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)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
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.
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
72 countries set to attend Paris peace confab-Israel, Palestinians won’t be at summit; France looking to jumpstart negotiations based on two-state solution-By AP and Times of Israel staff January 11, 2017, 7:26 pm
French authorities are expecting 72 countries to attend Sunday’s Middle East peace conference in Paris — but not Israel or the Palestinians.Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said Wednesday both Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been invited to come to France after the conference to be informed of its conclusions.Netanyahu has declined the invitation — saying only direct negotiations will produce a solution.Abbas is expected to visit the French capital at the end of the week on the sidelines of the conference. It was unclear whether he would meet French President Francois Hollande.Participants will include US Secretary of State John Kerry.France wants “to restart the (negotiation) process at a moment when it has been largely abandoned,” Le Foll said.Just weeks after the UN Security Council voted to condemn Israeli settlement building, the talks are meant to underline global support for a two-state peace deal.Washington abstained on the UN vote rather than casting its usual veto, and last month Kerry made a major speech laying out proposed parameters of a two-state solution.Netanyahu insists that outside powers cannot impose a settlement on Israel and the Palestinians and has called for direct talks between the parties.Ties with the outgoing US administration have fallen to a new low after the UN Security Council abstention, but Israel is looking for a more sympathetic hearing from Donald Trump after he takes power on January 20.That leaves Kerry with just over a week if he wants to have a lasting effect on the moribund peace process, and the French conference is one venue for that.
Jerusalem municipality demolishes 13 illegal buildings in Arab neighborhood-Authorities dismantle structures, stables and clear public land in Jabel Mukaber, hometown of truck-ramming terrorist-By Times of Israel staff January 11, 2017, 7:20 pm
The Jerusalem municipality cracked down on illegal construction in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber this week, demolishing over a dozen unauthorized structures.The Arab neighborhood with a population of some 14,00 was home to Fadi al-Qunbar, the terrorist who killed four soldiers and wounded 16 more in a truck-ramming attack on Sunday in Jerusalem.The city council found many buildings were constructed on public land and without planning permits, a statement from the municipality said.On Wednesday, the municipality’s policing and inspection department demolished eight illegal temporary structures and cleared five dunam of land designated for building schools.The structures had been used for a building supply business.On Tuesday, the council cleared one-and-a-half dunam at Qunbar junction, near the home of the terrorist’s family, knocking down five temporary buildings that had been used as stables. The area is zoned as a public area and was reserved for a new road. The animals were taken to the city’s veterinarian.Additionally, city planning supervisors mapped out the neighborhood, noting illegal construction and identifying and registering the homeowners.The municipality said the enforcement was designed to tackle serious building offenses, which it said contravened the law and safety requirements, compromised public areas and hurt the neighborhood.The city also started enforcing payment of the property and water taxes for residents of the neighborhood.Also on Wednesday, Arab citizens of Israel went on strike in protest of Tuesday’s demolition of 11 illegal structures in Qalansawe, an Arab town in the Triangle region of central Israel.On Tuesday, the Joint (Arab) List faction, which also supported the general strike, harshly condemned the demolitions, calling them “an unprecedented crime and a declaration of war against the residents of Qalansawe and the Arab public.”
New charges for NGO official accused of aiding Hamas-Gaza director of Christian World Vision charity now also accused of ‘aiding and abetting’ and ‘passing information to the enemy’-By AFP January 11, 2017, 7:18 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel on Wednesday announced new charges against the Gaza head of a major US-based NGO accused of diverting millions of dollars in aid to Hamas.Mohammed al-Halabi, the Gaza director of Christian humanitarian charity World Vision, is alleged to have funneled aid money to the terror group that runs the Gaza Strip.He is due in court again in the southern city of Beersheba on Thursday.On Wednesday an updated charge sheet was published with two additional charges, including “aiding and abetting the enemy in a time of war” and “passing information to the enemy.”A foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the additional charges.Halabi is expected to plead not guilty on Thursday after negotiations over a plea deal collapsed, a source close to the case said.His legal team said Wednesday they still have not had access to much of the evidence against their client.On January 4 a United Nations worker from Gaza was sentenced to seven months in jail for aiding Hamas “without intention.”
