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)
SOLAR
STORM CAUSES NORTHERN LIGHTS (LOOK OUT EARTH WORSHIPPERS) THIS SHOULD
START HEATING THE SUN BIGTIME NOW.NOT CAUSED BY HUMANS.GODS JUDGEMENT ON
SINNERS.
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.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS
SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3
PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD
IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven,
and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I
will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about
thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in
fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When I
shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their
destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase
the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 So will I
send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED
THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and
they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through
thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have
spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out
from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to
him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully
ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of
the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the
city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the
horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200
MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold,
the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a
whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of
fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens
behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination,
and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I
know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather
all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21
For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS
COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed
one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall
not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of
her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his
fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the
fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of
the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are
open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed
like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it;
and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass
in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that
are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they
shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and
shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be
visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed,
when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and
before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say
to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour
every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall
not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC
BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water
thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be
prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of
the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD
DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM
NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a
great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is
done.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
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)
IDF unleashes wave of strikes
on southern Lebanon-Hezbollah fires barrage of rockets at Kiryat
Shmona, causing blazes, property damage
Military says out of 35
rockets launched, 15 downed by Iron Dome; terror group says salvo in
response to killing of technician, rescue worker for Hezbollah ally
By Emanuel Fabian-and AFP Today, 10:34 pm-MAY 10,24
Hezbollah
fired a barrage of 35 rockets from Lebanon at the northern city of
Kiryat Shmona sparking fires in the surrounding areas Friday, while the
military responded with a wave of strikes on the terror group’s
positions.The military said around 15 of the projectiles were downed by
the Iron Dome, while others struck the city, causing damage to property.
Footage from inside the city showed damage to buildings and burned out
vehicles.A large crater could be seen in the road where one of the
missiles impacted the ground.Rockets falling outside of the city sparked
large fires in the hills along Route 90. The Israel Fire and Rescue
Services said 10 firefighting teams were at the scene.The Israel Defense
Forces said it shelled the sources of the fire with artillery.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack.Hezbollah terrorists
fired “a salvo of Katyusha rockets” at Israel’s north “in response to
the Israeli enemy’s attacks on… civilians, most recently in Tayr Harfa,”
the group said in a statement, referring to the death of a technician
and rescue worker affilated with an allied movement earlier in the
day.In a separate statement, the terror group also claimed a rocket
salvo on an army base in northern Israel, saying its operatives launched
a second attack with “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at troops who were
assessing the damage at the base.The IDF said it carried out a wave of
airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in six different areas in
southern Lebanon, hitting five buildings used by the terror group and a
military post used to launch rockets at northern Israel, in the towns of
Odaisseh, Khiam, Rab al-Thalathine, Deir Siriane, Ayta ash-Shab, and
Mhaibib.Earlier in the day, three anti-tank missiles were fired at
Kibbutz Misgav in the Upper Galilee next to the Lebanon border,
according to Hebrew media reports.There were no reports of casualties in
the incident, though one of the missiles hit a building, causing some
damage.Additionally, two armed Hezbollah operatives were struck by the
Israeli Air Force in southern Lebanon’s Yaroun, the military said.The
IDF said the pair were spotted by troops of the 869th Combat
Intelligence Collection Unit near a building known to be used by the
terror group. A short while later, the building was struck by fighter
jets.Fighter jets hit additional Hezbollah sites in Kafr Kila and Blida,
the IDF added.Amid the IDF strikes, Lebanon’s National News Agency
(NNA) said a first responder from a rescue group affiliated with the
Shiite Amal movement, and a telecoms technician were killed “as a result
of the Israeli aggression on Tayr Harfa.”The rescuer belonged to the
Risala Scout Association, while the technician worked for Power Tec,
which undertakes maintenance work for private mobile service provider
Touch.The technician and colleagues from Ogero telecom provider were
carrying out “maintenance on the transmission poles,” the NNA said,
adding they had sought permission from the UN peacekeeping mission in
Lebanon, or UNIFIL.The Risala Scout Association, which operates in south
Lebanon, said the rescuer was killed when his team went to a location
that had come under Israeli bombardment.“The second strike came quickly,
and one of the young men was martyred,” a source from the association
told AFP.A source within Touch said the strike hit a team that had been
doing maintenance work in Tayr Harfa.“We lost communications with them
because the station was hit,” the source told AFP, requesting anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak to the media.“There were
people from our team and from another company that does maintenance work
for us, and there were also paramedics,” the source added.There was no
immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.Since October
8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military
posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it
is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.So far, the skirmishes on
the border have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side,
as well as the deaths of 14 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also
been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.Hezbollah has
named 296 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing
skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon,
another 60 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and
at least 60 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been
killed.Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from
the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern
communities, where some 70,000 people have been evacuated to avoid the
fighting.
