HAMAS AND AMERICA MAKE UP A FAKE CEASEFIRE DEAL.ISRAEL HAD NO PART OF THIS FAKE DEAL.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

 HAMAS AND AMERICA MAKE UP A FAKE CEASEFIRE DEAL.ISRAEL HAD NO PART OF THIS FAKE DEAL.


GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.

ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2  I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3  I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15  So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17  So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)

REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)

REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.

MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

I GOT A GREAT IDEA HOW TO STOP GENOCIDAL DEATH CULT COCKROCH SUPPORTERS IN THESE SCHOOL CAMPS OF HATE OF ISRAEL.OK EVERYBODY. HERES WHAT YOU DO. YOU GET A GIGANTIC AIRPLANE FULL OF PIGS BLOOD. AND DROWN ALL THE GENOCIDAL COCKROACH SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULTSUPPORTERS. AND DRENCH THEM IN PIGS BLOOD. THEN ASK THE MUSLIMS IN THE CROWD. HOW DO USE LIKE GETTING FLOODED AND DEFILED BY PIGS BLOOD. BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE N0SE PICKER AND EATER OF SNOT INVISBLE MOON GOD ALLAH.

What is the Islamic position on pigs and pig blood? I've seen a lot of things over the years about pigs being unclean and i know that muslims are not supposed to eat pig in many sects of Islam. I'm curious, what does pig/swine mean to you? If a muslim comes in casual contact with pig or pig's blood, what would that mean for a muslim? Eating pigs is not allowed in Islam , when being in contact with excessive amounts of blood , pigs or otherwise you have to redo your wudu.

Wudu: Islamic Washing Before Prayer-Nov. 25, 2016 — Originally published: Feb. 11, 2016-One of the pillars of Islam is that Muslims pray five times a day. Before those prayers, they are expected to perform a purification ritual called Wudu, requiring that they wash their faces, hands, arms, and feet. We visited Masjid Muhammad Mosque in Washington, DC, where Imam Talib Shareef described the ablution practice as preparing for “an appointment before God.”

Hamas claimed to accept offer, but that’s not what they did' US signals backing for ‘limited op’ after IDF takes over Gazan side of Rafah crossing-State Department says legitimate for Israel to prevent Hamas from collecting revenue at border gate with Egypt, while urging quick reopening of crossing so aid deliveries continue-By Jacob Magid-Today, 3:35 am-MAY 7,24

The Biden administration appeared to signal its initial approval of the operation launched by Israel early Tuesday morning to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.Spokespeople for the administration said the goals of the operation were legitimate, but warned that this assessment could change if the offensive expands in scope and leads to an extended hampering of aid shipments into Gaza.“What we’ve been told by our Israeli counterparts is that this operation last night was limited, and designed to cut off from Hamas’s ability to smuggle weapons and funds into Gaza,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a briefing.“This does appear to be a limited operation so far, but it does to a great extent depend on what comes next,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a separate briefing.US officials sought to distinguish between the actions Israel has so far taken from a more significant military operation, which they continue to oppose due to fears that the over one million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah would be put at risk.“We have made clear that we don’t want to see a major military operation. This does look like a prelude to a major military operation. In terms of the policy response, we’ll see what happens next before we make those determinations,” he added.“One of the things that Israel said — which is very much accurate — is that Hamas [still] controlled the Gaza side of Rafah crossing, and Hamas was continuing to collect revenue from that crossing being open,” the State Department spokesperson explained. “So it is a legitimate goal to try and deprive Hamas of money that they could use to continue to finance their terrorist activities.”For months, Netanyahu has declared that Israeli troops would carry out an operation to root out the final Hamas strongholds in Rafah, regardless of whether an agreement is reached in the ongoing hostage talks. According to Israeli defense officials, four of Hamas’s six remaining battalions are in the city, along with members of the terror group’s leadership and a significant number of the hostages it abducted from Israel during the October 7 onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza.The IDF operation early Tuesday led to the closure of the Rafah crossing — one of the main gates used to funnel aid into Gaza. The closure came as Israel’s nearby Kerem Shalom crossing also remained shuttered after a Hamas rocket attack over the weekend killed four IDF soldiers and wounded others stationed nearby.The White House said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised President Joe Biden during a call Monday that he would reopen Kerem Shalom, but that did not take place on Tuesday. Administration spokespeople said Israel committed to reopening Kerem Shalom on Wednesday and to re-opening Rafah for fuel convoys that day as well.“The closing of Kerem Shalom and Rafah set back the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The full extent depends on what happens next and whether they’re quickly reopened,” Miller said.According to Miller, reopening Rafah to fuel deliveries was essential for the operation of desalinization plants, aid trucks and bakeries. He called for the crossing, which is also used by aid workers in Gaza and Palestinian civilians, to be opened for all aid deliveries, not just fuel.Miller acknowledged the temporary pier for Gaza being built by the US military would soon be operational, but said Israel should not view the maritime route as a replacement for Kerem Shalom and Rafah. “Even when that pier is open, the amount of aid it can deliver a day — somewhere around 100 trucks — in no way can replace what needs to come into Gaza through these other gates.”The State Department spokesperson was asked about footage apparently filmed by IDF soldiers showing tanks ramming into signs in Gaza, including one reading “I love Gaza” at the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing. Miller condemned the action, saying the US “clearly opposes the destruction of any civilian infrastructure if it does not constitute a legitimate military target.”Miller differentiated between the operation at the Rafah crossing, which he appeared to approve, and the IDF’s announcement on Monday urging some 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from eastern neighborhoods of Gaza’s southernmost city.“We don’t think the kind of military operation that would follow such an evacuation is one that we can support because of the dramatic impact it would have on the civilian population there and the ability to get humanitarian assistance in and delivered to those people,” he said.Miller clarified that evacuating civilians ahead of a military operation is welcome in theory, but charged that Israel was taking the step without the proper mechanisms to care for the evacuees once they’ve moved.“Those people need to have somewhere to go and the places that they go to need to have sufficient food, sufficient water, sufficient housing, sufficient sanitation, and we have not yet seen a plan that would deliver that,” he said, arguing that Israel was failing to take into account that once some Palestinians flee to designated safe-zones in Gaza, far more will follow after them.‘Hamas claimed to accept offer, but that’s not what they did’As for the ongoing hostage talks, Miller pushed back on the claim made by Hamas on Monday that it had accepted the truce proposal that was on the table.Israel had agreed to what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described as a “generous” hostage deal proposal late last month,” Miller began. “That’s the offer that was on the table.”“Hamas seemed to make clear in their public statements that they accepted that offer yesterday. That is not what they did. They responded with… a counter-proposal, and we’re working through the details of that now,” he said, noting that CIA chief Bill Burns is in Cairo along with delegations from Israel, Hamas and Qatar.This appeared to be the first time that one of the mediators publicly issued a clarification regarding Hamas’s Tuesday statement after roughly 24 hours of failing to address the apparent discrepancy. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson even went as far as to call Hamas’s response “positive.”Earlier Tuesday, Kirby added to the confusion by saying that Hamas’s response “suggests that [the sides] should be able to close the remaining gaps.”Miller noted that most media outlets reported Hamas’s statement that it had accepted the Qatari and Egyptian mediators’ hostage deal proposal at face value.“I don’t blame the reporting. It’s what the [Hamas] statement said. But it’s not an accurate reflection of what happened… Hamas did not accept a ceasefire proposal. Hamas responded and in their response made several suggestions,” he added.For his part, Kirby pushed back on the reported Israeli claims that Burns did not keep Israel in the loop over the weekend, as Qatari and Egyptian mediators appeared to discuss an alternative proposal with Hamas.“We absolutely had sustained ongoing normal interactions, as we have throughout the beginning of this conflict, with our Israeli counterparts as the proposal was working through the process. Nobody was hiding any footballs from anybody, we were being open and transparent.”Arab diplomat: PM allowing political considerations to mar talks-Also Tuesday, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that Israel’s repeated refusal to send a negotiating team to parley with mediators was hampering efforts to secure a hostage deal.The mediators had wanted Israel to dispatch a delegation to Cairo over the weekend when Burns was in town, as they geared up for Hamas’s official response to the latest proposal, the diplomat said. “They refused to send a delegation, and now they’re complaining about being out of the loop.”Following Hamas’s Monday response, Israel did send a lower-level negotiating team to Cairo that arrived Tuesday, though officials in Jerusalem surmised that the terror group’s latest proposal brought the parties back to square one.The Arab diplomat said this past weekend was not the first time that Israel refused to send a negotiating team to meet with mediators in Cairo or Doha, which he said slowed the talks.While Israel has maintained that it only sends negotiators when Hamas is showing genuine interest in reaching a compromise, the Arab diplomat said Jerusalem’s policy has been “politically motivated.”He declined to elaborate, but did not deny when asked if Netanyahu’s refusal to dispatch negotiating teams could be due to pressure from far-right coalition partners who want him to take a tougher stance in the talks.Other war cabinet ministers, including National Unity chairman Benny Gantz and his deputy Gadi Eisenkot, have argued that Israel should always be open hold talks while sticking to its core principles once the negotiating team is in the room.Reuters cited a source familiar with the matter who claimed that Burns would travel to Israel on Wednesday to discuss the hostage talks with Netanyahu and other top officials.