PA: We’ll defend Jerusalem truck attacker’s family in international court-Palestinian foreign ministry says plan to revoke Israeli IDs of terrorist’s relatives is part of ‘schemes to create a demographic Jewish majority in the holy city’-By Dov Lieber January 11, 2017, 5:34 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it would defend the family members of a Palestinian man who killed four soldiers in a terror attack on Sunday and take the matter to the International Court of Justice, after Israel announced plans to revoke the residency status of the truck attacker’s relatives.Interior Minister Aryeh Deri decided Monday evening to strip the residency status from the mother and 11 other relatives of Fadi al-Qunbar, a resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, who plowed a truck into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem on Sunday.The twelve relatives of Qunbar were summoned to the Interior Ministry Tuesday to begin the process of revoking their Israeli residency. On Monday, the family also received a demolition order for their home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood.The PA foreign ministry called the Israeli measures a “form of collective punishment against our Palestinian people,” and said it has raised the issue with other governments, the relevant United Nations agencies and international forums.If Israel goes ahead with the punitive measures, the Palestinian Authority said it would bring the case to the ICJ.“What [Israel] is doing is considered a crime and a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law, and part and parcel of Israel’s repressive measures against our people, particularly residents of Jerusalem, in order to terrorize them and make life difficult for them so that they leave the city in a step that would serve the occupier’s schemes to create a demographic Jewish majority in the holy city,” the ministry said in a statement.Like Qunbar’s family, the vast majority of Arab East Jerusalemites are not Israeli citizens but rather have permanent resident status, which can by revoked by the interior minister at his discretion.Those who have their residency statuses revoked will no longer be able to live in Israel, and will lose their access to social security and government healthcare.However, there is no precedent for revoking the residency status of family members of Palestinian attackers.Speaking to The Times of Israel on Tuesday, one Qunbar family member said: “If I beat my son, the police would arrest me, right? But why should I be punished if my son does something, when he is over 18? What’s the point? Why are you punishing the family? We didn’t do anything and we didn’t know anything.”So far, no Qunbar family member has admitted knowing of the attack in advance.On Sunday, shortly after the deadly attack, when asked by a reporter for the Quds News Network what she thought of the attack, Qunbar’s sister responded, “God chose him for this martyrdom. Thank God. We are patient and we thank God for this… It is the most beautiful martyrdom.Deri made the decision to revoke the family members’ residency after consulting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials from the Shin Bet domestic security agency, and officials from the Population and Immigration Authority.“We must fight with all our strength and by any deterrent means in order to prevent the next terror attack,” Deri said. “From now on terrorists considering an attack will know that their families will pay a price for their actions.”The Shas party leader and interior minister told Army Radio in an interview Tuesday that Qunbar, “an Israeli resident with an Israeli ID card, got into the truck and saw soldiers and decided to run them over and imitate what happened in Berlin and Nice — this is a phenomenon that we need to deal with.”Qunbar was shot dead at the scene of the attack, in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of the capital.A composite image of the four Israeli soldiers killed on January 8, 2017 in a truck-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem. From left, IDF Lieutenant Yael Yekutiel, IDF Cadet Shir Hajaj, IDF Cadet Shira Tzur, IDF Cadet Erez Orbach. (Handout photos IDF Spokesperson) Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Qatar negotiating prisoner swap between Hamas, Israel-Source says Jerusalem offered to free prisoners rearrested after Shalit deal, if they went to Gulf country; Hamas rejected proposal-By Avi Issacharoff and Dov Lieber January 11, 2017, 4:37 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A senior Hamas official confirmed Wednesday