LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Republican senators call on US to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan-Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton issue statement saying Washington must affirm Jewish state’s claim over the heights to ensure Israel can defend itself-By Ron Kampeas-TOI-JAN 10,19
WASHINGTON (JTA) — US Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Sunday again called on the United States to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.Israel is stepping up its campaign for international recognition of its claim to the strategic plateau.A joint statement by the two Republican senators came on the same day that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged John Bolton, the US national security adviser, to recognize Israel’s claim to the Golan. Israel captured the heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed them in 1981.“Responding to the threat posed by Iran and its proxies requires ensuring that Israel can defend its territory and its citizens from attacks,” Cruz and Cotton said in their statement. “To support Israel’s right to self-defense, Washington should take the long overdue step of affirming Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”In their statement, the senators noted that in the last Congress, they had introduced a nonbinding resolution calling for recognition of Israel’s claim to the Golan. The resolution languished, and the senators did not say whether they would reintroduce it.Bolton was in Israel to assuage concerns that US President Donald Trump is no longer invested in getting Iran and its proxy, the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group, to leave Syria.Trump wants to pull 2,000 US troops out of Syria, where Iran and Hezbollah have propped up Assad during Syria’s seven-year civil war, which is winding down.
Progressive groups rage against Rubio’s anti-BDS bill-As US senator tries to push through legislation during shutdown, J Street and ACLU cast bill as ‘outrageous’ and unconstitutional-By Eric Cortellessa-TOI-JAN 10,19
WASHINGTON — Progressive advocacy groups have railed against an attempt by US senators to push through a bill that would protect states that penalize Israel boycotters, with one Jewish organization labeling it a “farce.”Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Idaho Senator James Risch, both Republicans, introduced the first bill last week to be considered in the GOP-controlled Senate, which combined several bills that died in the last Congress.One of those is the Combatting BDS Act, legislation that would grant federal protections to states that target the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, including states that ban contracts with individuals and entities who partake in Israel boycotts.The bill has been fiercely criticized by progressive activists and civil libertarians who say these laws infringe on Americans’ constitutionally protected rights to engage in political boycotts, with liberal Mideast advocacy group J Street excoriating the measure.“While millions of Americans suffer from the effects of the ongoing government shutdown, it’s outrageous that Senate Republican leaders are prioritizing legislation that tramples on the First Amendment and advances the interests of the Israeli settlement movement,” said the organization’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami. “Not a single Democrat should vote to enable this farce.”The Rubio-Risch bill also included the Ileana Ros-Lehtinen United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, named for the Republican Florida congresswoman who just retired, to codify into law $38 billion in defense assistance for Israel over the next year, based on a deal struck during the Obama years.But the anti-BDS rider in the bill has been far more controversial. Over the weekend, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted that it was “absurd that the first bill during the shutdown is legislation which punishes Americans who exercise their constitutional right to engage in political activity.”He linked to a story in The Intercept that quoted a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been vociferously opposed to this and similar legislation.“The legislation, like the unconstitutional state anti-boycott laws it condones, sends a message to Americans that they will be penalized if they dare to disagree with their government,” said ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Kathleen Ruane. “We therefore urge senators to vote no on the Combatting BDS Act next week.”More than 25 states have passed measures that target BDS adherents. Those laws have already been challenged in the courts. In September, an Arizona judge ruled that the state’s law that required state contractors to certify that they are not participating in boycotts of Israel didn’t hold constitutional muster.“A restriction of one’s ability to participate in collective calls to oppose Israel unquestionably burdens the protected expression of companies wishing to engage in such a boycott,” US District Court Judge Diane Humetewa wrote in her decision.A Kansas judge also struck down a similar law in January.The vast majority of American Jewish organizations have supported anti-BDS laws at the state level, including the American Jewish Committee, the Israel Project, and StandWithUs.AJC filed an amicus brief supporting the Arizona law that was eventually overturned, arguing that the law “advances Arizona’s legitimate interest in protecting its commerce with Israel and insuring that Arizona can take full advantage of what Israel has to offer in its contracting.”The law did not “infringe on private citizens’ rights,” to take actions against Israel, the group asserted, because “contractors can choose to boycott Israel in their private capacities as long as those private activities do not affect their contracting activities.”The bill was fiercely criticized over the weekend by freshman Democrat Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American member of Congress.“They forgot what country they represent,” the Michigan Democrat said in her tweet, referring to lawmakers’ attempts to pass the Combatting BDS Act. “This is the US where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality.”Rubio, who introduced the bill, castigated Tlaib’s attacks as anti-Semitic.“This ‘dual loyalty’ canard is a typical anti-Semitic line,” Rubio tweeted. “#BDS isn’t about freedom & equality, it’s about destroying #Israel.“And if boycotting #Israel is constitutionally protected, then boycotting companies that boycott #Israel is also constitutionally protected.”
Zarif jeers at ‘blind’ Bolton visiting Western Wall; Bahraini FM fires back-After Iran’s top diplomat lampoons photo of US official wearing VR goggles, Manama counterpart comes to defense of DC and Jerusalem with a photo of his own-By TOI staff -JAN 10,19
The foreign ministers of Iran and Bahrain entered into a Twitter spat Monday over Israel, and American support for the Jewish state, with a top Israeli diplomat also chiming in.The exchange began with Tehran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who shared a photo of US National Security Adviser John Bolton during a Sunday visit to Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Bolton and his entourage were seen wearing goggles while attending a virtual reality experience of the site’s history.“It’s said a picture says a thousand words,” Zarif said.“This picture, however, says more than a thousand words about decades of failed US policies in our region. In the valley of the blind, even those with VR glasses are still blind.”It's said a picture says a thousand words. This picture, however, says more than a thousand words about decades of failed US policies in our region.In the valley of the blind, even those with VR glasses are still blind. pic.twitter.com/Tyip6iKbFl— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 7, 2019-He received a prompt reply from Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, who has defended Israel on several recent occasions.Al Khalifa tweeted a 2010 photo of then-Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sporting goggles as he toured a site belonging to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.“This picture says a million words…about decades of ill intentions, hegemonic aims and misrepresentation of a proud nation,” he wrote. “Iran is one thing and you guys are another.”Mr Zariaf , this picture says a million words or about blindness ; but about decades of ill intentions , hegemonic aims and misrepresentation of a proud nation . Iran is one thing and you guys are another pic.twitter.com/5wP7eWotQm-(@khalidalkhalifa) January 7, 2019-Israel’s Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, who accompanied Bolton on the tour, also stepped into the ring, tweeting at Zarif: “If only Iran’s nuclear weapons program, ballistic missiles, global terror campaign, vows to destroy Israel and chants of Death to America were a virtual reality game and not the real policies of the radical regime you represent.”.@JZarif If only Iran’s nuclear weapons program, ballistic missiles, global terror campaign, vows to destroy Israel and chants of Death to America were a virtual reality game and not the real policies of the radical regime you represent. https://t.co/IhlhfoVPYk— Amb. Ron Dermer (@AmbDermer) January 7, 2019-Israel and Bahrain do not have diplomatic relations, but are said to have solid clandestine ties. Both countries see in Iran a strategic threat.In December Al Khalifa condemned the Arab League as “irresponsible” after it attacked Australia’s recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He also tweeted support for Israel’s operation to expose and destroy Hezbollah’s cross-border tunnels and in May said the Jewish state had the right to defend itself.Bolton’s visit to the Western Wall and the adjacent Western Wall tunnels Sunday was met with anger by Palestinian officials, with Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, saying it undermined international law.“This behavior will not change the fact that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and the capital of the state of Palestine,” Erekat tweeted.Bolton visited Israel to discuss US policy in Syria and the threat posed by Iran. During his visit he vowed that Washington would remain “very supportive” of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.
