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)
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN
REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
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) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
THE COVID-19 TOTALS.
WORLD OVER ALL CASES 164,971,576 DEAD 3,419,484 AS OF WED MAY 19,21
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.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)
IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)
ISAIAH 34:10
10 It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)
COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AM
EZEKIEL 39:11-22
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
France circulates draft UN Security Council resolution urging Gaza ceasefire-Elysee Palace says core text stresses end to shooting and involvement of United Nation’s top-level forum; resolution would require formal US veto if Washington opposes-By Jacob Magid-MAY9,21-Today, 9:08 am
NEW YORK — The French mission to the United Nations circulated a draft resolution to members of the Security Council on Tuesday that calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza terror groups, as countries on the top UN body continued their efforts to weigh in on the ongoing violence despite US objections.French President Emmanuel Macron’s office publicly announced the matter following a trilateral meeting with Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is currently visiting Paris, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who joined via video conference.“The three countries agreed on three simple elements: The shooting must stop, the time has come for a ceasefire and the UN Security Council must take up the issue,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement.In addition to demanding an immediate end to the violence, the core of the resolution’s text stresses the urgent need for humanitarian assistance to Gaza, a Security Council diplomat told The Times of Israel.Axios reported that the French move surprised the US mission, which has three times in the past week blocked joint statements with similar messaging, insisting that such measures would not help advance a ceasefire and that it wanted time for its own efforts to play out.A Security Council resolution carries more weight than a joint statement, and blocking one backed by every other member would require the US to issue a veto — something it likely wants to avoid as Biden has vowed to take a more multilateral approach to diplomacy and improve ties with longtime allies that were damaged by his predecessor Donald Trump.French President Emanuel Macron, left, welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi before attending a video conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah II to work on a concrete proposal for a ceasefire and a possible path to discussions between Israel and the Gaza Strip terror groups, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 18, 2021. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)-While Biden “expressed his support for a ceasefire” during a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a source familiar with the matter said no deadline was demanded from the Israeli premier for when IDF operations in Gaza must conclude. However, the president did warn that he would not be able to hold off pressure from within his party and in the international community for an immediate ceasefire for much longer and urged Netanyahu to bring the fighting to a close.The French resolution includes rhetoric and messaging similar to what has been heard from Biden on the matter in recent days in an effort to make it more difficult for the US to explain why it won’t back the measure, the Security Council diplomat said.The original draft of the statement does not make mention of Hamas rocket fire but the diplomat said such amendments could be added by other members in the coming days.“The strategy is to convince all parties, so the text should be very focused and acceptable to everyone,” the diplomat said, adding that a date for when the resolution will be brought before the Security Council has not yet been set. “We will try to move as soon as possible,” the diplomat said.“The issue is concerning for everyone, and members cannot be silent on the issue,” the diplomat said, noting that Biden himself has backed a ceasefire and that the US should therefore be comfortable getting behind the measure.Israel has opposed such efforts, and its Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Sunday urged members to “unequivocally condemn Hamas,” rather than call on both sides to exercise restraint. The Israeli mission asked the US to oppose the joint statements introduced over the past week.Macron had on Monday underlined the importance of Egyptian mediation after talks in Paris with Sissi.China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said that during a closed-door meeting, members “heard the proposal made by our French colleague in the Council and for China, definitely, we are supportive to all effort facilitating the ending of the crisis and the coming back of peace in the Middle East.”The UN Security Council had held an emergency meeting earlier Tuesday on the situation in Gaza that ended without any result, four diplomats involved told The Times of Israel.The closed-door session was the fourth in nine days held by the top UN body and came a day after the US blocked a joint statement calling for a ceasefire for the third consecutive time.While the Norwegian, Chinese and Tunisian missions that initiated Tuesday’s meeting did so to increase international pressure for a ceasefire, two Security Council diplomats told The Times of Israel they weren’t really sure why another consultation was held, given that member states knew the US position had not moved in the previous 24 hours.Norway’s UN mission has continued to call for the council to “speak with one voice” on the escalation in Gaza, but with the US insistent on pursuing its own avenues in order to bring about a ceasefire, the top UN body has been placed in a “wait