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)
ISRAEL GOES AFTER IRAN, BUT EASY AS PASSOVER IS IN A FEW DAYS.LETS GET THAT 3RD TEMPLE REBUILT.
Elam (IRAN IN THE BIBLE) passed into the hands of the Persians" (A.H. Sayce).
Jeremiah 49:35-39
35-Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36-And
upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,
and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no
nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37-For I will
cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that
seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, [even] my fierce
anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have
consumed them:
38-And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
39-But it shall come to pass in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
Ezekiel 32:24
24-There
[is] Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them
slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the
nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the
living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the
pit.
EZEK 38:4-13
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks
into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses
and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great
company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6
Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of
the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with
thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and
prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto
thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be
visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is
brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against
the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is
brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of
them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a
cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with
thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that
at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think
an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of
unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell
safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor
gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand
upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people
that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and
goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan, and
the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say
unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company
to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and
goods, to take a great spoil?(OIL IS IN SPOIL-I BELIEVE THATS WHY
RUSSIA,ARAB/MUSLIMS MARCH TO ISRAEL)
EZEK 39:11-21
11 And it
shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there
of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the
sea: (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY) and it shall stop the
noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his
multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(CEMETARY OF
THE HORDE)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
13
Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; (ALL AVAILABLE ISRAELS
WILL BURY THE RUSSIA,MUSLIM HORDE) and it shall be to them a renown the
day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they
shall sever out men of continual employment, (NUCLEAR PROFFESIONALS)
passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain
upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months
shall they search.(SO BY THE SOUNDS OF IT AFTER 7 MONTHS THE NUKED
RUSSIA,MUSLIM HOARDES BONES WILL STILL BE FULL OF RADIATION, SO VISITERS
TO ISRAEL WILL JUST PUT A SIGN BY THE BONES.NOT TOUCH THEM.OR THEY
WOULD STILL GET RADIATION POISONING FROM ISRAEL NUKING THEM 7 MONTHS
EARLIER.SO THE SIGN GOES BY THE BONES.THE NUCLEAR PROFFESIONALS WILL
PICK UP AND TAKE THE BONES TO THE JORDAN VALLEY BURIAL SITE.
15 And
the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone,
then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in
the valley of Hamongog.(VALLEY OF GOGS HORDES)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah.(MEANING CITY OF THE HOARDE) Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves,
and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do
sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(RUSSIA,ISLAMIC HORDE)
18 Ye
shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of
the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them
fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall
see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon
them.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague
wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against
Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their
feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in
their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume
away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN
USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And
it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD
shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of
his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his
neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
Debris
from missiles found in Iraq-In ‘message,’ IDF said to fire 3 missiles
at radar defense for secret Iran nuclear site-US reports say missiles
fired from outside Iranian airspace hit air force base in Isfahan and
not the nearby fortified Natanz atomic center; Iran insists only small
drones used-By ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 11:12 pm
An alleged
Israeli strike in Iran overnight Thursday-Friday went beyond the scope
of several small drones described by Tehran, US media reported later
Friday. It reportedly included three missiles launched by Israeli Air
Force warplanes that targeted an air defense radar site near Isfahan
that was part of an array defending the nearby top-secret Natanz nuclear
site.The report, first published by ABC, cited a US official as saying
that the missiles were fired from outside of Iranian airspace.According
to the report, the strike was “very limited.” It said that according to
an initial assessment, the strike took out the radar site, but the
assessment had not yet been completed.Iran had claimed earlier that
three small drones were involved in the attack on Isfahan. State TV said
that the small aircraft were destroyed by air defenses, and it made no
mention of any missiles or damage in the attack.The ABC report did not
say if the missiles were in addition to the drones reported by
Iran.Authorities said air defenses fired at a major air base in Isfahan,
which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats —
purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Citing “senior US military
sources,” Fox News also reported that the target of the strike was a
military base in Isfahan, and not the not the heavily fortified nuclear
facilities themselves which lie some 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the
north of the city, largely buried under a mountain.“The Israelis hit
what they intended to strike,” one of the sources told Fox News, adding
that there was one main target that was hit multiple times and that
Iran’s Russian-made air defense system was proven ineffective.The
targets of the strike included air defense systems at the military base,
which is used to protect the nearby nuclear facilities, Fox
reported.Israel’s message with the strike was to sell the Iranians on
the idea that “we can reach out and touch you,” the source said.In
Israel, authorities were officially silent on the strike, but a number
of politicians and former officials spoke out about the strike.Speaking
to Channel 12 news, retired general Israel Ziv, a former IDF operations
chief, said that if the attack was carried out by Israel, it was not
intended to cause major destruction, but to send a “very clear message
to Iran” demonstrating the “technological gap” between Israel and Iran
and highlighting the IDF’s ability to penetrate Iran’s most sensitive
sites.Despite the reports that a radar site had been destroyed,
satellite images published by CNN did not appear to show any extensive
damage to Iran’s Isfahan air base.The synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
satellite images were taken around 10:18 a.m. local time — five hours
after the strike..@CNN EXCLUSIVE: No extensive damage seen at Iran's
Isfahan air base in exclusive satellite images https://t.co/ioscPEGmOP—
Shawn Reynolds (@Shawn Reynolds_) April 19, 2024-“There does not appear
to be any large craters in the ground and there are no apparent
destroyed buildings,” CNN said, noting that the findings needed to be
confirmed by regular satellite pictures that could detect things like
burn scars.SAR images are created by a satellite transmitting radar
beams capable of passing through clouds, like the ones currently
preventing satellites from imaging the area. Those radar beams bounce
off objects on the ground, and echo back to the satellite.Despite the
reports, Iran continued to insist that only several small drones were
launched and that they had not caused any damage.Iranian Foreign
Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said drones caused no damage or
casualties, in comments made to the envoys of Muslim countries in New
