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)
BIDEN OKAYS FOR UKRAINE TO USE LONG-RANGE MISSLES INSIDE RUSSIA.RUSSIA NUKE DOCTRIN INTO EFFECT.
WARN THE PEOPLE-WW3
EZEKIEL 33:1-6
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
DANIEL 11:40-45 (WW3 BREAKDOWN)
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
ISAIAH 24:1
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste,(NUKES USED) and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(ARAB/MUSLIM) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man;(RIOTS-BURNING-MURDEROUUS RAGE) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM WANTS WORLD DOMINATION) and every man's hand against him;(DEFENDING THEMSELVES) and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(ARAB/MUSLIMS LIVE WITH ISRAELIS)
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF THEIR MOON GOD ALLAH)
ISAIAH 14:12-23
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, (SATAN) son of the morning! (HEBREW MEANS CRESCENT MOON ANGEL-ISLAM OVIOUSLY)(SATAN IS THE GOD OF ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
EZEKIEL 31:10-17
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.(HELL).
15Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17They also went down into hell with him unto [them that be] slain with the sword; and [they that were] his arm, [that] dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with [them that be] slain by the sword. This [is] Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
EZEKIEL 32:17-32
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, [even] her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of [them that are] slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22 Asshur [is] there and all her company: his graves [are] about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.
24 There [is] Elam (IRAN) and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves [are] round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of [them that be] slain.
26 There [is] Meshech, Tubal,(RUSSIA) (GERMANY, TURKEY) and all her multitude: her graves [are] round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27And they shall not lie with the mighty [that are] fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though [they were] the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with [them that are] slain with the sword.
29 There [is] Edom,(JORDAN) her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by [them that were] slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 There [be] the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with [them that be] slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, [even] Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.
32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with [them that are] slain with the sword, [even] Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
EZEKIEL 38:1-23
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA-ARAB-MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDI-ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(SPAIN) with all the young lions thereof,(ENGLAND,AND ALL ITS ASSOCIATES-CANADA,AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND, USA, AND WESTERN ENGLISH SPEAKING NATIONS) shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?(OIL IS IN SPOIL-I BELIEVE THATS WHY RUSSIA,ARAB/MUSLIMS MARCH TO ISRAEL)
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
EZEKIEL 39:11-22
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)(50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.(ON EARTH)
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.(ON EARTH)
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 32:18-29 (NOTICE ALL THE COUNTRIES LAND PROMISED ISRAEL BY GOD ARE IN THE JORDAN VALLEY BURIED)
18 “Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:
19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised! (IN HELL FIRES)
20 They will fall among those slain by the sword. The sword is appointed! Let them drag her away along with all her multitudes.
21 Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’
22 Assyria (SYRIA) is there with her whole company; her graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who once spread terror in the land of the living.
24 Elam (IRAN) is there with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit.
25 Among the slain they prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed among the slain.
26 Meshech and Tubal (RUSSIA) are there with all their multitudes, with their graves all around them. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their bones, although the terror of the mighty was once in the land of the living.
28 But you too will be shattered and lie down among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.
29 Edom (JORDAN) is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.THIS IS RIGHT FROM 93:
SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another."I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries. I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these words:"Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come." The angel said, "The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God."I saw fires rising to heaven.The angel said: "This is the final judgment. My church shall be purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Water shall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries."The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
PSALMS 83:1-8 (GODS LAND PROMISED TO ISRAEL)
1 O God, do not remain silent;do not turn a deaf ear,do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they (ARAB,MUSLIMS) conspire against your people;they plot against those you cherish.(ISRAELIS)
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;(TREATIES) they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom (JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites, (EGYPTIAN ARABS SO CALLED PALESTIANS) of Moab (JORDAN) and the Hagrites,(EGYPT)
7 Byblos,(HEZBOLLOH) Ammon (JORDAN) and Amalek,(SYRIAN ARABS IN THE SINAI) Philistia,(ARABS) with the people of Tyre (LEBANON).
8 Even Assyria (SYRIA) has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
1 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
1-PROMISCUOUS SEX AMOUNG EACH OTHER.
ROMANS 1:24
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: (THE 60S FREE SEX)
2 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
2-SODOMITES - MEN LUSTING MEN, AND WOMEN LUSTING AFTER WOMEN.
ROMANS 1:26-27
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
3 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
3-A DEPRAVED MIND-ANY SIN GOES.
ROMANS 1:28-31
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO THESE 3 DEPRAVED ABOMINATION SINS?
OH OH NOAHS DAY. WHAT HAPPENED IN NOAHS DAY. THE WHOLE WORLD WAS JUDGED BY WATER.
GENESIS 6:7,17
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
GENESIS 7:4
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
GENESIS 8:16
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
WELL THE SODOMITES PICKED THE RIGHT SIGN OF A RAINBOW FOR JUDGEMENT. THE SODOMITES TRYED TO STEAL GODS SIGN THAT THE WHOLE EARTH WILL NEVER DIE FROM FLOOD WATERS AGAIN. BUT THE JUDGEMENT THIS TIME IS GOING TO BE BY FIRE.NOT WATER.
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
EZIKIEL 38:12-13
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? (AGAINST ISRAEL)
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, (RUSSIA AND HER MUSLIMS HORDES)Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE.(ALL THESE ARAB, MUSLIMS ARE OCCUPYING ISRAELS LAND. GET OFF IMMEDIATELY. BECAUSE YOUR DEATH CULT DAYS ARE NUMBERED)
ISLAMIC DEATH CULT AND FAKE MOHAMMAAD AND FAKE MOON GOD ALLAH WHICH IS SIMPLY SATAN IS THE LEADER OF ISLAM.
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart:(WARS AND DEATH) and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.(CHINA CONTROLS AMERICAS ECONOMY BY BUYING UP DEBT)
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF THEIR MOON GOD ALLAH)
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(ARAB/MUSLIM) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man;(RIOTS-BURNING-MURDEROUUS RAGE) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM WANTS WORLD DOMINATION) and every man's hand against him;(DEFENDING THEMSELVES) and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(ARAB/MUSLIMS LIVE WITH ISRAELIS)
The Family Tree of Ishmael
12 This is the family tree of Ishmael son of Abraham, the son that Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham.
13-16 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order of their births: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah—all the sons of Ishmael. Their settlements and encampments were named after them. Twelve princes with their twelve tribes.
(ISLAM CLAIMS MOHAMMID IS A OFF SPRING OF ISHMAEL THE FIRST BASTARD CHILD OF THE ARABS WITH A SLAVE MOTHER TO THE ISRAELIS.DOES ANY ONE SEE THE NAME OF MOHAMMID IN ISHMAELS FAMILY TREE. BECAUSE I SURE DON'T. I DOUBT MOHAMMID EVEN EXISTS. AND SATAN IS THE LEADER OF ISLAM HHIMSELF. SO ISLAM IS NOT A RELIGION AT ALL. ISLAM IS NOTHING BUT A DEATH CULT THAT WORSHIPS DEATH. AND WILL BURN IN HELL FIRE, THEN THE FINAL JUDGEMENT IN FRONT OF JESUS.ONLY TO BE THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER WITH THEIR NEVER DYING BODIES.ISLAM EXPOSED AS A FRAUD SATAN LIE AND MURDER DEAT CULT.
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 8:44
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
In first, Biden gives okay for Ukraine to use US arms to strike deep inside Russia-Ukraine said planning to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, after Biden reverses long-standing Washington policy, two months before Trump takes office-By Mike Stone and Humeyra Pamuk Today, 11:22 pm-NOV 17,24
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — US President Joe Biden’s administration has allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two US officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday, in a significant reversal of Washington’s policy in the Russia-Ukraine war.Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.The move comes two months before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20 and follows months of pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow Ukraine’s military to use US weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.The change comes largely in response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and in Kyiv, a US official and a source familiar with the decision said.The White House and the State Department declined to comment. The Ukrainian foreign ministry and president’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Russia has warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine’s use of US weapons as a major escalation.Ukraine’s first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306 kilometers), according to the sources.While some US officials have expressed skepticism that allowing long-range strikes will change the war’s overall trajectory, the decision could help Ukraine at a moment when Russian forces are making gains and possibly put Kyiv in a better negotiating position when and if ceasefire talks happen.It is not clear if Trump will reverse Biden’s decision when he takes office. Trump has long criticized the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war quickly, without explaining how.A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But one of Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers, Richard Grenell, criticized the decision.“Escalating the wars before he leaves office,” Grenell said, in an X post, responding to the news.Some congressional Republicans had urged Biden to loosen the rules on how Ukraine can use US-provided weapons.Since Trump’s November 5 victory, senior Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they would use the remaining time to ensure Ukraine can fight effectively next year or negotiate peace with Russia from a “position of strength.”‘Way too late’The US believes more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia and that most of them have moved to the Kursk region and have begun to engage in combat operations.Russia is advancing at its fastest rate since 2022 despite taking heavy losses, and Ukraine said it had clashed with some of those North Korean troops deployed to Kursk.Stretched by personnel shortages, Ukrainian forces have lost some of the ground they captured in an August incursion into Kursk that Zelensky said could serve as a bargaining chip.“Removing targeting restrictions will allow the Ukrainians to stop fighting with one hand tied behind their back,” Alex Plitsas, senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, said.“However, like everything else, I believe history will say the decision came way too late. Just like the ATACMS, HIMARS, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Abrams Tanks and F-16. They were all needed much sooner,” he added.Despite Zelensky’s pleas, the White House had been reluctant to allow US-supplied weapons to be used to strike targets deep inside Russia for fear that might escalate the conflict.Kyiv’s other allies have been supplying weapons, but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, out of concern such strikes could prompt retaliation that draws NATO countries into the war or provokes a nuclear conflict.Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, also called the move a response to North Korea’s involvement.“President Biden responded to the entry of North Korean troops into the war and the massive Russian missile strike in a language that V. Putin understands — by removing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western missiles,” Sikorski said on X.
