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)
IRANIAN SNOTBAG DEATH CULT SAYS LOOK OUT BIG SATAN AMERICA AND ISRAEL.
EARTHQUAKES
EZEKIEL 37:7,11-14
7
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his
bone.(POSSIBLE QUAKE BRINGS ISRAEL BACK TO LIFE-SO NOISE AND
SHAKING-QUAKES WILL ALSO DESTROY ISRAELS ENEMIES)
11 Then he said
unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold,
they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for
our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to
come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place
you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it,
and performed it, saith the LORD.
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall
be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
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.
REVELATION 11:11-14
11 And after three
days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they
stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12
And they(ELIJSH-MOSES) heard a great voice from heaven saying unto
them, Come up hither.(REV 4:1 WE KNOW IS THE RAPTURE FOR SURE) And they
ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld
them.(RAPTURED)
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake,
and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of
men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to
the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
REVELATION 16:18-20
18
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a
great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so
mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city (JERUSALEM)
was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and
great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup
of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
1 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEN OVER TO
1-PROMISCUOUS SEX AMOUNG EACH OTHER.
ROMANS 1:24
24
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of
their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: (THE
60S FREE SEX)
2 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
2-SODOMITES - MEN LUSTING MEN, AND WOMEN LUSTING AFTER WOMEN.
ROMANS 1:26-27
26
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their
women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned
in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is
unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error
which was meet.
3 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
3-A DEPRAVED MIND-ANY SIN GOES.
ROMANS 1:28-31
28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO THESE 3 DEPRAVED ABOMINATION SINS?
OH OH NOAHS DAY. WHAT HAPPENED IN NOAHS DAY. THE WHOLE WORLD WAS JUDGED BY WATER.
GENESIS 6:7,17
7
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the
fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
17 And,
behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy
all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every
thing that is in the earth shall die.
GENESIS 7:4
4 For yet seven
days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty
nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from
off the face of the earth.
GENESIS 8:16
16 And the bow shall be in
the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting
covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is
upon the earth.
WELL THE SODOMITES PICKED THE RIGHT SIGN OF A RAINBOW
FOR JUDGEMENT. THE SODOMITES TRYED TO STEAL GODS SIGN THAT THE WHOLE
EARTH WILL NEVER DIE FROM FLOOD WATERS AGAIN. BUT THE JUDGEMENT THIS
TIME IS GOING TO BE BY FIRE.NOT WATER.
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in
store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly men.
Rare NYC-area earthquake rattles, unnerves
northeastern United States-East Coast quake felt by some 42 million
people; no major damage reported from 4.8-magnitude tremor; trains slow
down as officials check infrastructure; Biden briefed, WH says-By
Jennifer Peltz and MIKE CATALINI 5 April 2024, 8:59 pm
NEW YORK
(AP) — An earthquake shook the densely populated New York City
metropolitan area Friday morning, with residents across the Northeast
reporting rumbling in a region unaccustomed to it.The United States
Geological Survey reported a quake at 10:23 a.m. with a preliminary
magnitude of 4.8, centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, or about
45 miles (72 kilometers) west of New York City and 50 miles (80
kilometers) north of Philadelphia. The agency’s figures indicated that
the quake might have been felt by more than 42 million people.People
from Baltimore to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border reported
feeling the ground shake. While there were no immediate reports of
serious damage, officials were checking bridges and other major
infrastructure, Amtrak slowed trains throughout the busy Northeast
Corridor, and a Philadelphia-area commuter rail line suspended service
out of what it said was “an abundance of caution.”“Pretty weird and
scary,” Shawn Clark said after feeling the quake in his 26th-floor
midtown Manhattan office. Clark, an attorney, initially feared an
explosion or construction accident.His colleague Finn Dusenbery worried
the ceiling or even the building would collapse.“I wanted to get out of
the building when I felt that,” Dusenbery said.In midtown Manhattan,
traffic grew louder as motorists blared their horns on shuddering
streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a boom and felt their building
shaking. Cellphone circuits were overloaded for a time as people tried
to reach loved ones and figure out what was going on.At United Nations
headquarters in New York, the shaking interrupted the chief executive of
Save The Children, Janti Soeripto, as she briefed an emergency Security
Council session on the threat of famine in Gaza and the Israeli drone
strikes that killed aid workers there.“Is it an earthquake?” Soeripto
wondered aloud, then asked if it was all right to go ahead. She did, but
soon diplomats’ phones blared with earthquake alerts.In New York City’s
Astoria neighborhood, Cassondra Kurtz was giving her 14-year-old
Chihuahua, Chiki, a cocoa-butter rubdown for her dry skin. Kurtz was
recording the moment on video, as an everyday memory of the dog’s older
years, when her apartment started shaking hard enough that a large
mirror banged audibly against a wall.Kurtz assumed at first it was a big
truck going by. The video captured her looking around, perplexed.
Chiki, however, “was completely unbothered.”Earthquakes are less common
on the eastern than western edges of the US because the East Coast does
not lie on a boundary of tectonic plates. The biggest Eastern quakes
usually occur along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends through
Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean.Quakes on the East Coast can still pack a
punch, as its rocks are better than their western counterparts at
spreading earthquake energy across far distances.“If we had the same
magnitude quake in California, it probably wouldn’t be felt nearly as
far away,” said US Geological Service geophysicist Paul Caruso.A
4.8-magnitude quake isn’t large enough to cause damage, except for some
minor effects near the epicenter, the agency posted on X.EarthCam
captured the moment a 4.8-magnitude earthquake recorded in New Jersey
shook residents in surrounding states and New York City on Friday
morning. The earthquake was the strongest in NJ since 1884.
pic.twitter.com/cKXmXqmxtW— EarthCam (@EarthCam) April 5,
2024-Earthquakes with magnitudes near or above 5 struck near New York
City in 1737, 1783 and 1884, the USGS said. And Friday’s stirred
memories of the August 23, 2011, earthquake that jolted tens of millions
of people from Georgia to Canada. With an epicenter in Virginia, it
left cracks in the Washington Monument and rattled New Yorkers ahead of
the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.Registering
magnitude 5.8, it was the strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast
since World War II.On Friday, the White House said in a statement that
US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the earthquake and was “in
touch with federal, state and local officials as we learn more.”As of
noon, New York City had no indications of “major life safety or
infrastructure issues from the earthquake,” Mayor Eric Adams said on X,
adding that the city was inspecting critical areas.New York Governor
Kathy Hochul posted on X that the quake was felt throughout the state,
but officials had no reports of any life-threatening problems.Solomon
Byron felt it as he sat on a park bench in Manhattan’s East Village.“I
was just like, ‘Where is that vibration coming from?'” Byron recalled.
He was especially puzzled since there were no subways running nearby.But
he didn’t realize there had been an earthquake until he got the alert
on his cellphone.
2024 Total Eclipse: Where & When-Eclipse Explorer
For
a mobile-friendly or full-screen version of this interactive map, visit
go.nasa.gov/EclipseExplorer.-NASA's Eclipse Explorer is an interactive
map designed to enhance your eclipse-viewing experience. Crafted to
complement our existing static eclipse maps, this tool enables users to
dive into this amazing celestial event like never before. With this map,
you can learn what will be visible in different areas, see a prediction
of the corona, compare this path to previous eclipses, and more. To see
it full screen, visit go.nasa.gov/ EclipseExplorer.-NASA's Scientific
Visualization Studio-The Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will
cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and
Canada. The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean.
Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America
that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07
a.m. PDT.A map of the contiguous U.S. shows the path of the 2024 total
solar eclipse stretching on a narrow band from Texas to Maine.The total
solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow track stretching from Texas
to Maine on April 8, 2024. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout
all 48 contiguous U.S. states.Want to download this map and view other
versions? Visit NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.The path of the
eclipse continues from Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and
traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky,
Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the
total solar eclipse. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario,
and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and
Cape Breton. The eclipse will exit continental North America on the
Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NDT.A map developed
using data from a variety of NASA sources shows the total eclipse path
as a dark band. Outside this path, purple lines indicate how much of the
Sun will become covered by the Moon during the partial eclipse. This
video shows different areas of the map, explaining these and other
features that describe what observers across the country can expect to
see during the total eclipse.This table provides the time that totality
begins in some U.S. cities in the path of totality. These areas will
also experience a partial eclipse before and after these times.
Location-Partial Begins-Totality Begins-Maximum-Totality Ends-Partial Ends-
Dallas, Texas-12:23 p.m. CDT-1:40 p.m. CDT-1:42 p.m. CDT-1:44 p.m. CDT-3:02 p.m. CDT
Idabel, Oklahoma-12:28 p.m. CDT-1:45 p.m. CDT-1:47 p.m. CDT-1:49 p.m. CDT-3:06 p.m. CDT
Little Rock, Arkansas-12:33 p.m. CDT-1:51 p.m. CDT-1:52 p.m. CDT-1:54 p.m. CDT-3:11 p.m. CDT
Poplar Bluff, Missouri-12:39 p.m. CDT-1:56 p.m. CDT-1:56 p.m. CDT-2:00 p.m. CDT-3:15 p.m. CDT
Paducah, Kentucky-12:42 p.m. CDT-2:00 p.m. CDT-2:01 p.m. CDT-2:02 p.m. CDT-3:18 p.m. CDT
Carbondale, Illinois-12:42 p.m. CDT-1:59 p.m. CDT-2:01 p.m. CDT-2:03 p.m. CDT-3:18 p.m. CDT
Evansville, Indiana-12:45 p.m. CDT-2:02 p.m. CDT-2:04 p.m. CDT-2:05 p.m. CDT-3:20 p.m. CDT
Cleveland, Ohio-1:59 p.m. EDT-3:13 p.m. EDT-3:15 p.m. EDT-3:17 p.m. EDT-4:29 p.m. EDT-
Erie, Pennsylvania-2:02 p.m. EDT-3:16 p.m. EDT-3:18 p.m. EDT-3:20 p.m. EDT-4:30 p.m. EDT
Buffalo, New York-2:04 p.m. EDT-3:18 p.m. EDT-3:20 p.m. EDT-3:22 p.m. EDT-4:32 p.m. EDT
Burlington, Vermont-2:14 p.m. EDT-3:26 p.m. EDT-3:27 p.m. EDT-3:29 p.m. EDT-4:37 p.m. EDT
Lancaster, New Hampshire-2:16 p.m. EDT-3:27 p.m. EDT-3:29 p.m. EDT-3:30 p.m. EDT-4:38 p.m. EDT
Caribou, Maine-2:22 p.m. EDT-3:32 p.m. EDT-3:33 p.m. EDT-3:34 p.m. EDT-4:40 p.m. EDT
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN (500 million Dead )
REVELATION 6:7-8
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) of (8 billion)
to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500
million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the
beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8
Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle
shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and
of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants
were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all
nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21 (RAGE OF THE LAST DAYS AGE SATAN WORSHIP AND DRUG SELLING AND JUNKIES)(THEY REFUSE TO REPENT OF THESE SINS)
21
Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries
(DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE
MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
G5331
- Sorceries-Strong's No.:
G5331-Greek:φαρμακεία-Transliteration:pharmakeia-Word Origin:From
G5332-Bible Usage:Sorcery witchcraft.