to The Times of Israel that Qatar and Egypt are involved in mediating between his organization and Israel, but stressed that Hamas will not even begin to talk about releasing Israeli civilians it has detained along with the remains of two IDF soldiers unless Israel first releases dozens of Palestinians it is holding.Hamas is believed to be detaining Avraham Mengistu and Juma Ibrahim Abu Anima, two Israeli men who crossed into Gaza of their own accord, as well as a third, unnamed Israeli civilian whose presence in Gaza is unconfirmed. The Islamist terror group also holds the bodies of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who the army says were killed in the 2014 Gaza war.A senior Hamas official, who requested to remain anonymous, told The Times of Israel that the organization’s position was clear.“We are demanding the release of 58 prisoners from the Shalit deal who were arrested after the kidnapping of the three teenagers before we will even talk about a deal for the return of the bodies [of missing soldiers] and those missing people,” he said, referring to the 2014 abduction and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank by a Hamas cell. In the days following the abduction, as large numbers of IDF soldiers combed the Hebron area in the hope of finding the teenagers, hundreds of members of Hamas were arrested, among them some of the 1,027 Palestinian prisoners who had been set free in 2011 in exchange for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped and held captive for five years in the Gaza Strip.The Arab-Israeli news site Kul al-Arab was the first to report on the talks Wednesday, citing a “reliable” source in Hamas. According to the Kul al-Arab report, Israel was willing to release 60 prisoners as long as they would agree to be expelled to Qatar. Hamas reportedly refused the Israeli offer.The senior Hamas source who spoke to The Times of Israel said Jerusalem had shown willingness to talk about the release of 58 prisoners as part of a broader deal that would see the return of the two missing Israelis and the soldiers’ bodies. However, Hamas is insisting the prisoners be released even before negotiations begin in earnest.“We will not enter into any discussion about expulsions or no expulsions, because it is unacceptable for Israel to continue to hold in prison people who were released under an earlier deal,” the Hamas official said. “These people have been under arrest for more than two and a half years without having committed crimes or attacks. No one can guarantee that Israel won’t rearrest them again [after they are released].”The official confirmed that there are mediators on the matter between Israel and Hamas, but stressed that so far there has been no breakthrough.He also confirmed that Qatar, Egypt, and others are involved in the mediation. The Hebrew-language Walla website reported in the past that Qatari envoy Muhammad al-Amadi has mediated between the sides on the possibility of a long-term ceasefire and also concerning the missing Israelis and the soldiers’ bodies.Responding to Wednesday’s reports, Hamas official Salah Bardawil denied there was any mediation between Israel and Hamas through Qatar, or any other country, in comments to the Gaza-based Safa News.The report of Qatari mediation follows a report from last week that Egypt, too, has been involved in mediating a deal between Israel and Hamas.According to a report in the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk discussed a prisoner swap with Egyptian officials in December.Abu Marzouk hailed the Egyptian mediation, but preconditioned negotiations on Jerusalem freeing the 60 Hamas members released in the Shalit deal but since rearrested.That represented a significant change in the demands of Hamas, which has for over a year consistently demanded Israel release hundreds of the so-called “Shalit prisoners.”In a renewed effort to pressure Hamas into returning the Israeli civilians and the remains of the two soldiers, the high-level security cabinet ruled last Sunday that Hamas terrorists killed while carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians or security forces would be buried quietly, instead of being returned to their families.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP that the decision would “not give positive results,” without elaborating on the possible consequences.The move by the security cabinet followed the release a day earlier by the Palestinian group of video footage showing a mock birthday party for Shaul, one of the two soldiers whose remains are in Gaza.Marrisa Newman contributed to this report.