Northern Israel targeted with multiple rockets, drones from Lebanon; none hurt-Sirens activated repeatedly in the Galilee amid ongoing attacks; minor damage reported; air force shoots down drone apparently launched from Iraq-By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff 7 May 2024, 4:34 pm

Northern Israel was targeted multiple times from Lebanon on Tuesday with rockets and “suspicious aerial targets” — believed to be explosive-laden drones launched by Hezbollah — setting off numerous sirens in the Galilee Panhandle.One of the apparent drones was downed by air defenses, another struck an area near Yiftah, causing a fire, and others caused minor damage at unspecified locations, the Israel Defense Forces said. Another two drones struck open areas, according to the military.The IDF said there were no injuries in the attacks.They came after Israel began an incursion into southern Gaza’s Rafah overnight, taking control of the city’s border crossing with Egypt. Hezbollah has been conducting near-daily attacks on Israel since October 8, saying it is doing so to support Gaza as Israel wages war against Hamas there following the terror group’s October 7 devastating assault on southern Israel.On Monday two reserves soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah-claimed explosive-laden drone attack against an army position near Metula in northern Israel.The pair were named as Master Sgt. (res.) Dan Kamkagi, 31, from Kfar Oranim, and Master Sgt. (res) Nahman Natan Hertz, 31, from Elazar. Both served in the 551st Brigade’s 6551st Battalion.The army said it attempted, but failed, to intercept the explosive drone that struck and killed the soldiers. Prior to the deadly drone attack, a barrage of some 30 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Golan Heights, the IDF said.Following the attack, the IDF said fighter jets struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Srebbine, as well as a rocket-launching post in Ayta ash-Shab.The army also said it carried out strikes in southern Lebanon overnight, hitting  a number of Hezbollah positions.Since October, the clashes on the border have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 13 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.Hezbollah has named 290 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 56 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians have been killed.Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, from where some 70,000 people have been evacuated to avoid the fighting.Also Tuesday, evacuated residents expressed anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he reportedly told the cabinet that it would not matter if they only returned home a few months after the September 1 start of the new school year.During the meeting, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz reportedly urged a decision that would allow residents to return to their homes by September 1.“Who said September 1 is the goal date?” Netanyahu was quoted by Channel 12 as answering. “Why do we keep taking about this date, what will happen if they go back a few months later?”After Gantz replied that it meant that residents would miss the opening of the school year, Netanyahu replied: “I’m aware of the school year argument. It can take longer than that.”“Only someone who has never lived in a 27-square-meter room with four children for the past 7 months could be so disconnected,” Matan Davidian from Shlomi told Channel 12.Upper Galilee Regional Council head Giora Zaltz told the channel that he was pushing for residents to return home even without a government okay.Separately, the military said Tuesday morning that Israeli fighter jets had intercepted a drone flying toward Israel from the “eastern direction.”The IDF said the drone was tracked throughout the incident until it was shot down, and it did not enter Israeli airspace.The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed to have launched a drone at Israel overnight, targeting a military base.It marked the second night in a row that a drone apparently launched from Iraq was shot down by the IDF.Amid the war, several drones have been launched at Israel by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria. Iran itself also carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel last month with hundreds of drones and missiles.