When Hamas and Fatah fight, the ricochets are likely to end up hitting Israel-Relations between Palestinian factions are again threatening to explode, after the PA abandoned the Rafah crossing, leading to its closure-By Avi Issacharoff-TOI-JAN 10,19
It’s hard to tell who started the latest dispute between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. Was it an arrest campaign by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, or a major wave of arrests of Fatah operatives by Hamas in the Gaza Strip? Either way, one thing is clear: The fallout from the current tussle between the rival groups will surely be felt by Israel, including in the form of an escalation in violence.The latest headline coming from intra-Palestinian politics has been PA staff abandoning the Rafah crossing, a step that has caused the closure of the only passage for Gazans to travel overseas.The crossing had been operating for many months with Egypt’s blessing, manned by PA staff, significantly easing the feeling of being besieged in Gaza. Though exit was by no means free, and not many people had been permitted to pass through, the crossing’s continued operation gave the population some feeling of change.That ended when the PA announced in recent days that it was evacuating the officials who had been operating the crossing and supervising the entries and exits from Gaza. The Egyptians, who refuse to cooperate with the Hamas terror group as a government authority, reacted by closing their side of the crossing.Hamas, true to form, accused Ramallah of “declaring war” on Gaza, but conveniently ignored what led the PA to take such a step.Fatah had been preparing to hold a mass rally in Gaza commemorating the movement’s anniversary on January 1, but Hamas prevented that by various means, including an exceptionally widespread arrest campaign. Some 500 Fatah operative were arrested or taken in for questioning in the days leading up to that planned anniversary, according to Fatah; explanatory material was confiscated; and unknown assailants broke into the PA’s TV and radio offices in Gaza and caused extensive damage to the property and equipment.Those steps apparently crossed a few red lines in the sensitive status quo between the organizations in the PA’s eyes, leading to the closure of the Rafah crossing.That is when the war of words and threats began. Senior Fatah officials such as Azzam al-Ahmad have threatened that the removal of officials from the Rafah crossing was just the first step out of many that will topple Hamas, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction and wrested control of Gaza from the PA in a violent coup in 2007.The PA’s approach to Gaza, according to those senior Fatah officials, is “all or nothing” — meaning, either Hamas surrenders all aspects of leadership in Gaza to the PA, or the PA cuts itself off completely from the Strip.That could just be a move intended to pressure Hamas or signal to the Egyptian that there’s an emergency, but it seems that the fragile situation in Gaza is destabilizing again.According to a report in the London-based Arabic-language daily Asharq Al-Awsat, PA President Mahmoud Abbas conveyed a clear message to the Egyptians during his recent visit to Cairo that he intends to take stronger measures against Gaza, including in the fields of health and education. That is essentially a threat to cut PA funds to the Strip, which could drag the already impoverished population there into an unprecedented crisis.Crises and instances of deterioration in Hamas-Fatah relations have frequently led to an increase in tensions with Israel: more border protests, rocket fire and other incidents, such as the explosive device attached to balloons that was launched into Israel on Sunday and prompted the IDF to strike in Gaza in retaliation.All that is added to the current delay in the transfer of Qatari aid money to the Strip — $15 million to pay Hamas staff’s salaries — resulting in a general feeling in Gaza that another round of violence is brewing.The famous rule in the Palestinian arena hasn’t changed: When Fatah and Hamas have a brawl, Israel gets hit.
European Union puts Iranian intel agency on blacklist over foiled plots-Danish foreign minister says measures will send a strong signal to Tehran that Europe won’t accept attacks on Iranian dissidents on its territory-By AP-TOI-JAN 10,19
BRUSSELS — Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said the European Union has agreed to put an Iranian intelligence service on its terror list after Denmark and France alleged Iran was plotting to kill opposition activists on European soil.Samuelsen said that EU government ministers on Tuesday “agreed to enact sanctions.”He said it is a “strong signal from the EU that we will not accept such behavior in Europe.”Paris alleges that Tehran’s Intelligence Ministry’s internal security section was linked to the alleged attempt to bomb a rally of opponents on June 30 outside Paris. The Danes say Iran in October was planning to kill in Denmark a member of the group that Tehran has blamed for a September 22 attack that killed at least 25 people.
