 10 -- 10 times the speed of sound -- to be put into serial production. Russia is developing similar advanced systems, he added."We need to begin serial production. The decision... has in effect been taken," Putin said, praising the "particular strength of this weapon and its power."The weapon system that was tested yesterday is another faithful guarantee of Russia's territorial integrity and sovereignty," he added.Putin claimed no other countries in the world had such missile technology. While he conceded other states would soon develop them, he said: "That will be tomorrow, after a year or two. But we have this system now. That's important."His choreographed meeting with the defence minister and those in charge of developing the missile came at the end of a week that has seen the Ukraine conflict escalate rapidly.Putin said the firing of the Oreshnik missile was a direct response to Kyiv's forces using US- and UK-supplied missiles on Russian territory for the first time.In an address to the nation on Thursday, Putin said Russia reserved the right to fire missiles at military facilities in countries whose weapons are being used by Ukraine -- specifically the United States and Britain.
Kyiv claims 'crazy' Russia fired nuke-capable missile.
Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov 21 (AFP) Nov 21, 2024-Ukraine on Thursday accused Russia of having deployed a ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads for the first time in history which, if confirmed, would be a major escalation of the war.Ukrainian allies have yet to confirm initial assessments from Kyiv's military that Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).The Kremlin has not denied it used the weapon, which can strike targets from a distance of thousands of kilometres, spokesman Dmitri Peskov refusing to comment when questioned.The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched the nuclear-capable missile as part of a barrage towards the central city of Dnipro, where local authorities said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were wounded.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said experts were examining evidence before confirming an intercontinental ballistic missile had been fired by "our crazy neighbour".He said that the attack bore "all the characteristics" of an ICBM attack and accused the Kremlin of "using Ukraine as a testing ground".Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman said analysts were preparing their "expert conclusions" while adding that the attack bore "all flight characteristics of an ICBM"."The strike itself proves: Russia does not seek peace. To the contrary, it makes every effort to expand the war," spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said in a statement on social media.The attack on Dnipro comes just days after several foreign embassies shuttered temporarily in the Ukrainian capital, citing the threat of a large-scale strike.- Kremlin declines comment -Tension has been building between Moscow and Kyiv's allies in the West since Ukrainian forces struck Russian territory with Western-supplied long-range weapons on Tuesday after getting the green light from Washington.Asked whether Moscow had fired an ICBM, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said he had "nothing to say on this topic".He did however say the Kremlin was doing everything to avoid a nuclear conflict, having updated its nuclear doctrine this week."We have stressed in the context of our doctrine that Russia is taking a responsible position to make maximum effort not to allow such a conflict," Peskov said.Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman received a phone call during a live press briefing, in which she was ordered not to comment on reports of the ballistic strike, video showed.Yuzhmash is the Russian name of an aerospace manufacturer -- now called Pivdenmash -- in Dnipro that produced missiles during the Soviet era and is reported now to make satellites.Russia claimed to have struck the facility in September this year.Western countries reacted with alarm."While we're assessing the full facts it's obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of (Vladimir) Putin," European Union foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.The United Kingdom said the strike would be "reckless and escalatory" if confirmed. France said it would represent an "extremely serious" incident.Ukraine's air force said it had downed missiles launched on the industrial city, without elaborating on whether the alleged intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was among those downed.- 'Political value' -The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region where the city of Dnipro is located said the Russian aerial bombardment damaged a rehabilitation centre and several homes, as well as an industrial enterprise."Two people were wounded -- a 57-year-old man was treated on the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalised," said the official, Sergiy Lysak.Fabian Hoffmann, a research fellow at the University of Oslo, who specialises in missile technology, said Russia had nothing to gain militarily by using an ICBM in such an attack."This is all about the political effect. This is not about the military value," Hoffmann told AFP.Russia and Ukraine have escalated their use of long-range missiles in recent days since the Washington gave Kyiv permission to use its Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) against military targets inside Russia -- a long-standing Ukrainian request.British media meanwhile reported on Wednesday that Kyiv had launched UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia after being given the green light from London.The defence ministry in Moscow said Thursday its air-defence systems had downed two Storm Shadows, without saying whether they had come down on Russian territory or in occupied Ukraine.The missile escalation is coming at a critical moment on the ground for Ukraine, as its defensive lines buckle under Russian pressure across the sprawling front line.Russia claimed deeper advances in the war-battered Donetsk region, announcing on Thursday that its forces had captured another village close to Kurakhove, closing in on the town after months of steady advances.Moscow's defence ministry said Russian forces had taken the small village of Dalne, five kilometres (three miles) south of Kurakhove.Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that 26 people had been wounded in another strike on the town of Kryvyi Rig, where Zelensky was born.
Putin hints at strikes on West in 'global' Ukraine war-By Florent VERGNES.
Dnipro, Ukraine (AFP) Nov 21, 2024-Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a "global" war and did not rule out strikes on Western countries.The Kremlin strongman spoke out after a day of frayed nerves, with Russia test-firing a new generation intermediate-range missile at Ukraine -- which Putin hinted was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload.Ukraine had earlier on Thursday accused Russia of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in history at the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, while the UN Secretary-General branded the new missile's use "worrying".Ukraine's key backer the United States played down suggestions that Russia had launched an ICBM, echoing Putin's description of the "experimental" weapon.Yet while stopping short of calling it "intercontinental", Britain warned the weapon had "a range of several thousand kilometres" -- enough to make good on Putin's threat of striking the West.In a defiant address to the nation, Russia's president railed at Ukraine's allies granting permission for Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on Russian territory, warning of retaliation.In recent days Ukraine has fired US and UK-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already sky-high tensions in the brutal nearly three-year-long conflict."We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities," Putin said.He said the US-sent Army Tactical Missile System and British Storm Shadow payloads were shot down by Moscow's air defences, adding: "The goals that the enemy obviously set were not achieved".Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov did however say Russia was doing everything to avoid a nuclear conflict, having updated its nuclear doctrine this week.- 'Crazy neighbour' -The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched the missile as part of a barrage towards Dnipro, where local authorities said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were wounded.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said experts were examining evidence before confirming an intercontinental ballistic missile had been fired by "our crazy neighbour".He said that the attack bore "all the characteristics" of an ICBM attack and accused the Kremlin of "using Ukraine as a testing ground".Putin said that Russia had carried out "testing in combat conditions of one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems... Our engineers named it 'Oreshnik'," meaning "Hazel".The attack on Dnipro comes just days after several foreign embassies shuttered temporarily in the Ukrainian capital, citing the threat of a large-scale strike."It is another example of reckless behaviour from Russia, which only serves to strengthen our resolve in terms of standing by Ukraine for as long as it takes," a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters.The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said the new missile's deployment was "another concerning and worrying development," warning the war was "going in the wrong direction".Yet a US official played down the threat, saying on condition of anonymity that the missile used was not an ICBM but an "experimental medium-range ballistic missile" -- seemingly confirmed by Putin's address.Russia "likely possesses only a handful of these", the official added.- 'Political value' -Ukraine's air force said it had downed missiles launched on the industrial city, without elaborating on whether the new missile was among those downed.The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region where the city of Dnipro is located said the Russian aerial bombardment damaged a rehabilitation centre and several homes, as well as an industrial enterprise."Two people were wounded -- a 57-year-old man was treated on the scene and a 42-year-old woman was hospitalised," said the official, Sergiy Lysak.Fabian Hoffmann, a research fellow at the University of Oslo, who specialises in missile technology, said Russia had nothing to gain militarily by using an ICBM in such an attack."This is all about the political effect. This is not about the military value," Hoffmann told AFP.Russia and Ukraine have escalated their use of long-range missiles in recent days since Washington gave Kyiv permission to use its ATACMS against military targets inside Russia -- a long-standing Ukrainian request.British media meanwhile reported on Wednesday that Kyiv had launched UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia after being given the green light from London.Russia's envoy to London on Thursday said that meant Britain was "now directly involved" in the Ukraine war, with Andrei Kelin telling Sky News "this firing cannot happen" without UK and NATO support.The defence ministry in Moscow said Thursday its air-defence systems had downed two Storm Shadows, without saying whether they had come down on Russian territory or in occupied Ukraine.The missile escalation is coming at a critical moment on the ground for Ukraine, as its defences buckle under Russian pressure across the sprawling front line.Russia claimed deeper advances in the war-battered Donetsk region, announcing on Thursday that its forces had captured another village close to Kurakhove, closing in on the town after months of steady advances.Moscow's defence ministry said Russian forces had taken the small village of Dalne, five kilometres (three miles) south of Kurakhove.Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that 26 people had been wounded in another strike on the town of Kryvyi Rig, where Zelensky was born.