Police disband anti-Israel protesters at Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich universities-Demonstrations over the war in Gaza and academic ties with Israel have begun to spread across Europe, but remain much smaller in scale than those seen in the US-By Agencies and ToI Staff 7 May 2024, 8:24 pm

Police on Tuesday broke up anti-Israel demonstrations at universities in Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich, which were inspired by similar demonstrations on campuses around the world.German police cleared an anti-Israel protest camp on Tuesday at a courtyard of the Freie Universität Berlin, which had called for a stop to Israel’s military operation in Gaza.Some 100 people set up two dozen tents on the campus on Tuesday, joining a call by the so-called “Student Coalition Berlin” to occupy German universities.Students from various Berlin universities joined the anti-Israel protest, carrying Palestinian flags and shouting slogans supporting Palestinians and denouncing Israel and Germany.The student group demanded that criminal charges be dropped against students and others who had shown solidarity with Palestinians on campuses, and for the universities to publicly oppose planned reforms to Berlin’s senate that would enable the expulsion of students on political grounds.They also urged banning police from the campus and reinstating academics and staff members of German universities and research institutes who were expelled or defunded because of their anti-Israel stance.Freie Universität Berlin said the protesters tried to enter university rooms and lecture halls aiming to occupy them, and that the university filed criminal complaints and suspended lectures in several buildings.“This kind of protest is not dialogue oriented. An occupation of university property is not acceptable. We welcome academic debate and dialogue – but not in this form,” said Guenter Ziegler, president of Freie Universität Berlin.Anti-Israel student protests over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and academic ties with Israel have begun to spread across Europe, but have remained much smaller in scale than those seen in the United States.The war was sparked by the Hamas terror organization’s October 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 252 were taken hostage, mostly civilians. It is believed that 128 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive. Two hundred and sixty-seven Israeli soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 34,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes some 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.In Germany, more than 25 police vehicles surrounded the camp at Freie Universität Berlin and police said they cleared the area due to a university management request as the protest was not registered.“There were isolated cases of deprivation of liberty for incitement to hatred and trespassing Freie Universität Berlin,” Berlin police wrote in a post on social media platform X, adding that those who would not comply with the orders would be taken by police and later reported.At the University of Amsterdam, images on public broadcaster NOS showed police baton-charging protesters and smashing up tents at around 4 a.m. Tuesday after they refused to leave the campus.“The demonstration took on a violent nature because later in the evening massive stones were removed from the ground,” police said in a statement.Violence briefly erupted on Monday evening when a small group of counter-protesters wielding flares stormed the main protest.Demonstrators blocked off some roads to the university, after which police broke up the protest to enable access by emergency services.Some students hurled stones and fireworks at the officers when they broke up the demonstration, said police, and more than 120 were arrested.On Tuesday morning, police began releasing some of those arrested, but dozens remained in custody.Police also began dispersing anti-Israel protesters at the Swiss university of ETH Zurich on Tuesday, management said, after student demonstrations spread to campuses in several cities.Students set up camp at Lausanne University (UNIL) last week and protests have since spread to at least three more sites in Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne.“ETH Zurich sees itself as a place where different opinions and perspectives can and should be expressed openly. However, unauthorized actions are not accepted at ETH Zurich,” ETH university said, adding that protesters had been repeatedly asked to leave the building before police arrived.Video footage of the protest on social media earlier showed seated protesters with keffiyehs and Palestinian flags chanting “free, free Palestine” and “viva, viva Palestina.”Protests also began at the University of Geneva and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne on Tuesday, according to students’ social media posts.At UNIL, hundreds of students chanted “We are all the children of Gaza” on Monday as a single security agent looked on. Management asked them to move, a UNIL statement showed, but they remained in the building on Tuesday.Some academics have sided with students.“We consider the steps they’ve taken to be peaceful and good natured, aimed at bringing to the public’s attention a dramatic situation,” UNIL political science professor Bernard Voutat said on Monday. “We teachers cannot remain silent.”Police have dispersed protesters at other universities across the world including Columbia University in New York and the Sorbonne in Paris.

Anti-Israel encampment cleared at University of Chicago, but protests continue-Rhode Island School of Design hold talks with protesters occupying a building, while MIT deals with new encampment on site previously cleared of demonstrators-By AP and ToI Staff 7 May 2024, 7:36 pm

Police cleared an anti-Israel tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday as tensions ratcheted up in standoffs with demonstrators at other college campuses around the United States — and increasingly, in Europe.Nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University in New York, the Rhode Island School of Design held talks with anti-Israel protesters occupying a building, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dealt with a new encampment on a site that was cleared but immediately retaken by demonstrators.The confrontations come as campuses try a range of strategies, from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action, to resolve the anti-Israel protests and clear the way for commencements.At the University of Chicago, protesters numbering in the several hundreds had gathered in an area known as the Quad for at least eight days. Campus administrators warned them Friday to leave the area or face removal.Police in riot gear blocked access to the Quad early Tuesday as law enforcement dismantled the encampment. Officers picked up a barricade and moved it toward protesters, some of whom chanted, “Up up with liberation, down down with occupation!” Police and protesters pushed back and forth along the barricade as the officers moved to reestablish control.At MIT, protesters were given a Monday afternoon deadline to voluntarily leave or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens of protesters remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere, listening to speakers and chanting before taking a pizza break.Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire — who state that they are “Jewish MIT students/staff/faculty/alumni in solidarity with Palestine,” and are calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza — said that the group has been at the encampment for two weeks.“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” Ihns said.No arrests had been made as of Monday night, according to the MIT spokesperson.At the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where students started occupying a building Monday, a spokesperson said that the school affirms students’ rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and that it supports all members of its community. The RISD president and provost were on site meeting with the demonstrators, the spokesperson said.Protests proliferate in Europe-The anti-Israel student protests have spread to Europe, where they are gaining momentum. Police arrested about 125 activists Tuesday as they broke up a camp at the University of Amsterdam, and German police dismantled an occupation at Berlin’s Free University. Students have also held protests or set up encampments in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.Many protesters want their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel. Others simply want to call attention to the deaths in Gaza and to end the war that was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 252 were taken hostage, mostly civilians.Anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University, where the protest movement began about three weeks ago, have roiled its campus. Officials on Monday canceled its large main ceremony but said students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere, leading universities to struggle with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest. Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan’s ceremony was interrupted by anti-Israel chanting a few times Saturday.A group of faculty and staff members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for student protesters who were recently arrested and suspended. Harvard University’s interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those in an encampment in Harvard Yard could face “involuntary leave,” meaning they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and might not be able to take exams.At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students. The University of California, Los Angeles moved classes online for the week due to disruptions following the dismantling of an encampment last week that resulted in 44 reported arrests.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 34,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes some 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7, and 267 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border.Hamas on Monday announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari temporary ceasefire proposal, and Israel said that it was pushing ahead with an IDF operation on the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Israel said the truce deal was “far from [its] essential demands,” but nonetheless would continue to send working-level teams to hold talks with the mediators in order “to exhaust the possibility of achieving an agreement on terms that are acceptable to Israel,”The decision to move ahead with the Rafah operation was “in order to apply military pressure on Hamas, with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”“Ceasefires are temporary,” said Selina Al-Shihabi, a Georgetown University sophomore who was taking part in a protest at George Washington. “There can be a ceasefire, but the US government will continue to arm the Israeli military. We plan to be here until the university divests or until they drag us out of here.”