First rocket fire on Beersheba since December-Four IDF
soldiers killed as battles rage across Gaza; tanks said to advance into
Rafah-Security cabinet said to approve measured expansion of op in
southern part of Strip, risking clash with Biden; dozens of gunmen
killed in fighting, tunnels found
By Emanuel Fabian-and Agencies Today, 6:26 pm-MAY 10,24
Four
Israeli soldiers were killed and several wounded as fierce battles
raged across the Gaza Strip on Friday, while Hamas fired rockets at the
southern city of Beersheba for the first time since December, lightly
injuring a woman.Israeli tanks reportedly advanced on a main road
dividing the eastern and western halves of southern Gaza’s Rafah on
Friday, amid heavy clashes taking place in the area, as well as in Gaza
City in the north of the Strip.The four soldiers were killed in Gaza
City’s Zeitoun neighborhood. According to an initial IDF probe, they
were hit by an explosive device or devices in an alleyway.The troops had
been raiding a school complex where the military had indications of
Hamas activity. Weaponry and at least one tunnel were discovered in the
area of the school.The IDF has returned several times to the Zeitun
neighborhood since the war’s outbreak, as Hamas has managed to regroup
in areas previously cleared by the army.The soldiers were identified as
Sgt. Itay Livny, 19, from Ramat Hasharon; Sgt. Yosef Dassa, 19, from
Kiryat Bialik; Sgt. Ermiyas Mekuriyaw, 19, from Beersheba and Sgt.
Daniel Levy, 19, from Kiryat Motzkin. All four were from the Nahal
Brigade’s 931st Battalion.Another officer and soldier of the 931st
Battalion were seriously wounded in the same incident.Their deaths bring
the toll of slain troops in the IDF’s ground offensive in Gaza and amid
operations on the border to 271.Separately, another two soldiers of the
401st Armored Brigade’s 9th Battalion were seriously wounded by RPG
fire on a tank in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.When the Israel
Defense Forces launched its operation in eastern Rafah late Monday, it
said troops had captured part of the Salah a-Din road, along with the
Rafah Crossing to Egypt.According to a report by Reuters, it appeared
that tanks had pushed further along the road on Friday, although still
within a zone that the IDF ordered to be evacuated.Residents described
almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of the city,
with intense fighting between Israeli forces and operatives of the Hamas
and Islamic Jihad terror groups.Hamas claimed to have ambushed Israeli
tanks near a mosque in the east of the city, a sign the IDF had
penetrated several kilometers from the east to the outskirts of the
built-up area of the city.The Israeli military said Friday that it had
killed dozens of gunmen as it continued to operate in eastern Rafah, as
well as in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.Israel ordered civilians out
of the eastern outskirts of Rafah earlier this week. The military has
estimated that around 150,000 Palestinians in the east Rafah area have
evacuated already.Around a million more Palestinians, who fled other
parts of the enclave during the war, remain in the city itself, and they
have not been called to evacuate yet as the operation remains limited
in scope amid hostage negotiations with Hamas.Still, the security
cabinet voted on Thursday night to approve a “measured” expansion of the
IDF’s operation in Rafah, Hebrew media reported.The expansion was
deemed as measured in what Israel hopes will not cross the line into
what the United States deems as a “major operation.”US President Joe
Biden warned earlier this week that he would halt certain offensive
weapons shipments to Israel if it entered into the population centers of
Rafah due to concerns over the one million-plus civilians sheltering
there.The Axios news site cited two sources who say the expansion will
be limited enough so as to not upset the Biden administration, while a
third source warned the moves could be interpreted by the US as a step
too far.The security cabinet also voted to instruct Israel’s hostage
negotiating team to continue its efforts to try and reach a hostage deal
by putting together a new proposal in the hopes of reaching a
breakthrough, Axios reported.Far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and
Bezalel Smotrich voted against the decision but were outnumbered.In east
Rafah, troops of the Givati Brigade located several tunnel shafts and
killed dozens of gunmen, and the 401st Armored Brigade killed several
more gunmen in close-quarters combat and by calling in airstrikes in the
area of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, the IDF said Friday.The military
also said the Air Force and 215th Artillery Regiment carried out
several strikes in Rafah over the past day, targeting sites used by
Hamas to launch rockets and mortars at troops and at Israel.Also Friday,
five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of
Beersheba, according to the IDF. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome
while the other four hit open areas, it said.A 37-year-old woman was
lightly wounded by shrapnel, the Magen David Adom ambulance service
said, adding that the woman was taken to Soroka Hospital for
treatment.The shrapnel also caused some damage to a city park. It was
not immediately clear if it was caused by a direct impact or a large
fragment that fell and caused the damage.The last time rockets were
fired from at Beersheba, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Gaza, was in
December.-Several mortars and rockets were also launched from the Rafah
area at the southern border communities of Sufa, Kerem Shalom and Nir
Yitzhak and at troops in Gaza on Friday.Some of the rockets were
intercepted by the Iron Dome, as sirens sounded in the border
towns.Meanwhile, in Zeitoun, where the IDF launched a pinpoint operation
early Thursday, the military said fighter jets struck several gunmen
and Hamas sites, including a booby-trapped building.The IDF reported
that in recent days, Nahal troops killed several gunmen, including by
calling in airstrikes, as well as captured weapons and intelligence
materials in the Zeitoun area.In central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, the
IDF said reservists of the Yiftah Brigade spotted a cell of gunmen
leaving a known weapons depot and moving toward the forces, before
calling in an airstrike against them. The weapons depot and another
operative in the area were targeted in separate strikes, the military
said.More than 40 more targets, including tunnels, anti-tank missile
launch positions, buildings, observation posts and other infrastructure
were struck by the Air Force in other areas of Gaza, the IDF adds.In an
unusual incident in southern Gaza on Friday, twelve soldiers were hurt
after being stung by wasps, the military said. The incident occurred
amid an operation by the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade in the border
area, near the Israeli community of Nirim.A tank had driven over a large
wasp nest, leading thousands of insects to sting the troops. One of the
soldiers was listed in moderate condition, and the other 11 were
lightly hurt, the IDF said. They were taken to a hospital in Israel for
treatment.The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, which
saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land,
air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly
civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.The ensuing
war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza health
officials, though data issued by the Hamas-run authorities cannot be
independently verified, and is believed to include both civilians and
Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror
groups’ own rocket misfires.Israel has said it has killed some 15,000
terror operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside
Israel on October 7, while 267 soldiers have been killed during the
ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza
border.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Announces
more funding for campus Jewish chaplaincy service-As pro-Palestinian
encampments spread to UK campuses, Sunak seeks to head off
unrest-British PM meets with university heads after warning of
antisemitism, with ‘students and academic staff being targeted,
threatened, and assaulted simply for being Jewish’
By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 10:02 am-MAY 11,24
About
three dozen pro-Palestinian protesters crawled out of their tents
Thursday morning at Cambridge University, grabbed coffee and tea and sat
in a circle for the daily briefing.Drink water, display the Palestinian
colors, don’t talk to reporters, their leader said at the 43-tent
encampment beneath the gothic spires of King’s College Chapel. In case
of trouble, one group member hovered along the adjacent King’s Parade
wearing a neon yellow vest marked “Police Liaison.”But after the third
night of the encampment, there had been no need for the police despite a
small number of counter-demonstrators, according to protesters and
local merchants. At most, the group’s chanting on Monday led a few
customers to abandon their sidewalk café tables and head indoors, said
Beverley Atay, manager of the Copper Kettle across the street.“They’re
just expressing their point of view, which is their right,” she said,
watching the scene outside the café’s windows.Despite the relative calm
at Cambridge and other UK campuses, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak summoned
university leaders to his Downing Street offices on Thursday in an
effort to head off the kind of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel student
unrest that has gripped the US in recent weeks.Before the meeting, Sunak
warned of “students and academic staff being targeted, threatened, and
assaulted simply for being Jewish.”“We will always protect freedom of
speech and the right to protest,” Sunak wrote in the Times of London.
