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
Trump says New York attacker should be put to death-The president calls for execution in a late night tweet after earlier saying he could be sent to Guantanamo Bay-By Agencies-NOV 2,17
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for the man charged with carrying out a New York City truck rampage that killed eight people to be put to death.“NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!” Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to the Islamic State jihadist group.NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2017-The president had earlier said he would consider sending Saipov to Guantanamo Bay, the US military detention center in Cuba that has been used to indefinitely hold suspected foreign jihadists, a practice that has drawn repeated criticism from rights groups.Many people expressed concern that Trump had prejudiced the Judicial system with his Tweet, in fact making it harder to give Saipov the death penalty.I've run out of adjectives. By weighing in like this, Trump may have just assured he DOESN'T get the death penalty. https://t.co/rZPYR9LeuI— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) November 2, 2017-Investigators said Wednesday that the man who mowed down cyclists and pedestrians in New York the day before had confessed to acting in the name of IS and said that he “felt good” about the killings.Prosecutors have filed charges against Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek immigrant, who they said began planning the attack a year ago.The complaint against Saipov listed two counts: provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and violence and destruction of motor vehicles.It was not immediately clear if he would face further charges.Prosecutors said in court papers, Saipov asked to display the Islamic State group’s flag in his hospital room and said “he felt good about what he had done.”Trump referenced that in his comments on Twitter.Outside court, Saipov’s attorney said he hoped “everyone lets the judicial process play out.”
Rocket sirens wail in Tel Aviv in apparent false alarm-Amid tensions with Gaza, the warnings are heard in southern Tel Aviv and the nearby cities of Bat Yam and Holon-By TOI staff-NOV 2,17
Rocket sirens wailed in southern Tel Aviv and neighboring cities just before 3 a.m on Thursday. The IDF said it appeared to be a false alarm.The sirens were heard in the southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv and the cities of Holon, Bat Yam and Azur.The false alarm came amid heightened tensions and threats of retaliations from a Palestinian terror group in Gaza whose tunnel was destroyed in an Israeli detonation on Monday.On Monday, the IDF bombed an attack tunnel being built by the Islamic Jihad terror group extending from the Gazan city of Khan Younis into Israeli territory, near Kibbutz Kissufim.Nine Palestinian terrorists — including two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders and members of Hamas’s elite naval unit — were reported killed in the Israeli strike, and another five were still said missing as of Wednesday and are presumed dead.On Wednesday the IDF said it suspended construction on the underground barrier being built around the Gaza Strip on Wednesday out of concern that workers might come under attack.The army also deployed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system in the area as a precaution.
Lebanese media: Israel bombed weapons depot in Syria-IDF mum on reports that Israeli aircraft targeted storehouse near Homs; Syrian army said to fire at Israeli jets-By Judah Ari Gross-1 November 2017-TOI
Israeli jets destroyed a weapons facility in western Syria on Wednesday night, according to Lebanese media.The Syrian army’s 72nd Brigade was said to have fired anti-aircraft missiles at the Israeli Air Force jets, though there were no reports of planes being shot down.The IDF refused to comment on the alleged strike, in accordance with its policy not to acknowledge raids across the border.Some Lebanese media identified the target as a weapons warehouse, while others said it was a manufacturing facility. There was no immediate mention of who operated it.However, Israel has said repeatedly that it will thwart attempts by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group to acquire advanced weaponry.According to the Lebanon 24 outlet, the Israeli jets carried out the strike from eastern Lebanese airspace.The target of the alleged strike was said to be in Syria’s Homs governorate, between the city of the same name and Damascus.Lebanese citizens in the city of Baalbek, near the Syrian border, reported hearing loud explosions.Earlier in the night, residents of eastern Lebanon reported seeing Israeli jets flying overhead.In March, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman threatened that if the Syrian military fired its air defenses at Israeli jets “we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation.”Last month, the IDF bombed a Syrian anti-aircraft battery after it fired an interceptor missile at an Israeli reconnaissance plane that Israel says was flying over Lebanon.