UN set to vote on symbolic measure backing Palestine recognition-General Assembly motion would recommend the Security Council reconsider its position, after the US vetoed recognition there last month-By Reuters and ToI Staff 7 May 2024, 11:28 am

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations General Assembly could vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would recognize the Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member and recommend that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably. ”While unlikely to change the Palestinians’ status at the world body, the vote will effectively act as a global survey of how much support Ramallah has for its bid, which was vetoed in the UN Security Council last month by the United States. An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly.Diplomats say the 193-member General Assembly is likely to back the Palestinian bid. But changes could still be made to the draft after some diplomats raised concerns with the current text, seen by Reuters, that also grants additional rights and privileges — short of full membership — to the Palestinians.Some diplomats say this could set a precedent for other situations, citing Kosovo and Taiwan as examples.Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan denounced the draft General Assembly resolution Monday, saying it would give the Palestinians the de facto status and rights of a state and goes against the founding UN Charter.“If it is approved, I expect the United States to completely stop funding the UN and its institutions, in accordance with American law,” said Erdan, adding that adoption by the General Assembly would not change anything on the ground.Under US law, Washington cannot fund any UN organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have the “internationally recognized attributes” of statehood. The US halted funding in 2011 for the UN cultural agency (UNESCO) after the Palestinians became a full member.Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US mission to the UN, said, “It remains the US view that the path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations.“We are aware of the resolution and reiterate our concerns with any effort to extend certain benefits to entities when there are unresolved questions as to whether the Palestinians currently meet the criteria under the Charter,” he said.The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012.The Palestinian mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its push for action in the General Assembly.The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians say they want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.In April the US prevented the Security Council from recognizing the Palestinians as a full UN member state. Twelve Security Council members voted in favor of granting the Palestinians full UN member status, while just the UK and Switzerland abstained.France, Japan, South Korea and Slovenia all voted in favor of the resolution submitted by Algeria, even though none of them had individually recognized a Palestinian state.A US official speaking to The Times of Israel at the time speculated that those countries voted the way they did even though they don’t practically support the measure because they knew there wouldn’t be any consequences for doing so, given Washington’s pledged veto.In explaining the US opposition to the resolution, US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said there was not unanimity among Security Council members that the Palestinians had met the criteria necessary to be defined as a state.Moreover, he said that the PA needs to undergo significant reforms before it’s recognized as a state. Ramallah has long been marred by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.Patel also pointed to the Congressional legislation that would force the Biden administration to cut funding to the UN if it unilaterally approved the Palestinian request.

In Bnei Brak, Haredim host EU diplomats at an unusual Holocaust memorial-At the ultra-Orthodox Ganzach archive, ultra-Orthodox Jews learn about the Holocaust from a Haredi perspective, both historical and theological-By Sam Sokol-7 May 2024, 11:02 pm