York and cited by Iranian media.“The Zionist regime’s media supporters,
in a desperate effort, tried to make victory out of their defeat, while
the downed mini-drones have not caused any damage or casualties,” he was
quoted as saying.In a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart,
Amir-Abdollahian said: “The main factor for stability and security in
the region is to stop the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza and the West
Bank and establishing a lasting ceasefire.”Amir-Abdollahian visited New
York to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle
East.The reports that Israel fired missiles appear to correlate with
debris found in Iraq in the morning after residents of Baghdad reported
hearing sounds of explosions.Images showed what appeared to be parts of a
two-stage standoff air-to-surface missile near Latifiya, southwest of
Baghdad, which would have fallen away after the missile launch, although
this remains unconfirmed.Israel has several types of these munitions
available for its air force, raising the possibility it was fired as
part of the attack.Also, around the time of the incident in Iran,
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency quoted a military statement saying
Israel carried out a missile strike targeting a southern air defense
unit and causing damage. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strike hit a military radar
for government forces. It was not clear if there were casualties, the
Observatory said.That area of Syria is directly west of Isfahan, some
1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away, and east of Israel and could provide
an indication of the route taken by Israeli jets.The Tasnim news agency
published a video from one of its reporters, who said he was in the
southeastern Zerdenjan area of Isfahan, near its “nuclear energy
mountain.” The footage showed two different anti-aircraft gun positions,
and details of the video corresponded with known features of the site
of Iran’s Uranium Conversion Facility at Isfahan.“At 4:45, we heard
gunshots,” he said. “It was the air defense, these guys that you’re
watching, and over there too.”The facility at Isfahan operates three
small Chinese-supplied research reactors, as well as handling fuel
production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear
program.Isfahan also is home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear
program, including its deeply fortified underground Natanz enrichment
site, which has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli sabotage
attacks.State television described all atomic sites in the area as
“fully safe.” The United Nations’s nuclear watchdog, the International
Atomic Energy Agency, also said “there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear
sites” after the incident.The IAEA “continues to call for extreme
restraint from everybody and reiterates that nuclear facilities should
never be a target in military conflicts,” the agency said.Iran’s nuclear
program has rapidly advanced to producing enriched uranium at nearly
weapons-grade levels since the collapse of its atomic deal with world
powers after then-US president Donald Trump withdrew America from the
accord in 2018.While Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes,
Western nations and the IAEA say Tehran operated a secret military
weapons program until 2003. The IAEA has warned that Iran now holds
enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons if it chose to
do so — though the US intelligence community maintains Tehran is not
actively seeking the bomb.Iran’s insistence that the strike was carried
out by drones and caused no damage, appeared to be part of an effort to
play down the severity of the attack.Iran has no plan for immediate
retaliation against Israel, a senior Iranian official said. The Iranian
official also cast doubt on whether Israel was behind the attack in
Isfahan, despite comments from some Israeli politicians practically
accepting responsibility.Together with a subdued response from official
Iranian media organs, the senior official’s comments indicated that
Tehran may be uninterested in risking war to make good on threats that
it would attack Israel should it retaliate for a weekend missile and
drone attack, and was seeking a way to avoid being held to the bellicose
promises.“The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed,”
the Iranian official said on condition of anonymity.“We have not
received any external attack, and the discussion leans more toward
infiltration than attack.”They added that Iran has no plan to strike
back immediately over the attack.In a speech, Iran’s President Ebrahim
Raisi hailed Tehran’s unprecedented retaliatory attack on Israel almost a
week ago, but made no mention of the latest blasts.That operation
“showed our authority, our people’s will of steel and our unity,” Raisi
told hundreds of people in Semnan province, east of Tehran.In most
official comments and news reports, there was no mention of Israel, and
state television carried analysts and pundits who appeared dismissive
about the scale.In Israel, authorities were officially mum, but a number
of politicians and former officials spoke out about the strike.National
Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a hardliner who had pushed for a
forceful response to Iran’s early Sunday attack, tweeted the single word
“lame!”A Channel 12 report claimed officials in Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s inner circle slammed Ben Gvir for damaging Israel’s
national security, saying the far-right minister “was and remains
childish and irrelevant to any discussion.”Opposition Leader Yair Lapid
also slammed Ben Gvir.“Never has a cabinet minister so badly hurt the
country’s security, image and international standing,” wrote Lapid on X.
“In an unforgivable, one-word tweet Ben Gvir managed to make Israel
into a laughing stock, disgracing it from Tehran to Washington.”The
Israeli response was thought to have been tempered by international
pressure to make sure that the reply did not further escalate
tensions.Israel has for years operated under a strategy of plausible
deniability regarding its attacks on Iranian interests in Syria,
declining to take responsibility or speak publicly about specific
sorties and giving Iran and its proxies an out to avoid retaliation.The
strategy has limits though. Israel has not taken responsibility for a
strike on Iran’s embassy in Damascus on April 1 that killed several
members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, including a top
officer. Nonetheless, Iran responded Sunday night by lobbing over 300
cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel.Nearly
the whole barrage was shot down by Israel, with help from the US, UK,
France and Jordan. A small Israeli girl who was the only victim in the
attack was badly injured by falling shrapnel; the targeted Nevatim air
base also suffered light damage, according to Israeli officials.
Israeli
warplanes said to take out radar installation in southern Syria-Attack
involving six fighter jets flying east over Daraa-Suweida area occurred
around same time as reported attack on Iran’s Isfahan, monitor says-By
AFP Today, 1:54 pm-APR 19,24
Israel allegedly carried out strikes
on a Syrian army position in the country’s south early Friday, Syria’s
government and a monitor said, as reports indicated that Jerusalem had
launched a retaliatory attack against an Iranian site in Isfahan.In a
statement, Syria’s defense ministry said “The Israeli enemy carried out
an attack using missiles… targeting our air defense sites in the
southern region” and causing material damage.The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights war monitor said Israel targeted an army radar position in
the southern province of Daraa that had detected the entry of Israeli
planes into Syria’s airspace.Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Britain-based
Observatory, claimed the strikes took place “at a time when the Israeli
air force was flying intensively over the Daraa region” without Syrian
air defenses taking any action.He said six Israeli fighter jets entered
Syria’s airspace and were flying east when they were spotted by the
radar. He said damage was caused, but it was unclear if there were any
casualties.The Israeli military has carried out hundreds of strikes in
Syria since the outbreak of a civil war in its northern neighbor in
2011, usually targeting Iran-backed fighters or weapons transfers.Rayan
Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government news website, said there
had been strikes on a Syrian army radar position in Sweida province,
without specifying their origin.Sweida neighbors Daraa in Syria’s far
south, near its border with Jordan. The area is directly west of
Isfahan, some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away, and east of Israel.The
strikes occurred as Israel appeared to launch a hotly awaited reprisal
against Iran, with Tehran saying its air defenses took out three drones.
Israeli and US officials confirmed to foreign news sites that Israel
was behind the attack, which was widely described as limited and meant
to keep the fighting from escalating.Israel warned it would hit back
after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles against Israel
overnight on April 13 in an unprecedented attack, which was retaliation
for a deadly strike on its Damascus consulate.There was no comment on
the alleged Syria strike from Israel, which generally refrains from
commenting on individual strikes.