Chemical weapons watchdog says banned gas found in Ukraine samples-By Jan HENNOP.
The Hague (AFP) Nov 18, 2024-The international chemical weapons watchdog said Monday that banned CS riot gas had been found in shell and soil samples provided by Ukraine from the zone where it is fighting Russian forces.An Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) convention bans the use of CS gas and other toxic weapons in war zones.Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of using chemical weapons in the nearly three-year-long conflict, with Kyiv's Western allies likewise claiming Moscow has employed banned weapons."The results of the analyses of these samples conducted by two OPCW designated laboratories ... indicate that both a grenade and a soil sample... contained the riot control agent known as CS," the OPCW said in a statement.It is the first time the use of a riot control gas has been confirmed in areas where active fighting is taking place in Ukraine, the OPCW said.Based in The Hague, the OPCW's Chemical Weapons Convention strictly bans the use of riot control agents including CS, a type of tear gas, outside riot control situations when it is used as "a method of warfare."CS gas is non-lethal but causes sensory irritation including to the lungs, skin and eyes.- Upcoming meet -The discovery of the riot gas in Ukraine is now set to be a major talking point next week, when states that have signed up to the convention gather in The Hague for an annual meet to discuss compliance.Ukraine asked the watchdog to send a technical team and handed over three samples to them on a visit last month, the OPCW said.Ukraine said the samples had been collected following an incident on September 20 near the village of Illinka in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region."The team collected related documentation and digital files as well as testimonies from first-hand witnesses and also received three samples collected from Ukraine: one grenade shell and two soil samples from a trench."The evidence handed over by Ukraine to the OPCW during the visit enabled it to "corroborate... the chain of custody of the three samples collected from a trench in Ukraine located along the confrontation lines with the opposing troops, had been maintained," the OPCW said.It stressed however that the report did "not seek to identify the source or origin of the toxic chemical".- 'Grave concern' -Britain and the United States have accused Russia of using the toxic agent chloropicrin as well as riot control agents since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine in violation of the treaty.The OPCW said in May that information it had received until then on the alleged use of chloropicrin in Ukraine was "insufficiently substantiated". The Kremlin called the claims "baseless and unsubstantiated".A month later Kyiv accused Russia of stepping up frontline attacks using "hazardous chemical compounds", mainly CS gas, by Russian forces, registering 715 cases in May.In October, Britain sanctioned the chemical and biological arm of Russia's armed forces and its commander Igor Kirillov over the alleged use of chemical weapons in the war.OPCW director-general Fernando Arias "expressed grave concern" over the findings."All 193 OPCW Member States, including the Russian Federation and Ukraine, have committed never to develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, transfer or use chemical weapons," he said in a statement."States Parties to the CWC have declared that any use of chemical weapons is totally unacceptable and would violate the legal norms and standards of the international community," Arias said.
Advanced Chinese warship showcased in Hong Kong-by AFP Staff Writers.
Hong Kong (AFP) Nov 21, 2024-An advanced Chinese warship thought to play a key role in the country's South China Sea and Taiwan strategies sailed into Hong Kong on Thursday, part of a publicity campaign showcasing Beijing's increasingly sophisticated military force.The 36,000-tonne Hainan is a helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ship that was hailed as a breakthrough for China's navy when it came into service in 2021.It is part of the fleet that operates in the South China Sea, the site of multiple simmering territorial disputes between Beijing and its neighbours.The hulking vessel was docked at a Hong Kong Island pier on Thursday, with multiple helicopters parked on its large, flat deck.China's defence ministry this week said it was there to showcase the country's "military development" and the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) "firm determination and strong capabilities in safeguarding national sovereignty and security".One expert told AFP its presence in Hong Kong was a deliberate reminder of China's authority there, after the quashing of the city's pro-democracy movement with a sweeping national security law in 2020."Sending some of the most powerful Chinese warships for public view in Hong Kong, in a way, symbolises and signals the very fact that (China's) government is behind the Hong Kong SAR government," Collin Koh, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told AFP.Along with the guided-missile destroyer Changsha, the Hainan will stay in the city for five days.More than 10,000 people are expected to visit through invitation-only events, local media said.The Hainan is one of three active warships of its type, and was spotted in the western Pacific near Japanese waters in August.Over 200 metres long, the vessel can reportedly carry 30 helicopters, with the flight deck able to operate six at a time.It represents "a milestone for the growing PLA amphibious assault capabilities", said Koh, increasingly important as tensions in both the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait ramp up."Many will speculate that this ship (would) come in as a very important piece of capability when it comes to, say, a full-scale invasion of Taiwan itself," he said.