and see mode” for the time being, one diplomat said.On Thursday, the UN General Assembly will be meeting for the first time on the same topic and a majority of countries are expected to voice solidarity with the Palestinians, call for a ceasefire and criticize Israel. There is not yet an expectation that the meeting will include an effort to pass a resolution on the matter, diplomats said.Palestinian terror groups have fired thousands of rockets at Israel since last Monday, drawing heavy retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, have been killed in the rocket fire from Gaza, and hundreds have been injured.According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, at least 212 Palestinians have been killed so far in the nine days of the conflict, including more than 60 children. It was not immediately clear if this ministry tally included all of those killed or if there were Hamas operatives not included in the count. According to the IDF, more than 120 of those killed were members of Hamas and over 25 were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as of Monday night.Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF drops 122 bombs on 40 targets, in further attempt to destroy Hamas tunnels-Rockets from Gaza renew after 4-hour lull * Military confirms it tried, failed to kill Muhammad Deif; sources in terror group deny, say it’s ‘psychological warfare’ 6:47 am-After lull, rocket alarms sound in communities near Gaza-6:26 am-IDF bombs PIJ weapons manufacturing site in central Gaza-6:23 am-Fire in Petah Tikva building, with several people said trapped-5:54 am-IDF destroys tunnels used to kill, snatch body of soldier Hadar Goldin in 2014 -- report-By Michael Bachner Today, 7:53 am-MAY 19,21
6:47 am-After lull, rocket alarms sound in communities near Gaza-Rocket sirens are heard in Gaza-adjacent communities after a lull of several hours.There are no immediate reports of impacts or casualties.9:26 am-IDF bombs PIJ weapons manufacturing site in central Gaza-After a series of nighttime strikes in Gaza, the IDF says is conducted another air raid a short while ago that targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad weapons manufacturing site.The military says the bombed site is in Deir el-Balah in the central Strip.9:23 am-Fire in Petah Tikva building, with several people said trapped-A blaze is raging at a residential building in Petah Tikva, with authorities aware of several people trapped in apartments.Five fire and rescue teams are operating at the scene.There are no known casualties.8:54 am-IDF destroys tunnels used to kill, snatch body of soldier Hadar Goldin in 2014 — report-According to the Walla news site, among the Hamas tunnels destroyed last night by the IDF is the specific infrastructure through which the terror group attacked, killed and kidnapped the body of soldier Hadar Goldin during the 2014 fighting.Goldin’s body is still believed to be held in Gaza for the purpose of a prisoner exchange.8:33 am-Hamas sources say IDF claim of attempted hit on Deif is ‘psychological warfare’Sources in Hamas’s military wing deny Israel’s claim that terror chief Muhammad Deif was last week twice the target of of an IDF assassination attempt.Gazan journalist Ibrahim al-Madhoun, who is said to be close to Hamas military leaders, cites the sources as saying Deif “is continuing to direct the fighting with complete control.”“The publication of the attempted assassination is meant for psychological warfare,” they claim, adding that they are “an attempt to repair [IDF Chief of Staff Aviv] Kohavi’s failing image.”8:19 am-US official: Israel must end Gaza campaign for fear of harming Gulf tiesThe Kan public broadcaster cites a US official saying Israel must prepare to end its operation in Gaza for fear of harming its relations with the Gulf states it normalized ties with last year — the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — as well as Jordan and Egypt.The official says Washington also fears a potential incident that could escalate the situation and cause a renewed intense flare-up.The news comes after reports have indicated a ceasefire will enter effect tomorrow. Both Israel and Hamas have denied signing an official deal.7:56 am-IDF confirms it tried, failed to kill Muhammad Deif, other top Hamas officials-Hamas military wing commander Muhammad Deif (courtesy)-The IDF officially confirms that it has tried to kill Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif twice since the current fighting erupted last week, and that he escaped unscathed both times.The military adds that it has targeted at least seven other top Hamas members, some of whom were injured but all of whom survived.Minister Yoav Gallant, a former IDF general and a member of the security cabinet, tells Army Radio that while Israel has missed several opportunities over the years to assassinate Deif, “the man deserves to die and we will eventually bring him where he belongs.”7:56 am-IDF says 50 rockets launched in past 12 hours; 10 landed inside Gaza-The military says some 50 rockets have been launched by terrorists in the Gaza Strip over the last 12 hours.Around 10 of the projectiles landed inside the Strip, the IDF adds.7:56 am-IDF says it dropped 122 bombs last night on Hamas tunnel network-IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman says the military last night carried out another phase in the systematic targeting of Hamas’s network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip.Zilberman tells reporters that around 10 p.m., 52 Air Force planes dropped 122 bombs in 25 minutes on some 40 underground targets that are part of the so-called “metro” spanning 12 kilometers of tunnels. The targets included weapons storage sites and a command center.He estimates that at least 10 members of terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were killed.He says the strikes were concentrated in Khan Younis and Rafah in the southern Strip, from where most of the rockets have been launched at Israeli cities.Regarding Hamas’s claim that it has been targeting Air Force bases, Zilberman says: “They’re trying, but not hitting.”