AnalysisIsrael keeps its eye on
the bigger picture-With mild reported strike, Israel aims to bolster
coalition to tackle Iran nuke threat
Attack at Isfahan sends warning
to Iran, seeks to avoid escalation, reflects US calls for strategic
thinking, keeps intact the alliance that helped defend Israel on
Saturday-By David Horovitz-Today, 1:13 pm-APR 19,24
The United
States had implored Israel to think carefully and strategically when
weighing a response to the hundreds of missiles and drones Iran launched
at Israel overnight Saturday-Sunday.Amid the limited reliable
information emerging Friday about Israel’s reported retaliation,
insistent official silence in Jerusalem, and the military censor’s
requirement that any allegation and detailing of an Israeli retaliatory
strike be attributed to overseas media reports, it appeared that the
government had indeed taken that advice to heart.After days of
protracted war cabinet discussions, visits by foreign leaders urging
caution, and innumerable consultations with the United States, it would
appear that the reported Israeli response was far more symbolic than
damaging — designed to send messages, preserve alliances, avoid any
further escalation in the short term, and keep a focus on the strategic,
indeed existential, imperative of ensuring that the regime in Iran does
not attain a nuclear weapons capability.The response also appears to
have been designed with a greater government awareness than in recent
months of the central importance of Israel’s relationship with the
United States — and specifically with a Biden administration that
rallied to Israel’s defense on Saturday night, that is maintaining the
vital flow of military assistance for the war against Hamas and other
defense needs, and that a very few hours before the reported Israeli
strike single-handedly prevented UN recognition of Palestinian
statehood.The symbolism of the reported Israeli strike was unmistakable:
Five days after the sole Israeli military target hit by Iran’s direct
onslaught was the Nevatim Air Force Base, which sustained minor damage,
Israel is said to have targeted an Iranian military base at Isfahan.
According to the former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, the base in
question is a kind of Iranian “equivalent to Nevatim” — an air base,
used by combat aircraft and military transport planes, likely with air
defense systems.It is also, Yadlin noted in a television interview,
close to a major Iranian nuclear facility for uranium enrichment.
Several other military facilities are also located in the area.In terms
of practical consequence, the reported Israeli response, then, was
apparently no remote parallel to Iran’s attack, which would have caused
devastation were it not for the combination of US-led coalition forces
and Israel’s multiple layers of air defense. According to those foreign
reports we have to cite, it was also not launched directly from Israel
but rather carried out by a few drones launched from inside Iran.Israel,
the message of the Isfahan mini-strike would appear to say, not only
knows a great deal about Iran’s nuclear sites but can target them at
will-The choice of the Isfahan location would seem to constitute an
obvious counter to the kind of threats issued by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps’ nuclear commander, Ahmad Haghtalab, who
warned on Thursday that Iran might revise its nuclear doctrine were
Israel to strike its nuclear facilities, and asserted that Iran had all
the intelligence and capacities it needs to target Israel’s nuclear
capacities. Israel, the message of the Isfahan mini-strike would appear
to say, not only knows a great deal about Iran’s nuclear sites but can
target them at will, including with attacks launched from inside Iran’s
own territory.According to Yadlin, the overall goal was to convey to the
Iranians, “Pay attention; you are vulnerable.”The official silence in
Jerusalem gives Iran the potential to refrain from the “massive”
response it has been promising to even the tiniest Israeli retaliation.
Initially, at least, Iran would appear to be inclining in that
direction. After a very few hours of apparent initial domestic chaos,
Iran reopened its airports, clarified that it had not come under missile
attack, declared its air defense had thwarted a drone attack, and
asserted that no damage had been caused. A senior official was quoted
saying there was no sign of an external attack and no immediate plan for
retaliation against Israel.That could change in the coming hours and
days, of course. But Israel, too, apparently sees no immediate danger of
escalation, with no change to the current business-as-usual Home Front
command regulations.Characteristically, the only Israeli minister to
have alluded to the reported Israeli strike as of this writing was the
reliably irresponsible far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben
Gvir, who after Saturday night’s Iranian onslaught demanded that Israel
“go crazy” in response. He tweeted a single word on Friday morning, best
translated as “lame.”If Ben Gvir was indeed referring to the reported
Israeli retaliation, lame it certainly was, as far as we know right now,
by comparison to Iran’s unprecedented direct assault on Israel.But that
assault was almost completely thwarted by a US-led coalition of
European and regional states acting together with Israel in remarkable
coordination and effectiveness, after years of joint training.Iran’s
assault reminded the international community of the dangers posed by the
regime — not only to Israel, directly and via its proxies in Gaza,
Lebanon, Syria and beyond, but to the entire international community.And
it underlined the devastating threat posed to the entire international
community by this rapacious Islamic extremist regime in Tehran on its
march to nuclear weapons.The days since Iran’s attack have seen
international movement toward intensified sanctions against Tehran, and
toward the wider recognition of the IRGC as a terrorist organization —
positive steps, though hardly likely to have the ayatollahs quaking. But
Saturday night’s assault on Israel reminded the international community
of how unthinkable an Islamic Republic with nuclear warheads atop those
ballistic missiles would be, and just possibly will see the US-led
international coalition working more assiduously to tackle the
threat.The danger of escalation has not passed. Indeed, fighting across
the northern border has intensified over the past week, with Hezbollah
stepping up its attacks, and Israel responding. (A single Hezbollah
drone strike on Wednesday, which injured 18 people, several of them
seriously, underlined the vast harm those Iranian projectiles would have
caused were it not for the array of defenses.) Israel also hit targets
in Syria overnight. Iran could yet choose to hit back at Israel
indirectly, or at Israeli or Israeli-linked targets overseas. Again,
these are the initial hours after yet another development in the
endlessly fraught post-October 7 reality.But by striking back at Iran in
the way it reportedly did, Jerusalem apparently sought to underline the
message that Tehran is vulnerable, and to respond to Saturday night
without prompting wider conflict and without alienating the new
coalition, the better to galvanize international support for tackling
the paramount Iranian nuclear threat.In recent years, it has often
seemed as though Israel was destined to have to try alone to thwart the
ayatollahs’ march to the bomb. After Saturday night, that may no longer
be the case. And what Israel did or didn’t do in the past few hours was
evidently designed to maintain the possibility of concerted action.
