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)
WAR WITH IRAN - DAY 173 AUGUST 19,26 - TRUMP SAYS STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS AMERICAS.
THE
NEXT US-ISRAEL HIT ON IRAN SHOULD BE VERSE 37. ALL OFFENSIVE NUKE SITES
MISSLES,DRONES,AND OF COURSE KHEMENI AND THE IRGC GUARDS.THEN AFTER
IRANS REGIME CHANGE. MUSLIMS COME TO JESUS BY THE MILLIONS.
JEREMEIAH 49:32-39 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITES AND ALL OFENSIVE WEAPONS DESTROYED IN IRAN)
Jeremiah 49:32-39
32
Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a
spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of
their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of
them, says Yahweh.
33 Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a
desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of
man sojourn therein.(Location & Size: It was strategically located
along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea), a major trade route connecting
Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia.)
34 The word of Yahweh that came to
Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam,(IRAN) in the beginning of the
reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus says Yahweh of
Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS)
the chief of their might.(MISSLES AND NUKE SITES)
36 On Elam (IRAN)
will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will
scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where
the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(SINCE 1979 IRANIANS HAVE GOTTIN OUT
OF IRAN BECAUSE OF KHEMENI AND HIS APOCOPOLIPTIC DEATH CULT
BELIEF-BLACK HATER 12ERS)
37 I will cause Elam (IRAN) to be dismayed
before their enemies, and before those who seek their life;(ISRAEL THE
LITTLE SATAN AND THE U.S THE BIG SATAN) and I will bring evil on them,
(MISSLES) even my fierce anger,(FIRE) says Yahweh; and I will send the
sword after them,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) until I have consumed them;
(DESTROYED THEM ALL NUKE SITES,MISSLES ETC)
38 and I will set my
throne in Elam,(IRAN WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION) and will destroy
from there king (KHEMENI, ISLAM) and princes, says Yahweh.(IRANIAN ARMY
GUARDS)
39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring
back the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) says Yahweh.(WERE IN THE LATTER DAYS
NOW)
WHEN ARE THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL IN THE SPRING TIME.(GET READY ISLAM TO BE BIRD SEED FOR THESE BIRDS)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m0bXU5Xqc5M
The
500 million migratory birds in Israel during the spring arrive from
Africa and head toward Europe and Asia, with the peak migration
occurring in March and April. While migration starts in late February,
the most intense movements, particularly of birds of prey, storks, and
pelicans, occur during the third week of March and continue into April.
Key Details on the Spring Migration
Peak Period: Mid-March through April.
Main
Migration Route: The birds use the Great Rift Valley, which includes
the Hula Valley and Eilat, acting as a "bottleneck" where millions of
birds fly through the narrow land bridge.
Best Spots: The Hula Lake
Park (Northern Israel) and the Eilat Birding Center (Southern Israel)
are primary locations for observing the migration.
Key Species:
Hundreds of thousands of white storks, along with black kites, raptors,
and pelicans, pass through over these months.
uration: The spring migration runs from late February and continues into June, though the heaviest traffic is in March/April.
The
500 million migratory birds fly over Israel in the fall between late
August and mid-December. The peak migration period for the autumn, when
the highest volume of bird traffic occurs, is typically October and
November.
Key Fall Migration Details
Location: The Hula Valley (Agamon Hula Park) in northern Israel is the premier spot to witness this phenomenon.
Timing: Migration starts as early as late June with some waders, but intensifies from mid-August through November.
Peak Festival: The "Annual Hula Valley Bird Festival" is usually held in November to align with the peak migration traffic.
Key
Species: Many birds of prey (raptors), including honey buzzards and
steppe eagles, cross during this time, along with massive flocks of
storks and cranes.
While roughly 500 million birds pass through in
the autumn on their way to Africa, the same number crosses again in the
spring (mid-February to May) on their way back to Europe and Asia.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23
Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they
have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the
sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24
Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath
seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in
travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of
war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I
will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it
shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN
DAMASCUS)
Trump circles the Strait of Hormuz on map and proclaims
it as ‘new US territory’The president reasserts that the U.S. will
takeover the Middle East passageway it hasn’t been able to get under
control for months — and even parts of Iran — in taunting new Truth
Social post
John Bowden in Washington, D.C.Tuesday 18 August 2026 23:13 BST
Donald
Trump posted a map identifying the Strait of Hormuz as “new U.S.
territory” on Tuesday, echoing a threat he made last week under the
continued pressure of the key waterway’s contested nature.The president
is facing rising anti-war sentiment across America and the understanding
on Capitol Hill, even among his own party, that the war against Iran is
unpopular and driving up costs for Americans with only weeks to go
before voters will determine control of Congress.Trump, according to
reporting, is desperate to find a way to mark the military effort as a
victory as negotiations with the Iranian government — which he once
claimed he’d overthrow, or could easily — have collapsed, and the U.S.
appears no closer to a deal restricting the future of Iran’s nuclear
program.The Strait of Hormuz remains a dangerous zone for tankers and
other ships as Iranian mines and drone attacks remain a threat for
vessels that stray from one of two approved routes through the waterway.
Traffic remains at a crawl.In a captionless post on Truth Social on
Tuesday morning, the president circled the strait and labeled it “new
U.S. territory.”U.S. forces, however, have been unable to guarantee safe
passage for ships through the strait thus far and the circle depicted
on Trump’s map actually includes quite a bit of Iranian land on the
northern borders of the strait. That would imply a partial U.S.
occupation of Iranian soil.The president first claimed that the strait
would be “U.S. territory” at an event in New York last week.“Pretty
soon, I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United
States,” he told attendees at a political rally.Iran’s deputy foreign
minister responded, calling the president’s assertion a “delusion” and
warning that the U.S. could not seize the waterway by “tweet” or with
military force.“This strait will only be opened and closed under Iran’s
command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop
indulging in delusions, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade,”
said Kazem Gharibabadi on X.Trump and the White House reportedly view
reopening the strait and relieving the stress put on Americans by higher
gas prices as a top priority, where once the stated goal of the
military incursion in Iran was the end of Iran’s nuclear program and the
securing of enriched nuclear material. But the president’s demands have
grown more wild and untethered as the conflict has drags on, and last
week he insisted that Iran pay war reparations for Americans kiled by
Iranian forces over decades.Gas prices have jumped by more than $1 per
gallon on average across the country since late February when the war
began, and Americans’ dissatisfaction with the administration has been
fueled in part by the pronouncements of various figures around the
president, as well as Trump himself, that the war would conclude in a
matter of weeks. The conflict is now only about a week away from
reaching its six-month mark.There’s no sign that official negotiations
are ongoing, though the president confirmed that a backchannel with
Iranian officials does exist. While the president himself has repeatedly
insisted that he does not view the midterm elections as a deadline for
ending the war, his allies in Congress have said the opposite and warned
that the effects of the war are putting Republicans in dire
straits.“This situation in Iran is causing repercussions like you can't
imagine,” West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice, a Republican, told reporters
on Monday according to Punchbowl News. He added that his party was
“scared to death about the midterms”.White House officials and allies of
the president celebrated in June when a 60-day memorandum of
understanding (MOU) was signed to extend a ceasefire that was already in
place between the U.S. and Iran. That MOU appeared to open the door to
talks concerning Iran’s nuclear program and was poised to allow traffic
through the Strait of Hormuz to resume at close to pre-war levels.But
the deal, which officially expired on Monday, collapsed almost
immediately after Iranian officials contended that the deal gave the
country control over the strait and asserted restrictions on vessels
transiting through it, firing upon those that disobeyed. U.S. and
Iranian forces have traded fire in the weeks since the deal collapsed,
resulting in the deaths of three U.S. service members and injuries to
more.
Ankara slams Jerusalem's 'frivolous allegations'Israel
confirms striking Syrian air base, saying Turkey was planning to deploy
forces-Netanyahu’s office asserts Damascus was repeatedly warned ‘such a
deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security’; Trump’s envoy
says US working to establish deconfliction mechanism for Israel, Syria
and Turkey-By Emanuel Fabian and Agencies 19 August 2026, 5:27 am
Israel
confirmed late Tuesday that it was behind overnight airstrikes against a
Syrian military airport, where it claimed Turkey was planning to deploy
forces.“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters,
which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops
to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” said Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s office in an English-language statement.The Prime Minister’s
Office said Israel “repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment
would pose a threat to Israel’s security.”“Syria chose to ignore these
warnings,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that Israel “will not
tolerate threats to its security, and would welcome a return to the
status quo.”In response, Ankara decried “the frivolous allegations put
forward by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office,” according to a Turkish
government statement quoted by the Anadolu state news agency, saying
they “aim to legitimize Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity.”An unnamed Turkish official also
denied to Axios that Ankara was seeking to establish a military presence
at the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province.“There was no Turkish
presence at the airbase. Israel is inventing pretexts to bomb
neighboring countries and destabilize the region,” the official
asserted.Deconfliction mechanism-The attack marked extraordinary
defiance by Israel of the United States, which has sought to support
Syria’s new government led by a former jihadist allied with Turkey. US
special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack criticized the strikes as an
“unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”An
Israeli security source cited by the Kan public broadcaster said Israel
had intelligence it shared with the US on Turkish efforts to deploy
troops at the base, and that the strikes were only carried out after
attempts to dialogue with Syria failed. The report did not specify how
the US responded to the Israeli intelligence.Barrack, a business friend
of US President Donald Trump who is also ambassador to Turkey, later
said the United States was working to establish a deconfliction
mechanism among Israel, Turkey and Syria.According to Barrack, Turkey
was not warned about the Israeli strikes, “and consequently observed the
aircraft heading north toward its territory and therefore could have
reasonably prepared its own response,” referring to possible Turkish
military reaction.“Thankfully, calm heads were able to prevent the
situation from deteriorating further,” Barrack told Reuters in a phone
interview.Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and signed a
mutual defense pact this month with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, has
become one of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s main allies.Ankara has
been training Syria’s army, helping it rebuild state institutions and
infrastructure and providing military and diplomatic support.Israel’s
strikes on the Syrian airbase “reflected a perception — whether accurate
or misplaced — that Türkiye might in the near future increase its
presence at that base,” Barrack said, using the Turkish name for
Turkey.“This underscores the need for a deconfliction mechanism
involving Israel, Syria and Türkiye. That is something we are actively
working on to establish in order to prevent future miscommunication,” he
said. “The priority now is to lower tensions and allow space for a more
measured approach.”The airbase, about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) east
of the Turkish border, has been out of service as a dedicated military
airfield since 2013 and changed hands several times during Syria’s
14-year civil war between forces loyal to former president Bashar
al-Assad and opposition factions.Syria’s state-run Ekhbariya television,
citing a military source, said on Tuesday that Israel carried out eight
airstrikes on the base’s runway and storage facilities. A separate
military source and a civilian who lives near the base said there were
no casualties.Israel has for years struck targets in Syria to curb what
it says is Iranian influence and to prevent weapons from reaching
Hezbollah in Lebanon.Since Assad’s overthrow in 2024, it has also viewed
Syria’s new rulers with suspicion and continued military operations in
the country, most recently attacking government sites in southern and
central Syria in March.‘Kinetic means of communication’Syria and Israel
have held several rounds of de-escalation and border discussions since
rebel forces under Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s command toppled
Assad, but no agreement has been reached.“An incident of the kind that
occurred this morning demonstrates the need to intensify these efforts
and expand the process,” Barrack said.The envoy said the US already
facilitates an information-sharing and dialogue mechanism among the
parties.“What is required is a more robust architecture with greater
resources committed to it. Investing in such mechanisms is far less
costly than relying on kinetic means of communication that can run into
the hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said, referring to military
force.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Iran
would see a win; some forces could relocate near Israel-US reportedly
weighing major troop pullback from Gulf following damage in Iran
war-Washington Post says war prompts ‘once-in-a-generation chance’ to
review American presence in region, as Pentagon, CENTCOM said to be
considering not rebuilding some damaged bases By ToI Staff 18 August
2026, 11:04 pm
The US Defense Department is considering pulling
back troops from the Persian Gulf following damage to its presence there
during the ongoing war with Iran, the Washington Post reported Tuesday,
citing eight sources.The war has prompted a “once-in-a-generation
chance” for the US to consider whether to maintain its bases in the
Gulf, the report said, adding that the Pentagon is even considering not
rebuilding its damaged bases as they were before the fighting broke out
in late February.While the move was being positioned as a chance for a
review of US policy, such a shift would most likely be seen as a major
achievement by Iran, which has long chafed at the large American
presence in the region and has called for a US withdrawal. It could also
leave Gulf countries that have long hosted the US bases vulnerable to
further attack by Iran.One option, according to the report, is for the
US to move its troops and bases further west in the region and away from
Iran, into an area that includes Jordan and Israel. American refueler
jets have been stationed in Israel throughout the war, and Jordan houses
several US bases.US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not ordered a
formal review of the question, but it is being explored by the
Pentagon’s policy office and the US Central Command, according to the
report.“Decisions are going to have to be made on some of this stuff,” a
senior Pentagon official told the US newspaper.Normally, about 40,000
US troops are stationed across the Middle East, according to the Post,
at some 20 bases scattered throughout the region. Many of these bases,
as well as other US military sites, have come under heavy Iranian
missile and drone fire since the US and Israel launched the war in late
February, killing 18 US service members and injuring hundreds more.The
biggest American bases are in the Gulf, notably the US Navy Fifth Fleet
headquarters in Bahrain, and the US significantly increased its presence
in the region during the Iran war.The US has especially bolstered its
naval forces in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, with dozens of
warships and aircraft carriers stationed in the region, carrying
thousands of sailors, many of whom have been deployed for hundreds of
days more than planned.“The war really did highlight the vulnerability”
of American forces in the region, former US diplomat Michael Ratney told
the Post.The former envoy to Saudi Arabia said that while moving troops
further west and away from much of Iran’s missile range could revive
some pressure, there is no “perfect solution to this problem.”The report
cited sources familiar with the Pentagon’s thinking as saying that the
issue would “likely” intensify an inter-administration debate over US
military intervention in the Middle East, a question that has been
central to the second term of US President Donald Trump as the hawkish
and isolationist wings of his government vie for influence on the
president.Either way, the Post noted that any significant changes to US
forces in the region were “distant” and would only take place if
approved by the White House.