Israel denies entry to Amnesty worker in anti-BDS move-Raed Jarrar, who is an American of Palestinian origin, was stopped at a crossing between Jordan and the West Bank whileo n a personal visit-By AFP and TOI staff-NOV 2,17
Israel has denied entry to a US employee of Amnesty International as part of controversial efforts to bar supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, officials said Wednesday.Amnesty and Israeli officials said Raed Jarrar, an advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at the rights group, was prevented from entering the West Bank on Monday.A spokeswoman for Israel’s interior ministry said the office of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan had recommended he be denied entry over BDS.She could not provide further details and a spokesman for Erdan could not be reached for comment.Amnesty alleged that the refusal was “apparently as retaliation against the organisation’s human rights work.”Jarrar, who is of Palestinian origin, was stopped at a crossing between Jordan and the West Bank while on a personal trip to visit family following his father’s death, Amnesty said.Israel controls the crossing on the West Bank side.“The fact that Raed Jarrar was barred from entry after being interrogated about his work with Amnesty International appears to suggest that this move was taken in retaliation for the organisation’s work on human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Amnesty’s Philip Luther said in a statement.Israel passed legislation in March banning entry to foreigners who support boycotting the country or its settlements.It sees the boycott movement as a strategic threat and accuses it of anti-Semitism — a claim activists deny, saying they only want to see an end to Israel’s occupation.Amnesty said its “campaign on settlements, which (Jarrar) plays a leading role in, does not call for a consumer boycott of Israeli settlement products.”“It is based on the fact that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and that states have a legal obligation not to recognize or assist an illegal situation,” Amnesty said.It said that “Amnesty International neither supports nor opposes boycotts and is not part of the BDS movement.”In September, Amnesty said it was alarmed at reports Israel was planning to target its funding in retaliation for its stance against Jewish settlements in the West Bank.Israel disputes the belief that the settlements are illegal, saying that they are justified on historical and ethical grounds and Israel has valid claims to the West Bank.
US approves $1 bln Qatar arms deal despite Gulf crisis-Contract will service Qatar's F-15QA fighter jets and build them ground facilities and hardened bunkers-By AFP-TOI-NOV 2,17
WASHINGTON — The United States government on Wednesday approved a $1.1 billion deal to service Qatar’s F-15 fighter jets despite the diplomatic stand-off between the Gulf emirate and its neighbors.Qatar, home to one of the largest US military bases in the Middle East, is locked in a bitter dispute with Washington’s other Arab allies in the region, led by Saudi Arabia.US President Donald Trump took Riyadh’s side in June when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has taken a more cautious line, attempting to broker an agreement to cool ties and build a regional front against Iranian influence and extremism.On Wednesday, the State Department announced it had approved a $1.1 billion contract to service Qatar’s F-15QA jets and build them ground facilities and hardened bunkers.“Qatar is an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Persian Gulf region,” the department said, in a note from its Defense Security Cooperation Agency.“Our mutual defense interests anchor our relationship and the Qatar Emiri Air Force plays a predominant role in Qatar’s defense.”The new maintenance and training facilities will also come with improved “cyber security services, mission critical computer resources, support services, force protection services.”Tillerson visited both Riyadh and the Qatari capital Doha last month in an effort to curb Iran’s influence in the region and urge the Arab monarchies to negotiate away their differences.