Iran set to launch ‘advanced centrifuges’ after IAEA censure for noncooperation-WSJ report shows Tehran’s October 1 missile attack on Israel forced commercial flights to change course; IRGC hails ICC arrest warrants for PM, Gallant-By ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 4:28 pm-NOV 22,24
Iran on Friday said it will launch a series of “new and advanced” centrifuges for uranium enrichment in response to a resolution adopted by the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA. The resolution, adopted Thursday, censured Tehran for failure to cooperate with the agency and demanded answers in a long-running investigation into uranium particles found at two locations that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites.“The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued an order to take effective measures, including launching a significant series of new and advanced centrifuges of various types,” a joint statement issued by the Iranian organization and its foreign ministry said.It added, however, that “technical and safeguards cooperation with the IAEA will continue, as in the past” and within the framework of agreements made by Iran.Iran’s retaliatory measures “are reversible if this hostile action is withdrawn or negotiations are opened,” Tehran-based political analyst Hadi Mohammadi told AFP.The IAEA board’s condemnation of Iran on Thursday was its second in just five months.Nineteen members of the IAEA board voted for the resolution, while Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed it, 12 abstained and one did not vote, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the closed-door vote.The resolution came on the heels of a confidential report earlier this week in which the IAEA said Iran has defied international demands to rein in its nuclear program and has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.That report, seen by The AP on Tuesday, said that as of October 26, Iran had accumulated 182.3 kilograms (401.9 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60 percent, an increase of 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) since the last IAEA report in August. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.The resolution approved on Thursday requires the IAEA to now produce a “comprehensive and updated assessment” of Iran’s nuclear activities, which could eventually trigger a referral to the UN Security Council to consider more sanctions on Tehran.Also on Friday, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps described the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant as fatal for Israel.“This means the end and political death of the Zionist regime, a regime that today lives in absolute political isolation in the world and its officials can no longer travel to other countries,” IRGC chief General Hossein Salami said in the speech aired on state TV. The IRGC is a US-designated terrorist group.In the first official reaction by Iran, Salami called the ICC warrant “a welcome move” and a “great victory for the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements,” in reference to terror organizations supported by Tehran.Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack forced commercial flights to change course-In separate Iran news, The Wall Street Journal reported that during Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1, dozens of aircraft were flying along a similar path as the missiles ascended, with some pilots and passengers seeing the projectiles as they streaked through the sky, mostly over Iran and Iraq.Though ballistic missiles fly high above commercial airline paths, they present a danger during their ascent and descent.Iran apparently gave no warning for flights to avoid the area as it launched its attack. With crews alarmed, many flights quickly changed their course due to the danger, the report said, using graphics to underline the risk that was posed to civilian aviation.The report noted that Iranian strikes and Israeli counterstrikes continue to be on the table, with no clear solution to protect civilian flights.Iran’s October 1 attack consisted of a massive salvo of some 200 ballistic missiles fired at Israel, sending most of the population rushing to bomb shelters and safe rooms. Tehran’s attack caused relatively minor damage to military bases and some residential areas, and killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank.The Israeli military acknowledged that some of its airbases were hit, but stressed that no harm was caused to the functioning of the Israeli Air Force. The missile impacts damaged office buildings and other maintenance areas in the bases, according to the military.
Defense minister declares end to administrative detention against West Bank settlers-7 Jews and thousands of Palestinians are currently detained under tool to hold terror suspects without trial; Israel Katz’s move hailed by far-right leaders, decried by opposition-By Emanuel Fabian,Sam Sokol and ToI Staff Today, 1:35 pm-NOV 22,24
New Defense Minister Israel Katz announced an end to administrative detention orders for West Bank settlers on Friday, meaning Israel will now be using the controversial policy of holding suspects without charge only against Palestinian terror suspects.While the practice is primarily deployed against Palestinians, it is also used against some extremist Jewish Israelis, which has drawn increasing criticism of the ruling Likud party by far-right coalition members. The measure sees individuals held without charge for up to six months at a time. The detentions can be renewed indefinitely while allowing military prosecutors to keep suspects from being able to see the evidence against them.“In a reality where the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is subject to serious Palestinian terror threats and unjustified international sanctions are taken against the settlers, it is not appropriate for the State of Israel to take such a severe measure against the people of the settlements,” Katz said in a statement, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name.Katz met with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar this week and told him that he had decided “to stop the use of administrative detention orders against Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria, and asked him to put alternative tools in place,” Katz’s office said.The Shin Bet has reportedly warned against the move, with Bar saying in June that banning the measure against Israelis “will result in an immediate, severe and serious harm to the security of the state” in cases where there is clear information that a suspect may carry out a terror attack.Administrative detention policies allow the Defense Ministry to hold suspects without charge, while administrative restraining orders bar them from visiting certain areas or communicating with certain people. The tool is typically used when authorities have intelligence tying a suspect to a crime but do not have enough evidence for charges to stand up in a court of law.Currently, more than 3,400 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians, are being held in administrative detention, according to figures from the Israel Prison Service.A total of 16 administrative detention orders were issued for Jewish Israelis under former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and seven of them are still being held.Katz said that “if there is suspicion of criminal acts, the perpetrators can be prosecuted, and if not, there are other preventive measures that can be taken other than administrative detention orders.”“I condemn any phenomenon of violence against Palestinians and taking the law into one’s own hands, and I also appeal to the settlement leadership to take a similar public position and express an unequivocal position on the issue,” the minister added.Settler violence spiked after the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught in the south. Israeli authorities rarely arrest Jewish perpetrators in such attacks. Some rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual and that the vast majority of charges in these types of attacks are dropped.As recently as this past weekend, dozens of masked settlers set fire to several buildings and a car in the West Bank village of Beit Furik near Nablus, according to the IDF. There has been no news of arrests.The defense minister’s decision was welcomed by right-wing politicians, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a former settler activist who was previously convicted of terror-related offenses, calling the move “important and huge news… This is a correction of many years of mistreatment, and justice for those who love the land.”Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settlement advocate, said Katz “eliminated long-standing discrimination against settlers in Judea and Samaria and put an end to the injustice in which the settlers were second-class citizens and draconian and undemocratic measures were applied against them that trampled on their rights, measures that are not applied against any other population in the State of Israel except terrorists and dangerous enemies.”Smotrich clarified that if the “unacceptable phenomenon” of settler violence occurs, it “should be handled by the police and the legal system in accordance with the procedures and rules of evidence of criminal law, just as they would be with any other citizen or population.”Justice Minister Yariv Levin congratulated Katz on his decision, calling the move an “end to discrimination.”Levin added that the “pioneer settlers in Judea and Samaria are overwhelmingly law-abiding. Cases of illegal violence should be handled as is customary with respect to any Israeli citizen and in accordance with the law, as is customary everywhere in the country.”MK Simcha Rothman, the chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, welcomed the announcement as a “moral, just and correct decision.”A bill sponsored by Rothman — which would forbid the use of administrative detention or administrative restraining orders against Israeli citizens, unless they are members of a certain list of terror groups — is currently making its way through the Knesset.Not all Israeli politicians supported the move, with MK Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff and current centrist opposition lawmaker, calling it “a grave and dangerous mistake.”“This is another step toward a severe escalation in Judea and Samaria, for which we will all pay the price,” Eisenkot warned.“The goal of such orders is not law-abiding Jewish citizens but extremist terror elements who tarnish and endanger us as a society,” he said. “This step joins other deliberate measures that harm the IDF’s ability to fulfill its role as the sovereign authority responsible for the safety and security of residents.”Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi lambasted the move, saying that “this is effectively the defense minister’s certification of approval for Jewish terror — a government of terror supporters. Administrative detention applies only to Palestinians. This is yet more proof of the regime of Jewish supremacy. Later, they’ll cry about ‘antisemitism’ in The Hague. In short, administrative detention does not apply to those whose veins flow with blue-and-white blood, members of the ‘supreme Jewish race.'”The left-wing Yesh Din human rights nonprofit said that “administrative detention is a draconian and anti-democratic measure that should be stopped against Palestinians and Israelis alike.”“Instead, law enforcement agencies should conduct effective investigations and bring to justice when there is sufficient evidence to do so. Let us recall that thousands of Palestinians are being held in administrative detention under administrative detention orders that Minister Katz has not revoked,” the group added.