“But just as importantly, universities have a profound duty to remain
bastions of tolerance, where such debate takes place with respect for
others — and where every student feels safe and at home, whatever their
faith or background.”Sunak’s intervention came after pro-Palestinian
protesters built encampments at about a dozen UK universities over the
past two weeks as some students and academics call on the institutions
to cut ties with Israel over the war against Hamas in Gaza.That has
raised concerns about a repeat of the violence recently seen at Columbia
University in New York and the University of California at Los Angeles,
where police moved in to make dozens of arrests after protesters refuse
to remove encampments. The unrest has already spilled over to some
European countries, with police breaking up encampments in Vienna and
Amsterdam in recent days.For some Jewish students in Britain, the
protests are an uncomfortable addition to a year already marred by a
rise in antisemitism. Many say they feel unsafe or unwelcome on
campus.The number of antisemitic incidents at the UK’s 142 universities
tripled last year as tensions rose over the war in the Middle East,
according to the Communities Security Trust, which works to combat
antisemitism in Britain.“We are seeing language emanating from these
encampments and protest movements such as calls to globalize the
intifada,’’ said Edward Isaacs, president of the Union of Jewish
Students, which serves students across the UK and Ireland. “These are
not meaningless political statements, these are direct calls for
violence and they have no place on campus.”Sunak’s office said he
invited vice chancellors from some of the UK’s top universities to
discuss efforts to tackle antisemitism on campus. Vice chancellors are
the top academic and administrative officials at British universities.As
part of the effort, Sunak announced that the government would provide
an additional 500,000 pounds ($623,000) to the University Jewish
Chaplaincy Service to support Jewish students.The rise in antisemitism
in Britain mirrors a trend seen across Europe and the US following
Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing military
campaign in Gaza, according to major Jewish organizations.Hamas-led
terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during the
attack. An additional 252 people were abducted — it is believed that 128
of them are still held in Gaza, not all of them aliveIsrael’s offensive
in Gaza has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to figures
released by the Hamas-run health ministry that have not been verified.
The Hamas death tolls don’t differentiate between civilians and
combatants and include at least 15,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has
killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists
inside Israel on October 7.The war has inflamed tensions around the
world, triggering pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests on US college
campuses where disruption and confrontations with counter-protesters
have brought police intervention. Israel and its supporters say many of
the protests are antisemitic, while critics claim Israel uses such
descriptions to silence opponents.So far, European student protests have
remained relatively muted compared with those in the US, although
London has seen large protests on a regular basis that have at times
featured antisemitic banners and chants.One of the primary reasons is
the different roles the US and European countries play in the Middle
East, said Georgios Giannakopoulos, a history professor at City
University of London who has studied student protests.While the United
States is a global superpower that has supported Israel since its
creation in 1948, European countries have different histories and less
direct ties to Israel.“But what this movement now seems to suggest,
slowly picking up pace in some UK universities, is that UK students not
only want … to oppose the war in Gaza, but they also want to show their
solidarity to their American counterparts who they feel are being
repressed quite heavily,” Giannakopoulos said.By calling in the vice
chancellors, Sunak has inserted himself into the debate about balancing
the right of free speech against the right of all students to pursue
their education without fear of intimidation.Sally Mapstone, president
of the higher education trade body Universities UK, said universities
have a duty to provide a safe environment for everyone on campus and
they are taking that responsibility very seriously amid recent
tensions.“We want to work with government (and with the Department for
Education) to do everything we can to generate a culture which
de-escalates the tensions that we are seeing at the moment and allows
reasoned debate without the opportunities for harassment, which are
concerning,” Mapstone, who is also vice chancellor at the University of
St. Andrews, told the BBC.
Police dismantle anti-Israel
encampment at MIT, begin clearing at other campuses-Police in riot gear
also clear out encampments at Penn and University of Arizona; MIT
president says encampment ‘no longer safely sustainable’By AP and ToI
Staff Today, 5:30 pm-MAY 10,24
Police early Friday dismantled a
pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel tent encampment at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and moved to clear protesters from the
University of Pennsylvania’s campus in Philadelphia, just hours after
police tear-gassed protesters and took down an encampment at the
University of Arizona.In Cambridge, Massachusetts, video showed police
roaming through the MIT encampment and organizers said about 10 students
had been detained. Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled
the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside
the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but was
dispersed by 6 a.m.At the University of Arizona, campus police in riot
gear fired tear gas late Thursday at protesters before tearing down an
encampment that included wood and plastic barriers on campus. In a
statement, the University of Arizona said it made the decision because
the encampment violated school policy.“A structure made from wooden
pallets and other debris was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. in
violation of the policy,” the school said in a statement. “University
officials issued warnings to remove the encampment and disperse. The
warnings were ignored.”The school also said that police vehicles were
spiked, and rocks and water bottles thrown at officers and university
staff.In Philadelphia early Friday, police detained people who were at
an encampment that has been in place at the University of Pennsylvania’s
campus for more than two weeks. Officers moved in after giving
pro-Palestinian protesters a warning to leave campus or face possible
arrest.Tensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on