17 Nov, 18:22-US military industrial complex seeks to unleash World War III — Donald Trump Jr."The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives," he said
NEW YORK, November 18. /TASS/. The US military industrial complex wants to unleash World War III before Donald Trump is inaugurated, his son, Donald Trump Jr. stated on his X social network account."The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives," Trump Jr. said commenting on the permission of US President Joe Biden to strike deep into Russia with the use of American long-range missiles."Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!" Donald Trump Jr. added.The New York Times reported on November 17 that US President Joe Biden had allowed to use US-supplied long-range missiles, known as the Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, to strike inside Russia.Later that day, France’s Le Figaro reported that France and the United Kingdom followed Biden’s lead and also allowed to use their weapons to strike inside Russia.
Biden authorizes Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles for deeper strikes inside Russia-By AAMER MADHANI, COLLEEN LONG, ZEKE MILLER, MATTHEW LEE and ELLEN KNICKMEYER-Updated 5:04 PM EST, November 17, 2024
MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the weapons as Russia deploys thousands of North Korean troops to reinforce its war, according to a U.S. official and three other people familiar with the matter.The decision allowing Kyiv to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, for attacks farther inside Russia comes as President Vladimir Putin positions North Korean troops along Ukraine’s northern border to try to reclaim hundreds of miles of territory seized by Ukrainian forces.Biden’s move also follows the presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has said he would bring about a swift end to the war and raised uncertainty about whether his administration would continue the United States’ vital military support for Ukraine.The official and the others knowledgeable about the matter were not authorized to discuss the U.S. decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s reaction Sunday was notably restrained.“Strikes are not made with words,” he said during his nightly video address. “Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.”What to know about Trump’s second term:Staffing the administration: Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far. Plus, a look at recess appointments and how could Trump use them to fill his Cabinet.Follow all of our coverage as Donald Trump assembles his second administration.Zelenskyy and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the U.S. ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.Zelenskyy’s statement came shortly after he posted a message of condolence on Telegram following a Russian attack on a nine-story building that killed at least eight people in the northern city of Sumy, 40 kilometres (24 miles) from the border with Russia.Russia also launched a massive drone and missile attack, described by officials as the largest in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians. The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity before the winter.“And this is the answer to everyone who tried to achieve something with Putin through talks, phone calls, hugs, and appeasement,” Zelenskyy said.Some supporters have argued that the limitation and other U.S. constraints could cost Ukraine the war. The debate has become a source of disagreement among Ukraine’s NATO allies.Biden had remained opposed, determined to hold the line against any escalation that he felt could draw the U.S. and other NATO members into direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.News of Biden’s decision followed meetings over the last two days with the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China. The addition of North Korean troops was central to the talks, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.Biden did not mention the decision during a speech at a stop in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil on his way to the Group of 20 summit.Asked about the decision, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a press conference that the body’s position is “to avoid a permanent deterioration of the war in Ukraine.”“We want peace, we want fair peace,” Guterres said on Sunday before the summit in Rio de Janeiro. He didn’t elaborate.The longer-range missiles are likely to be used in response to North Korea’s decision to support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to one of the people familiar with the development.The overall supply of ATACMS missiles is short, so U.S. officials in the past have questioned whether they could give Ukraine enough to make a difference. Some supporters of Ukraine say that even a few long-range strikes deeper inside Russia would force its military to change deployments and expend more of its resources.North Korea has provided thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year. The introduction of North Korean troops to the conflict comes as Moscow has seen a favorable shift in momentum. Trump has signaled that he could push Ukraine to agree to give up some land seized by Russia to find an end to the conflict.As many as 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, according to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian assessments. U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials say North Korea also has provided Russia with significant amounts of munitions to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.Trump, who takes office in January, spoke for months as a candidate about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to be over, but he mostly ducked questions about whether he wanted U.S. ally Ukraine to win.He also repeatedly slammed the Biden administration for giving Kyiv tens of billions of dollars in aid. His victory has Ukraine’s international backers worrying that any rushed settlement would mostly benefit Putin.America is Ukraine’s most valuable ally in the war, providing more than $56.2 billion in security assistance since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.Worried about Russia’s response, however, the Biden administration repeatedly has delayed providing some specific advanced weapons sought by Ukraine, agreeing only under pressure from Kyiv, its supporters and in consultation with allies.That includes initially refusing Zelenskyy’s pleas for advanced tanks, Patriot air defense systems and F-16 fighter jets, among other systems.The White House agreed in May to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weaponry for limited strikes just across the border with Russia.___Long, Miller, Knickmeyer and Lee reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv contributed to this report.
Commentary-How credible is Russia’s evolving nuclear doctrine? Steven Pifer-November 14, 2024
Russia’s doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons has gone through several evolutions over the past 15 years. Changes in 2010 and 2020 seemed relatively benign. In September 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced additional modifications, which appear more meaningful.These recent modifications were made while Western officials debated whether to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to conduct strikes into Russian territory. They introduce ambiguity on when Russia might employ nuclear arms in a bid to persuade the West to stand down. But those modifications may well stretch Russian declaratory policy beyond the point of credibility.Russian nuclear doctrine-Nuclear weapon states use doctrines to communicate policy on when they might use nuclear arms. According to the Biden administration’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, “the fundamental role of [U.S.] nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear attack on the United States, our Allies, and partners. The United States would only consider the use of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its Allies and partners.”The U.S. government does not define “extreme circumstances” beyond saying the adversary’s attack would have a “strategic effect,” leaving a degree of ambiguity.Declaratory policy may not necessarily be the same as action policy—that is, what a state would really do in a crisis or conflict. In 1982, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev announced a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons. However, following the Soviet Union’s collapse, revelations of Soviet war plans in Europe showed they envisaged the first use of nuclear weapons in a war with NATO. In any event, the decision to use nuclear arms would be one of the most consequential ever made; that decision would depend far more on the leader and the specific circumstances at the time rather than on a declared policy.A relatively benign Russian doctrine-The Russian government released a new military doctrine in 2010. It was seen as narrowing the circumstances in which Russia might resort to nuclear weapons compared to the 2000 military doctrine. The 2010 document reserved the right to employ nuclear arms in two circumstances: “the utilization of nuclear or other types of weapons of mass destruction against [Russia] and (or) its allies” and “in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation involving the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is under threat.”This appeared benign. It was difficult to see circumstances in which the three Western nuclear-weapon states—the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—would launch a first strike on Russia with nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction. As for a conventional assault that might threaten Russia’s existence, Napolean and Hitler demonstrated the folly of that.In 2020, the Kremlin issued a document entitled “On Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence.” This document added two circumstances to those specified in 2010 for Russian nuclear use: the receipt of “reliable data on a launch of ballistic missiles attacking the territory of the Russian Federation and/or its allies,” or an attack (presumably with conventional weapons) against “critical Russian governmental or military sites of the Russian Federation, disruption of which would undermine nuclear force response actions.”The first modification suggested a launch-on-warning policy, meaning Russia might launch its nuclear weapons before incoming missiles could arrive on target and destroy them. This likely referred to an attack by nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles and/or submarine-launched ballistic missiles, though it could also have taken into account the U.S. Department of Defense’s interest in 2019 in a ground-launched intermediate-range ballistic missile. (As noted in the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, the U.S. military “maintains the capability to launch nuclear forces under conditions of an ongoing nuclear attack,” but “it does not rely on a launch-under-attack policy.”)As for an attack on critical government or military facilities, that language mimicked language in the Trump administration’s 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, which stated that the United States might consider using nuclear weapons in response to a “significant non-nuclear strategic attack” against “U.S. or allied nuclear forces, their command and control, or warning and attack assessment capabilities.” This is not startling; it would seem logical that the United States and Russia would consider using nuclear forces if those forces or their command-and-control facilities came under significant attack by non-nuclear weapons.September 2024 modifications to Russian doctrine-Facing the possibility of a broad Ukrainian counteroffensive in September 2022, Moscow rattled the nuclear saber and then quickly toned down its nuclear rhetoric. However, as the Russian military failed to make significant progress in 2023 and NATO members supplied Ukraine with increasingly sophisticated weapons, some Russian security experts suggested that Russia lower its threshold for nuclear use. Sergey Karaganov proposed limited nuclear strikes against Western Europe to reestablish the West’s fear of Russia’s nuclear deterrent. He downplayed the risk of almost certain nuclear retaliation, and his proposal was rejected by other Russian security experts as well as Putin.Nevertheless, the idea of threatening nuclear use to dissuade the West from supporting Ukraine apparently took hold within the Kremlin. The Russian military has given greater visibility to exercises involving non-strategic (tactical) nuclear arms, most recently last spring. On September 25, 2024, Putin described further changes to Russian nuclear doctrine, though they were not as radical as experts such as Karaganov sought. First, Moscow would consider “aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state” as a “joint attack” on Russia. Second, Russia would consider using nuclear arms on “receipt of reliable information