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)
THE EZEKIEL 38 & 39 AXIS OF EVIL IS GETTING READY.RUSSIA,IRAN,TURKEY AND SYRIA IN TALKS.GODS WRATH OF JUDGEMENT ON AMERICA.
JESUS WAS BORN JEWISH, GREW UP JEWISH, DIED JEWISH AND ROSE FROM THE GRAVE JEWISH. IF IT WALKS, TALKS AND LOOKS LIKE A DUCK-ITS A DUCK. OR JESUS WAS AND WILL ALWAYS BE JEWISH. SO IF YOU HATE ISRAEL YOU HATE JESUS, WHO WILL FOREVER BE JEWISH-CHRISTIANS WHO CLAIME TO BE CHRISTIANS, BUT HATE ISRAEL.YOU AIN'T.
Jesus was……a ZIONIST! Pinchas Baram-Opinion-September 29, 2024
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-“WHAT??!”-”Yes, you heard that right– J.C. was a ZIONIST!”-“Are you joking? Prove it!”It’s easy if you want facts, not fake news. First, some background and basic info: Yeshua (Jesus’ given name in Hebrew) was the son of Miriam and Yosef and was born in King David’s hometown of Beit Lechem (Bethlehem), a town close to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), in the Roman-ruled province of Judea. At the time of his birth, Herod the Great ruled Judea as king (though he was under the overlordship of the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus). Yeshua grew up in Natzeret (Nazareth) in the region called the Galilee; he learned the Jewish prayers in Hebrew, celebrated the Jewish holy days like Passover and Rosh HaShana, spoke the everyday language of Aramaic, studied Torah in Jerusalem. One of his teachers was a famous rabbi named Yehoshua ben Perachaya. Like many of his peers, he became a “rabbi” (meaning teacher); he also became a healer and something of a prophet as he wandered about, developing a small but devoted following.Yeshua lived at a pivotal time when, on the one hand, Herod had recently rebuilt and made magnificent the holy Jewish Temple (which was open to all sincere God-seekers, not just Jews), and on the other hand, Jewish relations were very strained with Roman rule and its culture (paganistic, idolatrous, indulgent, and demanding in terms of taxation and police rule). Rebellion often simmered beneath the surface, and Rome used a heavy hand to stifle it. The state would often crucify on wooden crosses publicly Jews who were political suspects– the total number of such executions has been estimated to have been in the tens of thousands! (Side note: crucifixion was a lengthy, sadistic torture. Driving large nails into one’s heels and hands is excruciating, and the Romans, like the Nazis of the 20th century or the jihadi Moslems of Hamas and ISIS, delighted in such sadism.)-Yeshua, like many of his fellow Jews, was not happy with the Temple’s Sadducee priesthood “establishment,” nor with the strictness associated with the Pharisees nor with the non-religious supporters of Herod. His approach was totally “kosher”, but more like the rural, holistic Essenes, as we have learned from the Dead Sea Scrolls. But he was a-political, taking his well-known view of rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s (tax money, in the form of coins with the idolatrous face of the emperor) and to God the things that are God’s (our neshamas, our souls).Indeed, Yeshua’s interests became increasingly other-worldly, especially as the political atmosphere became darker and more tense. His focus was on the eschatological themes of Sof Hayamim (the End of Days), Geula (Redemption) and Meshichut (the coming of the Messiah, of the lineage of David).Like many others, Jesus got caught up in the whirlwind of the times, which meant periodic repression by the Roman authorities. Yeshua was falsely charged as a dangerous radical, mockingly referred to as King of the Jews, and sentenced to death by cruel crucifixion. And thus he was executed… but not destroyed, as Christianity grew, like a twig, then a new branch, from its Jewish tree and its deep roots in Judea.But all that is another story. Suffice to say here, simply and sadly, Yesha was born, raised, and died as a Yehudi, a Jew, in Judea.-”Okay, Jesus was a Jew, no question. But Zionism– how was Jesus a Zionist? You said he was– how so?”So, let’s define Zionism. It’s not that complicated. On one level, the word Tziyon (Zion) is a traditional Jewish synonym for Jerusalem. It is first mentioned in the Torah in connection with a local hill called Mount Zion, but it subsequently carried the connotation of the unique character of the entire city, special because Jerusalem became the geographic center and capital of Biblical Israel and the 12 tribes, and because it was the locus of the first Temple, erected by King Solomon, son of David (almost 1000 years before the birth of Yeshua). Over the years (centuries!) the term Tzyion expanded to also mean Eretz Yisrael, the holy Land of Israel, which God bequeathed ( expressed numerous times in the Bible) as an everlasting inheritance to the Jewish descendants of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs Abraham Isaac Jacob Sarah Rebecca Leah and Rachel. This was Yeshua’s inheritance, too. This was the teaching he learned, the environment he grew up in, and the very air he breathed. In modern times, non-Jews have also used the word positively, symbolizing enlightenment and goodwill towards mankind. It’s only recently that enemies of Israel and Jew-haters have twisted time-honored definitions and now scream that Zionism is foreign, repressive, racist, a colonialist project that must be obliterated. God forbid.These are the basic facts. To say or think that Jesus was not a Jew and also not a Zionist is not only absurd, it’s a deliberate lie. True, there have been opponents, atheists, and heretics who have tried to excise Zion/Jerusalem/Israel from the Jewish faith– notably the early Reform movement in 19th century Germany and very recently, several anti-Zionist, so-called Jewish organizations in America which have allied themselves with the despicable Hamas supporters.But Jesus? Jesus was 100% on the pro-Zionist side. If he were alive today, he’d be fighting for Israel (like his spiritual brothers the Essenes, who actually and physically fought the Roman overlords in the famous Jewish wars of the first century), or he would be actively preaching and demonstrating on Israel’s behalf, against the evil of anti-Zionism and the sadists of Hamas and Hezbollah.Indeed, to many Christians and to their Jewish friends, this aspect of Jesus is truly alive today. And let us say Amen. Pinchas Baram, Ph.D. in History, made aliyah from Brookline, Mass. more than 20 years ago and lives in Katzrin, the Golan. He was a high school and college teacher (Univ. of Mass., Lowell, etc.). His book, The Department of State and the Middle East 1917-1945, won a major award from the American Historical Society. For 10 years he was the executive director of the New England Zionist Federation and Zionist House/Israel Cultural Center in Boston (once thriving entities which no longer exist). He is also an experienced holistic health practitioner, has run the Boston Marathon, and is part of the Dati Leumi movement in Israel.Pinchas has a B.A. from Brown, an M.A. from Harvard, a Ph.D. fromBoston University. He can be reached at pjbaram36@gmail.com
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING (BUT WILL NOT KILL EVERY BODY WITH WATER)(BUT 50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE (4 BILLION PEOPLE) FROM NUCLEAR WAR)(THE BIBLE SAYS BY FIRE OR ATOMIC BOMBS THIS TIME)
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator and baby murderers by abortion) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.so was not yet deemed a threat to land.The storm was located about 580 miles (930 kilometers) west-southwest of the southernmost tip of the Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), the center said.The storms churned in the Atlantic as rescuers in the U.S. Southeast searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene struck last week, leaving behind a trail of death and catastrophic damage.
In milestone achievement, SpaceX ‘catches’ megarocket booster after test flight-Elon Musk hails success as ‘science fiction without the fiction part,’ after firm’s years of chasing rapid reusability; NASA seeks to use altered Starship for manned Moon landing-By Agencies Today, 6:42 pm-OCT 13,24
SpaceX on Sunday successfully flew the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket back to the launch pad after a test flight, a technical tour de force that furthers the company’s quest for rapid reusability.The “super heavy booster” had blasted off attached to the uncrewed Starship rocket minutes earlier, then made a picture-perfect controlled return to the same pad in Texas, where a pair of huge mechanical “chopsticks” reached out from the launch tower to bring the slowly descending booster to a halt, according to a livestream from Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.Not long afterward, the upper stage of Starship splashed down, as planned, in the Indian Ocean, a development saluted by Musk on X.“Ship landed precisely on target!” he said of the vehicle’s fifth test flight. “Second of the two objectives achieved.”A jubilant Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.”The successful “catching” of the booster at its Texas launch pad had company staffers erupting in cheers.Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fifth flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/FhCGznq9RO— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024-“Even in this day and age, what we just saw is magic,” SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot observed from near the launch site. “I am shaking right now.”“Folks, this is a day for the engineering history books,” added engineering manager Kate Tice from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.Liftoff occurred at 7:25 a.m. (1225 GMT) in clear weather from the SpaceX facility in southern Texas.During its last flight in June, SpaceX achieved its first successful splashdown with Starship, a prototype spaceship that Musk hopes will one day carry humans to Mars.US space agency NASA, which congratulated SpaceX on its successful test, is also keenly awaiting a modified version of Starship to act as a lander vehicle for crewed flights to the Moon under the Artemis program later this decade.SpaceX said its engineers have “spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success.”Teams were monitoring to ensure “thousands” of criteria were met both on the vehicle and at the tower before any attempt to return the booster.Had the conditions not been satisfied, it would have been redirected for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, as in previous tests.Instead, having been given the green light, the returning booster decelerated from supersonic speeds, and the powerful “chopstick arms” embraced it.‘Fail fast, learn fast’The large mechanical arms, called “Mechazilla” by Musk, have generated considerable excitement among space enthusiasts.A video posted by SpaceX showed the booster slowly descending, its bottom wobbling slowly to and fro as some of its 33 powerful engines corrected its descent until the arms closed gently around it and held the huge device in place above the ground.Starship rocket booster caught by tower pic.twitter.com/aOQmSkt6YE— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024-Starship stands 397 feet (121 meters) tall with both stages combined — about 90 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.Its Super Heavy booster, which is 233 feet tall, produces 16.7 million pounds (74.3 Meganewtons) of thrust, about twice as powerful as the Saturn V rockets used during the Apollo missions.SpaceX’s “fail fast, learn fast” strategy of rapid iterative testing, even when its rockets blow up spectacularly, has ultimately accelerated development and contributed to the company’s success.Founded only in 2002, it quickly leapfrogged aerospace industry giants and is now the world leader in orbital launches, besides providing the only US spaceship currently certified to carry astronauts.It has also created the world’s biggest internet satellite constellation — invaluable in disaster and war zones.But its founding vision of making humanity a multi-planetary species is increasingly at risk of being overshadowed by Musk’s embrace of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his alignment with right-wing politics.A clearly energized Musk, wearing an “Occupy Mars” T-shirt, appeared alongside Trump at a recent rally in Pennsylvania.The company has been openly sparring with the Federal Aviation Administration over launch licensing and alleged violations, with Musk accusing the agency of overreach and calling for its chief, Michael Whitaker, to resign.“He’s trying to position himself for minimal regulatory interference with SpaceX once Donald Trump becomes president,” said Mark Hass, a marketing expert and professor at Arizona State University. “But it’s a calculated gamble if things go the other way.”
EXPERT: Hurricanes consequence of Biden pressure on Israel for Two-State Solution-For thus said the lord of Hosts—He who sent me after glory—concerning the nations that have taken you as spoil: “Whoever touches you touches the pupil of his own eye.Zephaniah 2:12 (the israel bible)-Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz-October 11, 2024
As the southeastern United States copes with the aftermath of several deadly hurricanes, all eyes turn to the heavens to try to understand God’s message contained in these hardships.As a Bible student and politics student, William Koenig, publisher of Koenig International News, has a unique perspective for understanding current events. He places the storms in the context of the Biden administration and its treatment of Israel, more specifically, the administration putting major pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire with Hezbollah and in Gaza and attempting to stop a significant response to Iran’s recent missile attack on Israel.“The tropical depression that became Helene developed quickly on Monday morning, September 23, 2024,” Koenig wrote. “ The first advisory was put out that day at 11:00 am EDT. The storm began as Israel’s enemies were preparing their scathing anti-Israel speeches to the United Nations General Assembly while the Biden administration was continuing to work on an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire deal and was exerting pressure on Israel to comply. Additionally, Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron pushed a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah in an attempt to stop the war in Lebanon. Moreover, there was still pressure on Israel for two-state negotiations.”Koenig noted that Hurricane Ian, the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history, developed and came ashore in southern Florida during the September 2022 UN General Assembly meetings. He also cited the four costliest hurricanes in U.S. history as all corresponding to White House pressure and action regarding Israel’s covenant land. Moreover, monster storms Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Harvey (2017), Hurricane Ian (2022) and Hurricane Helene (2024) all formed quickly and produced devastating disasters within a week or so. This too is extremely unusual, when most storms build over time off the west coast of Africa or deep in the Caribbean. He explained the connection. “When the presidents and their administrations have attempted to create an Arab state in the biblical heartland of Israel, Judea, Samaria, and East Jerusalem, there are major consequences,” Koenig wrote. “And I have shown for years, the greater the pressure on Israel to divide their covenant land by agreeing to a two-state plan, forcing Jews from their home as in August 2005, and restricting Israel’s ability to defend themselves, the greater the corresponding catastrophes. You can sense the God of Israel’s fury and wrath over this. It is a mystery but has fit a pattern for over 30 years.”“I continue to be very sensitive to the many people and families who have been dramatically affected by these record-setting events. I have listened to many devastating stories. We need to continue praying for them, their families, and for all those dealing with the resulting financial and personal hardships.”Indeed, the pattern outlined by Koenig has a long history predating the modern State of Israel. Koenig discusses these matters in his book “Eye to Eye – Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel.”History of Natural Disasters-
August 2021: President Biden hosted then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House, pressuring him into accepting a plan that put a total freeze on Jewish construction in Judea, Samaria, and the sections of Jerusalem that were illegally occupied by Jordan before 1967. As Bennett flew home, Hurricane Ida, a category four hurricane made landfall precisely on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
January 2020: . After he took office in January 2020, Biden immediately began implementing an anti-Israel policy which included reestablishing relations with the Palestinian Authority and meeting with Iran to jump-start the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. One month later, a polar vortex came sweeping down from the north, hitting the central US with extreme cold. At least 2,400 cold temperature records were broken or tied, some of them going back 75 years or more.
August 2017: The Trump Administration’s Middle East negotiating team, led by Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, visited the region in an attempt to jump-start peace talks. Ten days later, Hurricane Harvey, described as the “worst disaster” in Texan history, made landfall, slamming the Corpus Christi region of Texas with 130 MPH winds and 13-foot storm surges.
June 2016: A summit was held in Paris as a prelude to a multi-national conference that would force Israel to unilaterally accept the two-state solution and create a Palestinian state within its borders. As the delegates left the summit, rain began to fall. Over the next 24 hours, the River Seine rose 20 feet, resulting in the worst flooding Paris has seen in decades.
August 5-13, 2015: After announcing the nuclear deal, Iran was hit with an apocalyptic-like heat wave hitting an astounding 164℉. One week later, a significant meteor struck Iran.
April 2008: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a strong advocate of the anti-Semitic Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement, meets with leaders of Hamas, announcing to the world that the terrorist organization dedicated to killing Jews is “committed to peace.” One year later, he was diagnosed with cancer, and melanomas were found in his brain and liver. After only a few months of treatment, the doctors pronounced him cancer-free. Pembrolizumab, a drug developed in Israel, was a key element in his treatment.
2005: Ariel Sharon endorsed the Roadmap for Peace and began plans to remove the Jewish population of Gush Katif from the Gaza Strip. The dismantling of the Jewish settlements was scheduled for August 15th, 2005, the day after Tisha b’Av, the anniversary of both Jewish Temples being destroyed.
This disengagement was due to US pressure. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana, leaving thousands of Americans homeless and killing at least 1,833. The damage was estimated at over $108 billion.