Turkey trial on Russian envoy’s killing to open with US-based cleric as suspect-Ankara says Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is one of 28 involved in the 2016 shooting of Moscow’s ambassador by off-duty Turkish policeman-By AFP-TOI-JAN 10,19
ANKARA, Turkey — Twenty eight suspects were due to go on trial Tuesday over the assassination of the Russian ambassador two years ago, including a US-based Muslim preacher blamed by Ankara for a failed coup the same year.Andrei Karlov, 62, was shot dead by an off-duty Turkish policeman at a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19, 2016, in a shock attack that was captured on camera by photographers attending the event.The 22-year-old gunman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and “Don’t forget Aleppo,” vowing that those responsible for events in Syria would be held accountable.Altintas was killed shortly after by members of the Turkish special forces.The Ankara prosecutor has charged 16 of the suspects with “premeditated murder with the intention of causing terror,” according to the indictment. The other 12 were charged with “being a member of a terror organization.”Thirteen are currently in pre-trial detention, while it is prosecuting others in absentia.Those not in Turkey include Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Islamic preacher seen as an arch foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and who Ankara blames for the July 2016 coup attempt.Gulen has denied links to both the failed coup and the murder.Turkish officials have alleged that Gulen’s movement organized the murder of Karlov, a married father of one, to sow “chaos.”Turkey refers to the organization as the “Fetullah Terrorist Organisation” (FETO) but followers say it is peaceful, promoting secular education.Another of the suspects named is Serif Ali Tekalan, who headed a university linked to Gulen in Istanbul and now heads the Texas-based North American University (NAU). ‘Attack’ on Turkey-Russia ties-The prosecutor is seeking a variety of penalties for the suspects, including aggravated life sentences, which have replaced the death penalty in Turkey and carry harsher conditions than normal life imprisonment convictions.The indictment says the Gulen movement plotted the murder of Karlov, who had been appointed as ambassador in 2013, to “break off bilateral relations” between Turkey and Russia and bring them to the brink of “hot war.”The Kremlin had previously warned against rushing to any assumptions.Although Moscow does not repeat the Gulen claims, Selim Koru, a Black Sea Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute think tank noted in a report late last year that Russia sent investigators and “if they had different findings, they didn’t say.”Turkey and Russia had a dramatic falling out in November 2015 after a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian warplane along the Syrian border.But by the summer of 2016 relations had improved, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan keen to show they are working together to find a solution to the Syrian conflict despite being on opposing sides of the war.Tens of thousands of people have been arrested over alleged links to Gulen since 2016 in a crackdown criticized by human rights groups and Ankara’s Western allies.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
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.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
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 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 MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Netherlands accuses Iran of murdering 2 dissidents on Dutch soil-Ministers say EU has agreed to hit Tehran with fresh sanctions over killings of regime opponents-By AFP-TOI-JAN 10,19
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands accused Iran Tuesday of involvement in the murder of two dissidents on Dutch soil, adding that the EU was hitting Tehran with sanctions partly as a result of the killings.The Dutch secret service “has strong indications that Iran was involved in the assassinations of two Dutch nationals of Iranian origin in Almere 2015 and in The Hague in 2017,” Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to parliament.“These individuals were opponents of the Iranian regime,” he said in the letter, also signed by Dutch Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren.“The Netherlands considers it probable that Iran had a hand in the preparation or commissioning of assassinations and attacks on EU territory,” the ministers said.They added that the EU had on Tuesday “partly at the recommendation of the Netherlands” agreed to impose fresh sanctions on Iran.Dutch police have previously named the two victims as Ali Motamed, 56, who was killed in the central city of Almere in 2015, and Ahmad Molla Nissi, 52, murdered in The Hague in 2017.Dutch-Ahwazi activist Ahmad Mola Nissi shot to death in Hague on Nov 8. (#IRGC’s Quds allegedly involved in the terror attack) @VP @POTUS pic.twitter.com/GcBsAVySfT— Kaveh Taheri ???? (@TaheriKaveh) November 9, 2017-Last June, the Netherlands expelled two workers from the Iranian embassy in connection with the murders.Tehran at the time protested the expulsion of the two diplomats as an “unfriendly and destructive move” and threatened to retaliate.Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had earlier confirmed that the European Union has agreed on new sanctions targeting the Iranian Intelligence and Security Ministry and two Iranian nationals.Denmark had led efforts for sanctions after allegations that Tehran tried to kill three Iranian dissidents on Danish soil.France had meanwhile hit two suspected Iranian agents with asset freezes over a plot to bomb a rally near Paris.
Erdogan denounces Bolton’s ‘unacceptable’ comments on Syrian Kurdish militia-Turkish leader angry at US national security adviser for saying that Syria pullout is conditional on ensuring safety of US-backed fighters that Ankara considers terrorists-By Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi and Fulya Ozerkan-TOI-JAN 10,19
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday slammed as a “grave mistake” comments by White House National Security adviser John Bolton over the Syrian Kurdish militia, highlighting tensions between Ankara and Washington.Erdogan’s comments came shortly after Bolton held more than two hours of talks in the Turkish capital with Erdogan’s adviser Ibrahim Kalin, in a key meeting focusing on the surprise US decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.“It is not possible to accept or swallow the message given by Bolton from Israel,” Erdogan told his party’s lawmakers in parliament.Tensions erupted ahead of the Ankara talks after Bolton said Sunday in Israel the retreat was also conditional on the safety of US-backed Kurdish fighters, considered terrorists by Turkey.A furious Erdogan said: “John Bolton has made a grave mistake on this issue.”US President Donald Trump caused a political storm last month when he announced the troop pullout because the battle against the Islamic State (IS) group had been won.“President Trump made the right call to withdraw from Syria,” Erdogan said in a column published in the New York Times, outlining Turkey’s “comprehensive strategy” to eliminate the causes of radicalization in the war-torn country.-‘Slander’-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also drew wrath of the Turkish leadership when he said Washington will ensure Ankara does not “slaughter” Kurds in Syria as American troops withdraw.Erdogan lambasted the comments Tuesday and said: “That Turkey targets the Kurds is the most vile, the most dishonorable, the ugliest and the cheapest slander.”Bolton held “productive” talks with Kalin on Tuesday morning to discuss how the withdrawal would take place, his spokesman said in a statement shared on Twitter following the meeting.“They had a productive discussion of the president’s decision to withdraw at a proper pace from northeast Syria, identified further issues for dialogue,” Garrett Marquis said.Joining Bolton were General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the anti-Islamic State (IS) group envoy James Jeffrey.There was no meeting with Bolton on Erdogan’s schedule.When Trump first announced the pullout of 2,000 ground troops on December 19, Ankara was a lonely voice among NATO allies welcoming the decision.Erdogan has promised Trump that Turkey could finish off the remnants of IS in Syria.“A military victory against the terrorist group is a mere first step,” he said in the New York Times, warning against premature declarations of victory.‘No concessions’-Trump said Monday the fight against IS was not over.“We will be leaving at a proper pace while at the same time continuing to fight ISIS and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!” he tweeted.Nicholas Heras, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security, said Ankara would need support from Washington to completely eradicate IS, “to the point where the US military would essentially still be inside Syria.”The US had been working closely with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.But US-Turkey relations have been especially rocky over American military support to the YPG.Ankara says the YPG is a “terrorist offshoot” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.The PKK is proscribed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.And Erdogan’s comments on Tuesday showed disagreements still existed over the future of the YPG.The Turkish leader chastised Washington for bringing a new definition to terror. “There cannot be such a thing,” he said, assuring that Ankara would not make any concessions in the fight against the YPG.“Those who are in the terror corridor in Syria will learn necessary lessons,” he said. “To us, there is no little difference between the YPG and the PKK.”-Airspace issue-Last month, Erdogan threatened to launch a cross-border operation against the YPG, east of the Euphrates River, which he said later would be delayed after Trump’s order.But Turkey has sent military convoys to its border with Syria and inside the war-ravaged country.Turkish military analyst Metin Gurcan said Ankara was currently being held back on the operation by the issue of airspace, which was on the agenda for Tuesday’s talks.Gurcan said it was not clear whether the US would withdraw from the airspace, but even if Washington did so, Ankara would need the support of Moscow for any operation.Turkish military forces supporting Syrian rebels launched incursions into northern Syria against IS in August 2016 and against the YPG in January 2018.