ToI in southern Lebanon-Aiming to enable return of displaced Israelis, IDF pushes deeper into south Lebanon-Troops are now operating in ‘second line of villages’ to remove Hezbollah threat of invasion and direct missile fire, though rockets will still fly unless a ceasefire is reached-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 2:25 pm-NOV 22,24
SOUTHERN LEBANON — After a night of rain, the army’s routes into southern Lebanon were coated in a very thick layer of mud. A soldier driving a Humvee with a group of journalists this week came prepared with a waterproof suit and goggles.“Hold on tight,” the driver said, as the army vehicle sped down a sharp slope after crossing the border from Israel into the western sector of southern Lebanon, splashing mud and rainwater into the air.Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces had expanded its ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Troops have pushed into what the military calls the “second line” of villages, after largely completing its operations against the Lebanese terror group in the border-adjacent towns.Remnants of the IDF’s operations against Hezbollah in the first line of villages were visible during the drive. Numerous houses were in piles of rubble, though others seemed to be standing with minimal damage.Hezbollah staging grounds — some of them underground, some inside the villages, and some in forested areas — with massive amounts of weapons and equipment have been blown up by the army. The military has destroyed any house that had been used by Hezbollah, sparing those where no weapons were found.Senior IDF officers have said that since dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the first line of villages — along with much of the villages themselves — the threat of an invasion by the terror group into northern Israel has been removed.IDF roadblocks, set up in northern Israel to prevent civilians from driving on roads that were exposed to anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon, have all been removed in recent days.Removing the invasion and anti-tank missile threats could enable the some 60,000 displaced Israelis from the north to return to their homes, after they were evacuated shortly after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in the south amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.Still, the IDF has not explicitly said that the residents of the north can return yet, and local authorities are in no rush to call on their citizens to come home, with some even calling on the army to further expand its operations in southern Lebanon.In the second line of villages, the IDF is still finding Hezbollah staging grounds, along with fighting positions from which the terror group has launched anti-tank missiles directly at Israeli border communities and military posts along the border.“Our task is to make sure that there is no ammunition left and no enemy infrastructure left in the area so that in the end, it allows the political echelon to return the residents to the Galilee and the north,” said Lt. Col. Roi Katz, a battalion commander in the 188th Armored Brigade, during a press tour of a village in the western sector of southern Lebanon this week, around 2.5 miles from the border.Katz said it would be “impossible” for Hezbollah to use the area where his forces have operated so far as a staging ground “to enter and raid the territory of the State of Israel and attack the citizens of the Galilee with ease.”At Katz’s makeshift post in the Lebanese village, a truck full of Hezbollah rockets, anti-tank missiles, explosive devices and machine guns was being prepared to be taken back to Israel.The commander said that some of the weapons were left behind at the Hezbollah position and destroyed, because they were either too heavy to bring back or damaged in a way that would make them unsafe for transport.The second line of villages is only around 4-5 miles from the Israeli border, meaning that the threat of rocket fire and drones launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel is still present.In recent days, the terror group has been raining down around 100 rockets a day on the Galilee, as well as the northern city of Haifa. Hezbollah has also launched several missile attacks on central Israel.The projectiles are being launched from deeper within southern Lebanon — in areas where IDF ground forces are not operating — and, in some cases, from the northeastern Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek — where Israeli ground troops will likely never operate.Some residents of the Galilee have returned to their homes amid the IDF’s ground operation, but not en masse. Some have explained that staying in other northern towns is no safer these days. In an unfortunate irony, border cities like Nahariya, which were never evacuated, have suffered several deadly rocket attacks.But the tank battalion commander refused to say if it was safe for the residents of the border towns to return.“I do not decide whether the residents of the north can return to their homes. I will carry out all the goals that were defined for me because I understand that in the end, it will allow the state to return them,” he told The Times of Israel.Defense and military officials have indicated that the only way to enable the return of the displaced civilians to the north and put an end to the rocket fire is via a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, which may be within reach but has thus far proven elusive.Civilian researcher killed-During the reporters’ visit to southern Lebanon on Wednesday, sounds of gunfire and artillery shelling could be heard from a neighboring village. A short while later, medical dispatches were heard by this writer over the radio, with commanders declaring that four troops had been hurt.The journalists’ exit from the village was delayed by several hours amid the medical evacuation of those wounded. Only upon reaching the border in the late afternoon and turning phones on again did this writer receive an update on what had transpired.Israeli researcher Zeev Erlich, 71, who had been brought into southern Lebanon by a senior commander to examine an archaeological site — an ancient fortress — without the proper approvals, was killed in a battle with two Hezbollah operatives, alongside Sgt. Gur Kehati, 20, of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion.Two other officers, including the chief of staff of the Golani Brigade, Col. Yoav Yarom — who brought Erlich into Lebanon — were wounded.IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has appointed a general in reserves to lead a team of experts investigating the circumstances of the incident and Erlich’s entry into Lebanon. In addition, there is a military investigation into the incident led by IDF Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and a separate criminal probe by Military Police.Shortly before the incident, Katz told reporters that his forces had encountered more Hezbollah operatives in this area of southern Lebanon compared to other villages where his battalion had operated in recent weeks, raising further questions about Erlich’s visit to the frontlines.“It should be said that we always had the upper hand and all the enemies we encountered were defeated,” he said.“As long as we work in a focused, orderly manner and bring all the capabilities of the army to the table, there really is no enemy that can stop us.”