In July, one month before the IDF dismantled Gush Katif and evicted almost 9,000 Jews from their homes, Rabbi Yosef Dayan, a member of the nascent Sanhedrin who can trace his lineage back to King David, led a group of ten rabbis in performing an obscure, ancient Kabbalistic ceremony, the Pulsa diNura, on Sharon. The Pulsa diNura invokes the angels of destruction to block heavenly forgiveness of the subject’s sins, causing all the curses named in the Bible to befall him and resulting in his death.
Sharon’s health deteriorated, and by January of that year, he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, entering a vegetative state from which he never recovered.
October 11, 1999: Jewish settlers in 15 West Bank settlements are evicted from their homes. The Dow Jones financial average loses 5.7 percent in the worst week since October 1989. On October 15, the Dow lost 266 points. A hurricane hits North Carolina. The next morning, October 16, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocks the southwest US in the fifth most powerful earthquake in the 20th century. The earthquake was centered in the California desert and did little damage but was felt in three states.Arafat and Netanyahu met at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland for five days of intensive talks as part of a continuation of Albright’s plan that would force Israel to give up major areas of Judea and Samaria. On October 17, Hurricane Irene boiled over. Though it never made landfall, the resulting rains and tornados that hit southern Texas caused over $750 million in damage and killed 31 people, affecting a quarter of the state. The storm dissipated as the meeting ended in Maryland. On October 21, Clinton declared the hard-hit areas of Texas a major disaster area.
May 3, 1999: Arafat was scheduled to declare an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. For two days, tornadoes ravaged the center of America, concentrated in Oklahoma and Kansas. 152 tornadoes touched down, causing $1.4 billion in damage, killing 50 and injuring almost 900 people. Arafat’s declaration was postponed to December 1999 at the request of Clinton.
November 30, 1998: Arafat arrived in Washington to meet with Clinton. He proposed a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital and began efforts to raise money. A total of 42 nations agreed to give Arafat $3 billion, with Clinton pledging $400 million and European nations pledging $1.7 billion. On the same day, the Dow Jones average plunged 216 points, and on December 1, the European Market had its worst day in history. Hundreds of billions of dollars of market capitalization were wiped out in the US and Europe.
September 28, 1998: US Secretary of State Madeline Albright gave a press briefing describing the final details of an American-brokered agreement between PLO Head Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu. According to the deal, Israel would have been required to give up 13 percent of Judea and Samaria. The same day, Georges, a category 4 hurricane, hit the United States Gulf Coast with winds of 110 mph and gusts of up to 175 mph. In terms of damage, it was the costliest hurricane since Hurricane Andrew, causing $10 billion of damage and killing 604 people.
January 21, 1998: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US President Bill Clinton at the White House and was greeted in an unwelcoming manner. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refused to have lunch with him. It was later that same day that the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke out.
1995: Reneging on his campaign promises just one year before, Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin aligned with his political nemesis, Shimon Peres, and signed the Oslo Accords in 1993, which created the Palestinian National Authority and granted it partial control over parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Rabbi Dayan also led rabbis in the Pulsa diNura against Rabin a few months before he was assassinated. Rabin was shot and killed in 1995 by Yigal Amir, an extremist who opposed Rabin’s peace initiative and particularly the signing of the Oslo Accords.
January 16, 1994: President Clinton met with Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad in Geneva. They discussed a peace agreement with Israel that included giving up the Golan Heights. Within 24 hours, the powerful Northridge earthquake, which registered a 6.9 on the Richter scale, hit Southern California. The earthquake caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, leaving 57 people killed and over 5,000 injured. The earthquake became the second most destructive natural disaster to hit the United States.
August 23, 1992: The Madrid Conference moved to Washington DC, and the peace talks resumed. One day later, Hurricane Andrew, the worst natural disaster recorded in American history, hit Florida, causing an estimated $30 billion in damage and leaving 180,000 homeless across the state.
October 30, 1991: US President George Bush, Sr. opened the Madrid Conference with an expectation that Israel would trade “Land for Peace”. As the conference progressed, what was later called the “Perfect Storm” developed in the North Atlantic, creating the largest waves ever recorded in that region. The storm traveled 1,000 miles from east to west, defying the more natural west-to-east pattern. One day later, on October 31, the storm struck the New England coast with 35-foot waves crashing into the Walker’s Point home of President Bush in Kennebunkport, South Maine. His home was extensively damaged.
September 1938: Though not connected to the land-for-peace process, divine retribution appeared in modern politics even before the establishment of the state of Israel. In September 1938, Lord Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler, signing the Munich Agreement intended to appease Nazi expansionism. On September 21, one of the most destructive and powerful hurricanes in recorded history struck Long Island and Southern New England. Killing an estimated 700, the brunt of the storm hit a section of Long Island that was home to the headquarters of the Bund party, the American party that supported the Nazis.
Rabbi predicted Biden/Harris presidency would bring extreme floods, pressuring “God’s beloved children”“For this to Me is like the waters of Noach: As I swore that the waters of Noach Nevermore would flood the earth, So I swear that I will not Be angry with you or rebuke you.”Isaiah 54:9 (the israel bible)-Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz-October 9, 2024
The southeastern United States is still coping with the devastation of Category 4 Hurricane Helene which killed over 227, making it the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. Hundreds are still missing, and officials have reported difficulties in identifying some of the dead. 350 miles wide with winds reaching 140 mph, Helene created a storm surge of 6 to 15 feet when it made landfall in Florida. It tore through six states and wreaked havoc on the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, flooding mountain regions hundreds of miles inland. Rainfall estimates in some areas topped more than two feet in about two days. Electricity was cut off for millions of residents. Mudslides and flooding cut homes off, preventing aid from arriving.Less than two weeks after Helene raged through, residents of Florida are bracing for Category 5 Milton as it closes in on the West Coast.Volunteers moved into action amidst criticism of FEMA and the federal government. One effort by billionaire Elon Musk turned political when he tried to fly in satellite terminals to its Starlink network system in hopes of connecting remote and ravaged regions to the internet to coordinate recovery efforts better. Musk posted accusations on Twitter alleging that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was blocking flights into parts of North Carolina. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg denied the allegations. While questions arose about whether there would be sufficient federal aid for the hard-hit hurricane victims, Vice President Kamala Harris drew ire for pledging to give Lebanon an additional $157 million in aid.“The people of Lebanon are facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation,” Harris posted to Twitter. “I am concerned about the security and well-being of civilians suffering in Lebanon and will continue working to help meet the needs of all civilians there.”“To that end, the United States will provide nearly $157 million in additional assistance to the people of Lebanon for essential needs such as food, shelter, water, protection, and sanitation to help those displaced by the recent conflict. This additional support brings total U.S. assistance to Lebanon over the last year to over $385 million.”“This has to be fake. Even Kamala Harris, the gold standard of stupid, isn’t stupid enough to post this,” actor James Woods said on X Saturday. “Certainly not while North Carolinians are pulling the bodies of their neighbors from the wreckage. It’s simply inconceivable.”Even more disturbing is that much of the humanitarian aid sent to Gaza was usurped by Hamas, leading many to wonder whether aid to Lebanon will fall into the hands of Hezbollah.Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) allowed that the Lebanese people “have indeed suffered badly—at the hands of Iran.”“So why are we giving $157 million to a semi-failed state overrun by Iranian-backed terrorists?” Cotton wrote. “Let the ayatollahs fix their own mess.”“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sending $157 million of your tax dollars to Lebanon and only sending $100 million to communities devastated by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina,” wrote Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.). “This shows you their priorities are not America first.”David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote that the Lebanese people “are subjugated by Hezbollah, as they have been for more than 20 years.”“Your policies, especially funding Iran for the past three years, has only increased Hezbollah’s power and weaponry,” Friedman wrote. “But sure, send them more money.”To make matters worse, President Biden sent a formal letter to Congress late Friday night saying that the Small Business Administration disaster loans program is running out of money and needs about $1.6 billion to continue for the year. In addition, it has been revealed that funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was used to aid in resettling illegal immigrants in the US. The White House and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas denied this allegation. Still, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), released a statement confirming this. “This is an issue of priorities, and the Biden-Harris administration’s are completely backwards,” Green said. “It takes a lot of nerve for Secretary Mayorkas to ask for more money after he and his bosses in the White House fought for roughly $650 million just this year for the Shelter and Services Program. Under Biden and Harris’ leadership, our tax dollars are being used to help facilitate illegal immigration, while many American citizens are left to suffer following natural disasters.”The matter was further complicated by conflicting statements made by White House Spokesman Karine Jean–Pierre who proudly claimed in September 2022 that FEMA was helping “migrants”. Conversely, she claimed in a recent statement that this was “categorically false.She just straight up lied yesterday.Could someone get Glenn Kessler on the phone? pic.twitter.com/Z17AF6COZG— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) October 5, 2024-Indeed, the flooding should not have come as a surprise. As Biden was celebrating his election victory in November 2020, Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, the head of the Sanhedrin’s Noahide Court and a highly respected Halachic (Torah law) authority, produced a video in which he predicted that a Democratic administration would bring about flooding like in Noah’s generation.“The elections were held on the 17th of Cheshvan,” Rabbi Schwartz said. He noted that according to Jewish tradition, rains that caused the flood in the time of Noah began falling on the 17th of Cheshvan. “The Democrats are spreading the very same sins that forced Noah into the ark,” Rabbi Schwartz said. “We can see this because the symbol of these people is the rainbow. This sign was put in heaven to show that the world will never be destroyed by a flood again. In Jewish tradition, the rainbow represents the male organ and the sins that were done with it that led to the flood. They are flaunting their sins in God’s face, knowing that he will not bring another flood. This is epitomized by the Democrats, beginning with Obama, who allowed men to marry men and also allowed abortions, the murder of infants.”“The question we should be asking is not ‘who won’ but, rather, what will be with America,” Rabbi Schwartz explained. “Does God want America to continue? Through Divine intervention, Trump was able to appoint three judges. Appointing judges is one of the Noahide laws and is incumbent upon all mankind, but just as important was that the judges appointed by Trump supported the Bible. Biden intends to pervert the courts in contravention of the Noahide requirement to have just courts.”Rabbi Yosef Berger, who served with Rabbi Schwartz on the Sanhedrin, emphasized that the flooding in the US was not divine punishment being carried out on the victims of the hurricanes for their sins.“It is more the opposite,” Rabbi Berger said, citing the Talmud “Whoever God loves, he presses down on.” (Berachot 5a) “This ‘pressing down’ is God’s way of bringing out the best aspects of the person that he would not usually choose to display,” Rabbi Berger explained. “And it is pointless to bring such trials on bad people. It is like a vineyard. The sweetest grapes get squeezed the hardest. And bad grapes are left on the vine to rot.”“This is not, God forbid, God showing anger towards people he hates. These are deeply religious people. This is like a father giving his beloved children strict instructions, knowing they will hear and respond. There is evil in the world today and God needs the best souls to step up and respond with all their strength.”“While the government has failed and has chosen to bring even more darkness into the world by giving money to Israel’s enemies, the American people have come together, helping each other in extraordinary ways. The people are the true strength and beauty of the United States.”Indeed, just as the flood in Noah’s generation affected the entire world, flooding is appearing in several regions. A severe rainstorm struck Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, causing massive flash floods and landslides across the region that claimed approximately 18 lives.At least 21 were killed in central Europe floods last month that resulted from Storm Boris.Even desert regions were not spared. Last month, Saudi Arabia was struck by severe weather conditions, with heavy rain and flash flooding affecting much of its Red Sea coast.
Hurricane Milton left trail of destruction across Florida with 2.2 million without power as death toll mounts: Live updates-James Liddell and Julia Musto-Fri, October 11, 2024 at 5:27 PM EDT
At least 17 people have died after Hurricane Milton devastated portions of Florida, as the extent of damage caused becomes clear in the wake of the storm.Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday night near Sarasota County’s Siesta Key, spawning dozens of tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and devastating storm surge.Six people in St Lucie County retirement village have been killed by tornadoes brought on by the hurricane after a dozen twisters spawned in the region within 20 minutes.About 2.5m homes and businesses in Florida have been left powerless, with those in the west-central region the worst impacted. More than 50,000 linemen have been deployed in an effort to restore power, Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday.Ferocious winds caused a crane to collapse into The Tampa Bay Times in St Petersburg, while the Tampa Bay Rays that it was “hurt” after the roof of its Tropicana Field stadium was left in disrepair.All wind and storm surge warnings for Milton have been discontinued after the hurricane exited Florida’s east coast. The National Hurricane Center warned that “hazards remain” from damaged buildings, downed power lines and floodwaters.Key Points-Death toll climbs to 17 including six killed by tornadoes in St Lucie County-Hurricane Milton warnings discontinued – but ‘hazards remain’2.5m homes and businesses still without power in Florida-Pasco County recommends residents of flood-prone areas evacuate 23:30 , Julia Musto-The Pasco Sheriff’s Office recommends that residents residing in low-lying areas prone to flooding evacuate for their safety. With the significant rain from Hurricane Milton throughout the Tampa Bay area, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office is monitoring river flooding in two areas:… pic.twitter.com/jw8MEsp2q3— Pasco Sheriff (@PascoSheriff) October 11, 2024-83-year-old man with late-stage Alzheimer’s found dead after wandering away in Polk County 23:00 , Julia Musto-The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that 83-year-old Marco Grillo, a Lakeland man with late-stage Alzheimer’s, was found dead after wandering away Thursday following Hurricane Milton.Authorities located Grillo’s body Friday morning. The Sheriff’s Office Air Unit spotted him floating beneath the surface of the floodwaters behind his residence.Marco’s wife, Suzanne, told detectives that the couple had been sleeping in their van at the front of their Alderman Road neighborhood. Their home had been flooded by heavy rain during the storm.Grillo was reportedly in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease, had a heart condition, and had bad circulation.“Despite Mr. Grillo being found in his backyard, the area was so flooded that our Aviation Unit had to direct deputies on an airboat to him. Our prayers are with his family, Sheriff Grady Judd said on Facebook.Death toll jumps to 17 22:30 , Julia Musto-There have been 17 deaths as a result of Hurricane Milton, according to NBC News.There was one death in Citrus County, two deaths in Pinellas County, six in St. Lucie County, four in Volusia County, one in Polk County, two in Hillsborough County, and one in Orange County.Tampa police rescue 15 people from home destroyed by tree in Hurricane Milton 22:00 , Julia Musto-Amid Hurricane Milton, the Tampa Police Department rescued 15 people from a single-story home on E. Wood St.21:00 , Julia Musto-Massive Florida gators, stingrays and other creatures could be lying in wait in the murky floodwaters from Hurricane Milton, officials have warned.Florida wildlife officials say multiple species are more active following hurricanes and tropical storms, with flooding displacing the creatures.“Alligators may be observed more frequently in flooded areas after a hurricane or tropical storm,” Florida officials cautioned.Frank Robb, the founder of a nonprofit environmental education group, told NewsNation on Thursday that coastal residents may have different concerns related to wild animals than those located inland.“If you’re coastal, you have to worry about everything from stingrays to alligators,” he said. “If you’re in South Florida, you gotta think about crocodiles, snakes — of course.”DeSantis speaks in Bradenton Beach 18:03 , Julia Musto-Governor DeSantis Holds a Media Availability in Bradenton Beach Following Hurricane Milton https://t.co/cVgnZRilMp— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 11, 2024-Baby girl born in Pinellas County shelter 18:00 , Julia Musto-A girl was born in a Pinellas County shelter, officials said at a briefing on Friday morning.The shelter’s staff helped with the delivery, said Pinellas County Director of Emergency Management Cathie Perkins.“Just beautiful to see that new life in the middle of all this destruction,” she said.Dumpster truck flies through couple’s roof – six days after closing on property
WARN THE PEOPLE-WW3
EZEKIEL 33:1-6
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
DANIEL 11:40-45 (WW3 BREAKDOWN)
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) 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.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
ISAIAH 24:1
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste,(NUKES USED) and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(ARAB/MUSLIM) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man;(RIOTS-BURNING-MURDEROUUS RAGE) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM WANTS WORLD DOMINATION) and every man's hand against him;(DEFENDING THEMSELVES) and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(ARAB/MUSLIMS LIVE WITH ISRAELIS)
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF THEIR MOON GOD ALLAH)
ISAIAH 14:12-23
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, (SATAN) son of the morning! (HEBREW MEANS CRESCENT MOON ANGEL-ISLAM OVIOUSLY)(SATAN IS THE GOD OF ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
EZEKIEL 31:10-17
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.(HELL).
15Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17They also went down into hell with him unto [them that be] slain with the sword; and [they that were] his arm, [that] dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with [them that be] slain by the sword. This [is] Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
EZEKIEL 32:17-32
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, [even] her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of [them that are] slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22 Asshur [is] there and all her company: his graves [are] about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.
24 There [is] Elam (IRAN) and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves [are] round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of [them that be] slain.
26 There [is] Meshech, Tubal,(RUSSIA) (GERMANY, TURKEY) and all her multitude: her graves [are] round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27And they shall not lie with the mighty [that are] fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though [they were] the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with [them that are] slain with the sword.
29 There [is] Edom,(JORDAN) her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by [them that were] slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 There [be] the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with [them that be] slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, [even] Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.
32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with [them that are] slain with the sword, [even] Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
EZEKIEL 38:1-23
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA-ARAB-MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDI-ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(SPAIN) with all the young lions thereof,(ENGLAND,AND ALL ITS ASSOCIATES-CANADA,AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND, USA, AND WESTERN ENGLISH SPEAKING NATIONS) shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?(OIL IS IN SPOIL-I BELIEVE THATS WHY RUSSIA,ARAB/MUSLIMS MARCH TO ISRAEL)
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
EZEKIEL 39:11-22
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)(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.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
1 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
1-PROMISCUOUS SEX AMOUNG EACH OTHER.
ROMANS 1:24
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: (THE 60S FREE SEX)
2 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
2-SODOMITES - MEN LUSTING MEN, AND WOMEN LUSTING AFTER WOMEN.
ROMANS 1:26-27
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
3 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
3-A DEPRAVED MIND-ANY SIN GOES.
ROMANS 1:28-31
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO THESE 3 DEPRAVED ABOMINATION SINS?
OH OH NOAHS DAY. WHAT HAPPENED IN NOAHS DAY. THE WHOLE WORLD WAS JUDGED BY WATER.
GENESIS 6:7,17
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
GENESIS 7:4
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
GENESIS 8:16
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
WELL THE SODOMITES PICKED THE RIGHT SIGN OF A RAINBOW FOR JUDGEMENT. THE SODOMITES TRYED TO STEAL GODS SIGN THAT THE WHOLE EARTH WILL NEVER DIE FROM FLOOD WATERS AGAIN. BUT THE JUDGEMENT THIS TIME IS GOING TO BE BY FIRE.NOT WATER.
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
EZIKIEL 38:12-13
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? (AGAINST ISRAEL)
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, (RUSSIA AND HER MUSLIMS HORDES)Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
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.(ALL THESE ARAB, MUSLIMS ARE OCCUPYING ISRAELS LAND. GET OFF IMMEDIATELY. BECAUSE YOUR DEATH CULT DAYS ARE NUMBERED)
ISLAMIC DEATH CULT AND FAKE MOHAMMAAD AND FAKE MOON GOD ALLAH WHICH IS SIMPLY SATAN IS THE LEADER OF ISLAM.
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart:(WARS AND DEATH) and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.(CHINA CONTROLS AMERICAS ECONOMY BY BUYING UP DEBT)
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF THEIR MOON GOD ALLAH)
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(ARAB/MUSLIM) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man;(RIOTS-BURNING-MURDEROUUS RAGE) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM WANTS WORLD DOMINATION) and every man's hand against him;(DEFENDING THEMSELVES) and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(ARAB/MUSLIMS LIVE WITH ISRAELIS)
The Family Tree of Ishmael
12 This is the family tree of Ishmael son of Abraham, the son that Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham.
13-16 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order of their births: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah—all the sons of Ishmael. Their settlements and encampments were named after them. Twelve princes with their twelve tribes.
(ISLAM CLAIMS MOHAMMID IS A OFF SPRING OF ISHMAEL THE FIRST BASTARD CHILD OF THE ARABS WITH A SLAVE MOTHER TO THE ISRAELIS.DOES ANY ONE SEE THE NAME OF MOHAMMID IN ISHMAELS FAMILY TREE. BECAUSE I SURE DON'T. I DOUBT MOHAMMID EVEN EXISTS. AND SATAN IS THE LEADER OF ISLAM HHIMSELF. SO ISLAM IS NOT A RELIGION AT ALL. ISLAM IS NOTHING BUT A DEATH CULT THAT WORSHIPS DEATH. AND WILL BURN IN HELL FIRE, THEN THE FINAL JUDGEMENT IN FRONT OF JESUS.ONLY TO BE THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER WITH THEIR NEVER DYING BODIES.ISLAM EXPOSED AS A FRAUD SATAN LIE AND MURDER DEAT CULT.
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 8:44
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
THE EZEKIEL 38 & 39 AXIS OF EVIL IS GETTING READY.RUSSIA,IRAN,TURKEY AND SYRIA.
Erdogan: Russia, Iran, Syria must take measures against Israel after alleged Damascus strike-Turkish president says Israel ‘most concrete threat to regional, global peace’ after airstrike targeted top Hezbollah official from unit tasked with delivering weapons from Iran-By Reuters and ToI Staff 12 October 2024, 8:11 pm
Russia, Syria and Iran should take more effective measures to protect Syria’s territorial integrity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, when asked about Israel’s recent alleged strike on Damascus.“We will defend an urgent and permanent peace in Syria… Israel is the most concrete threat to regional and global peace,” Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish media.“It is essential that Russia, Iran and Syria take more effective measures against this situation, which poses the greatest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity,” according to a readout of the interview from the Turkish presidency.An alleged Israeli airstrike on Damascus on Tuesday targeted a top Hezbollah official who is part of a unit tasked with delivering weapons from Iran and its proxies to the terror group in Lebanon, according to a Saudi report.Syria’s state-run SANA news agency claimed seven civilians were killed and 11 others were wounded in the strike, which hit a residential and commercial building in the Mezzeh district of the capital a few hundred meters from the Iranian embassy. Multiple reports said the targeted building was linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.Erdogan has been heavily critical of Israel ever since its war with Hamas broke out on October 7 last year with the terrorist organization’s massive attack in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.Throughout the war, Erdogan has accused Israel of genocide and of seeking war with other countries in the region.He has also repeatedly compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and recently called Israel a “Zionist terrorist organization,” urging the United Nations to endorse the use of force against Israel.In July, Erdogan even issued an open threat to invade Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.Israeli-Turkish relations have been shaky over the years, but the two countries agreed on normalization in 2022, reappointing ambassadors after years of tensions.Since the beginning of the war, however, tensions have once again dipped with Turkey recalling its ambassador to Israel in November and halting all trade with Israel in May.
Study finds Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe-Researchers analyze DNA fragmented remains believed to be world-shaping explorer’s; they say any further narrowing down of his origins remains elusive-By Graham Keeley Today, 12:32 pm-OCT 13,24
MADRID (Reuters) – The 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, Spanish scientists said on Saturday, after using DNA analysis to tackle a centuries-old mystery.Several countries have argued over the origins and the final burial place of the divisive figure who led Spanish-funded expeditions from the 1490s onward, opening the way for the European conquest of the Americas.Many historians have questioned the traditional theory that Columbus came from Genoa, Italy. Other theories range from him being a Spanish Jew or a Greek, to Basque, Portuguese or British.To solve the mystery researchers conducted a 22-year investigation, led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente, by testing tiny samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral, long marked by authorities there as the last resting place of Columbus, though there had been rival claims.They compared them with those of known relatives and descendants and their findings were announced in a documentary titled “Columbus DNA: The true origin” on Spain’s national broadcaster TVE on Saturday.“We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son,” Lorente said in the program.“And both in the Y chromosome (male) and in the mitochondrial DNA (transmitted by the mother) of Hernando there are traits compatible with Jewish origin.”Around 300,000 Jews lived in Spain before the “Reyes Catolicos,” where Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand ordered Jews and Muslims to convert to the Catholic faith or leave the country. The word Sephardic comes from Sefarad, or Spain in Hebrew.The 1492 Edict of Expulsion in Spain forced Sephardic Jews to convert to Christianity or leave, prompting a dispersion to locations including the Americas and the Middle East. Within Spain and its newfound American colonies, some conversos, or Jewish converts, kept their original faith in secret, under threat of discovery and punishment from the Inquisition.After analyzing 25 possible places, Lorente said it was only possible to say Columbus was born in Western Europe.On Thursday, Lorente said they had confirmed previous theories that the remains in Seville Cathedral belonged to Columbus.Research on Columbus’s nationality was complicated by a number of factors including the large amount of data. But “the outcome is almost absolutely reliable,” Lorente said.Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain, in 1506, but wished to be buried on the island of Hispaniola which is today shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. His remains were taken there in 1542, then moved to Cuba in 1795 and then, it had been long thought in Spain, to Seville in 1898.Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
Government sets second national day of mourning for October 7-Flags to be lowered, entertainment venues to be closed, with two additional memorial ceremonies planned under auspices of Transportation Minister Regev-By Sam Sokol-Today, 6:29 pm-OCT 13,24
The cabinet on Monday approved a second national day of mourning for the October 7 massacre in accordance with the Hebrew calendar, which will be marked with two state ceremonies organized by Transportation Minister Miri Regev.Israel marked the first anniversary of the massacre on October 7 with a prerecorded official state ceremony organized by Regev, at which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog spoke.The two additional ceremonies, in memory of the fallen soldiers and civilians, will be held on Mount Herzl on Sunday, the 25th of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (October 26-27), three days after the annual Simhat Torah holiday, which is when the Hamas attack took place last year.According to Hebrew media reports, Netanyahu, Herzog and other senior dignitaries will participate in the ceremony, only weeks after the nation marked the first anniversary of the attack.Opposition Leader Yair Lapid is not listed as a participant, despite the law permitting him to take part in state ceremonies attended by the prime minister. Lapid boycotted the state ceremony on October 7, stating that “this government is not legitimate and is not worthy of [the victims’] memory.”The additional official day of mourning will also be marked by special programs at schools and in the military, the lowering of flags to half staff and the closure of entertainment venues.During a cabinet meeting last Monday, Regev reportedly called for holding a memorial on the Hebrew date of the massacre as well, prompting ministers to accuse her of seeking to establish a day of mourning on a holiday.“The flags were not lowered. What [Knesset Speaker Amir] Ohana did at the Knesset was on his own accord,” Regev replied, prompting Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar to point out that two ceremonies had already been held — a reference to an alternative memorial event held in Tel Aviv.“There were not two ceremonies,” Regev shot back.Netanyahu was not present for most of the meeting, leaving after a few minutes along with his military secretary, the Maariv daily reported.The families of hostages and other October 7 victims had strongly objected to Regev being chosen to oversee this past week’s official state ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Hamas-led onslaught, with several Gaza border communities accusing the government of using the official ceremony as afig leaf to avoid responsibility for its role in failing to prevent the terror massacre, and for not doing enough for the communities in its aftermath.Regev refused a number of compromise proposals to solve the dispute, dismissing the criticism as “noise” and comparing memorial ceremonies other than the official one to a contentious joint Israeli-Palestinian commemoration event held annually on Memorial Day, which is seen by right-wing critics as equating terror victims with slain Palestinian attackers and equating Israeli and Palestinian pain.In the end, two separate ceremonies were held. In Tel Aviv, the families organized a National Memorial Ceremony for Bereaved Families, at which relatives of the victims were highly critical of the government, calling for its leaders to accept responsibility for the “abandonment” of Israel’s south on the dark day of the Hamas-led atrocities.The tone of the prerecorded official state ceremony, which started almost immediately after end of the civilian event, differed sharply.While the prerecorded event featured survivors and bereaved parents discussing the pain of their losses, it also focused on reasons for optimism — with Netanyahu touting the nation’s post-October 7 accomplishments.While October 7 was a day of indescribable sorrow for the country, “we were not defeated,” the prime minister declared.“We have mobilized enormous spiritual power. We have defined the goals of the war and we are achieving them: toppling the rule of Hamas; bringing all our hostages home, both alive and dead, is a sacred mission that we will not let go of until we achieve it; thwarting any future threat from Gaza to Israel; and returning the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes.”In an apparent repudiation of hostage families’ longstanding calls for a hostage-for-ceasefire deal, Netanyahu claimed that in every meeting he and his wife have held with soldiers, the wounded and the bereaved, they have heard “the same message again and again: The campaign must not be stopped prematurely.”Following Sunday’s government decision, several relatives of Israelis held hostage in Gaza heaped scorn on the idea of a second national day of mourning.“All the ceremonies and days of mourning are completely unnecessary, these are distractions,” Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod Cohen was taken hostage on October 7, told the Ynet news site.As long as the war continues and the hostages remain in captivity, no ceremonies or memorial days should be established, Yifat Calderon, whose cousin Ofer Calderon is being held in Gaza, told the site. “Enough of this nonsense.”
Iran’s FM: ‘No red lines’ in countering Israeli response to missile attack-Araghchi appears to threaten US over possible deployment of soldiers in Israel to operate complex missile defense system, as Israel said to narrow down potential targets-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 4:59 pm-OCT 13,24
Iran on Sunday said it has “no red lines” in defending itself, as Israel is said to be zeroing in on a list of targets it could strike in retaliation for the missile attack from its arch-foe two weeks ago.In a social media post, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also indirectly threatened United States forces potentially operating a complex missile defense system in Israel.“The US has been delivering record amount of arms to Israel,” wrote Araghchi on X. “It is now also putting lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel.”“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” he added.Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment over the remarks, which were carried by Iranian state media.Araghchi, who helped reach Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, was seemingly dispelling suggestions that Tehran would absorb an Israeli strike without a further response. Iran did not respond to an alleged Israeli retaliatory strike in April, days after the Islamic Republic’s first-ever direct attack on the Jewish state.Hebrew media has reported that Israel is closely coordinating with the White House on its retaliation to Iran’s latest attack. US President Joe Biden has voiced opposition to an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities or oil industry, both of which Israel was reportedly considering.Amid preparations for the retaliation, Hebrew media reported over the weekend that the White House was considering sending its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems to Israel. The defensive system shoots down incoming ballistic missiles, like those fired by Iran in the attack two weeks ago.Any move of one of those complex systems, known by the acronym THAAD, to Israel would involve the deployment of American soldiers to operate it.Meanwhile, NBC reported Saturday that US officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its potential retaliation for the Iranian missile barrage, and would aim to hit military and energy infrastructure. The network said there was no indication Israel would target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations in Iran.Citing US officials, the report added that Israel had not made final decisions about how and when it would act. It also cited US and Israeli officials as saying a response could come on Yom Kippur. However, Judaism’s holiest day ended Saturday evening with no Israeli strike.Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 amid an escalation in fighting between Israel and Tehran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. Many were intercepted in flight, but some penetrated Israel’s missile defenses. Debris from the interceptions killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank and injured two people inside Israel.Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel would hit Iran in a “lethal, precise and surprising” way.The prospect of an all-out war between Israel and Iran has placed the region on edge. Iran supports a network of militias across the Middle East, tightening the belt around Israel, which has for over a year been locked in battle with Iran-backed terror groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.Citing Hamas protocols seized by the IDF, The New York Times reported Saturday that Hamas had attempted to enlist Iran’s and Hezbollah’s support for its October 7, 2023, onslaught, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. A day later, Hezbollah forces began attacking Israel from Lebanon.