32 said killed in Islamic State counterattack in east Syria-Despite losses, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces rally and recapture all territory jihadists seized in offensive launched under cover of bad weather-By AFP-TOI-JAN 10,19
BEIRT, Lebanon — Die-hard jihadists defending their last bastions in eastern Syria used the cover of bad weather to launch a vain but deadly counterattack against Kurdish-led fighters.The Islamic State group was unable to hold on to the positions it attacked but the assault killed 23 members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and also left nine jihadists dead.IS fighters took advantage of poor visibility to unleash suicide attackers on SDF forces along the front line in the Euphrates valley late on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday.“Twenty-three SDF fighters were killed and nine IS jihadists were also killed in fighting that lasted all night and into Monday morning,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.The jihadists often launch attacks under the cover of bad weather that cancels out their opponents’ advantage of US-led coalition air power.The SDF launched what is meant to be the final offensive on the jihadist organisation four months ago with air and ground support from coalition forces.The Kurdish-Arab alliance has deployed some 17,000 fighters for an operation aimed at flushing out IS from the last rump of its now-defunct “caliphate.”IS fighters “launched deadly counterattacks in three different directions against the Syrian Democratic Forces, including in the villages of Sousa and Al-Shaafa,” Abdel Rahman said.-Final push-He said they used at least two suicide bombers in their attacks, which inflicted the latest in a string of heavy losses on the SDF.According to the Observatory, 1,087 IS jihadists were killed since the start of the operation on September 10 while 602 members of the SDF also died.“On Monday morning, the SDF launched an offensive and retook all the positions they lost,” the Observatory said.“Due to its depleted manpower, IS was unable to hold on to the positions it attacked,” it said.Abdel Rahman said the jihadists’ defenses in the area have collapsed and the end of the battle is near.The IS jihadists who remain however include seasoned fighters who have little to lose and are prepared to die in a last stand.The meanders of the Euphrates in those areas of the Deir Ezzor province near the border with Iraq are considered the heartland of IS and are a perilous terrain for the SDF.In mid-December, the SDF took Hajin, the last town of note in the IS-controlled pocket, signalling the imminent fall of the jihadists’ last bastion.An announcement by US President Donald Trump last month that he was ordering a complete troop pullout from Syria rattled the Kurds.It left them exposed to the threat of a cross-border operation by their arch-foe Turkey and protesting that they had been poorly rewarded for doing much of the heavy-lifting in the battle against IS.They have pressed on with their operation in eastern Syria regardless and Washington has since stressed any withdrawal would be gradual.
Netanyahu hails arrest of suspected terrorist-Politicians welcome capture of Asem Barghouti but call for harsher measures; mother of slain soldier says she will campaign for death penalty-By Stuart Winer and TOI staff-JAN 10,19
Lawmakers on Tuesday welcomed the capture of a Palestinian man suspected of carrying out a deadly terror shooting last month, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to bring to justice any who attack Israeli citizens.Asem Barghouti is believed to have opened fire at a bus stop outside the Givat Assaf outpost near Ramallah in the West Bank on December 13, killing two soldiers stationed there — Sgt. Yosef Cohen and Staff Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef — and seriously injuring a third serviceman and a civilian woman. Barghouti fled the scene after the attack, evading Israeli troops for almost a month before his capture in the village of Abu Shukheidim in the predawn hours of the morning, the Shin Bet security service said.In a tweet, Netanyahu congratulated the security forces involved in “the capture of the depraved terrorist” and vowed that “Israel’s long arm will reach those who attack our citizens and Israel will bring them to justice.”Ofir Gendelman, the prime minister’s spokesperson for Arab media, tweeted, “We always get those who kill our people.”Ilanit Mor Yosef, mother of slain soldier Yovel, told Army Radio that she would campaign for legislation enabling the death sentence for terrorists.“My son was fighting terrorism and we will continue his war,” she said. “We will not rest until the death penalty for terrorists is passed [into law].”Asked about Barghouti’s capture, she noted that he had already been imprisoned in Israel in the past.“He was already in jail and released, so what? Apparently the conditions there were so good that he chose to go back and carry out this attack,” she said.Barghouti was set free from an Israeli prison in April 2017 after serving an 11-year sentence.Transportation Minister Israel Katz congratulated security forces and declared in a tweet, “We will bring to justice all of the terrorists and those who send them.”Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein similarly tweeted, “We will catch and bring to justice all those who seek to drive us out of here and to undermine our existence in the Land of Israel.”Education Minister Naftali Bennett applauded the capture, but called for more stringent measures against terrorists, including controversial home demolitions, ending Palestinian Authority payments to the families of attackers, and the expulsion of attackers’ families from their homes to other areas of the West Bank.“It is not enough to catch terrorist murderers,” he tweeted. “Their homes must be destroyed quickly, compensation money must be denied to their families, and the family members should be deported.“As long as that doesn’t happen, the incentives [paid by the PA] will continue to encourage Palestinians to murder Jews,” he continued, and vowed that his recently formed New Right party will “act not just to kill the terrorist mosquitoes, but also to dry up the terrorist swamp.”The demolition of attackers’ homes has been criticized by human rights groups as a form of collective punishment, and some analysts and officials question its effectiveness as a deterrent measure.Former defense minister Avigdor Liberman, while welcoming Barghouti’s arrest, panned the government for not passing the death sentence legislation previously proposed by his Yisrael Beytenu party. Liberman resigned from the government in November in protest to what he said was the government’s weakness in dealing with terrorism from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.“[Barghouti] is an extremist Islamic activist who belongs to a clan that has been involved in attacks against Israelis for many years,” Liberman wrote. “This is the classic case in which it is lamentable that Yisrael Beytenu’s death penalty for terrorists [bill] was torpedoed by the Likud and coalition leaders.”According to the Shin Bet, Barghouti also took part in another shooting attack at the entrance to the Ofra settlement on December 9 with his brother, Salih — days before the fatal Givat Assaf shooting — in which they injured seven Israelis, among them a seven-months pregnant woman. The woman’s baby was delivered in an emergency operation, but died days later.Salih was shot dead on December 12 in Kobar as he attacked Israeli security forces in an attempt to evade arrest, the army said.The national-religious Jewish Home party, which Bennett headed until he left last month together with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to form the New Right party, is sponsoring a bill that would allow Israel to forcibly relocate the families of Palestinian attackers from their homes to other areas of the West Bank. In December ministers voted to advance the legislation despite opposition from the attorney general.Yisrael Beytenu’s death sentence bill is currently being reviewed by the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, which has yet to approve it for a first reading in parliament. Liberman has accused the government of deliberately holding up the legislation.The bill passed a preliminary reading in Knesset in January 2018 despite reservations by some coalition lawmakers. Its progress since then has been repeatedly delayed due to opposition from the security establishment.Although the death penalty formally exists in Israeli law, it has only ever been used once — in 1962 in the case of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. The Yisrael Beytenu bill aims to make capital punishment easier to apply by reducing the number of judges required to approve it.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Republican senators call on US to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan-Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton issue statement saying Washington must affirm Jewish state’s claim over the heights to ensure Israel can defend itself-By Ron Kampeas-TOI-JAN 10,19
WASHINGTON (JTA) — US Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Sunday again called on the United States to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.Israel is stepping up its campaign for international recognition of its claim to the strategic plateau.A joint statement by the two Republican senators came on the same day that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged John Bolton, the US national security adviser, to recognize Israel’s claim to the Golan. Israel captured the heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed them in 1981.“Responding to the threat posed by Iran and its proxies requires ensuring that Israel can defend its territory and its citizens from attacks,” Cruz and Cotton said in their statement. “To support Israel’s right to self-defense, Washington should take the long overdue step of affirming Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”In their statement, the senators noted that in the last Congress, they had introduced a nonbinding resolution calling for recognition of Israel’s claim to the Golan. The resolution languished, and the senators did not say whether they would reintroduce it.Bolton was in Israel to assuage concerns that US President Donald Trump is no longer invested in getting Iran and its proxy, the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group, to leave Syria.Trump wants to pull 2,000 US troops out of Syria, where Iran and Hezbollah have propped up Assad during Syria’s seven-year civil war, which is winding down.