Hamas says it targeted air force bases in barrages toward south, central Israel-IDF says no hits reported in airfields; Israeli border towns see 3-hour overnight lull between attacks, Israeli jets hit dozens of targets in Gaza as fighting enters 10th day-By Judah Ari Gross and TOI staff-MAY 19,21-Today, 6:37 am
Gaza terror groups fired several rocket barrages at southern and central Israel late Tuesday and early Wednesday, with Hamas claiming it targeted Israeli Air Force bases during the strikes.Red alert sirens went off throughout Gaza border towns, in the southern coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon and in central towns as far north as Rehovot and Palmachim and in a number of air bases in between.“The bases that the Al Qassam Brigades targeted are Hatzor, Hatzerim, Nevatim, Tel Nof, Palmachim, and Ramon,” Hamas said in a statement.Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman on Wednesday morning said the military had no indications that a rocket struck any of its air bases. In one case, a projectile landed in an open field well outside the Tel Nof base near Rehovot, he said.Hamas’s publicly announced attack on airbases potentially indicated an effort by the group to deflect criticism from the US and other world leaders for wantonly targeting Israeli civilian populations in clear violation of international law. However, Hamas rockets fired during this alleged attack on Israeli airbases also struck civilian areas and the terror group launched projectiles toward towns overnight where no IAF bases are located. According to Zilberman, rockets have been fired toward IAF bases throughout the operation.There were no reports of damage or injuries from the rocket fire that began at around 8 p.m. and continued past 2 a.m., with many of the projectiles being intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. Gaza border towns had a three-hour respite from rocket fire from 2:30 to 5:30 a.m., as has been the norm for that overnight period during the past several days.According to the IDF, over the course of Tuesday night and Wednesday morning some 50 rockets were fired toward Israel from Gaza, with 10 of them failing to clear the border and landing inside the Palestinian enclave. No injuries or damage was reported in the overnight attacks, indicating that the remaining 40 projectiles were either intercepted by the Iron Dome or struck open areas.But on the other side of the Gaza border, IDF jets operated the entire night, striking dozens of targets throughout the Strip, according to the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Media Center, which published pictures and footage of the bombing.The news outlet said several Palestinians were killed and a larger number were injured, though the Gaza health ministry did not immediately provide an update with exact figures. According to Zilberman, the IDF believes it killed at least 10 members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups in its overnight strikes in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza.In one round of strikes on Tuesday night, more than 50 Israeli Air Force jets using over 120 bombs struck an underground tunnel network in southern Gaza, destroying some 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of it over the course of 25 minutes, according to the IDF spokesman.It was the fifth round of airstrikes that the IDF has carried out against Hamas’s sprawling subterranean complex, which Israel refers to as “the metro.” This included strikes on a network of tunnels in Rafah used by Hamas in the 2014 Gaza war to kidnap the remains of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin, who was killed in an ambush on August 1, during what was meant to be a ceasefire, which Hamas violated.The IDF said it also struck a number of targets in the upscale Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City overnight Tuesday-Wednesday, an area where many top Hamas commanders live.The Israeli military late Tuesday said its strikes targeted six rocket launching sites as well as a Hamas terror cell firing mortars at Israel from inside a school in Gaza.The incident “proves again how the Hamas terror group purposefully places its military assets in the heart of the civilian population,” the army said.Meanwhile, various international actors continued in their efforts to reach a ceasefire.A UN Security Council meeting broke up earlier Tuesday without issuing a statement, but France then said it had proposed a more forceful resolution calling for a ceasefire, in coordination with Israel’s neighbors Egypt and Jordan.If introduced, it would force the Biden administration to issue its first Security Council veto if it wants to continue blocking such efforts in the top UN body.While Channel 12 reported that an Egyptian ceasefire initiative had borne fruit and was slated to go into effect on Thursday morning, officials on all sides issued subsequent denials.A diplomatic source familiar with Egypt’s efforts told The Times of Israel that negotiations were still ongoing and no such agreement had been reached.But the Haaretz daily on Tuesday night quoted an Israeli official who said