UNIFIL claims IDF entered post, fired harmful substance-Netanyahu: UN must withdraw south Lebanon peacekeepers from combat zones-PM accuses Hezbollah of using UNIFIL as ‘human shields,’ urges Guterres to get take the forces ‘out of harm’s way,’ far from terror group’s strongholds-By Lazar Berman,ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 4:42 pm-OCT 13,24
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on the United Nations to immediately pull its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon from areas where Israel is battling Hezbollah, saying that the terror group is using the international troops as “human shields.”In urging that members of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, or UNIFIL, be moved out of harm’s way, Netanyahu said that previous similar pleas by Israel had been refused, despite a rising number of injuries to UNIFIL troops.UNIFIL has already said that it will stay put.Netanyahu’s comments came as the UN peacekeeping force said two Israel Defense Forces tanks had entered a UNIFIL position at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday and demanded that the base turn out its lights. UNIFIL said in a statement that the tanks left after 45 minutes.Two hours later, UNIFIL said that rounds landed about 100 meters from the camp, emitting smoke that caused skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions in 15 international troops.The statement said that on Saturday, IDF troops stopped a UNIFIL logistical convoy near Meiss El Jabal and denied it passage, adding, “We have requested an explanation from the IDF for these shocking violations.”The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Addressing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language message, “It is time for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the areas of combat.”“The IDF has repeatedly asked for this, and has been met with repeated refusals, all aimed at providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists,” he added.“Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said in English.UNIFIL said the Israeli military “deliberately” hit several UNIFIL posts, including the headquarters at Naqoura. At least five UNIFIL soldiers have been lightly injured in a spate of recent incidents that have also included shootings that the UN did not attribute to either Israel or Hezbollah.“Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said. “This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers.”Netanyahu said Israel “regrets the injury” to the peacekeepers, and that it is doing whatever it can to prevent such incidents.“But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is just get them out of the danger zone,” Netanyahu said.The prime minister said that European leaders should be criticizing Hezbollah, not Israel, for using UNIFIL as a “human shield.”Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned Netanyahu’s call for the removal of UNIFIL soldiers, saying, “The warning that Netanyahu addressed to… Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy’s approach of not complying with international [norms].”On Sunday Hezbollah reported it clashed with Israeli forces near Ramyah, and the previous day UNIFIL said its position in the southern Lebanese village had sustained significant damage due to explosions from nearby shelling, without specifying who was responsible for the attack.Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that the incidents of harm to UNIFIL posts were under investigation, and accused Hezbollah of intentionally firing from the vicinity of UNIFIL posts, according to an Israeli readout of a call between the two.The US readout said that Austin expressed “deep concern” about reports that Israeli forces had fired on UN peacekeeping positions and urged Israel to ensure safety for them and the Lebanese military.Austin “reinforced the need to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” according to the Pentagon statement released early Sunday.Also Sunday, Pope Francis asked for “respect” for UN peacekeepers.“I am close to all the people involved, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, where I ask that the UN peacekeepers be respected,” Francis said at the Vatican and called for “an immediate ceasefire on all fronts, that the paths of diplomacy and dialogue be pursued to achieve peace.”The remarks came a day after dozens of nations condemned attacks on UNIFIL positions.The 40 contributing countries “reaffirm our full support for UNIFIL’s mission and activities, whose principal aim is to bring stabilization and lasting peace in South Lebanon as well as in the Middle East,” a statement read.“We urge the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL’s presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times,” it added.UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said Israel had asked the peacekeepers to withdraw from positions “up to five kilometers (three miles) from the Blue Line” separating the two countries, but they refused.That would have included its 29 positions in the country’s south.“There was a unanimous decision to stay because it’s important for the UN flag to still fly high in this region, and to be able to report to the Security Council,” he told AFP in an interview.Before the war escalated in late September, Hezbollah had launched rockets and drones regularly over the border, and Israel had retaliated with airstrikes at the sources of fire, meaning the Blue Helmets had already been spending a lot of time in bunkers, Tenenti said.“For many months, they have been living in these conditions.”Despite all this, he said, “the channel of communication is still open with the parties,” Tenenti said.Michael Higgins, the president of Ireland, which has troops in the mission, had earlier said Israel was “demanding that the entire UNIFIL operating under UN mandates walk away,” which he called “outrageous.”UNIFIL, which involves about 9,500 troops of some 50 nationalities, is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire that ended the 33-day Second Lebanon War in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.Its role was bolstered by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of that year, which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers be deployed in southern Lebanon.However, that resolution has largely gone unimplemented as Hezbollah entrenched itself in the border area over the past 18 years, storing weapons there, and in recent months, firing countless rockets into Israel and allegedly positioning its forces for a mass invasion of Israel last year.Last week UNIFIL said that Israeli tank fire caused two Indonesian peacekeepers to fall off a watchtower in Naqura.The following day, it said explosions close to an observation tower in Naqura wounded two Sri Lankan Blue Helmets, while Israel said it had responded to an “immediate threat” near a UN peacekeeping position.On Saturday, UNIFIL said a peacekeeper in Naqura “was hit by gunfire” on Friday night.Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support its ally Hamas amid the war in Gaza following the Palestinian terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.Some 60,000 residents of northern Israel were evacuated from towns near the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.Late last month, Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon, aimed at driving Hezbollah away from the border and making it safe for the displaced residents of northern Israel to return to their homes.
Christian villagers in southern Lebanon say they are ‘trapped’ in crossfire-Christian communities largely spared by IDF strikes targeting Hezbollah sites in Shiite areas, but say they’re still impacted by fighting as rockets and warplanes fly overhead-By AFP Today, 2:50 pm-OCT 13,24
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese Christian Joseph Jarjour was hoping for a peaceful retirement at home in south Lebanon, but has instead found himself caught in the crossfire of the Israel-Hezbollah war.“We’re trapped,” said the 68-year-old retired teacher in the southern village of Rmeish, around two kilometers (one mile) from the Israeli border.In response to the thousands of rockets and drones that the Iran-backed terror group has launched across the border at Israeli civilian and military targets for the past year, Israel has been targeting Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon.Jarjour’s hometown is among a handful of Christian villages in south Lebanon that have largely been spared the worst of the violence but remain caught between the two sides.“When Israel bombards, it flies over our heads. And when Hezbollah fires back, it also whizzes by above,” Jarjour told AFP by phone during a rare moment of internet connectivity.“We’re peaceful, we don’t have any weapons. We’ve never liked war,” he said.“We want to stay in our homes and we don’t want to choose sides.”Jarjour said roads out of Rmeish were unsafe so it was “very hard” to escape and drive northwards to the capital, Beirut.Milad al-Alam, mayor of the village of red-tiled houses surrounded by green hills known for growing tobacco, said most of its 6,000 inhabitants had stayed put.But today the walls of some of the houses there are cracked from the nearby explosions, and fresh vegetables are no longer delivered from outside.Ramping up the pressure on the village, hundreds of people, mostly Christians, fleeing nearby areas have sought refuge there.“Life has stopped since October 2023,” said Alam, noting most commercial activity had come to a halt since Hezbollah started launching rockets across the border into Israel.Hezbollah has been a foe of Israel for decades. Last year the Iran-backed terror group opened a front in support of Palestinian ally Hamas after its October 7 assault that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw 251 taken hostage to Gaza.“Anyone who had savings has spent them over the past few months,” Alam said.During a 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, most Rmeish villagers had also stayed put.Alam said he had been able to organize a delivery of humanitarian aid to the village last week with the protection of the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.“But we cannot replace the state,” he said, in a country paralyzed by political deadlock on top of its worst financial crisis in history since 2019.Christian-majority villages have largely been spared in recent Israeli strikes, as the IDF has mostly targeted Shiite towns where it says Hezbollah uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes, including as rocket launch sites and weapons depots in tunnels and bunkers.In January, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai, the spiritual leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian sect, said villagers along the frontier had become “hostages” that were “bearing the brunt” of the conflict.Lebanon is home to 18 officially recognized religious denominations, and around 30 percent of the population is Christian.Last week, the Israeli military told south Lebanon residents to flee their homes after it said it would be carrying out “limited” incursions across the border.But in the village of Qlayaa, some four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the frontier, hundreds of families have also remained in their homes despite shortages of fuel and medicine, and the closest hospital being forced to close.Priest Pierre al-Rai said they had stayed in the village because they were “believers bound to our land.”“We’ve done our best so there are no military operations… no military installations here,” he added.The Israeli military occupied the village from 1982 to 2000, a period during which Israel operated a security buffer inside Lebanon. Some Lebanese Christians sided with Israel, while others were staunchly opposed.In the morning in Qlayaa, home to a statue of Saint George, few people leave their homes as the sound of bombardment rings out overhead.Pauline Matta, a mother of four children aged four to 18, said she cried when she saw the Israeli warning to evacuate.The 40-year-old said she is constantly terrified.“I can no longer stand the sound of shelling or Israeli planes breaking the sound barrier. I scream when I hear them,” she told AFP.But she can’t imagine leaving either, or being able to survive away from home on her husband’s modest army salary.“They imposed this war on us. We have nothing to do with it. Why would we leave?” she said.“I am determined to stay put.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Defense officials said to accuse government of seeking Gaza annexation over hostage deal-Officers quoted saying that the recent expansion of operations in northern Gaza was done with little military planning or intelligence information-By ToI Staff Today, 2:37 pm-OCT 13,24
Israeli security officials have reportedly accused the government of neglecting hostage negotiations with Hamas, instead prolonging the war as part of a possible plan to seize and resettle part of the Strip, according to the Haaretz daily.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied accusations that Israel is seeking to re-establish civilian settlements within the enclave as it battles Hamas, but far-right members of his cabinet have openly pushed to reverse Israel’s 2005 pullout of civilians and troops from Gaza.At the same time, the government has faced allegations — including by defense officials, hostage families, and other informed sources — that it is not doing enough to bring about a deal aimed at freeing the approximately 100 hostages still in Gaza for over a year.Unnamed defense officials cited by Haaretz on Sunday claimed that the political leadership hasn’t brought up the issue of the hostages with international mediators since the last round of negotiations collapsed in August.The officials claimed that the issue had also not been addressed recently with the security establishment.The report appeared to mark the first time security officials have suggested that renewed military activity in northern Gaza was ultimately aimed at the “creeping” resettlement of parts of the territory at the expense of concluding a hostage deal.The security officials quoted provided no further details or proof to back up their assessment.The report also claimed the decision to redeploy troops to the north of the Strip was made without exhaustive deliberations, against some security heads’ advice, and based on insufficient intelligence.Families of hostages have repeatedly charged that Netanyahu has failed to prioritize bringing home their loved ones and has sought to prolong the war for narrow personal political reasons.Protests urging the government to conclude a hostage deal erupted in several locations Saturday evening following the conclusion of Yom Kippur.Activists held rallies centered around the High Holy Day’s theme of atonement, asking the captives for forgiveness and charging that the government doesn’t deserve to be pardoned for failing to return the abductees.“You say you have atoned for your sins. You cannot atone for sins that were committed on purpose. You are knowingly neglecting them. You know military pressure endangers them. There will be no forgiveness,” said Yifat Kalderon, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon is being held in Gaza.Attempts to reach another hostage deal with Hamas — following one in November that saw 105 hostages released during a weeklong truce in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners — have repeatedly failed and have largely gone stagnant as Israel has shifted its focus to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon after a year of the terrorist organization’s near-daily rocket and drone attacks that it said were in solidarity with Hamas. The US and Israel also say that Hamas is not currently interested in a deal.In September, Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in September he was weighing a plan promoted by a group of senior IDF reservists that would lead to the depopulation of the northern Gaza Strip.Presenting the proposal to the committee, retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland said the offensive would “change the reality” on the ground in Gaza.“We have to tell the residents of north Gaza that they have one week to evacuate the territory, which then becomes a military zone, [a zone] in which every figure is a target and, most importantly, no supplies enter this territory,” Eiland explained at the time.The Haaretz report Sunday quoted military officials as saying that Eiland’s plan was illegal under international law and would harm the legitimacy of Israel’s other military actions. They also said it was unlikely the international community would allow Israel to put such a plan into action.Far-right ministers have pressed to resettle Gaza ever since Israel invaded the enclave following the October 7 massacre with the aim of toppling Hamas and removing the threat of terror from its southern communities.Earlier this month, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reportedly said that the only way to achieve a hostage deal and bring home the hostages was to install a military administration and build settlements in the coastal enclave.In May, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared that the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza should be promoted, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi insisted that the resettling of Gaza was the only way to ensure Israeli security, and Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot blamed the October 7 massacre on the 2005 Disengagement Plan.Annexing parts of Gaza would violate international law and comes as the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to deliver its decision on its prosecutor’s request to issue arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.In May, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan filed a request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, alleging that they had committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in their prosecution of the war against Hamas in Gaza following the terror organization’s invasion and massacre on October 7 last year.Requests were also issued against three Hamas leaders.In response, Israel castigated the court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, for failing to give the country the opportunity to investigate his allegations before seeking arrest warrants against its leaders, a fundamental principle of the ICC’s founding charter.Israel launched the Gaza offensive in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw a further 251 taken hostage.
UN says critical aid routes into northern Gaza cut off as IDF renews offensive-Spokesperson says no food, essential supplies entered Strip since October 1, but Israel says it’s not blocking assistance; UNRWA still distributing bread and more-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 2:37 pm-OCT 13,24
UN humanitarian officials say aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months and warn that critical aid lifelines into northern Gaza, where Israel has renewed its offensive, have been cut off.UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq delivered the grim news Friday, saying the main crossings into the north have been closed and no food or other essential supplies have entered since October 1.More than 400,000 people who remain in the north are under increasing pressure to move south, Haq said.On Wednesday, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, COGAT, said in a statement that “Israel has not halted the entry or coordination of humanitarian aid” in the north.Meanwhile, the humanitarian organization MedGlobal, which has worked in Gaza since 2018, said Friday that the Israeli army’s renewed military action has driven the remaining healthcare facilities in the north “to the brink of collapse.”Three hospitals with hundreds of patients including children in intensive care — Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and the Indonesian Hospital — have been ordered to evacuate by Israeli authorities and are on the verge of running out of fuel.Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan and MedGlobal’s lead physician in Gaza, said Friday that the hospital received “numerous injuries and fatalities due to the targeting of Al Naji area.”The hospital’s intensive care unit is overcrowded and the “catastrophic situation … will worsen in the coming hours if there is no fuel for emergency services,” he said in a statement.Haq said the UN World Food Program reports that it has been unable to deliver food parcels to the more than 1 million Palestinians slated to receive them so far this month “due to constrained access of aid supplies.”In the north, WFP said kitchens, distribution points and bakeries have either been forced to shut down or are at risk of shutting down if the war continues, Haq said, adding that the bakeries are also running out of wheat flour.Despite the challenges, Haq said, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and its partners are distributing bread, meals and flour to designated shelters and beyond.United Nations and Israeli government data show that deliveries of food and aid sank to their lowest level in seven months in September, Reuters reported earlier this month.People involved in getting goods to Gaza told the outlet that food supplies to the Strip had fallen sharply in recent weeks because Israeli authorities introduced a new customs rule on truck convoys chartered by the United Nations to take aid from Jordan to Gaza via Israel. which aid groupsUnder the rule, individuals from relief organizations sending aid must complete a form providing passport details, and accept liability for any false information on a shipment, sources said. Relief agencies fear signing the form could expose staff to legal problems if aid fell into the hands of Hamas or other enemies of Israel.Israeli authorities also restricted commercial food shipments to Gaza amid concerns that Hamas was benefiting from that trade, the people familiar with the matter and industry sources told Reuters.COGAT confirmed to the news agency that no UN chartered convoy has moved from Jordan to Gaza since September 19, but a spokesperson said Israel was not blocking goods.Food insecurity has been one of the most fraught issues of the war that began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught on Israel, in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered and 251 were seized as hostages.Israel has denied accusations that it has carried out a “targeted starvation campaign” in the Gaza Strip, and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in June found that its earlier assessment, which had warned that there would be famine by July, had been wildly inaccurate.In May, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors asked the court to issue an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they suspected Israeli authorities had used “the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.”Israeli authorities have denied this, saying they facilitate food deliveries to Gaza despite challenging conditions. In September, they filed two official challenges to the ICC, contesting the legality of the prosecutor’s request and contesting the court’s jurisdiction.