campuses across the United States and increasingly in Europe. Some
colleges cracked down immediately, while others have tolerated the
demonstrations. Some have begun to lose patience and call in the police
over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.The
pro-Palestinian protest movement began nearly three weeks ago at
Columbia University in New York City. It has since swept college
campuses nationwide, with more than 2,500 people arrested. Encampment at
@MIT has been removed-pic.twitter.com/foejybkvgx — Talia Khan
(@TaliaKhan_MIT) May 10, 2024-The move at MIT comes several days after
police first attempted to clear the encampment only to see protesters
storm past barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a
dozen tents in the heart of the campus in Cambridge.Before removing the
encampment, MIT earlier in the week had started suspending dozens of
students involved in the encampment, meaning they wouldn’t be able to
take part in academic activities or commencement.Protesters insisted the
move would not stop them from demanding that MIT end all ties to the
Israeli military.“This is only going to make us stronger. They can’t
arrest the movement,” Quinn Perian, an undergraduate student at MIT and
organizer for MIT Jews for Ceasefire, said. “We are going to continue
and won’t back down until MIT agrees to cut ties with the Israeli
military. MIT would rather arrest and suspend some students than they
would end their complicity with the genocide going on in Gaza.”BREAKING:
pro-Palestinian protesters surround and start chanting at facilities
officers trying to put up flood lights at the encampment at the
University of Arizona. They also began shaking the golf cart and I
witnessed one spitting on an officer. pic.twitter.com/zghTd7HqzS — Ellie
Wolfe (@elliew0lfe) May 10, 2024The encampment had been up for at least
two weeks and especially angered Jewish students, who have held
counter-protests nearby. They covered a lawn with small Israeli flags
and put up posters of some of the people abducted by terrorists during
the October 7 attack in which some 1,200 people were killed, mostly
civilians, and 252 were kidnapped.MIT President Sally Kornbluth, working
to strike a balance between recognizing the suffering in Gaza with
concerns about the “safety of our community,” warned Monday the
encampment would have to be removed.“This prolonged use of MIT property
as a venue for protest, without permission, especially on an issue with
such sharp disagreement, is no longer safely sustainable,” she wrote to
the MIT community.Anti-Israel protesters have contested that their
movement, which calls for universities to disclose investments in
Israeli companies and divest from them, is peaceful and not antisemitic.
Many Jewish students, however, have reported being harassed, and chants
calling for the elimination of Israel are often heard.
South
Africa asks World Court to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah-As part
of genocide case, Pretoria urges ICJ to force Israel to allow unimpeded
access for international officials, aid workers and journalists, amid
expanding military op-By Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 11:34 pm-MAY 10,24
AMSTERDAM,
the Netherlands — South Africa has asked the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of
additional emergency measures over the war in Gaza, the UN’s top court
said on Friday.In the ongoing case brought by South Africa, which
accuses Israel of acts of genocide against Palestinians, the World Court
in January 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.Israel did not immediately respond
to requests for comment. It has previously said it is acting in
accordance with international law in Gaza, has called South Africa’s
genocide case baseless, and accused Pretoria of acting as “the legal arm
of Hamas.”In filings published on Friday, South Africa is seeking
additional emergency measures in light of the ongoing military action in
Rafah, which it calls the “last refuge” for Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel says the operation in the southern city is crucial to defeating
the remaining Hamas battalions holding out there.South Africa asked the
court to order that Israel cease the Rafah offensive and allow unimpeded
access to Gaza for UN officials, organizations providing humanitarian
aid, and journalists and investigators.According to South Africa,
Israel’s military operation is killing the Palestinians of Gaza while at
the same time starving them by denying them humanitarian aid to
enter.“Those who have survived so far are facing imminent death now, and
an order from the Court is needed to ensure their survival,” South
Africa’s filing said.In March, lawyers for Israel said South Africa’s
repeated requests for additional measures were an abuse of procedures
after the ICJ ordered it to increase the provision of basic humanitarian
goods to the Gaza Strip, including food, water, fuel, and shelter, due
to what it said are worsening living conditions for Palestinians in the
war-torn territory.Israel has asserted its offensive is aimed at Hamas,
but faces a hard task avoiding civilian casualties, providing evidence
that Hamas embeds itself and stores its weapons in civilian areas.Israel
also blames the ailing humanitarian situation on aid agencies’ failure
to distribute supplies, and on Hamas and armed groups who have looted
trucks entering the Gaza. The agencies say their work has become far
more difficult amid the fighting and a lack of security for aid
convoys.Aid flow was further hampered when Israel’s Kerem Shalom
Crossing with Gaza was shuttered for a few days this week following a
deadly Hamas rocket attack, while the Rafah Crossing on the Egypt border
has been closed since the IDF captured the Palestinian side of the
terminal on Tuesday.The Coordinator of Government Activities in the
Territories said in April that there has been “a great surge in the
amount of humanitarian aid going into Gaza.”In total, it said, more than
6,000 trucks carrying food, water, medical supplies and tents entered
the enclave last month.“There is no limit to the amount of aid that can
be facilitated into Gaza, and the month of April proved it,” it said on
X.War erupted when Hamas-led terrorists launched the October 7 massacre
on southern communities, murdering 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and
taking 252 hostages to Gaza.According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health
ministry, at least 34,943 Palestinians have been killed and 78,572
injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since October 7. The
figures have not been independently verified, do not distinguish between
combatants and civilians, and include at least 15,000 Hamas gunmen
Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some
1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.A total of 271 IDF soldiers
have been killed in the army’s Gaza ground operation.