Strongs-Definition:medication
("pharmacy") that is (by extension) magic (literal or
figurative)-Thayers-Definition: 1. the use or the administering of
drugs-2. poisoning 3. sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection
with idolatry and fostered by it-4. metaph. the deceptions and
seductions of idolatry
DRUGS (SORCORIES IN THE BIBLE IS WITCHCRAFT)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQreiDHCzYM
I HAD MUSHROOMS AS A CHRISTIAN-WHAT HAPPENED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BmqCZMLjEE
World
bank says Nigeria on track to meet digital ID registration target-NIMC
makes changes to ensure NIN data security-Apr 2, 2024, 4:27 pm EDT |
Ayang Macdonald
Nigeria is well on course to reach a target of
issuing digital ID to 148 million citizens by June 30 this year, the
World Bank has said in its 2023 annual report.According to the 82-page
report, released at the close of last month, Nigeria, through the
efforts of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), under the
Nigeria Digital Identity for Development (Nigeria ID4D) initiative, has
issued 104.16 million national identification numbers (NINs),
representing 70 percent of the 148 million target.The report titled
“Putting people at the center of DPI” beams a spotlight on the
“significant progress” made by the Identification for Development (ID4D)
and Digitalizing Government to Person Payments (G2Px) Initiatives,
highlighting the “achievements, lessons learned, and the impact of these
initiatives in promoting safer and more inclusive digital ID and
government-to-person payments systems, with a focus on placing people at
the forefront.”Per the report, Nigeria’s success so far has been
attained thanks to a number of innovative measures aimed at expediting
the process for issuing the NIN. The upgrade, per the report, includes
the enhancement of the android enrollment software which has
significantly reduced the time needed for enrollment, the building of
partnerships with civil society actors to encourage the enrollment of
more women, and the introduction of child enrollment which began with
successful pilots.The novelties and progress notwithstanding, the World
Bank contends that many challenges remain to be cleared in order to
further smoothen the NIN issuance process and make it more
all-encompassing and broad-based. One of the recommendations here is for
the NIMC to further shorten the NIN issuance time by creating the
possibility of real-time NIN generation, which would significantly cut
wait time for NIN applicants.Efforts to put in place safeguards to
ensure data security and privacy are also recognized in the
report.Nigeria’s digital ID program is run with funding from the World
Bank through the International Development Association, the European
Investment Bank and the French Development Agency.In a bid to provide
stronger direction for the digital ID project, Nigeria’s federal
government recently inaugurated a steering committee to ensure overall
governance and coordination.Licensed agents to have restricted access to
NIMC database-Meanwhile, as part of efforts to guarantee the safety and
security of personal data, and in response to a recently reported
database breach incident, the NIMC has restricted access by third-party
licensees to its digital ID repository.In a statement issued March 28,
the National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) said investigation into
the data incident revealed that “a third party, who among others, was
originally authorized to provide verification services to citizens and
genuine businesses, might have allowed expressverify.com to use its NIN
verification credentials to conduct verification.” Expressverify.com is
the platform where some NIN data was reported to have been illegally
obtained and put on sale.“After a painstaking review, limited access has
been granted to few establishments that are providing pivotal public
services such as education and security. At the moment, data processing
by licensees generally are to be scrutinized and only those that are
cleared based on credible evidence of regulatory compliance will be
permitted to carry out NIN verification going forward,” reads a part of
the statement signed by the NDPC’s head of Legal, Enforcement and
Regulations, Babatunde Bamigboye.As another preventive move, the NDPC
says “a series of trainings will be conducted in order to ensure that
personnel and licensees are abreast of the duty of care and the standard
of care mandated by the Nigeria Data Protection Act, NIMC’s Privacy
Policy and other relevant regulatory protocols.”
US healthcare
industry in a ‘mad dash’ toward digital transformation-Decentralized
identity and other tools prescribed for chronic data management pain-Apr
5, 2024, 12:16 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
The quest to
simplify patient healthcare records is its own miniature saga in
technological history, and advances in decentralized digital identity
are opening up the latest chapter. Managing huge amounts of health data,
protecting it from breaches and accurately matching it with patients
has become a costly and precarious enterprise for U.S. healthcare
providers.As pointed out by Chris Schuler, CEO of identity access
management firm Simeio, in a recent post for Forbes Technology Council,
“few industries face more severe consequences than healthcare.”“Data
sits at the heart of everything in the healthcare industry,” Schuler
says. “And yet, this vital information – a goldmine for cybercriminals
and a prime target for breaches – remains acutely vulnerable, exposed to
the harsh reality of cyberattacks. Patients often end up as collateral
damage.”A new bill before Congress aims to address a key issue
pertaining to interoperability. Previously proposed matching schemes
based on a unique patient identifier (UPI), an individual numerical code
that providers could use to match patient data, have been ensnared in
wider political debates. This new proposed legislation aims for a
reset.According to a report from Health Leaders, the Patient Matching
and Transparency in Certified Health IT (Match IT) Act of 2024 would
“establish the patient match rate as a clinical quality measurement,
creating standards by which providers identify patients with their
services and information.” The act would define “patient match rate” and
set a standard match rate of 99.9 percent – a degree of accuracy that
would likely mean issuing digital IDs. However, the standard would be
voluntary and the law does not require disclosure of results.Verato
identity data management maturity model-The Match IT Act aside, the
healthcare industry is making what Clay Ritchey, CEO of digital identity
firm Verato, calls a “mad dash” toward digital transformation and
interoperability.“As an industry, we’ve been focused on digital
transformation, and now we’re at the phase where we need to start
utilizing all of our digital data to improve care and reduce costs,”
says Ritchey. “Knowing who is who is the first step of that
process.”Verato has announced the launch of an online assessment for its
Verato Identity Data Management Maturity Model. A press release calls
it “the industry’s first proven best practice assessment framework
designed to help healthcare organizations evaluate, benchmark, and
enhance their identity data management processes and resources to drive
meaningful impact across their entire enterprise.”The online assessment
covers an organization’s maturity in six categories: sources of truth,
areas of data excellence, agility and flexibility, data stewardship,
data governance, and data trust.“No matter where you are on the
maturation curve, Verato can help guide you along the path for continual
improvement,” says Ritchey.Healthcare industry has a digital identity
problem-Writing for the American College of Health Data Management,
authors Jared Jeffery and Samuel Smith say the problem with healthcare
is the same as it is everywhere: in centralized digital identity.“Most
of us – often without realizing – have anchored our digital identities
to centralized systems,” they write. “And centralized identity systems,
despite their convenience, are plagued with vulnerabilities.”The authors
argue that decentralized identity or self-sovereign identity models,
which place data back in the hands of the ID holder, “could usher in
revolutionary improvements” in healthcare. Among these, they cite
decreased risk from the reduction of huge data honey pots into smaller
repositories, increased patient agency, interoperability, and reduced
dependence on third-party intermediaries in data verification.Although
they also cite challenges with implementing decentralized digital
identity systems in healthcare, the authors ultimately believe that “the
marriage of healthcare’s data and next-generation identity solutions is
not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’”“Integrating decentralized identity
into the healthcare sector could not only streamline administrative
processes,” they say, “but also enhance the quality of care and patient
trust.”These will be in high demand as the sector moves forward into a
future in which digital identity and biometrics are common. In his
Forbes article, Chris Schuler points out that, “in 2023 alone, over 540
organizations reported breaches to the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), impacting an astonishing 112 million individuals.”
The list of consequences manifests as a house of cards: medical
identity theft leading to crippling debt; prejudice and discrimination
against those whose leaked data has revealed preexisting conditions or
genetic predispositions; and ultimately, a collapse of trust in medical
institutions.“Recognizing the importance of investing in cybersecurity
is essential, especially when considering the alternative consequences,”
writes Schuler. “Treat it not as a cost but as an essential
investment.”
Digital ID at center of Europe’s data sharing changes: report-Apr 5, 2024, 3:08 pm EDT-| Masha Borak
As
the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet inches closer to reality,
organizations are trying to grasp how the project and the new regulation
surrounding it will impact their work.The Centre of Excellence for Data
Sharing and Cloud (CoE DSC), an international initiative for data
sharing based in the Netherlands, has published a guide on what the
European digital identity will mean for data spaces, including service
providers and data sharing initiatives.Common European data spaces are
the continent’s attempt to create a single market for data, ensuring
that more data becomes available for use in the economy, society and
research.“Digital Identity (DI) is a key building block for data
spaces,” the paper notes. “In this dynamic environment, data spaces must
adopt a strategic approach to remain agile and effective.”Data spaces
are set to benefit from the EU-wide digital identity which will enable
cross-sectoral data sharing and interoperabi lity. Collaboration and
partnership among data spaces, digital identity providers and regulatory
bodies should be encouraged, the paper notes.CoE DSC provides an
analysis of the upcoming eIDAS 2.0 regulation, which aims to introduce
new trust services and regulate the EUDI Wallet for natural persons and
the “Organisational Digital Identity Wallet” (ODIW) for legal entities.
It outlines several recommendations for organizations working in the
data space, including using components and infrastructure created by
eIDAS 2.0.“Data spaces should explore opportunities to maximize leverage
of eIDAS2 functionalities as generic building blocks and not reinvent
the wheel,” the report says.In November, the European Parliament and the
Council reached an agreement on eIDAS 2.0. The next step will be
delivering the wallet’s technical specifications. Government, banking
and utilities institutions will be obligated to accept the EUDI Wallet
within just 24 months after the regulation is adopted, so preparation
will have to start soon, the report warns.Other organizations have
published their own guides on the EUDI Wallet and the upcoming eIDAS,
including Identity, a nonprofit organization focused on decentralized
identity verification services, and identity verification company
iDenfy.
PayByFace expands across European markets-Apr 5, 2024, 9:55 am EDT-Bianca Gonzalez
The
Amsterdam-based biometric payment processing startup PayByFace has
announced agreements to expand into several European markets including
Netherlands, UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany,
Austria, Romania and Bulgaria.Customers can make purchases by adding
their payment method to a digital wallet that they can access by
submitting a face scan at the point of sale. PayByFace uses a
decentralized architecture and can authenticate in less than one
second.“PayByFace enables its eWallet users to actively transform the
shopping experience with personalized attention… Those 5 to 10 second
interactions can be meaningful if dedicated to the client and not to the
process,” says Mike Draghici, Founder and CEO of PayByFace.PayByFace
has built the platform based on the Architecture Reference Framework in
anticipation of the EUDI Wallet Reference Implementation that will be
set into motion in Q2 of 2026. The platform will be interoperable based
on the standards set out by the European Union.PayByFace expanded into
South Africa, India, UAE, and the US in 2022, but GDPR compliance adds a
unique element to European expansion.“As a pioneer EU fintech start-up,
among the very few validated global biometric solutions, PayByFace
strives to enable global movement towards a cashless and cardless
society, using face as a highly secured virtual card,” says
Draghici.“This is a significant milestone in the company’s journey to
both enable and scale biometric technology adoption in our commitment to
simplify the future of check-out interactions, while remaining fully
GDPR compliant with the EU regulation,” he continues.PayByFace has also
announced that Ryan Zanchetta will serve as Chief Growth Officer,
bringing with him 20 years of generating leads for international B2B
opportunities.
AuthenticID and Anonybit founders demystify privacy-centric biometric authentication-Apr 5, 2024, 1:18 pm EDT-Chris Burt
An
epidemic of data breaches has created a situation in which businesses
and consumers are simultaneously worried about protecting themselves
about fraud, and worried about using and storing sensitive information
like biometrics.Innovations in biometric authentication and the back-end
infrastructure that supports it means that these concerns can now be
proactively and effectively addressed. AuthenticID Founder and President
Blair Cohen and Anonybit Co-founder and CEO Frances Zelazny joined
Biometric Update to discuss what those innovations are, and how
organizations can take advantage of them to restore consumer confidence
in the use of their biometrics with unhackable security.The webinar,
“SecureFaces: A privacy-centric approach to biometric authentication,”
explored the different models of biometric authentication available, and
the range of ways that decentralized data storage can work and their
relative advantages and disadvantages.The choice of specific
technologies has practical implications, not just in terms of accuracy,
but also speed and scalability. Cohen noted that a traditional
association of biometric authentication with friction has become
obsolete, with matches occurring faster than users are capable of
perceiving.Zelazny pointed out that while the U.S. regulatory landscape
is highly fragmented when it comes to biometrics, there is common ground
around consent, specificity of use and responsible storage.A poll of
attendees showed that most but not all are already using biometrics.
How they do so, and how technologies for capturing and matching
biometrics are combined with technologies for storing and processing
data, determines how secure their systems are against both fraud and
data breaches.The webinar is available for on-demand viewing for free
with registration.