IDF arrests former senior PA official in early-morning raid-At least 25 other Palestinians suspected of low-level attacks arrested in overnight operations, army says-By Judah Ari Gross January 11, 2017, 1:03 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israeli troops arrested a former senior Palestinian Authority official in his home in Nablus early on Wednesday morning, according to Arab media reports.In addition, 11 suspects were picked up in the Palestinian village of Tekoa for allegedly throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs, the army said.At least 14 other Palestinian suspects were arrested overnight throughout the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.In 2012, Dweikat was named the PA’s governor of the Jenin-Tulkarem region by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Before that, he held a rank comparable to a general in the PA security forces.In Tekoa — not to be confused with the nearby Jewish settlement of the same name — IDF troops, along with officers from the Shin Bet and Border Police, were operating as part of a crackdown on so-called “popular terrorism,” a catch-all term that typically refers to throwing rocks and firebombs at cars and taking part in violent protests against security forces.In a separate incident on Tuesday night, the IDF arrested a group of Palestinian youths who the army said had been throwing rocks at passing cars near al-Khader, southwest of Bethlehem.Surveillance footage, released by the IDF on Wednesday, shows a group of people standing near a road. The video then cuts to an army jeep pulling up to the area, and two of the people can be seen running away before IDF soldiers capture and arrest them.According to the army, the alleged rock throwers were spotted by a soldier monitoring the surveillance cameras, who then called in the troops who made the arrest.“Forces from the [Etzion Regional] Brigade are working day and night in order to preserve the security of the area and they will continue to thwart terrorism in the brigade’s region,” the army said in a statement.According to police, one of the suspects picked up overnight, a 31-year-old from Qatane in the central West Bank, was arrested after a search of his home uncovered a trove of apparently stolen goods, including jewelry, military uniforms, guns and electronics.Police told anyone who recognizes their property in the photos below to contact the Shafat police station in Jerusalem.In the northern West Bank, troops arrested four suspects in Nur Shams, one in Balata, one in Bayt Amin and one in A-Zawiya.In the central West Bank, two people were picked up in Ein Umm esh Sharayit and one was arrested in Bayt Rima.And one person was arrested in the village of Dura, outside Hebron, in the southern West Bank, the army said.According to defense officials, the West Bank has seen a sharp rise in the number of violent attacks, primarily rock-throwing incidents, over the past three weeks.The officials said the increase is mostly due to exam season in Palestinian high schools, but they were examining the possibility that it was tied to a December 23 anti-settlement resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council.In September, 346 rock-throwing attacks were recorded, in October 375, in November 420, and in December 344. Most of the December attacks occurred in the final week of the month. In the first week of January there were 169 recorded attacks, a pace that would lead to almost 700 attacks by the end of the month.The rock attacks were also linked to a series of anniversaries taking place around now, including that of Fatah’s founding and first terrorist attack on January 1, 1965, and of the assassination of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas’s chief bomb maker, on January 5, 1996.Avi Issacharoff contributed to this report.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
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.
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
72 countries set to attend Paris peace confab-Israel, Palestinians won’t be at summit; France looking to jumpstart negotiations based on two-state solution-By AP and Times of Israel staff January 11, 2017, 7:26 pm
French authorities are expecting 72 countries to attend Sunday’s Middle East peace conference in Paris — but not Israel or the Palestinians.Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said Wednesday both Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been invited to come to France after the conference to be informed of its conclusions.Netanyahu has declined the invitation — saying only direct negotiations will produce a solution.Abbas is expected to visit the French capital at the end of the week on the sidelines of the conference. It was unclear whether he would meet French President Francois Hollande.Participants will include US Secretary of State John Kerry.France wants “to restart the (negotiation) process at a moment when it has been largely abandoned,” Le Foll said.Just weeks after the UN Security Council voted to condemn Israeli settlement building, the talks are meant to underline global support for a two-state peace deal.Washington abstained on the UN vote rather than casting its usual veto, and last month Kerry made a major speech laying out proposed parameters of a two-state solution.Netanyahu insists that outside powers cannot impose a settlement on Israel and the Palestinians and has called for direct talks between the parties.Ties with the outgoing US administration have fallen to a new low after the UN Security Council abstention, but Israel is looking for a more sympathetic hearing from Donald Trump after he takes power on January 20.That leaves Kerry with just over a week if he wants to have a lasting effect on the moribund peace process, and the French conference is one venue for that.