Bennett: Israel should strike Iran
to retaliate for Hezbollah attacks-B’Yachad chief accuses PM of tearing
‘Israeli society to shreds’ at party conference. Lapid calls to repair
Israel’s ‘bipartisan status’ in US, strengthen ties with Diaspora Jews
By Sam Sokol-19 August 2026, 7:53 pm
Former prime minister
Naftali Bennett and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said on Wednesday that,
if they form the next government, they will push for a hardline
deterrence policy against Iran while seeking to rebuild frayed ties with
American liberals and the European Union.Bennett, a security hawk
leading the B’Yachad party alongside Lapid, told party members at an
internal policy conference in Tel Aviv that attacks from Iranian proxies
should be treated as if they came from Iran.“If Hezbollah fires at us,
we strike Iran. A strike by the Iranian octopus’s tentacles inside
Israel’s borders will exact a price inside Iran’s borders,” Bennett
declared.While accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government
of tearing “Israeli society to shreds” and thus being ineffective
against foreign enemies, he echoed the premier’s insistence that Israel
refuse to pull back in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed.Bennett also said he
will not allow Qatar or Turkey to have any role in postwar Gaza,
reiterating his call for Qatar to be labeled an enemy state.“We will not
move a millimeter from the Yellow Line until Hamas is completely
disarmed and this weaponry is removed from Gaza. We will maintain
security and freedom of action throughout the Gaza Strip. We will remove
Qatar and Turkey from Gaza and replace them with Egypt. Whoever allows
Qatar and Turkey to run Gaza is preventing the dismantling of Hamas,”
said Bennett.“We will use our credit with the White House only for the
benefit of Israel’s security, and we will also know how to say ‘no’ when
necessary and stand up for Israel’s security without compromise. Just
as I did during the government I headed when I said no to President
[Joe] Biden on the issue of establishing an American consulate in East
Jerusalem.”Bennett also backed redefining rampant and deadly crime in
the Arab community as a national security threat rather than a criminal
one, urging the deployment of the IDF and Shin Bet in the fight against
illegal weapons.“There are about half a million illegal weapons
circulating today within the borders of the State of Israel. This is an
incomprehensible number. The flawed conception here is that the
government treats this as a criminal problem, when it is in fact a
security threat of the highest order. This is why they’ve done nothing
about it,” he said.“This is a ticking time bomb. Here too, we will
fundamentally change our approach. We will define arms smuggling as
terrorism in every way. We will use the full power of the state —
including the Shin Bet and the IDF. Wherever there is intelligence that
there are weapons caches, we will declare that location a closed
security zone, and we will clear our streets of illegal weapons so that
they are not then aimed at Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike.”On
the theme of weapons, Bennett, a former hi-tech CEO, insisted that
Israel’s current leadership had failed to grasp that “AI is the weapon
of the future.”“In the not-so-distant future, AI capabilities will be
more important than even nuclear weapons. Artificial intelligence is the
next superpowers’ arms race, and despite the current government lagging
over the past four years, we will not let Israel be left behind,” he
said.Repairing ties with allies, world Jewry-Lapid, who has served as
both prime minister and foreign minister, told party members that he
will work to repair ties with the US and bring the relationship back “to
the bipartisan status Israel enjoyed until four years ago.”“The number
one goal and challenge of our foreign policy is to restore and change
the direction of our relations with the United States,” he said, calling
to “work with both parties, not only in Washington, but also at the
state level.”Lapid slammed Netanyahu for giving up American military
aid, calling it “a grave mistake” and insisting that “we must fight for
it.” Netanyahu has repeatedly said he would seek to end Israel’s
reliance on US aid, which has become increasingly unpopular among
Americans.Israel must also focus on “rebuilding ties with the European
Union, deepening connections with the NATO alliance and addressing —
despite the difficulty –public opinion in countries like Spain, France
and Ireland” while at the same time strengthen regional integration,
including making a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia “a central goal in
the coming years” so long as it prevents uranium enrichment by Riyadh,
Lapid added.“Israeli foreign policy is what brings us an F-35 that can
attack Iran as well as the continuous air corridor that leads there.
Satellite coverage. Apache helicopters. The Iron Dome. A hi-tech
economy. Scientific cooperation with Europe. Cooperation in cyber. Oil
from Azerbaijan. Preferential access to world markets. Partnerships in
critical technologies and AI. All of this is now in danger,” he said,
accusing the government of negligence, arrogance and
“amateurism.”Turning to relations with Diaspora Jewry, Lapid leveled an
attack against recent attempts to sideline non-Orthodox denominations in
Israel, stating that to “restore our relations with Diaspora Jewry,”
Israelis must “respect their Judaism.”“The overwhelming majority of
American Jewry are Reform or Conservative. They have suffered enough
from a terrible wave of antisemitism against them; there is no reason
for them to be insulted here in Israel – their Judaism, their rabbis and
their rituals,” he said.Calling to merge the Diaspora Affairs Ministry
with the Foreign Ministry, Lapid said that “world Jewry is our family,
and it is also a strategic and diplomatic asset that we need to
protect.”
UAE imposes financial embargo on Iran after missiles
target ‘maritime traffic’UAE defense ministry says two Iranian missiles
fell into the sea; Iran’s foreign ministry calls allegations
‘baseless’By Michael Georgy 19 August 2026, 6:24 pm
DUBAI
(Reuters) — The United Arab Emirates’ decision to suspend all financial
and economic transactions with Iran until further notice, citing a
military escalation by Tehran with a missile threat, has refocused the
spotlight on fraught ties between the major Gulf Arab oil producer and
Iran.The UAE, a close US ally and regional power, was the Gulf state
most heavily hit by Tehran during the early stages of the Middle East
war. However, the last reported attack on UAE soil was the May 4 strike
on Fujairah port, a key oil export hub.The move by the UAE to sever
commercial ties came after its defense ministry said that it had
detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, an incident that
marked the first time in months that residents received telephone alerts
warning of possible threats.In a statement, the ministry said the
missiles targeted “maritime traffic” based on its assessments. Both
missiles fell into the sea, it said.The UAE also sent a phone alert on
Tuesday to residents stating that the situation was safe and people
should resume normal activities after the earlier warning.Iran’s foreign
ministry rejected the statement by the UAE that its missiles targeted
maritime traffic, describing it as “baseless.”UAE says it is committed
to dialogue-Dubai, the UAE’s main commercial hub, is one of Tehran’s
most critical economic lifelines.UAE official Afra Al Hameli, Director
of the Strategic Communications Department at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, said the UAE was committed to dialogue and cooperation to
advance peace, stability and prosperity in the region.Al Hameli said
that in light of regional escalations that undermine regional and
international peace and security, all trade, commercial exchanges and
financial transactions with Iran have been halted.Anwar Gargash,
diplomatic advisor to the UAE president, said in a post on X that rumors
about the “provision of financial facilities to Iran” are “false and
part of desperate media campaigns.”The UAE was drawn into the wider war
in the region, which began in February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Tehran’s attacks on UAE soil stopped in May, while they persisted in
neighboring Kuwait and Bahrain. Attacks at sea on its vessels did not
stop.In August, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the
world’s largest energy producers, said it was being significantly
impacted by what it described as unprovoked attacks on its people and
assets, as it sought to continue meeting customer requirements in an
“exceptionally challenging environment.”ADNOC said in a statement that
several of its vessels had been attacked by missiles and drones while
transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the conflict.The
missile launch that the UAE blamed on Iran came as a 60-day window for
US-Iranian peace talks expired without a breakthrough, raising fears of a
new escalation in the conflict that has disrupted shipping through the
Strait of Hormuz since February and rattled global markets.Iran has not
claimed responsibility for the attacks on ADNOC vessels. Iran’s
Revolutionary Guards have previously threatened action against vessels
transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran’s adversaries or
fail to comply with Iranian directives.
Government opens bidding
to build 1,200 homes in controversial E1 settlement project-Construction
in area east of Jerusalem would split up West Bank and deal blow to
hopes for a contiguous Palestinian state; Peace Now: Tender seeks to tie
next government’s hands By ToI Staff 19 August 2026, 1:10 pm
The
government on Tuesday issued a tender for the construction of seven
residential compounds housing 1,234 housing units in the E1 area east of
Jerusalem, where Israeli settlement activists seek to divide the West
Bank.The tender published by the Construction and Housing Ministry gives
contractors until October 19 to bid on the project — a week before the
October 27 parliamentary election.The housing units in the tender are
some of the roughly 3,400 E1 housing units that were greenlit last
August. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lauded the E1 expansion plan
at the time, saying it “practically erases the two-state delusion” by
splitting up the territory that would be slated for a Palestinian
state.The Peace Now settlement watchdog, which together with other
organizations challenged the expansion plan in the Supreme Court, said
on X that “at the height of the election period, the government is
trying to realize the settler right wing’s vision of annexation, and tie
the hands of the next government.”It added that implementing the E1
expansion plan would isolate “dozens of Bedouin communities, including
Khan al-Ahmar, and lead to their expulsion from their land.”Peace Now
also charged that the tender was published “in violation of an express
commitment by the state.”According to the group, the State Attorney’s
Office in July told petitioners against the expansion that no E1
construction tenders were expected in the next two to three months, and
that there would be an early notice in case of any changes.“A single
month later, the tender opened with no early notice,” Peace Now said.The
E1 expansion connects the Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim areas, while
seemingly scuttling the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian presence
between the population centers of Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Ramallah
— long considered the basis for a Palestinian state.The project was
frozen for long years amid fierce opposition from the international
community, including past US administrations, which feared that building
a new settlement neighborhood on the mostly empty tract of land would
rule out the establishment of a contiguous, viable Palestinian
state.Agencies and Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
UAE
says Iran fired two missiles at it, both fell in the sea-No immediate
comment from Tehran on alleged attack, two days after drone strike on
UAE’s only nuclear plant; Iran-backed rebels in Yemen attack Aramco
refinery in Jazan with drones By Agencies 18 August 2026, 11:43 pm
Iran
fired two missiles at the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the
country’s defense ministry said, with both projectiles falling in the
sea without causing injury or damage. The missile fire, the first in
months, came amid continued tensions between the US and Iran.The UAE
said both missiles fell in the sea, one inside territorial waters, one
outside them, and stressed the UAE’s readiness to deal with any threats.
It was the the first such incident reported since a May 4 strike on the
Fujairah port.The defense ministry said in a statement later that the
missiles were targeting “maritime traffic” based on its assessments. The
ministry also called on the public “to obtain all information from
official authorities in the country and to avoid rumors and
misinformation.”There was no immediate comment from Iran.The future of
the US-Iran conflict is uncertain, with the 60-day ceasefire laid out in
a June memorandum of understanding having expired on Monday. US
President Donald Trump has said Washington and Tehran are not currently
in talks and have no plans to engage in any.The UAE’s interior ministry
also sent a phone alert stating that the situation was safe and people
should resume normal activities after an earlier alert warning of a
missile threat.Air Forces Detected Two Missiles Headed Toward the
Country; Both Fell Into the Sea The UAE Ministry of Defence announced
that the UAE's air defence systems detected two ballistic missiles
launched from Iran towards the country. The first fell outside the
country's territorial… pic.twitter.com/medXz9VoXy Advertisement — وزارة
الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) August 18, 2026“The defense ministry affirms
its full readiness to deal with any threats and firmly confront
anything that aims to destabilize the state’s security,” it said in a
statement.On Sunday, a drone strike targeted the UAE’s sole nuclear
power plant, sparking a fire.The UAE also accused Iran recently of
attacking its state-owned ADNOC vessels while transiting the Strait of
Hormuz.Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks on ADNOC
vessels.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have previously threatened action
against vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran’s
adversaries or fail to comply with Iranian directives.Houthis say they
targeted Saudi refinery with drones-Separately on Tuesday, Yemen’s
Iran-backed Houthis targeted an oil refinery on Saudi Arabia’s southern
Red Sea coast, rebel media reported, as the group ramps up attacks on
the kingdom after announcing a maritime blockade.Yemen, embroiled in
more than a decade of civil conflict, in July became the latest country
to be drawn into the Middle East war as the Houthis upended a 2022 truce
with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, launching attacks on areas it
holds as well as Saudi Arabia.The Houthis “targeted the Aramco refinery
in Jazan with a number of drones… in response to airspace violations
over the governorates of Saada and Hajjah” in Yemen, Houthi news agency
Saba said Tuesday, citing a military source.Last month, the Houthis
welcomed an Iranian plane landing in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, setting off a
spate of tit-for-tat attacks.They later announced a maritime blockade
of Saudi Arabia — which has led a coalition that heavily bombed Houthi
areas throughout the war.The United Nations said it was “deeply
concerned” by the reported strikes.“Such attacks risk further entangling
Yemen in the wider regional confrontation, at a time when the region is
already facing intense pressure and regional trade and energy flows are
under severe strain,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’
official spokesman.The Houthis have hit Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and
attacked Yemeni government forces since the latest round of fighting
broke out.They have also repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia’s oil
infrastructure and airports.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7
YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH) (DO NOT EVER LISTEN TO
ANYBODY THAT SAYS THE WORLD IS ENDING.ITS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN-4 BILLION
WILL BE LEFT ON EARTH TO GO INTO JESUS" 1000 YEAR RULE)(THAT DOES NOT
SOUND LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD TO ANY ONE, DOES IT-NOT ME.THE EARTH IS
JUST RENOVATED.NEVER ENDED.