Sri Lanka fosters continued collaboration with India as country sees DPI successes-Apr 5, 2024, 12:26 pm EDT-Bianca Gonzalez
At
the end of March in Colombo, the High Commission of India and the
Ministry of Technology, Government of Sri Lanka held a conference
exploring opportunities for DPI, according to Sri Lanka Mirror.India is
investing in key parts of Sri Lanka’s digital transformation, providing
grant support for the development of the Unique Digital Identity Project
to the tune of roughly $5.4 million.In one session, President of Sri
Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said collaborating with India can help his
country accelerate its growth by adopting what was successful about
India Stack. In another session, experts spoke about adopting DPI in Sri
Lanka and progressing towards comprehensive digital governance.Another
discussed the potential for DPI to benefit startups by unifying
technology, markets, and governance. In a breakout session with
stakeholders from both countries, Startup India’s team hosted a capacity
building workshop for Sri Lanka’s startups.Another breakout session
fostered collaboration between officials involved in Digital India and
Startup India programs and those who are leading the six Working Groups
of Government of Sri Lanka on Digital Economy.The Chief of IIT Chennai’s
Incubator Parvartak networked with startup incubators in Sri Lanka.This
is a step towards implementing the Vision Document adopted by both
countries during Sri Lanka’s visit to India in July 2023 to promote
digital inclusion.Sri Lanka is a 50-in-5 first mover country. Its
National Fuel Pass system, which began in July 2022, has been one
example of the county’s DPI efforts generating impact.Led by the
Information and Communication Technology Agency and Ceylon Petroleum
Corporation, the system allows users to scan a QR code at fuel stations
to use their weekly fuel quota in light of a shortage due to the
financial crisis.The system received over a million registrations on its
first day, later reaching 6.5 million registrations, closer to the
number of active vehicles in the country. The system eliminated fuel
queues, minimized unnecessary consumption, and revived the economy.
Monthly fuel import costs decreased from $500 million to $240 million.It
used features from Sri Lanka’s existing DPI such as secure data
exchange between interoperable systems, pulling information from the
Department of Motor Traffic System for validation, streamlining
processes by preventing information silos.
New Zealand’s privacy
watchdog investigating facial recognition, promises tougher
regulation-Apr 5, 2024, 10:18 am EDT-Masha Borak
New Zealand’s
privacy watchdog wants tougher regulation covering the use of biometrics
and AI technology such as facial recognition.New legislation may also
be on the table. Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster promised to
publish a draft biometrics code this autumn, according to Radio New
Zealand (RNZ).“However, the cross-cutting issues raised by biometrics
are such that legislative amendments may also be necessary to safeguard
this sensitive personal information,” Webster says.The move comes amid a
record surge in privacy complaints of 79 percent within the last
financial year. One of the most high-profile cases is facial recognition
technology (FRT) trials conducted by grocery cooperative Foodstuffs
which plans to implement the technology in 25 stores over a period of
six months to combat retail crime.On Thursday, Privacy Commissioner
Michael Webster launched an investigation into Foodstuff’s facial
recognition trial, examining its compliance with the country’s Privacy
Act.“At the end of the six-month trial I will be assessing the evidence
that the use of FRT is justified,” Webster says. “Has it made a
practical and statistically significant difference to the incidence of
retail crime in Foodstuffs North Island supermarkets relative to other
less intrusive options?”The inquiry will monitor privacy and data
protection safeguards implemented by the 25 stores introducing the
technology, as well as potential biases and accuracy issues, staff
training and how the stores handle cases of identifying a person on the
system’s watchlist. The privacy office will also review whether shoppers
are confident their data is being used safely.“There are two parts to
the inquiry,” Webster told RNZ. “The first is to monitor the way the
stores are running the trials to ensure that it’s compliant with the
Privacy Act.”As part of it, the watchdog will be examining whether
adequate warning signs are displayed and how the stores handle biometric
data. The second part of the inquiry will examine the effectiveness of
using facial recognition in reducing harmful behavior.“We really do need
some clear statistical evidence,” he says. The Commissioner, however,
declined to share which rate of crime reduction would be considered
statistically significant.Aside from more stringent regulation, the
Privacy Commissioner Office is also hoping to introduce heavier
penalties for breaches. The highest fine according to the Privacy Act is
only around NZ$ 10,000 (US$ 6,019) while privacy breaches carry no
offense.Webster also says that its office has been operating on limited
resources – A grant of NZ$8.1 million (US$ 4.9 million) and a staff of
51.“We do not believe we can fully deliver on our statutory
responsibilities and meet the expectations of citizens and organizations
with our current funding and powers,” he says.
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.
LUKE 21:11
11 And
great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and
pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great
signs shall there be from heaven.
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.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
Leviticus 26:15-17 (KJV)
15-and
if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so
that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
16-I
also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you 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.
17-And I will set my face against you, and ye
shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over
you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
Job 22:4-22 (KJV)
4-Will he reprove you for fear of you? will he enter with you into judgment?
5-Is not your wickedness great? and your iniquities without end?
6-For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7-You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8-But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it.
9-You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10-Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden fear troubles you;
11-Or darkness, that you can not see; and abundance of waters cover you.
12-Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13-And you say, How does God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14-Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he sees not; and he walks in the circle of heaven.
15-Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16-Who were cut down before their time, whose foundation was swept away with a flood:
17-Who said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do to us?
18-Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19-The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
20-Surely our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumes.
21-Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto you.
22-Receive, I pray you, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
REVELATION 16:3-7
3
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as
the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the
sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6
For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints
and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are
worthy.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
through which the
world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water. But by His
word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being
kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.
Iran
army chief promises ‘maximum damage’ as it seeks to avenge killing of
top general-Mohammad Bagheri speaks at memorial ceremony for top IRGC
general killed in strike blamed on Israel, says Jerusalem will ‘regret’
its actions-By AFP and ToI Staff Today, 2:02 pm-APR 6,24
Iran on
Saturday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven
Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying
his country’s enemies will “regret” the killings and threatening to
exact “maximum damage.”Tehran has vowed to avenge Monday’s air strike on
the Syrian capital it blamed on Israel, which has not commented.The
attack leveled the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Damascus, killing
seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members including two
generals.Iran’s response “will be carried out at the right time, with
the necessary precision and planning, and with maximum damage to the
enemy so that they regret their action,” Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri
said on Saturday.He was speaking at a ceremony in the central city of
Isfahan to commemorate Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one of the two dead
brigadier generals from the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign operations
arm.Zahedi, 63, was believed to be the Quds Force commander for the
Palestinian Territories, Syria and Lebanon.He had held several commands
during a career spanning more than 40 years, and was the most senior
Iranian soldier killed since a United States missile strike at Baghdad
airport in 2020 killed Quds Force chief General Qassem Soleimani. The
IRGC is a US-designated terrorist organization.On Saturday, crowds at
the gathering in Isfahan chanted “Down with Israel!” and “Down with the
United States!”The Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei has said Israel “will be punished” for the killings.Monday’s
strike in Damascus took place against the backdrop of the Gaza war which
began with Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel. Some 1,200 people,
mostly civilians, were killed.Tehran backs Hamas but has denied any
direct involvement in the attack which sparked a massive Israeli
operation to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip.On Friday, IRGC chief
commander General Hossein Salami warned that Israel “cannot escape the
consequences” of the Damascus strike.Bagheri’s warning came after the
Iran reportedly put its military forces on “full high alert” ahead of
their expected strike.Two Iranian officials quoted on Friday by The New
York Times said Iran has made a decision to directly attack Israel, in a
move meant to create deterrence. Meanwhile, a US official said the
United States was on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by
Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region.“We’re
definitely at a high state of vigilance,” the official said in
confirming a CNN report that says an attack could come in the next
week.A senior administration official who spoke with CNN said the US is
bracing for a “significant” attack and that both Washington and
Jerusalem believe an Iranian response was “inevitable.”CBS News reported
that the US gathered intelligence indicating Iran is planning an attack
that would involve a sward of explosive Shahed drones and cruise
missiles. US officials who spoke to CBS said they did not know the
timing and target of Iran’s anticipated response, but the report said it
was expected to come before Ramadan ends next week.Israel has not
commented on Monday’s strike, which leveled the Iranian embassy’s
consular annex in Damascus, but analysts saw it as an escalation of its
campaign against Iran and its regional proxies that runs the risk of
triggering a wider war beyond the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza
Strip.On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond to
efforts to harm Israelis, as the country geared up for a possible
Iranian response.Speaking at a meeting of the security cabinet soon
after a phone call with US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu said “Iran has
been acting against us for years — directly and via proxies. And,
therefore, Israel acts against Iran and its proxies — defensively and
offensively.”Netanyahu added: “We will know how to defend ourselves, and
we will act according to the simple principle: that those who harm us
or plan to harm us, we will harm.”
IDF says it blew up Hamas
tunnel that stretched hundreds of meters into Israel-Underground route
was discovered in 2019 but never disclosed to the public; military had
repeatedly claimed no tunnels entered Israel since construction of
underground barrier-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 10:01 pm-APR 6,24
The
Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday that it had destroyed three
major Hamas attack tunnels in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza —
including one that entered several hundred meters into Israeli territory
— which it said had been under Israeli surveillance in recent years.The
revelation came as a shock to residents of border communities and
reporters, as the IDF has for years claimed that no tunnels from the
Gaza Strip have crossed into Israel since the construction of Israel’s
underground border barrier, completed in 2021 (some tunnels have been
located on the Gaza side of the underground barrier, technically several
meters into Israeli territory).The tunnel that passed hundreds of
meters into Israel was first found in 2019 during the construction work
on the new border barrier, the IDF said.The IDF said the passage that
entered Israel had remained under “secret” surveillance and control
since its discovery.“Sensors and explosives were placed in [the tunnel]
in order to be used by the IDF if needed, as part of a special operation
against the underground network of the Hamas terror organization,” the
military said.The IDF said the tunnel was struck numerous times amid the
war, alongside other operations to render the section that entered
Israeli territory inoperable.The rest of the tunnel was blown up in
recent weeks, it said Saturday. According to the IDF, the tunnel was not
used by Hamas during the October 7 onslaught and remained under intense
surveillance amid the war.Another of the three tunnels was first
uncovered a decade ago, and during the 2021 Gaza war it was targeted in
an airstrike, killing several Hamas operatives, the IDF said.At the
beginning of the current war, the same tunnel was struck at several
locations, preventing it from being used. It was blown up within the
past few weeks, according to the IDF.The third tunnel was first found in
2014, and at the time crossed into Israeli territory and was later
destroyed. The IDF said Hamas did not work to fix the tunnel, and in
recent weeks another section of the underground passage, deeper inside
Gaza, was blown up.In January, senior Israeli defense officials
estimated to The New York Times that Hamas’s vast tunnel network within
Gaza runs a total of 350-400 miles long, much more than previously
believed. The tunnels are believed to be accessed by some 5,700
shafts.The IDF said Hamas had used more than 6,000 tons of concrete and
1,800 tons of steel and likely invested tens of millions of dollars into
the project.Since launching a ground offensive in the wake of the
October 7 massacres, in which Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200
people and took 253 hostages, Israeli forces have worked to destroy the
tunnels, uncovering more and more of the underground network.
Analysis-Israel’s
begrudging approach to humanitarian aid could cost it the war in
Gaza-Netanyahu was pressured into announcing new measures for Gazans in
wake of deadly strike on WCK aid workers, but again Jerusalem risks
doing too little, too late-By Lazar Berman-Today, 12:28 pm-APR 6,24
There
are many aspects of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza that have
frustrated its closest allies. Ill-considered statements by ministers
and other elected officials, a refusal to talk about the “day after”
Hamas, and, especially, the civilian death toll have strained the
unqualified support Israel enjoyed in the immediate aftermath of the
October 7 massacre by Hamas in southern Israel.But it is the Netanyahu
government’s approach to the complex and often desperate humanitarian
situation in the Gaza Strip that is truly endangering support for the
continuation of the war, and is placing the “total victory” he promised
in doubt.For months, allies have been both quietly and publicly trying
to get Israel’s war leadership to recognize how fundamental the aid
situation is to the war effort.Israel’s response has been to
instinctively deny each request, then ultimately agree to those same
demands when circumstances on the ground leave little choice. That
approach, which seems built around domestic political calculations, is
causing Israel to bleed support even as victory doesn’t seem especially
imminent.Tough talk-“I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip.