about a massive launch of air and space attack weapons and their crossing of our state border,” to include an attack by “strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft.” Third, Russia would reserve “the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Russia and Belarus as a member of the [Russia-Belarus] Union State,” including an attack in which the adversary “using conventional weapons, creates a critical threat to our sovereignty.”The first point on “joint attack” aims to implicate NATO’s three nuclear-weapon states in conventional attacks by Ukraine against Russian territory. The second point revises the 2020 modification regarding receipt of information of an attack with ballistic missiles to include attack by virtually any kind of aircraft, missile, or drone. It seems credible that a large-scale attack on Russian nuclear forces using air-delivered weapons, cruise missiles, and drones could trigger a Russian launch of nuclear weapons. Would Moscow resort to nuclear weapons in response to an attack with short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and/or drones focused on units in Russia supporting military operations in Ukraine? That seems nowhere near as credible.The third point makes two modifications. First, the 2010 doctrine threatened nuclear use in the event of a conventional attack putting the existence of the Russian state at stake. The September 25 language covers Belarus, much as U.S. doctrine covers U.S. allies. Second, the third point changes the criterion for when Russia might use nuclear weapons from a conventional attack that puts Russia’s existence “under threat” to one that “poses a critical threat” to Russian (or Belarusian) sovereignty. That formulation is ambiguous and undoubtedly intended to suggest a lowering of Russia’s nuclear threshold. But what would constitute a critical threat to Russian sovereignty? Real threat or bluff? The latest changes to Russian nuclear doctrine introduce greater ambiguity, which the Kremlin undoubtedly hopes will give Western governments pause in decisions on providing weapons to Ukraine or lifting restrictions on their use. Vague Russian threats since 2022 apparently have slowed Western decisions about arming Ukraine but have not prevented those decisions. The kinds of weapons now provided—such as artillery, main battle tanks, ATACMS missile systems, and F-16 fighters—are far more sophisticated than the weapons provided to Ukraine prior to 2022.The problem confronting the Kremlin is that the nearly 80-year existence of nuclear weapons suggests they are useful for deterring a nuclear attack and, possibly, a major conventional attack. Beyond that, their influence appears limited. The possession of a large nuclear arsenal did not help the United States in Vietnam or the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.Would Russia use nuclear weapons if its nuclear forces came under concerted Western attack? Almost certainly. Would Russia use nuclear weapons if Ukraine used U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles to strike military targets in Russia that were supporting Russian operations inside Ukraine? Moscow wants the West to think so. But such nuclear use would be fraught with political and military peril for Russia. Putin has accepted his ostracism from the West. Russian nuclear use against a non-nuclear weapon state would play badly in Beijing and New Delhi and likely make Putin a global pariah. Indeed, Putin suggests a lower nuclear threshold when his close partner China is again pressing for an agreement on no first use. More consequentially, using nuclear weapons would open a Pandora’s box full of nasty, unpredictable, and potentially catastrophic consequences—including for Russia.The Kremlin hopes the West will ignore all that and be dissuaded from further helping Ukraine. But Western governments can and should question whether the new elements of Russia’s nuclear doctrine and implied nuclear threats have any real credibility.Author-Steven Pifer-Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative.
How Serious a Threat Is Russia’s New Nuclear Doctrine? Russia’s nuclear shield insures it against NATO’s large-scale involvement in the war in Ukraine, but below that threshold, the West is doing more and more to support its Ukrainian allies, leaving the Kremlin facing the difficult question of how to restore the effectiveness of its deterrent.
by Alexander Gabuev-Published on October 3, 2024 Carnegie Politika
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced imminent changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine. Those changes, announced in public comments at the start of a Security Council meeting on September 25, amount to a lowering of the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.The specific wording of the new version of the doctrine will only be known once the corresponding decree is published, but Putin listed the main innovations in his short speech. The first proposal is that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but “with the participation or support” of a nuclear one, should be considered a joint attack. The second defines the conditions for the possible use of nuclear weapons: Moscow will be prepared to use them “upon receipt of reliable information of a massive launch of air and space attack weapons and their crossing of the state border,” including strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, and hypersonic aircraft.Finally, nuclear weapons may be used in response to an attack on Russia and Belarus using conventional weapons if that attack poses a “critical threat to sovereignty.” Under the current version of Russia’s nuclear deterrence policy, approved by Putin in June 2020—just four years ago, but in a very different pre-war era—Moscow is only prepared to use nuclear weapons in response to an attack using conventional weapons specifically against the Russian Federation, and only in cases “when the very existence of the state is threatened.”It was no coincidence that Putin made his comments on the eve of a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, where a decision was due to be made on allowing Kyiv to use Western missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. That conversation is just the latest episode in an extremely worrying trend for the Kremlin in which the West is expanding its aid for Ukraine while showing increasing disregard for Russia’s red lines. In response, the Russian leadership wants to show that its statements should be taken more seriously, and a tougher nuclear doctrine is one of the few tools available to do that. There’s no guarantee that this step will help, however.Only a couple of years ago, it was hard to imagine Western military personnel ever bombing the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, or that such an event could possibly take place without sparking a war between Russia and NATO. Yet that is precisely what happened one year ago, when the Ukrainian armed forces launched a strike on Sevastopol using British Storm Shadow missiles. Flight missions for these missiles, as Putin himself stated, could only have been assigned by NATO military personnel. A leaked conversation, apparently between German air force officers discussing the reasons for Berlin’s refusal to supply Kyiv with long-range Taurus missiles, revealed similar concerns.But those strikes against Sevastopol did happen, and now the Russian leadership is ramping up its rhetoric in an attempt to stop the West from allowing Ukraine to fire NATO missiles into internationally recognized Russian territory. According to Putin, such permission would mean that “NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are fighting Russia.” In other words, even the president indirectly recognizes the difference between legally established Russian territory and territory captured from Ukraine, including Crimea. That recognition—a position that if publicly voiced in Russia by anyone else would carry the risk of a prison sentence for discrediting the army—is compelling evidence that while NATO is successfully deterring Russia, Russia is not so successful at deterring NATO.The problem is that right from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin—who had envisaged that it would all be over in a matter of days—has deployed extremely harsh threats against the West. “Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history,” he said in his address on February 24, 2022, as the invasion began. At first, Western leaders took him at his word, but it soon became clear that Putin would not achieve his maximal goals in Ukraine and that the Ukrainians, with Western help, could rout Russia on the battlefield and force it to retreat.Washington then began to test the red lines that Moscow had initially proclaimed. Russia continued to threaten the West with a high price for intervention in the war, but in practice there was little it could do about Western aid to Kyiv, which over the two-and-a-half years of war has grown from modest supplies of small arms and Javelin anti-tank missiles to multibillion-dollar packages that include artillery, air defense, tanks, and F-16 fighters.The West is trying to nudge Russia’s red lines as carefully as possible, via long discussions, media appearances, and communication with Moscow through intelligence channels. This approach irritates Kyiv, but it reduces the risk of an emotional response from Putin. After all, the pyramid of U.S. interests is topped by the security of the United States itself, followed by the security of its formal allies, and only then the interests of friends and partners, which right now include Ukraine.Washington also believes that unless the Kremlin finds itself on the brink of military defeat in Ukraine, the risk of the use of nuclear weapons remains low. But it is still doing what it can to avoid getting into dangerous situations. Despite Ukrainian drone attacks on the Kremlin and Russian radar stations, which are elements of its nuclear shield, the White House has no intention of changing its cautious approach.In other words, the nuclear shield has insured Russia against NATO’s large-scale involvement in the war, but below that threshold the West is doing more and more to support its Ukrainian allies. The war has shown that Russia does not have a sufficient arsenal of high-precision conventional weapons to mitigate many of the threats to it, or to break the resistance of a country as large as Ukraine. The Kremlin therefore faces the difficult question of how to restore the effectiveness of Russia’s deterrent.The upcoming changes to the nuclear doctrine are intended to be part of Russia’s response. But the changes announced by the president, although verbally lowering the threshold for nuclear use, leave the Kremlin with plenty of room for maneuver and interpretation.As a result, the most likely scenario for the ongoing war is not a nuclear attack, but increasingly large-scale attacks by Russia and Ukraine against each other with drones and missiles. The latter will be a growing problem for Russia, since Kyiv is actively developing its missile program with the help of Western countries. Ukrainian ballistics could become a much more serious threat as early as next year. As for deterrence and retaliation against the West, the Kremlin is likely to double down on using its toolkit of sabotage, arson, and targeted killings on NATO territory. The transfer of sophisticated Russian weapons to Western adversaries, such as the Houthis in Yemen, is another option on the escalation ladder—but such a bold move will come with its own cost, including pushback from partners vital for the Kremlin’s war economy, such as Saudi Arabia.The irony is that the supposed threats from Ukraine that Putin used to justify the upcoming invasion at the end of 2021 were at the time purely hypothetical and scarcely believable. Yet during the course of the war, many of them have become reality, like self-fulfilling prophecies. By attacking Ukraine, Putin himself created a problem that did not exist before. It’s a problem that will haunt the Kremlin in a multitude of ways for many years to come.Alexander Gabuev-Director, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center-Alexander Gabuev-Nuclear Policy-Russia-Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Putin Pulls From Stalin’s Playbook in Sending North Koreans Disguised as Buryats to Ukraine-The role of Buryats in the Korean War and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are two episodes of the same story: an Indigenous minority being exploited in imperial wars by an imperial power.By Maria Vyushkova-Nov. 14, 2024-Buryat soldiers. t.me/poddergimnas