Turkey decries Houthi missile attack on Turkish-owned vessel in Red Sea-Iran-backed rebels in Yemen say strike on cargo ship was ‘accurate and direct’; Ankara says it’s taking measures to prevent future attacks-By AFP 21 November 2024, 6:05 am
ISTANBUL — Turkey on Wednesday denounced a missile attack targeting a cargo ship in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, saying measures were being taken to prevent any such further incidents.“We condemn the missile attacks by the Houthis on the Panama-flagged dry cargo ship Anadolu S, owned by a Turkish company, while sailing off the coast of Yemen,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced Tuesday they had targeted a cargo ship in the Red Sea, while a multinational naval task force said two missiles had struck near the Panama-flagged vessel.Since last November, the Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting shipping in and around the Red Sea in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels “carried out an operation targeting the ship Anadolu S in the Red Sea with a number of appropriate ballistic and naval missiles,” adding that the “hit was accurate and direct.”The Turkish ministry did not detail in its statement whether the ship received any damage, saying only that “Necessary initiatives are being taken to prevent the recurrence of a similar incident.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Nine Palestinian gunmen killed during two-day raid in Jenin area, IDF says-Three gunmen die in airstrike, others during gun battles, with no injuries to Israeli forces; troops find and destroy bomb-making labs and improvised explosives-By Emanuel Fabian-21 November 2024, 1:36 pm
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday it was pulling out of the West Bank city of Jenin following a two-day operation in which nine terror suspects were killed by troops and several more arrested.The 48-hour raid, which involved soldiers, Border Police officers, and members of the Shin Bet security service, was part of ongoing efforts against terror activities in the northern West Bank, the army said.Three of the slain Palestinians, who were armed at the time, were killed in an airstrike, an increasingly common tactic used by the IDF in the northern West Bank, while the other six died during gun battles with troops, the army said.There were no injuries to Israeli forces.According to the army, the three Palestinians killed in the airstrike were suspected of taking part in previous attacks on Israeli troops or towns. Following the airstrike, secondary explosions testified to the presence of weapons stored at the site, the IDF said.Some of the other six Palestinians were also involved in recent attacks on soldiers, according to the army.During the operation, four workshops used to prepare improvised explosive devices were destroyed along with dozens of bombs concealed beneath access routes that had been laid with the purpose of targeting security forces, the statement said. Forces also seized dozens of weapons.An unspecified number of suspects were detained and handed over to the Shin Bet for interrogation.The army had earlier this week confirmed killing three of the Palestinians during a raid in a town near Jenin, identifying them as members of the Islamic Jihad terror group.Border Police troops had entered the town of Qabatiya south of Jenin to arrest Raed Hanaysha, 24, a former terror convict suspected of being involved in shooting and bombing attacks against soldiers in the West Bank that did not cause casualties, according to a joint statement from the IDF, Israel Police, and Shin Bet on Tuesday.While attempting to arrest Hanaysha, troops were fired on by two other gunmen, and killed them and Hanaysha. Islamic Jihad confirmed that the three had been members of the terror group.Since October 7, 2023, when the Hamas terror group attacked Israel, starting the ongoing war in Gaza, troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists killed while carrying out attacks.During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.Since October 7, 2023, the IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
IDF says it killed five Hamas terrorists who led Mefalsim area massacres on Oct. 7,Overnight strike in Beit Lahiya targets site where several Hamas operatives were gathered; security forces say PIJ commander killed in separate strike in central Gaza;By Emanuel FabianToday, 4:33 pm-NOV 22,24
Five Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 onslaught were killed in a recent airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Friday, noting that two were commanders who led the massacre and kidnapping of civilians from the Mefalsim area during the brutal attack.The military said the strike overnight between Wednesday and Thursday in Beit Lahiya targeted a site where several Hamas operatives were gathered, including members of the terror group’s elite Nukhba Force who were involved in the massacre.The two senior terrorists killed in the strike were named as Jihad Mahmoud Yahya Kahlout, a Nukhba Force company commander, and Muhammad Riad Ali Oukal, a Hamas company commander.The IDF said that as well as leading the October 7 attack, the two had also been leading figures in fighting Israeli troops in northern Gaza amid the ongoing operation there.The other terrorists killed in the strike were named as Anas Jalal Muhammad Abu Shakian, a Hamas commander who also participated in the attack on the Mefalsim area on October 7; Nur al-Din Muhammad Yahya Abu Jadian, a Nukhba member; and Sihab Hassan Ali Matar Adaim, a Hamas operative.The area near the southern kibbutz was one of dozens of communities that Hamas terrorists targeted when they burst into Israel from across the Gaza border on October 7, 2023 killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.Also Friday, the IDF and Shin Bet security agency announced that Khaled Abu Deqa, who commanded the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket unit, was killed in a Wednesday strike in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza.The IDF said Abu Deqa, who was operating from within the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in Deir al-Balah, was responsible for rocket fire on Israel amid the October 7 onslaught and during the war. He was also involved in numerous other attacks on Israel and IDF troops, the military added.To mitigate civilian harm in the strike, the IDF said it used precision munition and aerial surveillance.In a separate airstrike, in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, the IDF targeted a group of Hamas operatives trying to plant explosive devices, amid an ongoing military operation there.The IDF released footage of the strike, adding that over 300 booby-trapped buildings had been discovered and neutralized by combat engineers during the operation in Jabalia.The IDF releases footage showing a group of Hamas operatives being targeted in an airstrike while trying to plant explosive devices in northern Gaza's Jabalia, amid an ongoing military operation there.According to the IDF, more than 300 booby-trapped buildings have been… pic.twitter.com/XUz5g4acco— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 22, 2024-Earlier this week, the military said that troops had killed over 1,300 terror operatives during the ongoing operation to stop Hamas from regrouping in the Jabalia area, which is being carried out by the 162nd Division.More than 1,000 members of Hamas and other terror groups have also been detained, according to the military’s latest estimates released Tuesday, which added that some 100-200 operatives remain in the area.According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, thousands of people have been killed in the operation, though these figures cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 380. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and a Defense Ministry civilian contractor.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Budapest vows to ensure premier's 'safety and freedom'UK indicates it could arrest Netanyahu on ICC warrant, as Hungary invites him to visit-Ireland also vows to arrest PM if he visits; Germany, France issue statements noting decision without saying if they’ll uphold it; Trump team reportedly planning sanctions on ICC-By ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 6:01 pm-NOV 22,24
Britain and Ireland on Friday indicated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant if he travels to those countries, as Israel and allies, including the United States and Hungary, rejected the top court’s decision to issue warrants for the premier and his former defense minister.Other Western countries also said they would comply with the ICC’s decision, announced Thursday, to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.“The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said on Friday.Asked directly whether Netanyahu would be arrested, the spokesman said he would not “talk about specific cases.”The UK is one of the 124 ICC member states from which Netanyahu and Gallant are effectively banned. Israel and the US, neither of which are members of the court, have slammed the motion to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant.ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan had announced in May that he was seeking the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders who have since been killed. At the time, the US administration assailed Khan, saying he had failed to provide Israel with the opportunity to investigate the claims.Earlier on Friday, Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris said Netanyahu would be detained if he arrived there.Asked by state broadcaster RTE if Ireland would arrest the Israeli prime minister if he came to Ireland, Harris said: “Yes, absolutely.”“We support international courts and we apply their warrants,” he added.Relations between Ireland and Israel have deteriorated since Dublin recognized a Palestinian state last May, a move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.Ireland’s foreign minister Micheal Martin said Friday he disagreed with US President Joe Biden’s depiction of the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as “outrageous,” asserting that war crimes have been committed in Gaza.