There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,”
declared Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant two days after the October 7
massacre.Less than two weeks later, the siege was lifted, as the first
aid trucks bearing food and medicine were crossing in from Egypt.By
mid-November, pressure from the US and NGOs pushed Israel to reverse
course on fuel as well, as trucks started bringing fuel tanks for
hospitals, aid trucks, water pumps, desalination plants, bakeries and
sewage plants.Fuel would also go to the Paltel telecoms company so that
Gazans could enjoy phone and internet service.Now, COGAT boasts about
how many fuel tankers it lets in every day.Under the stated policy of
disconnecting Israel from Gaza — trumpeted by Israeli leaders from the
very start of the war — decision-makers also promised that no aid would
go into the Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing. The Biden
administration and the broader international community pressured Israel
for weeks to open Kerem Shalom, previously Gaza’s main goods crossing.In
December, Netanyahu and the government relented, and now it advertises
how many trucks go through the crossing every day.Israel wouldn’t let
the Ashdod Port be used for the transfer of aid either. Finally, in
January, Netanyahu gave in to American pressure and allowed a massive
flour shipment to reach the docks. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
blocked the release of the flour for weeks to keep it from getting to
UNRWA, predictably angering the Americans, before it was finally allowed
into Gaza.Now, in the wake of Monday’s deadly strike on the World
Central Kitchen convoy, Israel continues to walk back its tough
talk.Ashdod Port will be open for aid from Sunday. Israel is also
opening the Erez crossing into northern Gaza, the main crossing point
into the Strip where many Israelis were killed and abducted by invading
Hamas terrorists on October 7, after defying calls to do so for
months.It is also keeping the Kerem Shalom crossing open for longer
hours and over the weekend. COGAT had dismissed the need for such a
measure, saying that it processes more trucks every day than
organizations in Gaza are able to handle. Now Israel is claiming that
keeping the crossing open for longer will enable more aid to reach
Gazans.Instead of showing its allies that it is leading the aid effort,
Israel is seen as dragging its feet as the humanitarian situation in the
Strip gets worse.That perception — not at all unfounded — is putting
the entire campaign in danger.US President Joe Biden is no longer
definitively conditioning a ceasefire on the release of hostages. He
told Netanyahu in their tense phone call after the WCK strike that “an
immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the
humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians.”A ceasefire
imposed from the outside without any major concessions from Hamas would,
of course, be a disaster for Israel, especially as it tries to figure
out how to pull off the last stage of conquering Gaza.The southern city
of Rafah, insist Israel’s leaders across the political spectrum as well
as its military chiefs, must be taken. Four Hamas battalions, plus the
fighters that have fled south, remain in the city. The Philadelphi road,
the route along the border between Gaza and Israel, under and over
which Hamas arms flowed into Gaza since 2007, also needs to be in
Israeli hands.But humanitarian concerns, with more than a million
displaced Palestinians sheltering in the city, are holding up that
offensive as well, and it looks increasingly like the IDF won’t be able
to carry out the operation it wants to.Given the potential for a further
deterioration of the situation for Gazans sheltering around Rafah, the
Biden administration now opposes any major operation there, and won’t
rule out consequences for Israel if it chooses to move ahead. Israeli
government sources tell The Times of Israel that there is a growing
sense that the leadership is not actually going to carry out a
meaningful operation there, despite its repeated promises.Netanyahu’s
aides presented a humanitarian plan to evacuate Rafah ahead of the
military operation to their American counterparts this week, but the
Americans were underwhelmed by what they saw, reportedly dismissing the
plan as unimplementable.“It’s because of the humanitarian issue that we
are isolated from the world,” said Einav Levy, Founding Director of The
Israeli School of Humanitarian Aid. “We already lost
image-wise.”Chaos-Even though Hamas is intentionally getting in the way
of aid distribution and sees benefits in impending starvation in the
Strip, Israel has to accept responsibility for the provision of aid
there, argued Bar Rapaport of Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional
Foreign Policies.“This should have happened so long ago,” she told The
Times of Israel, referring to the imperative for Israel to ensure
sufficient humanitarian aid.Levy said that there is currently chaos when
it comes to aid in Gaza. “There is no real ability to know who is doing
what and where they are doing it,” he said.There is a shifting panoply
of international NGOs, UN agencies and state-sponsored initiatives,
operating alongside Hamas, local clans and the IDF. Territorial control
changes all the time and civilians move as well.Rapoport, who is in
regular contact with aid agencies in Gaza, including the WCK, said they
complain that working with the IDF isn’t an especially organized
process: “It depends if you fall on someone in the IDF who is ready to
listen, who knows you personally or not.”The NGOs, she noted, also
complained that they weren’t always sure exactly who to turn to.The WCK
declined to comment, saying it was not giving interviews at this time.
COGAT did not respond to repeated requests for comment.“There isn’t an
orderly, coordinated mechanism for the crossings, for the distribution
of aid, for the contacts between Israel and international actors,”
lamented Rapoport. “Everyone does what he thinks is right.”As long as
there is chaos on the ground, Israel will struggle to achieve its
long-term goals in Gaza.Israel has ruled out UNRWA operating in Gaza
moving forward, and obviously won’t let Hamas be involved in managing
the Strip. Israel itself is not interested in reassuming responsibility
for 2 million hostile Palestinians.For now, Netanyahu is hoping that aid
organizations will succeed in replacing UNRWA and Hamas’s civil
functions, but killing workers from one of Israel’s most effective
partners makes that aim even harder to achieve. The WCK has pulled out
of Gaza, and it is unclear if it will return.Netanyahu is hoping that
pro-Western Arab states will eventually fund the reconstruction of Gaza,
but they are not about to step into the violent bedlam there.“The
minute it is managed more effectively in Israel,” said Rapoport, “it
will be easier for Israel to bring on board regional actors to
help.Initiative-In a macabre twist, the seven aid workers who lost their
lives in the IDF strike might have done more in their deaths to improve
the humanitarian situation in Gaza than they could have dreamed of
doing in their daily work.Israel’s war leadership understood it had no
more room for error. If Israel is seen as getting in the way, the US
could well use its veto less at the UN and hold up weapons shipments.But
Netanyahu and his circle still don’t seem to have fully internalized
the gravity of the situation. The measures they announced this week are
still reactive and seem limited by a fear of upsetting the far-right
flank of the government.The statement announcing the new aid measures
included a justification aimed at National Security Minister Itamar Ben
Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and their supporters, explaining the measure by
pointing out that they are crucial for the continuation of the war. The
very decision on the aid was rushed through before Ben Gvir arrived at
Thursday night’s cabinet meeting, the far-right minister claims.Many
Israelis point out that the hostages Hamas has been holding for six
months don’t enjoy aid shipments. They also argue that the very same
countries holding Israel’s feet to the fire have fought wars with far
less regard for the suffering of enemy civilians.That might be true, but
Israel’s leaders have to operate within the expectations and standards
its allies hold them to, even if they might seem unreasonable.Netanyahu
can show initiative on the humanitarian front, and regain some
legitimacy to finish the job against Hamas. That would include opening
all crossings, appointing a humanitarian aid czar, conducting regular
meetings with aid organizations, laying water pipes into Gaza ahead of
the summer, and even establishing Israeli field hospitals on the
border.There is no reason to wait until the US demands more measures and
then be seen as callous toward the suffering of civilians.“If Israel
had shown from the beginning that the humanitarian issue is important to
it,” said Rapoport, “that it is doing everything to make sure as few
innocents as possible are being harmed, to publicize it, to show how
much it is bringing in, we would be in a very different position now.”
UN
chief ‘deeply troubled’ by reports Israel using AI to identify Gaza
targets-IDF has denied claims it’s using artificial intelligence to
identify terrorists, select targets; says programs only assist human
analysts-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 11:06 am-APR 6,24
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday expressed serious concern
over reports that Israel was using artificial intelligence to identify
targets in Gaza.According to a report in the magazine +972, Israel has
used AI to identify targets in Gaza — in some cases with as little as 20
seconds of human oversight.Guterres said that he was “deeply troubled
by reports that the Israeli military’s bombing campaign includes
artificial intelligence as a tool in the identification of targets,
particularly in densely populated residential areas, resulting in a high
level of civilian casualties.”“No part of life and death decisions
which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation
of algorithms,” he said.The +972 report claims that “the Israeli army
has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination,
using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a
permissive policy for casualties.”The report said that, according to
“six Israeli intelligence officers,” a system dubbed Lavender had
“played a central role in the unprecedented bombing of Palestinians,
especially during the early stages of the war.”“According to the
sources, its influence on the military’s operations was such that they
essentially treated the outputs of the AI machine ‘as if it were a human
decision’,” +972 reported.Two sources said that “the army also decided
during the first weeks of the war that, for every junior Hamas operative
that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20
civilians.”If “the target was a senior Hamas official… the army on
several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians,” it
added.The Israeli army on Friday rejected the claims.“The IDF does not
use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist
operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist,” it
said.Instead, it has a “database whose purpose is to cross-reference
intelligence sources… on the military operatives of terrorist
organizations” to be used as a tool for analysts, it added.“The IDF does
not carry out strikes when the expected collateral damage from the
strike is excessive,” it said, using a term that includes civilian
casualties.The Gaza war erupted with Palestinian terror group Hamas
carrying out an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7,
killing some 1,200 people and taking another 253 hostages, half of whom
are still held.Since the start of the war, more than 33,000 Palestinians
have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
These figures can not be verified and do not differentiate between
civilians and combatants.Israel says it has killed more than 13,000
gunmen in Gaza and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
More than 250 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
Shaken by
daily mass protests on Gaza, Jordan accuses ‘infiltrators’ of stoking
unrest-The Hashemite kingdom has been one of Israel’s most vocal
critics, but the Jordanian public is dissatisfied with the government’s
rhetoric and many demand an end to the peace treaty-By Gianluca
Pacchiani-Today, 5:50 pm-APR 4,24
For the 11th night in a row,
thousands of Jordanians took to the streets on Wednesday to protest
against the war in Gaza and call on the Hashemite kingdom to break ties
with Israel.The protest movement began on March 24, when a large crowd
marched toward the Israeli embassy in Amman — which was evacuated months
ago — following calls on social media to “lay siege” to it, demanding
an end to the peace treaty that Jordan signed with Israel in 1994.The
protest movement has gained momentum in recent days, and Jordanian
security forces have stepped up their response, carrying out multiple
arrests and charging demonstrators with resisting arrest or assaulting
security officers — claims that civil society activists have said were
trumped up, according to the Qatari-owned New Arab daily.While large
anti-Israel rallies have been a frequent occurrence in the Arab world
and the West since October 7, the ongoing wave of protests in Israel’s
eastern neighbor has shown unprecedented persistence, and has prompted
some Jordanian officials to accuse foreign agents of fomenting
unrest.The Jordanian Parliament’s Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee
issued a statement on Monday rejecting “any attempts carried out by a
small, infiltrated group that seeks to sabotage and undermine national
unity in Jordan.”MP Khaldoun Hina, head of the committee, shared a video
on X denouncing the “incitement” by foreigners against the Jordanian
regime, stressing the Hashemite kingdom’s efforts in support of Gaza and
its repeated condemnation of the Israeli military operations.Former
Jordanian information minister Samih Al-Maaytah was more explicit in his
accusations, alleging in an interview with the Saudi Al-Hadath news
channel that Hamas leaders in Qatar have been stirring unrest in
Jordan.Former Jordanian Information Minister Samih Al-Maaytah: Hamas
Leaders in Qatar Are Stirring Unrest in Jordan, Trying to Tell Us That
They “Own” the Jordanian Public; We Should Seriously Consider Revoking
Their Jordanian Citizenship #Jordan #Hamas #Qatar @AlmaitahSamih
pic.twitter.com/5TPT0600iI— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) April 3, 2024-The
hidden hand of Hamas-Evidence suggests that Hamas may indeed be
fomenting tension in the kingdom, at a time when the intensity of the
fighting in Gaza has been winding down but with no clear end in sight to
the conflict.“The timing of the current protests is mainly related to
the intensification of religious sentiments among the Jordanian public
opinion during Ramadan and the strengthening of religious-Islamic
sentiments,” said Dr. Ofir Winter, senior researcher at the Institute
for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University.Aaron Magid,
a former Amman-based journalist, noted that the outbreak of the
rallies, on March 24, coincided with a false report on Al Jazeera that
Israeli soldiers had raped Palestinian women inside Gaza’s Shifa
hospital, an unfounded allegation that was later retracted.“Even though
the former Al Jazeera director general said that that case was
fabricated, for many in Amman it was very convincing. And thousands of
Jordanians hit the streets to protest,” said Magid, host of the podcast
“On Jordan,” which discusses current affairs in the Hashemite kingdom.