US urges Israel to quickly pivot from military offensive to diplomacy in Lebanon-Over 300 rockets, drones fired at Israel during Yom Kippur; military says Hezbollah using ambulances to move fighters; Macron urges terror group to stop firing at Israel-By Lazar Berman,ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 12:13 pm-OCT 13,24
The US on Sunday urged Israel to shift focus from its military offensive in southern Lebanon to a diplomatic solution as soon as possible, while France called on Hezbollah to stop its rocket fire on Israel and accept a ceasefire.The diplomatic pressure came as Hezbollah fired more than 300 missiles, rockets and drones at Israel over Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, which ended at nightfall Saturday.Meanwhile, Israel pushed forward with its military offensive in southern Lebanon, amid mounting international criticism over several incidents where UN peacekeepers were hit.US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during which he “reinforced the need to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” according to the Pentagon statement released early Sunday.The US readout said that Austin expressed “deep concern” about reports that Israeli forces had fired on UN peacekeeping positions in Lebanon in recent days and urged Israel to ensure safety for them and the Lebanese military.Gallant told Austin that the incidents were under investigation, and accused Hezbollah of firing from the vicinity of UNIFIL posts intentionally, according to the Israeli readout.Gallant “emphasized that while facing this significant operational challenge, the IDF will continue to take measures to avoid harm to UNIFIL troops and peacekeeping positions.”France meanwhile put pressure on Lebanon to curb Hezbollah.“A ceasefire must be implemented in Lebanon immediately,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday during a talk with Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, adding that Hezbollah strikes must “immediately stop.”Last week Macron called for an arms embargo on Israel, drawing condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who called it “a disgrace.” The two leaders have since spoken directly by phone.Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his government would ask the UN Security Council to issue a new resolution calling for a “full and immediate ceasefire.”Israel has intensified its military operations against Hezbollah in recent weeks after a year of skirmishing amid rocket and drone attacks on the north by the Iran-backed terror group. Strikes have hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Beqaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders, and sending ground troops across the border. Hezbollah for its part has fired rockets deeper into Israel.Rockets and drones-Hezbollah rocket fire has continued unabated.Sirens sounded in multiple communities in northern Israel on Sunday, including the port city of Haifa and near the border with Lebanon. The IDF reported that over 40 rockets were fired at the north of the country in the morning. It said five rockets were shot down.This follows the heavy rocket attacks on Yom Kippur.“Throughout the weekend of Yom Kippur, approximately 320 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organization crossed from Lebanon into Israel,” the IDF said in a statement. The figure included rockets and attack drones.The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its paramedics treated three who were lightly hurt by a rocket that exploded in the Western Galilee.Another 12 people were hurt while running to shelters amid rocket attacks over Yom Kippur, the ambulance service added.The incoming rockets set off sirens over a wide area, some falling in urban areas and others intercepted or hitting open spaces. One Hezbollah drone hit a retirement home in Herzliya late Friday, causing damage but no injuries. At least one rocket impacted the northern city of Safed, causing damage to vehicles.The IDF reported that it carried out a total of some 280 strikes on terror targets, including over 200 in Lebanon, where it said soldiers killed 50 Hezbollah fighters in “face-to-face confrontations” over the previous day. It also published footage it said showed how Hezbollah is storing weapons inside civilian homes.Operating in southern Lebanon, the 8th Brigade Combat Team and the elite LOTAR counter-terror unit uncovered dozens of weapons warehouses in civilian homes, the IDF said.Footage released by the army showed a cache of mortar shells –- some originating in Israel — mines, Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and combat vests. The army said they also found Kornet anti-tank missiles, and that the caches were meant for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force as they suited up for a planned invasion of northern Israel.IDF footage of one of the many Hezbollah weapons warehouses uncovered in civilian homes by the 8th BCT.(Note the mortar shells with Hebrew writing on the case) pic.twitter.com/Z4T5mOnRPG— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) October 13, 2024-The troops, who conducted significant operations against Hamas in Gaza over the past year, are operating under the 91st Division on the eastern edge of IDF ground operations in southern Lebanon.“The forces conduct face-to-face battles, eliminate terrorists and destroy terrorist infrastructure that Hezbollah has deployed along the border,” according to the IDF.The brigade found tunnel infrastructure inside one of the villages, including living quarters for Hezbollah fighters. The IDF said that the troops had killed “many” Hezbollah fighters by directing air strikes from the ground.As part of the operations in Lebanon, the IDF said that it struck “underground infrastructure” where the Iran-backed organization was storing arms along the border with Syria.The IDF also declared a closed military zone around several Western Galilee communities along the border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces are currently operating against Hezbollah.A military decree stresses a total ban on entry to the towns of Zarit, Shomera, Shtula, Netuya and Even Menachem.Such measures since late September have preceded ground operations inside Lebanon.Easing restrictions-However, the IDF Home Front Command announced it was easing restrictions imposed along the northern border and the Golan Heights, with educational activities now allowed in communities there. Many children are on a break anyway ahead of the Sukkoth holiday which begins on Wednesday night.A Home Front Command statement said restrictions were also being loosened in the northern communities of Daliyat al-Karmel and Isfiya, where residents can now hold events with up to 2,000 people.On Sunday, Hezbollah claimed a series of rocket strikes on Israeli military positions and said fighters engaged an Israeli infantry unit attempting to enter Lebanese territory.Hezbollah said it clashed twice with Israeli troops who attempted to infiltrate near a Lebanese border village on Sunday and claimed several other attacks overnight.Hezbollah fighters detonated explosive devices at Israeli soldiers and “clashed with them as they attempted to infiltrate” twice near the Lebanese village of Ramyah, the group said, reporting fighting that lasted about an hour. The group also claimed attacks on Israeli troops in Lebanon and on the Israeli side of the border.In 2019, the IDF revealed “the longest and most significant” cross-border Hezbollah attack tunnel that was discovered during Operation Northern Shield. The subterranean passageway began close to Ramyah.UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, said on Saturday its position in the southern Lebanese town of Ramyah had sustained significant damage due to explosions following nearby shelling but did not specify who was responsible for the attack.Meanwhile, The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement it had targeted an Israeli military site in the Golan Heights with drones as part of its support of the Palestinian people and Lebanon. It said it would continue escalating attacks against Israel.The military said the air force successfully intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” — likely a drone — that crossed from Lebanon earlier in the morning.The army said no alerts were activated in Israeli communities during the infiltration, which happened off the coast of Nahariya.Ambulances to transport gunmen and weapons-The Israeli military also said that Hezbollah was using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons and that it would take any necessary action.Two hospitals in the Beqaa Valley, a stronghold area of Hezbollah, sustained damage from Israeli strikes on Saturday, the hospitals said. There were no casualties, they added.Israeli airstrikes on Saturday hit multiple areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing more than a dozen people and causing damage to hospitals, the Lebanese health ministry reported.Nine people were killed in the Maisra village in the northeast, with 15 wounded, the ministry says. Four people were killed and 18 wounded in an apartment building on the edge of Barja south of Beirut.The ministry did not detail how many were terror operatives.It said Rayak and Tal Chiha hospitals in the Beqaa Valley were damaged, while seven people were wounded in strikes on Brital and Temnine in the Baalbek-Hermel province. In Nabatieh, eight people were wounded.Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have previously faced heavy bombardment, have not been struck in the past 48 hours. Hezbollah functions as a state within a state there.War began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The next day Hezbollah began attacking along the northern border saying it was acting in support of Gaza.The total toll in Lebanon over the past year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is now 2,255 killed and over 10,000 wounded, according to the ministry. More than 1,400 people have been killed since mid-September. It isn’t clear how many were fighters.Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 94 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began a new offensive against Hezbollah in September, including a ground operation in which the military says at least 450 Hezbollah operatives have been killed.Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel over the last year have resulted in the deaths of 28 civilians. In addition, 33 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
US may send Israel THAAD missile defense, as Iran seeks to ward off Israeli retaliation-No decision made yet on deployment of advanced air defense battery, which would require US troops to operate; Washington reported to think Israel is zeroing in on possible targets-By ToI Staff, Jacob Magid-and Lazar Berman-Today, 10:43 am-OCT 13,24
The US is mulling sending Israel an advanced anti-ballistic missile defense system operated by American troops to protect the country in case of an Iranian reaction to an expected Israeli reprisal attack, an US official said Saturday.Israel has vowed to respond after Iran lobbed some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, with the US seeking to coordinate with Jerusalem and temper its retaliation. A weekend report indicated that US officials think Israel has narrowed down its list of possible targets.With Iran saying it will reply to any retaliatory action in kind, reports in Hebrew-language media over the weekend claimed that Washington was set to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defense batteries to beef up Israel’s ability to fend off ballistic missiles, which Tehran’s proxies have also launched at Israel in recent months.A US official speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity confirmed US President Joe Biden’s administration was considering transferring the systems to Israel, but said no decision had been made yet.The US has a wide range of missile defense systems arrayed across the Middle East and Europe, including Patriot systems. Officials have been discussing for months what types of air defense systems to deploy to the region and where to put them. Any move of a THAAD to Israel would involve the deployment of soldiers to operate the complex system.According to an April report by the Congressional Research Service, the US Army has seven THAAD batteries. The system is considered complementary to the Patriot, but it can defend a wider area, hitting targets at ranges of 150-200 kilometers (93-124 miles).Generally, each consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors, radio and radar equipment, and requires 95 soldiers to operate.A year ago, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment of a THAAD battery and additional Patriot battalions to locations around the Middle East to increase the protection of US forces and to aid in the defense of Israel.Iran has been bracing for an Israeli retaliation after its October 1 attack, which it said came in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon last month that killed the top leadership of the Hezbollah terror group, an Iranian proxy, and a July blast in Tehran that killed Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh. It also launched ballistic missiles at Israel in April.According to an NBC News report Saturday, US officials believe Israel has narrowed down its list of possible targets to military and energy infrastructure in Iran.There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the report said citing unnamed US officials, adding that Israel has not made final decisions about how and when to act.Iran has sent messages to the US via Qatar that it will retaliate if it is attacked, CNN reported Saturday. The network cited a deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps threatening that any attack on its energy infrastructure could result in Tehran targeting energy installations in Israel. Iran claims its previous attacks, which were largely ineffective, have only targeted military facilities.The US is reportedly pressing Israel against retaliating against Iran’s nuclear facilities or energy infrastructure, fearing an escalating tit-for-tat between the regional powers. US officials quoted by US media in recent days have expressed frustration with Israel’s lack of transparency regarding its plans, though Israeli and US officials indicated late last week that the sides were moving closer together after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Biden spoke by phone Wednesday.Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been scheduled to fly to the US last week to hold meetings on the matter with his counterpart Austin, but Netanyahu put the brakes on the trip until after he spoke with Biden and the cabinet was able to discuss retaliation plans. Reports have indicated a trip could take place early this week, but as of Friday, no visit had yet been okayed, the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel.“There is a desire from the Israelis to coordinate with the Americans” over the response, and that strategic discussions continue between the sides,” an Israeli source told The Times of Israel on Friday, following what was described as an inconclusive cabinet meeting the night before.Aside from threatening to hit back, Iran has also embarked on a diplomatic blitz seeking to line up support and keeping regional countries from supporting a US or Israeli attack, with officials in the country nervous that Washington will be unable to successfully restrain Jerusalem, according to CNN.The report indicated that Iran has put significant effort into enlisting Saudi Arabia to help stave off an Israeli attack by trying to convince it to intercede on its behalf. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Riyadh last week for meetings with the kingdom’s powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.Tehran has also threatened Saudi Arabia, along with Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, that it will attack the kingdom next if an Israeli-US retaliatory action against Iran goes through its territory or airspace, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing Arab officials.The backchannel threats, described as vague, have raised concerns among the Arab states that Iran could attack key oil infrastructure there as well.On Saturday, CNN reported that Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi had informed Washington and Tehran that they would not allow an Israel to use their airspace in an attack on Iran, citing an Arab official. Amman said it would protect its airspace from any intrusion regardless of origin, CNN quoted a Jordanian official saying.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan Friday, with the two leaders vowing to continue to cement ties and establish a joint bulwark against the West.“We actively work together in the international arena, and our assessments of current events in the world are often very close,” Russia’s state-run TASS news cited Putin as telling Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a conference in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat.Pezeshkian, according to Iranian state-run media outlet IRNA, noted that Iran and Russia had significant complementary capacities and could assist each other. “Our positions in the world are much closer to each other than to others,” he was quoted as telling the Russian leader.