that barring any last-minute surprises, a ceasefire would indeed likely be reached by Thursday morning.While US President Joe Biden “expressed his support for a ceasefire” during a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, a source familiar with the matter said no deadline was demanded from the Israeli premier for when IDF operations in Gaza must conclude. However, the president did warn that he would not be able to hold off much longer pressure from within his party and in the international community for an immediate ceasefire and urged Netanyahu to bring the fighting to a close.Hamas has launched nearly 3,700 rockets at Israel since May 10, often forcing people living by Gaza into bomb shelters around the clock.Israel’s near-relentless bombing campaign in response has sent fireballs, debris and black smoke into the sky, leaving two million Palestinians in Gaza desperate for reprieve.The humanitarian crisis has deepened in the impoverished strip, with the UN saying 72,000 Palestinians have been displaced.Palestinians across the West Bank and in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem mobilized Tuesday for protests and a general strike that shuttered non-essential businesses, in support of those under bombardment in Gaza.As the sides entered their 10th day of fighting on Wednesday, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry updated the death toll in the Strip to 217, including more than 63 children. It was not immediately clear if the ministry tally included all of those killed or if there were Hamas operatives not included in the count.According to the IDF, more than 120 of those killed were members of Hamas and over 25 were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as of Monday night.The Hamas-run ministry said that over 1,400 Gazans had been injured since the start of what the IDF has billed Operation Guardian of the Walls.Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, have been killed in rocket fire, and hundreds have been injured over the past ten days.The most recent casualties came on Tuesday afternoon when two Thai workers were killed in a packing house that took a direct hit from Hamas mortar fire. The two men in their 30s were not immediately named. Eight others were inured, including one seriously, in the attack on a community close to the border.The foreign nationals were working in an area without proper fortifications, local government officials said.The deadly attack came shortly after the Israel Defense Forces said that a soldier was lightly wounded in a mortar attack while assisting in the transfer of humanitarian aid shipments into the Gaza Strip through the Erez Crossing.The injured 19-year-old was taken to Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center for treatment for shrapnel wounds to his torso. Medics said he was fully conscious.Additionally, a rocket landed near a vehicle, lightly injuring one person near the southern city of Beersheba, the Magen David Adom emergency said.Rockets were also fired at the southern cities of Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat as well as border communities throughout the day. One of the rockets slammed into a house in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, which was empty at the time.Israeli aircraft carried out strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip in response, with the IDF announcing it had hit the homes of 12 Hamas commanders in Gaza over the past day, including three on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports of injuries.Additionally, the IDF said it hit a Hamas cell in Khan Younis that was involved in firing anti-tank missiles. The military said the strike prevented anti-tank missile fire at Israel. The army also said it bombed a group of Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who were preparing to fire a rocket at Israel.Another airstrike targeted a storage site where equipment and machines for manufacturing Hamas weapons were kept, the IDF said.Jacob Magid, Judah Ari Gross and AFP contributed to this report
In Jaffa, Arab fears of eviction stoke tensions with the Jews next door-‘They want to throw us out of our home,’ says one woman whose husband and brother recently assaulted a rabbi looking into real estate-By Agencies and TOI staff-MAY 19,21-Today, 4:41 am
Arab-Israeli supermarket cashier Israa Jarbou has missed a week of work for fear of getting attacked by Jews on the bus out of Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish quarter of Tel Aviv.“They’ll see I’m religious,” said the 27-year-old, who wears the Muslim hijab head covering. “There is no security.”Living nearby, Jewish seminary student David Shvets, 24, voiced similar fears, saying local Arabs had pelted him with stones and that a nearby synagogue was torched.“We now go in a large group with a police escort to get home at night… in the heart of the state of Israel!” he said incredulously, describing the situation as a “jungle.”Hostility has gripped usually quiet mixed communities of Israeli Jews and Arabs since the start of a military escalation a week ago pitting Israel’s army against the terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Jewish students study religion at the Shirat Moshe Yeshiva in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, on April 30, 2021. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)-The most intense fighting since 2014 was sparked by unrest in Jerusalem, following clashes between police and stone-throwing Palestinians on the Temple Mount compound. Hamas last Monday fired rockets at Jerusalem, drawing retaliatory Israeli airstrikes and escalating the hostilities into a full-blown conflict.Violence has flared nationwide between Jews and Arabs, a 20 percent minority. Synagogues, mosques, graveyards, a theatre and restaurants have been targeted, and a Jewish man has died after being hit with a brick while driving in Lod.Now, in the Mediterranean seaside community of Jaffa, with its trendy bars and hummus restaurants, mounted police enforce nightly road closures, and officers with assault rifles patrol sidewalks.A 12-year-old Muslim boy was hospitalized after a firebomb was thrown into his home, an attack that led to the arrest of a 20-year-old Arab resident of the city on Monday. The firebombing in Jaffa was allegedly committed by Arab Israelis, in an apparent case of “mistaken identity,” an unnamed police official told Walla.Fearful Muslim neighbors have been quick to take down their Ramadan decorations.The root causes for the latest spasm of violence go back decades. In Jaffa, an assault last month gave an early warning of long-simmering tensions over land and property rights.Israa Jarbou shares a cramped public housing apartment with nine others including her husband, their two children and her mother-in-law Etaf, 57.Outside, where their chickens roam, they have seen vast changes in recent years. Low-income Arab neighbors are getting evicted as the housing blocks give way to luxury apartments that mostly Israeli Jews can afford.The Jarbous, too, face an eviction threat from the state public housing company Amidar, which ordered them to move out in 2018, citing unpaid rent.Lawyer Saar Amit told AFP he got that eviction canceled and has requested the company allow the family to stay, or to pay reduced rent in another, citing Etaf Jarbou’s poor health and meager income. Amidar has not yet replied.In mid-April, when two men from the nearby Jewish seminary came to her street inspecting land for possible purchase, tensions spiraled into a violent altercation.Israa Jarbou’s husband Mahmoud, 34, and his brother Ahmad, 36, assaulted the two.The melee was caught on tape, leading to the Jarbou brothers’ arrest.“They want to throw us out of our home,” said Etaf Jarbou, who claims the two Jewish men came to her house. “And then they say there’s violence. But they’re committing violence against us.”Moshe Schendowich, head of the Meirim Beyafo seminary, said he and the seminary’s rabbi were inspecting property for building student housing when the two men slapped, beat and kicked them.“There’s no legitimacy for any type of violence, and this violence was extreme,” Schendowich said.He said his partially state-funded organization aims to “strengthen” Jaffa’s Jewish community.He and the rabbi, Eliyahu Mali, are affiliated with Israel’s West Bank settlement movement.Jaffa, Schendowich said, “is not by definition an Arab city.“There’s definitely an Arab population here, and the Arab population here is welcome, but the Jewish community here is a thriving Jewish community.”Arabs’ grievances in Jaffa, as elsewhere, stem from Israel’s founding in 1948, said local filmmaker Tony Copti.“For Arab Palestinians it was the capital of education, of theater, of cinema, schools and newspapers,” he said. “It was a country unto itself.”When Israel declared independence that year according to the UN partition plan of Mandatory Palestine, local Arabs and several neighboring states rejected the UN plan and attacked, leading to the Israeli War of Independence-Of the more than 70,000 Arab residents in Jaffa then, all but 3,000 fled or were expelled, according to Zochrot, an Israeli group that documents Palestinian communities erased at Israel’s founding.In Jaffa, the state seized Arabs’ homes, subdivided them and assigned apartments to impoverished Jewish and Arab residents, who paid a symbolic low rent as “protected tenants.”But change came in the 1980s, when Amidar began selling its properties across Israel, offering protected tenants a chance to buy their homes at a discount.About 800 Amidar apartments in Jaffa are saleable, Amidar spokeswoman Shani Israeli told AFP.“The goal is to sell to the resident and, if the resident doesn’t want to, then onward,” she said.Amir Badran, a Jaffa native and a member of Tel Aviv’s city council, said most Amidar tenants in Jaffa today are Arab, and more than a third face an eviction threat.Amidar “ignores the fact that these properties are originally Palestinian… and ignores the fact that Arabs cannot afford to buy these properties,” he said.Etaf Jarbou said she gets along with most of her Jewish neighbors.Arabs in Jaffa typically speak Arabic peppered with Hebrew, and often study and work in Jewish Israeli society.Many are at pains to restore harmony. Hundreds of Jaffa residents, Arab and Jewish, on Sunday protested Israeli policy and called for peaceful coexistence.Some held olive branches, even as others aired grievances.