(Full disclosure: He is also the brother of The Times of Israel’s US
bureau chief Jacob Magid.)-????HAPPENING NOW | JORDAN DAY 7.Protests in
Amman, Jordan denouncing the Israeli crimes and in solidarity with
Gaza,Palestine. pic.twitter.com/HsIikQlYp5— Suppressed Voice
(@SuppressedNws) March 30, 2024-“Jordan is more vulnerable than other
countries in the region for such protests,” Winter added, “not only
because of the high percentage of Palestinians in its population,
estimated as at least fifty percent, but also because of the relatively
large operational space given to Islamist forces in the country, from
the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and its political representative, the
Islamic Action Front, to the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim
Scholars (IUMS),” which is listed as a terror organization in a number
of other Arab countries.The slogan “All of Jordan is Hamas” has been a
popular chant at the protests, alongside “Death to America, death to
Israel.”Thousands in Jordan chant “death to America” and “death to
Israel”pic.twitter.com/WVZrkJAwce— Tameem | تميم (@TameeOliveFern) March
28, 2024-“The Hamas leadership has been deeply involved in efforts to
recruit broad Arab and Islamic transnational public support for its
struggle against Israel, and sees Jordan specifically as a promising and
fertile ground for such recruitment efforts,” said Winter.Hamas leaders
have sought to stir up tensions in Jordan since the early days of the
war. Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida addressed citizens of the
kingdom in a speech in November, and called on them to escalate all
forms of protest, saying: “You, our people in Jordan, are the nightmare
of the occupation (Israel) that fears your mobilization and strives
tirelessly to neutralize and isolate you from your cause.”Placards with
Abu Obeida’s picture have been a common sight at the latest
protests.More recently, former Hamas politburo head Khaled Mashaal, who
survived a Mossad assassination attempt in Amman in 1997, took part
remotely in a women’s event in Jordan, urging Muslims around the world
to support the struggle so that “their blood will mix with the blood of
the people of Palestine,” and calling for financial donations for the
people of Gaza.The Hashemite kingdom has been a vocal critic of the
Jewish state since the early days of the war, which broke out on October
7 when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel,
killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 into Gaza.Jordan was the
first country to recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv when Israel fought
back. It has called incessantly for a ceasefire in Gaza, and has
delivered substantial amounts of aid to Gaza, including by airdrops in
which King Abdullah II participated in person (in coordination with
Israel).Queen Rania has gone as far as to claim that the humanitarian
crisis in Gaza is “deliberate.” And yet, the anti-Israel rhetoric of the
leadership and the actions in support of Palestinians are not enough
for many in the kingdom, who demand more decisive action.“While many in
Israel view Jordan as overtly hostile, from the Jordanian public’s view,
the government’s position has been overly nuanced. It has upheld the
peace treaty with Israel, preserved the multi-billion dollar gas deal,
kept the Israeli embassy in Amman, and also maintained a reported land
bridge that allows Israel to bypass the Houthi [attacks on shipping],”
Magid said.“The war keeps going on and on, and the Jordanian public see
no resolution in sight. There is significant discontent with the
government’s position,” he added.After 11 consecutive days of mass
protests, the Hashemite regime has become concerned about the rallies,
and has tried to downplay them or depict them as the work of
troublemakers.“When they do cover the protests, the government-aligned
Jordanian press focuses on the breakdown of law and order, and quote
police sources saying some demonstrators are rioters and vandals,”
according to Magid.The police crackdown, however, is not likely to
intensify. “The Jordanian regime in general is more sophisticated than
other Arab governments like Syria or even Egypt. They’re probably not
going to start shooting at protesters with live fire or use heavy
violence,” Magid predicted.Given the strong alliance between the
Hashemite regime and the US, it is unlikely that any of the demands to
break off ties with Israel will be met, experts agree.“That’s just not a
sustainable policy for the government, considering they’re so dependent
on annual US aid of around $1.5 billion along with Washington’s
security guarantees. From the regime’s perspectives, what the protesters
are demanding is just impossible to fulfill,” Magid said.Winter
concurred. “The most pressing concerns for the Jordanian rule right now
with regards to the war between Israel and Hamas are the smuggling of
weapons from Jordan to the West Bank, and continued use of Jordanian
airspace by drones targeting Israel coming from places such as Iraq and
Yemen.“The costs of canceling the water or gas deals with Israel would
be very high for Jordan, given the lack of decent alternatives, so the
regime will try its best to avoid them,” the researcher added. “The same
applies to canceling the peace agreement with Israel, which continues
to provide the Kingdom with political, financial, and security strategic
benefits.”
UN rights council votes to extend scrutiny of Iran by
additional year-United Nations’ top rights body prolongs mission of
special rapporteur, citing need to monitor ongoing situation following
deadly crackdown on protests that erupted in 2022-By AFP Today, 4:44
pm-APR 4,24
GENEVA, Switzerland — The UN Human Rights Council on
Thursday prolonged by a year an independent international fact-finding
mission investigating Iran’s deadly crackdown on protests that erupted
in 2022.The United Nations’ top rights body extended the mission, and
the mandate of the council’s special rapporteur on Iran, Javaid Rehman,
with 24 votes in favor, eight against and 15 abstentions in the
47-member chamber.It said the extension for Rehman was necessary to
“continue to monitor the ongoing situation of human rights, including
civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.”It also decided
to keep up the fact-finding mission to allow it to complete its work,
“including by ensuring that the large amount of evidence of human rights
violations” relating to the protests, “especially with respect to women
and children, is fully and effectively documented, verified,
consolidated and preserved.”Iran was rocked by widespread demonstrations
sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old
Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict
dress rule for women based on Islamic sharia law.Tehran does not
cooperate with either Rehman or the fact-finding mission and they have
not been allowed on Iranian soil.The resolution called on Iran to
cooperate fully with the rapporteur and the international investigators,
“and to grant them unhindered access to the country and to provide all
information necessary” to fulfill their mandates.Argentina, Chile,
France, Germany, Japan, Morocco and the United States backed the
resolution.The countries voting “No” were Algeria, Burundi, China, Cuba,
Eritrea, Indonesia, Sudan and Vietnam. Bangladesh, Brazil, India,
Malaysia, Qatar, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates abstained.
Jerusalem
police say they thwarted suspected stabbing attack in Old City-Large
knife found strapped to body of 17-year-old Palestinian, say cops; ‘No
satisfaction without heaven,’ suspect, who was illegally in Israel,
posted on social media-By ToI Staff Today, 7:29 pm-APR 6,24
A
17-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank was arrested near Jerusalem’s
Old City on Saturday, suspected of intending to carry out a stabbing
attack, police said.Police frisked the young man due to his “suspicious
behavior,” discovering a large knife taped to his body. After an
interrogation, law enforcement concluded that the suspect intended to
execute a terror plot, finding he had posted beforehand on social media:
“The important thing is that I end my life content, because there is no
satisfaction besides heaven.”According to police, the terror suspect is
from Birzeit, north of Ramallah, and was illegally in Israel.A video
released by police showed the suspect loitering in the shade at the top
of a staircase, when a border police officer in full gear exited an
adjacent building and drew close to the suspect. Three more officers
moved in as the first one pulled the young man into a bind. The video
then shows the suspect, face blurred, escorted into a police station.The
arrest on Saturday followed a tense but largely peaceful final weekend
of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. The final Friday of Ramadan saw some
120,000 people attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple
Mount.Throughout the weekend, police arrested some two dozen people for
pro-Hamas chants and attacking police officers, but the prayers were
otherwise peacefully dispersed.Ramadan’s relatively uneventful end
allayed Israeli security forces’ fears that the perennially fraught holy
month would see violence in Israel exacerbated due to the Gaza war.
UN
says Israel approved reopening of 20 bakeries, water pipeline in
northern Gaza-Amid efforts to boost flow of aid into Strip, humanitarian
official says coordination to be enhanced between military and aid
workers, trucks entering from Jordan to be doubled-By ToI Staff Today,
9:33 pm-APR 6,24
The United Nations on Saturday said Israel had
authorized the opening of 20 bakeries in the northern Gaza Strip and and
a waterline to supply the area, as part of a list of the country’s
“commitments” to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.A statement
from the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Gaza and the West Bank, Jamie
McGoldrick listed other measures announced earlier this week, including
the opening of the Erez Crossing to the northern Strip for the first
time since October 7 and increasing the number of trucks entering via
Jordan from the Allenby Bridge crossing.McGoldrick also said a “better
functioning coordination cell will be established that links
humanitarians directly with the IDF Southern Command.”While most of the
steps detailed in McGoldrick’s statement were announced by the Prime
Minister’s Office early Friday morning, he expanded on the details of
the approvals, which he said came “in response to our repeated
requests.”In addition to expanding border crossing operating hours and
capacity, the UN official said Israel has approved the activation of 20
bakeries and the reopening of the Nahal Oz waterline in northern Gaza,
which was shut off on October 9, with the outbreak of war.Two other
pipelines were reopened in October.The statement said the number of
trucks allowed to pass through from Jordan will be increased from 25 to
at least 50 per day, while an additional 100 trucks per day will be
scanned via the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings in the south of the
Strip.He noted an additional scanner would be installed at Kerem Shalom
“to accelerate the transfer of aid into Gaza.”“As I have stated
previously, the humanitarian community is prepared to scale up
assistance in Gaza, but this requires better security, greater access,
and more reliable facilitation from Israeli authorities,” he said in the
statement.“We stand ready to work with all parties to alleviate the
suffering of people in Gaza.”The new measures were announced after a
tense phone call Thursday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
US President Joe Biden, who threatened to condition support for Israel’s
offensive in Gaza on Jerusalem taking concrete steps to protect aid
workers and civilians.It was the first conversation between the two
since an Israeli strike in central Gaza late on Monday killed seven aid
workers from the World Central Kitchen. Israel has called the strike on
the WCK convoy a “grave mistake” and has announced the removal of a
number of officers responsible. But Netanyahu also said that “these
things happen in war” — a line that wasn’t well received
internationally.Secretary of State Anthony Blinken welcomed the moves on
Friday while adding that success would be measured by the results in
improving the situation on the ground.“Really the proof is in the
results, and we will see those unfold in the coming days, in the coming
weeks,” Blinken said, speaking alongside European Union leaders in
Belgium.The end of this war is so long overdue.It is not enough for six
months of war to be a moment of remembrance and mourning.It must also
spur a collective determination that there be a reckoning for this
betrayal of humanity. pic.twitter.com/p8TMxu0mf1— Martin Griffiths
(@UNReliefChief) April 6, 2024-Earlier Saturday, the United Nations’
under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief,
Martin Griffiths, decried the ongoing war in Gaza as a “betrayal of
humanity.”In a statement on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the
war, the outgoing humanitarian official called for a “collective
determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of
humanity.”“For the people of Gaza, the past six months of war have
brought death, devastation, and now the immediate prospect of a shameful
man-made famine,” he said-“For the people affected by the lasting
horror of the October 7 attacks, it has been six months of grief and
torment,” he added.The Israel-Hamas war erupted with Palestinian terror
group Hamas carrying out an unprecedented attack against Israel on
October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 253 hostages,
some half of whom are still held.Since the start of the war, more than
33,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza
health ministry. These figures can not be verified and do not
differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has
killed more than 13,000 gunmen in Gaza and another 1,000 terrorists
inside Israel on October 7. More than 250 IDF soldiers have been killed
in Gaza.