IN
Friday speech, Raisi makes no mention of latest blasts-Iran says no
retaliation planned, as both sides seek distance from Isfahan attack
Ben
Gvir tweets alleged reprisal was ‘lame,’ drawing complaints of
endangering security by revealing origin of strike, even as Iran
indicates it will look the other way-By ToI Staff and Agencies Today,
12:24 pm-APR 19,24
Iran has no plan for immediate retaliation
against Israel, a senior Iranian official said Friday, as officials in
Jerusalem indicated that an alleged drone attack on a city south of
Tehran was meant to send a signal rather than cause damage.The Iranian
official also cast doubt on whether Israel was behind the attack in
Isfahan, despite comments from some Israeli politicians practically
accepting responsibility. Together with a subdued response from official
Iranian media organs, the senior official’s comments indicated that
Tehran may be uninterested in risking war to make good on threats that
it would attack Israel should it retaliate for a weekend missile and
drone attack, and was seeking a way to avoid being held to the bellicose
promises.“The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed,”
the Iranian official said on condition of anonymity.“We have not
received any external attack, and the discussion leans more toward
infiltration than attack.”They added that Iran has no plan to strike
back immediately over the attack.In a speech, Iran’s President Ebrahim
Raisi hailed Tehran’s unprecedented retaliatory attack on Israel almost a
week ago, but made no mention of the latest blasts.That operation
“showed our authority, our people’s will of steel and our unity,” Raisi
told hundreds of people in Semnan province, east of Tehran.In most
official comments and news reports, there was no mention of Israel and
state television carried analysts and pundits who appeared dismissive
about the scale.Shortly after midnight, “three drones were observed in
the sky over Isfahan. The air defense system became active and destroyed
these drones in the sky,” Iranian state TV said.Senior army commander
Siavosh Mihandoust was quoted by state TV as saying air defense systems
had targeted a “suspicious object.” He said there had been no damage
from the attack.An analyst told state TV that mini drones flown by
“infiltrators from inside Iran” had been shot down by air defenses in
Isfahan.In Israel, authorities were officially mum, but a number of
politicians and former officials spoke out about the strike.National
Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a hardliner who had pushed for a
forceful response to Iran’s early Sunday attack, tweeted the single word
“lame!”A Channel 12 report claimed officials in Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s inner circle slammed Ben Gvir for damaging Israel’s
national security, saying the far-right minister “was and remains
childish and irrelevant to any discussion.”Opposition Leader Yair Lapid
also slammed Ben Gvir.“Never has a cabinet minister so badly hurt the
country’s security, image and international standing,” wrote Lapid on X.
“In an unforgivable, one-word tweet Ben Gvir managed to make Israel
into a laughing stock, disgracing it from Tehran to Washington.”
According to the Washington Post, citing an Israeli official, the strike
had been intended to signal to Iran that Israel has the ability to
reach Iran with its weapons.“It’s important Iran understand that when it
acts against us, we have the ability to strike any point and we can do
enormous damage – we have a capable air force and the US on our side,”
former national security adviser Eyal Hulata told Army Radio.The Israeli
response was thought to have been tempered by international pressure to
make sure that the reply did not further escalate tensions.“Nobody
wants war with Iran right now,” Netanyahu confidant Natan Eshel was
quoted saying by journalist Ben Caspit. “We proved to them that we can
infiltrate and strike within their borders and they weren’t able to
inside ours. The messages are more important than the grandstanding. We
currently have more important tasks both in Gaza and Lebanon.”Like
fellow firebrand Ben Gvir, Likud MK Tally Gotliv also appeared to spill
the beans over the attack.In a post on X, she said early Friday was “a
morning to proudly hold our head up high. Israel is a strong and
powerful country.” She added a prayer for the return of Israel’s “power
of deterrence.”Some politicians expressed annoyance at the comments,
despite several unnamed Israeli and US officials telling foreign press
outlets that Israel was behind the attack.Israel has for years operated
under a strategy of plausible deniability regarding its attacks on
Iranian interests in Syria, declining to take responsibility or speak
publicly about specific sorties and giving Iran and its proxies an out
to avoid retaliation.The strategy has limits though. Israel has not
taken responsibility for a strike on Iran’s embassy in Damascus on April
1 that killed several members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp,
including a top officer. Nonetheless, Iran responded Sunday night by
lobbing over 300 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and armed drones at
Israel.Nearly the whole barrage was shot down by Israel, with help from
the US, UK, France and Jordan. A small Israeli girl who was the only
victim in the attack was badly injured by falling shrapnel; the targeted
Nevatim air base also suffered light damage, according to Israeli
officials.“It’s good for us that the Iranians are telling this
narrative, that it was drones, birds, just a field outside of Isfahan,”
Zvika Haimovitch, a former commander of the IDF air defense array, told
Channel 12. He said both countries were allowing each other “room for
cover and denial,” which would enable the situation to de-escalate.“It’s
too early to say that it’s over,” former national security adviser
Ephraim Halevy told Army Radio. “But there’s a difference between the
Iranian attack and the Israeli response which is intended to send a
message and not result in widespread and significant [damage].”However,
CNN quoted a regional intelligence source as saying that direct
state-to-state strikes between Israel and Iran were “over,” and assessed
that Iran would not respond.
Military air base at Isfahan said
targeted in drone strike-Iranian air base reportedly attacked in
‘limited’ Israeli reprisal strike-Iran downplays apparent retaliation
and Israel keeps mum in sign both sides are looking to climb back from
brink of war following international pressure for restraint-By ToI Staff
and Agencies Today, 8:17 am-APR 19,24
Explosions were heard near
the Iranian city of Isfahan early Friday as Israel reportedly launched a
heavily anticipated reprisal strike for an Iranian attack on Israel
days earlier, defying international pressure to stand down.There was no
official confirmation of a strike from Israeli authorities; state-run
media in Iran reported only that air defenses were activated,
downplaying claims of an attack on a military site in the city some 315
kilometers (196 miles) south of Tehran and describing the incident as
business-as-usual.But unnamed Israeli and American officials told US
news outlets that Israel had carried out a strike. And the New York
Times said three Iranian sources confirmed that a military air base in
Isfahan had been struck. The scope of the damage was not clear.The
apparently limited nature of the strike, reportedly carried out with
drones rather than missiles or airstrikes, and the lack of official
acknowledgment will likely give the regime in Iran the strategic
deniability needed to wriggle out of its bellicose threats to attack
Israel a second time, providing an early indication that both Israel and
Iran may be seeking to step back from the brink of war.The attack had
been widely expected, with Israel providing indications throughout the
week that it would not let an unprecedented Iranian barrage of over 300
ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones early Sunday pass without
a response, leading to fears of spiraling tit-for-tat attacks giving
way to all-out war.However, there were also indications that the Israel
Defense Forces had moderated its attack plans in response to
international pressure for restraint.National Security Minister Itamar
Ben Gvir a hardliner who has pushed for wide military action against
Iran, commented on X with a simple “lame.”Iranian state TV said that
shortly after midnight “three drones were observed in the sky over
Isfahan. The air defense system became active and destroyed these drones
in the sky.”The broadcaster later said the situation in Isfahan was
normal and no ground explosions had occurred. Iranian officials
initially grounded flights and cleared its airspace, but lifted
restrictions on flights later Friday morning.Gen. Siavosh Mihandoost, a
local army commander, told state TV the incident caused “no damage”
around Isfahan.An Iranian analyst told state TV that the mini drones
shot down by air defenses in Isfahan were flown by “infiltrators from
inside Iran.”One source told Reuters the US was not involved but was
notified by Israel before the attack.According to CNN, quoting a senior
US official, Israel told the US the attack was not targeting Iranian
nuclear facilities. Both CNN and Fox News quoted officials describing
the attack as “limited.”An Israeli source was quoted telling the
Washington Post that the attack was meant to serve as a warning that
Israel’s military has the ability to reach Iran.Israel’s Home Front
Command said there were no special instructions for staying near bomb
shelters, indicating no Iranian response was expected.Isfahan is home to
sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground
Natanz enrichment site, which has been repeatedly targeted by suspected
Israeli sabotage attacks.State television described all sites in the
area as “fully safe.”Tasnim later published a video from one of its
reporters, who said he was in the southeastern Zerdenjan area of
Isfahan, near its “nuclear energy mountain.” The footage showed two
different anti-aircraft gun positions, and details of the video
corresponded with known features of the site of Iran’s Uranium
Conversion Facility at Isfahan.“At 4:45, we heard gunshots. There was
nothing going on,” he said. “It was the air defense, these guys that
you’re watching, and over there too.”The facility at Isfahan operates
three small Chinese-supplied research reactors, as well as handling fuel
production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear program.The
air base in Isfahan has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14
Tomcats — purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Iranian
President Ebrahim Raisi had warned Israel before Friday’s strike that
Tehran would deliver a “severe response” to any attack on its
territory.Iran told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that
Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism
against our interests” as the UN secretary-general warned that the
Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”Alongside the strike in
Iran, Israel was also accused of carrying out an attack overnight on a
Syrian military radar installation in the south of the country.