Jerusalem municipality demolishes 13 illegal buildings in Arab neighborhood-Authorities dismantle structures, stables and clear public land in Jabel Mukaber, hometown of truck-ramming terrorist-By Times of Israel staff January 11, 2017, 7:20 pm
The Jerusalem municipality cracked down on illegal construction in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber this week, demolishing over a dozen unauthorized structures.The Arab neighborhood with a population of some 14,00 was home to Fadi al-Qunbar, the terrorist who killed four soldiers and wounded 16 more in a truck-ramming attack on Sunday in Jerusalem.The city council found many buildings were constructed on public land and without planning permits, a statement from the municipality said.On Wednesday, the municipality’s policing and inspection department demolished eight illegal temporary structures and cleared five dunam of land designated for building schools.The structures had been used for a building supply business.On Tuesday, the council cleared one-and-a-half dunam at Qunbar junction, near the home of the terrorist’s family, knocking down five temporary buildings that had been used as stables. The area is zoned as a public area and was reserved for a new road. The animals were taken to the city’s veterinarian.Additionally, city planning supervisors mapped out the neighborhood, noting illegal construction and identifying and registering the homeowners.The municipality said the enforcement was designed to tackle serious building offenses, which it said contravened the law and safety requirements, compromised public areas and hurt the neighborhood.The city also started enforcing payment of the property and water taxes for residents of the neighborhood.Also on Wednesday, Arab citizens of Israel went on strike in protest of Tuesday’s demolition of 11 illegal structures in Qalansawe, an Arab town in the Triangle region of central Israel.On Tuesday, the Joint (Arab) List faction, which also supported the general strike, harshly condemned the demolitions, calling them “an unprecedented crime and a declaration of war against the residents of Qalansawe and the Arab public.”
New charges for NGO official accused of aiding Hamas-Gaza director of Christian World Vision charity now also accused of ‘aiding and abetting’ and ‘passing information to the enemy’-By AFP January 11, 2017, 7:18 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel on Wednesday announced new charges against the Gaza head of a major US-based NGO accused of diverting millions of dollars in aid to Hamas.Mohammed al-Halabi, the Gaza director of Christian humanitarian charity World Vision, is alleged to have funneled aid money to the terror group that runs the Gaza Strip.He is due in court again in the southern city of Beersheba on Thursday.On Wednesday an updated charge sheet was published with two additional charges, including “aiding and abetting the enemy in a time of war” and “passing information to the enemy.”A foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the additional charges.Halabi is expected to plead not guilty on Thursday after negotiations over a plea deal collapsed, a source close to the case said.His legal team said Wednesday they still have not had access to much of the evidence against their client.On January 4 a United Nations worker from Gaza was sentenced to seven months in jail for aiding Hamas “without intention.”
PA: We’ll defend Jerusalem truck attacker’s family in international court-Palestinian foreign ministry says plan to revoke Israeli IDs of terrorist’s relatives is part of ‘schemes to create a demographic Jewish majority in the holy city’-By Dov Lieber January 11, 2017, 5:34 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it would defend the family members of a Palestinian man who killed four soldiers in a terror attack on Sunday and take the matter to the International Court of Justice, after Israel announced plans to revoke the residency status of the truck attacker’s relatives.Interior Minister Aryeh Deri decided Monday evening to strip the residency status from the mother and 11 other relatives of Fadi al-Qunbar, a resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, who plowed a truck into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem on Sunday.The twelve relatives of Qunbar were summoned to the Interior Ministry Tuesday to begin the process of revoking their Israeli residency. On Monday, the family also received a demolition order for their home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood.The PA foreign ministry called the Israeli measures a “form of collective punishment against our Palestinian people,” and said it has raised the issue with other governments, the relevant United Nations agencies and international forums.If Israel goes ahead with the punitive measures, the Palestinian Authority said it would bring the case to the ICJ.“What [Israel] is doing is considered a crime and a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law, and part and parcel of Israel’s repressive measures against our people, particularly residents of Jerusalem, in order to terrorize them and make life difficult for them so that they leave the city in a step that would serve the occupier’s schemes to create a demographic Jewish majority in the holy city,” the ministry said in a statement.Like Qunbar’s family, the vast majority of Arab East Jerusalemites are not Israeli citizens but rather have permanent resident status, which can by revoked by the interior minister at his discretion.Those who have their residency statuses revoked will no longer be able to live in Israel, and will lose their access to social security and government healthcare.However, there is no precedent for revoking the residency status of family members of Palestinian attackers.Speaking to The Times of Israel on Tuesday, one Qunbar family member said: “If I beat my son, the police would arrest me, right? But why should I be punished if my son does something, when he is over 18? What’s the point? Why are you punishing the family? We didn’t do anything and we didn’t know anything.”So far, no Qunbar family member has admitted knowing of the attack in advance.On Sunday, shortly after the deadly attack, when asked by a reporter for the Quds News Network what she thought of the attack, Qunbar’s sister responded, “God chose him for this martyrdom. Thank God. We are patient and we thank God for this… It is the most beautiful martyrdom.Deri made the decision to revoke the family members’ residency after consulting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials from the Shin Bet domestic security agency, and officials from the Population and Immigration Authority.