Hamas to send team to Cairo talks, reiterates demand for
permanent Gaza ceasefire-Terror group still seeks full IDF pullout from
Gaza, as Biden urges mediators to put pressure on for a deal-By
Agencies and Jacob Magid-Today, 6:19 pm-APR 6,24
A Hamas
delegation headed by the group’s deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya,
will go to Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire talks, in response to an
invitation extended by Egyptian mediators, the group said in a
statement.CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to attend Sunday’s talks,
along with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al
Thani and an Israeli delegation, Egypt’s Al Qahera news reported on
Saturday.Hamas on Saturday reiterated its demands issued in a March 14
proposal prior to a UN Security Council resolution calling for a
ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that was passed on March 25.“Hamas confirms
its adherence to the position it presented on March 14 … and we will not
back down from this position,” it said in a statement.“The demands …
are complete ceasefire, withdrawal of the occupation forces from Gaza,
the return of the displaced to their residential areas, freedom of
movement of the people, offering them aid and shelter, and a serious
hostage exchange deal,” it said.Hamas’s insistence on its demands came
as US President Joe Biden urged an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.Ahead
of the weekend talks, Biden wrote to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar
urging them to secure commitments from Hamas to “agree to and abide by a
deal,” a senior US administration official told AFP.However, the
mediators of hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas are failing
to exert any pressure on the terror group, a senior Israeli official
told The Times of Israel on Friday.Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar “is
dragging his feet and does not want a deal, despite Israel’s tremendous
flexibility,” the senior Israeli official claimed.“No pressure [on
Hamas] is being jointly applied by the Qatar-led mediators. Qatar has
refrained from deporting the Hamas leaders it hosts, nor has it closed
their bank accounts, which hold hundreds of millions of dollars used for
terrorism,” the senior Israeli official asserted.“Sinwar does not want a
deal. He is not interested in the suffering of his people in Gaza,” the
official continued. “He is waiting for tensions to increase and for
there to be further escalation.”The senior official also said Jerusalem
has still not received any answer from Hamas to Israel’s latest hostage
deal proposal after CNN reported earlier Friday that the terror
organization had turned it down.During a phone call with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden pushed him to “fully empower” his
negotiators to reach a deal.White House officials have said negotiating a
pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to facilitate the exchange
of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian security prisoners held in
Israel is the only way to put a temporary ceasefire into effect and
boost the flow of badly needed humanitarian aid into the
territory.Stop-start talks have made no headway since a week-long truce
in November, the only one since the start of the war on October 7, which
saw the exchange of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for
Palestinian security prisoners detained by Israel.The Hamas side of the
talks is indirect, with proposals relayed through third parties to Hamas
leaders hiding in tunnels beneath Gaza.
As Hamas sticks to
demands, Israeli officials warn Cairo talks likely an ’empty show’Terror
group still seeks full IDF pullout from Gaza, as Biden urges mediators
to put pressure on for a deal; unnamed Israeli source says talks give
families ‘false hope’By Agencies and Jacob Magid-Today, 6:19 pm-APR 6,24
A
Hamas delegation headed by the group’s deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil
Al-Hayya, will go to Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire talks, in
response to an invitation extended by Egyptian mediators, the group said
in a statement.CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to attend Sunday’s
talks, along with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman Al Thani and an Israeli delegation, Egypt’s Al Qahera news
reported on Saturday.Hamas on Saturday reiterated its demands issued in a
March 14 proposal prior to a UN Security Council resolution calling for
a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that was passed on March 25.“Hamas
confirms its adherence to the position it presented on March 14 … and we
will not back down from this position,” it said in a statement.“The
demands … are complete ceasefire, withdrawal of the occupation forces
from Gaza, the return of the displaced to their residential areas,
freedom of movement of the people, offering them aid and shelter, and a
serious hostage exchange deal,” it said.An Israeli diplomatic source
told Channel 12 news Saturday that Hamas believes it can force a
ceasefire on Israel without releasing hostages “because of the
international pressure on us, and because of the internal crisis between
Israel and the US.”“The departure of a senior delegation to Cairo,
without a compromise on Hamas’s part, will raise false hopes among the
families and it will be an ’empty show,'” the source said.Ministers and
other officials familiar with the details of the talks told Channel 12
that the main sticking point in the talks was the question of the return
of displaced Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip. They said that
negotiators needed a broader mandate than what they have been given so
far by the government to finalize a deal.Hamas’s insistence on its
demands came as US President Joe Biden urged an “immediate ceasefire” in
Gaza.Ahead of the weekend talks, Biden wrote to the leaders of Egypt
and Qatar urging them to secure commitments from Hamas to “agree to and
abide by a deal,” a senior US administration official told AFP.However,
the mediators of hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas are
failing to exert any pressure on the terror group, a senior Israeli
official told The Times of Israel on Friday.Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya
Sinwar “is dragging his feet and does not want a deal, despite Israel’s
tremendous flexibility,” the senior Israeli official claimed.“No
pressure [on Hamas] is being jointly applied by the Qatar-led mediators.
Qatar has refrained from deporting the Hamas leaders it hosts, nor has
it closed their bank accounts, which hold hundreds of millions of
dollars used for terrorism,” the senior Israeli official
asserted.“Sinwar does not want a deal. He is not interested in the
suffering of his people in Gaza,” the official continued. “He is waiting
for tensions to increase and for there to be further escalation.”The
senior official also said Jerusalem has still not received any answer
from Hamas to Israel’s latest hostage deal proposal after CNN reported
earlier Friday that the terror organization had turned it down.During a
phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden
pushed him to “fully empower” his negotiators to reach a deal.White
House officials have said negotiating a pause in fighting between Israel
and Hamas to facilitate the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for
Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel is the only way to put a
temporary ceasefire into effect and boost the flow of badly needed
humanitarian aid into the territory.Stop-start talks have made no
headway since a week-long truce in November, the only one since the
start of the war on October 7, which saw the exchange of dozens of
hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners
detained by Israel.The Hamas side of the talks is indirect, with
proposals relayed through third parties to Hamas leaders hiding in
tunnels beneath Gaza.
Iran said to decide on direct response to
Syria strike, put its forces on full alert-Israel and US readying for
‘significant’ retaliation to alleged IDF attack that killed 7 IRGC
members, including generals; CBS says Tehran may attack with swarm of
explosive drones-By ToI Staff Today, 5:57 am-APR 6,24
Iran has
reportedly put its military forces on “full high alert,” as it vows
revenge for an alleged Israeli strike on Monday that killed a top
Iranian commander in Syria and several other Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps members.Two Iranian officials quoted Friday by The New York Times
said Iran has made a decision to directly attack Israel, in a move
meant to create deterrence.Meanwhile, a US official said the United
States was on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by Iran
targeting Israeli or American assets in the region.“We’re definitely at a
high state of vigilance,” the official said in confirming a CNN report
that says an attack could come in the next week.A senior administration
official who spoke with CNN said the US is bracing for a “significant”
attack and that both Washington and Jerusalem believe an Iranian
response was “inevitable.”CBS News reported that the US gathered
intelligence indicating Iran is planning an attack that would involve a
swarm of explosive Shahed drones and cruise missiles. US officials who
spoke to CBS said they did not know the timing and target of Iran’s
anticipated response, but the report said it was expected to come before
Ramadan ends next week.Israel has not commented on Monday’s strike,
which leveled the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Damascus, but
analysts saw it as an escalation of its campaign against Iran and its
regional proxies that runs the risk of triggering a wider war beyond the
Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.Iran has said that among the
dead were two brigadier generals from the Guards’ foreign operations
arm, the Quds Force: Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji
Rahimi.Zahedi was reportedly responsible for the IRGC’s operations in
Syria and in Lebanon, for Iranian militias there, and for ties with
Hezbollah, and was thus the most senior commander of Iranian forces in
the two countries. The IRGC is a US-designated terrorist
organization.Both Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have vowed that Israel
will not go unpunished for the attack. Though that possibility has
raised the specter of a wider war, two Iranian sources told Reuters that
Tehran’s response would be calibrated to avoid escalation.“We warn you,
no enemy act against our holy system will go unanswered,” Revolutionary
Guards chief General Hossein Salami said Friday during the funeral for
Zahedi and the other IRGC members.“The collapse of (the Zionist regime)
is very possible and close with God’s grace,” he added, saying the US
has become “wildly hated by the world, especially in Muslim-dominated
countries” for supporting Israel.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei said on Wednesday the Damascus strike was a “desperate” effort
by Israel that “will not save them from defeat” in Gaza.On Thursday,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond to efforts to harm
Israelis, as the country geared up for a possible Iranian
response.Speaking at a meeting of the security cabinet soon after a
phone call with US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu said “Iran has been
acting against us for years — directly and via proxies. And, therefore,
Israel acts against Iran and its proxies — defensively and
offensively.”Netanyahu added: “We will know how to defend ourselves, and
we will act according to the simple principle: that those who harm us
or plan to harm us, we will harm.”Agencies contributed to this report.
Colombia
petitions ICJ to join South Africa’s Gaza genocide case against
Israel-Application for second intervention on behalf of Palestinians
cites Latin American country’s wish to ensure ‘the very existence of the
Palestinian people’By Reuters and ToI Staff 5 April 2024, 11:48 pm
Colombia
has asked the International Court of Justice to allow the country to
intervene in South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza
Strip, the court said Friday.In its application, Colombia called on the
court to ensure “the safety and, indeed, the very existence of the
Palestinian people.”The ICJ, the highest United Nations court, can allow
states to intervene and give their views. Several states have said they
would also seek to intervene in the case, but so far only Colombia and
Nicaragua have filed a public request, while Germany requested in
January to intervene in support of Israel.On March 28, ICJ judges
ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure
basic food supplies arrive without delay to Palestinians in Gaza.In
January, the ICJ, also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to
refrain from any acts that could fall under the genocide convention and
to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians in
Gaza.Israel denies targeting Palestinian civilians, saying its sole
interest is to destroy the terrorist group Hamas. Lawyers for Israel
have dismissed South Africa’s case as an abuse of the genocide
convention.Israel launched its war on the Palestinian terror group after
thousands of its operatives stormed the country’s south on October 7,
killing nearly 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 253
hostages.Vowing to dismantle Hamas and release the hostages, Israel
mounted an unprecedented assault on the Gaza Strip, which has displaced
about half the enclave’s residents while destroying about half its
residences. United Nations officials have said that hunger levels in the
Strip approach famine levels.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says
more than 32,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so
far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes some
13,000 Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also
says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Over
250 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
INSTEAD
0F THESE BRAIN DEAD, BABY MURDERING DEMOCRAPS STOPPING ISRAEL FROM
GETTING WEAPONS. THEY SHOULD BE MICROCHIPPING EVERY SEX FOR MURDER
PEDOPHILIA MUSLIM AND MIGRANT COMING INTO AMERICA. SO THEY COULD KEEP
TRACK OF THESE ILLEGAL CULT OF TERRORISTS CROWD OF MISFITS, SET FREE
JAIL BIRDS AND GANG BANGIN DRUG DEALIN PIMP DEMONS WHO SHOULD BE IN THE
HOLDING LOCAL JAIL IN HELL. WAITING TO STAND IN FRONT OF JESUS FOR THE
FINAL PENATENUARY SENTENCE THE LAKE OF FIRE IN SOME BLACK HOLE OUT IN
OUTER DARKNESS SOMEWHERE WHERE ITS 1 MILLION DEGREES HEAT WITH THEIR
NEVER DYING BODIES FOREVER IN TORMENT AND DEMONS TORTURING THEM FOR
ZILLIONS UPON ZILLIONS OF YEARS, NEVER ENDING. AND WE ON EARTH THINK 120
YEARS ON EARTH IS A LONG TIME. BUT FOREVER IS FOREVER IN HELL TORMENTS.