What
Matters Now to Mideast analyst Avi Issacharoff: Iran can have nukes in 6
months-Seasoned journalist and ‘Fauda’ co-creator spells out how
nuclear Iran must be treated as Israel’s prime existential threat, even
as the Jewish state fights on many fronts
By Amanda Borschel-Dan-Today, 9:47 am-APR 19,24
Welcome
to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently
shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda
Borschel-Dan.In a post-October 7 Israeli reality, is any new security
threat outside the realm of imagination? This week, when over 300
projectiles were fired by Iran at Israel, we pose this question to
journalist and co-creator of the hit Israeli drama “Fauda” Avi
Issacharoff.Legions of fans around the world know of Issacharoff’s
storytelling from the popular television series — loosely based on his
experiences in the IDF’s elite Duvdevan unit — which he writes with
“Fauda” star Lior Raz. (We’ll hear a story of their post-October 7
real-life bravery during our conversation.) But Issacharoff is first and
foremost a long-time, diehard journalist and analyst of the Arab world —
one who has put his life on the line in the past to cover a story.We
pick Issacharoff’s brain as we unpick the knotty situation Israel is
currently facing with enemies on our borders, and Iran as a puppetmaster
who is coming increasingly closer to a nuclear bomb.So this week, we
ask journalist Avi Issacharoff, What Matters Now.
French police
detain man claiming to wear explosive vest at Iran consulate in
Paris-Iranian man allegedly wears vest containing three fake grenades,
previously convicted for setting fire to tires in front embassy entrance
in 2023-By Julia Pavesi Today, 9:22 pm-APR 19,24
PARIS, France
(AFP) — French authorities Friday detained a man suspected of entering
the Iranian consulate in Paris and falsely claiming to be armed with an
explosive vest, police and prosecutors said.No explosives or arms were
found on the man or the premises after he surrendered to police
following the incident.The man, born in 1963 in Iran, had already been
convicted for setting fire to tires in front of the entrance of the
Iranian embassy in Paris in 2023, the Paris prosecutor’s office
said.Police arrested the suspect, who has not been named, when he exited
of his own accord after appearing to have “threatened violent action”
inside, it said.But “no explosive materials have been observed at this
stage,” either on him, in his car or in the building.According to a
police source, who asked not to be named, he was wearing a vest with
large pockets containing three fake grenades.Police earlier told AFP
that the consulate called in law enforcement after a witness saw “a man
enter carrying a grenade or an explosive belt.”An AFP journalist said
the whole neighborhood around the consulate in the capital’s 16th
district had been closed off and a heavy police presence was in
place.Traffic was temporarily suspended on two metro lines that pass
through stops close to the consulate, Paris transport company RATP
said.Iran’s embassy and consulate in the French capital share the same
building, but have two different entrances on separate streets.The
incident came with tensions running high in the Middle East as Israel
reportedly launched a heavily anticipated reprisal strike overnight for
an Iranian attack on Israel days earlier, defying international pressure
to stand down.There was however no suggestion of any link.Facing
court-The office of the Paris prosecutor confirmed that the same man was
due to appear in court on Monday over a fire at the diplomatic mission
in September 2023.A lower court had handed him an eight-month suspended
sentence and prohibited him from entering the area around the consulate
for two years and carrying weapons.But he is appealing the verdict.At
the time, the man had claimed the action as an act of opposition to
Iran’s clerical authorities as they faced the “Woman. Life. Freedom.”
nationwide protests.Reports said that the man left Iran in the wake of
the 1979 Islamic revolution and has expressed sympathy towards the
former imperial regime.France raised its national security alert to its
maximum level following an attack on a concert venue in Moscow on March
22, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.The
incident at the Iranian consulate prompted the Paris embassy of the
United States, Iran’s arch-foe, to issue a security alert for its
citizens.“Americans are advised to avoid the area and follow
instructions from local authorities,” it said.Times of Israel staff
contributed to this report.
3 ships in initial flotilla with aid,
thousands of passengers-Israel braces for ‘Freedom Flotilla’ set to
sail from Turkey to Gaza-TV report says Israeli officials hope departure
of convoy that aims to break Israeli blockade of Hamas-run enclave will
be indefinitely postponed, after several delays already-By ToI Staff
and Reuters Today, 4:00 am-APR 19,24
Security officials in Israel
have been preparing for the arrival of the first ships from the
so-called Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is expected to depart Turkey
in the coming days in an attempt to reach the shores of Gaza and
disrupt maritime trade amid Israel’s war with Hamas.The effort to reach
Gaza in ships carrying hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid is being
spearheaded by the Turkish IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which is
attempting to break the naval blockade maintained by Israel on Gaza to
prevent the Hamas terror group from rearming itself.The initial flotilla
will comprise three ships, two of which will hold humanitarian aid
while the third will carry thousands of passengers including aid workers
and press members, according to Reuters. At a later stage, additional
ships will depart from elsewhere in the region to join them and expand
the flotilla, the IHH said in a statement published online.The purpose
of the flotilla is to “put the genocide in Gaza firmly on the agenda of
international decision-makers and states, and to create a strong
initiative to end the Israeli aggression and lift the embargo on the
territory,” the organization stated.In addition to the IHH, groups based
in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand were also among those set to participate in the upcoming
flotilla.According to an unsourced report Thursday evening from Channel
12 news, Israeli officials hope the flotilla, which has already been
delayed several times, will be postponed indefinitely.Speaking to
Reuters on Thursday, human rights lawyer and pro-Palestinian activist
Huwaida Arraf said she was joining the flotilla “to attempt to deliver
this aid and to directly challenge the siege in hopes of breaking
it.”“We understand that Israel might attack us… With all eyes on our
ships, we hope that Israel will decide not to. But if they do, again,
people on board will be trained in nonviolent resistance,” said Arraf, a
Palestinian-American.The planned departure of the flotilla comes almost
14 years after a similar mission organized by IHH, which Israel has
designated a terror group.In May 2010, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla tried
to breach the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip but was intercepted by
the Israeli Navy. After the convoy refused Israeli Navy orders to
reroute to Ashdod, Israeli commandos boarded one of the ships, the Mavi
Marmara, which was carrying over 600 passengers. After being met with
violent resistance, the commandos opened fire and killed 10 Turkish
activists. Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded during the attack.The
diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey that ensued after the Mavi
Marmara incident was only solved in 2016, when Jerusalem agreed to pay
$20 million in compensation to the families of the victims and to allow
Turkish aid into Gaza – and in return, Istanbul agreed not to hold any
individual Israeli nationals criminally or financially liable for the
incident.The blockade on Gaza was imposed by Israel in 2007, shortly
after Hamas took control of the coastal enclave, and enforced in
cooperation with neighboring Egypt to prevent the terror group from
rearming and becoming an even greater menace after it repeatedly
declared its intention to destroy Israel.Despite the blockade, Hamas
managed to acquire weaponry and funding, thanks mainly to Iranian and
Qatari support, and to fire rockets at Israeli towns and cities on a
regular basis, causing skirmishes which on repeated occasions escalated
into protracted conflict.Hamas’s attacks on Israel culminated in its
October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, when Hamas-led terrorists burst
through the border and killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians,
rampaging through communities in southern Israel and mowing down
partygoers at a music festival. The terrorists also kidnapped some 253
people to Gaza, where around 129 are still held hostage.