Progressive groups rage against Rubio’s anti-BDS bill-As US senator tries to push through legislation during shutdown, J Street and ACLU cast bill as ‘outrageous’ and unconstitutional-By Eric Cortellessa-TOI-JAN 10,19
WASHINGTON — Progressive advocacy groups have railed against an attempt by US senators to push through a bill that would protect states that penalize Israel boycotters, with one Jewish organization labeling it a “farce.”Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Idaho Senator James Risch, both Republicans, introduced the first bill last week to be considered in the GOP-controlled Senate, which combined several bills that died in the last Congress.One of those is the Combatting BDS Act, legislation that would grant federal protections to states that target the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, including states that ban contracts with individuals and entities who partake in Israel boycotts.The bill has been fiercely criticized by progressive activists and civil libertarians who say these laws infringe on Americans’ constitutionally protected rights to engage in political boycotts, with liberal Mideast advocacy group J Street excoriating the measure.“While millions of Americans suffer from the effects of the ongoing government shutdown, it’s outrageous that Senate Republican leaders are prioritizing legislation that tramples on the First Amendment and advances the interests of the Israeli settlement movement,” said the organization’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami. “Not a single Democrat should vote to enable this farce.”The Rubio-Risch bill also included the Ileana Ros-Lehtinen United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, named for the Republican Florida congresswoman who just retired, to codify into law $38 billion in defense assistance for Israel over the next year, based on a deal struck during the Obama years.But the anti-BDS rider in the bill has been far more controversial. Over the weekend, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted that it was “absurd that the first bill during the shutdown is legislation which punishes Americans who exercise their constitutional right to engage in political activity.”He linked to a story in The Intercept that quoted a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been vociferously opposed to this and similar legislation.“The legislation, like the unconstitutional state anti-boycott laws it condones, sends a message to Americans that they will be penalized if they dare to disagree with their government,” said ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Kathleen Ruane. “We therefore urge senators to vote no on the Combatting BDS Act next week.”More than 25 states have passed measures that target BDS adherents. Those laws have already been challenged in the courts. In September, an Arizona judge ruled that the state’s law that required state contractors to certify that they are not participating in boycotts of Israel didn’t hold constitutional muster.“A restriction of one’s ability to participate in collective calls to oppose Israel unquestionably burdens the protected expression of companies wishing to engage in such a boycott,” US District Court Judge Diane Humetewa wrote in her decision.A Kansas judge also struck down a similar law in January.The vast majority of American Jewish organizations have supported anti-BDS laws at the state level, including the American Jewish Committee, the Israel Project, and StandWithUs.AJC filed an amicus brief supporting the Arizona law that was eventually overturned, arguing that the law “advances Arizona’s legitimate interest in protecting its commerce with Israel and insuring that Arizona can take full advantage of what Israel has to offer in its contracting.”The law did not “infringe on private citizens’ rights,” to take actions against Israel, the group asserted, because “contractors can choose to boycott Israel in their private capacities as long as those private activities do not affect their contracting activities.”The bill was fiercely criticized over the weekend by freshman Democrat Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American member of Congress.“They forgot what country they represent,” the Michigan Democrat said in her tweet, referring to lawmakers’ attempts to pass the Combatting BDS Act. “This is the US where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality.”Rubio, who introduced the bill, castigated Tlaib’s attacks as anti-Semitic.“This ‘dual loyalty’ canard is a typical anti-Semitic line,” Rubio tweeted. “#BDS isn’t about freedom & equality, it’s about destroying #Israel.“And if boycotting #Israel is constitutionally protected, then boycotting companies that boycott #Israel is also constitutionally protected.”
Zarif jeers at ‘blind’ Bolton visiting Western Wall; Bahraini FM fires back-After Iran’s top diplomat lampoons photo of US official wearing VR goggles, Manama counterpart comes to defense of DC and Jerusalem with a photo of his own-By TOI staff -JAN 10,19
The foreign ministers of Iran and Bahrain entered into a Twitter spat Monday over Israel, and American support for the Jewish state, with a top Israeli diplomat also chiming in.The exchange began with Tehran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who shared a photo of US National Security Adviser John Bolton during a Sunday visit to Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Bolton and his entourage were seen wearing goggles while attending a virtual reality experience of the site’s history.“It’s said a picture says a thousand words,” Zarif said.“This picture, however, says more than a thousand words about decades of failed US policies in our region. In the valley of the blind, even those with VR glasses are still blind.”It's said a picture says a thousand words. This picture, however, says more than a thousand words about decades of failed US policies in our region.In the valley of the blind, even those with VR glasses are still blind. pic.twitter.com/Tyip6iKbFl— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 7, 2019-He received a prompt reply from Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, who has defended Israel on several recent occasions.Al Khalifa tweeted a 2010 photo of then-Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sporting goggles as he toured a site belonging to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.“This picture says a million words…about decades of ill intentions, hegemonic aims and misrepresentation of a proud nation,” he wrote. “Iran is one thing and you guys are another.”Mr Zariaf , this picture says a million words or about blindness ; but about decades of ill intentions , hegemonic aims and misrepresentation of a proud nation . Iran is one thing and you guys are another pic.twitter.com/5wP7eWotQm-(@khalidalkhalifa) January 7, 2019-Israel’s Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, who accompanied Bolton on the tour, also stepped into the ring, tweeting at Zarif: “If only Iran’s nuclear weapons program, ballistic missiles, global terror campaign, vows to destroy Israel and chants of Death to America were a virtual reality game and not the real policies of the radical regime you represent.”.@JZarif If only Iran’s nuclear weapons program, ballistic missiles, global terror campaign, vows to destroy Israel and chants of Death to America were a virtual reality game and not the real policies of the radical regime you represent. https://t.co/IhlhfoVPYk— Amb. Ron Dermer (@AmbDermer) January 7, 2019-Israel and Bahrain do not have diplomatic relations, but are said to have solid clandestine ties. Both countries see in Iran a strategic threat.In December Al Khalifa condemned the Arab League as “irresponsible” after it attacked Australia’s recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He also tweeted support for Israel’s operation to expose and destroy Hezbollah’s cross-border tunnels and in May said the Jewish state had the right to defend itself.Bolton’s visit to the Western Wall and the adjacent Western Wall tunnels Sunday was met with anger by Palestinian officials, with Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, saying it undermined international law.“This behavior will not change the fact that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and the capital of the state of Palestine,” Erekat tweeted.Bolton visited Israel to discuss US policy in Syria and the threat posed by Iran. During his visit he vowed that Washington would remain “very supportive” of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.