Following the wave of antisemitism that “swept Europe and other parts of the world” in the wake of October 7, Brussels has accelerated efforts to protect Jewish communities across the continent, Dimiter Tzantchev boasted on Tuesday.As more than 20 European diplomats looked on, the European Union envoy to Israel detailed a series of actions taken to combat threats to local Jews, insisting that Europeans were “working more intensely than ever to prevent antisemitism and to educate the young generations about Jewish traditions and the Jewish contributions to Europe.”“The Holocaust is an indelible stain on the history of our continent and we as representatives of the European Union and its member states view it as our sacred duty to make sure the systematic mass murder of the Jewish people is never forgotten,” he asserted.Though it sounded like a standard speech for a Holocaust Remembrance Day event, the location was not: Tzantchev’s remarks were made in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak a full day after the official observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Hebrew as Yom Hashoah.Mingling with the European diplomats listening to Tzantchev were a crowd of Haredi Jews, the women in long skirts and wigs, the men wearing black suits and side-curls. These included Bnei Brak Mayor Chanoch Zeibert and United Torah Judaism MK Uri Maklev — the chairman of Israel’s Holocaust Survivors Commission.While many of those present had previously gone to Israel’s national memorial at Yad Vashem for the official state ceremonies, they had gathered again to attend the unique Holocaust commemoration at Ganzach.Also known as the Kiddush Hashem Archive, Ganzach is an ultra-Orthodox museum focused on both preserving the memory of pre-Holocaust Jewry and highlighting the spiritual bravery of those facing extinction.The Hebrew term Kiddush Hashem refers to actions that “sanctify” the name of God.Following Tzantchev’s remarks, the diplomats were ushered into a smoke-filled circular chamber for a presentation on the “righteous among the nations” who saved their Jewish neighbors.There has not been enough of a focus on Orthodox victims or the spiritual aspect of the Holocaust, the diplomats were told.Addressing the gathered diplomats, Colette Avital, a former Israeli lawmaker and diplomat who currently heads the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, explained that for generations, the European genocide was not a topic of discussion among the ultra-Orthodox.Cantor Yisrael Adler sings El Malei Rachamim at the Ganzach Holocaust museum in Bnei Brak pic.twitter.com/VLB9Ab82Ai— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) May 7, 2024-“Elie Weisel asked how God, who controls everything, could allow this to happen. This is the reason why, I think for many reasons, Haredi Jews evaded the issue,” she said.“The rabbis did not know how to present this, a crisis of faith, to their believers. This is why I think this institution is so important.”Israel’s Haredi community approaches Holocaust remembrance in a very different manner from most Israeli Jews. Rather than observing Yom Hashoah, most Haredim opt to mark the genocide of the Jews on the 10th of Tevet, a minor fast day.Many Haredi youth are barred by their strictly religious schools and communities from visiting Poland as part of March of the Living, a program that brings Jewish high schoolers to Auschwitz-Birkenau on Holocaust Remembrance Day.Tuesday’s commemoration was not held on Holocaust Remembrance Day in order to allow the diplomats to attend, a spokesman told The Times of Israel.Founded 60 years ago by Rabbi Moshe Prager, the Kiddush Hashem Archive was established to fill a void left by Yad Vashem and other mainstream Holocaust memorials, explained Chief Operating Officer Rachel Yud.According to Yud, the archive — which produces educational material, runs activities for students and preserves documentation — is focused on telling the pre-war story of the “beautiful congregations” destroyed in the Holocaust as well as the “Jewish spirit” exhibited by the victims and the lengths to which they went to preserve their religion and culture even when persecuted.“We are less interested in what the Christians did and more in how the Jew behaved,” she said. “That’s what’s important to us. Their hopes and dreams and wishes. Their faith. We are talking about faith and God.”For years, Haredi parents did not mention the Holocaust to their children because “the survivors didn’t want to talk and the second generation didn’t know anything. They didn’t want to face the questions of faith but not only that, they wanted to focus on rebuilding,” she explained.“The past was horrible. But there is a change because of us.”Asked how the Kiddush Hashem Archive handles questions about where God was during the Holocaust, Yud replies that “it is clear to us that God was there, just as He was on October 7.”“It is not clear to us why. We don’t know the considerations of Heaven. But it is clear he was there,” she said. “When we speak about the Holocaust, we discuss the job of man, not God. Where was man during the Holocaust?”In other words, what lessons can be learned from the Holocaust “to help us be better people?”Charlie Summers contributed to this report.

French PM attacks the left for giving Israel ‘moral lessons’ during Gaza war-Gabriel Attal accuses La France Insoumise party and its leader of ‘never having a word for the victims of October 7’By ToI Staff 7 May 2024, 9:03 pm

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attacked France’s left-wing politicians on Monday night for their criticism of Israel amid the war in Gaza.As a guest of honor at at an annual dinner held by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) — an organization that lobbies the government on Jewish issues — Attal said the far-left should be ashamed for encouraging the stark rise in antisemitism in the last seven months because “it takes us back to the dark times when we saw that such actions can lead to a great disaster.”The dinner took place only two days after an Anti-Defamation League report showed that France had experienced the highest rise in antisemitic attacks of any country in 2023, with incidents near quadrupling compared to the previous year.Attal, who is Jewish, began his speech by telling attendees about a document he had framed in his office that was given to his grandmother Jeanine Weil in 1941 when she removed her yellow Jude star at a police station.“This document reminds me of the infamy that our country committed by surrendering and being complicit and guilty of antisemitism because, in that hour, our country turned its back on its history and attacked its own,” he said, adding that it was also a reminder that hate is “an infernal machine” that erases “every trace of humanity.”The document, Attal said, was also a piece of evidence of the horrors of the Holocaust for generations who did not live through it, as survivors die out.“[The Holocaust] was decades ago, but let’s be honest, it could happen again tomorrow,” he said. “We are facing a wave of antisemitism. A wave of rare magnitude that is stronger, more violent and more established than it has been in recent years.”Attal said the new wave of antisemitism began on October 7 with Hamas’s attack on Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 252.Three of the 129 hostages who remain in Gaza — Ohad Yahalomi, Ofer Kalderon and Orion Hernandez Radoux — are French citizens, Attal noted, adding, “We do not forget them and we do not abandon them.”He did not need to invoke the antisemitism of the past to warn about the antisemitism of the present, he said, because “the present is still sufficient on its own.”“How can we say that Israeli society is overreacting” to the horrors committed by Hamas terrorists who “shouted drunkenly with happiness ‘Death to the Jews'” and called their families to boast of their crimes? Attal asked.He then criticized those trying to teach Israel “moral lessons” on the way the country wages its war in Gaza after October 7.“I have found myself ashamed lately,” he said. “I’m ashamed when I hear certain elected representatives from [left-wing party] La France Insoumise speak of a resistance movement” about Hamas.Attal attacked the party and its leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, for “never having a word for the victims of October 7.”He said that France was trying to prevent an escalation of the war in the Middle East, but warned La France Insoumise that “never has peace come through hatred.”France has been particularly active in trying to restore calm between Israel and Hezbollah since October 8, when forces led by the terror group began attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis.It was not only attacks on Israel that were the problem, Attal said, pointing to the massive wave of antisemitism that began in France on October 7. Between then and the end of 2023, Attal said there were more than 1,200 reports of antisemitic attacks, which was three times more than were reported in the whole of 2022. A further 366 attacks were reported between January and March, a 300 percent rise from the same period last year.French Jews make up 1% of the country’s population, Attal continued, but 60% of religious-based attacks are antisemitic and are perpetuated through hate speech, violence and threats.“Each antisemitic attack is a stain on the French flag, so we will not tolerate them and we will never tolerate them,” Attal said, vowing to continue fighting it.Attal said that antisemitism needed to be fought through education and that together with French Education Minister Nicole Belloubet, he had built a curriculum for primary schools to teach tolerance and respect, and that beginning in the next academic year, it will be taught in all primary schools in the country.The French prime minister also mentioned the massive pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests sweeping across universities in the United States, which have also spread to institutions in Europe, including France.“Together with the interior minister, I have systematically requested the intervention of the police to liberate the surroundings of our universities,” he said. “I did so without hesitation everywhere as soon as the protest movements took place, and I am proud that in France, unlike abroad, none of these manifestations of hatred have become points of fixation for days, weeks, and even months.“No one should be able to prevent people from working, studying, and revising, and we will be extremely attentive in making sure all sanctions are taken in the long term.”Attal said that antisemites were trying to disguise their hate as anti-Zionism but that it was “no longer a call for a ceasefire when protesters denied Israel the right to exist.“It is no longer a call for peace when we hold our Jewish fellow citizens responsible for the situation in Gaza,” he added.With the help of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, Attal said France was working hard to fight all forms of antisemitic attacks, both direct and online.He ended by saying that “the soul of the French Republic is incomplete without French Jews.”