As news of North Korean troops being sent to Russia to fight against Ukraine made global headlines, some sources claimed these troops were being trained at a military base in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, to be sent to the Ukraine front line “disguised as Buryats” (since both Koreans and Buryats are Asians and ostensibly hard to tell apart). Buryats are an Indigenous Siberian nation of Mongolic origin which is known to be significantly overrepresented both among Russia’s invading forces in Ukraine and among the Russian-side casualties of the war.“Putin has negotiated that Koreans from the DPRK [North Korea] would fight in Ukraine under the guise of Buryats, the media writes. Another confirmation that anyone can be passed off as Buryats. ‘Buryats,’ unfortunately, is a collective image (of any Asian soldiers) in the context of this war,” wrote Alexandra Garmazhapova, a prominent Buryat journalist and the president of the Free Buryatia Foundation.A week later, the Free Buryatia Foundation published a cartoon where President Vladimir Putin instructs two Korean soldiers: “Korean Comrades, your task is to pretend to be Buryats pretending to be Donbas coal miners!” This references the fact that Buryat troops, along with other Russian forces, were deployed to the Donbas War under the guise of a “Donbas militia.”“History repeats itself in strange ways,” says Dr. Sayana Namsaraeva, a Buryat scholar and senior research associate at the Mongolia & Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge whose recent research work focuses on Buryat and other Soviet-Asian involvement in the 1950-1953 Korean War in which Buryats, Sakha, Tuvans and other Soviet Asians were deployed to fight for North Korea in the Korean War under the guise of Chinese volunteers. Indeed, one cannot help but notice the parallel between the two wars. On the other hand, the similarity between the covert Soviet participation in the Korean War and Russia’s role in the Donbas War is also obvious, with ethnic Buryat troops being involved in both.Though the participation of Soviet troops in the Korean War has always been denied by the Soviet government and all Soviet soldiers involved in the conflict had to sign a non-disclosure statement, the situation changed in post-Soviet Russia. The involvement of the Soviet Asian soldiers in the Korean War was officially recognized, and their stories were told in local media in Buryatia, Sakha (Yakutia) and Tuva.However, these testimonies attracted little attention, and Buryat involvement in the Korean War remains understudied and largely missing from the collective memory, its true scale still unknown.So why are Buryats being singled out? The republic is situated close to the Russia-North Korea border and has numerous military bases and a significant Asian population. Though a minority (30% of the population) in their own region, Buryats still are one of the biggest Indigenous Siberian groups, second only to Sakha. Historically, Buryatia has one of the highest concentrations of military bases relative to its population. The above factors likely contributed to the role of Buryatia in both the Korean War and Russia’s war in Ukraine.The region is struggling economically, which makes military service a competitive job option for local men. These two factors led to ethnic Buryats being overrepresented among contract soldiers in the Russian army by the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014, when troops from Buryatia were infamously deployed to Donbas, their Asian appearance blowing the cover of Russia’s active military involvement in the conflict.The analysis of the obituaries of the Russian-side casualties shows that ethnic Buryats are significantly overrepresented among the Russian-side casualties of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. This likely results from the high per capita concentration of military bases in both Buryatia and the Zabaikalsky region and how Russia’s military leadership has considered units from Buryatia to be expendable.Moreover, in the Ukrainian public discourse, “Buryat” became a collective term for any Asian-looking Russian troops, no matter their actual ethnicity. Given that such Asian ethnicities as Tuvans, Kazakhs and Altai are also overrepresented among the Russian invasion forces, Ukrainian media tend to significantly overestimate the scale of Buryat involvement in the war.This also led to stereotyped allegations that Buryats were responsible for war crimes such as the Bucha massacre. However, it has been proved beyond any reasonable doubt that it was the paratroopers from the Russian city of Pskov, almost exclusively ethnic Russians, who were responsible for the occupation and mass murder of Ukrainian civilians in that city. Nevertheless, the “Buryats in Bucha” myth persists, and the myth of the “bloodthirsty Buryat savage” has been spread by such prominent public figures as Pope Francis. Given all the above, it is unsurprising that Putin and his generals may try to pass the North Korean troops for Buryats, even though their alleged numbers way exceed the total number of ethnic Buryat soldiers ever involved in this war. This may help the Russian side conceal the true scale of North Korean participation in the war. According to a study published by iStories and the Conflict Intelligence Team in August, the 2023-early 2024 military recruitment campaign in Buryatia failed to provide as many soldiers as had been expected. The high death toll among the contract soldiers who were in the military as of February 2022, along with disproportionate mobilization in September-October 2022, resulted in much fewer people still willing to join the army, even with the promise of incredibly generous wages compared to the region’s median income. So the North Korean troops probably are, in a sense, a “replacement” that fills in this shortage of recruits from Buryatia.To me, as an ethnic Buryat, both stories — the Buryat soldiers deployed to the Korean War by Stalin, and the North Korean troops being sent to fight against Ukraine disguised as “Buryats” — are actually two episodes of the same story: an Indigenous minority being exploited in imperial wars by an imperial power. Not just using Buryat men as cannon fodder for those wars, but also exploiting our name and identity to cover up its true actions.The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.Maria Vyushkova-Dr. Maria Vyushkova is a research scientist, Buryat activist and expert in how Russia's ethnic minorities are involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Joe Biden lifts ban on Ukraine using US weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory-Reuters
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration has lifted restrictions that had blocked Ukraine from using U.S.-provided weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, said three sources familiar with the matter, in a significant change to U.S. policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.The White House declined to comment.The move by the United States, which comes just over two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, comes after months of requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to allow Ukraine's military to use U.S. weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.The change follows Russia's deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv.The first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles, according to the sources.While some U.S. officials have expressed skepticism that allowing long-range strikes will change the war's overall trajectory, the decision could help Ukraine at a moment when Russian forces are making gains and possibly put Kyiv in a better negotiating position when and if ceasefire talks happen.It is not clear if Trump will reverse Biden's decision when he takes office. Trump has long criticized the scale of U.S. financial and military aid to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war quickly, without explaining how.Still, some congressional Republicans have urged Biden to loosen the rules on how Ukraine can use U.S.-provided weapons.Russia has warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine's use of U.S. weapons as a major escalation.(Reporting by Mike Stone and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker)
opinion-Russia Supporting Houthi Rebels Is Diplomatic Suicide-By Saahil Menon-Nov. 4, 2024
On Dec. 8, 2022, Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout had his 25-year prison sentence cut short by the Biden administration to secure the release of American basketball player Brittney Griner from a Mordovian penal colony on trumped-up drug possession charges. Nonetheless, recent revelations that he is on the cusp of brokering $10 million worth of automated weaponry sales to the Houthi movement suggest otherwise. Admittedly, Bout might not have received President Vladimir Putin’s blessing for his post-incarceration wheeling-and-dealing given the immediate threat his Yemeni clients pose to Russia’s regional allies such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Following a 2014 coup d’état in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest nation, then Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed Bin Salman waged an all-out military campaign and economic siege against the Iranian-backed Houthi insurgents with help from the UAE, hoping to bomb and starve them into submission. That said, the Houthis’ capacity to bring the war home and imperil national security in expat-driven sheikhdoms which pride themselves on being safe havens for foreign direct investment forced the aggressors to pursue an off-ramp. The puritanical strand of Shia Islam the Houthis adhere to has, however, left them immune to being bought off with their neighbors’ blood-soaked petrodollars.Saudi Arabia’s rationale behind entertaining Chinese-initiated peace talks with Iran last year was the misguided notion that normalizing relations would convince the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to yank on Ansarallah’s leash. Though routinely labeled an Iranian proxy, the Houthis have far greater agency and latitude than was presumed to be the case before Oct. 7, 2023. The Red Sea Crisis they manufactured in defense of Palestine bears testament to how ideology supersedes all other material or geostrategic considerations for the Houthis. By the first quarter of 2024, year-on-year maritime traffic through the Suez Canal and Bab El-Mandeb Strait had halved thanks to Houthi-led piracy.The Kremlin’s underhanded cooperation with Yemen’s de-facto government is just the latest example of its ineptitude at navigating the deeply complex rivalries dividing the Middle East. The Russian Envoy in Tehran was summoned twice last year over Moscow endorsing the UAE’s territorial claims to three disputed islands in the Persian Gulf. Needless to say, arming and rehabilitating the Houthis is a whole new ball game that risks blowing apart Russia’s alliance with the Gulf Cooperation Council. Saudi Arabia’s holding pattern regarding BRICS accession coupled with Crown Prince MbS’ no-show at the Kazan Summit last week suggests fault lines are already emerging. Saudi-Russia ties under the Biden administration have been on overdrive. The two OPEC+ heavyweights famously colluded in December 2022 to slash oil output by 2 million barrels a day and send crude prices soaring in defiance of Washington’s wishes. Riyadh also threatened to sell off its European debt holdings if the G7 went ahead with plans to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets while Saudi investment company Kingdom Holding plowed over $500 million into Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil when the Ukraine conflict began. Yet, Russia’s decision to equip the Houthis with satellite data with Donald Trump’s potential re-election looming ahead could turn this thriving partnership on its head.As signatories to the Abraham Accords which host United States Central Command’s Al Dharfa Air Base and the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet respectively, the UAE and Bahrain will be considered fair game by the Islamic Republic’s foot soldiers should the shadow war between Israel and Iran spiral out of control. Whereas the Bahrainis have painted an even bolder target on their backs by agreeing to be part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, Russia has much more to lose if instability arises in the Emirates. Besides bilateral trade tripling to $7 billion during the last three years, Dubai has positioned itself as a welcoming hub” for sanctioned oligarchs no longer welcome in legacy Western capitals as well as white-collar Russians employed by multinational firms.Notwithstanding the GCC states’ continued willingness to invest in Russia, facilitating exchanges via mutual visa waivers and sending high-level delegations to flagship annual events like the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin appears prepared to sacrifice a profitable relationship with moderate Arab nations on the altar of burying Pax-Americana. Apart from their vast pool of battle-hardened manpower equally gung-ho about ending Western hegemony and paving the way for a more balanced world order, the Houthis – proscribed terrorist organization by the U.S. – do not present any real value proposition to Moscow.The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.Saahil Menon-Saahil Menon is an independent wealth advisor based in Dubai. He has written for the Kyiv Post and Emerging Europe.