When Hamas and Fatah fight, the ricochets are likely to end up hitting Israel-Relations between Palestinian factions are again threatening to explode, after the PA abandoned the Rafah crossing, leading to its closure-By Avi Issacharoff-TOI-JAN 10,19
It’s hard to tell who started the latest dispute between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. Was it an arrest campaign by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, or a major wave of arrests of Fatah operatives by Hamas in the Gaza Strip? Either way, one thing is clear: The fallout from the current tussle between the rival groups will surely be felt by Israel, including in the form of an escalation in violence.The latest headline coming from intra-Palestinian politics has been PA staff abandoning the Rafah crossing, a step that has caused the closure of the only passage for Gazans to travel overseas.The crossing had been operating for many months with Egypt’s blessing, manned by PA staff, significantly easing the feeling of being besieged in Gaza. Though exit was by no means free, and not many people had been permitted to pass through, the crossing’s continued operation gave the population some feeling of change.That ended when the PA announced in recent days that it was evacuating the officials who had been operating the crossing and supervising the entries and exits from Gaza. The Egyptians, who refuse to cooperate with the Hamas terror group as a government authority, reacted by closing their side of the crossing.Hamas, true to form, accused Ramallah of “declaring war” on Gaza, but conveniently ignored what led the PA to take such a step.Fatah had been preparing to hold a mass rally in Gaza commemorating the movement’s anniversary on January 1, but Hamas prevented that by various means, including an exceptionally widespread arrest campaign. Some 500 Fatah operative were arrested or taken in for questioning in the days leading up to that planned anniversary, according to Fatah; explanatory material was confiscated; and unknown assailants broke into the PA’s TV and radio offices in Gaza and caused extensive damage to the property and equipment.Those steps apparently crossed a few red lines in the sensitive status quo between the organizations in the PA’s eyes, leading to the closure of the Rafah crossing.That is when the war of words and threats began. Senior Fatah officials such as Azzam al-Ahmad have threatened that the removal of officials from the Rafah crossing was just the first step out of many that will topple Hamas, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction and wrested control of Gaza from the PA in a violent coup in 2007.The PA’s approach to Gaza, according to those senior Fatah officials, is “all or nothing” — meaning, either Hamas surrenders all aspects of leadership in Gaza to the PA, or the PA cuts itself off completely from the Strip.That could just be a move intended to pressure Hamas or signal to the Egyptian that there’s an emergency, but it seems that the fragile situation in Gaza is destabilizing again.According to a report in the London-based Arabic-language daily Asharq Al-Awsat, PA President Mahmoud Abbas conveyed a clear message to the Egyptians during his recent visit to Cairo that he intends to take stronger measures against Gaza, including in the fields of health and education. That is essentially a threat to cut PA funds to the Strip, which could drag the already impoverished population there into an unprecedented crisis.Crises and instances of deterioration in Hamas-Fatah relations have frequently led to an increase in tensions with Israel: more border protests, rocket fire and other incidents, such as the explosive device attached to balloons that was launched into Israel on Sunday and prompted the IDF to strike in Gaza in retaliation.All that is added to the current delay in the transfer of Qatari aid money to the Strip — $15 million to pay Hamas staff’s salaries — resulting in a general feeling in Gaza that another round of violence is brewing.The famous rule in the Palestinian arena hasn’t changed: When Fatah and Hamas have a brawl, Israel gets hit.
European Union puts Iranian intel agency on blacklist over foiled plots-Danish foreign minister says measures will send a strong signal to Tehran that Europe won’t accept attacks on Iranian dissidents on its territory-By AP-TOI-JAN 10,19
BRUSSELS — Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said the European Union has agreed to put an Iranian intelligence service on its terror list after Denmark and France alleged Iran was plotting to kill opposition activists on European soil.Samuelsen said that EU government ministers on Tuesday “agreed to enact sanctions.”He said it is a “strong signal from the EU that we will not accept such behavior in Europe.”Paris alleges that Tehran’s Intelligence Ministry’s internal security section was linked to the alleged attempt to bomb a rally of opponents on June 30 outside Paris. The Danes say Iran in October was planning to kill in Denmark a member of the group that Tehran has blamed for a September 22 attack that killed at least 25 people.