Crossing is on Philadelphi Corridor, between Egypt and Gaza-IDF tanks take control of Gazan side of Rafah Crossing to Egypt, key road captured-Official says army launched ‘limited operation’ aimed at pressuring Hamas to accept a deal; army says 20 gunmen killed, 3 tunnels found, explosive-laden car hit as it drove at tank-By Emanuel FabianToday, 12:58 pmUpdated at 1:44 pm-MAY 7,24

Israeli tanks rolled into the southern Gaza Strip early Tuesday, capturing the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing on the Egypt border, in what the military called a “pinpoint operation” against the Hamas terror group.The ground incursion in the eastern part of the city of Rafah came after Jerusalem said a truce offer from Hamas the previous day did not meet its demands, and announced that it had okayed moving ahead with the long-threatened offensive.An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that it was a “limited operation” aimed at pressuring Hamas to accept a deal.It was not the broad Rafah offensive that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly promised Israel would carry out, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with Israel’s plan.The Israel Defense Forces said its 401st Armored Brigade captured the Gazan side of Rafah Crossing on Tuesday morning, apparently with little resistance. Israeli flags were raised by troops at the border crossing, footage showed.The crossing, located some 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Israeli border, was captured amid a “pinpoint operation” against Hamas in “limited areas of eastern Rafah,” the IDF said. It is located along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, separating Egypt and Gaza.As of Tuesday morning, Israel controlled all of the known overground crossings with Gaza.An Egyptian official and Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV said early Tuesday that Israeli officials informed the Egyptians that the troops would withdraw after completing the operation. No timeline was given.The IDF said it had “intelligence information that terrorists were using the crossing area for terror purposes.” On Sunday, rockets were fired by Hamas from near the crossing toward the Kerem Shalom area in southern Israel, killing four soldiers and wounding others.The Rafah crossing with Egypt was now disconnected from Gaza’s main north-south road, Salah a-Din. Part of the road in eastern Rafah was separately captured by the Givati Infantry Brigade in the overnight operation, the IDF said.The IDF said some 20 gunmen were killed and troops located three “significant” tunnel shafts.It remains unclear if Hamas still has tunnels running from the Rafah area into Egypt’s Sinai desert, which it had previously used to smuggle in weapons and supplies.The Egyptian military over the past decade cracked down on the smuggling tunnels and destroyed hundreds of them, saying they were used to funnel weapons to jihadist groups in Sinai.Also amid the overnight offensive, an explosive-laden car driving toward an IDF tank was struck and destroyed, the military said.No soldiers were wounded in the operation as of Tuesday morning.Meanwhile, the IDF said more than 50 Hamas sites in Rafah were struck by the air force overnight. Another 50 sites had been hit in the area late Monday, according to the military.Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes in the east of the city overnight, killing at least 27 people.Israel has carried out airstrikes in Rafah with some regularity in recent months, even as it has held off on sending in troops amid vociferous international opposition to military operations in the city, where over a million Palestinians are thought to be sheltering, most of them displaced from other parts of the Strip.After capturing the crossing, troops on Tuesday were searching the area for Hamas infrastructure and preparing for additional missions.Leaked footage showed Israeli military vehicles driving along the Egypt-Gaza border, also known as the Philadelphi Corridor, in the eastern part of Rafah, near the captured crossing.The clip showed an APC with two massive flags — one Israeli and the other of the 401st Armored Brigade, the unit that captured the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing.The IDF had not captured the entire Philadelphi Corridor, which runs for 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) all along the Gaza-Egypt border, as Netanyahu had vowed Israel would.Israel has contended it must have control over the corridor to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas.Egypt on Tuesday warned that the Israeli operation in Rafah threatened ceasefire efforts, according to the country’s foreign ministry.Also on Tuesday morning, Hamas fired several rockets and mortars from the city at the Kerem Shalom area, the site of Sunday’s deadly attack and just across the border from eastern Rafah. There was no damage or injuries, the IDF said.Before launching the overnight operation, the IDF said it carried out “coordination with the international organizations operating in the area, with a request to move towards the humanitarian area, as part of the effort to evacuate the population that has been taking place.”On Monday morning, Israel issued evacuation orders for some 100,000 Gazans in parts of eastern Rafah, who were told to evacuate to a designated “humanitarian zone” near Khan Younis, north of Rafah.Hours later, Hamas said it had accepted an Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire and hostage release proposal, but Israeli officials said the Hamas terms did not match what Jerusalem had agreed to, though working-level teams would travel to Cairo Tuesday to resume indirect talks.Declaring that Hamas’s latest offer was “far from [meeting] Israel’s essential requirements,” a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the war cabinet had decided unanimously to push ahead with an IDF operation in Rafah “in order to apply military pressure on Hamas, with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”Netanyahu has for months vowed that Israeli troops would carry out an operation to root out the final Hamas strongholds in the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of a hostage release deal. Israeli defense officials say four of Hamas’s six remaining battalions are in the city, along with members of the group’s leadership and a significant number of the hostages abducted from Israel on October 7 during the terror group’s mass onslaught.In a call with Netanyahu earlier Monday, US President Joe Biden reiterated his opposition to a major Israeli military offensive in Rafah, a White House readout said, without elaborating.The US has repeatedly expressed opposition to a Rafah invasion without credible assurances from Israel that the million-plus Palestinians sheltering there would be protected. Israel claims it can safely evacuate and care for those civilians, but Washington has not been convinced.The Biden administration is pushing alternatives to a full Rafah invasion, including the bolstering of the Gaza border with Egypt and more targeted operations against Hamas’s leadership. But Netanyahu has turned a Rafah invasion into an essential, non-negotiable component of a “total victory” over the terror group.The war erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, when thousands of terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and seized 252 hostages amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.In response to the onslaught, Israel launched a wide-scale offensive aiming to eliminate the terror group’s military and governance capabilities in Gaza and free the hostages, 128 of whom remain in captivity.More than 34,700 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to unverifiable figures from Hamas health officials that do not distinguish between gunmen and civilians. Israel says it has killed 13,000 Hamas gunmen in Gaza as well as 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Two hundred and sixty-seven IDF soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza and amid operations on the border.Lazar Berman, agencies, and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