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
WORLD TERRORISM
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.(CAN YOU SAY
TORNADOES,HURRICANES,VOLCANOES,EARTH QUAKES,LANDSLIDES,FLASH
FLOODING,EXPLOSIONS,SNOW STORMS,THEN FINALLY NUKESAND ANY OTHER
JUDGEMENTS THE EARTH CAN VOMIT THE SINNERS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH
WITH.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there
shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and
troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11
And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE
SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great
signs shall there be from heaven.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7
By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,
being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the
stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE
WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for
fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
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)
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.
Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN
HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - HALF OF EARTHS
POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead
with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
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.
LUKE 19:40
40 And He answered and said unto them, “I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”
NY
judge says Columbia University did not discriminate against pro-Hamas
professor-Court dismisses Mohamed Abdou’s case alleging discrimination
in university president’s Congressional testimony and by pro-Israel
instructor-19 August 2026, 11:45 pm
NEW YORK — A New York City
judge on Monday dismissed a case that a pro-Hamas professor filed
against Columbia University, saying the university, its president and a
pro-Israel professor had not discriminated against the instructor by
condemning his rhetoric.Mohamed Abdou was a visiting professor at
Columbia in the spring term of 2024. His employment term ended in May
2024 and was not renewed.Abdou had previously made pro-terror
statements, saying days after the October 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel,
“I’m with Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.”US Rep. Elise Stefanik
questioned former Columbia University president Minouche Shafik about
the comments during a Congressional hearing.Shafik said she shared
Stefanik’s “repugnance” with the remarks and that Abdou would never work
at the university again.Abdou filed a lawsuit against Shafik and the
university in August 2024, alleging that Shafik’s comments and issues on
campus constituted defamation, discrimination based on his national
origin and a hostile work environment.Abdou identified in his lawsuit as
a North African-Egyptian Muslim.The defendants filed a motion to
dismiss the complaint later that year, and in Monday’s court filing, the
judge, Kathleen Waterman-Marshall, granted the dismissal.Abdou had
claimed that Shafik had falsely labeled him an “antisemite” in her
Congressional testimony, but the judge said Shafik did not actually make
such a statement.Shafik had made truthful statements about Abdou’s
employment or stated opinions, which did not constitute defamation, the
judge said.Abdou also claimed Shafik’s hearing was “chock full of
racism” that Shafik had endorsed, but the judge said Abdou had only
cited allegedly racist comments from others at the hearing.“Abdou
provides no authority which stands for the proposition that expressing
disapproval of a foreign terrorist organization in a Congressional
hearing amounts to discrimination,” the judge said.Abdou had also
claimed that former Columbia professor Shai Davidai, an Israeli who
became an outspoken critic of the university’s handling of anti-Zionist
activism, had discriminated against him, and that Columbia had allowed
the discrimination, creating a hostile work environment.The judge said
Davidai’s statements about Abdou were “solely based upon Professor
Abdou’s criticism of Israel,” noting that Davidai also targeted Jewish
anti-Israel activists, and were therefore not discrimination based on
Abdou’s identity.Columbia and Abdou’s lawyer did not respond to requests
for comment.Abdou has filed an appeal.Columbia was an epicenter of
campus anti-Zionist activism following the October 2023 Hamas invasion
of Israel and war in Gaza.The university has been hit by lawsuits from
both pro-Israel Jews and anti-Zionist activists.Abdou regularly makes
statements in support of Islamist terror groups and calls for the
destruction of the US and Israel, online and in talks to college
students.Abdou was a visiting assistant professor at Columbia’s Middle
East Institute, where he taught a course called “Decolonial-Queerness
& Abolition in SWAN,” an acronym that stands for “Southwest Asia and
North Africa.”
One of those targeted invaded Israel on Oct. 7 --
army-IDF says it hit meeting of elite Hamas commanders near Gaza port;
six reported dead-Military says targets included Nukhba Force company
commander, three platoon commanders and several other terror operatives;
Hamas-run civil defense says a minor among the dead By Emanuel
Fabian-and Agencies 19 August 2026, 1:19 am
The Israel Defense
Forces on Tuesday struck what it said was a meeting of Hamas commanders
and elite operatives in Gaza City, in an attack that the Hamas-run civil
defense agency killed six and wounded 14.The military said the strike,
near the city’s port, targeted commanders and members of Hamas’s Nukhba
Force, which led the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel that started
the war in Gaza.One of the terrorists targeted on Tuesday had himself
invaded Israel during the onslaught, according to the IDF.The military
said the targets included a Nukhba company commander, three platoon
commanders and several other terror operatives who were planning attacks
against Israeli troops operating in the Strip.The results of the strike
would be released once they were verified, the IDF said.Mahmoud Bassal,
a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defense agency, which operates under
Hamas authority, told AFP that at least six were killed, “including a
child, and a large number were wounded, as a result of an Israeli raid
on tents of displaced people in Gaza port.”Shifa Hospital in Gaza City
said it had received five bodies and 13 injured, one of whom died later
in the evening.Eyewitness Mohammed Alghoul told AFP: “Israeli warplanes
fired two missiles at the ‘Sweet and Bitter’ cafe on the fishermen’s
port west of Gaza City.”Hamas issued a statement condemning the strike,
saying it exemplified Israel’s “blatant disregard for all calls for a
ceasefire issued by mediators and guarantor states, including President
Trump’s call yesterday,” apparently referring to comments the US leader
made during a Fox News interview that Israel should not be striking in
Gaza right now, and that Hamas was “giving up their guns.”Hamas said on
Tuesday it remained committed to the US-backed Gaza disarmament deal, a
day after a source told The Times of Israel that the Board of Peace is
considering abandoning its original framework, which would have seen the
terror group disarming in phases, in favor of an all-at-once process
supported by Israel.On Sunday, an IDF strike killed a Palestinian
Islamic Jihad company commander who invaded Israel during the October 7,
2023, onslaught and abducted an Israeli hostage.The military justified
that strike amid the ceasefire by saying that Ra’i had recently been
advancing attacks on troops and civilians, though the army has also
acknowledged that it’s engaged in a campaign to kill all those who took
part in the October 7 atrocities.
Don’t’: Netanyahu says he
warned Turkey before Israel struck Syrian base-PM says message now
conveyed ‘more clearly’ to Ankara; sources say Mossad chief discussed
issue last week with Syrian FM; Ehud Barak calls escalation ‘reckless
and stupid’By ToI Staff and Agencies 19 August 2026, 11:18 pm
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted on Wednesday that Israel had
already warned Turkey against any military activity in Syria before
Israel bombed an airbase that Ankara had been eyeing, while sources told
Reuters that the Mossad chief discussed the issue last week with the
Syrian foreign minister.Speaking in a podcast interview a day after
Israel struck a military airbase in northwest Syria, Netanyahu said that
Israel will not tolerate a Turkish military buildup “that descends
south because it threatens us.”Warning Turkey against such military
activity in Syria, Netanyahu simply said “Don’t,” in English.“The
message was conveyed but apparently they didn’t hear it, so we made sure
they understood it more clearly,” he added.Meanwhile, three people
familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday that Mossad chief
Roman Gofman held a phone call last week with Syrian Foreign Minister
Asaad al-Shaibani in which they discussed Turkey’s military presence in
Syria.The call, which the sources said took place on August 14, marks
one of the highest-level contacts yet between Israel and the new Syrian
government since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December
2024.Both Turkey and Syria reacted angrily to the airstrike, which
Damascus said caused material damage but no casualties. The strike was
also condemned by US Ambassador Tom Barrack, who called it an
“unnecessary escalation.”Condemning the strike, Syria’s foreign ministry
said that it “has exercised restraint and worked to consolidate
stability and avoid escalation.”Despite tensions between the neighbors —
in particular over the presence of Israeli troops in a southern Syria
buffer zone — Israel and Syria’s new authorities have held several
rounds of direct talks and have agreed to establish an
intelligence-sharing mechanism.But Israel has repeatedly raised the
alarm about an entrenched Turkish presence in Syria, and in a statement
Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office asserted that Turkish troops were allowed to
deploy at the airbase, breaching an agreed-upon “status quo.”Israel
“repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to
Israel’s security,” the statement added, and “Syria chose to ignore
these warnings.”While Turkey accused Israel of making baseless
allegations, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the
strikes came after “a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the
airfield in recent days,” while several Syrian officials also confirmed
to The Associated Press that the Turkish visit had recently taken
place.Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since the
December 2024 toppling of Assad by Islamist forces led by former
jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa, who relies on support from Turkey and has
received enthusiastic backing from US President Donald Trump. But this
strike goes much further into Syria than the so-called security zone in
southern Israel.Former prime minister Ehud Barak accused Netanyahu on
Wednesday of being “reckless and stupid” in escalating tensions with
Turkey, alleging that the prime minister was attempting to “stir public
anxiety” ahead of the upcoming national election.“Turkey is not Iran or
Assad’s Syria,” wrote Barak in a series of posts on X. “There is no
strategic problem with Turkey that cannot be resolved, mitigated, or
postponed over the long term through discreet contacts coordinated with
the United States and its influence in Turkey and Syria. Netanyahu has
completely gone off the rails.”Barak, a former IDF chief of staff who
also served as defense minister from 2007-2013, wrote that Netanyahu is
engaged in “survival maneuvers” in an attempt to secure his political
future, and that any “handling of these issues would be better postponed
until after the election.”