“Arabs of Israel, for the last three Gaza wars we didn’t do anything,” said Muhammad Mansour, 34, an Arab Israeli engineer at the demonstration.“But now with the discrimination, we’ve had it up to here. It’s not only about Al-Aqsa.”The local battle over housing has cemented solidarity with Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem, he indicated.Etaf Jarbou highlighted a dispute in east Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where Israeli Jews are attempting to remove Palestinians from homes built on land that courts have ruled were owned by Jewish religious associations before the establishment of Israel in 1948. The Supreme Court will consider the appeal of over 70 Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah who face eviction, with a previously scheduled hearing delayed over unrest in the capital stoked by the Sheikh Jarrah issue.“East Jerusalem breaks my heart,” she said. “And it’s not just there. It’s here. They don’t want Arabs here.”
Top general: This Gaza conflict will be a success if it brings 5 years of calm-Head of IDF Operations acknowledges Israel was caught off guard by Hamas rocket fire at Jerusalem, but says it turned the tables, setting back terror group considerably-By Judah Ari Gross-MAY 19,21-Today, 1:32 am
A top Israel Defense Forces general on Tuesday said he would consider the current round of fighting in the Gaza Strip to be a success if it ensured calm along the border for the next five years.“If you force me into a corner and ask me what is reasonable to consider a success, I would say at least five years and even more than that,” the head of IDF Operations, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, told the Kan public broadcaster.Haliva made his remarks as reports emerged from Egypt, Israel and Gaza late Tuesday night that a ceasefire agreement may be in the works between Israel and the Hamas terror group — which has ruled Gaza since taking it over in a coup in 2007 — potentially bringing an end to the vicious fighting between the two sides that has left at least 12 people dead in Israel and over 200 dead in Gaza.IDF officials have until now largely refrained from setting a precise goal for the current campaign, dubbed Operation Guardian of the Walls, preferring instead to say more generally that the mission is to significantly weaken Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful terror group in the Strip.In this round of fighting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government did not seek to topple Hamas, believing that the high cost of such an operation and the potentially more dangerous chaos that may fill the vacuum left behind in its wake would make such a prospect untenable.Instead, the government believes that limiting Hamas’s capabilities and building deterrence to prevent it from conducting attacks in the short term are Israel’s best option at this time.In a candid on-air interview, Haliva acknowledged that the military did not fully anticipate Hamas’s decision to fire rockets at Jerusalem last Monday evening, believing that group would have preferred to maintain quiet ahead of the approaching Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in order to allow residents of the Strip to celebrate in peace, rather than spark a major clash with Israel.Yet Haliva asserted that the IDF responded far more forcefully than Hamas had expected.“I think that the people who were mistaken, more than anyone else, were [Hamas’s leader in Gaza] Yahya Sinwar and [Hamas military chief] Muhammad Deif. They believed they’d be able to fire at Jerusalem and it would end with some limited kind of response from the IDF and the State of Israel. And they will look back on that decision and think of it as a significant error,” Haliva said, speaking outside IDF Headquarters in Tel Aviv.“I didn’t assess that Hamas would fire rockets at Jerusalem. But the big mistake was Hamas’s. It has paid a price for it, and will continue to pay a price for it,” he said.“At the end of the day, all of the things that Hamas built over these many years, or at least most of the things it has built over these many years, have not succeeded,” he said.Haliva appeared to refer to drones and autonomous submarines that Hamas developed in recent years and which the terror group failed to deploy in a significant way during the past nine days of fighting.On Tuesday night, initial reports from Palestinian sources emerged regarding an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, which was said to come into effect at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning. According to Channel 12 news, Hamas had agreed to the arrangement.Israeli and Palestinian officials issued denials, and a diplomatic source familiar with Egyptian ceasefire efforts told The Times of Israel that talks were still ongoing and that no agreement had been reached.Another Israeli official, however, told the Haaretz daily on Tuesday night that barring any last-minute surprises, a ceasefire would likely be reached by Thursday morning.