'Lebanese see Hezbollah as a foreign entity that works for Iran' For the Southern Lebanese Army’s second generation, Nasrallah’s death is a ‘breakthrough’ Former SLA members refuse to speak in the face of reprisals, but these young Lebanese-Israelis believe it’s their mission to raise the curtain on the truth about Hezbollah-By Diana Bletter-Today, 9:01 am-OCT 13,24
A week after Hassan Nasrallah was killed, Maryam Younnes, 29, the Maronite Christian daughter of a former Southern Lebanese Army commander, said that the Hezbollah leader’s assassination “created an opportunity that we always dreamed about but never thought would be possible.”While the younger generation who grew up in Israel are willing to talk publicly about Nasrallah’s assassination, their elders – the men who fought for the SLA or those with close family in Lebanon — are reluctant to speak out.Some fear for the safety of their families in Southern Lebanon; others are focused on trying to get supplies delivered to isolated Christian villages, such as Rmeish, that are close to the border with Israel and caught up in the crossfire.“One day, I’ll talk,” said a former SLA officer in northern Israel who asked that his name not be used. “But now, it’s too dangerous.”Still another man once connected to the SLA said that Israel “should finish Hezbollah once and for all.”Younnes, who grew up in a small northern Israeli town, said she is uniquely positioned to speak about what is happening now in Lebanon and Israel. She is fiercely proud of her adopted country that “loved her immediately” after she and her family arrived as refugees in 2000. But she longs to visit her homeland Lebanon again.“Most Lebanese see Hezbollah as a foreign entity that works for Iran and not for the Lebanese people,” she told The Times of Israel during a recent teleconference chat.Now pursuing a master’s degree at Bar Ilan University in political communication, Younnes is a member of Sharaka, an NGO whose name means “partnership” in Arabic, which was started after the Abraham Accords in 2020. In her English-language videos, she is articulate, smart and on point; in Arabic, her emphasis is on Israeli culture and her style is persuasive — and fun.Her upbeat social media posts — spoken in Arabic with a Lebanese accent — have attracted hundreds of thousands of views worldwide, including in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. She favors cultural videos of holidays and special places in Israel, including the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and sidewalk restaurants in Tel Aviv. She wants Arabic-speaking people to understand Israel. She wants everyone to understand the Lebanese view of Hezbollah.“Of course, I get hate messages,” she said. Some of them curse her, but many, in private messages, secretly support her work. She is not afraid for her safety but worries about her family still in Lebanon.While the Lebanese people are relieved that Hezbollah has suffered losses, it is still “a terror group that might seek revenge.”‘Almost no one knows about us’ Younnes was five when her father fled south Lebanon with thousands of other SLA soldiers and their families immediately after the IDF pulled out of the security zone in May 2000.The security zone was some 15 miles (24 kilometers) wide, where the IDF and its proxy south Lebanon Army attempted to keep Palestinian and Hezbollah terrorists away from the Israeli border.“Unfortunately, Israel withdrew without any agreement,” Younnes said. “We had to run away because Hezbollah said, ‘We will slaughter you in your bed.’”In Israel, Younnes grew up watching Lebanese TV shows and Lebanese news,” she said, with parents who “yearned to go back to Lebanon.”However, she and other SLA children were “very much integrated into Israeli society, speaking Hebrew perfectly, celebrating Jewish holidays with friends.”The Knesset passed a law granting citizenship to all SLA members and their families in 2004, four years after the IDF’s pullout.“We are considered brothers in blood and that’s why Israel gave us citizenship,” Younnes said.She went to school with Jewish students where teachers always asked her “to tell our story,” something her parents also encouraged.Younnes said she now feels she is a “voice” for Maronite Christians, “indigenous people in Lebanon.” She also wants to speak about the SLA because “almost no one knows about us.”An irony of history-Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side and the deaths of 24 IDF soldiers and reservists.Younnes said it is ironic that Hezbollah claims it is fighting the war against Israel in support of Hamas when, from 1984 to 1990, the Palestinians, who are Sunni Muslims, fought against some Hezbollah followers, who are Shiite Muslims.At about the same time, Christians in the South Lebanese Army also fought against various Muslim factions. The civil war erupted in 1975, expanding to encompass whole segments of Lebanese society, and lasted until 1990.Today, it is estimated that Lebanon consists of about 60 percent Muslims – split almost equally between Shiites and Sunnis; 30 percent Christians – mostly Maronites and Greek Orthodox; and the remaining 10 percent Druze and other minorities. It is a fragile democracy.Younnes stressed that she wanted to make it clear that Israel is fighting wars against Hezbollah, and not Lebanon, saying that these conflicts should be called the “Israel-Hezbollah Wars” and not the Second and now Third Lebanon War, as some have already dubbed it.The first Lebanon war in 1982 was “much more complicated,” Younnes said, and can’t be called a war against Hezbollah since the terror group gained power only in the 1990s.The current war might be the chance needed to force Hezbollah to give up its arms, she said, allowing the Lebanese authority to be the only authority in Lebanon.Lebanon and Israel are similar, Younnes added, “and both want peace.”A minority advocate-Jonathan Elkhoury, 32, escaped Lebanon as a refugee with his family, former SLA members, when he was nine and grew up in Haifa. He’s a public speaker who advocates for Israel as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.Elkhoury told The Times of Israel that he’s been “so out for the last decade” that he is not frightened. Yet many Lebanese are “afraid of retaliation from the Hezbollah terrorists that are still located in the south of Lebanon.”“We are talking about thousands of Hezbollah soldiers,” he said. “I’m not calling them ‘just’ terrorists because they are operating as an army, more capable than the Lebanese Army.”Although they won’t speak publicly, Elkhoury said, “A lot of Lebanese know that Hezbollah caused the downfall of Lebanon’s economy and lifestyle.”“Everything is stuck, politically, economically, strategically, because of Hezbollah,” he said. “Nasrallah and Hezbollah have terrorized the Lebanese people since the 1980s.”When people opposed Hezbollah, Nasrallah had them assassinated, Elkhoury said. Now, he hopes, the tables have turned.The start of a quiet groundswell of opposition against Hezbollah began after the 2020 explosion of ammonium nitrate that the terrorist organization stored in Beirut’s port. The explosion killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands, and left 300,000 people homeless.After that, when Lebanese Hezbollah fighters started getting killed in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria, Elkhoury said that people became more aware that the terrorist group was the “Islamic resistance ‘in’ Lebanon, not ‘for’ Lebanon.”Hezbollah has always been a part of “Iran’s imperialist vision to take over the Middle East,” Elkhoury said.But Nasrallah’s assassination is a “breakthrough,” he said. The war now provides an opportunity for Lebanon to create a coalition between Lebanese and Israelis that can “restore sovereignty to Lebanon and create lasting peace.”A prophetic message for Nasrallah-More than 40,000 people on various social media platforms, including those in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, watched 28-year-old Stephani Haleli Elias give a public message in Arabic addressed to Nasrallah in June.“Those who were more frightening than you are gone,” Elias said to the camera. “Even you, you will eventually go, and you will not be able to scare us.”Elias, who also fled Lebanon with her SLA family when she was four, told the Times of Israel that back in June when she made the video, she had “a strong feeling about Nasrallah.”She believed that the IDF would “get him in this war, and this time he wouldn’t survive.”While Younnes takes viewers around Israel, Elias posts up-close videos from her home. Filming her message for Nasrallah, she wore a casual yet stylish black-and-white striped T-shirt and appeared unintimidated as she spoke, as if in an intimate tête-à -tête with one of the world’s most infamous terrorist leaders.She said that her family, as well as “everyone who was in the former South Lebanese Army, are happy” Nasrallah is gone. His death has given her more hope, but she said that her parents have stressed that the war with Hezbollah did not – and should not — end with Nasrallah’s death.“We stopped fighting in 2000 and then in 2006,” she said. “This is the third war, and we have to see it until the end.”On October 7, 2023, 3,000 heavily armed Hamas-led fighters invaded communities from Gaza in an unparalleled outbreak of violence. Some 1,200 people were killed. Aside from the murders, terrorists carried out brutal atrocities such as torture and rape and abducted 251 people. Israel says 97 of them remain captive, along with four others held in Gaza for around a decade.Soon afterward, Elias posted an Arabic-speaking video to explain how she felt about Hamas’s massacre. That post garnered more than one million views and gave the receptionist at HaShef College, a culinary school in Haifa, some appearances on Israeli TV.While some Arabic-speaking people attacked her “because the truth annoyed them,” others still send her messages saying they secretly agree with her.Growing up, Elias attended a Hebrew-speaking school and was often subjected to racism. “Some kids called me a terrorist,” she said, but she had Jewish friends and lived among Jews. Along the way, she fell in love with Judaism and realized she wanted her future children to grow up as Jews in Israel.In February, Elias posted the video of her tear-filled conversion on social media.“We have to understand that we are a special nation,” she said. “And neither the Knesset, the government, nor the war will change that.”Meanwhile, pondering the future in Lebanon across the border, Younnes said that Nasrallah’s elimination “created a huge vacuum.”“Who can step into his shoes?” Younnes pondered. “I hope it’s a door to eliminate Hezbollah and allow the Lebanese forces to take over Lebanon again.”
Toronto Jewish school targeted by gunfire during Yom Kippur, in 2nd attack in months-Trudeau says he’s ‘very disturbed’ by incident, which comes amid dramatic rise in antisemitic attacks in the country as war rages in Middle East-By AFP and ToI Staff Today, 6:54 am-OCT 13,24
A Jewish school in Toronto was hit by gunfire early Saturday for the second time this year, local police said, amid a rise in antisemitic attacks in Canada in the wake of the war between Israel and Iran-backed terror groups in the Middle East.No one was injured after shots were fired from a vehicle at around 4 a.m. local time at the Bais Chaya Mushka girls school, with the only damage being a broken window, according to authorities.The school in the North York area of Toronto was targeted in a similar incident in May, and police believe the two shootings are connected.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “very disturbed” by the incident, which came as the Jewish community celebrated Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism.“As we wait for more details, my heart goes out to the students, staff and parents who must be terrified and hurting today,” Trudeau said in a post on X.“Antisemitism is a disgusting and dangerous form of hate — and we won’t let it stand,” he added.I’m very disturbed to hear that last night, as families marked Yom Kippur, there were shots fired at a Jewish school in Toronto.As we wait for more details, my heart goes out to the students, staff, and parents who must be terrified and hurting today. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 12, 2024-According to a report published in May by Jewish organization B’nai Brith Canada, antisemitic acts more than doubled in the country between 2022 and 2023.In November 2023, a Jewish school in Montreal was hit by gunfire twice in one week. There were no injuries.In late May, a Vancouver synagogue was damaged in a suspected arson attack.And in August, dozens of Jewish institutions across Canada received a threatening email saying bombs had been planted on their premises and would be detonated.Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, told The Times of Israel in an interview this year that “it’s clear from the data we’re seeing, particularly coming from police units across Canada, that there’s a huge increase in antisemitism in terms of hate crimes happening.”
40 countries contributing to UN’s Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn ‘attacks’Nations ‘urge the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL’s presence,’ after force accused Israel of targeting its positions amid ground op against Hezbollah-By AFP and ToI Staff Today, 6:13 am-OCT 13,24
Forty nations that contribute to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Saturday that they “strongly condemn recent attacks” on the peacekeepers.“Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” said the joint statement, posted on X by the Polish UN mission and signed by nations including leading contributors Indonesia, Italy and India.Other signatories include Ghana, Nepal, Malaysia, Spain, France and China — all countries that have contributed several hundred troops to the force.At least five peacekeepers have been wounded in recent days as Israel takes its fight against the Hezbollah terror group into southern Lebanon.The peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, has accused the Israeli military of “deliberately” firing on its positions.The 40 contributing countries “reaffirm our full support for UNIFIL’s mission and activities, whose principal aim is to bring stabilization and lasting peace in South Lebanon as well as in the Middle East,” the statement read.“We urge the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL’s presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times,” it added.A joint statement by 34 UNIFIL-contributing countries, initiated by ????????, urges to protect @UNIFIL_ peacekeepers.We condemn recent incidents, call to respect UNIFIL's mission & ensure the safety of its personnel.— Poland in the UN (@PLinUN) October 12, 2024-UNIFIL, which involves about 9,500 troops of some 50 nationalities, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.Its role was bolstered by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of that year, which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in southern Lebanon.However, that resolution has largely gone unimplemented as Hezbollah further entrenched itself in the border area over the past 18 months, storing weapons there, firing countless rockets into Israel and allegedly positioning its forces for a mass invasion of Israel last year.At a summit on Friday, French, Italian and Spanish leaders said the “attacks” on UNIFIL peacekeepers violated Resolution 1701 and must end.UNIFIL said that, in recent days, its forces have “repeatedly” come under fire in the Lebanese town of Naqura where it is headquartered, as well as in other positions.The mission said that Israeli tank fire on Thursday caused two Indonesian peacekeepers to fall off a watchtower in Naqura.The following day, it said explosions close to an observation tower in Naqura wounded two Sri Lankan Blue Helmets, while Israel said it had responded to an “immediate threat” near a UN peacekeeping position.On Saturday, UNIFIL said a peacekeeper in Naqura “was hit by gunfire” on Friday night.UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP the peacekeeping mission’s work had become “very difficult because there is a lot of damage, even inside the bases.”Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support its ally Hamas amid the war in Gaza following the Palestinian terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.Late last month, Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon, aimed at driving Hezbollah away from the border and returning the displaced residents of northern Israel to their homes.