Houthis planning to seize vital Bab
el-Mandeb Strait, Yemen government warns-Such an assault would cement
Iran-backed rebels’ control over one of the world’s busiest shipping
lanes and give Tehran a foothold in a second vital waterway in the
Middle East-By AFP 19 August 2026, 6:25 pm
DUBAI, United Arab
Emirates — A Yemeni minister warned Tuesday that the country’s Houthi
rebels are plotting to seize land along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which
would allow the group to further threaten the vital shipping
artery.Three Houthi military sources and a spokesman for Yemeni
government forces bordering the waterway also told AFP the rebels are
planning to advance.Such an assault, if successful, would cement Houthi
control over one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, which the
Iran-backed rebels have disrupted with attacks on passing vessels since
the Gaza war broke out after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel in
October 2023.It would also extend the hold of Tehran and its allies to a
second vital waterway in the Middle East after Iran closed the Strait
of Hormuz in its war with the United States.Greater Houthi control of
Bab el-Mandeb would choke off oil exports from Saudi Arabia, against
which the rebels have announced a maritime blockade.“The Houthi militia…
is working to create the conditions for seizing control of the Bab
el-Mandeb Strait by expanding its presence along the western coast and
attempting to control strategic Yemeni islands in the Red Sea,” Yemen’s
information minister Moammar al-Eryani told AFP.He said there had been a
military buildup by the Houthis and that their plans had been
illustrated by “repeated targeting of ports, docks, civilian
infrastructure, ships, and government naval capabilities.”The Houthis
currently do not control coastal areas directly on the strait, but they
hold the key port city of Hodeida to the north and have repeatedly
attacked ships in the Red Sea.In recent weeks, the rebels have launched
their deadliest attacks in years on Yemeni government forces.They have
also begun targeting Yemen’s port city of Mokha, which lies close to Bab
el-Mandeb, as well as military sites near the strait and
government-controlled islands in the Red Sea.Major-General Sadeq Duwaid,
a spokesman for the government-affiliated National Resistance Forces
that control areas bordering the strait, told AFP that the rebels “are
striving to secure a foothold in Bab el-Mandeb.”“Through their continued
attacks on Mokha and its port, the Houthi militia seeks to establish a
presence along the shores of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and transform the
area into a situation resembling that of the Strait of Hormuz,” he
said.Three Houthi military sources told AFP that the group was preparing
to launch an operation to seize areas south of Hodeida.They said around
2,000 fighters had been deployed to front lines along Yemen’s western
coast in the provinces of Taiz and Hodeida, along with rocket
launchers.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Op-ed-Hamas
must be drained of its money as well as its weapons-Gaza’s terror group
is rearming, in part with money from the daily influx of aid * Plus:
Netanyahu’s party primary brings an overdue farewell to some members of
the Likud demolition crew, but the main wreckers remain-By David
Horovitz-19 August 2026, 5:18 pm
I’d really like to think that
the US Middle East peace team has gotten over Steve Witkoff’s delusion
that Hamas is not ideologically intractable and that it can be persuaded
to lay down its weapons and quietly slink away into history.I’d like to
believe that when Jared Kushner meets, as he did again in Egypt over
the weekend, with Khalil al-Hayya, he is thoroughly aware that the
current Hamas chief was one of the architects of the October 7, 2023,
invasion and massacre in southern Israel, and remains laser-locked on
the goal of destroying Israel.In purportedly agreeing to the
US-established Board of Peace’s plan for its own disarmament and
Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas is manifestly playing the United
States and playing for time: It is recruiting; it is training; it is
awaiting a less intrusive, more anti-Israel American administration; it
is awaiting a resumption of funding from the despicably resilient
Iranian regime.That does not mean that the US-led effort, via the Board,
to marginalize Hamas and gradually change the face of Gaza is a lost
cause. But success requires genuine Hamas disarmament; ongoing,
relentless elimination of Hamas operatives preparing and attempting to
carry out attacks… and a heightened focus on Hamas’s finances.According
to Yitzhak Gal, of the center-left Mitvim advocacy think tank, Hamas
retains broad leverage over aid entering the near-50% of Gaza where it
retains control, and is able to tax (at entry and in the markets),
obstruct and loot supplies to the tune of some $2 million a day. (A
Board of Peace official acknowledged to The Times of Israel that
diversion of aid continues, but did not confirm Gal’s figure, and said
the scale of Hamas intervention has been going down.) It is essential,
therefore, urged Gal, that the Board’s yet-to-be-deployed International
Stabilization Force fully control the entire aid distribution process.In
an Army Radio interview on Monday, Gal further argued that Hamas, in
purportedly agreeing to relinquish civilian governance to the Board’s
National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the intended interim
technocratic government, is, again, playing the US, the Board et al for
fools, since it has ensured that the hierarchies through which this
committee would seek to operate are staffed by Hamas and its
loyalists.Finally, Gal urged the establishment of a kind of economic
police force — to oversee taxation, money-changing, cryptocurrency
dealings and every other aspect of finance in Gaza, an effort that he
acknowledged would likely trigger open conflict with Hamas.Common to
these proposals is the imperative to ensure not only the disarming of
Hamas but also the draining of Hamas’s coffers.The Board of Peace may
not be perfect, Gal argued, but it is the least bad international tool
around to heighten pressure on Hamas. And that pressure must include
shattering Hamas’s financial leverage.Otherwise, Hamas will continue
quietly strengthening, and another round of devastating conflict is only
a matter of time.How potent and proximate is the threat? Former and
would-be prime minister Naftali Bennett, visiting the Gaza border town
of Netiv Ha’asara two weeks ago, sounded a furious alarm: “Hamas has
restored its command system, they appointed company commanders,
battalion commanders, brigade commanders, rearmed themselves with
long-range missiles, UAVs, drones, and weaponry and are now digging the
tunnels anew,” Bennett said, adding that the terror group was “already
training for the next massacre.”Bennett is campaigning to defeat Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and unsurprisingly pointed a
renewed finger of blame at Netanyahu, declaring that “a direct line
connects the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to what is happening
here on the other side of the fence: Netanyahu gave up on eliminating
Hamas, brought Qatar into the Prime Minister’s Office, and later gave
the Qataris the keys to Gaza.”But a month earlier, officers in the IDF’s
Military Intelligence Directorate and Southern Command similarly warned
that Hamas’s military wing was preparing for renewed war with Israel,
specifying that the terror group was producing hundreds of explosive
devices and anti-tank missiles every month, recruiting fighters aged
18-22, and recently restarted training for members of its elite Nukhba
force.Hamas, the officers said, according to a Kan TV report, is also
trying to smuggle in drones and communication devices from Sinai. And it
is working to rebuild its underground infrastructure, much of which was
never destroyed.At least twice in recent weeks, indeed, the IDF has
stated that it attacked Hamas operatives working to restore Gaza
tunnels.Almost unbelievably, what’s more, three years after October 7,
IDF surveillance soldiers say they are again witnessing Hamas terror
activities, and that their superiors are ignoring their warnings.Naivete
and complacency are unthinkable when it comes to Hamas. But so, too,
are paralysis and inaction.Likud’s non-shakeup-Barely a month after they
cast their votes, at Netanyahu’s command, in favor of legislation that
unconscionably seeks to enshrine the mass exemption from military
service of ultra-Orthodox men, at least 16 and probably several more
Likud MKs and ministers will not be returning to the Knesset given their
relatively poor showings in Monday’s Likud party primary.They knew when
they voted that the IDF is desperate for more troops, amid the
relentless, multifront security frictions. They knew how badly the
reservists are hurting after hundreds upon hundreds of days of service
at the front. They knew that there is nothing “Jewish,” much less
“ultra-Orthodox,” about refusing to defend the Jewish state. They knew
their prime minister was being extorted by their non-Zionist
ultra-Orthodox coalition partners. And yet, as throughout the four-year
term of Israel’s most security-incompetent, democracy-destroying,
settler-terrorism-indulging, divisive government, they nonetheless did
their cynical, self-serving leader’s bidding.And now, they’re going to
be cast aside.Do any of them feel even the merest twinges of guilt and
regret? Very probably not.Certainly not Idit Silman, whose defection to
Likud sealed the demise of the Bennett-Lapid government in 2022 and
bought her four ministerial years spent doing the opposite of
environmental protection.What about Avi Dichter, the once-admirable
former Shin Bet chief who broke the Second Intifada but then sold his
soul to Netanyahu? And what of Ariel Kallner, the Likud MK who initiated
the bill to hold a politically led inquiry into the failures
surrounding October 7 — an inquiry to be staffed and mandated by the
very government that presided over the catastrophe, rather than the
independent state commission so desperately needed to establish what
went wrong and how to prevent a recurrence? Kallner, too, is about to
disappear into history, a dispensable, doubtless unrepentant
footnote.However, Ofir Katz, the House Committee chair who would appoint
the farcical non-inquiry panel, fared very well in the primary, and
will be back in the Knesset to help shepherd the bill through its two
final readings, if a Likud-led coalition is reelected.So, too, will
Yariv Levin, the anything-but-justice minister obsessed with destroying
our judiciary, who plunged Israel into the bitter internal dissent that
Hamas so effectively exploited. Like much of the Netanyahu-loyal senior
old guard, Levin will return, after a primary that, strikingly, failed
to elect a single fresh face — unless you count far-right Otzma Yehudit
defector Almog Cohen — to a realistic slot on Likud’s slate.Coming in at
No. 3 in the vote, Levin promised, before the count was even finished,
“to complete the judicial reform,” and asserted, with characteristic
inaccuracy and arrogance, that his success in a contest for which barely
half of his own party’s members bothered to turn up represented the
endorsement of his incendiary policies by “a vast public.”Apropos all of
which, as this inevitably toxic election campaign heats up, could the
Shin Bet, even under Netanyahu-appointee David Zini, be prevailed upon
to put aside partisan consideration and provide security protection for
the opposition frontrunner, Gadi Eisenkot?
Poll shows drop in
Palestinian support for Hamas's war conduct-At least 10 said killed in
Gaza airstrikes that Israel says targeted Hamas commanders-IDF: Strikes
in Nuseirat and Gaza City were against terror operatives planning
attacks on Israeli troops; UN: More than half of all aid workers killed
worldwide in 2025 were in Gaza By Emanuel Fabian,Nurit Yohanan and
Agencies 19 August 2026, 5:50 pm
Israeli strikes on the Gaza
Strip on Wednesday killed at least 10 people and wounded 15, according
to Palestinian media, with the IDF saying the airstrikes targeted Hamas
operatives.The first strike, in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, targeted a
Hamas company commander who invaded Israel on October 7, according to
the military. Palestinian media reported that one person riding a
motorcycle was killed in that strike.Less than half an hour later, the
military struck a police station in Gaza City, killing nine people —
including a 13-year-old girl — and wounding 15, according to Palestinian
media.The target of that strike was a Hamas commander and several other
operatives who were alongside him, the army said. The IDF asserted that
the terror operatives had planned to carry out attacks on Israeli
troops operating in the Strip, justifying the strikes amid the
ceasefire.Later Wednesday, the IDF said that at least four Hamas
operatives and a member of a smaller terror group were present at the
police station in order to advance attacks on troops stationed in the
Strip.“At the time of the strike, at least four terrorists from the
military wing of the Hamas terror group and a terrorist from the Popular
Resistance Committees terror organization were present,” the military
said, adding that it will provide an update on the strike once the
results are clear.Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned what he called
Israel’s “complete disregard for all calls for a ceasefire.”Qassem said
US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace “bears responsibility for
this escalation due to its failure to fulfill its obligations by
pressuring the occupation” — how Hamas refers to Israel — to abide by
its commitments.In a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on
Monday, US envoy Jared Kushner pressed the Israeli premier to hold back
on its targeted airstrikes on Hamas commanders in Gaza, a request
Netanyahu rejected, according to an official present at the
sit-down.Wednesday’s strikes came a day after another unusually deadly
Israeli strike in Gaza, with the IDF saying it had targeted a meeting of
Hamas commanders and elite operatives in Gaza City in an attack that
the Hamas-run civil defense agency killed six and wounded 14.The
military said Tuesday that the strike, near the city’s port, targeted
commanders and members of Hamas’s Nukhba Force, which led the October 7,
2023, invasion of Israel that started the war in Gaza.The IDF then
officially announced Wednesday that the strike a day earlier killed four
Nukhba Force commanders in Hamas’s Beit Lahia Battalion.They were named
by the military as: Muhammad Hamdi Ahmed al-Masri, a company commander;
Samad Samir Harb Abu Jabal, a platoon commander who invaded Israel
during the October 7 onslaught; Muhammad Attar, a platoon commander; and
Muhammad Fathi Hussein Nasser, also a platoon commander.The military
said the operatives were involved in advancing attacks on troops: “The
commanders’ activities posed a threat to IDF troops, and they were
therefore eliminated in an aerial strike to remove the threat.”And
earlier Wednesday, the IDF announced that two Hamas tunnels, spanning in
total some two kilometers (1.2 miles) underground, were recently sealed
by combat engineers.The IDF said the tunnels were found in central and
southern Gaza, amid efforts to clear the Israeli-held portion of the
Strip of Hamas infrastructure.The army said it used concrete to close
off the tunnels. Sealing tunnels with concrete can be a cheaper and less
risky alternative to blowing them up, although it takes longer to carry
out.Figures released by the United Nations on Wednesday asserted that a
record number of humanitarian workers were attacked worldwide in 2025,
with Gaza accounting for more than half of the 350 aid staffers
killed.Some 907 aid workers were killed, injured or kidnapped in 2025
versus 833 the year before, according to the Aid Worker Security
Database, a platform funded by Canada and Australia that compiles major
security incidents affecting aid workers.Of those, 350 were killed, down
slightly from a record 387 in 2024.United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres said the level of violence is appalling and urges
states to respect the rules of war and hold perpetrators
accountable.“Serving others has become more dangerous than ever,” he
said.Gaza was by far the most deadly place for aid workers in 2025, with
186 humanitarian staffers killed there, the database showed, followed
by Sudan. The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has reported at least
393 staff killed there since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7,
2023.Israel has provided evidence of the refugee agency’s staffers
taking part in the Hamas-led October 7 attack, in which some 1,200
people, most of them civilians, were killed and 251 kidnapped. It has
claimed that the agency is riddled with members of Hamas and other
terror groups, and has said it goes to great lengths to avoid harm to
aid workers and civilians.Poll sees falling support for Hamas,
especially in West Bank-Meanwhile, a new poll by the Ramallah-based
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showed a decline in
support for Hamas, particularly among Palestinians in the West Bank.The
survey, conducted earlier this month and released last week, found that
42% of respondents expressed satisfaction with Hamas’s performance
during the war with Israel, down from 60% in the previous poll conducted
in late October 2025.In the West Bank, 45% of respondents expressed
satisfaction with the terror group, a sharp drop from 66% who were happy
with Hamas 10 months ago. In Gaza, the fall-off was slightly less
pronounced, going from 51% in October to 38% in the more recent poll.In
the previous poll, conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Gaza
ceasefire deal, 39% of respondents overall said Hamas had emerged
victorious. Today, that figure has fallen to 20%, with another 15%
saying Israel won and 60% maintaining that neither side emerged
victorious.Seventy-two percent of respondents said the terror group
should not give up its weapons before a full Israeli withdrawal from the
Gaza Strip, while 20% said it should.Nearly 50% of respondents say they
believe Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Palestinian
legislative elections will be held at the end of November. Elections
have not been held since 2006, with plans for a vote repeatedly called
off in the last two decades.Were presidential elections to be held,
Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti — currently in Israeli prison serving five
consecutive terms plus 40 years for helping plan attacks during the
Second Intifada that killed five civilians — remains the most popular
candidate, with 56% saying they would vote for him over Hamas leader
Khalil al-Hayya (26%) or Abbas (14%).The poll, overseen by Khalil
Shikaki, surveyed 830 Palestinians in the West Bank and 440 in the Gaza
Strip between August 5 and 8, with a ±3.5% margin of error.