“It’s a collective punishment of the people… it’s genocidal,” he said.But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban joined the US in voicing support for Israel, inviting Netanyahu to Budapest for an official visit in a letter that vowed he would ensure the premier’s “safety and freedom.”⚡️Netanyahu receives official invitation from Orban, the Hungarian president, to visit his country in defiance of the ICC ruling. pic.twitter.com/RMKDUtxkSy— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) November 22, 2024-Orban said in the letter that Hungary — which is a member of the ICC — “strongly condemns this disgraceful decision,” which he said would have “no impact whatsoever” on the bilateral relationship.“In the face of the embarrassing weakness of those who took the side of the outrageous decision against Israel’s right to self-defense,” Netanyahu said in response, “Hungary, like our friends in the US, displays moral clarity and takes a stand for justice and truth.”Meanwhile, the Kan broadcaster reported on Friday that the incoming Trump administration was making plans for punitive actions against the ICC over its decision to issue the warrants, citing sources in Washington.The anonymous sources told Kan that the transition team was looking at introducing personal sanctions against the ICC chief prosecutor, as well as the judges who issued the warrants.On Thursday, US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for national security adviser Mike Waltz tweeted, “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January.”In more neutral statements, Germany and France both commented on the warrants without confirming or denying whether they would uphold the ICC ruling.A German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin would carefully examine the warrants, but would take no further steps unless a visit was planned.“The German government was involved in the drafting of the ICC statute and is one of the biggest supporters of the ICC — this attitude is also the result of German history,” the spokesperson said. “At the same time, it is a consequence of German history that we share unique relations and a great responsibility with Israel.”Paris said it had taken note of the decision, also without specifying if Netanyahu or Gallant would be arrested if they entered French territory.“France takes note of this decision. True to its long-standing commitment to supporting international justice, it reiterates its attachment to the independent work of the court,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.Israel’s counteroffensive has killed more than 44,000 people, according to the Hamas health ministry. The figure cannot be independently verified and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, of whom Israel says it has killed at least 17,000 in Gaza, in addition to about 1,000 inside Israel during the onslaught.The ICC accuses Netanyahu and Gallant — whom the prime minister fired earlier this month — of targeting civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war. The court on Thursday also issued a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed by an IDF strike in Gaza in July.Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
US House passes bill allowing Treasury to target nonprofits it deems terror backers-Bipartisan legislation narrowly passes after many Democrats withdraw support; groups, including dozens of Jewish organizations, have said bill is too broad and can be abused-By THALIA BEATY and Farnoush Amiri Today, 11:13 am-NOV 22,24
WASHINGTON (AP) — The US House passed legislation Thursday that would give the Treasury Department unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt status of nonprofits it claims support terrorism, alarming civil liberties groups about how a second Trump presidency could invoke it to punish political opponents.The bill passed 219-184, with the majority of the support coming from Republicans who accused Democrats of reversing course in their support for the “common sense” proposal only after Donald Trump was elected to a second term earlier this month.Speaking on the House floor ahead of the vote, Rep. Jason Smith, GOP chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, argued that his colleagues across the aisle would still be supporting the bill had Vice President Kamala Harris won the presidential election. “And we, as members of Congress, have the duty to make sure that taxpayers are not subsidizing terrorism,” the Missouri lawmaker said. “It’s very, very simple.”But the proposal has drawn concern from a range of nonprofits who say it could be used to target organizations, including news outlets, universities and civil society groups, that a future presidential administration disagrees with. They say it does not offer groups enough due process.A coalition of more than 55 centrist and progressive Jewish groups has been lobbying against the bill.“This bill is an authoritarian play by Republicans to expand the sweeping powers of the executive branch, to go after political enemies and stifle political dissent,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on the House floor ahead of the vote.Critics also see it as redundant as it is already against US law to support designated terrorist groups. The proposal, which now goes to the Democratic-controlled Senate where its fate is uncertain, would also postpone tax-filing deadlines for Americans held hostage or unlawfully detained abroad.The bill would create a new category of “terrorist supporting organizations,” according to an analysis by the Congressional Research Service of a previous version of the legislation. This category is defined as any organization the Treasury Secretary designates as having provided material support to a terrorist organization in the past three years.“We think this legislation is an overreach,” said Jenn Holcomb, vice president of government affairs at the Council on Foundations. “It would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to designate a 501c nonprofit as a terrorist organization at their discretion. And our concern is it doesn’t have enough in there to really ensure that a nonprofit understands the reasoning that a secretary designated as such.”The bill would give a nonprofit designated as “terror-supporting” 90 days to appeal that designation. Nonprofits like the American Civil Liberties Union have said that the bill does not require that the Treasury Secretary disclose all the evidence that was used to make the designation.The bill text outlines how the Treasury must send “a description of such material support or resources to the extent consistent with national security and law enforcement interests.”In a joint statement with the Independent Sector, National Council of Nonprofits, and United Philanthropy Forum, the Council on Foundations also said the bill would shift the burden of proof to the nonprofit, and even if an organization was eventually cleared, the nonprofit would “risk irreparable damage to their operations and reputation.”If it were to become law, the bill could apply to a range of nonprofits, including membership organizations, unions and private foundations.A version of the bill was first introduced after the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught in Israel, when Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages into Gaza. The House passed a previous version of the bill in April, including with the support of some Democrats.The bill was also brought up for a vote last week but failed to garner a two-thirds majority required under the suspension of the rules.Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American representative in Congress, said Thursday before the vote that it would be her third time voting against the bill.“I don’t care who the president of the United States is,” she said. “This is a dangerous and unconstitutional bill that would allow unchecked power to target nonprofit organizations as political enemies and shut them down without due process.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Trump picks Pam Bondi for US attorney general hours after Gaetz withdraws nomination-Former Florida AG, who has said Israel is one of America’s top allies, is a loyalist of the US president-elect who served as one of his lawyers during first impeachment trial-By Eric Tucker, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and Colleen Long Today, 6:35 am-NOV 22,24
