TOMORROW AUGUST 9TH 2008 AT 6PM ISRAEL IS FASTING FOR THE LOSS OF THE 1ST AND SECOND TEMPLES (9TH OF AV FAST). ISRAEL REJOICE THE 3RD TEMPLE WILL BE REBUILT VERY SHORTLY BEFORE THE 7 YR TREATY IS SIGNED, TAKE ACTION ISRAEL, GOD COMMANDS THE 3RD TEMPLE TO BE REBUILT. LET GOD BE TRUTH AND EVERY MAN A LIER ISRAEL AND GET THAT 3RD TEMPLE REBUILT TO GIVE GOD THE GLORY NOW.
WORLD TERRORISM
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, 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).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
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, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Not just guns: Gazans smuggle lions into zoo By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer AUG 8,08
RAFAH, Gaza Strip - The monkeys and lions were drugged, tossed into cloth sacks and dragged through smuggling tunnels under the border between Egypt and the besieged Gaza Strip before ending up in a dusty Gaza zoo. Stocked almost entirely with smuggled animals, the Heaven of Birds and Animals Zoo is a sign of Gaza's ever-expanding tunnel industry. Dozens of passages are believed to snake under the border, serving as a mainstay of the local economy and a way to smuggle in everything from cigarettes to lingerie to automatic weapons.And smugglers say a new effort by Egypt to blow up the passages will have little effect on the flow of goods.Gaza's commercial trade was literally forced underground after the Islamic militant Hamas seized the coastal territory last summer, prompting neighboring Israel and Egypt to restrict movement through commercial crossings.
While Israel has allowed more goods in since a June truce with Hamas, it is not enough to meet Gaza's needs. Tunnel smugglers fill the gaps, bringing in contraband drugs and guns and more mundane items like frilly underwear and laptop computers, as well as exotic animals like the lion and lioness that pace in a cage at the Rafah zoo.They were purchased as cubs from Egypt for $3,000 each, drugged and dragged through a tunnel in sacks. Zoo manager Shadi Fayiz said he went through a middleman to put in his order.At the small zoo, where umbrellas shade battered couches, there is a parrot who was slipped through a tunnel in a cage. He can ask for a kiss in Arabic, startling veiled Gazan women walking by, Fayiz said.Two monkeys were bought together as babies. So were three spindly legged gazelles, one of whom bit several tunnel smugglers when they forgot to sedate it, Fayiz said.All told, his animals cost over $40,000. Fayiz opened shop in June.Without the tunnels, I couldn't have done this, the 23-year-old said.Egypt, under Israeli pressure, has ratcheted up its efforts in recent weeks to destroy the passages, blasting tunnel entrances on its side. But smugglers say they can easily build new ones.You can't kill a snake, said a middleman who goes by Abu Mohammed, referring to the passages by their Gazan slang name, hayyeh, the Arabic word snake.
Like other traders interviewed by The Associated Press, he declined to give his full name, fearing retribution from Egypt and tax demands from Gaza's Hamas rulers.Gaza traders come to his office in Rafah with lists of products — food, clothes, motor oil. He contacts Egyptian traders to find them, then shops for the cheapest tunnel to haul them through, ensuring a bigger profit.Some tunnels want $100 a box, some just $70. You have to compare prices, he said.
Such competition in the smuggling market was unthinkable before the Hamas takeover, when there were fewer passages and overland crossings still worked.Rows of lacy underwear hang in Abu Mohammed's shop, left over from a previous shipment. They were big sellers through the summer, when most Gaza weddings take place. This season, traders are ordering nuts for Ramadan, an upcoming Muslim holy month when the devout fast throughout the day and usually snack through the night.Traders estimate around 100 tunnels now run under the border, with the number rising since the Hamas takeover. Israel has demanded that Egypt block weapons smuggling into Gaza. Israel's main concern about the current truce is that Hamas will use it to rearm. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said he believed Egypt was devoting more energy to destroying the passageways, but also said Hamas was exploiting the calm to strengthen its military wing. Earlier this month, five smugglers were killed when Egypt blew up a tunnel exit, suffocating them inside. An Egyptian border official said authorities destroy about a tunnel a day. In early August, Egyptian border troops uncovered a 2,400-foot underground pipeline used to smuggle fuel into Gaza. Black market fuel has been a lucrative product in Gaza since Israel began reducing supplies to the territory to pressure militants to halt their fire at Israeli border communities. Tunnel traders, meanwhile, say Egyptian efforts to destroy tunnels might delay shipments but won't halt them — smugglers can quickly dig new tunnel entrances by branching out from the main passage. It's unlikely overland transport will soon replace the subterranean traffic. Hamas says a full opening of Gaza's border crossings must be part of any truce deal, but Israel refuses until there is progress in talks on the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas since 2006. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, says tunnels can't provide a solution to Gaza's woes. A tunnel can bring in a mobile phone, but it can't bring in raw materials, such as cement, building materials, gasoline and other fuel, which are all in short supply, said Abu Zuhr. Because of that Gaza is paralyzed.But zoo manager Fayiz praises the smugglers' ingenuity. It's just a matter of time until they make a tunnel an elephant can walk through, he said. Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam contributed to this report from Rafah, Egypt.