40 people said wounded in Hezbollah drone strike-By Lazar Berman-OCT 13
Channel 12 reports that 40 people were wounded in the drone strike in the Binyamina area.According to Magen David Adom, 4 are in critical condition, 5 in serious condition, and 14 in moderate condition. The rest are lightly hurt.All have been evacuated to hospitals.Number of wounded in the drone attack rises to 67.By Lazar Berman-The number of wounded in the drone attack in the Binyamina area has risen to 67, according to medics.The number of critically wounded remains at four, with five seriously injured and 14 moderately hurt.Most were taken to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera. Others were taken to Sheba Hospital in Ramat Gan, Rambam Hospital in Haifa, and Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
Lebanon’s army rendered a bystander as Israel, Hezbollah fight in country’s south-Long overshadowed militarily by Iran-backed terror group and unable to keep it away from border, army has withdrawn to 5 km from frontier, but may put up a fight if IDF approaches-By AP Today, 5:13 am-OCT 13,24
BEIRUT — Since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah terror operatives have clashed along the border while the Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines.It’s not the first time the national army has found itself watching war at home from the discomfiting position of bystander.Lebanon’s widely beloved army is one of the few institutions that bridge the country’s sectarian and political divides. Several army commanders have become president, and the current commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun, is widely regarded as one of the frontrunners to step in when the deadlocked parliament fills a two-year vacuum and names a president.But with an aging arsenal and no air defenses, and battered by five years of economic crisis, the national army is ill-prepared to defend Lebanon against either aerial bombardment or a ground offensive by a well-equipped modern army like Israel’s.Moreover, Israel is explicitly fighting solely against Hezbollah, and not against the Lebanese army or the Lebanese state.The army is militarily overshadowed by Hezbollah. The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the country’s south. Hezbollah has more than 100,000 fighters, according to the Iran-backed terror group’s slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Its arsenal — built with support from Tehran — is also more advanced.A cautious initial response-Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters have been clashing since October 8, 2023, when the terror group began firing rockets over the border in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, which committed a massacre in southern Israel a day earlier.In recent weeks, Israel has conducted a major aerial bombardment of Lebanon and a ground offensive that it says aims to push Hezbollah back from the border — as required by a 2006 UN Security Council Resolution — and allow tens of thousands of displaced residents of northern Israel to return after a year.As Israeli troops made their first forays across the border and Hezbollah responded with rocket fire, Lebanese army soldiers withdrew from observation posts along the frontier and repositioned about 5 kilometers (3 miles) back.So far, Israeli forces have not advanced that far. The only direct clashes between the two national armies were on October 3, when Israeli tank fire hit a Lebanese army position in the area of Bint Jbeil, killing a soldier, and on Friday, when two soldiers were killed in an airstrike in the same area. The Lebanese army said it returned fire both times.Lebanon’s army declined to comment on how it would react if Israeli ground forces advanced farther.Analysts familiar with the army’s workings said that, should the Israeli incursion reach the current army positions, Lebanese troops would put up a fight — but a limited one.The army’s “natural and automatic mission is to defend Lebanon against any army that may enter Lebanese territory,” said former Lebanese Army Gen. Hassan Jouni. “Of course, if the Israeli enemy enters, it will defend, but within the available capabilities … without going to the point of recklessness or suicide.”Israeli and Lebanese armies are ‘a total overmatch’The current Israeli offensive in Lebanon is its fourth in the neighboring country in the past 50 years. In most of the previous invasions, the Lebanese army played a similarly peripheral role.The one exception, said Aram Nerguizian, a senior associate with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, was in 1972, when Israel attempted to create a 20-kilometer (12-mile) buffer zone to push back Palestinian Liberation Organization fighters.At that time, Nerguizian said, the Lebanese army successfully slowed the pace of the Israeli advance and “bought time for political leadership in Beirut to seek the intervention of the international community to pressure Israel for a ceasefire.”But the internal situation in Lebanon — and the army’s capabilities — deteriorated with the outbreak of a 15-year civil war in 1975, during which both Israeli and Syrian forces occupied parts of the country.Hezbollah was the only faction that was allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war, for the stated goal of resisting the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon — which ended in 2000.By 2006, when Hezbollah and Israel fought a bruising monthlong war, the Lebanese army “had not been able to invest in any real-world postwar modernization, had no ability to deter Israeli air power” and “was left completely exposed,” Nerguizian said. “The few times that the [Lebanese army] and Israeli forces did engage militarily, there was total overmatch.”International aid has been a mixed blessing-After the 2011 outbreak of civil war in neighboring Syria and the rise of the Islamic State (IS or ISIS) terror group there, the Lebanese army saw a new influx of military aid. It successfully battled against ISIS on Lebanon’s border in 2017, although not alone — Hezbollah was simultaneously attacking the group on the other side of the border.When Lebanon’s financial system and currency collapsed in 2019, the army took a hit. It had no budget to buy weapons and maintain its existing supplies, vehicles and aircraft. An average soldier’s salary is now worth around $220 per month, and many resorted to working second jobs. At one point, the United States and Qatar both gave a monthly subsidy for soldiers’ salaries.The US had been a primary funder of the Lebanese army before the crisis. It has given some $3 billion in military aid since 2006, according to the State Department, which said in a statement that it aims “to enable the Lebanese military to be a stabilizing force against regional threats” and “strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty, secure its borders, counter internal threats, and disrupt terrorist facilitation.”US President Joe Biden’s administration has also touted the Lebanese army as a key part of any diplomatic solution to the current war, with hopes that increased deployment of its forces would supplant Hezbollah in the border area.But that support has limits. Aid to the Lebanese army has sometimes been politically controversial within the US, with some legislators arguing that it could fall into the hands of Hezbollah, although there is no evidence that has happened.In Lebanon, many believe that the US has blocked the army from obtaining more advanced weaponry that might allow it to defend against Israel — America’s strongest ally in the region and the recipient of at least $17.9 billion in US military aid in the year since the war in Gaza began.“It is my personal opinion that the United States does not allow the [Lebanese] military to have advanced air defense equipment, and this matter is related to Israel,” said Walid Aoun, a retired Lebanese army general and military analyst.Nerguizian said the perception is “not some conspiracy or half-truth,” noting that the US has enacted a legal requirement to support Israel’s qualitative military edge relative to all other militaries in the region.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Discarded plan aimed to bring down Tel Aviv's Azrieli Towers-Reports: Hamas delayed Oct. 7 attack to enlist Iran, Hezbollah; plotted 9/11-style bombing-Records of meetings indicate terror group was ready to carry out cross-border massacre by Sept. 2022, chose eventual timing for reasons that included judicial overhaul divisions-By ToI Staff Today, 1:42 am-OCT 13,24
The devastating terror onslaught carried out by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, had originally been planned for the previous year, but was delayed amid efforts by the Palestinian terror group to enlist the help of Iran and Hezbollah, according to a series of documents obtained by international media outlets on Saturday.The reports cited minutes from a series of meetings held by Hamas’s military and political leaders over the course of two years, in which they planned the logistics of the attack, as well as various correspondences between Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Iranian officials.An initial report published by The New York Times on Saturday detailed the minutes of 10 meetings spanning from January 2022 until August 2023, which the outlet said had been discovered back in January on a computer in a Hamas control center in Khan Younis. The Times said that it had verified the authenticity of the documents and had separately obtained an internal report by the Israel Defense Forces that did the same.The contents of additional meetings and messages, mostly focused on Iran’s involvement in planning and funding the attack, were then shared by the IDF with The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, both of which said that they could not independently verify the authenticity of the information they received.While it was not always clear which officials had attended which meetings, The Times found that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was present at each one, while now-dead top officials Muhammed Deif and Marwan Issa attended at least several of them, as did Muhammad Sinwar, Yahya’s brother.The plan for a cross-border attack on Israel’s military infrastructure and civilian communities was first mentioned in a meeting in January 2022, The Times reported, when the Hamas officials in attendance discussed the need to avoid escalating conflict with Israel and to instead focus on “the big project.”However, the ball may have started rolling even earlier than that, as The Post said it had obtained letters written by Sinwar to Iranian officials in which he requested financial and military assistance for a large-scale assault on Israel.“We promise you that we will not waste a minute or a penny unless it takes us toward achieving this sacred goal,” Sinwar was said to write in a letter dated June 2021.His request appeared to have been granted, as The Wall Street Journal said it had obtained a letter in which an Iranian official confirmed the allocation of $10 million for Hamas’s armed wing. Sinwar later asked for an additional $500 million, which he said could be delivered over the course of two years, with $20 million being transferred per month.Following the meeting in January 2022, the “big project” was discussed at length in later meetings of Hamas’s Gaza leadership in April and June of that year.It was during that period that the attack began to take shape. Last November, a 36-page document was uncovered in northern Gaza, The Washington Post reported, in which various scenarios for attacking Israel were outlined and reviewed.Among the targets discussed were shopping malls and military command centers, The Post reported, as well as the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv, which house offices, a large shopping mall and a train station. In this scenario, the terror group reportedly envisioned carrying out an attack similar to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.However, the report said, this plan was discarded after the terror group concluded that it lacked the ability to bring down the towers.Among the other plans said to have been discarded by the terror group was one that involved the use of horse-drawn carriages, which the terror group said would serve as a “fast and light mechanism” to transport fighters without drawing the attention that modern vehicles do.By the time Rosh Hashanah came around nine months later, in September 2022, Hamas appeared ready to attack, having settled on a plan to first attack military bases before later moving on to civilian residences, The Times said. But it would be another 13 months before it carried out its brutal invasion and slaughter in southern Israel.The reason for the delay was never explicitly mentioned in the minutes obtained by The Times, but there were indications that it was related to the terror group’s efforts to enlist the help of Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah terror group.Citing the minutes of a meeting held in August 2023, the report found that Sinwar’s deputy, Khalil Al-Hayya, had traveled to Lebanon a month earlier and discussed the details of the planned attack with a senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammed Said Izadi.During their meeting, al-Hayya told Izadi that Hamas would require help striking Israeli targets during “the first hour” of the assault, coined the “Al-Aqsa Flood” by the terror group.According to the report, Izadi told al-Hayya that both Iran and Hezbollah welcomed the plan but stressed that they needed time “to prepare the environment.” The report didn’t say what was Iran’s eventual response.While al-Hayya also intended to discuss the plan with now-dead Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, their meeting was postponed and it was unclear whether it ever took place.Despite their apparent willingness to participate, Hamas ultimately proceeded without the direct assistance of Iran or Hezbollah — although the Lebanese terror group joined the fray with missile fire of its own just one day later, spiraling into the current war on that front.Several reasons for Hamas’s willingness to launch the attack without its allies were offered by The Times, including that the terror group had been concerned that a new and much-touted Israeli air defense system was almost ready for deployment, and because Jerusalem and Riyadh had appeared to be moving closer to normalizing relations.The terror group also told Hezbollah that it was “compelled to move toward a strategic battle” by Israel’s “internal situation” — apparently a reference to the domestic political unrest last year over the government’s judicial overhaul push.From the time it started planning the attack until the date of its execution, Hamas focused on lulling Israel into a false sense of security by leading it to believe that it was focused on governing Gaza instead of seeking further conflict, a ploy widely deemed successful, as Israel was caught unaware and unprepared.In a Hamas meeting in April 2022, there was relief among participants that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan had passed without incident, allowing the terror group to “camouflage the big idea.” Similar sentiments were expressed in later meetings, including in June 2022 after the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March snaked through the capital’s Old City, and again at the end of Ramadan the following year.Not willing to take any chances, the Hamas officials decided that only those who needed to know would know about their intentions. As such, The Times stated, the terror group’s leadership in Qatar was kept mostly in the dark, and only its since-assassinated political leader Ismail Haniyeh was informed of the covert meetings with Iranian and Hezbollah officials.Inside Gaza, a similar decision was made regarding the terror group’s lower-ranking operatives. The minutes from the June 2022 meeting revealed that Sinwar had decided they would only learn of the full extent of the planned attack in the hours preceding it.By the fall of 2023, having misled Israel for close to two years, Hamas once again appeared ready to attack. Only one major point of contention remained: whether to attack on Yom Kippur, which fell on September 25, or to wait until Simhat Torah, on October 7.Eventually, on the morning of October 7, the terror group launched its deadly assault. Some 1,200 people were slaughtered across dozens of communities in southern Israel that day, and 251 were seized as hostages. Of that number, 97 captives are believed to still be in Gaza.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says that more than 42,000 people have been killed or are presumed dead in the subsequent war in the Strip. It does not differentiate between civilians and fighters, and its figures cannot be verified. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on and after October 7.
Iran sends 2 satellites to Russia for rocket launch, says they’re for civilian purposes-Satellites could be for agriculture, environmental monitoring, disaster management and communications, but US has warned in past they could be used to identify targets in Israel-By Reuters and ToI Staff 12 October 2024, 11:36 pm
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Iran has sent two locally made satellites to Russia to be put into orbit by a Russian space vehicle, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported on Saturday, in the latest space cooperation between the two US-sanctioned countries.The development of Kowsar, a high-resolution imaging satellite, and Hodhod, a small communications satellite, is the first substantial effort by Iran’s private space sector, the report said.Russia sent Iranian satellites into orbit in February and in 2022, when US officials voiced concern over space cooperation between Russia and Iran, fearing the satellite would not only help Russia in Ukraine but also help Iran monitor potential targets in Israel and the wider Middle East.Kowsar could be used in agriculture, natural resource management, environmental monitoring, and disaster management, Tasnim said. Hodhod is designed for satellite-based communications and could be used in remote areas with little access to terrestrial networks.In September, Iran carried out its second satellite launch this year using a rocket built by its Revolutionary Guards. The launch came as the United States and European countries accused Tehran of transferring ballistic missiles to Russia that could be used in its war with Ukraine. Iran has denied this.In January, Iran said it simultaneously launched three satellites into orbit, nearly a week after the launch of a research satellite by its Revolutionary Guards.Western governments including the United States have repeatedly warned Iran against such launches, saying the same technology can be used for ballistic missiles, including ones designed to deliver a nuclear warhead.Iran has countered that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defense purposes only.The US has previously said Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.The US intelligence community’s 2023 worldwide threat assessment said in January that the development of satellite launch vehicles “shortens the timeline” for Iran to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile because it uses similar technology.Intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used to deliver nuclear weapons. Iran’s nuclear program has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers.Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear weapons, if it chooses to produce them, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly has warned.Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday at a time when Tehran is supplying weapons for Moscow’s war in Ukraine and concerns are growing over escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its terror allies. The US and UK are also reportedly concerned that Russia has been helping Iran develop its nuclear weapons program.
Medics treat 2,842 for injuries on Yom Kippur, including three wounded by rocket blast-12 hurt running to bomb shelters; 286 suffer effects of fasting; 283 injured in car accidents or biking; 146 women in labor taken to hospital, with one baby delivered in ambulance-By ToI Staff 12 October 2024, 8:35 pm
Magen David Adom said Saturday its paramedics treated 2,842 people across Israel during Yom Kippur, including three lightly hurt by the force of a rocket that exploded in the Western Galilee.Another 12 people were hurt while running to shelters amid rocket attacks, the ambulance service added.Some 320 projectiles were fired or launched into Israel by Hezbollah from Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said, while two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip.According to MDA, 1,969 people who required medical attention were taken to hospitals for further treatment, including 286 patients who fainted, were dehydrated, or otherwise felt ill due to the fast.Over 500 people were hurt while riding bikes, scooters, skateboards or rollerblading, including six seriously. Dozens were injured in car crashes, among them 11 people in serious condition.The Jewish Day of Atonement is marked by fasting and prayer by many observant Jews, while many secular Israelis take advantage of the deserted roads and highways, and take to the streets on their bicycles.MDA also reported that it took 146 women to medical centers to give birth and that paramedics helped deliver a baby in the ambulance in Modiin Ilit while headed to a hospital.As sundown approached on Friday, most local radio and television broadcasts gradually fell silent.Usually, all media shuts down over Yom Kippur, but due to Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and conflict with Hezbollah, some outlets remained operational on a partial basis over the holiday.Public transport was also halted, with buses and trains stopping their routes and Israeli air space closed to flights passing through, though this year there were air force jets and helicopters flying through the usually empty skies.For paramedics, Yom Kippur is one of the busiest days of the year, with hundreds of extra medics, paramedics, ambulances and volunteers deployed across the country.
Iran’s parliament speaker meets with Hezbollah officials, Lebanese PM-Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf denounces Israel’s ‘crimes’ while visiting site of strikes in Beirut that targeted Hezbollah’s security chief on Thursday-By AFP and ToI Staff 12 October 2024, 7:52 pm
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf denounced Israel’s “crimes” on Saturday as he visited the site of the deadliest Israeli strikes on central Beirut in recent weeks, an AFP photographer said.The Thursday night strikes in the densely populated Basta neighborhood and the nearby Nweiri district are said to have targeted the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group’s security chief Wafiq Safa.While neither Israel’s military nor Hezbollah confirmed Safa was the target or commented on his fate, Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes killed at least 22 people – the deadliest inside the capital in weeks of escalation.Speaking to reporters in Basta, accompanied by two Hezbollah lawmakers, Qalibaf denounced what he called Israel’s “crimes.”“International organizations and the UN Security Council have the capability [to stop Israel] but they are unfortunately keeping silent,” he said.Earlier Saturday, Qalibaf met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who told him his government’s priority was “to work towards a ceasefire,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said.Mikati had on Friday urged the United Nations to pass a resolution calling for an “immediate” ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.Qalibaf told reporters after meeting his counterpart Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, that Iran “will certainly support the decisions of the Lebanese government, the Lebanese people, and the resistance [Hezbollah] in this period.”When Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Lebanon last week, he said Tehran backed efforts for a simultaneous ceasefire with Israel in both Gaza and Lebanon.Qalibaf was expected to head to Geneva later Saturday to participate in the Inter-Parliamentary Union, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.Israel launched a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon earlier this month to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure near the border after a year of near-daily cross-border drone and rocket attacks by the terrorist organization which forced some 60,000 people to evacuate from their homes in the north.The attacks on northern Israel over the last year have resulted in the deaths of 28 civilians. In addition, 33 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.Two soldiers have also been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
REPORT: Hamas admits 80% of casualties are terrorists and family of members-and Hashem sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and proscribe the sinful Amalekites; make war on them until you have exterminated them.'Samuel 15:19 (the israel bible)Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz-October 13, 2024
Recent reports from Israel’s Channel 12 indicate that Hamas privately acknowledged that approximately 80% of the casualties from the war against Israel were affiliated with the organization or are their family members. This revelation casts doubt on claims made by the Biden administration and the United Nations concerning civilian deaths.Hamas has claimed that the total death toll in Gaza has reached around 40,000. However, it is crucial to note that the group does not differentiate between terrorists and civilian casualties in its figures, raising questions about the accuracy and reliability of this data. The Ministry of Health in Gaza, which operates under Hamas, reports that nearly 40% of those killed are adult males aged 18 to 59, a demographic that includes combatants.The Role of International Media and Data Verification-A significant portion of international media continues to reference unverified casualty figures provided by Hamas. These figures have been scrutinized by statisticians and experts for lacking a clear distinction between combatants and non-combatants. For instance, a recent United Nations report using this same data concluded that 51.3% of the fatalities were women and children—a claim that various analysts have challenged as “impossible”.In a notable critique, Abraham Wyner, a professor of statistics at the Wharton School, highlighted the implausibility of Hamas’s assertion that 70% of casualties are women and children, labeling it “statistically impossible.” This skepticism underscores the broader issue of data reliability in conflict reporting.Incomplete Data and Reporting Challenges-Adding to the confusion, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza has admitted to having “incomplete data” for a significant portion of the reported fatalities. As of April, the ministry lacked complete records for approximately one-third of the casualties it claims to have documented. This raises serious concerns about the integrity of the reported figures.David Adesnik, from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, remarked on the inconsistencies in the ministry’s reporting methods, suggesting that it is attempting to shield itself from scrutiny over its data collection practices. He criticized U.S. media for relying on these figures without question, highlighting the risk of disseminating potentially unreliable information.The Political Implications of Casualty Figures-The Biden administration and the United Nations have faced criticism for citing Hamas’s casualty numbers as factual, which may inadvertently lend credibility to unverified claims. Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces estimate that at least 13,000 of those killed in Gaza were terrorists, alongside an additional 1,000 who died during the October 7 attack inside Israel.As the conflict continues, the debate over casualty figures reflects broader tensions surrounding the war and the narratives being constructed around it. Accurate data collection and reporting are vital for understanding the full impact of the conflict and ensuring accountability.