WASHINGTON (AP) — US President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department, turning to a longtime ally just hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations.Bondi has been an outspoken defender of Trump. She was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused — but not convicted — of abusing his power as he tried to condition US military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former vice president Joe Biden. And she was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his New York hush money criminal trial that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts.“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump said in a social media post. “Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.”Gaetz stepped aside Thursday amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. Gaetz vehemently denied the allegations, but his nomination stunned many career lawyers inside the Justice Department. Gaetz, who passed the bar but barely worked as a lawyer, had minimal relevant experience for the job. Bondi comes with years of legal work under her belt and that other trait Trump prizes above all: loyalty.The hasty withdrawal by Gaetz and quick pivot to Bondi were the latest examples of Trump’s tumultuous decision-making as he rushes out nominations — some of questionable character and credentials — at a breakneck pace without the government vetting that is typical of presidential transitions. It’s an omen that despite running his most organized campaign for the White House this year, his return to the Oval Office might feature the same sort of drama that permeated his first term.Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the transition team had backups in mind for his controversial nominees should they fail to get confirmed.Still, even in Trump’s world, things moved fast. Trump had been seeking to capitalize on his decisive election win to force Senate Republicans to accept provocative selections like Gaetz. The decision could heighten scrutiny on other controversial Trump nominees, including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, who faces sexual assault allegations that he denies.“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz said in a statement one day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support.“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1,” he added.Trump, in a social media post, said: “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”Bondi — who has said Israel is “one of our, if not our greatest ally in the world” — is a well-known figure in Trump’s circle, and has been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers. She’s been a vocal critic of the criminal cases against Trump. In one recent radio appearance, she called Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith and other prosecutors who have charged Trump “horrible” people she said were trying to make names for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system.”Republican Senator Lindsey Graham predicted in a social media post that Bondi “will be confirmed quickly,” calling her selection a “grand slam, touchdown, hole in one, ace, hat trick, slam dunk, Olympic gold medal pick.”If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Bondi would instantly become one of the most closely watched members of Trump’s Cabinet given the Republican’s threat to pursue retribution against perceived adversaries and concern among Democrats that he will look to bend the Justice Department to his will. A recent Supreme Court opinion not only conferred broad immunity on former presidents but also affirmed a president’s exclusive authority over the Justice Department’s investigative functions.As president, he demanded investigations into political opponents like Hillary Clinton and sought to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to advance his own interests, including in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.Bondi would inherit a Justice Department expected to pivot sharply on civil rights, corporate enforcement and the prosecutions of hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol — defendants whom Trump has pledged to pardon.It’s unlikely that Bondi would be confirmed in time to overlap with Smith, who brought two federal indictments against Trump that are both expected to wind down before the incoming president takes office. Special counsels are expected to produce reports on their work that historically are made public, but it remains unclear when such a document might be released.Bondi was accused by a Massachusetts attorney of bribery over a $25,000 campaign contribution she received from Trump in 2013. Bondi asked for the donation near the same time that her office was being asked about a New York investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University. In 2017, that complaint was found to have lacked enough evidence to move forward.In 2013, while serving as Florida attorney general, she publicly apologized for asking that the execution of a man convicted of murder be delayed because it conflicted with a campaign fundraiser. She said she was wrong and sorry for requesting that then-Gov. Rick Scott push back the execution of Marshall Lee Gore by three weeks.While Gaetz sought to lock down Senate support this week, concern over the sex trafficking allegations showed no signs of abating.In recent days, an attorney for two women said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017, when Gaetz was a Florida congressman. One of the women testified she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old at a party in Florida in 2017, according to the attorney, Joel Leppard.Gaetz’s political future is uncertain. In a social media post, pointed at the incoming vice president, Gaetz wrote: “I look forward to continuing the fight to save our country. Just maybe from a different post.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Official: Don't give up on Dems now that GOP controls Congress-Israel breathes small sigh of relief after most US Senate Democrats back arms transfers-Senior Israeli official tells ToI that embassy diplomats met with every lawmaker seen to be on the fence, managing to sway several who initially planned to back Sanders resolutions-By Jacob Magid Today, 5:12 am-NOV 22,24
Israel breathed a small sigh of relief on Wednesday after a majority of US Senate Democrats joined Republicans in voting down a series of measures led by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders aimed at blocking weapons shipments to Jerusalem.While it was clear from the get-go that the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval were doomed to fail, given that only a handful of Democrats were needed to join Republicans, there was concern in Israel that progressive critics would succeed in rallying a majority of Democrats to their cause in what would have been a major testament to their strength within the party, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Thursday.Accordingly, diplomats at Israel’s Embassy in Washington engaged intensively in the lead-up to Wednesday’s votes, working to identify every single Democratic senator who was on the fence and meeting with those lawmakers in order to try and sway their stances, said the official.Some of those meetings paid dividends as embassy diplomats managed to convince several lawmakers to flip their votes after those senators had initially planned to support the JRDs, claimed the senior Israeli official, while declining to share any names.Some progressive lawmakers stood their ground though, telling Israeli diplomats that they felt compelled to make a political statement about their disapproval of Israel’s prosecution of the war with Hamas in Gaza, given that they knew the resolutions would fail, said a second source familiar with the matter.Israeli diplomats sought to explain that voting against the sale of tank rounds, mortar rounds and joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs), which won’t arrive in Israel for another year or two, will have far greater implications on Israel’s efforts to combat the shared Iranian adversary than it will on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.But this argument didn’t succeed in persuading an expanding minority of progressive Democrats who are convinced that Israel has not heeded repeated US calls to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Israel insists it is taking steps to enable aid to reach civilians in Gaza. But last month saw the lowest levels of aid enter the Strip since the year began and much of the aid entering the enclave hasn’t been distributed due to IDF restrictions and mass looting.Israel says Hamas is still managing to control much of the aid coming in, but the US has pleaded with Israel from the start of the war to allow the Palestinian Authority, with the support of Arab allies to play a role in the management of Gaza. Jerusalem has refused, and Hamas fighters have managed to return to areas already cleared several times by the IDF, maintaining the dragged-out nature of the war.Israel is now trying to recruit private subcontractors to take charge of aid distribution. But it is expecting the United Arab Emirates to pay for this endeavor when Abu Dhabi has repeatedly said that it will only do so if Israel agrees to allow for a reformed PA to participate as part of a pathway to a two-state solution — a framework Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long rejected.Frustration with Netanyahu’s government was cited by many of the 19 Democrats who voted to block the transfer of tank rounds, mortar rounds and JDAMs from Israel.The incoming ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jeanne Shaheen voted against all three arms deals, as did the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate Dick Durbin. Freshman Senator Jon Ossoff voted against the sales of tanks and mortar rounds but not the JDAMs.Sen. Ossoff's remarks on resolutions of disapproval with respect to two U.S.-Israel weapons sales: pic.twitter.com/CcNZOpkPVU— Ossoff's Office (@SenOssoff) November 21, 2024-Still, the senior Israeli official said the number of senators who backed the JRDs could have been larger had it not been for Jerusalem’s engagement on the matter.He also credited the Biden administration’s intervention. US officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that they also lobbied Democrats against the resolutions earlier this week.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the resolutions would have been counterproductive to US efforts to secure ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza.“We have strong reason to believe that terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah want to see Israel in a position of weakness, and we don’t want to see that happen,” she added.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also pressed colleagues to vote against the Sanders-led measures, the official said.With the matter now completed and Republicans readying for the next session of Congress, in which they are set to control both houses, the senior Israeli official cautioned against “giving up” on the Democratic Party.He acknowledged that there is a “loud” wing of critics that has grown in size, but Wednesday’s results showed that they have not won the battle.Moreover, the official noted that Congress could easily flip after one term, making engagement with Democrats in the interim critical to ensure such efforts to block arms sales to Israel continue to fail, regardless of who is in control on the Hill.