Turkey trial on Russian envoy’s killing to open with US-based cleric as suspect-Ankara says Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is one of 28 involved in the 2016 shooting of Moscow’s ambassador by off-duty Turkish policeman-By AFP-TOI-JAN 10,19
ANKARA, Turkey — Twenty eight suspects were due to go on trial Tuesday over the assassination of the Russian ambassador two years ago, including a US-based Muslim preacher blamed by Ankara for a failed coup the same year.Andrei Karlov, 62, was shot dead by an off-duty Turkish policeman at a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19, 2016, in a shock attack that was captured on camera by photographers attending the event.The 22-year-old gunman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and “Don’t forget Aleppo,” vowing that those responsible for events in Syria would be held accountable.Altintas was killed shortly after by members of the Turkish special forces.The Ankara prosecutor has charged 16 of the suspects with “premeditated murder with the intention of causing terror,” according to the indictment. The other 12 were charged with “being a member of a terror organization.”Thirteen are currently in pre-trial detention, while it is prosecuting others in absentia.Those not in Turkey include Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Islamic preacher seen as an arch foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and who Ankara blames for the July 2016 coup attempt.Gulen has denied links to both the failed coup and the murder.Turkish officials have alleged that Gulen’s movement organized the murder of Karlov, a married father of one, to sow “chaos.”Turkey refers to the organization as the “Fetullah Terrorist Organisation” (FETO) but followers say it is peaceful, promoting secular education.Another of the suspects named is Serif Ali Tekalan, who headed a university linked to Gulen in Istanbul and now heads the Texas-based North American University (NAU). ‘Attack’ on Turkey-Russia ties-The prosecutor is seeking a variety of penalties for the suspects, including aggravated life sentences, which have replaced the death penalty in Turkey and carry harsher conditions than normal life imprisonment convictions.The indictment says the Gulen movement plotted the murder of Karlov, who had been appointed as ambassador in 2013, to “break off bilateral relations” between Turkey and Russia and bring them to the brink of “hot war.”The Kremlin had previously warned against rushing to any assumptions.Although Moscow does not repeat the Gulen claims, Selim Koru, a Black Sea Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute think tank noted in a report late last year that Russia sent investigators and “if they had different findings, they didn’t say.”Turkey and Russia had a dramatic falling out in November 2015 after a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian warplane along the Syrian border.But by the summer of 2016 relations had improved, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan keen to show they are working together to find a solution to the Syrian conflict despite being on opposing sides of the war.Tens of thousands of people have been arrested over alleged links to Gulen since 2016 in a crackdown criticized by human rights groups and Ankara’s Western allies.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
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.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
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 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 MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Netherlands accuses Iran of murdering 2 dissidents on Dutch soil-Ministers say EU has agreed to hit Tehran with fresh sanctions over killings of regime opponents-By AFP-TOI-JAN 10,19
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands accused Iran Tuesday of involvement in the murder of two dissidents on Dutch soil, adding that the EU was hitting Tehran with sanctions partly as a result of the killings.The Dutch secret service “has strong indications that Iran was involved in the assassinations of two Dutch nationals of Iranian origin in Almere 2015 and in The Hague in 2017,” Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to parliament.“These individuals were opponents of the Iranian regime,” he said in the letter, also signed by Dutch Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren.“The Netherlands considers it probable that Iran had a hand in the preparation or commissioning of assassinations and attacks on EU territory,” the ministers said.They added that the EU had on Tuesday “partly at the recommendation of the Netherlands” agreed to impose fresh sanctions on Iran.Dutch police have previously named the two victims as Ali Motamed, 56, who was killed in the central city of Almere in 2015, and Ahmad Molla Nissi, 52, murdered in The Hague in 2017.Dutch-Ahwazi activist Ahmad Mola Nissi shot to death in Hague on Nov 8. (#IRGC’s Quds allegedly involved in the terror attack) @VP @POTUS pic.twitter.com/GcBsAVySfT— Kaveh Taheri ???? (@TaheriKaveh) November 9, 2017-Last June, the Netherlands expelled two workers from the Iranian embassy in connection with the murders.Tehran at the time protested the expulsion of the two diplomats as an “unfriendly and destructive move” and threatened to retaliate.Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had earlier confirmed that the European Union has agreed on new sanctions targeting the Iranian Intelligence and Security Ministry and two Iranian nationals.Denmark had led efforts for sanctions after allegations that Tehran tried to kill three Iranian dissidents on Danish soil.France had meanwhile hit two suspected Iranian agents with asset freezes over a plot to bomb a rally near Paris.
Erdogan denounces Bolton’s ‘unacceptable’ comments on Syrian Kurdish militia-Turkish leader angry at US national security adviser for saying that Syria pullout is conditional on ensuring safety of US-backed fighters that Ankara considers terrorists-By Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi and Fulya Ozerkan-TOI-JAN 10,19
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday slammed as a “grave mistake” comments by White House National Security adviser John Bolton over the Syrian Kurdish militia, highlighting tensions between Ankara and Washington.Erdogan’s comments came shortly after Bolton held more than two hours of talks in the Turkish capital with Erdogan’s adviser Ibrahim Kalin, in a key meeting focusing on the surprise US decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.“It is not possible to accept or swallow the message given by Bolton from Israel,” Erdogan told his party’s lawmakers in parliament.Tensions erupted ahead of the Ankara talks after Bolton said Sunday in Israel the retreat was also conditional on the safety of US-backed Kurdish fighters, considered terrorists by Turkey.A furious Erdogan said: “John Bolton has made a grave mistake on this issue.”US President Donald Trump caused a political storm last month when he announced the troop pullout because the battle against the Islamic State (IS) group had been won.“President Trump made the right call to withdraw from Syria,” Erdogan said in a column published in the New York Times, outlining Turkey’s “comprehensive strategy” to eliminate the causes of radicalization in the war-torn country.-‘Slander’-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also drew wrath of the Turkish leadership when he said Washington will ensure Ankara does not “slaughter” Kurds in Syria as American troops withdraw.Erdogan lambasted the comments Tuesday and said: “That Turkey targets the Kurds is the most vile, the most dishonorable, the ugliest and the cheapest slander.”Bolton held “productive” talks with Kalin on Tuesday morning to discuss how the withdrawal would take place, his spokesman said in a statement shared on Twitter following the meeting.“They had a productive discussion of the president’s decision to withdraw at a proper pace from northeast Syria, identified further issues for dialogue,” Garrett Marquis said.Joining Bolton were General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the anti-Islamic State (IS) group envoy James Jeffrey.There was no meeting with Bolton on Erdogan’s schedule.When Trump first announced the pullout of 2,000 ground troops on December 19, Ankara was a lonely voice among NATO allies welcoming the decision.Erdogan has promised Trump that Turkey could finish off the remnants of IS in Syria.“A military victory against the terrorist group is a mere first step,” he said in the New York Times, warning against premature declarations of victory.‘No concessions’-Trump said Monday the fight against IS was not over.“We will be leaving at a proper pace while at the same time continuing to fight ISIS and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!” he tweeted.Nicholas Heras, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security, said Ankara would need support from Washington to completely eradicate IS, “to the point where the US military would essentially still be inside Syria.”The US had been working closely with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.But US-Turkey relations have been especially rocky over American military support to the YPG.Ankara says the YPG is a “terrorist offshoot” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.The PKK is proscribed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.And Erdogan’s comments on Tuesday showed disagreements still existed over the future of the YPG.The Turkish leader chastised Washington for bringing a new definition to terror. “There cannot be such a thing,” he said, assuring that Ankara would not make any concessions in the fight against the YPG.“Those who are in the terror corridor in Syria will learn necessary lessons,” he said. “To us, there is no little difference between the YPG and the PKK.”-Airspace issue-Last month, Erdogan threatened to launch a cross-border operation against the YPG, east of the Euphrates River, which he said later would be delayed after Trump’s order.But Turkey has sent military convoys to its border with Syria and inside the war-ravaged country.Turkish military analyst Metin Gurcan said Ankara was currently being held back on the operation by the issue of airspace, which was on the agenda for Tuesday’s talks.Gurcan said it was not clear whether the US would withdraw from the airspace, but even if Washington did so, Ankara would need the support of Moscow for any operation.Turkish military forces supporting Syrian rebels launched incursions into northern Syria against IS in August 2016 and against the YPG in January 2018.