US completes construction of Gaza aid pier, but weather preventing installation-Pentagon says ready ‘in the near future’ to move dock, which IDF troops will anchor to shore so no American boots are on the ground-By AFP, ToI Staff and Jacob Magid-Today, 1:43 am-MAY 8,24

The US military has completed construction of the Gaza aid pier, but weather conditions mean it is currently unsafe to move the two-part facility into place, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.The pier — which the US military started constructing last month and which will cost at least $320 million — is aimed at boosting deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war that was triggered by the terror group’s October 7 attack.“As of today, the construction of the two portions of the JLOTS — the floating pier and the Trident pier — are complete and awaiting final movement offshore,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists, using an acronym for Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore — the official name for the pier capability.“Today there are still forecasted high winds and high sea swells, which are causing unsafe conditions for the JLOTS components to be moved. So the pier sections and military vessels involved in its construction are still positioned at the port of Ashdod,” Singh said.US Central Command “stands by to move the pier into position in the near future,” she added.The vessels and the under-construction pier were moved to the Israeli port due to bad weather last week. Once the weather clears, it will be anchored to the Gaza shore by Israeli soldiers to keep US troops off the ground.Aid will then be transported via commercial vessels to a floating platform off the Gaza coast, where it will be transferred to smaller vessels, brought to the pier that will be anchored to shore, and taken to land by truck for distribution.Plans for the pier were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March as he pressed Israel to ramp up the amount of aid entering Gaza. As part of Israel’s efforts to increase the flow of aid, last week it reopened the Erez Crossing, which was largely destroyed in the October 7 terror onslaught.Meanwhile, the White House said that the closing of Rafah and the other main crossing, Kerem Shalom, was “unacceptable” and needed to be reversed.On Tuesday morning, the IDF took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, saying it did so as part of a “pinpoint operation” aimed at pressuring Hamas and preventing it from using the crossing for terror purposes, which the military said intelligence indicated it had been doing.Israel closed the Kerem Shalom crossing after Hamas fired rockets at it on Sunday, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding others. The US said on Tuesday that it was assured by Israel that Kerem Shalom would be reopened on Wednesday.US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing Tuesday that “no one should think that the completion of this pier and the opening of that route is in any way a replacement for Kerem Shalom and Rafah being open.”“Getting that pier finished is not a sufficient means to close other gates. It’s not a sufficient reason to operate in the south and disrupt the delivery of humanitarian systems, because even when that pier is open, the amount of aid it can deliver a day — somewhere around 100 trucks — in no way can replace what needs to come into Gaza through these other gates.”Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

UN nuclear watchdog chief urges Iran to take ‘concrete’ steps for cooperation-In visit to Iran, IAEA’s Grossi notes ‘slowdown’ in implementation of 2023 deal meant to improve safeguards, monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear program-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 4:14 pm-MAY 7,24

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday called on Iran to adopt “concrete” measures to help bolster cooperation on the country’s nuclear program.At a news conference in the Iranian city of Isfahan, Grossi said he had proposed in talks with Iranian officials that they “focus on the very concrete, very practical and tangible measures that can be implemented in order to accelerate” cooperation.Grossi held discussions with senior Iranian officials including Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. While both men said there would be no immediate new deal struck during the visit, they pointed to a March 2023 joint statement as a path forward for cooperation between the IAEA and Iran.The IAEA director general said the agreement was “still valid” but required that more “substance” be added.That 2023 agreement was reached during Grossi’s last visit to Iran, and outlined basic cooperation measures including on safeguards and monitoring.It also included a pledge by Iran to resolve issues around sites where inspectors have questions about possible undeclared nuclear activity, and to allow the IAEA to “implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.”The IAEA chief said, however, that there had been a “slowdown” in its implementation.Iran has suspended its compliance with caps on nuclear activities set by a landmark 2015 deal with major powers after the United States in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sweeping sanctions.Tensions between Iran and the IAEA have repeatedly flared since the deal fell apart, and EU-mediated efforts have so far failed both to bring Washington back on board and to get Tehran to again comply with the terms of the accord.The agency has in recent months criticized Iran for lack of cooperation on issues including the expansion of its nuclear work, the barring of inspectors and deactivating the agency’s monitoring devices at its nuclear facilities.In February, it said in a confidential report seen by AFP that Iran’s estimated stockpile of enriched uranium had reached 27 times the limit set out in the 2015 accord.Last year, Iran slowed the pace of its uranium enrichment, which was seen as a goodwill gesture while informal talks began with the United States.But Iran then accelerated the production of 60 percent enriched uranium in late 2023, according to the IAEA.Enrichment levels of around 90 percent are required for military use, a short, technical step.Tehran has consistently denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons, insisting that its atomic activities are entirely peaceful, although experts say that there is no civilian application for uranium enriched to that level.Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on Tehran’s nuclear program, issued a fatwa, or religious decree, in the early 2000s banning the development of nuclear weapons because they are contrary to “the spirit of Islam.”While Iran denies ever seeking such a weapon, Israel and the West believe the country had an active nuclear weapons program until at least 2003, and the IAEA found that some aspects of it continued until 2009.Israel and others have accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons despite the ban, and Grossi warned last year that Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to build them.During the conference, Eslami said that talks with Grossi were “constructive,” and agreed that the 2023 agreement was a “good basis for interactions” between Iran and the agency.