“There is no decisive [win] and there likely won’t be,” the official said. “Everyone is tired.”According to Channel 13, Hamas was seeking reassurances from Israel that it would not attempt to kill the terror group’s leaders during the ceasefire — a demand rejected by Israel — while Jerusalem was demanding the terror group hold its fire for several hours while it weighs the ceasefire offer, a condition rejected by Hamas.Netanyahu earlier on Tuesday said the military operation, now in its ninth day, will go on for “as long as needed to restore calm for the citizens of Israel.”Palestinian terror groups have fired over 3,500 rockets at Israel since last Monday, drawing heavy retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.Twelve people in Israel, three of them foreign nationals, have been killed in the rocket fire from Gaza, including a 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, and hundreds have been injured.According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 213 Palestinians have been killed so far in the nine days of the conflict, including more than 60 children. It was not immediately clear if that ministry tally included all of those killed or if there were Hamas operatives not included in the count. According to the IDF, more than 120 of those killed were members of Hamas and over 25 were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as of Monday night.Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Israel, Hamas deny ceasefire expected on Thursday, as US ups pressure-TV report says Gaza rulers agreed to Egypt-brokered truce; Israeli official, diplomat involved say talks still ongoing; White House encouraging Netanyahu to wind down strikes-By Jacob Magid, Agencies and TOI staff-MAY 19,21-Today, 12:45 am
Reports late Tuesday that Israel and Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip will cease fire on Thursday morning sparked a flurry of denials from all parties involved, while the White House continued applying behind-the-scenes pressure on Jerusalem to wind down the fighting.Egypt has proposed an Israel-Hamas ceasefire through private channels that would take effect on Thursday at 6 a.m., Channel 12 news reported. The report cited Palestinian sources saying Hamas had agreed to the offer, while there had been no response from Israel.But it took less than an hour for denials to begin pouring in.“No agreement or specific timings for the ceasefire were reached,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the terror group’s leadership, said in a statement.The efforts to coordinate a ceasefire — led by the United Nations, Egypt, Qatar and other countries — are ongoing, al-Rishq said. “While emphasizing that the efforts and contacts of the mediators are serious and continuous, the demands of our people are clear and well-known.”Palestinians check the damage after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 18, 2021. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)-Exercising similar caution, a diplomatic source familiar with Egypt’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in the fighting, which began on Monday, May 10 with a Hamas rocket barrage at Jerusalem, told The Times of Israel that negotiations were still ongoing and no such agreement had yet been reached.Several Hebrew media outlets quoted an “Israeli official” who also poured cold water on the report.However, both Israel and Hamas have vehemently denied reports of ceasefires to end previous rounds of conflict over the years, which nevertheless went into effect shortly thereafter.The Haaretz daily on Tuesday night quoted another Israeli official who said that barring any last-minute surprises, a ceasefire would indeed likely be reached by Thursday morning.“There is no decisive [win] and there likely won’t be,” the official said. “Everyone is tired.”According to Channel 13, Hamas was seeking reassurances from Israel that it would not attempt to kill the terror group’s leaders during the ceasefire — a demand rejected by Israel — while Jerusalem was demanding the terror group hold its fire for several hours while it weighs the ceasefire offer, a condition rejected by Hamas.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Tuesday said the military operation, now in its ninth day, would go on “as long as needed to restore calm for the citizens of Israel.”US President Joe Biden and administration officials have encouraged Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials to end the fighting, a person with knowledge of the discussions said Tuesday.Top Biden administration officials underscored to the Israelis on Monday and Tuesday that time is not on their side in terms of international objections to nine days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets, and that it is in their interest to wind down the operations soon, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the private talks and spoke on condition of anonymity.The White House has so far resisted international calls for ramping up public pressure on Netanyahu. It has made the calculation that Israel will not respond