NATO's largest artillery exercise underway in Finland.
Rovaniemi, Finland, Nov 17 (AFP) Nov 17, 2024-Finland is hosting its first large-scale NATO artillery exercise since the Nordic nation joined the military alliance last year, with live fire drills starting on Sunday.The exercise conducted in the northern Lapland region in November is part of Dynamic Front 25, the largest NATO artillery exercise ever held in Europe, with fire drills in Finland as well as Estonia, Germany, Romania and Poland.Running from 4 to 28 November, it marks the first time NATO allies are practicing artillery fire at a large scale on Finnish soil.The Nordic nation, which shares a border with Russia, joined NATO last year, dropping decades of military non-alignment after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022."We work on interoperability with our allies, to carry out artillery fire in coherence with our NATO allies," said Romain, a French army captain and unit commander of the Ecrins battery of the 93rd mountain artillery regiment, giving only his first name.His team was dressed in warm camouflage uniforms in a field where the temperature was a few degrees below zero Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).Up to 3,600 soldiers from Finland, the United States, Sweden, Britain, France and some other NATO members were rehearsing as a damp cold took hold of Lapland's vast arctic landscapes.The Lapland firing range and training area, called Rovajarvi, is Europe's biggest."The area itself is the reason why allies want to come to the Rovajarvi exercise area to train", Finnish Colonel Janne Makitalo, director of the exercise, told AFP.It allows for "multi-sided tactical fire exchanges for field artillery" while training soldiers to handle the challenging conditions and varying terrain in the Arctic region, Makitalo said.
Why long-range missiles could be either a silver bullet or a powder keg for Ukraine-Russia war-Cybele Mayes-Osterman-Tom Vanden Brook-USA TODAY
(This story has been updated with new information)-WASHINGTON − A decision allowing Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with U.S.-guided weapons appears imminent as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presses western allies for permission this week at the United Nations General Assembly.The stakes couldn’t be much higher.Ukraine wants to destroy Russian bases that have launched devastating airstrikes on residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure, while Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that Western-backed strikes in Russia’s heartland will pull NATO countries into the war.The calculations for President Joe Biden and the Pentagon are muddy, as ever, in a war that has stretched on for more than two and a half years.The administration has balanced supporting Ukraine against the unprovoked invasion, preventing a wider conflagration in Europe and maintaining weapons stocks in the Pentagon’s own arsenal. Zelenskyy is expected to plead his case in White House meetings Thursday with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.Yet feared red lines with Putin – arming Ukraine with Abrams tanks, long-range rocket artillery and F-16 fighter jets – have been crossed without sparking a wider war.What Ukraine wants-Earlier in the war, Ukraine deployed a shorter-range precision weapon to destroy Russian command posts and supply depots. They worked, forcing the Russian military to move sensitive targets farther from the front line.Zelenskyy now wants to take the fight deeper into Russia with longer-range missiles.Zelenskyy already has western-supplied, long-range precision weapons – the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, and British Storm Shadow and French SCALP missiles. ATACMS have a range of up to 190 miles, while French and British missiles can reach around 155 miles. But precise targeting at their longest range requires technical guidance that only the Pentagon can provide, limiting their effectiveness.U.S. policy has been altered to allow its weapons to attack inside Russia close to the Ukraine border. But the prohibition on striking targets at the high range of the weapons remains in effect, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.There have been ongoing discussions within the administration about allowing deeper missile strikes but no decisions have been made, the official said.Ukraine wants to destroy Russia’s ability to launch attacks with Soviet-era weapons launched from aircraft inside Russian airspace that have been outfitted to glide to their targets. So-called glide bombs have proved difficult to defend against.How the weapons could help Ukraine fight Russia-Russia relies on bases outside the current range of Ukrainian missiles to launch airstrikes and stockpiles large stores in its own country to conduct ground attacks, giving them a “huge advantage," said Fred Kagan, a senior fellow and director of the critical threats project at the American Enterprise Institute.“The more that the Ukrainians are able to strike these perfectly legitimate military targets that the Russians are using to attack Ukraine, the more countermeasures the Russians have to take that reduce the effectiveness of Russian military action,” he said.Ukraine has used its weapons to carry out long-range strikes, highlighting the advantage of hitting targets inside Russia.Most notably, the Ukrainian military demolished a Russian arsenal around 240 miles from Moscow last week in what Kagan called the third such Ukrainian drone attack. That strike reportedly destroyed 30,000 tons of ammunition, “probably several months’ worth,” according to Kagan."We've seen the intensity of some Russian air artillery operations drop after these attacks,” he said.Longer-range strikes would force Russia to move its command posts, supply depots and airfields farther from Ukraine, according to a senior defense official who also was not authorized to speak publicly. Longer supply lines slow the restocking of vital equipment, and longer flight times mean warplanes will have less time to loiter when they reach their patrol area.Beyond those tactical advantages, the strikes could have larger, strategic effects, the official said. The war will drag on even longer, and Russia, which has suffered hundreds of thousands of troops wounded and killed, will have to reconsider its costs, the official said.Why supplying Ukraine with weapons is complicated-Escalating the war could have unforeseen consequences.Russian military doctrine allows for the use of smaller, tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield. Seen as unlikely, the possibility of detonating a nuclear weapon can’t be dismissed.More immediately, supplying Ukraine with precision weapons means there are fewer in U.S. stockpiles. They’d be in high demand in a conflict with North Korea, a perpetual saber rattler, or with China and its longstanding designs on Taiwan.The limited number of western precision missiles for use in Ukraine means their effect on Russia would be muted and thus not worth the potential cost in escalation, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.Kagan doesn’t buy that argument. There’s no reason to believe Putin’s threats are any less hollow than before, he said.“The burden thus far has been put on those advocating for allowing Ukraine to strike legitimate military targets in Russia,” Kagan said. “But I think the burden really needs to shift now to those who say that some fear of an unspecified escalation should continue to cause us to hold the Ukrainians back.”