“We must fight with all our strength and by any deterrent means in order to prevent the next terror attack,” Deri said. “From now on terrorists considering an attack will know that their families will pay a price for their actions.”The Shas party leader and interior minister told Army Radio in an interview Tuesday that Qunbar, “an Israeli resident with an Israeli ID card, got into the truck and saw soldiers and decided to run them over and imitate what happened in Berlin and Nice — this is a phenomenon that we need to deal with.”Qunbar was shot dead at the scene of the attack, in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of the capital.A composite image of the four Israeli soldiers killed on January 8, 2017 in a truck-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem. From left, IDF Lieutenant Yael Yekutiel, IDF Cadet Shir Hajaj, IDF Cadet Shira Tzur, IDF Cadet Erez Orbach. (Handout photos IDF Spokesperson) Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Qatar negotiating prisoner swap between Hamas, Israel-Source says Jerusalem offered to free prisoners rearrested after Shalit deal, if they went to Gulf country; Hamas rejected proposal-By Avi Issacharoff and Dov Lieber January 11, 2017, 4:37 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A senior Hamas official confirmed Wednesday to The Times of Israel that Qatar and Egypt are involved in mediating between his organization and Israel, but stressed that Hamas will not even begin to talk about releasing Israeli civilians it has detained along with the remains of two IDF soldiers unless Israel first releases dozens of Palestinians it is holding.Hamas is believed to be detaining Avraham Mengistu and Juma Ibrahim Abu Anima, two Israeli men who crossed into Gaza of their own accord, as well as a third, unnamed Israeli civilian whose presence in Gaza is unconfirmed. The Islamist terror group also holds the bodies of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who the army says were killed in the 2014 Gaza war.A senior Hamas official, who requested to remain anonymous, told The Times of Israel that the organization’s position was clear.“We are demanding the release of 58 prisoners from the Shalit deal who were arrested after the kidnapping of the three teenagers before we will even talk about a deal for the return of the bodies [of missing soldiers] and those missing people,” he said, referring to the 2014 abduction and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank by a Hamas cell. In the days following the abduction, as large numbers of IDF soldiers combed the Hebron area in the hope of finding the teenagers, hundreds of members of Hamas were arrested, among them some of the 1,027 Palestinian prisoners who had been set free in 2011 in exchange for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped and held captive for five years in the Gaza Strip.The Arab-Israeli news site Kul al-Arab was the first to report on the talks Wednesday, citing a “reliable” source in Hamas. According to the Kul al-Arab report, Israel was willing to release 60 prisoners as long as they would agree to be expelled to Qatar. Hamas reportedly refused the Israeli offer.The senior Hamas source who spoke to The Times of Israel said Jerusalem had shown willingness to talk about the release of 58 prisoners as part of a broader deal that would see the return of the two missing Israelis and the soldiers’ bodies. However, Hamas is insisting the prisoners be released even before negotiations begin in earnest.“We will not enter into any discussion about expulsions or no expulsions, because it is unacceptable for Israel to continue to hold in prison people who were released under an earlier deal,” the Hamas official said. “These people have been under arrest for more than two and a half years without having committed crimes or attacks. No one can guarantee that Israel won’t rearrest them again [after they are released].”The official confirmed that there are mediators on the matter between Israel and Hamas, but stressed that so far there has been no breakthrough.He also confirmed that Qatar, Egypt, and others are involved in the mediation. The Hebrew-language Walla website reported in the past that Qatari envoy Muhammad al-Amadi has mediated between the sides on the possibility of a long-term ceasefire and also concerning the missing Israelis and the soldiers’ bodies.Responding to Wednesday’s reports, Hamas official Salah Bardawil denied there was any mediation between Israel and Hamas through Qatar, or any other country, in comments to the Gaza-based Safa News.The report of Qatari mediation follows a report from last week that Egypt, too, has been involved in mediating a deal between Israel and Hamas.According to a report in the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk discussed a prisoner swap with Egyptian officials in December.Abu Marzouk hailed the Egyptian mediation, but preconditioned negotiations on Jerusalem freeing the 60 Hamas members released in the Shalit deal but since rearrested.That represented a significant change in the demands of Hamas, which has for over a year consistently demanded Israel release hundreds of the so-called “Shalit prisoners.”In a renewed effort to pressure Hamas into returning the Israeli civilians and the remains of the two soldiers, the high-level security cabinet ruled last Sunday that Hamas terrorists killed while carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians or security forces would be buried quietly, instead of being returned to their families.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP that the decision would “not give positive results,” without elaborating on the possible consequences.The move by the security cabinet followed the release a day earlier by the Palestinian group of video footage showing a mock birthday party for Shaul, one of the two soldiers whose remains are in Gaza.Marrisa Newman contributed to this report.