Turkish
media mocks Israel's 'hysterical panic attacks'Ankara rejects Israeli
‘allegations’ on airbase, but Syrian officials confirm Turkish
visit-Turkey slams Israel for trying to ‘legitimize unlawful airstrikes’
after Jerusalem accused it of planning deployment; IDF chief in Syria:
Israel won’t allow ‘hostile forces’ along borderBy Agencies, Emanuel
Fabian-and ToI Staff 19 August 2026, 5:37 pmUpdated at 6:55 pm
Turkey
firmly rejected on Wednesday what it called “untenable allegations” by
Israel regarding its military position in Syria, after Israel bombed a
Syrian airbase near the Turkish border and said Syria was on the verge
of permitting Turkish troops to deploy there.But Syrian officials
admitted Wednesday that Turkish officials had visited the base in
question a day before the Israeli strikes, while the IDF chief said in a
visit to Syria that Israel would not allow “hostile forces” along its
borders.Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur base near Aleppo on Tuesday,
drawing condemnation from Turkey and criticism from US Ambassador Tom
Barrack, who called the attack an “unnecessary escalation.”Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Syria late Tuesday of being
on the verge of violating a “status quo agreed with Israel in security
matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase, adding
that such a deployment would threaten Israel’s security.In response,
Turkey’s presidency said Wednesday that the “imputations” from
Netanyahu’s office stemmed from his intention to pursue “expansionist
and destabilizing policies” ahead of the upcoming national election in
Israel, adding that lasting regional peace could only be achieved if
Israel respected international law and abandoned its “aggressive and
coercive policies.”“The untenable allegations put forward by the Israeli
Prime Minister’s Office are intended to legitimize Israel’s unlawful
airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it
said on X, without explicitly referring to any potential deployment
plans.“Turkey will resolutely continue to cooperate with the Syrian
Government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace,
stability, and prosperity in Syria, and will never allow the
destabilization of Syria.”Turkish media outlets also reacted harshly to
the Israeli strike and accusations, accusing Jerusalem of fomenting
conflict.The daily newspaper Takvim asserted Tuesday that Israel “is
experiencing hysterical panic attacks” after the recent defense pact
signed between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, declaring in a
separate headline that “Turkey is the Zionists’ target.”The front page
of the Turkiye daily newspaper called the strike a “major provocation
from Israel,” while a separate headline claimed that a recent phone call
between US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan “drove ‘genocidal Israel’ crazy.”Meanwhile, Syrian officials
told The Associated Press Wednesday that a Turkish delegation had in
fact visited the airbase in northern Syria on Monday.Two officials — who
spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
comment publicly — said the Turkish delegation had visited the airbase
in the northwestern province of Idlib Monday to review rehabilitation
work underway at the facility.It was the first confirmation of a Turkish
presence at the Abu Duhur base.IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir
visited troops in the Israel-held buffer zone in southern Syria
Wednesday morning, and said Israel “will not allow hostile forces to
establish themselves along our borders.”“We see what is happening and
are monitoring the changes on the Syrian front. We must prepare for them
accordingly,” he said, according to remarks provided by the IDF. “We
will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along our borders,
and we will know how to use our power precisely where it is needed and
when it is needed.”The IDF chief added that the military “must prevent
the development of terror threats, while at the same time preventing the
emergence of a significant military threat along our borders.”The
Israeli strikes on Tuesday followed worsening security tensions between
Israel and Turkey and increasingly sharp rhetoric between the two
countries over Syria, where both countries’ militaries are
active.Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and has emerged as
one of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s main allies, accuses Israel of
trying to destabilize Syria and undermine its new administration,
repeatedly calling for international pressure and measures on Israel to
respect Syria’s territorial integrity.Ankara has been training Syria’s
army, helping it rebuild its state institutions and infrastructure, and
providing military and diplomatic support.Israel meanwhile has accused
Turkey of trying to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate and of taking
advantage of the fall of the Assad regime for its own ends.
Syria
arrests Assad-era officer who fled prison sentence in Austria-Musab Abu
Rukbah returned home after Vienna court sentenced him to 8 years in
jail for torture, sexual assault of Assad critics while serving as head
of Raqqa police investigationsBy Feras Dalatey 19 August 2026, 11:42 am
DAMASCUS,
Syria (Reuters) — Syrian security forces have arrested a former
Assad-era security officer who fled Austria after being sentenced to
eight years in prison for abusing detainees and returned to his hometown
in southern Syria, state news agency SANA said on Tuesday night.Lt.
Col. Musab Abu Rukbah was arrested in the city of Nawa in Daraa province
by internal security forces in coordination with the counter-terrorism
department, SANA said, citing the security forces.Abu Rukbah was
convicted by a Vienna court last month of bodily harm, aggravated
coercion and sexual assault against detained opponents of former
president Bashar al-Assad while he headed the police’s criminal
investigations department in the northern city of Raqqa more than a
decade ago.He had pleaded not guilty.Reuters reported on Friday that Abu
Rukbah had left Austria while challenging his eight-year sentence on
appeal, and arrived in Nawa in early August, where his family held a
reception to celebrate his return.SANA said on Tuesday that Abu Rukbah
had entered Syria illegally after fleeing Austria and that authorities
had tracked him down in Nawa. He had been referred to the relevant
authorities to complete legal procedures ahead of prosecution, it
said.It was not immediately clear what charges Abu Rukbah could face in
Syria or whether Austria had requested his arrest or extradition.A
spokesperson for the Austrian court that convicted him told Reuters at
the time that Abu Rukbah had not been considered a flight risk before
his trial because he had lived in Austria since 2014 and was seeking
asylum there with his family.He was not held in custody during the trial
or subjected to other restrictions, and his departure from Austria did
not breach Austrian laws or court orders while the appeals process
remained underway, the spokesperson said.
US sanctions ICC
president, senior trial lawyer on team seeking Netanyahu’s arrest-Rubio
slams ‘fatally politicized supranational court,’ which counters that
move ‘undermines rule of law’; PM thanks US ‘for making clear corrupt
officials who lead ICC will face consequences’By Agencies and ToI Staff
19 August 2026, 6:03 am
The Trump administration has imposed
sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court and one
of its top prosecutors as it continues a campaign to dismantle the
tribunal, which it accuses of trying to unfairly prosecute US and
Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza.The
State Department said Tuesday it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a
Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is
from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in US
jurisdictions or come into contact with the US financial system.“The
Trump administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court is
a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has
maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate,” Secretary of
State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “We will not tolerate its
assault on state sovereignty.”The move is the latest by the
administration against the ICC, which it says has exceeded its mandate
by investigating or trying soldiers, commanders and political officials
from countries, such as Israel and the United States, that are not
members of the court.The ICC was quick to respond, as it has done when
faced with previous US actions, saying that the sanctions “undermine the
rule of law.”“When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law,
it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk,” it
said.Seye is a senior trial lawyer on the prosecution team that sought
an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and has been
nominated for election as an ICC judge.“The ICC has become a kangaroo
court that cloaks its abuse of power in the language of international
law while undermining the very principles of justice,” Netanyahu wrote
on X in response to the US announcement, hailing Rubio’s “determined
efforts against the ICC’s illegitimate overreach, and for making clear
that the corrupt officials who lead the ICC will face consequences.”The
US imposed targeted sanctions last year on several ICC officials,
including prosecutors and judges, citing the ICC’s arrest warrants for
Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as a past
probe into US troops in Afghanistan.The sanctions freeze any US assets
the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the US
financial system, with which almost all internationally operating banks
have close ties.The US Treasury Department also issued a general license
on Tuesday authorizing the wind-down of transactions involving Akane
and Seye through September 17.Akane warned in December that the US
sanctions would “rapidly undermine the court’s operations in all
situations and cases, and jeopardize its very existence.”Three ICC
judges sued Trump and his administration in June over the sanctions,
arguing the measures were unlawful. Advocacy groups, in two separate
lawsuits, have said that the US campaign infringes on the constitutional
rights of organizations working with the court to seek justice for
atrocities around the world.Rubio said last month that the
administration would step up efforts to undermine the ICC, including a
diplomatic campaign aimed at persuading other countries to quit the
institution, a call that at least five countries have already heeded.He
accused the court of posing a threat to US personnel carrying out US
President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies or strikes on
boats accused of carrying drugs, as well as other US service members.
Inside
story Board of Peace uneasy over civilian harm from strikes on
Hamas-PM, Kushner clashed over continued Israeli strikes on Oct. 7
terrorists — officials-Officials tell ToI that Trump aide also took
issue with Netanyahu’s refusal to let police recruits leave Gaza for
training, as Board of Peace needs them for Hamas weapons handovers-By
Jacob Magid and Nava Freiberg-19 August 2026, 3:54 am
The main
dispute during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting on Monday
with US special envoy Jared Kushner was over the premier’s insistence
that Israel continue carrying out strikes on Hamas operatives in Gaza
who allegedly took part in the terror group’s October 7 onslaught, an
official present at the sit-down told The Times of Israel.Earlier this
month, Israel acknowledged having established a special operation to
hunt down and kill every Palestinian terrorist involved in the October
7, 2023, invasion and atrocities.The mission has resulted in countless
apparent violations of the ceasefire that Israel and Hamas inked in
October 2025, but the US-controlled Board of Peace has not adamantly
objected, as the Israel Defense Forces in most cases has claimed those
targeted posed an imminent threat to troops.For months, the Board of
Peace prioritized coaxing Hamas to accept its disarmament proposal,
which the terror group finally did on July 30.Once in place, the plan
envisions both sides immediately halting all military operations, though
Netanyahu has come out against the proposal and raised the issue during
his meeting with Kushner, according to the official present.While
Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide, assured
Netanyahu that he would not oppose Israeli strikes against those who
genuinely pose an “imminent threat,” he also told the premier that this
exception should not be widely interpreted, the official said To the
frustration of the Board of Peace delegation, Netanyahu insisted that
strikes against participants in the October 7 attack would continue,
according to the official, who added that no agreement was reached on
the matter.A second source briefed on the meeting confirmed the
official’s account.Hours after Kushner left Israel, the IDF carried out
one of its deadliest strikes in months, targeting what it said was a
gathering of senior Hamas operatives. Reports said at least six people
were killed in the strike, including a child, and over 10 wounded, among
them an elderly woman.Even while theoretically understanding Israel’s
desire to pursue October 7 terrorists, the continued harm to civilians
in those strikes has been an increasing cause of concern for the Board
of Peace, the official said.In addition to violating the Board of
Peace’s stalled disarmament plan, the policy laid out by Netanyahu could
well go against Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, which
the premier accepted in September of last year.That proposal stated that
Hamas members who “commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission
their weapons will be given amnesty.”The official present at the Monday
meeting said Kushner also took issue with Netanyahu’s refusal to allow
recruits for the new Palestinian police force to leave the Strip for
training in Egypt.The Board of Peace disarmament plan envisions Hamas
handing over its weapons to the National Committee for the
Administration of Gaza’s new police force, in a process facilitated by
the International Stabilization Force.Kushner said Monday that he wants
Hamas to begin handing over its weapons within a month, but without a
sufficient number of already trained police recruits, there may not be
anyone for Hamas to give its weapons to.
Inside story Kushner
bullish on post-election expansion of Abraham Accords-Palestinian
official worries US ‘replicating’ PM’s strategy of boosting Hamas at
PA’s expense-Concern expressed to ToI after Kushner meets with Hamas
chief and Netanyahu, while ignoring Ramallah; Trump aide says PA should
focus on reforms, which the official accuses Jerusalem of hobbling By
Jacob Magid-19 August 2026, 3:08 am
A senior Palestinian
Authority official expressed “concern” on Tuesday that the United States
was “replicating” what he said has been Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s strategy of bolstering Hamas at the expense of the PA.The
remarks to The Times of Israel came two days after US envoy Jared
Kushner held a rare in-person meeting with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya
in Egypt, before proceeding to Jerusalem for a sit-down with Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kushner did not stop in Ramallah to see
anyone from the PA, which the Trump administration has largely
sidelined.“The PA can play a critical role in stabilizing the situation
in Gaza and the West Bank and should not be ignored,” the Palestinian
official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.The official recalled
how successive Netanyahu governments authorized Qatari payments to
Hamas, which allowed for the bolstering of the terror group, even as
Jerusalem gradually disengaged from the more moderate PA, which supports
a two-state solution, and took steps to delegitimize it.The official
was careful not to explicitly criticize the Trump administration, with
Ramallah apparently recognizing it has limited leverage at the
moment.Kushner was asked in a portion of a Fox News interview that aired
on Tuesday about the possibility of the US recognizing a Palestinian
state and dismissed the idea for the time being, while knocking the
PA.“Before we can even talk about the political nature of a state, what
we want to see is that the Palestinians can govern themselves. With the
PA, they fall very, very short on the standard we need for somebody who
can qualify for a state,” he said. “They have a lot of reforms they need
to do, which the Saudis, the French and everyone agrees with us on.