AND
SPEAKING OF THE DEMOLIBNUTS RUNNING ON ABORTION (BABY MURDER). AND
THESE NUT TARDS ACTUALLY THEY THINK THEY CAN BEAT TRUMP ON MURDERING
GODS CHILDREN NOT THEIRS. GODS THE ONE WHO PUT THAT CHILD IN THE MOTHER
AND FATHER HAVING SEX THAT HE JESUS CHOSE. THE BIBLE SAYS GOD KNEW THE
BABY BEFORE IT WAS EVEN CONCIEVED BY THE CARRIER. SO WHEN A WOMAN SAYS
ITS HER CHOICE TO HAVE AN ABORTION. I TELL THAT WOMAN. WHOS CHILD IS
THAT. I SAYS ITS GODS CHILD AND YOUR NOT ONLY MURDERING YOUR OWN CHILD
BY ABORTION. YOU MURDERED GODS CREATED CHILD AND THE WHOLE GENERATION OF
THE BABY OF YOUR OWN CHILD. NO WONDER GOD SAYS IF YOU KILL ONE OF THESE
LITTLE ONES. ITS BETTER FOR YOU TO COMMIT SUICIDE BY PUTTING A CEMENT
BLOCK AROUND YOUR HEAD AND DROPPING IT IN THE DEPTH OF THE SEA. THEN TO
HURT ONE OF JESUS ' LITTLE BABIES OR CHILDREN.
AND THATS NOT THE
LAST TIME YOU WILL GIVE ACCOUNT OF THAT MURDERED BABY. BUT WHEN IT COMES
TO EVERYBODY ON EARTH BEING JUDGED BY JESUS FROM THE BEGINNING OF ADAM
AND EVE TO THE LAST PERSON BORN DURING JESUS' THOUSAND YEAR REIGN ON
EARTH. EVERY ONE EVER BORN WILL STAND IN FRONT OF JESUS TO GIVE AN
ACCOUNT OF THEIR LIVES WETHER GOOD OR BAD. AND TO SAY TO JESUS YOU ARE
THE ONLY GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH. AND WHEN IT COMES TO A WOMAN THAT HAD
AND ABORTION. JESUS WILL SAY. I SEE ON THIS CERTAIN DAY OF YOUR LIFE. AT
THIS TIME-YOU HAD AN ABORTION SECRETLY. NOBODY EVEN KNEW YOU WERE
PREGNANT BECAUSE YOUR ONE NIGHT STAND GOT YOU PREGNANT. FOR THIS EXAMPLE
WE WILL SAY SHE HAD THE ABORTION 10 YEARS AGO. JESUS WILL SAY 10 YEARS
AGO ON THIS DATE YOU HAD A SECRET ABORTION. BEFORE HE GOES ON JESUS
TELLS HER ALL HIDDEN SECRETS IN PEOPLES LIVES WILL BE EXPOSED AT THE
FINAL PENATENTUARY SENTENCE THAT JESUS HANDS OUT. NO MATTER WHAT SECRET
SIN IT WAS BECAUSE ANGELS WRITE DOWN IN A BOOK OF OUR LIVES. EVERY THING
WE SAY AND DO. WETHER SECRETLY OR OUT IN THE OPEN. EVEN OUR MOTIVES ARE
WRITTEN DOWN. IF THEY WERE FALSE OR NOT. NOW BACK TO THE ABORTION WOMAN
STANDING IN FRONT OF JESUS FOR HER FINAL FOREVER JUDGEMENT. WELL JESUS
WILL SAY TO HER AND EVERY OTHER WOMAN WHOEVER MURDERED THEIR OWN CHILD
AND JESUS'. WOMAN HER NAME AND I HAVE SOMEBODY THAT WANTS TO MEET YOU
BEFORE YOUR FINAL JUDGEMENT IS FINISHED. SHE WILL SAY SOMETHING LIKE.
WHO WOULD LIKE TO TALK TO ME WHILE I AM BEING JUDGED IN FRONT OF YOU
JESUS. JESUS WILL SAY TO HER. LITTLE JOHN COME ON OUT HERE AND YOU CAN
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO MURDERED YOU 10 YEARS AGO. WHY SHE NEVER LET YOU
LIVE AND GROW UP. OUT COMES 10 YEAR OLD JOHN-SAYING TO HIS MOTHER.
MOM-WHY DID YOU SECRETLY KILL ME AND YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH
IT SECRETLY. THAT NO ONE WOULD EVER KNOW. ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS JUST
BE A NORMAL CHILD-WHO KNOWS I MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE PRIME MINISTER OF
CANADA. IF I WASN'T MURDERED BY YOU. I WILL BE IN THE AUDIENCE WATCHING
THE LOOK ON ALL THE WOMENS FACES WHO EVER HAD AN ABORTION OR MORE ON
EARTH. WHEN JESUS TAKES THEM OFF GUARD AND FORCES THEM TO BE CONFRONTED
BY THE CHILD OR CHILDREN THEY MURDERED BY ABORTION. THAT WERE WRITTEN
ABOUT THEIR LIVES IN BOOKS IN HEAVEN. CAN YOU BELIEVE THE SHOCK AND
GUILT AND SHAME THEY WILL FEEL WHEN THEIR ABORTED CHILD CONFRONTS THEM.
WE THINK THE LAKE OF FIRE THEY GET THROWN IN FOR MURDERING THAT BABY BY
ABORTION IS BAD ENOUGH. BUT THE THOUGHT IN HER MIND FOREVER THAT HER
BABY AND GODS BABY SHE MURDERED BY ABORTION ACTUALLY CONFRONTED HER. SO
SHE SEEN HOW HE GREW IN HEAVEN LIKE HE WOULD HAVE ON EARTH. AND ALL HIS
ACTIONS. OH OH-I CAN PRETTY WELL GUARENTEE THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER SHE
IS IN WITH HER NEVER DYING BODY. WILL ALMOST PALE IN COMPARISON TO THE
GUILT, SHAME, CRYING, AND SUCH THAT THE TORMENT OF HER MIND WILL BE LIKE
FOREVER. EVER SECOND SHE THINKS ABOUT THE BABY OR BABIES SHE MURDERED
THAT NEVER DIED. JUST WENT DIRECTLY TO JESUS TO GROW UP A NORMAL CHILD
IN HEAVEN. AND THE KICKER-TO BE CONFRONTED BY THAT BABY ASKING HER.
MOM-WHY DID YOU MURDER JESUS' AND YOUR OWN BABY ME.
SO
JUST THINK THESE BABY MURDERING DEMOCRATS AND LIBERALS ARE ACTUALLY
RUNNING ON MURDERING GODS AND THEIR OWN CHILD. FOR THE SAKE OF WINNING
AN ELECTION. DO THESE IDIOT NUTJOB DEMOLIBNUTS ACTUALLY KNOW ALL THE
BLOOD OF THE MURDERED BABIES BY ABORTION THAT THEY WILL HAVE TO GIVE AN
ACCOUNT FOR AT JESUS' JUDGEMENT. WHY THEY PROMOTED AND WORSHIPPED
MURDERING BABIES LIKE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM MURDERS IN THE
NAME OF THEIR USELESS NOSE PICKER ALLAH SITTING ON A CRESCENT MOON ON
THE MOON. I WONDER WHO WILL BE GETTING THE GREATER JUDGENTS ON THEM IN
THE LAKE OF FIRE FOR ALL THE ABORTED BABIES ON THEIR HEADS. RIGHT
ABORTION PROMOTERS. THE MOTHER WILL JUST HAVE HER ABORTION ON HER HEAD.
BUT THE ONES THAT PROMOTE THIS BABY MURDERING. WILL HAVE EVERY ABORTIONS
BLOOD ON THEIR HEADS FOREVER IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.ALL I GOTTA SAY GOOD
LUKE TO ALL THESE DEMOCRAPS AND LIBERALS THAT PROMOTE BABIES LIVES FOR A
4 YEAR POWER HUNGRY VOTE.
WE KNOW THE BABIES DO GO DIRECTLY TO
HEAVEN. ABSCENT FROM THE BODY IS INSTANTLY PRESENCE WITH THE LORD. NO
CHANGING THAT TRUTH IN THE BIBLE.
What happens to children who die in infancy? By David Roach, posted August 25, 2015 in Theology & Doctrine.
NASHVILLE
(BP) — In response to the release of a series of videos showing Planned
Parenthood employees reportedly discussing the sale of baby parts
obtained through abortion, evangelicals have expressed a range of views
on the eternal destiny of children who die in infancy.Among Southern
Baptists, most agree Scripture suggests aborted babies — along with
others dying in infancy and individuals with severe mental disabilities —
go to heaven. But pastors and theologians disagree on various related
issues from the clarity of Scripture on children’s salvation to whether
infants bear guilt before God.Points of agreement include the evil of
abortion and the goodness of God.“As tragic as this situation is,”
Connecticut pastor David Saylor said of infant deaths, “it’s not beyond
the sovereign power of God to be in control of. We’re not totally lost
to our situation. We’re still in the hands of God.”Saylor, pastor of
First Baptist Church in Manchester, Conn., told Baptist Press he doesn’t
think the Bible “specifically or directly” explains the eternal destiny
of infants who die in infancy or other persons mentally unable to
understand the concepts of sin and faith. While Christians “can’t be
dogmatic about what God hasn’t chosen to clearly reveal to us,” Saylor
believes “God may apply Christ’s blood to those who are unable to accept
by faith the gift of salvation.”Infants are not innocent before God
because they bear guilt that is imputed to all humans due to Adam’s sin
in the Garden of Eden, Saylor said, citing Psalm 51:5 and Romans
5:12-14. “A baby just born or in the womb hasn’t sinned personally yet,
but he has a fallen nature and that’s the issue God has to
conquer.”Saylor’s belief that God “may” apply Christ’s blood to infants
is based on his notion of “the justice of God” rather than a specific
Scripture passage, he said. It is reasonable to speculate that if
children “haven’t come to the point where they can have faith, then God
may apply Christ’s blood even without that faith,” Saylor said.Doug
Melton, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City,
believes the Bible allows Christians to express greater certainty about
the eternal destiny of babies who die in infancy.“Whenever we take the
full context of Scripture,” Melton told BP, “I have a real hard time
sitting in front of a mom and dad and saying to them, ‘I don’t know
where your stillborn child is.'”Infants who die in infancy go to heaven,
Melton said. He based his view, first, on the Old Testament teaching
that God only punished Israelites 20 and older when the nation rebelled
against Him on the edge of the Promised Land. In contrast, God allowed
younger people to enter the land after 40 years of wilderness wandering.