Russia Pounds Ukraine With ‘Massive’ Attack in ‘Hellish’ Night-By Sergii Volskyi for AFP-NOV 17,24
Russia on Sunday pummelled Ukraine with a "massive" aerial barrage of missiles and drones, killing at least nine people across the country in the largest attack in months that Kyiv called "hellish."Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow launched 120 missiles and almost 100 drones, targeting Kyiv as well as southern, central and far-western corners of the country.Civilians were killed in the Mykolaiv, Lviv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions."A hellish night," the spokesman for Ukraine's airforce Yuriy Ignat said on social media, saying Kyiv downed "144 targets."The strikes caused massive power cuts across the country, with fears of a precarious winter to come.Officials in Kyiv called it one of the biggest attacks in the almost three-year-long Russian invasion."A massive attack on our country," Zelensky said."Over the past week, the aggressor used nearly 140 missiles of various types, more than 900 guided aerial bombs, and over 600 strike drones," he said, accusing Moscow of trying to "intimidate us with cold and blackouts."The attack came just two days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the first time in almost two years.'True response'"This is war criminal Putin's true response to all those who called and visited him recently," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said after the attack."We need peace through strength, not appeasement."Kyiv had slammed Scholz for calling Putin, as have many in Germany itself.But on Sunday, Scholz reaffirmed his country's support for Ukraine, saying that no decision on ending the war would be taken without Kyiv."Ukraine can count on us" and "no decision will be taken behind Ukraine's back," the chancellor said at Berlin airport before flying off to a G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.Ukraine has been on the back foot militarily in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow's forces have made steady advances.The election of Donald Trump in the U.S. has raised questions about the future of the conflict, with the Republican blazingly critical of U.S. aid to Ukraine.AFP journalists heard explosions in the early morning in Kyiv and in Sloviansk in the Donetsk region.Moscow, meanwhile, said it had hit all its targets, claiming it had targeted an "essential energy infrastructure supporting the Ukrainian military-industrial complex."But civilian deaths were reported across Ukraine.Officials in Kherson said a 51-year-old woman was killed by a drone.Civilian deaths across country-In the southern Mykolaiv region, local leader Vitaliy Kim said two women were killed in a night attack and that seven people — including two children — were wounded.The death toll included two employees of the state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia in the city of Nikopol, who were killed when a depot was hit, the Dnipropetrovsk region's Governor Serhiy Lysak and the operator said. Three more people were wounded in the bombing.Two people were also killed in the Odesa region, where a teenager was wounded.Russian drones also made their way to Zakarpattia — a mountainous region rarely hit — with officials saying fragments fell in the village of Pavshyno, near the border with Hungary and Slovakia.The head of the Lviv region, Maksym Kozytsky, said a 66-year-old woman was killed in her car in the village of Sheptytsky — some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Polish border.That prompted NATO member Poland to scramble fighter jets and mobilize all available forces on Sunday in response.Warsaw puts its armed forces on alert whenever attacks against its neighboring country are deemed likely to create a danger for its own territory.Russia, meanwhile, said a man was killed by a Ukrainian drone in its border Belgorod region.Attacks on energy facilities 'throughout Ukraine' Ukraine's energy operator DTEK on Sunday announced emergency power cuts in the Kyiv region and two regions in the east.Russia's relentless aerial bombardment has destroyed half of Ukraine's energy production capacity, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.Earlier, Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said on Telegram that Russian forces were "attacking electricity generation and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine."With the harsh Ukrainian winter fast approaching, the country is already suffering from major energy shortfalls, while its outmanned and outgunned forces have been steadily ceding ground to the Kremlin's troops for weeks.Kyiv has implored its Western allies to help rebuild its energy grid — a hugely expensive undertaking — and supply its outgunned forces with more aerial defense weapons.But many in Ukraine fear that Western help will not be as freely given following the imminent return of Trump to the White House in January.
13 Nov, 05:00-Press review: Trump forms foreign policy team and Europe sets course for militarization
MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. The European Commission plans to bolster its military-industrial complex; US President-elect Donald Trump chooses nominees for Secretary of State and National Security Advisor; and the UN Climate Forum in Baku (COP29) seeks to raise financing for new low-carbon technologies. These stories topped the headlines across Russia on Wednesday.Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Europe Commission charts path toward militarization.The European Commission intends to redirect around €400 bln from the EU budget, initially earmarked for the development of underdeveloped regions, in order to spend it on strengthening the military-industrial complex of member states and providing military aid to Ukraine, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. The resolution of these issues will be supervised by the European Commissioner for Defense - a position that will be created for the first time in the new composition of the European Commission, which will begin work on December 1.The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the European Commission will release €392 bln from the so-called Cohesion Fund to increase military spending. This amount is allocated in the EU budget for 2021-2027 to reduce economic inequality within the community. After all, the Cohesion Fund is one of the largest budget programs designed to finance the most underdeveloped regions of EU states and bring them closer to the advanced ones in terms of development.Re-elected for a second five-year term, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen promised to turn the EU into a defense union. Thus, the new initiative of the European Commission is fully in line with her promises, Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes. It also includes the development of a common European air defense system, a threefold increase in the number of coast and border guards, and the creation of a European defense commissioner."Europe is in an increasingly combative mood. Suffice it to say that on November 11, during the Paris celebrations of the 106th anniversary of the end of World War I, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed how to convince the Joe Biden administration to allow Kiev to strike with long-range weapons deep into Russian territory. Perhaps with British Storm Shadow missiles or French Scalp missiles," Alexey Fenenko, a professor at the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University, told the newspaper.According to the expert, it is wrong to claim that the Americans are pushing the Europeans into a conflict with Russia. On the contrary, the Franco-British alliance itself is pushing the US to act more decisively. "Russia will probably have to come to terms with a new reality - the awakening of militarism in European countries. This new European militarism may turn out to be even more hostile to Russia than American policy," Fenenko believes.Vedomosti: Donald Trump starts assembling his foreign policy team-US President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Mike Waltz from Florida for the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. However, the publication believes that the decision regarding Rubio is not final. According to Vedomosti, their views on the Ukrainian conflict have changed and now align with Trump’s.Secretary of State and National Security Advisor are the two most important foreign policy positions in the United States. The former is the US president’s chief envoy on the international stage. The latter is responsible for briefing the president daily on the state of the world and coordinating the work of the National Security Council, which includes key cabinet members.Both politicians hold similar positions to Trump on the Ukrainian conflict, Vedomosti writes. Initially, Rubio was a supporter of providing aid to Kiev, but later declared additional aid packages hopeless.Lev Sokolshchik, leading researcher at the HSE Center for Comprehensive Economic and Social Studies, believes that American diplomacy will still use sanctions pressure. In his opinion, sanctions can be expected to be used as a bargaining and pressure tool. The personalities of the appointees matter, but they will still be guided by Trump’s priorities, who demonstrated during his first term that he acts solely in his own opportunistic interests.Waltz is an advocate of increasing the financial involvement of the US’s European allies in the Ukrainian conflict and increasing sanctions pressure on Russia, Director of the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO University Maxim Suchkov told Vedomosti. The expert does not rule out that Trump is using Waltz as a "bad cop" in possible negotiations on Ukraine. "Waltz is needed to extract concessions from uncompromising opponents," the expert believes.Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Developing nations need $1 trillion for green transition-The central initiative of the UN Climate Forum in Baku (COP29) was the demand from developing countries to raise financing for new low-carbon technologies to $1 trillion. Developed countries have not yet been able to create an economically attractive model for the green transition, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. Experts told the newspaper that plans for securing additional financial resources could be formulated at the meeting.The climate summit in Baku is being attended by 80 heads of state and government. Ruslan Edelgeriev, the Special Representative of the Russian President for Climate Issues, was appointed as the head of the Russian delegation. Earlier, the Special Representative of the Russian President for Relations with International Organizations, Boris Titov, said that Moscow would present its proposals for establishing an international carbon market at COP29.On Monday, COP29 countries agreed on quality standards for carbon credits, which are necessary to the launch of the UN-backed global carbon market that will finance projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is expected that the agreement reached on Monday will enable the launch of the UN-backed global carbon market as early as next year.Experts say the first days of the summit have been promising. "One result has already been achieved - there is a consensus on a set of fundamental rules for the global trading of CO2 emission allowances. This is a key element of the future global system for trading quotas for greenhouse gas emissions," Pavel Sevostyanov, associate professor at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. He also hopes that the Baku meeting will provide an opportunity to formulate plans to raise additional financial resources."One of the most important steps is to agree on a number of renewable energy initiatives, including a plan to develop energy storage and distribution infrastructure, as well as a declaration on reducing methane emissions," Kirill Chernovol, research fellow at the Russian Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Center at the Presidential Academy, said. However, mobilizing funds from both countries and the private sector remains essential to achieve these goals, he added.Izvestia: Palestinians assess prospects of cooperation with Trump administration-The Palestinian authorities will reject any proposals from the future administration of US President Donald Trump if they do not consider the rights of their people, which include the end of the Israeli occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem. This was stated by Abd al-Fattah al-Dawla, the official representative of Fatah, the largest faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in an interview with Izvestia."The Palestinian side will not consider any proposals that do not meet the aspirations and rights of our people. Therefore, the American administration has to change its policy of supporting the occupier (Israel - Izvestia) and preventing a two-state solution [to the conflict]," the Fatah representative emphasized.According to him, the criterion for the success of any proposal and the Palestinian side’s interaction with it is the degree to which it aligns with the rights of the Palestinian people and the international legal framework."If the policy of the US President-elect Trump follows the same logic that denies the rights of the Palestinian people and supports the policy of occupation, then it will not lead to success. If he pursues a policy consistent with the international legal framework and the full realization of the rights of the Palestinian people, then we will welcome it," he stressed."Trump’s Middle East policy is still forming and will partly depend on the members of the team that the Republican president will appoint to be responsible for this region," Middle East expert Leonid Tsukanov told Izvestia.According to him, Trump’s personal involvement may play a role here, especially since he has repeatedly emphasized that he is ready to make "personal proposals" on any of the crises, including the Palestinian one.It is highly likely that the Trump administration will try to revive the Abraham Accords, which the Democrats failed to expand during the Biden presidency. "However, this requires resolving the hot phase of the crisis in Gaza, and it is highly likely that Washington will defend the interests of the Jewish state in this conflict more firmly, which will lead to the final curtailment of the deal on the sector proposed by the Democrats," the expert concluded.Vedomosti: China increases imports of copper ore from Russia by 36%-Exports of copper concentrate from Russia to China rose by 36% year-on-year to 310,000 tons in January-September 2024, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China. In September, shipments grew 1.5-fold to 35,000 tons, while exports of finished copper and copper products from Russia to China dropped by 18% year-on-year to 226,700 tons in the reporting period. Experts told Vedomosti that demand for copper raw materials in China is growing due to a shortage of local smelting capacities.China is the world’s largest consumer of copper, but only the fourth-largest producer of copper ore. This forces the country to import copper concentrate, which is then processed into refined metal to meet domestic demand, Vedomosti reports. The total volume of copper concentrate imports into China in the first nine months increased by around 4% year-on-year to 21.06 mln tons.According to British consulting company CRU, around 3.2 mln tons of new copper smelting capacity will be added in China by 2030. Nornickel’s copper smelter could be one of the new production facilities in China.Maxim Khudalov, Chief Strategist of Vector Capital, explained that the increase in supplies to foreign countries is due to Nornickel’s Bystrinsky Mining and Processing Plant and Udokan Copper reaching their full capacity. According to the expert, the volume of supplies from Russia to China will hit 405,000-410,000 tons of copper concentrate by the end of 2024. Demand for the metal is growing, especially in the production of electronics, solar panels, and electric cars, he added.China consumes about 60% of the world’s copper production, Boris Krasnozhenov, head of securities market analysis at Alfa Bank, told Vedomosti. About two-thirds of this volume is covered by imports, but high copper prices make new projects economically unfeasible, the expert suggests.TASS is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews
India hails 'historic' hypersonic missile test flight.by AFP Staff Writers.