Governments are working on what the right set of reforms are.”“Whether
they’ll actually do it is another question. They’ve been threatening to
reform for a decade now,” Kushner added in reference to the PA.He
recalled how the US established a technocratic panel to govern postwar
Gaza in place of Hamas, adding that “maybe we can talk about a political
horizon later on in the future” if the new committee demonstrates that
it can effectively manage the coastal enclave.The US plan for the Gaza
Strip envisions that body, the National Committee for the Administration
of Gaza, handing over control of the territory to the PA once the
latter completes a series of reforms.The Palestinian official insisted
that Ramallah was working on implementing these steps, but was
significantly hobbled by a growing list of punitive measures taken by
Netanyahu’s government that have brought the West Bank economy to the
brink of collapse.For example, the official said the PA reformed its
textbooks amid accusations from Israel that they have long included
incitement against Jews.The official said the curriculum was updated
online but that the PA education ministry does not currently have the
funds to print the textbooks en masse, as Israel continues to withhold
billions of dollars in funds.Kushner bullish on Abraham Accords
expansion after Israeli election-Kushner was also asked during the Fox
interview whether he thinks the normalization agreements between Israel
and Arab and Muslim countries known as the Abraham Accords could still
be expanded during the remainder of Trump’s second term in office.“We
have a lot of very good, active conversations going with countries —
some obvious, some not obvious,” responded Kushner, who is Trump’s
son-in-law.“Once we get this Gaza situation moving forward, that will
hopefully deescalate the tensions here,” Kushner said, referring to his
efforts to advance the US-controlled Board of Peace’s disarmament plan,
which has been approved by Hamas but rejected by Israel.He then noted a
second factor holding up efforts to expand the Abraham Accords as he
seemingly knocked Netanyahu’s government, whose hardline policies toward
the Palestinians have turned off countries from normalizing relations
with the Jewish state in recent years.“Israeli politics are complicated,
and Israeli politics in election are even more complicated. Hopefully,
when we get after the Israeli election, there will be some opportunities
for expansion,” Kushner said.He did not explicitly call out Netanyahu’s
hard-right coalition, which Arab diplomats have long maintained has
become a primary obstacle in expanding the Abraham Accords.Regardless,
Kushner said Trump was committed to building on the initiative he
launched during his first term, when he brokered normalization
agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and
Morocco.“Everyone always said we can’t have normalization (with Israel)
until the Palestinian issue is resolved. But what we showed through the
first batch of the Abraham Accords (agreements), is that the Emiratis
are actually the biggest donors to Gaza, and they’ve done a ton to help
the Palestinian people,” he said, alluding to Abu Dhabi’s funding of
over 40% of the humanitarian aid for the Strip during the recent war
there.“It’s only by having relations with Israel that they’re able to
help the Palestinians hopefully achieve a better outcome for
themselves,” Kushner argued.
Aug. 19: US to provide $206 million
for Gaza peacekeeping force, letters show-Palestinians say they’re still
trapped in homes, 11 days after settler siege commenced * Board of
Peace mum on IDF’s Gaza strikes, days after Kushner asked PM only to
target imminent threats By Joshua Davidovich and ToI Staff 19 August
2026, 1:25 am
US President Donald Trump’s administration has told
Congress it is sending more than $206 million for a proposed Gaza
peacekeeping force, the first significant funding for Washington’s
stalled plan to rebuild the devastated enclave.In two July 30-dated
notifications seen by Reuters, the State Department informed Congress it
will provide $200 million for the International Stabilization Force’s
(ISF) equipment, infrastructure, vehicles and operational costs. An
additional $6 million would repurpose US armored vehicles to support the
force.The notifications, which were addressed to key appropriations and
foreign affairs committees in Congress, have not been previously
reported.The funding is the first concrete US spending on the
peacekeeping force and signals the administration’s determination to
press ahead with Trump’s Gaza roadmap even as both Israel and Hamas have
balked at conditions needed to advance the plan.“The ISF will lead
security operations, support comprehensive demilitarization, and enable
the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction material to
Gaza,” one of the notifications says, while noting the final composition
of the force was still being negotiated.The administration has not said
how much money will ultimately be needed to fund the force.Trump set up
a Board of Peace to oversee his ambitious plan to end Israel’s war in
Gaza and rebuild the shattered territory. His plan envisioned that the
peacekeeping force would deploy to Gaza to secure areas after Israeli
forces withdraw and would train new Palestinian police forces, support
aid deliveries and assist with Hamas’s disarmament.While Hamas agreed to
the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan on July 30, the effort has
stalled amid Israel’s rejection of the plan.Trump’s envoy and son-in-law
Jared Kushner held meetings with Hamas officials on Sunday and Israeli
leaders on Monday in Jerusalem but left without a breakthrough.An
official from the Board of Peace claims the last two weeks as a period
of “significant advances” and says the board had sought additional
funding pledges as a result.The official says the funding was needed for
the construction of a base for forces inside Gaza, among other
reconstruction projects.Member countries had initially pledged $17
billion for reconstruction efforts inside Gaza, but only a tiny fraction
of the funds have been received.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a
witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have
heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that
great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment
come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one
hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all
the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood
afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping
and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich
all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one
hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast
their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be
removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy
their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the
stumblingblock of their iniquity.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And
he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free
and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their
foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL
BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK
SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE
VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW
LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE.
UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION
13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION
AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO
IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE
SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE),
OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX,
KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125
THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR
RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM
1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE;
FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 -
STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick;
(cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.;
Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According
to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of
their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to
indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even
some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their
gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα
τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in
Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left
there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by
him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and
approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on
Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian,
Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
Water
in the wilderness: A desert preaches-It doesn't rain in Israel in
August. It just doesn't. So when the heavens bucketed down on the dry
and dusty wadis, I found myself looking for meaning-Aug 19, 2026, 7:55
AM
Something happened in the Judean wilderness last Saturday that
the record books say has never happened before. In the middle of August
— the deadest, driest heart of an Israeli summer, when the desert east
of Jerusalem is supposed to be nothing but dust and heat — the sky
opened over the hills, and water ran down through the wadis toward the
Dead Sea.The numbers were startling enough on their own. According to
The Times of Israel, Ma’ale Adumim took 11 millimeters of rain in a
single hour and around 26 across the day — the most rain ever recorded
in that region in the month of August, and only the fourth time since
measurements began that anywhere in the country has seen more than 20
millimeters in this month. Jerusalem itself got a soaking it almost
never sees at this season.But the figure that stopped me was not the
rainfall total. It was a streambed. Nahal Og, a normally bone-dry
channel north of the Dead Sea, filled and flooded — and the Israel
Meteorological Service said it was the first flood ever documented there
at this time of year. Water ran east through the Judean wilderness,
down into the basin of the sea that takes every river and gives none
back, at a season when that ground has never once been recorded doing
such a thing.I am a careful reader of Scripture, and I want to be
careful here, because this is exactly the kind of moment that tempts a
certain sort of Christian to say more than he knows. So let me be plain
about what I am not saying before I say anything at all. I am not
announcing a fulfillment, and I am not holding up a weather report as a
prophecy come true. I have no date to give you, and I distrust the men
who claim they do.What I want to do is quieter than that, and I think
harder to dismiss. I want to point out what this particular land, doing
this particular thing, has a habit of preaching — and then let you sit
with it.Because water running east through the desert toward the Dead
Sea is not a random image in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is one of the
most specific pictures the prophets ever drew. Ezekiel was carried in
vision to the Temple and shown water coming out from under the
threshold, and he watched where it went.“These waters issue out toward
the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea:
which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed”
(Ezekiel 47:8).East, down into the desert, into the sea. And the sea
that takes and never gives — the Dead Sea, the lowest and saltiest water
on the face of the earth, where nothing lives — is healed, and fills
with fish, and everything the river touches lives. That is the direction
the water ran last Saturday. Not a claim; a direction. The same compass
bearing the prophet was shown.And Ezekiel is not alone in it. Isaiah,
promising the restoration of the land, reached for the same picture and
made it a desert one on purpose.…for in the wilderness shall waters
break out, and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:6).Parched ground turns
to pools, thirsty land to springs. The prophets kept returning to this
single, stubborn image — the desert, of all places, running with water —
because in a land like this one, water where there should be none is
the plainest sign a person can be given that the God who made the ground
has not forgotten it.Now here is where I have to be honest with the
honest reader, because you deserve it. The meteorologists have an
explanation, and it is a good one. They point to a warming
Mediterranean, to the pattern some are calling a super El Niño, to the
machinery of a changing climate that is pushing moisture into seasons
that used to be dry. They may well be right. I am not a meteorologist,
and I am not going to stand here and tell you the physics is wrong.But
notice what the physics does and does not settle. Scripture has never
disputed the mechanism of the rain; it disputes that the mechanism is
all there is. The same Bible that calls rain a covenant blessing (“I
will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain
and the latter rain” (Deuteronomy 11:14)) knows perfectly well that rain
arrives through clouds and wind and pressure. How the water gets here
was never the question. Whose hand is on the weather is. And the answer
the Scripture gives is not shy: “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust”
(Matthew 5:45). He sendeth. Through the clouds, through the fronts,
through the El Niño if you like — but He sendeth.So I will not tell you
last Saturday was a sign. I will tell you it was, at the very least, a
sermon — and the preacher was the ground itself, speaking a language the
prophets already taught us to read. Water broke out in the wilderness.
Streams ran in the desert. The flood went east, toward the sea that only
takes, for the first time anyone has written down. And a land that has
spent 3,000 years answering to its Maker did the one thing that land is
not supposed to be able to do in August.You can call it climate. I will
not fight you on the clouds. But I would gently ask the sceptic to
consider that a thing can have a mechanism and a meaning at once — that
the rain can come by the front and still come by the hand — and that
when a desert starts behaving like a prophecy, the wise response is
neither to explain it away nor to shout that the end has come. It is to
pay attention. The land is preaching. It would be a strange thing to be
standing in Israel and refuse to listen.
THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV
17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS.
THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23,
REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are
seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT,
ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS
DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must
continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF
NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour
with the beast.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the
beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
We
shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only
question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or
consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February
1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in
1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a
man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection
to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten
to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept
him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
DICK
MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t
look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.
THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.
REVELATION 16:1-2
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL
BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK
SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE
VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW
LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE.
UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION
13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION
AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO
IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE
SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE),
OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX,
KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125
THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR
RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM
1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE;
FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 -
STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick;
(cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.;
Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According
to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of
their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to
indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even
some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their
gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα
τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in
Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left
there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by
him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and
approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on
Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian,
Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA
THE
CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS,
POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8,
DAN 7:23-24
WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME
NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
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;
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.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
COUNCIL FOR EUROPE ON DEFENCE
https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6d6f889c-e58d-4caa-8f3b-8b93154fe206_en?filename=SAFE%20Regulation.pdf
A
switch from 'hammer Iran ASAP' to 'strangle them' over time-Trump
shifts approach to waiting Iran out as Tehran intensifies threats on
Gulf, Europe-CNN says US freezing talks, Trump thinks Iran will cave due
to economic pressure; Tehran warns EU could be hit if war renews, NATO
vows response; UAE cuts economic ties with regime By ToI Staff and
Agencies 19 August 2026, 5:28 pm
US President Donald Trump has
ordered negotiators to cut off talks with Iran indefinitely, halting
“positive discussions” with the Islamic Republic, CNN reported
Wednesday, citing US officials.Trump claimed as much on Tuesday, writing
on his Truth Social platform: “There are no talks or conversations
going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” He also
shared an image on social media showing the Strait of Hormuz as a “new
US territory,” pressing his threat to claim sovereignty over the vital
waterway.The comments came a day after his son-in-law Jared Kushner, a
senior member of the negotiating team, spoke of “robust” conversations
between the US and Iran, while acknowledging that Tehran wasn’t yet
ready to make a deal that is satisfactory to Washington.According to the
CNN report, Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Iran’s
unwillingness to meet his demands, and has thus decided to shift
strategies, cutting off engagement until Tehran shows it is willing to
make a deal to his liking.In talks with allies, administration officials
described the shift as going from “’hammer Iran ASAP’ to ‘strangle
them’ over time,” CNN reported, noting that the White House believes
economic pressure will eventually lead Iran to fold on the Strait of
Hormuz and other key issues.As such, officials cited in the report
expect the US to place “crushing” new sanctions on Iran, which it said
could come as early as this week. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has
also said that he is prepared to enforce the naval blockade on Iran’s
ports “indefinitely,” as the US appears to gear up for a long-term
pressure campaign in lieu of progress in negotiations.According to the
report, Trump envisions the Strait of Hormuz being managed as it was
before the war began, meaning free passage of ships with no tolls or
fees paid to Iran or any other parties. However, an emerging framework
between Iran and Oman would see service fees or other costs charged to
shipping companies who look to transit the Strait, which has sparked ire
from Trump, who even threatened to bomb Oman for its involvement in the
talks.Iran has effectively shut down the chokepoint, through which a
fifth of the world’s oil transits, in retaliation for the war Trump
started along with Israel in late February over Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran says it will not reopen the strait until Washington meets a
sweeping list of demands including ending the US blockade of Iran’s
ports, lifting oil sanctions, freeing up frozen Iranian assets and
paying war damages.Iran ups threats on Gulf, Europe; NATO vows response
if attacked-Tehran on Wednesday ratcheted up its threats, telling Gulf
countries that assisting the US military would be tantamount to joining
American military operations, and is reportedly considering targeting US
assets in Europe if conflict renews.“We wish to warn that any
assistance or facilitation provided to the aggressor US military amounts
to participation in the US military operation,” armed forces chief of
staff Ali Abdollahi said, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.“It seems
unlikely that such a large number of military aircraft, particularly
refueling aircraft, could be present at regional bases without knowledge
of host countries,” Abdollahi said.“The countries bordering the Persian
Gulf, which have issued various statements saying they would not allow
the United States to use their territory against Iran should know that
we are fully aware of the situation,” he warned.Iran is also considering
targeting US military sites or assets in Europe should fighting flare
up again, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing regime
insiders.According to the British news outlet, military assets in
Bulgaria or Cyprus could be attacked, significantly expanding the reach
of the regime’s retaliatory action, which has focused mainly on the
Middle East until now. Both countries have military bases that have been
available to US troops and equipment.During the war that broke out on
February 28, Iran fired a missile toward the Diego Garcia air base some
4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) away in the southern Indian Ocean,
signaling its ability to fire at nearly anywhere in Europe, though
analysts say the increased range would come at the cost of a smaller
warhead, minimizing potential damage.Israeli officials have repeatedly
warned of the Iranian threat to Europe.The regime insiders quoted in the
report also raised the possibility of damaging fiber-optic cables
running under the Strait of Hormuz, which could significantly impair
telecommunications.One was cited saying Iran would have “no limits” on
its response should the US attack. “Should the US go too far, Iran will
defend itself at any price, go beyond the region and hit Europe too,”
they are quoted saying.The second insider told the paper that threatened
US attacks on infrastructure would trigger the wider response, pointing
to an attack on Jordan in which three US servicemembers were killed as
proof of Tehran’s targeting capabilities.“This was also a message to
Europe: it can receive missiles, so it should know where it should stand
in this war,” they were quoted saying. “A very big mistake, such as
hitting our infrastructure, could make the war go beyond the region and
reach Europe.”Responding to that report, a NATO official said the
alliance is prepared to address any threat and will always do what is
necessary to defend all allies,“As demonstrated earlier this year when
NATO air defenses successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to
Turkey from Iran on four separate occasions, our deterrence and defense
posture is strong and effective,” the official said.UAE suspends
financial ties with Iran until further notice-Meanwhile, the United Arab
Emirates decided Wednesday to suspend all financial and economic
transactions with Iran until further notice, citing a military
escalation by Tehran with a missile threat the day before.The UAE, a
close US and Israeli ally and regional power, was the Gulf state most
heavily hit by Tehran during the early stages of the Middle East war.