CIA releases 470,000 more files from bin Laden raid — including on ties to Iran-Documents in the trove range from a 228-page, handwritten personal journal of the al-Qaida leader to a YouTube video on 'How to Crochet a Flower'-By Agencies-TOI-NOV 2,17
WASHINGTON — Never-before-seen video of Osama bin Laden’s son and potential successor was released Wednesday by the CIA in a trove of material recovered during the May 2011 raid that killed the al-Qaida leader at his compound in Pakistan.The video offers the first public look at Hamza bin Laden as an adult. Until now, the public has only seen childhood pictures of him.In recent years, al-Qaida has released audio messages from Hamza bin Laden. And to mark a recent anniversary of 9/11, al-Qaida superimposed a childhood photo of him over a photo of the World Trade Center. He is expected to rise to prominence in the jihadist movement and is being closely watched as the rival Islamic State organization suffers setbacks in the Middle East.One hourlong video shows Hamza bin Laden, sporting a trimmed mustache but no beard, at his wedding. He is sitting on a carpet with other men. A man chanting Koranic verses can be heard in the background. Sporting a traditional white headdress, he verbally accepts his marriage to his bride “on the book of God and the example of the prophet. Peace be upon him.”“Takbeer!” the others shout, marking his marriage with a kind of religious hooray.It was the fourth trove of documents, images and computer files recovered during the raid of bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Earlier materials were released in May 2015, March 2016 and in January of this year.The CIA said the nearly 470,000 additional files offer insights into the inner workings of the terrorist organization responsible for 9/11 and detail its clashes with the Islamic State group, a spin-off of al-Qaida’s operation in Iraq. They also shed light on hardships that al-Qaida faced at the time of bin Laden’s death.Ties to Iran-Controversially, scholars from a Washington think-tank who were given access to the now de-classified trove say the documents also shed new light on al-Qaeda’s murky relationship with Iran.According to Thomas Joscelyn and Bill Roggio, scholars from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who were allowed to see the trove before it was made public, it provides new insights.“Today’s release … provides the opportunity for the American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organization,” said CIA director Mike Pompeo.According to Joscelyn and Roggio, writing in the FDD’s Long War Journal, one of the newly released documents is a 19-page study of Al-Qaeda’s links to Iran written by a Bin Laden lieutenant.Last month, at a seminar hosted by the same FDD that had an advance look at the files, Pompeo had promised to release Abbottabad documents that would show Iran-Al Qaeda ties.“There have been relationships, there are connections. There have been times the Iranians have worked alongside Al-Qaeda,” the US spy chief argued.“There have been connections where, at the very least, they have cut deals so as not to come after each other.”This raised alarm bells among critics of President Donald Trump’s new strategy to counter Iranian influence, wary that hawks like Pompeo may be making a case for war.The full extent and true nature of this relationship is unclear and a matter of dispute among scholars and policy-makers.On the one hand, Tehran and its largely Shiite proxy forces in the Middle East often fight against Sunni movements aligned with Al-Qaeda’s deeply sectarian ideology.The Iranian backed Hezbollah, for example, is locked in conflict against Al-Qaeda linked Syrian rebels.But the very fact that Hamza and other senior figures appear to be able to live under Iranian protection or custody supports claims that Tehran and Bin Laden had a working relationship.One document, Joscelyn and Roggio write, recounts how Iran offered training, money and arms to some of Al-Qaeda’s “Saudi brothers” on condition they attack US interests in the Gulf.But the files also show Tehran and Al-Qaeda sometimes had stark disagreements, and Bin Laden once wrote to Iranian leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to demand his relatives be released.“Other files show that Al-Qaeda kidnapped an Iranian diplomat in order to force an exchange,” Joscelyn writes.“Osama bin Laden’s correspondence shows that he and his lieutenants were also concerned that the Iranians would track Hamza or other family members after they were released.”In addition, Roggio and Joscelyn say, “Bin Laden himself considered plans to counter Iran’s influence throughout the Middle East, which he viewed as pernicious.”Nevertheless, they argue, analysis of the intelligence points to Al-Qaeda having been able to maintain a “core facilitation pipeline” on Iranian soil.Some in Washington are skeptical about the motives behind the release, coming after what the intelligence community had previously said was the last dump from the Bin Laden files.Ned Price, a former CIA official who was seconded as a national security adviser to former president Barack Obama, said the new documents “don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.”Instead, he argued on Twitter, Pompeo may have released the files to bolster the case against Iran as a sponsor of terror, pushing the United States closer to open conflict with Tehran.