We’re
not like the Nazis’: Netanyahu said to chide German FM on Gaza ‘famine’
remark-Heated exchange reportedly occurs after Annalena Baerbock charges
Israel pushing Gaza toward starvation; Germany complains about
‘distorted’ leaks-By ToI Staff Today, 7:47 pm-APR 19,24
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly bickered with Germany’s foreign
minister regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with
the premier telling her, “We’re not like the Nazis.”The Wednesday
conversation apparently turned contentious when German Federal Minister
for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock asserted that Israel was “driving
Gaza toward famine.”In the exchange reported by Channel 13, Baerbock
offered to show Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer
“photos of hungry [Gazan] children on my phone.” Netanyahu responded to
the gesture, telling the German official, “Come and see the pictures of
the markets in Gaza, the beaches in Gaza, there’s no famine there.”The
report came amid photos circulating on social media showing stocked
market stalls and Gazans enjoying a hot day on the beach, after the
Israel Defense Forces withdrew all of its maneuvering ground forces from
the Strip two weeks ago, prompting displaced Palestinians to attempt to
return to their homes.Baerbock reportedly recommended that Israel stop
circulating the photos of life supposedly returning to normal in the
Palestinian enclave “as they don’t portray the real situation in Gaza.
There is hunger in Gaza.”At this point, Netanyahu was said to have
raised his voice and insisted conditions in Gaza were improving: “It’s
real. It’s reality. It’s not like what the Nazis staged, we’re not like
the Nazis who produced fake images of a manufactured reality.”Netanyahu
was likely referring to the Theresienstadt “model” ghetto set up by the
Nazis during World War Two to deceive international observers as to the
conditions Jews were living in.According to the Channel 13 report, the
German foreign minister responded, “Are you saying that our doctors in
the field in Gaza aren’t telling the truth? Are you saying that the
international media is lying?”On Friday, Germany said it complained to
Netanyahu’s staff after what it described as a “distorted” account of a
row was leaked to the press.Asked about the report after a G7 foreign
ministers’ meeting on the Italian island of Capri, Baerbock said that
“we are not reporting on confidential discussions.”“The German
ambassador was in contact with the prime minister’s staff and made it
clear what we think of such distorting publications,” she said. “Regret
was expressed to us regarding the publication, whose source is unclear.”
Germany’s ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert tweeted that “key
points” in the media accounts were“wrong and misleading,” but did not
specify what was the issue.Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary David
Cameron arrived in Israel on Tuesday in the wake of Iran’s unprecedented
attack on Israel overnight Saturday-Sunday, in which it launched some
350 attack drones and missiles at the country.Germany urged Israel to
show restraint in the aftermath of the attack, warning that any
additional direct hostilities with Iran could send the Middle East
spiraling into an all-out war.“Everyone must now act prudently and
responsibly,” Baerbock said after meeting with Netanyahu and other
Israeli officials before departing Israel for a Group of Seven meeting
that she said would discuss Iran sanctions.“A spiraling escalation would
serve no one, not Israel’s security, not the many dozens of hostages
still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not
the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime,
and not the third countries in the region who simply want to live in
peace,” she continued.During a Wednesday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told
the members that both Baerbock and Cameron had “all kinds of
suggestions and advice.” While it was appreciated, Israel would
nevertheless “make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do
everything necessary to defend itself.”Netanyahu’s office said earlier
that during his meetings with the German and British foreign ministers,
the prime minister “reiterated that Israel would maintain its right to
self-defense.”The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre,
when Hamas-led terrorists burst through the border and killed some 1,200
people, most of them civilians, rampaging through communities in
southern Israel and mowing down partygoers at a music festival. The
terrorists also kidnapped some 253 people to Gaza, where around 129 are
still held hostage.Agencies contributed to this report.
IDF: 4
soldiers hurt, several Palestinian gunmen killed in West Bank
raid-Palestinians say top Islamic Jihad terrorists among those killed in
clashes with soldiers in Nur Shams; army bulldozers rip up roads to
search for bombs-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 4:32 pm-APR 19,24
Several
Palestinian gunmen were killed and four soldiers were wounded during a
counter-terrorism raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp, close
to Tulkarem, the military said Friday afternoon. Palestinian media said a
senior Islamic Jihad terrorists was among the dead.The Israel Defense
Forces said its troops and Border Police officers raided Nur Shams
overnight, during which several wanted Palestinians were detained,
explosive devices were discovered, and several gunmen were killed in
clashes throughout the morning. Palestinian media outlets report that a
senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Muhammad Jaber, known as Abu
Shuja’a, was killed in the raid.He was the commander of PIJ’s local wing
in Tulkarem, the reports said.The reports also named a second person
killed, identifying him as as 30-year-old Salim Ghannam. At least on
other person was injured.The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah
also said that a Qais Fathi Nasrallah, 16, was killed. The official
Palestinian news agency Wafa said he died after being “shot in the head
by Israeli live gunfire.” It was unclear when he actually died.The army
said it scanned buildings and used bulldozers to rip up roads where
bombs were suspected to have been planted.An officer of the Marom
Brigade and a soldier of the brigade’s elite LOTAR unit were moderately
injured, and two soldiers of the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance
unit were lightly hurt amid the operation, the IDF said.Tensions in
Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists
burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing
at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seizing 253
hostages.Since October 7, Israeli troops have arrested some 3,850 wanted
Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,650 affiliated
with Hamas, according to the IDF.The Palestinian Authority health
ministry has said more than 450 West Bank Palestinians have been killed
in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen or
terrorists carrying out attacks.