to international resolutions or public demands by the US, and that its greatest leverage is behind-the-scenes pressure, according to the person familiar with the administration’s discussions.The source said that the Israelis have signaled that it is possible their military campaign could end in a matter of days.This source indicated that Biden administration officials have been going further privately in their messaging to Netanyahu than previously revealed. A White House readout of a Biden call to Netanyahu on Monday, for instance, said Biden had expressed support for a ceasefire, but said nothing about the US urging Israel to bring the fighting to a close.Biden’s decision to express support for, but not explicitly demand, a ceasefire was intentional, an administration official familiar with the call said.Separately, a UN Security Council emergency meeting earlier Tuesday on the situation in Gaza ended without any result, four diplomats involved told The Times of Israel.The closed-door session was the fourth in nine days held by the top UN body and came a day after the US blocked a joint statement calling for a ceasefire for the third consecutive time.While the Norwegian, Chinese and Tunisian missions that initiated Tuesday’s meeting did so to increase international pressure for a ceasefire, two Security Council diplomats told The Times of Israel they weren’t really sure why another consultation was held, given that member states knew the US position had not moved in the previous 24 hours.Norway’s UN mission has continued to call for the council to “speak with one voice” on the escalation in Gaza, but with the US insistent on pursuing its own avenues in order to bring about a ceasefire, the top UN body has been placed in a “wait and see mode” for the time being, one diplomat said.On Thursday, the UN General Assembly will be meeting for the first time on the same topic and a majority of countries are expected to voice solidarity with the Palestinians, call for a ceasefire and criticize Israel. There is not yet an expectation that the meeting will include an effort to pass a resolution on the matter, diplomats said.Palestinian terror groups have fired thousands of rockets at Israel since last Monday, drawing heavy retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, have been killed in the rocket fire from Gaza, and hundreds have been injured.According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, at least 212 Palestinians have been killed so far in the nine days of the conflict, including more than 60 children. It was not immediately clear if this ministry tally included all of those killed or if there were Hamas operatives not included in the count. According to the IDF, more than 120 of those killed were members of Hamas and over 25 were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as of Monday night.
Hungary FM slams EU’s ‘one-sided’ statements on Israel-Peter Szijjarto urges bloc to engage in ‘less judgement, less lecturing, less criticism, less interference and more pragmatic cooperation’ By Agencies and TOI staff-18 May 2021, 11:55 pm
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjartoon Tuesday slammed the EU’s “one-sided” statements on Israel as his European counterparts called for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.“I have a general problem with these European statements on Israel… These are usually very much one-sided, and these statements do not help, especially not under current circumstances, when the tension is so high,” Szijjarto told AFP in an interview.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday called for the implementation of a ceasefire to stop fighting between Israel and the Palestinians.“The priority is the immediate cessation of all violence and the implementation of a ceasefire,” Borrell said after a video conference of EU foreign ministers, adding the statement was backed by all the bloc’s member states except Hungary.Szijjarto himself did not attend the meeting. Hungary has recently used its veto power to block EU statements on China.In the interview with AFP, Szijjarto insisted that blocking decisions “is a right of every country in the European Union.“EU diplomacy should not consist only of judgements, negative statements and sanctions,” he said.“So I think less judgment, less lecturing, less criticism, less interference and more pragmatic cooperation could give back a lot of strength to the European Union.”Palestinian terror groups in Gaza have fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel since last Monday.Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, have been killed in the rocket fire, and hundreds have been injured.According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 212 Palestinians have been killed so far in the nine days of the conflict, including more than 60 children. It was not immediately clear if this ministry tally included all of those killed or if there were Hamas operatives not included in the count.According to the IDF, more than 120 of those killed were members of Hamas and over 25 were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as of Monday night.