“These moves suggest he’s reverting to the Bush administration’s playbook: Emphasize terrorist ties as a rationale for regime change,” Price warned.-Father of the groom-Included is a 228-page, handwritten personal journal of bin Laden and about 79,000 images and audio files, including practice reels of public speeches. Also released were home videos and more than 10,000 video files, including the one of Hamza bin Laden’s wedding.After shouts of congratulations, the video moves to another location where the groom and others are sitting on a red carpet dotted with bowls of bananas and apples, bottles of cola, sweets and tea. The groom smiles nervously, revealing his dimples. Osama bin Laden is not seen, but a man notes that the “father of the groom, the prince of the mujahedeen” is overjoyed about his son’s marriage and his happiness will “spread to all the mujahedeen.”At one point, a man stands up and offers a lengthy quiz on the history of Koranic verse, largely for the benefit of young boys in the group who compete to answer the questions. Red heart-shaped balloons decorate the room and in a second video of the wedding, the boys play a rough game of indoor soccer while the adults cheer.Also included in the material is information about how al-Qaida planned to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the network’s work to spread its message through Western media; the group’s effort to exploit the Arab uprisings in 2011; bin Laden’s quest to keep his organization together amid disagreements over beliefs and operational tactics; and the organization’s work to burnish its image with fellow Muslims amid negative media.There are still materials that have not yet been released. The CIA said this includes materials that are sensitive to national security; those protected by copyright; pornography; malware; and blank, corrupted and duplicate files.Not all the material, however, was of a serious nature. There was a video known as “Charlie bit my finger!” depicting a boy and his baby brother who bit his finger. There also were YouTube videos about crochet, including “How to Crochet a Flower.”And bin Laden’s video collection included “Antz,” a 1990s animated adventure comedy about an ant colony, “Chicken Little” and “The Three Musketeers.” Also in the collection were “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden” and several National Geographic programs: “Kung Fu Killers,” ”Inside the Green Berets” and “World’s Worst Venom.”
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
Trump says New York attacker should be put to death-The president calls for execution in a late night tweet after earlier saying he could be sent to Guantanamo Bay-By Agencies-NOV 2,17
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for the man charged with carrying out a New York City truck rampage that killed eight people to be put to death.“NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!” Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to the Islamic State jihadist group.NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2017-The president had earlier said he would consider sending Saipov to Guantanamo Bay, the US military detention center in Cuba that has been used to indefinitely hold suspected foreign jihadists, a practice that has drawn repeated criticism from rights groups.Many people expressed concern that Trump had prejudiced the Judicial system with his Tweet, in fact making it harder to give Saipov the death penalty.I've run out of adjectives. By weighing in like this, Trump may have just assured he DOESN'T get the death penalty. https://t.co/rZPYR9LeuI— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) November 2, 2017-Investigators said Wednesday that the man who mowed down cyclists and pedestrians in New York the day before had confessed to acting in the name of IS and said that he “felt good” about the killings.Prosecutors have filed charges against Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek immigrant, who they said began planning the attack a year ago.The complaint against Saipov listed two counts: provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and violence and destruction of motor vehicles.It was not immediately clear if he would face further charges.Prosecutors said in court papers, Saipov asked to display the Islamic State group’s flag in his hospital room and said “he felt good about what he had done.”Trump referenced that in his comments on Twitter.Outside court, Saipov’s attorney said he hoped “everyone lets the judicial process play out.”