However, the last reported attack on UAE soil was the May 4 strike on
Fujairah port, a key oil export hub.The move by the UAE to sever
commercial ties came after its defense ministry said that it had
detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, an incident that
marked the first time in months that residents received telephone alerts
warning of possible threats.In a statement, the ministry said the
missiles targeted “maritime traffic” based on its assessments. Both
missiles fell into the sea, it said.The UAE also sent a phone alert
later Tuesday to residents stating that the situation was safe and
people should resume normal activities after the earlier warning.Iran’s
foreign ministry rejected the statement by the UAE that its missiles
targeted maritime traffic, describing it as “baseless.”The missile
launch that the UAE blamed on Iran came as a 60-day window for
US-Iranian peace talks expired without a breakthrough, raising fears of a
new escalation in the conflict that has disrupted shipping through the
Strait of Hormuz since February and rattled global markets.UAE official
Afra Al Hameli, director of the Strategic Communications Department at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the UAE was committed to dialogue
and cooperation to advance peace, stability, and prosperity in the
region.Al Hameli said that in light of regional escalations that
undermine regional and international peace and security, all trade,
commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been
halted.The UAE was drawn into the wider war in the region which began in
February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Tehran’s attacks on UAE soil
stopped in May, while they persisted in neighboring Kuwait and Bahrain.
Attacks at sea on its vessels did not stop.In August, Abu Dhabi National
Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world’s largest energy producers, said
it was being significantly impacted by what it described as unprovoked
attacks on its people and assets, as it sought to continue meeting
customer requirements in an “exceptionally challenging
environment.”ADNOC said in a statement that several of its vessels had
been attacked by missiles and drones while transiting the Strait of
Hormuz since the start of the conflict.Iran has not claimed
responsibility for the attacks on ADNOC vessels. Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps have previously threatened action against
vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran’s adversaries
or fail to comply with Iranian directives.
Birth registration
emerges as foundation for digital public infrastructure-Linking civil
registration with national ID systems is reshaping DPI-Aug 13, 2026,
2:25 pm EDT | Ayang Macdonald
Governments and development
partners are increasingly pushing to make birth registration and vital
statistics (CRVS) a foundational layer of digital public infrastructure
(DPI), arguing that establishing legal identity from birth can
streamline access to services and help create more connected public
systems.Two case studies by civil registration advocacy organization
Vital Strategies, examining Rwanda and Thailand, show how this approach
can work in practice and how integrating birth registration with
national ID systems can strengthen the foundations for digital identity
and public service delivery.Rwanda and Thailand show the model-In
Rwanda, Vital Strategies says digitizing birth registration and
integrating it with the national ID system has led to “real-time
identity verification and data sharing across previously siloed sectors,
yielding core benefits including improved service access, efficiency,
and trust, along with higher quality data for policymaking.”The
organization has worked with the country since 2016 to help modernize
its CRVS system, moving it from a system in which families often had to
travel long distances to register births and deaths, to a decentralized
and digitalized one with thousands of registration points.The efforts,
it added, have gone a long way in transforming civil registration to
shared public infrastructure through a digital system which now connects
with hospitals, government agencies and businesses and supports access
to around 200 essential services. As of 2024, the government had
digitized about 85 percent of all public services, thanks in large part,
to the transition from paper-based records to a fully digitalized
platform.Thailand offers a similar model. Vital Strategies describes the
country’s CRVS system as one of the most comprehensive in Southeast
Asia. It all began with reforms that not only modernized the system, but
led it to near-universal civil registration. The country also went
ahead to link the system with a unique 13-digit personal identification
number (PIN), in what is described as many years of strategic
infrastructure development and legislative reform.According to the case
study, linking the civil registration system with digital public
infrastructure has contributed to a number of benefits including access
to services, exchange of data through an interoperable “linkage center,”
enrollment of newborns for a Universal Coverage Scheme, and the
inclusion of stateless persons.Civil registration becomes digital
infrastructure-Citing Rwanda and Thailand, Vital Strategies argues that
birth and death registration should be treated as foundational digital
public infrastructure rather than a standalone administrative function.
Birth registration establishes legal identity, and linking civil
registration with national ID systems creates a trusted population
register that can support digital identity, public services and
interoperable government systems.Digitizing CRVS alone is no longer
enough, the organization argues. Countries must make civil registration
the foundation of DPI because when civil registration and national ID
databases are not properly linked, discrepancies can emerge between the
information held by different government systems which is the situation
many countries continue to face. Even a sophisticated biometric system,
the experts argue, cannot make up for an identity system that is built
on a weak population register.The case studies reinforce Vital
Strategies argument that countries should make birth registration more
than just the issuance of certificates. It is the first step in
establishing trusted legal identity throughout a person’s life. In
April, the organization’s President and CEO, Mary-Ann Etiebet warned
that a huge gender gap threatens global legal identity efforts.Africa’s
next CRVS decade-The argument has particular resonance in Africa, where
many countries are strengthening birth registration while simultaneously
building national digital identity systems.Across much of the
continent, experts argue governments must move beyond political
commitments and build what they describe as an “architecture of
visibility.”UNICEF’s latest figures show that only 51 percent of
children under five in sub-Saharan Africa have their births registered,
while the rate for children under one is even lower, at 46 percent.An
opinion published on the occasion of the 9th Africa CRVS Day, which was
observed on August 10, notes that as the continent enters its next CRVS
decade (2027–2036), there is the need to put in place systems that
ensure every birth, death, and vital event is registered, counted, and
connected to services.The writers also reference the Africa eCRVS Shared
Asset (ACSA), first introduced at the ID4Africa 2023 Annual General
Meeting in Nairobi and championed by ID4Africa and other partners. The
initiative is intended to accelerate the development of digital CRVS
systems across Africa by promoting standardization and harmonization and
making use of digital public goods, while remaining owned and led by
African countries.In order to make the most of the new Africa CRVS
decade, another write-up says countries should learn to scale what works
for them, revise regulatory and governance frameworks, ensure
inclusion, leverage systems that serve children, and prioritize funding
for national registration.Momentum builds across Africa.In line with the
2026 Africa CRVS Day, UNICEF praised Burundi for engaging in civil
registration reforms, but urged the government to align its efforts with
objectives of the continent’s CRVS decade which is to achieve systems
integration and interoperability.The UN agency also recognized Nigeria’s
commitment to strengthening birth registration which is a prerequisite
for obtaining a national identification number (NIN). The commitment
follows the enactment of a new national ID legal framework, and the
recent launch of a digital birth registration platform.In Liberia, the
call was for more government investment in order to improve the CRVS
system, and make it accessible to millions of citizens who still lack a
legal identity.Tanzania, for its part, has also reported progress in
child birth registration, as reported by The Guardian. Constitutional
and Legal Affairs Minister Juma Homera is quoted as saying that the
progress is thanks to sustained investment and awareness campaigns on
the importance of the exercise. The figures stand at 65 percent, up from
55 percent in 2020.Together, the Vital Strategies case studies and
Africa’s renewed focus on CRVS point to a broader shift in digital
identity policy. Birth registration is no longer being viewed simply as
an administrative process ending with a certificate. It is increasingly
treated as the foundational infrastructure on which digital identity,
interoperable government services and trusted public data depend.
Pakistan’s
NADRA rolls out homegrown QR-based ID cards-Chipless ID cards,
verifiable credentials and consent-based data sharing are transforming
NADRA from an identity issuer into a digital trust platform-Aug 17,
2026, 7:57 am EDT | Ayang Macdonald
Pakistan’s National Database
and Registration Authority (NADRA) is transforming itself into a digital
trust guarantor through homegrown innovation as it supports the
country’s ambitious digital transformation agenda and simplifies access
to a wide range of public and private sector servicesCreated more than
25 years ago, the body is evolving from an institution that offers
digital ID credentials to one that enables trusted access to public and
private sector services by leveraging local capacity and innovation.Many
years ago, NADRA successfully put in place a foundational digital ID
system which has continued to be expanded and modernized. Coupled with
sustained investment from the government, a lucrative business model,
and expanding partnerships, it is increasingly shifting from issuing
identity credentials to making those credentials useful across
government, finance and the wider digital economy.Innovation has been
one of the powering engines of that shift. NADRA recently announced the
launch of a chipless national ID card which has a secure QR code, Dunya
News reports.It is an indigenous invention as the new card, whose
issuance went operational on August 14, is manufactured domestically by
the National Security Printing Company (NSPC) in Karachi, according to
NADRA’s technical and security specifications. The change replaces an
imported microchip with a QR code that can be scanned and verified using
an ordinary smartphone through the PakID mobile application, the report
indicates. The federal government approved the issuance of the new card
on February 23 when it approved amendments to the National Identity
Card Rules 2002 and the Pakistan Origin Card Rules 2002 that introduced
QR-based verification, stronger anti-fraud controls and greater
biometric recognition into the country’s identity framework.PakID
surpassed 18 million downloads last month as the push for mobile-first
digital ID in the country grows.According to NADRA, the chipless card
will initially replace standard national ID cards before being extended
to additional identity documents and specialized card categories from
January.The move aims to strengthen technological self-reliance by
eliminating imported microchips for its smart ID cards while improving
practical identity verification.The development is part of NADRA’s work
to put in place a much broader digital ID ecosystem which includes a
national digital ID, a PakID vault, verifiable credentials, a unified
platform for ID verification services, QR code document verification and
a consent-based data-sharing system, all intended to make life easier
for citizens. The move also aligns with broader work on QR-based digital
identity, including UNHCR’s exploration of biometric QR codes for
low-cost, smartphone-based identity verification.Ahead of the launch of
the chipless ID, NADRA’s spokesperson had spoken about initiatives
intended to make access to digital services easier. He cited a litany of
services which are accessible in a secure and trustworthy manner
through biometric authentication.Pakistan’s digital transformation
builds on years of foundational efforts which are now overseen by the
Pakistan Digital Authority, a body created last year to steer the
country towards the Digital Pakistan 2030 objectives.The country is also
moving to close its digital skills gap with the launch of digital
skills courses by IT institutions across the country. The call was made
recently by IT minister as the country seeks to enhance its digital
workforce and better prepare the ground for a digital nation.
Foundational
ID and biometric binding underpin digital trust-This week's top stories
traced the identity lifecycle from issuance to ongoing verification-Aug
15, 2026, 12:17 pm EDT | Chris Burt
Biometric fundamentals and
foundational ID are considerations at the very beginning of the identity
lifecycle that are sometimes overlooked. If organizations can handle
them better the rewards are improved trustworthy service delivery and
stronger defenses against fraud.Fundamental considerations for
biometrics include accuracy, but also scalability and other performance
details. And crucially, if they are not bound to IDs when they are
created, those credentials are vulnerable to compromise.When the
credentials are created matters too, particularly since public services
affect children and families.Countries that digitalize their birth
registration systems can not only improve their civil registration and
vital statistics (CRVS) systems but also funnel people towards national
ID systems that serve as a pillar of digital public infrastructure. The
system must be trustworthy, however, or downstream costs pile up
quickly.Two of the top stories of the week on Biometric Update
illustrate this tension.Case studies on Rwanda and Thailand by advocacy
group Vital Strategies show birth and death registration can contribute
to trusted DPI that can be used in service delivery. On Africa CRVS Day
Monday, observers credited Burundi’s example and ACSA’s promise as
reasons for optimism that the continent is headed in the right
direction.An attempt by Cameroon’s government to support public servants
with the costs of raising a family has led to an investigation into
almost a million birth certificates, many of which are suspected of
being fraudulent. A recent increase in a monthly child allowance for
government workers led to what authorities say is a statistically
impossible spike in claims.UNICEF sees schools playing a potentially
pivotal role in reducing the global birth registration gap of some 200
million children under five years old.The beginning of the identity
credential lifecycle, likewise, depends on solid foundations, which
means privacy-preserving biometric binding, Prove GM for New Market
Initiatives Frances Zelazny emphasizes in an interview with Biometric
Update. Bringing that piece of the digital identity puzzle to Prove with
new IP including MCP and advanced cryptography is her new role with the
company.Foundational identity is also becoming the platform for broader
digital public infrastructure. This week, Biometric Update examined how
Caribbean nations are building a cross-border layer of interoperable
DPI, Sri Lanka is advancing its MOSIP-based digital identity with
support from development partners, and a new framework argued that
trustworthy government AI depends on strong digital public
infrastructure.Biometric trust through operational performance and
scalabilityNew editions of both the NIST FRTE 1:1 and 1:N show
significant convergence in accuracy among the best developers.The 1:1
results indicate that differentiation among the leading face biometrics
algorithm providers at this point is more a matter of operational
performance, demographic and capture considerations than overall
accuracy. Similarly, metrics for scalability, which is crucial for
biometric deduplication, and unconstrained capture environments, which
are critical for law enforcement scenarios, are becoming the keys to
picking winners for particular applications in the 1:N
assessment.Extending trust to applications-Mexico’s banking industry is
switching to face biometrics for account-holder authentication to make
use of government identity records, closing the circle with national ID.