New Delhi (AFP) Nov 17, 2024-Nuclear-armed India has tested its first hypersonic missile, the defence minister said Sunday, publicising the super-fast high-tech weapon days after rival China showcased its latest military aviation powers.Hypersonics are the new frontier in missile technology, because they fly lower and are harder to detect than ballistic missiles, can reach targets more quickly, and can be ordered to change target in mid-flight.The United States, Russia, China and North Korea have all tested hypersonic missiles, and several others are developing the technology."India has achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting flight trial of long range hypersonic missile," Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh said in a statement.The test flight comes days after rival and neighbour China showcased its expanding aviation capabilities at an airshow, with the J-35A stealth fighter jet and attack drones displayed.That, according to China's state media, included the debut of the HQ-19 surface-to-air missile system, designed to intercept ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles.India's missile blasted off from Abdul Kalam Island off the east coast on Saturday.Video images released by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), showed a slender missile blasting into the night sky followed by a surge of flames."This is a historic moment and this significant achievement has put our country in the group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies," Singh added.No further details were given about the missile.New Delhi has deepened defence cooperation with Western countries in recent years, including in the Quad alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia.India is also a major buyer of Russian military hardware, including Moscow's S-400 missile defence system -- despite the threat of US sanctions over the multi-billion dollar deal.
US Air Force honors crews that thwarted Iran’s April missile, drone attack on Israel-History made as first woman is decorated with force’s third-highest award for valor; American jets downed some 80 drones in ‘largest air-to-air enemy engagement in over 50 years’ By Stuart Winer-and ToI Staff Today, 6:48 pm-NOV 17,24
The US Air Force has honored pilots, aircrews and support personnel who helped thwart a massive Iranian-led rocket and drone attack on Israel earlier this year.Airmen from the 494th Fighter Squadron and 494 Fighter Generation Squadron were recognized for their activities in intercepting hundreds of attack drones and rockets fired by Iran and from Yemen at Israel on April 13-14.History was made during the ceremony — held last week at Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath station — when for the first time, a woman serving in the American Air Force was decorated with a Silver Star, the force’s third-highest award for valor, according to a Friday statement.F-15E jets from RAF Lakenheath were “vital during the fight that intercepted and engaged aerial threats” and “fought in the largest air-to-air enemy engagement in over 50 years,” the statement said.The jets, which though based in the UK had been deployed to the US Central Command’s region of responsibility, which includes Israel, flew 154 sorties during the night.US President Joe Biden personally praised the service personnel in a direct phone call during the event.The ceremony saw Air Force members receive “two Silver Stars, six Distinguished Flying Crosses with the valor device, four Distinguished Flying Crosses with the combat device, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Bronze Stars Medals, seven Air and Space Commendation Medals and seven Air and Space Achievement Medals,” the statement said.The pair of stars went to F-15E instructor pilot US Air Force Maj. Benjamin Coffey and to F-15E instructor weapon systems officer US Air Force Capt. Lacie Hester.Hester is the first woman in the US Air Force to receive the honor and only the 10th woman in the Department of Defense to have the decoration.“The team engaged the enemy multiple times throughout the night despite having severe aircraft emergencies and while under falling debris at the expeditionary base caused by hostile fire from the enemy,” the statement said.“Additionally, at great personal risk, Coffey and Hester engaged low-altitude one-way attack UAVs in the complete darkness of night with the air-to-air gatling gun of the F-15E after they expended all their air-to-air missiles,” it explained.“We all fell into an execution rhythm: call, shoot, and confirm the target was destroyed before we moved on to the next task we had to accomplish to keep everyone safe,” said US Air Force Lt. Col. Timothy Causey, the 494th Fighter Squadron commander.The statement revealed further details about the events of the Iranian-led attack, including that the US forces destroyed more than 80 attack drones from Iran or Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.In April, Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones at Israel in response to the killing of two senior army generals in a Damascus strike that Tehran blamed on Israel.The wave was intercepted by Israeli air defenses alongside the US-led coalition of regional forces that included British and French warplanes, as well as, reportedly, intelligence and radar resources from some Arab nations. A few missiles made it through the defenses, causing very minor damage at an air base, while a young Bedouin girl was seriously injured by falling shrapnel from an interception.Israel carried out only a limited response to the attack, but on October 1 Iran again fired a massive barrage of missiles that sent most of Israel into bomb shelters, killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank, and caused damage in residential areas and at military bases — although the IDF said that the attack had no operational impact.Israel’s retaliation to that attack was hours of strikes almost a month later that took out Iranian air defense systems defending vital energy infrastructure as well as rocket and drone manufacturing sites, and reportedly a nuclear research site. Iran has vowed to respond to the attack.The clashes came as a spillover from the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip that began on October 7, 2023, when Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas led a massive attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, amid atrocities including the taking of hostages. The war has since spread to multiple fronts.Agencies contributed to this report.
Record 101 foreigners executed in Saudi Arabia so far in 2024, tally finds-Figure nearly triple the counts for 2022 and 2023; latest sentence carried out for Yemeni national convicted of drug smuggling; kingdom executed 274 people in total over past year-By AFP Today, 5:39 pm-NOV 17,24
Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners this year, according to an AFP tally, indicating a sharp increase that a rights group said was unprecedented.The latest execution, on Saturday in the southwestern region of Najran, was of a Yemeni national convicted of smuggling drugs into the Gulf kingdom, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.That brought to 101 the number of foreigners executed so far in 2024, according to the tally, which is compiled from state media reports.This is almost triple the figures for 2023 and 2022, when Saudi authorities put to death 34 foreigners each year, according to AFP tallies.The Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) said this year’s executions had already broken a record.“This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in one year. Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year,” said Taha al-Hajji, the group’s legal director.Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive and out of step with efforts to soften its forbidding image and welcome international tourists and investors.The oil-rich kingdom executed the third-highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran in 2023, according to Amnesty International.In September, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia had carried out its highest number of executions in more than three decades, surpassing its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995.Executions have continued rapidly since then, totaling 274 for the year as of Sunday, according to AFP’s tally. The number includes both nationals and foreigners.‘Execution crisis’Foreigners executed this year have included 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan, and seven from Ethiopia.There were also three each from Sudan, India and Afghanistan, and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.Saudi Arabia in 2022 ended a three-year moratorium on the execution of drug offenders, and executions for drug-related crimes have boosted this year’s numbers.There have been 92 such executions so far this year, 69 of them of foreigners, according to the AFP tally.Diplomats and activists say that foreign defendants usually face a higher barrier to fair trials, including the right to access court documents.Foreigners “are the most vulnerable group,” said Hajji of the ESOHR.Not only are they often “victims of major drug dealers” but also “subjected to a series of violations from the moment of their arrest until their execution,” he said.Saudi Arabia is notorious for beheading those convicted of capital crimes, although official statements tend not to mention the method of execution.The high number of executions undercuts statements by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told The Atlantic in 2022 that the kingdom had eliminated the death penalty with the exception of murder cases or when an individual posed a threat to many lives.Jeed Basyouni, who heads Middle East anti-death penalty advocacy for the NGO Reprieve, said persistent drug arrests were “perpetuating the cycle of violence.”The overall number of executions was on track to exceed 300 for the year, she noted.“This is an unprecedented execution crisis in Saudi Arabia,” said Basyouni. “Families of foreign nationals on death row are understandably terrified that their loved one will be next.”