IDF arrests former senior PA official in early-morning raid-At least 25 other Palestinians suspected of low-level attacks arrested in overnight operations, army says-By Judah Ari Gross January 11, 2017, 1:03 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israeli troops arrested a former senior Palestinian Authority official in his home in Nablus early on Wednesday morning, according to Arab media reports.In addition, 11 suspects were picked up in the Palestinian village of Tekoa for allegedly throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs, the army said.At least 14 other Palestinian suspects were arrested overnight throughout the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.In 2012, Dweikat was named the PA’s governor of the Jenin-Tulkarem region by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Before that, he held a rank comparable to a general in the PA security forces.In Tekoa — not to be confused with the nearby Jewish settlement of the same name — IDF troops, along with officers from the Shin Bet and Border Police, were operating as part of a crackdown on so-called “popular terrorism,” a catch-all term that typically refers to throwing rocks and firebombs at cars and taking part in violent protests against security forces.In a separate incident on Tuesday night, the IDF arrested a group of Palestinian youths who the army said had been throwing rocks at passing cars near al-Khader, southwest of Bethlehem.Surveillance footage, released by the IDF on Wednesday, shows a group of people standing near a road. The video then cuts to an army jeep pulling up to the area, and two of the people can be seen running away before IDF soldiers capture and arrest them.According to the army, the alleged rock throwers were spotted by a soldier monitoring the surveillance cameras, who then called in the troops who made the arrest.“Forces from the [Etzion Regional] Brigade are working day and night in order to preserve the security of the area and they will continue to thwart terrorism in the brigade’s region,” the army said in a statement.According to police, one of the suspects picked up overnight, a 31-year-old from Qatane in the central West Bank, was arrested after a search of his home uncovered a trove of apparently stolen goods, including jewelry, military uniforms, guns and electronics.Police told anyone who recognizes their property in the photos below to contact the Shafat police station in Jerusalem.In the northern West Bank, troops arrested four suspects in Nur Shams, one in Balata, one in Bayt Amin and one in A-Zawiya.In the central West Bank, two people were picked up in Ein Umm esh Sharayit and one was arrested in Bayt Rima.And one person was arrested in the village of Dura, outside Hebron, in the southern West Bank, the army said.According to defense officials, the West Bank has seen a sharp rise in the number of violent attacks, primarily rock-throwing incidents, over the past three weeks.The officials said the increase is mostly due to exam season in Palestinian high schools, but they were examining the possibility that it was tied to a December 23 anti-settlement resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council.In September, 346 rock-throwing attacks were recorded, in October 375, in November 420, and in December 344. Most of the December attacks occurred in the final week of the month. In the first week of January there were 169 recorded attacks, a pace that would lead to almost 700 attacks by the end of the month.The rock attacks were also linked to a series of anniversaries taking place around now, including that of Fatah’s founding and first terrorist attack on January 1, 1965, and of the assassination of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas’s chief bomb maker, on January 5, 1996.Avi Issacharoff contributed to this report.