Iranian missile barrage caused about NIS 150m to NIS 200m in damage to property-Since the October 1 attack, about 2,500 compensation claims have been submitted for damage to buildings, vehicles, and contents, according to Israel Tax Authority data-By Sharon Wrobel-Today, 10:07 pm
Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1 caused an estimated NIS 150 million to NIS 200 million ($40 million to $53 million) in damage to private property, according to a preliminary assessment by the Israel Tax Authority.The massive barrage launched by Iran against Israel sent almost 10 million people into bomb shelters as projectiles and interceptors exploded in the skies above. In its wake, about 2,500 damage claims were submitted to the property tax department, of which about 2,200 reported damage to buildings, and the remainder to vehicles and contents, according to initial data by the Israel Tax Authority.In contrast to Iran’s missile attack on April 13 — which involved 36 cruise missiles, 185 drones and around 120 ballistic missiles, most of which were intercepted — the latest attack consisted exclusively of about 200 ballistic missiles. Approximately 20 of them were intercepted or thwarted before entering Israel’s airspace by US, British and Jordanian air forces, leaving around 180 missiles that were either intercepted or impacted within Israeli territory.One of the missiles impacted a school in Gadera, in central Israel, with photos and videos from the scene showing severe damage to the school building. An additional strike severely hit a restaurant in the high-end “Sea and Sun” complex in northern Tel Aviv, causing some damage to its luxury apartments and shops.In the city of Hod Hasharon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, many homes were damaged by the missile attack, from shock waves and shrapnel. According to the municipality, a number of homes were seriously damaged and dozens more suffered light damage in the attack, with around 100 homes suffering some damage, including from shrapnel and the shock set off by falling missile fragments.The Israeli military acknowledged that some of its airbases were hit, mainly damaging office buildings and other maintenance areas.Iran said it fired the missiles into Israel in response to attacks that killed the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, and senior officers in the Iranian military. It mentioned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.The attack came almost a year after the Iran-backed terror group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, triggering war in Gaza.The fighting has also drawn in Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, which began firing thousands rockets at Israel starting October 8, forcing the government to evacuate thousands of residents from near the border.Since October 7, 2023, a total of 49,500 claims for damage to property have been submitted to the property tax department, out of which about 30,000 were registered in the south of the country, about 8,000 in the north, and about 11,500 in the center.Over the past year, a total of NIS 1.5 billion in compensation for damage to property has been paid out, according to data by the Israeli Tax Authority said. It estimates that damage not yet claimed, mainly in the north of the country where evacuated resident have not returned home, will amount to about about NIS 1 billion in compensation.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Trump visits Chabad Rebbe’s Gravesite: “Connecting Nations to Israel”He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beth-peor; and no one knows his burial place to this day.Deuteronomy 34:5 (the israel bible)-Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz-October 11, 2024
On the first anniversary commemorating the Palestinian Hamas massacre of Israelis, President Trump paid a visit to the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.While the visit was not a campaign stop, and the Republican candidate did not speak at the event, it helped strengthen the bond between Trump and Orthodox Jews. While secular Jews traditionally vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates, polls show that more than 80% of Orthodox Jews support Trump. Trump engaged in several rituals such as donning a Kippah (men’s head covering), reading a chapter of Psalms that is part of the Penitential prayers, placing a note on the grave, and placing a small stone on the headstone, and lit a yahrzeit (memorial) candle, as per Jewish custom. Trump’s campaign released a statement repeating his claim that the Oct.7 massacre would not have taken place had he been president. Trump also gave charity in a box near the entrance in keeping with Jewish tradition to increase charitable giving at this time of year. “The atrocities, including the slaughtering and capturing of innocent Israelis and Americans, that took place on Oct. 7th would have never happened if President Trump were still in the White House,” said campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who added that Trump “can end the bloodshed caused by an emboldened Iranian terrorist regime, which is stronger and richer today from the Harris-Biden Administration’s incompetence and weak policies.”Trump was greeted by Rabbi Abba Refson, director of the visitor’s center at the Ohel, and Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch. Also present were Yael, Adi and Roy Alexander, parents and brother of Edan Alexander, who is currently being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza; Jerry Wartski, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp; and two Jewish college students who are publicly speaking out against antisemitism on campus. Rabbi Elisha Pearl, author of Make Peace and expert on the Lubavitcher Rebbe, noted the spiritual significance of Trump’s visit.“When an event happens on a specific date, it becomes an archetype, giving significance to that date that manifests every year,” Rabbi Pearl said. “It’s not that we’re commemorating a historical event, but rather the thing itself is being reenacted, spiritually reenacted.”“On a Yahrzeit (anniversary of a death), the neshama (soul) goes up to a higher realm. In this case, October 7 is not simchat torah. Jews would observe the Yahrtzeit of the victims on Simchat Torah, the 23rd of Tishrei as per the lunar Hebrew calendar. Trump, of course, is not Jewish so that he would commemorate their deaths on October 7 as per the solar calendar. He is connecting the non-Jewish world to this Jewish tragedy in a way that connects them to the God of Israel.”“Trump is a great lover of Israel, as we saw in his first administration. If he is reelected, he will continue to serve by connecting the nations to Israel.”In 2018, President Trump issued a proclamation marking Education and Sharing Day, Rabbi Schneerson’s birth anniversary.Trump’s Jewish daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, visited the site before his previous elections with mixed results. Trump’s visit marks the third visit by a non-Jewish head of state to the Jewish leader’s gravesite within a month. Recent visitors included Argentinian President Javier Milei, who visited the site for the fourth time last month. Milei, raised a Roman Catholic, is a known admirer of the Rebbe.Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is Catholic and known for his warm relations with the Jewish community and Israel, also visited the site last month. Rabbi Schneerson, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or the Rebbe, led the Chabad branch of Hasidic Jews from 1951 until he died in 1994. Under his direction, his followers practiced a form of outreach based on acceptance and devotion. In 1978, the U.S. Congress asked President Jimmy Carter to designate Schneerson’s birthday as National Education Day. It has been since commemorated as Education and Sharing Day. In 1994, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his “outstanding and lasting contributions toward improvements in world education, morality, and acts of charity.” Schneerson is buried in the Old Montefiore Cemetery in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York. Known as “the Ohel” (tent), it attracts Jews and non-Jews for prayer.
OH OH DADDYS LITTLE BOY JUSTIN TRUDEAU IS UP TO HIS NECK IN QUICK SAND. AND GOING UNDER QUICK AS LIBERAL LEADER.20 LIBERALS SIGN A GET OUT AS LIBERAL LEADER TRUDEAU COUP.
Some Liberal MPs are mounting a new effort to oust Justin Trudeau-MPs were pulled into meetings across Parliament Hill this week to sign a pledge demanding change at the top-David Cochrane, John Paul Tasker, Catherine Cullen · CBC News · Posted: Oct 11, 2024 8:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 11
Pressure is building on the prime minister and his office as a growing number of anxious Liberal MPs are co-ordinating efforts to force Justin Trudeau to step down as Liberal Party leader, multiple sources have told CBC News.Disgruntled Liberal MPs held a series of meetings to discuss a path forward for the party since the surprising Toronto-St. Paul's byelection loss in June.Those talks accelerated with Parliament's return and the Montreal byelection loss. They escalated further this week with the prime minister and his chief of staff, Katie Telford, out of the country for a summit in Asia.Some MPs are being asked to sign their names to what amounts to a pledge to stand together in calling for Trudeau to resign, multiple sources said.The document isn't a letter to be circulated; sources describe it as a vehicle to secure a commitment from MPs to seek a leadership change, and to bind the MPs to that goal if the prime minister and his supporters push back.CBC News has learned new details about an intensifying effort to push Justin Trudeau out as Liberal leader as some MPs are asked to sign a tightly controlled document, pledging their support for a leadership change.MPs were pulled into meetings across Parliament Hill this week to sign on to the demand for change at the top.Multiple sources told CBC News that MPs have been signing a single document that is being tightly controlled — no copies or photos of it are being circulated.All the sources spoke to CBC News on the condition they not be named due to the sensitivity of the internal discussions.These sources said at least 20 MPs have signed the document so far, with others voicing their support for the cause.One MP who signed the document told CBC News the number of MP signatures has spilled onto a second page.That same MP said other caucus members have called since word of the document's existence started to spread, indicating they wanted to sign it.Mark Carney sidesteps questions about political future after speaking with Liberal MPsOne Liberal who is part of the effort said the intention was to keep this initiative quiet until they had strength in numbers.The fear is that moving too early would allow the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to push back and splinter the calls for change, as they did in the summer in the wake of that bruising Toronto byelection defeat.That's why MPs are being asked to sign the document now. It's an insurance policy of sorts, signed in ink by the MPs themselves — so that it can't be disavowed if the pressure gets too high.The Toronto Star first reported this week on meetings to discuss pressuring Trudeau to step down.Dissatisfaction with Trudeau's leadership flared up at the Liberal national caucus meeting on Wednesday.Some MPs were upset that Trudeau travelled to Laos for an international summit with some important questions still left unanswered, including who will replace Jeremy Broadhurst as the Liberal election campaign director.Broadhurst resigned in early September and his successor hasn't been named. That's causing some frustration in caucus, given that an election could come at any time in this minority Parliament.Some MPs are also frustrated that clear calls for staffing changes in the PMO have so far been ignored, sources said.A Liberal-Conservative standoff over releasing unredacted documents to the RCMP grinds parliament to a halt for more than a week. Pierre Poilievre is silenced in the House. Plus, the latest from the foreign interference inquiry.Trudeau was not made available for comment during a refuelling stop in Honolulu en route back from the ASEAN summit. Instead, Trade Minister Mary Ng told reporters she has full confidence in Trudeau as leader."I'm disappointed, because Canadians expect us to be focusing on Canadians and doing this work," she said. "I think that the conversations that we have in caucus remain in caucus."Ng said she learned about the new effort to oust Trudeau by reading the news when the plane landed. She said she believes Trudeau has enough caucus support to continue."We have robust conversations at caucus. I love my caucus colleagues. They are dynamic individuals from across the country," she said. "Having the range of perspectives from caucus is very healthy and very good and it helps us be a good government."Trudeau says it 'bugged' him when Singh ended governance agreement without calling first-Sources said the decision to participate in this effort to oust Trudeau has been a difficult one for many of the MPs. Many like Trudeau personally and think he has been a good prime minister.This group of MPs had hoped the losses in Toronto and Montreal, and the poor polling numbers, would have convinced Trudeau to leave on his own terms.With no sign of that happening, some MPs say they feel compelled to act now to try and turn around the party's fortunes.According to sources, Atlantic caucus chair Kody Blois was among those who spoke at the national caucus meeting about the anxiety over Trudeau's leadership.Blois told MPs the Atlantic caucus had engaged in "a difficult, frank and open conversation" earlier that day.The regional caucuses meet first thing Wednesday morning before regrouping later for a national caucus with all Liberal MPs.Two Liberal sources told CBC News the Atlantic caucus asked the PMO representative, who often attends these meetings, to leave so that they could have discussions in private about the future.On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Trudeau says he understands Canadian 'frustration'They also asked the English-French interpreters to leave as well, to ensure total privacy.All past efforts to prompt change in the party and within the PMO have so far failed.The prime minister has said repeatedly he will stay on to lead the Liberals into the next election campaign.The CBC's Poll Tracker suggests the Liberals are trailing the Conservatives by some 20 percentage points.
Trudeau faces fresh calls to resign as Liberal leader-Bill Curry-Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief-Kristy Kirkup-Ottawa-Published June 28, 2024
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced new pressure Friday over his leadership of the Liberal Party, with one MP and a former member of his cabinet calling on him to resign, while another MP said party members should be given a say on whether he stays.Catherine McKenna, who served in both the environment and infrastructure portfolios in Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, said in a statement Friday that the Liberal Party “isn’t about one person” and that the “Prime Minister has a legacy to be proud of but it’s time for new ideas, new energy and a new leader.”The leadership questions follow the party’s stunning by-election defeat this week in a Toronto riding the party has held for decades.Later on Friday, New Brunswick MP Wayne Long sent a letter to caucus members outlining his views on why he believes Mr. Trudeau should resign. He is the first member of the caucus to make such a statement publicly.“For the future of our party and for the good of our country, we need new leadership and a new direction,” Mr. Long wrote.The result in Toronto-St. Paul’s, held by former Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett since 1997, has fuelled concern among Liberals that the party is heading toward a disastrous result in the next general election, scheduled for fall 2025.Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, who represents the urban Toronto riding of Beaches-East York, said Liberal Party members should be given a say on the future of the party’s leadership.In a social-media video released on Friday, Mr. Erskine-Smith, who is not seeking re-election, said while he understands voter frustration with Mr. Trudeau, the public also needs to know who might be willing to replace the Prime Minister should he step down.“The decision ultimately depends upon who is in the bullpen warming up,” he said. He then mused about whether former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who has hinted he may be interested, would be a better option.“Carney’s got a lot to learn about campaigning and it’s not yet clear to me at least what his version of a progressive direction for this country means.” he said. “There are smart and charismatic people in the current cabinet, too.”Mr. Erskine-Smith said party members should have a say on the matter, but did not explain how that would work.“Let’s have members, activists, organizers and grassroots donors across this country decide,” he said. “That’s what I would do if I was the prime minister. Rally the troops. Tell us why you want it and what comes next.”Several prominent voices with historical ties to the party have gone further than Mr. Erskine-Smith and want Mr. Trudeau to step down, including Jean Chrétien-era cabinet ministers John Manley and Wayne Easter as well as former B.C. premier Christy Clark.On Thursday, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne would only repeat an equivocating response when asked whether Mr. Trudeau is the right person to lead the Liberals into the next campaign. “The leader is the leader,” he told The Globe and Mail several times.The Prime Minister is also being given the benefit of the doubt by some party veterans, such as Lloyd Axworthy, who told The Globe that while this is a moment of “reckoning” for the Liberals, Mr. Trudeau should stay on.Mr. Axworthy, a Liberal MP from 1979 to 2000, said in an interview that the government has another year or so of runway ahead of election and “they should be using the time to change course in many ways.”“I think it’s time that there be a little bit more of a reckoning,” he said.Mr. Axworthy, who served as a foreign affairs minister under Mr. Chrétien, said this moment is not only about responding to the by-election results but realizing what the party is doing now “is not connecting.”“I think they have to start thinking in more expansive, bigger terms and give Canadians something really fresh and important to think about in terms of where the country is going,” he said.Mr. Axworthy said MPs need to be in their ridings talking to people about how they want to confront big issues such as climate change, artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons.He also said the Liberals could revive a former promise on electoral reform and that issues of this kind get people talking about something more than the “day-by-day crossfire.”In the 2015 campaign, Mr. Trudeau promised it would be the last election under current first-past-the-post system. In 2016, a parliamentary committee studied electoral reform but no changes were ever adopted.Mr. Trudeau is heading into the Canada Day long weekend having yet to answer questions from the media about his party’s upset by-election loss. Earlier this week, in prepared remarks, he said he heard Canadians’ concerns and frustrations.With a report from The Canadian Press.