Rocket sirens wail in Tel Aviv in apparent false alarm-Amid tensions with Gaza, the warnings are heard in southern Tel Aviv and the nearby cities of Bat Yam and Holon-By TOI staff-NOV 2,17
Rocket sirens wailed in southern Tel Aviv and neighboring cities just before 3 a.m on Thursday. The IDF said it appeared to be a false alarm.The sirens were heard in the southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv and the cities of Holon, Bat Yam and Azur.The false alarm came amid heightened tensions and threats of retaliations from a Palestinian terror group in Gaza whose tunnel was destroyed in an Israeli detonation on Monday.On Monday, the IDF bombed an attack tunnel being built by the Islamic Jihad terror group extending from the Gazan city of Khan Younis into Israeli territory, near Kibbutz Kissufim.Nine Palestinian terrorists — including two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders and members of Hamas’s elite naval unit — were reported killed in the Israeli strike, and another five were still said missing as of Wednesday and are presumed dead.On Wednesday the IDF said it suspended construction on the underground barrier being built around the Gaza Strip on Wednesday out of concern that workers might come under attack.The army also deployed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system in the area as a precaution.
Lebanese media: Israel bombed weapons depot in Syria-IDF mum on reports that Israeli aircraft targeted storehouse near Homs; Syrian army said to fire at Israeli jets-By Judah Ari Gross-1 November 2017-TOI
Israeli jets destroyed a weapons facility in western Syria on Wednesday night, according to Lebanese media.The Syrian army’s 72nd Brigade was said to have fired anti-aircraft missiles at the Israeli Air Force jets, though there were no reports of planes being shot down.The IDF refused to comment on the alleged strike, in accordance with its policy not to acknowledge raids across the border.Some Lebanese media identified the target as a weapons warehouse, while others said it was a manufacturing facility. There was no immediate mention of who operated it.However, Israel has said repeatedly that it will thwart attempts by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group to acquire advanced weaponry.According to the Lebanon 24 outlet, the Israeli jets carried out the strike from eastern Lebanese airspace.The target of the alleged strike was said to be in Syria’s Homs governorate, between the city of the same name and Damascus.Lebanese citizens in the city of Baalbek, near the Syrian border, reported hearing loud explosions.Earlier in the night, residents of eastern Lebanon reported seeing Israeli jets flying overhead.In March, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman threatened that if the Syrian military fired its air defenses at Israeli jets “we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation.”Last month, the IDF bombed a Syrian anti-aircraft battery after it fired an interceptor missile at an Israeli reconnaissance plane that Israel says was flying over Lebanon.
Israel denies entry to Amnesty worker in anti-BDS move-Raed Jarrar, who is an American of Palestinian origin, was stopped at a crossing between Jordan and the West Bank whileo n a personal visit-By AFP and TOI staff-NOV 2,17
Israel has denied entry to a US employee of Amnesty International as part of controversial efforts to bar supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, officials said Wednesday.Amnesty and Israeli officials said Raed Jarrar, an advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at the rights group, was prevented from entering the West Bank on Monday.A spokeswoman for Israel’s interior ministry said the office of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan had recommended he be denied entry over BDS.She could not provide further details and a spokesman for Erdan could not be reached for comment.Amnesty alleged that the refusal was “apparently as retaliation against the organisation’s human rights work.”Jarrar, who is of Palestinian origin, was stopped at a crossing between Jordan and the West Bank while on a personal trip to visit family following his father’s death, Amnesty said.Israel controls the crossing on the West Bank side.“The fact that Raed Jarrar was barred from entry after being interrogated about his work with Amnesty International appears to suggest that this move was taken in retaliation for the organisation’s work on human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Amnesty’s Philip Luther said in a statement.Israel passed legislation in March banning entry to foreigners who support boycotting the country or its settlements.It sees the boycott movement as a strategic threat and accuses it of anti-Semitism — a claim activists deny, saying they only want to see an end to Israel’s occupation.Amnesty said its “campaign on settlements, which (Jarrar) plays a leading role in, does not call for a consumer boycott of Israeli settlement products.”“It is based on the fact that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and that states have a legal obligation not to recognize or assist an illegal situation,” Amnesty said.It said that “Amnesty International neither supports nor opposes boycotts and is not part of the BDS movement.”In September, Amnesty said it was alarmed at reports Israel was planning to target its funding in retaliation for its stance against Jewish settlements in the West Bank.Israel disputes the belief that the settlements are illegal, saying that they are justified on historical and ethical grounds and Israel has valid claims to the West Bank.