Hamas says 33 hostages to be freed in 1st phase of a deal may not all be alive-Terror group said to tell mediators it doesn’t have 33 living people who meet ‘humanitarian’ criteria of initial phase — after Israel agreed to lower previous demand of 40 people-By ToI Staff Today, 1:24 pm-MAY 07,24

Hamas has said some of the 33 hostages it would release under the first phase of a prospective hostage deal with Israel would not necessarily be alive.In an announcement detailing the clauses to which it had agreed Monday in the latest proposal for a deal, the terror group said, “During the first phase, Hamas releases 33 Israeli detainees (alive or corpses).”The New York Times reported Tuesday that the terror group had explicitly told mediators that some of the 33 hostages it would release under the first phase of the prospective deal would not be alive. The Times said it was not clear whether the terror group had informed interlocutors how many of the 33 would be alive.A failure to release 33 living hostages would appear to conflict with Israeli demands.Israel had initially demanded that 40 living hostages of the 132 still in Gaza be released in the first phase of the three-phase plan — all of them in the so-called “humanitarian” category: women, children, elderly and sick people.According to multiple reports, it then agreed to lower that number to 33 after Hamas said it did not hold enough living individuals in the category.However, the claim that even the 33 under discussion are not all alive appears to be a new walk-back by the terror group.On Monday, Hamas said it had accepted Arab mediators’ latest offer for a three-phase deal for a ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap. However, Israel said the terms of the deal had been altered and “softened” from those it approved several days ago, and was unacceptable in its latest form.Hamas officials claimed Monday evening that the deal would yield an end to the war, whereas Israel has said repeatedly that it will not accept an agreement that involves ending the war and that it fully intends to resume its campaign to destroy Hamas once any deal has been carried out.The United States, which alongside Qatar and Egypt has played a mediation role in the talks, said it was studying the Hamas response and would discuss it with Middle East allies.The specifics set out by Hamas on Monday differ to some extent from the reported terms of what the US hailed a week ago as an “extremely generous” Israeli offer.Based on details announced so far by Hamas officials and an official briefed on the talks, the deal that the terrorist group said it had agreed to includes:A first 42-day phase, in which Hamas releases 33 hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of Palestinian security prisoners and a partial Israeli withdrawal from GazaA second 42-day phase, in which Hamas releases all remaining living hostages in exchange for further prisoner releases and an agreement to put in place a “sustainable calm” in Gaza- A third phase in which all remaining hostage bodies are handed over to Israel, and Gaza’s reconstruction begins, alongside an end to the complete blockade of the Strip-Israel has consistently said it will not accept a deal that entails a permanent ceasefire, and that it will resume its military campaign after any truce-for-hostages deal, in order to complete its two declared war goals: freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said that Israel will ensure there can be no future terrorist threat to Israel from Gaza.Netanyahu’s office said late Monday that the Hamas offer was far from meeting Israel’s essential demands, but that Jerusalem would send negotiators to continue talks with the US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators.Reuters contributed to this report.

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.

Severe weather leaves millions at risk as storms sweep across the South-The storms killed three people in Texas, including a police officer and a child, Gov. Greg Abbott said.Volume Muted Icon-Hundreds rescued in Texas after weekend of deadly flooding-May 6, 2024, 11:47 AM EDT / Updated May 6, 2024, 11:15 PM EDT-By Noah Osborne, Kathryn Prociv and The Associated Press

Millions of people in Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, Nebraska and Oklahoma are bracing for dangerous conditions as forecasters warn of possible tornadoes, 80-mph wind gusts, flooding and hail as the extreme weather outbreak rolls into its sixth week.About 18 million people are at risk for severe storms Monday night across the Central Plains in areas like North Texas and South Dakota and eastbound into Illinois.The cities most at risk include Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Wichita, Kansas; Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Wichita Falls, Texas; and Des Moines, Iowa.The severe storm risk extends to 25 million people across the Midwest, the Ohio Valley and the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday.By Monday night, multiple tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service, which located at least some of them in Oklahoma's Garfield and Blaine counties, and in Smithville, Tennessee.Jim Shelton, director of the Blaine County Office of Emergency Management, said no injuries or deaths were reported after a tornado touched down in Okeene. Some outbuildings — garages, sheds and the like — were damaged, and one home was struck by lightning, he said by email.The NWS on Monday night issued a rare tornado emergency statement for the area of Osage, Oklahoma, about 38 miles west of Tulsa. "A large, extremely dangerous and potentially deadly tornado is on the ground," it said.After a week of heavy flooding that included rescue crews pulling hundreds of people to safety, the Southeastern part of Texas is underwater.In recent days, the weather has been problematic in parts of Texas, including the Houston area, where there were more than 500 rescues and evacuations in a matter of days.On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott said severe weather was to blame for at least three deaths in Texas: those of a 5-year-old boy swept away by floodwaters in Johnson County early Sunday; Lt. James "Jimmy" Waller, a Conroe police officer whose home was hit in the April 28 tornado in Trinity County; and a man, not identified, who was also swept away by stormwater in Bosque County in recent days. Details about the latter death were unavailable.Texas toddler found dead after being swept away in flood waters-"It is heart-wrenching to see our fellow Texans being literally inundated with record water fall," Abbott said at a news conference Monday.The child was with his mother and her husband when the vehicle they were in became immobile in swift water, the Johnson County Office of Emergency Management said in a statement. The three searched for dry ground, but the child became separated and was found dead more than two hours after the man and the woman were rescued, the office said.Abbott put the impact of the weather in numbers: Fewer than 7,000 utility customers remained without power after a weekend peak of about 160,000 in the dark, roughly 800 homes have been damaged, 43 locations on state roads remained closed because of high water, and 14 state road locations are shuttered as a result of storm damage."Damage to structures is catastrophic," he said.In Houston, conditions remained hazardous, as police had to use jet skis to pull another man and three dogs out of nearly 8 feet of water. An official told NBC News that recovery will prove taxing with homes and cars flooded by the rain."For these people, it's very difficult. These people might not be back in their homes for a year or two," the official said.Throughout last week, areas northeast of Houston got more than 23 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, areas in northeastern Harris County got 6 to 17 inches in the same period.