32 said killed in Islamic State counterattack in east Syria-Despite losses, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces rally and recapture all territory jihadists seized in offensive launched under cover of bad weather-By AFP-TOI-JAN 10,19
BEIRT, Lebanon — Die-hard jihadists defending their last bastions in eastern Syria used the cover of bad weather to launch a vain but deadly counterattack against Kurdish-led fighters.The Islamic State group was unable to hold on to the positions it attacked but the assault killed 23 members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and also left nine jihadists dead.IS fighters took advantage of poor visibility to unleash suicide attackers on SDF forces along the front line in the Euphrates valley late on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday.“Twenty-three SDF fighters were killed and nine IS jihadists were also killed in fighting that lasted all night and into Monday morning,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.The jihadists often launch attacks under the cover of bad weather that cancels out their opponents’ advantage of US-led coalition air power.The SDF launched what is meant to be the final offensive on the jihadist organisation four months ago with air and ground support from coalition forces.The Kurdish-Arab alliance has deployed some 17,000 fighters for an operation aimed at flushing out IS from the last rump of its now-defunct “caliphate.”IS fighters “launched deadly counterattacks in three different directions against the Syrian Democratic Forces, including in the villages of Sousa and Al-Shaafa,” Abdel Rahman said.-Final push-He said they used at least two suicide bombers in their attacks, which inflicted the latest in a string of heavy losses on the SDF.According to the Observatory, 1,087 IS jihadists were killed since the start of the operation on September 10 while 602 members of the SDF also died.“On Monday morning, the SDF launched an offensive and retook all the positions they lost,” the Observatory said.“Due to its depleted manpower, IS was unable to hold on to the positions it attacked,” it said.Abdel Rahman said the jihadists’ defenses in the area have collapsed and the end of the battle is near.The IS jihadists who remain however include seasoned fighters who have little to lose and are prepared to die in a last stand.The meanders of the Euphrates in those areas of the Deir Ezzor province near the border with Iraq are considered the heartland of IS and are a perilous terrain for the SDF.In mid-December, the SDF took Hajin, the last town of note in the IS-controlled pocket, signalling the imminent fall of the jihadists’ last bastion.An announcement by US President Donald Trump last month that he was ordering a complete troop pullout from Syria rattled the Kurds.It left them exposed to the threat of a cross-border operation by their arch-foe Turkey and protesting that they had been poorly rewarded for doing much of the heavy-lifting in the battle against IS.They have pressed on with their operation in eastern Syria regardless and Washington has since stressed any withdrawal would be gradual.
Netanyahu hails arrest of suspected terrorist-Politicians welcome capture of Asem Barghouti but call for harsher measures; mother of slain soldier says she will campaign for death penalty-By Stuart Winer and TOI staff-JAN 10,19
Lawmakers on Tuesday welcomed the capture of a Palestinian man suspected of carrying out a deadly terror shooting last month, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to bring to justice any who attack Israeli citizens.Asem Barghouti is believed to have opened fire at a bus stop outside the Givat Assaf outpost near Ramallah in the West Bank on December 13, killing two soldiers stationed there — Sgt. Yosef Cohen and Staff Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef — and seriously injuring a third serviceman and a civilian woman. Barghouti fled the scene after the attack, evading Israeli troops for almost a month before his capture in the village of Abu Shukheidim in the predawn hours of the morning, the Shin Bet security service said.In a tweet, Netanyahu congratulated the security forces involved in “the capture of the depraved terrorist” and vowed that “Israel’s long arm will reach those who attack our citizens and Israel will bring them to justice.”Ofir Gendelman, the prime minister’s spokesperson for Arab media, tweeted, “We always get those who kill our people.”Ilanit Mor Yosef, mother of slain soldier Yovel, told Army Radio that she would campaign for legislation enabling the death sentence for terrorists.“My son was fighting terrorism and we will continue his war,” she said. “We will not rest until the death penalty for terrorists is passed [into law].”Asked about Barghouti’s capture, she noted that he had already been imprisoned in Israel in the past.“He was already in jail and released, so what? Apparently the conditions there were so good that he chose to go back and carry out this attack,” she said.Barghouti was set free from an Israeli prison in April 2017 after serving an 11-year sentence.Transportation Minister Israel Katz congratulated security forces and declared in a tweet, “We will bring to justice all of the terrorists and those who send them.”Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein similarly tweeted, “We will catch and bring to justice all those who seek to drive us out of here and to undermine our existence in the Land of Israel.”Education Minister Naftali Bennett applauded the capture, but called for more stringent measures against terrorists, including controversial home demolitions, ending Palestinian Authority payments to the families of attackers, and the expulsion of attackers’ families from their homes to other areas of the West Bank.“It is not enough to catch terrorist murderers,” he tweeted. “Their homes must be destroyed quickly, compensation money must be denied to their families, and the family members should be deported.“As long as that doesn’t happen, the incentives [paid by the PA] will continue to encourage Palestinians to murder Jews,” he continued, and vowed that his recently formed New Right party will “act not just to kill the terrorist mosquitoes, but also to dry up the terrorist swamp.”The demolition of attackers’ homes has been criticized by human rights groups as a form of collective punishment, and some analysts and officials question its effectiveness as a deterrent measure.Former defense minister Avigdor Liberman, while welcoming Barghouti’s arrest, panned the government for not passing the death sentence legislation previously proposed by his Yisrael Beytenu party. Liberman resigned from the government in November in protest to what he said was the government’s weakness in dealing with terrorism from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.“[Barghouti] is an extremist Islamic activist who belongs to a clan that has been involved in attacks against Israelis for many years,” Liberman wrote. “This is the classic case in which it is lamentable that Yisrael Beytenu’s death penalty for terrorists [bill] was torpedoed by the Likud and coalition leaders.”According to the Shin Bet, Barghouti also took part in another shooting attack at the entrance to the Ofra settlement on December 9 with his brother, Salih — days before the fatal Givat Assaf shooting — in which they injured seven Israelis, among them a seven-months pregnant woman. The woman’s baby was delivered in an emergency operation, but died days later.Salih was shot dead on December 12 in Kobar as he attacked Israeli security forces in an attempt to evade arrest, the army said.The national-religious Jewish Home party, which Bennett headed until he left last month together with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to form the New Right party, is sponsoring a bill that would allow Israel to forcibly relocate the families of Palestinian attackers from their homes to other areas of the West Bank. In December ministers voted to advance the legislation despite opposition from the attorney general.Yisrael Beytenu’s death sentence bill is currently being reviewed by the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, which has yet to approve it for a first reading in parliament. Liberman has accused the government of deliberately holding up the legislation.The bill passed a preliminary reading in Knesset in January 2018 despite reservations by some coalition lawmakers. Its progress since then has been repeatedly delayed due to opposition from the security establishment.Although the death penalty formally exists in Israeli law, it has only ever been used once — in 1962 in the case of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. The Yisrael Beytenu bill aims to make capital punishment easier to apply by reducing the number of judges required to approve it.