US approves $1 bln Qatar arms deal despite Gulf crisis-Contract will service Qatar's F-15QA fighter jets and build them ground facilities and hardened bunkers-By AFP-TOI-NOV 2,17
WASHINGTON — The United States government on Wednesday approved a $1.1 billion deal to service Qatar’s F-15 fighter jets despite the diplomatic stand-off between the Gulf emirate and its neighbors.Qatar, home to one of the largest US military bases in the Middle East, is locked in a bitter dispute with Washington’s other Arab allies in the region, led by Saudi Arabia.US President Donald Trump took Riyadh’s side in June when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has taken a more cautious line, attempting to broker an agreement to cool ties and build a regional front against Iranian influence and extremism.On Wednesday, the State Department announced it had approved a $1.1 billion contract to service Qatar’s F-15QA jets and build them ground facilities and hardened bunkers.“Qatar is an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Persian Gulf region,” the department said, in a note from its Defense Security Cooperation Agency.“Our mutual defense interests anchor our relationship and the Qatar Emiri Air Force plays a predominant role in Qatar’s defense.”The new maintenance and training facilities will also come with improved “cyber security services, mission critical computer resources, support services, force protection services.”Tillerson visited both Riyadh and the Qatari capital Doha last month in an effort to curb Iran’s influence in the region and urge the Arab monarchies to negotiate away their differences.
CIA releases 470,000 more files from bin Laden raid — including on ties to Iran-Documents in the trove range from a 228-page, handwritten personal journal of the al-Qaida leader to a YouTube video on 'How to Crochet a Flower'-By Agencies-TOI-NOV 2,17
WASHINGTON — Never-before-seen video of Osama bin Laden’s son and potential successor was released Wednesday by the CIA in a trove of material recovered during the May 2011 raid that killed the al-Qaida leader at his compound in Pakistan.The video offers the first public look at Hamza bin Laden as an adult. Until now, the public has only seen childhood pictures of him.In recent years, al-Qaida has released audio messages from Hamza bin Laden. And to mark a recent anniversary of 9/11, al-Qaida superimposed a childhood photo of him over a photo of the World Trade Center. He is expected to rise to prominence in the jihadist movement and is being closely watched as the rival Islamic State organization suffers setbacks in the Middle East.One hourlong video shows Hamza bin Laden, sporting a trimmed mustache but no beard, at his wedding. He is sitting on a carpet with other men. A man chanting Koranic verses can be heard in the background. Sporting a traditional white headdress, he verbally accepts his marriage to his bride “on the book of God and the example of the prophet. Peace be upon him.”“Takbeer!” the others shout, marking his marriage with a kind of religious hooray.It was the fourth trove of documents, images and computer files recovered during the raid of bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Earlier materials were released in May 2015, March 2016 and in January of this year.The CIA said the nearly 470,000 additional files offer insights into the inner workings of the terrorist organization responsible for 9/11 and detail its clashes with the Islamic State group, a spin-off of al-Qaida’s operation in Iraq. They also shed light on hardships that al-Qaida faced at the time of bin Laden’s death.Ties to Iran-Controversially, scholars from a Washington think-tank who were given access to the now de-classified trove say the documents also shed new light on al-Qaeda’s murky relationship with Iran.According to Thomas Joscelyn and Bill Roggio, scholars from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who were allowed to see the trove before it was made public, it provides new insights.“Today’s release … provides the opportunity for the American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organization,” said CIA director Mike Pompeo.According to Joscelyn and Roggio, writing in the FDD’s Long War Journal, one of the newly released documents is a 19-page study of Al-Qaeda’s links to Iran written by a Bin Laden lieutenant.Last month, at a seminar hosted by the same FDD that had an advance look at the files, Pompeo had promised to release Abbottabad documents that would show Iran-Al Qaeda ties.“There have been relationships, there are connections. There have been times the Iranians have worked alongside Al-Qaeda,” the US spy chief argued.