Lame!’: Ben Gvir slammed for
hinting Israel behind overnight strike in Iran-‘Childish’ far-right
minister appears to criticize strike as weak even as Jerusalem, Tehran
mum on Israeli connection; Lapid: ‘Unforgivable’ tweet disgraces
country, harms security-By AFP and ToI Staff Today, 4:11 pm-APR 19,24
National
Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir came under severe criticism and
accusations of harming Israel’s strategy against Iran after he suggested
Jerusalem was behind blasts that rocked an Iranian base on
Friday.Iran’s state media reported that there were explosions in the
central province of Isfahan, while a section of US media quoting
American officials reported Israel had carried out “limited” retaliatory
strikes targeting a military site in the city.When contacted by AFP,
neither the Israeli military nor the government offered comments on the
blasts.But Ben Gvir, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
ruling coalition, wrote “Lame!” on X, using Hebrew slang, a suggestion
Israel was behind the blasts, but its actions were weak.The comment from
the far-right warhawk swiftly sparked anger from political allies and
foes, as well as chuckles from Iran.“Never before has a minister done
such heavy damage to the country’s security, its image, and its
international status,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid wrote on X, formerly
Twitter.“In an unforgivable tweet of one word, Ben Gvir managed to
sneer and shame Israel from Tehran to Washington.”Unnamed government
officials close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were quoted by
Channel 12 news calling the far-right minister “childish and irrelevant
to any discussion.” They accused him of wreaking extensive damage on
Israel’s national security.The Israeli military has been known to
decline to take responsibility for some sensitive operations abroad,
including airstrikes, part of a strategy meant to avoid forcing the
aggrieved party to feel as if it has to strike back to save face. Iran’s
downplaying of the incident, with some casting doubt on Israel being
responsible and indications it would not retaliate, came in stark
contrast to strident threats from Iranian officials of an immediate
reprisal should Israel attack Iran.Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an academic and
host of a podcast on geopolitics, said that Ben Gvir “confirms the
Israeli operation and ridicules it.”“By doing so he undermines Israel’s
power of deterrence. An absolute disgrace for a minister,” he wrote on
X.Iran’s Tasnim news agency, which has downplayed the attack along with
the rest of Iran’s state-controlled media, referenced Ben Gvir’s post in
a tweet, commenting that Israel was mocking itself.Israel had
previously warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of
missiles and drones at Israel almost a week ago, in retaliation for a
deadly strike on April 1 — which Tehran blamed on its foe — that leveled
Iran’s consular annex at its embassy in Syria.Fears of a major regional
spillover from the Gaza war have since soared.
Blinken: US not
involved in any offensive op, seeks de-escalation-Global community urges
Israel, Iran to keep a lid on tensions after reported strike-Italian
leader says US warned ‘at last minute,’ as Washington clarifies it had
nothing to do with alleged retaliation; indications tit-for-tat over do
little to mute calls for restraint-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 4:06
pm-APR 19,24
The United States sought to distance itself from a
reported Israeli retaliation against an air base in central Iran Friday,
denying involvement and apparently telling partners that it was only
warned about the attack at the last moment.With Iran downplaying the
“limited” drone strike, fears that Israel’s reprisal would lead to
escalating fighting began to fade, even as the international community
continued to make impassioned pleas for restraint and calm.The US was
“not involved in any offensive operation” on Iranian soil, Washington’s
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a press conference at the end of a
Group of Seven summit of foreign ministers on the Italian island of
Capri.Blinken added that the US was committed to Israel’s security.
Asked whether Washington was alerted ahead of time of the reported
Israeli attack, Blinken answered: “I’m not going to speak to these
reported events… All I can say is for our part, and for all the members
of the G7, our focus is on de-escalation.”Italian Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani, whose country holds the international forum’s rotating
presidency, had earlier said that the US was alerted of the attack
shortly before it happened.Tajani said the US informed the G7 ministers
that it had been “informed at the last minute” by Israel about the
drones.“But there was no sharing of the attack by the US. It was a mere
information,” he added.“We invite everyone to be cautious to avoid an
escalation,” Tajani also told Italy’s state-run RAI news agency.A
statement issued by G7 ministers at the end of the three-day summit
Friday “urge[d] all parties to work to prevent further escalation. The
G7 will continue to work to this end.”Israel has remained silent on the
reported attack on an airbase near Isfahan early Friday, and Iran has
said explosions reported overnight were from anti-aircraft fire
successfully fending off an assault by three small drones.Nuclear
facilities in Isfahan were “completely secure” following the attack,
according to a report from Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. The
International Atomic Energy Agency, which urged “extreme restraint from
everybody,” later confirmed that no nuclear facility was hurt, adding
they “should never be a target in military conflicts.”IAEA chief Rafael
Grossi had said Monday that Iran had closed its nuclear installations
for security reasons.Iran has not publicly blamed Israel for the attack,
in an ostensible effort to downplay the significance of the attack.The
decades-long shadow war between Israel and Iran burst into the open over
the weekend when Iran retaliated for an alleged Israeli airstrike on
April 1 that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members,
including two generals, near the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital
of Damascus. Iran’s drones and missiles were almost entirely intercepted
by Israel and other countries, though a 7-year-old Bedouin girl was
severely injured in the attack.British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose
country’s air force helped Israel fend off Iran’s weekend assault, said
Friday he would not speculate on reports Israel had carried out an
attack on Iranian soil.“It’s a developing situation, it wouldn’t be
right for me to speculate until the facts become clearer and we’re
working to confirm the details together with allies,” Sunak said after a
speech in central London.“Significant escalation is not in anyone’s
interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region,”
he added.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on
Friday that “it is high time to stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation
in the Middle East,” his spokesperson said in a statement.“The
Secretary-General condemns any act of retaliation and appeals to the
international community to work together to prevent any further
development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire
region and beyond,” Stephane Dujarric said.European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen called on Iran, Israel and their allies to refrain
from escalation in the Middle East.“It is absolutely necessary that the
region remains stable and that all sides restrain from further action,”
von der Leyen said, speaking alongside Finnish Prime Minister Petteri
Orpo near the Finnish-Russian border.“De-escalation remains the order of
the day in the near future. And we will also talk about this with all
our friends and allies, and work together with them in this direction,”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters on Friday.Middle Eastern
governments were similarly wary of heightened tensions in the
region.“Regional escalation is a danger that must be prevented. We
condemn all actions that lead to a regional war,” wrote Jordanian
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on X, adding: “The Israeli-Iranian
escalation must stop, and efforts must remain and focus on ending the
brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza.”Egypt’s foreign ministry said it was