Hezbollah media chief killed in IDF strike on central Beirut, terror group official says-Mohammed Afif targeted at Syrian Ba’ath Party offices; military carries out new wave of strikes in terror group’s Dahiyeh stronghold; drone apparently launched from Iraq shot down-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 5:08 pm-NOV 17,24
An Israeli airstrike on a building in a central neighborhood of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday reportedly killed the top spokesman for the Hezbollah terror group.Two Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammed Afif was killed in the strike on the Ras al-Naba’a neighborhood. A Hezbollah official, speaking anonymously, confirmed this to The Associated Press.The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately issue a comment on the strike.Unlike dozens of other Israeli attacks carried out in Beirut this past week, the strike killing Afif was not carried out in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh.The building where Afif was targeted housed the offices of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, Lebanese media reported. The IDF did not issue any evacuation warning before the strike, as it was an assassination and did not target Hezbollah’s infrastructure.Afif had been especially visible after Israel’s military escalation in September and following the assassination of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was also killed in an Israeli airstrike.Last month, Afif was forced to interrupt a press conference in Dahiyeh after the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, issued an evacuation order for residents of the area ahead of an airstrike.Also on Sunday, the IDF said it had completed a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh. The targets hit by fighter jets included command rooms and other infrastructure, according to the military.Before those strikes were carried out, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.In recent days, the IDF has ramped up strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut with over 50 Hezbollah sites hit in the past week.One of the targets struck by Israeli fighter jets in Beirut on Saturday was an apartment formerly belonging to Nasrallah, according to the IDF.The military said Nasrallah was targeted at the home during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and it was later rebuilt. The apartment was currently being used by Hezbollah for its activities, the IDF said.Sunday’s strikes came after a barrage of some 20 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee and Haifa Bay area in the morning.According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while the rest struck open areas, causing no injuries.The IDF also released footage on Sunday showing a Hezbollah weapons cache and tunnel being demolished by combat engineers in southern Lebanon.The site had been discovered by troops of the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit, who are operating in Lebanon under the Alon Reserve Brigade. It marked the first time in the unit’s history that it was operating in Lebanon.According to the IDF, during a raid in a southern Lebanon village, the troops found a tunnel shaft that led to underground infrastructure. Next to the shaft was a weapons depot, ammunition and a motorcycle, which the IDF says “were prepared for an invasion” of Israel.Three IDF divisions have been operating in southern Lebanon in recent days, as the military has expanded its offensive against Hezbollah.On Saturday, Hezbollah claimed to have confronted IDF soldiers on the outskirts of Shama, a Lebanese village located some 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the border with Israel.It would mark the deepest point in Lebanon that the IDF has reached during the ongoing ground offensive.Meanwhile, the IDF reportedly removed roadblocks on the northern border which were set up to prevent civilians from driving on roads that were exposed to anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon.According to a Sunday morning report by Army Radio, all of the military roadblocks on the Lebanon border were removed in recent days, ahead of a possible return of the displaced residents of the north to their homes.“The reality in the north has changed,” IDF officials were cited by the radio station as saying.“There are no longer places where you can’t drive. Bypass roads are no longer needed, and citizens can also drive on these roads,” the officials were cited as saying, adding that this freedom of movement is due to the IDF having taken control of key areas in south Lebanon, thereby reducing the threat.Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern Israeli towns on the Lebanon border shortly after fellow terror group Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the Lebanese terror group.For months since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.Hezbollah has since expanded its attacks to also target cities in central and northern Israel with rockets, in addition to the attacks on the border, though in recent days the IDF has seen a decrease in the number of attacks.The attacks on northern Israel have resulted in the deaths of 43 civilians. In addition, 70 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September. Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.The IDF estimates that some 3,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.Meanwhile, on Sunday morning, the IDF also said a drone launched at Israel “from the east” — usually code for Iraq — was intercepted by air defenses over southern Israel.Footage posted to social media showed a cloud of smoke above a Bezeq antenna farm near Rehovot, apparently following the interception of the drone.There were no reports of injuries. Shrapnel from the interception sparked a small fire in the area.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the drone.Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Shin Bet chief says firing of flares at Netanyahu’s home ‘far from legitimate protest’Police seek 12-day remand for 3 detainees who reportedly are prominent anti-government activists; minister urges sacking of AG, accusing her of inaction that may cause PM’s ‘murder’ By Sam Sokol,Jeremy Sharon-and ToI Staff Today, 4:58 pm-NOV 17,24
The head of the Shin Bet security agency said Sunday that the firing of flares the previous evening in the vicinity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea “marks a dangerous escalation,” as Hebrew media reported that the three people arrested over the incident are prominent members of the anti-government protest movement.The incident drew condemnation from across the political spectrum, as well as fury at Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara by coalition members who called for her dismissal and accused her of being overly lenient toward action taken by anti-Netanyahu demonstrators.The Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit and the Shin Bet are investigating the incident, which came during weekly Saturday evening protests against the government and in favor of a deal to free the hostages being held in Gaza by the Hamas terror group.The police and the Shin Bet asked a court Sunday to extend the suspects’ remand by 12 days.Video posted to social media by a reporter from the Kan public broadcaster apparently showed that the flares were fired into the air above the premier’s home, rather than toward it. One of the flares appeared to malfunction and fell to the ground near the premier’s home while still lit.No damage was reported in the incident and a joint statement from the security bodies noted that Netanyahu and his family were not home at the time.Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said on Sunday that “firing flare guns at the Prime Minister’s residence is a very serious incident that is far from legitimate protest,” and called it a “dangerous escalation.”Bar added that “the Shin Bet is obligated by law to protect the symbols of the government. Accordingly, we acted swiftly, in coordination with police, to locate and arrest the suspects involved in the incident, using all the tools at our disposal. We will not tolerate violent actions against government symbols. Each case will be treated with the utmost severity.”Meanwhile, reports said the three detainees were regulars at the anti-government rallies, and that one of the suspects serves as a senior officer in the military reserves.Lawyer Gonen Ben Itzhak told the media the three have been prevented from meeting with an attorney since their arrest in the early hours of Sunday morning.In a strongly worded response, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called for the attorney general to be fired, blaming her for incitement against the government.Accusing the embattled attorney general of failing to tackle violence and incitement from anti-government protesters, Karhi alleged that Baharav-Miara is “sitting with her arms crossed, granting them legitimacy and refusing to stop this dangerous deterioration.”In an incendiary post on X, he added that her alleged failure to act “is bringing us closer with great strides to a catastrophe – to the murder of the prime minister.”“The attorney general must go home today. A person who gets up to kill you — including through weakness and agreement through silence — rise up and fire them,” declared Karhi, paraphrasing a line from the Talmud about self-defense.In response, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accused Karhi of “openly inciting murder against the attorney general,” and called for him to be fired.Lapid and National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, also of the opposition, both issued statements condemning the firing of the flares and calling on law enforcement to “bring the guilty to justice.”Gantz declared on Sunday morning that “this is not a protest – this is terrorism.”“Although I deeply disagree with Netanyahu and often criticize him… Netanyahu is not a murderer and is not an enemy. One should demonstrate against him and the government only according to the law,” Gantz tweeted.“This is the position of the absolute majority of those who oppose this government. And this is the only correct position. In view of the recent events, every public leader, including the leaders of protests against the government, must say this out loud today,” he added.Responding to the news, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar said that Saturday’s incident serves as proof that the government must complete its controversial judicial overhaul.“The criminals who committed the heinous act and the tailwind they receive from the [justice] system remind us all of the duty to complete the legal reform in order to save Israeli democracy,” he said.Justice Minister Yariv Levin denounced the incident as the latest “link in a chain of violent and anarchic actions, the purpose of which is to bring about the assassination of the prime minister and the overthrow of the elected government by means of a violent coup.”Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, meanwhile, declared that “the incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has crossed all boundaries.”“Today it’s a flare and tomorrow it’s live fire,” he said, calling for a halt to “the incitement against Netanyahu and his family.”At a cabinet meeting in September, government ministers railed against the attorney general’s office for ostensibly not doing enough to crack down on incitement against the prime minister, pointing to a prominent government critic comparing Netanyahu to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler as well as protesters deriding Netanyahu as a “traitor,” “Satan” and an “enemy of the people.”The Netanyahus’ private home in Caesarea was lightly damaged in a Hezbollah drone attack last month. Following that attack, the government reportedly demanded a NIS 2 million ($530,000) security upgrade at the estate.