“There have been connections where, at the very least, they have cut deals so as not to come after each other.”This raised alarm bells among critics of President Donald Trump’s new strategy to counter Iranian influence, wary that hawks like Pompeo may be making a case for war.The full extent and true nature of this relationship is unclear and a matter of dispute among scholars and policy-makers.On the one hand, Tehran and its largely Shiite proxy forces in the Middle East often fight against Sunni movements aligned with Al-Qaeda’s deeply sectarian ideology.The Iranian backed Hezbollah, for example, is locked in conflict against Al-Qaeda linked Syrian rebels.But the very fact that Hamza and other senior figures appear to be able to live under Iranian protection or custody supports claims that Tehran and Bin Laden had a working relationship.One document, Joscelyn and Roggio write, recounts how Iran offered training, money and arms to some of Al-Qaeda’s “Saudi brothers” on condition they attack US interests in the Gulf.But the files also show Tehran and Al-Qaeda sometimes had stark disagreements, and Bin Laden once wrote to Iranian leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to demand his relatives be released.“Other files show that Al-Qaeda kidnapped an Iranian diplomat in order to force an exchange,” Joscelyn writes.“Osama bin Laden’s correspondence shows that he and his lieutenants were also concerned that the Iranians would track Hamza or other family members after they were released.”In addition, Roggio and Joscelyn say, “Bin Laden himself considered plans to counter Iran’s influence throughout the Middle East, which he viewed as pernicious.”Nevertheless, they argue, analysis of the intelligence points to Al-Qaeda having been able to maintain a “core facilitation pipeline” on Iranian soil.Some in Washington are skeptical about the motives behind the release, coming after what the intelligence community had previously said was the last dump from the Bin Laden files.Ned Price, a former CIA official who was seconded as a national security adviser to former president Barack Obama, said the new documents “don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.”Instead, he argued on Twitter, Pompeo may have released the files to bolster the case against Iran as a sponsor of terror, pushing the United States closer to open conflict with Tehran.“These moves suggest he’s reverting to the Bush administration’s playbook: Emphasize terrorist ties as a rationale for regime change,” Price warned.-Father of the groom-Included is a 228-page, handwritten personal journal of bin Laden and about 79,000 images and audio files, including practice reels of public speeches. Also released were home videos and more than 10,000 video files, including the one of Hamza bin Laden’s wedding.After shouts of congratulations, the video moves to another location where the groom and others are sitting on a red carpet dotted with bowls of bananas and apples, bottles of cola, sweets and tea. The groom smiles nervously, revealing his dimples. Osama bin Laden is not seen, but a man notes that the “father of the groom, the prince of the mujahedeen” is overjoyed about his son’s marriage and his happiness will “spread to all the mujahedeen.”At one point, a man stands up and offers a lengthy quiz on the history of Koranic verse, largely for the benefit of young boys in the group who compete to answer the questions. Red heart-shaped balloons decorate the room and in a second video of the wedding, the boys play a rough game of indoor soccer while the adults cheer.Also included in the material is information about how al-Qaida planned to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the network’s work to spread its message through Western media; the group’s effort to exploit the Arab uprisings in 2011; bin Laden’s quest to keep his organization together amid disagreements over beliefs and operational tactics; and the organization’s work to burnish its image with fellow Muslims amid negative media.There are still materials that have not yet been released. The CIA said this includes materials that are sensitive to national security; those protected by copyright; pornography; malware; and blank, corrupted and duplicate files.Not all the material, however, was of a serious nature. There was a video known as “Charlie bit my finger!” depicting a boy and his baby brother who bit his finger. There also were YouTube videos about crochet, including “How to Crochet a Flower.”And bin Laden’s video collection included “Antz,” a 1990s animated adventure comedy about an ant colony, “Chicken Little” and “The Three Musketeers.” Also in the collection were “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden” and several National Geographic programs: “Kung Fu Killers,” ”Inside the Green Berets” and “World’s Worst Venom.”