“deeply concerned” about an escalation of hostilities between Israel and
Iran. The Emirati foreign ministry similarly called on all sides to
show “utmost restraint.”Oman, which has long mediated between Tehran and
the West, condemned what it referred to as the “Israeli attack” on Iran
on Friday.Oman “condemns the Israeli attack this morning on Isfahan… it
also condemns and denounces Israel’s repeated military attacks in the
region,” said a foreign ministry statement released on X, formerly
Twitter.Superpowers aligned with Iran joined in the international
de-escalation chorus.“We continue to favor restraint on the sides and to
refrain from any action that could provoke further escalation in such a
sensitive region,” Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.The
Kremlin has made clear to Israel that Iran “does not want escalation,”
Moscow’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said later in an interview with
Russian radio stations.“There have been telephone contacts between the
leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. We
made it very clear in these conversations, we told the Israelis that
Iran does not want escalation,” said Lavrov.The Russian government,
which has grown harshly critical of Israel during the war in Gaza,
relies on Iranian-made drones in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.China,
Iran’s biggest trade partner, said Friday that it will “continue to play
a constructive role to de-escalate” tensions in the Middle East after
Iranian media reported explosions heard near the city of Isfahan and US
media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes
on its arch-rival.“China opposes any actions that further escalate
tensions and will continue to play a constructive role to de-escalate
the situation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian
said.After the alleged Israeli attack on Iran, China’s embassy in the
Islamic Republic implored Chinese citizens in Iran to remain alert.“[We]
remind Chinese citizens and companies in Iran to take precautions over
security risks, pay close attention to the development of the situation
and ensure personal safety,” the embassy said in a statement on social
media.China is a close partner of Iran and a top buyer of its sanctioned
oil. The US has repeatedly made public appeals for China to use its
influence over Tehran to manage tensions in the region, which are
currently turbocharged over the Israel-Hamas conflict, triggered by
Hamas’s shock October 7 assault on southern Israel in which 1,200 people
were killed, mainly civilians, and over 250 were abducted.Meanwhile,
the Hamas terror group said Israel’s “aggression” on Iran is an
escalation against the region.Hamas is part of the Iran-led “Axis of
Resistance,” along with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and groups in Syria and
Iraq.Global markets dampened after news broke of Israel’s purported
attack in Iran, with investors flocking to safe assets amid fears the
Israel-Iran tensions could wreak havoc on the global economy.
Hostage
families block Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway; CIA chief blames Hamas for
deadlock-Burns says Hamas ‘standing in the way of’ Gazans getting the
aid they need; official says IDF strike that killed Haniyeh’s sons,
grandchildren led terror group to harden demands
By Jacob Magid,ToI Staff and Agencies 20 April 2024, 12:20 am
Dozens
of relatives of the Gaza hostages along with their supporters blocked
off the main highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Friday,
protesting government inaction in returning the abductees.The
demonstrators burned barrels set up in the middle of the highway and
held up signs with pictures of their loved ones, calling on Israel to do
more to reach an elusive deal.Police and firefighters then moved in to
disperse the demonstrators and douse the flames.While the demonstrators
placed the onus on the Israeli government, CIA chief Bill Burns in a
rare public comment placed the blame on Hamas for the deadlocked
negotiations, saying the terror group had rejected the latest
proposal.“It was a deep disappointment to get a negative reaction from
Hamas,” Burns said at an event at the George W. Bush Presidential Center
in Dallas.“Right now, it’s that negative reaction that really is
standing in the way of innocent civilians in Gaza getting humanitarian
relief that they so desperately need,” he said.Burns said he could not
guarantee that the talks will succeed.“And it breaks your heart because
you can see in very human terms what’s at stake here as well,” he
said.The recent proposal was widely reported to offer a temporary
ceasefire of at least several weeks in return for the release of dozens
of hostages. Israel would also set free hundreds of Palestinian security
prisoners held in its jails alongside enabling a boost in aid to Gaza,
where a humanitarian crisis has ballooned amid the fighting.However, the
aftermath of an Israeli strike last week killing three of Hamas leader
Ismail Haniyeh’s children and four of his grandchildren was said to have
contributed to the ongoing deadlock in negotiations, a senior Arab
official told The Times of Israel.The strike came at a critical point in
the negotiations before Hamas was slated to provide its response to the
latest proposal, the senior Arab official said, noting that the terror
group went on to subsequently harden its demands.Talks also faced a
further setback this week as Qatar said it was seeking to reassess its
role as a mediator between the two sides amid harsh criticism.Qatar,
with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of
behind-the-scenes talks to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of
Israeli hostages — kidnapped by Hamas during its October 7 massacre — in
exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.In addition to
Hamas spurning the latest deal, criticism of Qatar’s handling of the
negotiations made by a number of Democratic and Republican US lawmakers
contributed to their re-evaluation of its role entirely, according to
the same Arab official.Firefighters douse burning barrels with water
after relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since
the October 7 attacks blocked the Ayalon highway between Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem near Latrun, during a protest calling for their release on
April 19, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)-While clarifying that the majority
of Qatar’s frustration was directed at the Israeli government, which has
led to much of the criticism against Doha, Qatari officials noted that
recent remarks from Congress members also played a part in the decision
to re-evaluate the mediation role.A senior Democratic lawmaker,
Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, called earlier this week for the
US to re-evaluate its ties to Qatar should Doha fail to pressure Hamas
in the negotiations, and a group of Republican lawmakers submitted
legislation aimed at stripping Doha of its coveted status as a major
non-NATO ally.Qatar asserted that it is merely a mediator without the
ability to pressure the sides and that only Israel and Hamas were
responsible for whether or not an agreement is reached. The Gulf state
is a longtime backer of Hamas and hosts its leaders.In announcing its
decision to re-evaluate its role as a mediator, Qatar’s prime minister
did not provide a timeline, though some analysts speculated that Doha
was unlikely to abandon its position.More than six months after Hamas’s
onslaught, 129 hostages kidnapped from Israel are believed to remain in
Gaza, with at least 34 of them confirmed dead, out of the 253 captured
on October 7. Their families have grown increasingly desperate, holding
months of rallies demanding that the government reach a deal to secure
their release.A weeklong truce deal reached in late November saw 105
hostages freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian security prisoners. Three
hostages have been rescued alive by the IDF, four were released prior
to the deal and the bodies of 12 hostages have been recovered by troops
from Gaza.
SINCE THE RAPTURE OCCURS BEFORE THE FUTURE 7 YR TREATY IS SIGNED, I WONT BE AROUND TO HAVE THE ACTUAL TREATY SIGNING. BUT UNTIL THEN THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO THE BEGININGS OF THE ISRAELI / ARAB PEACE PROCESS. AND AS CLOSE TO THE 7 YEAR SIGNING THAT WE GET BEFORE THE RAPTURE OF THE SAVED TO HEAVEN. UNTIL WE MEET JESUS IN THE CLOUDS BODILY, AND COME TO EARTH 7 YRS LATER.
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