Palestinian forces shut Hamas fronts in Hebron AUG 8,08
HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's forces shut down four Islamic charities and two photocopying shops in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday for alleged ties to the rival Hamas faction, a security source said. The crackdown in Hebron followed similar actions in other areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank by Abbas, who has been pursuing a law-and-order drive since breaking with Hamas last year over the Islamists' violent seizure of the Gaza Strip.Abbas is under pressure to assert control in the West Bank so U.S.-sponsored talks with Israel can progress. Abbas's administration complains that continued Israeli raids against suspected Palestinian militants undermine his credibility.A Palestinian security source said the four Hebron charities that were closed were linked to Hamas fundraising. The photocopying shops had been publishing incitement against the Palestinian Authority, the source said. There were no arrests.
Hamas officials in Hebron, where support for the Islamists is widespread, could not immediately be reached for comment. Organizers of the targeted charities declined to be interviewed.
Abbas, whose forces have received extra U.S. and European support since his secular Fatah faction split with Hamas, has deployed Palestinian security forces in Nablus, Jenin and other West Bank towns in the past year, with some success in controlling the areas.
Brigadier-General Samih al-Saifi, the Palestinian security chief for the Hebron area, told Reuters this week that he wants to bring in more than 600 security men, now completing training in Jordan and Jericho, to bolster Palestinian Authority control.But Israel has given no indication it might approve such a deployment in Hebron, where some 650 heavily guarded Jewish settlers live in a simmering stand-off with 30,000 Palestinians.(Reporting by Haitham Tamimi in Hebron, Writing by Dan Williams in Jerusalem, edited by Richard Meares)
Israeli settlement building undermines peace process: EU Fri Aug 8, 10:44 AM ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) - Israel's decision to allow more building in settlements in Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem undermines the credibility of the peace process,the EU's French presidency said Friday, The EU presidency is deeply concerned by the decision by the Israeli authorities to approve the construction of 400 housing units in the Neve Yaakov settlement in east Jerusalem and to invite tenders for a total of 316 housing units in the Beitar Illit settlement in the West Bank and Har Homa, also in east Jerusalem.Jewish settlements are widely seen as one of the major hurdles in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that were revived at a US conference in November but have failed to make much tangible progress.At the conference in Annapolis, Maryland, Israel agreed to freeze settlement activity, but the Israeli government says it maintains the right to build in settlement blocs it wishes to keep in any future peace deal.The EU presidency said: The construction of settlements anywhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including east Jerusalem, is illegal under international law.This decision serves to undermine the credibility of the ongoing peace process, it added in a statement.Settlement activities prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations and compromise the viability of a concerted two-state solution.The European Union calls on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to honour their respective undertakings.The statement also called on Israel to ensure a complete freeze on settlement activities, including that for natural growth, in east Jerusalem as well, and to dismantle the unauthorised outposts built since 2001.
A total of 245,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem alongside more than 200,000 Jewish settlers.
Hezbollah has more arms, personnel than 2006: MP Fri Aug 8, 10:19 AM ET
BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah now has more arms and personnel than it did before the 2006 war with Israel, a Shiite MP said on Friday. The resistance gives the assurance that it has become more powerful in equipment and number after the July war with Israel, said Hassan Fadlallah.Hezbollah, which has both a political party as well as a militia, will not refrain from reinforcing its capabilities, he told Lebanon's official news agency.Hezbollah, which has repeatedly touted the strength of its resistance in the war summer against Israel two years ago, is part of a national unity government in Lebanon that was formed on July 11.But negotiations on a policy statement were hampered by disputes on the key issue of the arsenal of Hezbollah, which has continued to insist on the right to resist Israel.
The policy statement insists on the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and its resistance to liberate its land that is occupied by Israel.The controversy in Lebanon over Hezbollah's weapons intensified after its militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in July 2006 that sparked the 34-day war.It boiled over again when Hezbollah led an armed takeover of large swathes of predominantly Sunni west Beirut in fierce fighting in May that left 65 people dead and sparked fears of a return to all-out civil war.The West has long suspected that Shiite Iran has been sending arms to Hezbollah and training its fighters inside the Islamic republic. However Tehran insists its support for the movement is purely moral.