Adolescents and children were not barred from the land presumably,
Melton said, “because they had not willfully rebelled against God.”That
account from Numbers 14, he said, is “a type that’s pointing ahead to
the scriptural understanding of heaven.”Second, Melton said Romans 1:20
suggests individuals unable to “perceive” God through observation of His
creation “are not held accountable because they have not willfully
rebelled.” All humans inherit a sinful nature from Adam, Melton said,
but Scripture only threatens punishment for personal sin.Despite
infants’ lack of moral culpability, Melton believes they are saved by
Christ’s atonement, though he does not “fully understand” how that
salvation transaction works.Beliefs of ‘most Southern Baptists’In 2013, a
Calvinism Advisory Committee appointed by Frank S. Page, president of
the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, acknowledged
disagreement among Southern Baptists on some issues related to infant
salvation — such as whether all humans inherit Adam’s guilt. But the
committee noted in its report, “Most Southern Baptists believe that
those who die before they are capable of moral action go to heaven
through the grace of God and the atonement of Christ, even as they
differ as to why this is so.”Among committee members to express their
views on the death of infants is Steve Lemke, provost at New Orleans
Baptist Theological Seminary. In a 2010 article for Louisiana’s Baptist
Message newsjournal, Lemke argued “children are not morally accountable
until ‘they are capable of moral action,'” referencing Article III of
the Baptist Faith and Message.The section of the BF&M Lemke
referenced states, “As soon as [humans] are capable of moral action,
they become transgressors and are under condemnation.” Both the 1925 and
1963 editions of the BF&M make similar statements.Baptists, Lemke
wrote, typically “do not believe in inherited guilt.” Drawing on the new
covenant prophecies in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 18 among other
Scriptures, Lemke argued humans “are only accountable under the new
covenant for our own sins.” Therefore, “Baptists have always believed
that since infants are not yet capable of actual sin, they go to
heaven.”Calvinism Advisory Committee members R. Albert Mohler Jr. and
Daniel Akin wrote in a 2009 article, “We are born marked by original
sin, and thus we cannot claim that infants are born in a state of
innocence.” Yet “we are to be judged on the basis of our deeds committed
‘in the body,'” presumably a reference to 2 Corinthians 5:10.Scripture
“does not teach that we will answer for Adam’s sin,” wrote Mohler and
Akin, presidents of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary respectively. Therefore,
“heaven will be filled with those who never grew to maturity on earth.”A
historical perspective-Historically, the questions of whether infants
bear guilt and the eternal destiny of those dying in infancy have been
debated. As Mohler and Akin noted, the fourth-century church father
Gregory of Nyssa believed infants, along with all other humans, would
have an opportunity after death to confess Christ as Savior. Another
fourth-century Christian, Ambrose of Milan, believed baptized infants
would go to heaven while unbaptized infants would not, though he said
they received immunity from the pain of hell.The 17th-century
Westminster Confession of Faith argued, “Elect infants, dying in
infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit … so
also are all other elect persons who are uncapable [sic] of being
outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.” Particular Baptists’ 1689
Second London Confession echoed that assertion, along with its implied
distinction between elect and non-elect infants.In the 18th century,
John Wesley, the father of Methodism, dealt with the issue of infant
guilt by arguing Christ’s death removed original guilt from every human
so that no one is eternally condemned for Adam’s sin, according to an
article by Leo Cox in the Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological
Society. Wesley himself wrote that Adam’s sin “is imputed to all men.”
But “that any will be damned for this alone, I allow not, till you show
me where it is written. Bring me plain proof from Scripture, and I
submit; but till then, I utterly deny it.”Baptist preacher Charles
Spurgeon said in an 1861 sermon, “We say, with regard to infants,
Scripture saith but little, and, therefore, where Scripture is
confessedly scant, it is for no man to determine dogmatically. But I
think I speak for the entire body, or certainly with exceedingly few
exceptions, and those unknown to me, when I say, we hold that all
infants are elect of God and are therefore saved.”‘Stand together’ on
ScriptureAmong Baptists today, Wayne Robertson, pastor of Morningside
Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., takes a position on infant salvation
with echoes of several historical figures.“I do understand that infants
are a member of Adam’s fallen race and are born with a sin nature,”
Robertson told BP in written comments. “I believe the Scriptures teach
that condemnation is based on the rejection of God’s revelation whether
general or specific and not based on ignorance of it. I hold the
position that the unborn and infants have not comprehended general
revelation nor have they been given special revelation and as a result,
have not been declared ‘without excuse’ (Romans 1:18-20).“Therefore,
trusting the many Scriptures that tell us that Jesus expressed His love
for children, such as Matthew 19:13-15, I believe that Christ’s
atonement covered the guilt of these infants,” Robertson said.As
Christians continue to discuss the eternal destiny of infants, Melton,
of Southern Hills in Oklahoma City, urged charity among those who trust
the authority of Scripture.“There’s a whole lot of different
interpretations of Scripture,” Melton said, “and I believe everyone is
trying to stand together on what Scripture teaches.”Author-David
Roach-is a writer in Mobile, Ala.
Straight Answers: Do Aborted Children Go to Heaven? Fr. William Saunders-10/8/98 (CATHOLIC POINT OF VIEW)
Given
that as Catholics we believe that life begins at conception, it would
necessarily follow that an unborn child has a soul. If so, are the souls
of aborted children lost to limbo as well? I know of several contrite
mothers who have suffered the pains of an abortion and been consoled by
clergy assuring them that their child is in Heaven. Given your
explanation of limbo, this cannot be… can it? — A reader in
Alexandria.Before addressing the question at hand, we must first be
clear on two points.First, the idea of limbo is a theological
speculation, not a defined doctrine of the Catholic Church. Remember we
must uphold what our Lord taught concerning the necessity of Baptism: He
said, “I solemnly assure you, no one can enter God’s kingdom without
being begotten of water and Spirit” (John 3:5). Therefore, the Catechism
rightly asserts, “The Church does not know of any means other than
Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude” (#1257). Limbo,
consequently, was a speculation as to what happened to the souls of
children in particular who died and who through no fault of their own
were not baptized. They did nothing to warrant eternal damnation in
Hell, but because of Original Sin and the lack of Baptism they could not
enter Heaven. Consequently, theologians, including St. Thomas Aquinas,
posited there was a limbo, a place of benign existence. Nevertheless,
the teaching of limbo still remains undefined and speculative.Second,
the unborn child is indeed a person at the moment of conception. The
Declaration on Procured Abortion asserted, “From the time that the ovum
is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor
of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own
growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already”
(#12). The Church, however, does not specifically define when ensoulment
takes place. However, we rightly believe that Almighty God infuses the
soul into the body when in accord with His will that creation is a
person: for most of us, that would be at conception, but for identical
twins or others, this would be after the initially fertilized single
ovum divides. Here again the Church emphasizes that life is sacred from
that moment of conception and must be protected. Even if a doubt existed
about the personhood of the child in the womb, to risk murder would be
an objectively grave sin (#13).Returning now to the fate of children who
are murdered through abortion, or die in the womb before birth, or are
miscarried, or are born but die without the benefit of baptism, the
Catechism asserts, “The Church can only entrust them to the mercy of
God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy
of God, who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness
toward children which caused Him to say, ‘Let the children come to me,
do not hinder them,’ allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation
for children who have died without Baptism” (#1261). Therefore, while
upholding our Lord’s teaching about the necessity of Baptism, we also
focus on “the great mercy of God.” Throughout Sacred Scripture the mercy
of God is extolled: For instance, Psalm 136 reminds us, “His mercy
endures forever,” and Psalm145:8-9 proclaims, “The Lord is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all
and compassionate toward all His works.” Throughout the Gospel, Jesus
dealt mercifully with sinners who had freely chosen to sin. St. Paul
wrote, “God is rich in mercy; because of His great love for us, He
brought us to life with Christ when we were dead in sin” (Ephesians
2:4-5). In all, Sacred Scripture consistently emphasizes the infinite
mercy of God.Because of our firm belief in God’s infinite mercy and His
universal salvific will that all should be saved, we have a genuine hope
that there is indeed a way of salvation for children who have died
without the benefit of Baptism through no fault of their own. After all,
could we not rightly speculate that the desire of the parents, of the
whole Church, of the child (who is made in God’s image and likeness, and
at least in the most simple way has a natural longing for God), and of
God Himself is truly a desire for salvation? Just as those adults, who
through no fault of their own know neither the Gospel of Christ or His
Church but seek God with a sincere heart and live by the dictates of
their conscience with the help of His grace, may attain eternal
salvation (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #16), we certainly trust
that a helpless, innocent child who has died in the womb, been aborted,
been miscarried, or died without the benefit of Baptism will not be
abandoned by the Lord or denied His saving grace.This hope is evident in
the “living faith” of our Church. Pope John Paul II in EvangeliumVitae,
when compassionately addressing women who have had abortions, wrote,
“…You will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now
living in the Lord” (#99). Such a statement indicates the Holy Father’s
trust in the infinite mercy of God for these children and their place in
the Heaven. In the Opening Prayer for the funeral Mass of an unbaptized
child, the priest offers one of the following prayers: “Lord, listen to
the prayers of this family that has faith in you. In their sorrow at
the death of this child, may they find hope in your infinite mercy,” or,
“Father of all consolation, from whom nothing is hidden, you know the
faith of these parents who mourn the death of their child. May they find
comfort in knowing that he is entrusted to your loving care.”
Interestingly, prior to the Second Vatican Council, a priest always
offered the Mass of the Angels for the children who died without
baptism, entrusting their care to the Guardian Angels who look upon the
face of God in Heaven. The graces of atonement of the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass which flow from the death and resurrection of our Lord must
surely give repose to these children and comfort to their grieving
families. Moreover, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents on
December 28, who are considered martyrs for the faith although they were
neither technically baptized nor knew Christ. Surely, the victims of
abortion must be considered modern martyrs, who have shed their blood
just because they were created by God yet rejected by others.While we
may still struggle with this issue and find tension due to the lack of
definitive teaching, we place our trust in the Lord. While the Lord has
revealed to the Church that Baptism is the means of salvation, He is not
restricted in offering other graced means unknown to the Church to
these helpless children, and for such means the Church has great hope.
However, such a hope in the infinite mercy of God must not make us
complacent and thereby negligent in having children baptized or in
evangelizing others. Rather, we must conscientiously fulfill our duty
and enable all people to come to the Lord through Baptism.
Pelosi
joins call by 37 Democrats for Biden to halt transfer of US weapons to
Israel-Former speaker’s support for measure underlines growing demand
among mainstream Democrats for a fresh look at military aid to Israel
amid the Gaza war-By ToI Staff and Reuters Today, 9:23 am-APR 6,24
Several
dozen Democratic members of Congress, including former speaker Nancy
Pelosi, have sent a letter to US President Joe Biden and Secretary of
State Antony Blinken calling for a halt on arms transfers to Israel
following an IDF strike in Gaza that killed seven staffers of the World
Central Kitchen, including a dual US citizen.“In light of this incident,
we strongly urge you to reconsider your recent decision to authorize
the transfer of a new arms package to Israel, and to withhold this and
any future offensive arms transfers until a full investigation into the
airstrike is completed,” the House representatives wrote.“We also urge
you to withhold these transfers if Israel fails to sufficiently mitigate
harm to innocent civilians in Gaza, including aid workers, and if it
fails to facilitate — or arbitrarily denies or restricts the transport
and delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” they said.Noting that
Israel has said it did not intentionally target the aid workers, the
Congress members said that “if this is true, it is a shockingly
unacceptable mistake.” They also called for the administration “to
conduct a thorough investigation into this airstrike,” which the White
House reiterated Friday it will not do.Most of the signatories were from
the Democrat’s left flank but the backing by Pelosi indicated support
for stopping weapons deliveries to Israel is increasingly becoming
mainstream among Democrats.Among the other 36 Democrats to sign were
Representatives Barbara Lee, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez.Biden has stepped up pressure on Israel in recent weeks
and again in the wake of the killing of the aid workers, but has pushed
back on suggestions he could cut off aid to Israel.Biden said Friday
that Israel was heeding his demand to let aid into Gaza, a day after he
warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a sharp shift in
policy.Asked as he left the White House whether he had threatened to
stop military aid to Israel in the call with Netanyahu, Biden replied:
“I asked them to do what they’re doing.”Biden also appeared to take
umbrage at the suggestion he would end support for Israel when asked by a
reporter if he was abandoning Israel.“Where you from, man?” Biden shot
back, seemingly shocked by the question, given his longstanding support
for the Jewish state.“Are you abandoning Israel?” the reporter asked
again.“Is that a serious question?” the president replied, without
giving a further response.In a tense call on Thursday, Biden warned
Netanyahu that US policy on Israel was dependent on the protection of
civilians and aid workers in Gaza, following an Israeli strike that
killed seven aid workers.It was the first conversation between the two
since an Israeli strike in central Gaza late on Monday killed seven aid
workers from the World Central Kitchen. Israel has called the strike on
the WCK convoy a “grave mistake,” and vowed an in-depth investigation
into how it occurred. But Netanyahu also said that “these things happen
in war” — a line that wasn’t well received internationally.Hours after
the two leaders spoke, Israel announced that it would allow “temporary”
aid deliveries into famine-threatened northern Gaza through the Israeli
port of Ashdod and the Erez border crossing in the northern Gaza Strip
for the first time since it was significantly damaged during the
Hamas-led October 7 terror onslaught that sparked the ongoing war, when
many Israelis were killed and abducted there.Israel also said it was
firing two officers after an IDF probe found that a series of “grave
mistakes” led to the drone strikes that killed the World Central Kitchen
aid workers.
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