Hamas, PA praise ICC warrants as ‘important step toward justice,’ a counter to ‘genocide’Terror group urges court to issue warrants against all Israeli officials involved in Gaza war; Hamas backer Turkey hails ‘very important step’By Gianluca Pacchiani,ToI Staff and Agencies 21 November 2024, 9:36 pm
Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey on Thursday welcomed the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.Hamas politburo member Basem Naim said the decision is “an important step toward justice and can lead to redress for the victims in general, but it remains limited and symbolic if it is not supported by all means by all countries around the world.”Naim did not comment on the separate arrest warrant, also issued by the ICC on Thursday, for Hamas’s slain military chief Muhammad Deif. Israel in August confirmed the elusive Deif had been killed in an airstrike on Khan Younis. Hamas has not confirmed he was killed, and the ICC said it could not do so either.Commenting on the ICC warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, Hamas called on the court to expand the scope of the warrants and seek the arrest of all Israeli leaders, government ministers and army officers who were involved in the war. The terror group also urged countries across the world to cooperate with the tribunal in bringing Netanyahu and Gallant to justice.Hamas also accused the White House of “attempting to obstruct the proceedings for months by intimidating the court and its judges.” US lawmakers had repeatedly warned they could seek to sanction court officials if the warrants were issued, though the White House made no such threats.Turkey, which is said to be hosting leaders of the terror group after they were kicked out of Qatar, also hailed the “very important step” taken by the ICC.“This decision is an extremely important step in bringing to justice the Israeli authorities who committed genocide against Palestinians,” wrote Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on X.Turkey, an ICC member state, has been harshly critical of the war in Gaza, to which it cut off its robust trade ties with Israel.Meanwhile, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority — led by Fatah, the secularist rival of Hamas — also praised the ICC’s decision.“The ICC’s decision restores hope and trust not only in international law along with UN institutions, but also in the importance of justice, accountability and prosecution of war criminals, particularly at a time when the Palestinian people are still subject to genocide,” the PA said, according to its official news agency WAFA.The PA urged member states of the court and the United Nations to cut off ties with Netanyahu and Gallant, “implement the court’s decision and prosecute criminals before courts,” WAFA said.Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called on the government to sanction the PA over the ICC case against Israel. The PA, which joined the court in 2015, had complained against Israel over settlement activity in the West Bank and alleged war crimes in the 2014 Gaza war against Hamas.The warrants issued Thursday effectively bar Netanyahu and Gallant from entering 124 countries that are members of the ICC.Israel and the United States — neither of which are members of the ICC — have slammed the court’s decision. Other countries, including ICC member states Canada, Spain and the Netherlands, said they would respect the court’s rulings.Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, had announced in May that he was seeking warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant on charges that Israel has targeted civilians in Gaza and used starvation as a method of war. Netanyahu has since fired Gallant.Khan also sought arrest warrants against Hamas leader Deif, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh for war crimes during and after the onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza. Sinwar was killed in a chance encounter with Israeli troops in Gaza in October, and Haniyeh was killed by an explosion in his room in Tehran in July. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its role in the blast that killed Haniyeh.In a separate ongoing case, brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice, Israel is accused of genocide in Gaza.The war in Gaza was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed over 44,000 people, according to the Strip’s Hamas-led health ministry. The figure, which cannot be independently verified, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
State Dept. Holds Alleged ‘Cry Sessions’ for Employees Upset with Trump’s Victory-Sarah Holliday-November 14, 2024
In response to Donald Trump’s victory in last week’s presidential election, employees from the Biden-Harris State Department are focusing on “managing stress during change.” Reportedly, this has included therapy sessions hosted by the department’s Employee Consultation Services in the Bureau of Medical Services. A source shared with The Washington Free Beacon that the meeting was essentially a one-hour “cry session” over the election results.An email promoting the meeting read: “Change is a constant in our lives, but it can often bring about stress and uncertainty. Join us for an insightful webinar where we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times. This session will provide tips and practical strategies for managing stress and maintaining your well-being.”One U.S. official familiar with the sessions told the Beacon, “For four years, within the rank and file, there has been an over-emphasis on people’s feelings, often with a college campus-like fervor, rather than the work of advancing America’s interests.” According to this source, there’s a lot to fix once Trump takes the White House, and he expressed his hope that the most recent meeting was “the last gasp” of this emphasis on emotions within the department.Notably, this is not the first instance of the department spending resources on its employees’ feelings. The Christian Post highlighted when the State Department offered therapy sessions for employees who were “distraught over a glitch that assigned incorrect pronouns to some staff in their email in 2023.” Allegedly, “for those whose pronouns were incorrectly assigned, the State Department’s Employee Consultation Service allowed employees ‘to speak to a professional counselor.’”While the State Department has yet to release a statement on the recent therapy sessions, another official shared how he believes this reflects the fact that the department is “filled with partisan Democrats who are unwilling or unable to faithfully serve in the Trump administration.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s leadership has been a major force in pushing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives of the Biden administration in the State Department. In light of this, some spokespeople for the upcoming Trump administration have stated their plan is to “immediately” terminate “all staff, offices, and initiatives” related to DEI.In comments to The Washington Stand, both David Closson and Joseph Backholm from Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview weighed in on the underlying discussion prompted by these therapy sessions. “If you need a cry session because an election didn’t go the way you’d prefer, you probably lack the fortitude required to be an effective representative of the U.S. to the world,” Backholm pointed out. Closson added, “The purpose of the State Department is to further America’s interest abroad. Reports that employees are using department resources to cope with an election outcome suggest that there are fundamentally unserious people in charge.”Alongside these realities, however, both suggested that there’s still a need to view the circumstances through a biblical worldview. Backholm put it this way: “Fragile people are also made in the image of God, so they deserve our compassion and our respect.” Closson felt similarly, noting that we’re “undoubtedly emotional beings.” But the consensus both experts offered is that being emotional doesn’t justify using those emotions as the basis of one’s decision-making. As Closson explained, “Just because you feel strongly about something doesn’t mean your perceptions are accurate. A story like this reminds us that emotions are part of who we are. And while they can tell us true things about ourselves being given to us by God, they don’t necessarily tell us what is objectively right and wrong.”Backholm continued, “The issue here is not necessarily being led by emotions, but a lack of perspective. If you work for the U.S. State Department, you should be aware of people who have actual political problems like they do in Afghanistan, the Congo, or Armenia. It is a luxury to be disappointed by an election outcome and should be seen as such.” Backholm emphasized that “it’s okay to have a different preference, but the idea that you’re incapable of carrying on in life because of the result is an indictment on the individuals involved, not the candidate who was elected.”Closson further observed that it’s “not entirely surprising to learn that folks are overcome with feelings of sadness related to Donald Trump’s victory last week. In every department, there are hundreds if not thousands of political appointees, and their careers and livelihoods will be affected by a new administration. But as Christians, we should have compassion and empathy for anyone that’s processing an unexpected outcome” while continuing to be examples of what it looks like to control our feelings.“God gave us emotions,” Backholm concluded, “so it’s not wrong to feel them, honor them, and enjoy them. But emotions are unreliable, so we can’t let them be in charge. It’s hard to be a good leader once you decide your feelings are the governing authority in your life.”Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.
Libs gone mad: Election snowflakes rush to NYC shrinks’ offices after Trump win-By Jon Levine and Matthew Sedacca-Published Nov. 9, 2024, 8:51 a.m. ET
Let them cry it out.Liberals in deep-blue New York City shocked and disturbed by President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory are flooding shrinks’ inboxes looking for appointments.“It’s a perfect storm for New York therapists,” said Manhattan psychologist Chloe Carmichael, who estimated she’s received a 15% spike in inquiries from patients. “It’s a repeat of 2016, where a lot of people feel really scared and traumatized and angry.”Supporters react after Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the election. 3 A staggering 69% of people felt anxious or frustrated about the presidential election, according to a poll taken before Trump’s runaway win.On Wednesday morning, New York City-based psychotherapist Alyson Cohen woke up to a deluge of paranoid texts from clients begging for extra appointments this week, many of whom claimed to be “afraid for their futures and that of their children.” “I’ve even already heard [from] some female clients who say they are now second guessing having children out of fears for their health as it relates to pregnancy-related medical care,” she said. It’s worse for couples, said Lisa Brateman, a psychotherapist and relationship specialist in Midtown.Romance hit the rock for relationships where each person voted for different candidates, Brateman said.“If a woman was saying ‘What about my rights as a woman?’ and her boyfriend or husband voted for Trump, it felt like a personal unwillingness to understand them,” she said. Following a meeting with a split-party couple, a woman who voted Democrat asked for an additional appointment with Brateman next week — alone. “She’s in shock, she’s trying to navigate her emotions . . . and needing to process with somebody who really understands the pain she’s feeling,” she said. “When the other person voted for someone else, they’re not feeling that pain — they’re jubilant.” What do you think? Be the first to comment.The quick and decisive nature of Trump’s victory, with the GOP nominee even clinching the popular vote, was a silver lining, Carmichael said.“People were terrified about facing days and weeks of uncertainty,” she said. “The clarity can be kind of a saving grace.”