Israeli police question Olmert for fifth time Fri Aug 8, 7:40 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who last week threw Israeli politics into turmoil by announcing plans to resign, was questioned by police for a fifth time on Friday in Jerusalem over bribery and fraud allegations. Olmert declared on July 30 that he would not run in his ruling Kadima party's internal election on September 17 and will step down after a successor is chosen.Police are examining allegations that Olmert took bribes from an American businessman and made double claims for travel expenses while he served as trade minister and Jerusalem mayor.Olmert has denied any wrongdoing.Friday's session at Olmert's official residence lasted three hours, an hour longer than planned, a police spokesman said.
Olmert's lawyers spent five days cross-examining American fundraiser Morris Talansky, who testified he gave the Israeli leader cash-filled envelopes. Talansky's cross-examination will resume on August 31 and Sept 1.Olmert has vowed to pursue peace talks with the Palestinians and Turkish-mediated negotiations with Syria until his last day in office.Advisers said Olmert could stay in office for months as caretaker premier, long enough to continue the peace talks, but rival politicians have said he lacks the mandate to commit Israel to any deals.Four Kadima ministers have launched campaigns to replace Olmert, with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni leading the pack and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defense chief, close behind her.Olmert has faced numerous investigations into his financial affairs from his 10-year stint as mayor of Jerusalem, ending in 2003, and then as a cabinet minister until he succeeded the ailing Ariel Sharon as prime minister in early 2006.(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
WHAT TRUCE, THE ARABS HAVE VILATED THE SO CALLED TRUCE SO MANY TIMES I CAN'T EVEN COUNT.
Gaza militants warn Israel truce may end in 3 weeks By Nidal al-Mughrabi Thu Aug 7, 4:44 PM ET
GAZA (Reuters) - Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) militant group on Thursday warned Israel that a truce between Israel and Hamas which went into effect on June 19 was in danger of collapse, saying it could end in three weeks. Abu Mujahed, one of the group's leaders, told dozens of fighters undergoing military training that Hamas, the PRC and other factions were disappointed at Israel's slow action on opening Gaza's border crossings and prisoner release talks.(Israel) has until the end of the tenth week (since the declaration of the ceasefire) and if they do not abide by the obligations of calm, politicians will stop talking and military men will act, Abu Mujahed said.He said militant groups had agreed among themselves to give the truce a 10-week trial period, although he did not say whether Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, was also involved in the deadline.PRC gunmen together with militants from Hamas and another armed faction abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a June 2006 cross-border raid.The Jewish state tightened its cordon around Gaza after Hamas Islamists took control of the territory a year ago.The Egyptian-brokered truce calls on Gaza militants to halt rocket attacks in return for Israel gradually easing an embargo on the territory. The truce has largely held and rocket attacks from Gaza have declined.
On Wednesday, a rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel, but caused no injuries or damage, Israel's military said.Israel has responded to previous attacks by reclosing border crossings with the coastal enclave.On Thursday, the PRC allowed Reuters and other news organizations to film a live ammunition training exercise. Gunmen detonated bombs and opened fire while storming a mock Israeli army base built on the ruins of a former Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip.The Zionist occupation (Israel) has not yet agreed to the demand to release our prisoners so our fighters are preparing for the next round in which we will try to abduct more Israeli soldiers to swap them for our hero prisoners, Abu Attaya, spokesman of the PRC's armed wing, told Reuters.The Islamist Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has called on Israel to release hundreds of prisoners in exchange for Shalit.(Editing by Ori Lewis and Andrew Roche)
Israel to build new homes on occupied land Thu Aug 7, 11:15 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel issued on Thursday a tender for the construction of 447 housing units in settlements in the Jerusalem area, drawing fire from Palestinians who accused the Jewish state of sabotaging chances of peace. Under the tender, Israel will build some 130 housing units in Har Homa, an area Palestinians refer to as Jabal Abu Ghneim. The tender also calls for construction of 317 housing units in Beitar Illit, a settlement near Jerusalem.
Palestinians see the building in Har Homa as the last rampart in a wall of settlements encircling Arab East Jerusalem, cutting it off from the rest of the occupied West Bank.Palestinians want the land for a future state with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital.A U.S.-sponsored road map for peace calls for Israel to freeze all settlement activity. The World Court has branded settlements as illegal.Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the latest tender made clear Israel was choosing settlements over peace.I don't know how many times the Israelis have to do this for the international community to open its eyes. Can't the world see this is destroying the peace process, he said.Israel considers Har Homa and Beitar Illit part of the broader Jerusalem municipality and has vowed to continue construction there.Several similar tenders have been issued since Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas launched U.S.-sponsored peace talks last November.The talks, bogged down from the start by violence and disputes over settlements, have shown little sign of progress.
Olmert, dogged by a corruption investigation, announced last week that he would step down as prime minister once his centrist Kadima party chooses a new leader in September, a move some officials saw as a fatal blow to the negotiations.(Reporting by Joseph Nasr and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Haitham Tamimi in Hebron, Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