Identy CEO and Co-founder Jesús Aragón offers guidance for financial
institutions looking to comply with the new regulations in a guest post
for Biometric Update.The problem of continuous identity trust is behind
the account-sharing rampant among gig workers, Trua Founder and CEO Raj
Ananthanpillai writes in a guest post. Only strong binding between the
credential and the worker can prove the person who passed the background
check is the same one making the delivery.Nobody likes friction in
banking. But in online marketplaces? Dating? GuyID Founder Ravi
Shankar tells Biometric Update that robust identity verification that
includes a little friction helps make online dating trustworthy by
discouraging the kinds of catphishing and identity fraud that have
plagued the industry.One of the effects of AI on scams and identity
fraud is that the value of static identity signals is falling, Feedzai
VP of Product Planning and Strategy Dan Holmes argues in a guest post.
Continuous adaptive trust is the logical next step for identity
verification, according to Holmes.On the latest episode of the Biometric
Update Podcast, Aragón and Resemble.ai’s Zohaib Ahmed discuss how the
growing availability of AI fraud tools is birthing whole new fraud
categories, and making IAD and deepfake detection based on how the real
world works table stakes for businesses online.Please let us know if you
come across any podcasts, thought leadership pieces or other content
you think we should share with those in biometrics and the digital
identity community via the comments below or social media.
Asda
to deploy Auror crime intelligence platform across its stores following
London trial-Aug 18, 2026, 4:23 pm EDT | Lu-Hai Liang
UK
supermarket chain Asda is massively expanding its use of Auror, the
crime reporting and intelligence platform.Following a trial in 30 of its
London stores, Asda will now deploy Auror Core across its entire store
estate. “Rolling out Auror across our estate will further strengthen our
ability to prevent and tackle retail crime,” says David Lepley, COO at
Asda.“The results from our London pilot demonstrated the value of having
a faster and more effective way to report incidents and identify repeat
offenders in real time. By working more closely with police and
retailers through a shared intelligence network, we can focus our
efforts where they will have the greatest impact and help to tackle
retail crime.”A pilot using Auror’s crime intelligence platform improved
how retail crime was tracked and prevented, according to Asda, with
staff able to identify repeat offenders more effectively and direct
security resources where they’re most needed.Auror Core consolidates
store crime data into a single system, with retailers and authorities
detecting patterns and managing cases. During the trial, trained staff
reviewed CCTV footage from serious incidents before uploading it to the
platform alongside incident reports to support investigations. No live
facial recognition was used.The rollout comes amid rising concern over
violence against shop workers. The British Retail Consortium reported in
2025 that staff faced an average of 36 violent incidents involving
weapons and about 1,600 cases of abuse or violence daily. Auror’s data
shows that 10 percent of offenders account for 70 percent of retail
crime, and these repeat offenders are up to four times more likely to be
violent or armed.While Asda’s rollout is limited to Auror Core and does
not include facial recognition, Auror recently introduced Subject
Recognition in the UK. The product uses retailers’ existing crime data
and applies facial recognition solely for crime prevention and store
safety.“Auror has made it 80 percent faster to record crime for Asda
colleagues and early pilot results saw the team identify dozens of
prolific repeat offenders, with the majority known to offend at stores
owned by other retail brands within the Auror Network,” claims Mark
Gleeson, general manager UK and Europe at Auror.Auror has also been
trialed by another of Britain’s “big four” supermarkets. Tesco deployed
Auror’s platform across 40 stores to collect CCTV footage of serious
incidents and theft for review by trained professionals at the Tesco
Security Hub. There, facial recognition can be applied to still images
for biometric suspect identification.Auror is not the only security
technology used by Asda. It has also trialed live facial recognition. A
few months ago Asda started a trial of FaiceTech’s LFR across a handful
of its stores. FaiceTech was used for two months in five stores in the
Greater Manchester area. That system was integrated into the store’s
existing CCTV networks to scan images of shoppers against a watchlist of
previous offenders compiled by Asda.A hiccup at Sainsbury’s-Another
“big four” supermarket chain is pausing its face scanning following a
false accusation.Sainsbury’s will pause its use of Facewatch technology
after a customer was mistaken for a shoplifter and wrongly ejected from
the store.The falsely accused, Matt Arnold, told The Guardian newspaper
that he was “embarrassed” and “mortified.” Arnold was scanning his items
at a Sainsbury’s in southeast London when two managers approached him
and said that due to an incident he would not be served.He was then
asked to leave the store. Arnold said he noticed a CCTV monitor overhead
that showed his face with a red circle around it as he left.Sainsbury’s
has since said that it was “human error” that caused the customer
ejection and not Facewatch. The company’s head office apologized to
Arnold the day after his ordeal and has paused its use of Facewatch in
the East Dulwich store as it carries out an investigation.Sainsbury’s
had been using Facewatch’s LFR at two stores. The early results of that
trial were encouraging enough to prompt the chain to expand the
biometric technology to five more London locations. Those early results
included a 46 percent reduction in “theft, harm, aggression and
antisocial behavior.”More than 9 of 10 offenders did not return to the
stores, Sainsbury’s said. The chain’s announcement noted that
Facewatch’s face biometrics have a 99.98 percent accuracy rate and that
all alerts are reviewed before action is taken.However, the East Dulwich
incident was apparently due to staff error. “A correct alert was sent
to the retailer, but was subsequently subject to human error in the way
it was handled in store,” a Facewatch spokesperson said in The Guardian.
Thai
regulators propose linking Roblox to national digital ID for age
assurance-Social gaming platform developing new machine learning system
for continuous age checks-Aug 17, 2026, 5:24 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
While
it has surely been a busy few months for compliance teams at every
large social media company, a special regulatory zeal has been reserved
for Roblox, the social gaming platform that has faced numerous
accusations of lax online safety measures leading to child sexual
exploitation, and numerous lawsuits to match. Regulators globally have
summoned Roblox for a word, including, most recently, Thailand’s
Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.A report in Khaosod English says
the ministry has had talks with Roblox over stronger safety and child
protection measures, “including the possible use of Thailand’s National
Digital ID system to verify users’ identities and ages.”Topics of
discussion include age restrictions and age-based filtering, biometric
facial age estimation technology, chat moderation systems to detect
inappropriate messages, and Roblox’s plan to implement measures based on
the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) rating system in
2027.Thailand is among a host of Asian nations testing the waters on age
assurance legislation for social platforms and beyond. Digital Economy
and Society Minister Chaichanok Chidchob has declared online safety a
matter of urgency, and says his “efforts are intended to build long-term
confidence among users, families and Thai society.”Chaichanok has
raised the possibility of verifying users who wish to access Roblox by
linking Thailand’s National Digital ID/KYC system with Roblox user
accounts. He is planning a joint working group to study the proposed
verification system.Government-linked systems offer a tradeoff, in that
they can provide accurate age verification, but come with tracking and
privacy concerns.‘Age assurance doesn’t end at the selfie’Roblox
currently uses Persona’s facial age estimation technology. However, in
its ongoing pushback against reputational and financial catastrophe, it
is developing a new modular, multimodal behavioral machine learning
system that aims to keep age checks up to date.“The technology we use
for facial age checks was selected because it’s been tested and
certified by third-party labs and has proven to be more accurate than
self-declared age,” says a statement on Roblox’s website. “This initial
age check is necessary, but age assurance doesn’t end at the selfie.”“To
move age assurance beyond a point-in-time signal, we built a
high-throughput ML layer that evaluates whether an account’s ongoing
behavior still matches its estimated age over time. Our feature-level
modular design enables efficient model updates and rapid adaptation to
shifting behavioral patterns.”The motivating idea will be familiar to
regular readers of Biometric Update: “no single behavioral signal can
reliably capture nuanced behavioral patterns that shift over time and
under adversarial pressure.” This could equally apply to fraud
prevention, agentic IAM, deepfake detection, and more. Across the
sector, the trend is to view online activity as an organic, continuous
indicator, which Roblox breaks down into component signal families:
social context, experience engagement, account and platform activity,
communication patterns and learned user representations.Behavioral
signals and age inferenceWhich is to say, it’s easier for Roblox to
guess a user’s age at any given point in time if it knows who that user
is connected to, who they talk to, what games they play and for how
long, how old their account is and how often they sign in.
Communications patterns yield “model-derived summaries of age-correlated
language usage, including how communication patterns vary across
context and time.” And higher-level representations capture broader
usage patterns; “the same rich representations that predict what a user
may engage with next,” Roblox says, “can be post-trained to become
predictive of broad age bands.”It has been clear for some time that most
tech companies’ preferred method for age assurance is an internally
developed and controlled machine learning algorithm that relies on close
analysis of user data to guess at an age profile. There is a plausible
argument to be made that social media exists primarily to collect and
monetize user data. Even though Roblox is not the same as Instagram,
giving any massive tech platform express license to know more about
their users is not likely to result in a safer, more private internet in
the long run.
Sri Lanka digital ID rollout advances as
procurement nears completion-Aug 17, 2026, 5:20 pm EDT | Duruthu
Edirimuni Chandrasekera
Sri Lanka’s digital identity (SL-UDI)
program is moving toward a phased rollout as the Indian government
finalizes procurement of the master systems provider responsible for
implementing the platform.Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha said
onboarding of the master systems provider is in its final stages, while
Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Eranga Weeraratne told Biometric
Update on Monday the government is preparing an initial rollout focused
on core infrastructure and early digital ID issuance.The Deputy Minister
said the government expects to issue the first digital IDs in the
coming months with a fully digital identity system targeted by next
August. Approximately 17 million National Identity Card (NIC) holders
will also be transitioned to the new system over the following two
years.TCS, Infosys, and Protean remain under final evaluation for the
MOSIP-based national digital ID system, after bids exceeded the value of
India’s grant funding of INR 3 billion (approximately US$35
million).Speaking at the “India Calling” business event, Jha said Sri
Lanka’s digital ID project was nearing launch, highlighting the
potential for deeper economic integration and technology cooperation
between the two countries. He underscored the success of India’s digital
identity system in lowering poverty and boosting social safety nets,
signifying that similar results could be achieved in Sri Lanka.
Latest
round of BixeLab biometrics evaluations include Level 3 PAD, IAD
tests-Legitimuz, Emirates Face Recognition and LexisNexis Risk Solutions
complete independent testing as demand grows for standards-based
biometric assurance.Aug 14, 2026, 2:35 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
A
pair of facial recognition providers have passed Level 3 independent
biometric Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) and Injection Attack
Detection (IAD) evaluations by BixeLab among a series of assessments by
the Australian lab.Legitimuz Tecnologia LTDA’s IAD product met the test
criteria for compliance with CEN/TS 18099, in addition to the company’s
LegitFace Android SDK face liveness solution passing assessments against
ISO/IEC 30107-3 at PAD Levels 1, 2 and 3.Emirates Face Recognition LLC
likewise submitted its EFR-Mobile SDK for ISO/IEC PAD testing at all
three levels, and IAD testing against CEN/TS 18099. The software is used
in production within the UAE’s banking system.Level 3 evaluations test
the software’s ability to correctly identify attacks carried out with a
high degree of effort, skill and resources, as BixeLab detailed in a
white paper earlier this year. BixeLab General Manager Somya Singh
explained what the levels of biometric PAD testing mean in a recent
Biometric Update webinar.LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ IDVerse matching
performance, liveness tested-A LinkedIn post from BixeLab says it has
completed a biometrics testing program for LexisNexis Risk Solutions’
IDVerse solutions. The evaluation included ISO/IEC 19795-2 compliant
biometric performance evaluation of the IDVerse FR5 matching engine and
ISO/IEC 30107-3 compliant Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) evaluation
of IDVerse Liveness 5 at Level 1 and Level 2 sophistication.The Letter
of Confirmation for IDVerse FR5 says “the biometric performance
evaluation was conducted remotely via a RESTful API, using a test corpus
of 246 image pairs consisting of passport-style enrollment images and
selfie-style verification images.” Both the False Match Rate and False
Non-Match Rate were measured at zero percent.Likewise, assessments for
both PAD Level 1 and PAD Level 2 for IDVerse Liveness 5 measured zero
classification errors.BixeLab says completed assessments “provide
independent evidence of solution performance and resilience against
presentation attacks, conducted in accordance with internationally
recognised testing standards.”Demand for trusted biometrics testing has
risen with the growth of the identity market and the introduction of
digital identity regulations.