The ICJ, also
known as the World Court, generally rules within a few weeks on requests
for emergency measures. It will likely take years before the court will
rule on the merits of the overall genocide case. While the ICJ’s
rulings are binding and without appeal the court has no way to enforce
them.
‘Bring home the dead and the living’: Hostages’ families to
rally ahead of Memorial Day-Families of captives declared dead in Gaza
to speak in Tel Aviv, alongside French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy;
anti-government protests urging elections to be held nationwide
By ToI Staff Today, 1:36 pm-MAY 11,24
Ahead
of Israel’s Memorial Day, the families of hostages held in Gaza were
set to rally to demand a deal on Saturday night in Tel Aviv, with a
focus on the 38 captives who have been declared dead.The Hostages and
Missing Families Forum, the organizers of the rally, said the
demonstration would mourn the memory of the hostages who have been
killed and their bodies are being held by Hamas.Israel is readying to
mark Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and those killed in terror
attacks, starting Sunday evening.According to figures released by
authorities on Thursday, 1594 soldiers and civilians have been killed in
combat or by terror since Israel’s last Memorial Day, marking the
deadliest year for the country’s security forces and civilians in five
decades.“Time has run out for the murdered hostages. We need a deal now
that will allow us to bring home the murdered for burial and the living
for rehabilitation,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a
statement.Speakers were to include: Hagit and Ruby Chen, the parents of
Itay Chen, whose body is held in Gaza after he was killed during Hamas’s
October 7 onslaught; Richelle Tzarfati, the mother of Ofir Tzarfati,
whose body was recovered from Gaza in December; Maya Ahimas, sister of
hostage Tomer Ahimas, who was killed fighting terrorists on October 7
and his body taken to Gaza; and French philosopher Bernard-Henri
Levy.The rally is set to get underway at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square at 8
p.m.Ahead of the rally, a ceremony will be held to inaugurate artist
Michal Rovner’s Cypress Avenue installation in honor of the hostages who
were killed, with the participation of Yael Adar, the mother of Tamir
Adar, who was killed on October 7 and whose body was taken to Gaza;
Nirit Aloni, the mother of Noam, whose partner was murdered hostage
Inbar Haiman; and Tami Baruch, the mother of hostage Sahar Baruch, who
was killed during failed rescue attempt by the Israel Defense Forces.The
rallies come as hopes fade for a hostage and truce deal between Israel
and Hamas.On Monday, the terror group claimed to have accepted an
agreement with Israel, though it later emerged that the proposal it said
had come from Egyptian and Qatari mediators included several elements
fundamentally different from those Israel had agreed to.Jerusalem
swiftly rejected the proposal for falling short of its “vital demands,”
but okayed dispatching a working-level delegation to the indirect talks
in Cairo. After gaps could not be closed, the Israeli and Hamas teams
departed Egypt on Friday.Talks have continued for months without a
decisive breakthrough. Israel has said it is determined to eliminate
Hamas, while Hamas says it wants a permanent ceasefire and a full
Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration has
said Hamas is the only party standing in the way of a
deal.Anti-government protests-Amid an increasing convergence between the
protests of the hostages’ families and the mass anti-government
demonstrations that were a weekly event in the months before October 7,
with some of the families accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
blocking a deal for political reasons, a separate demonstration calling
for early elections was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Kaplan Street in Tel
Aviv.Organizers called on participants to join with the hostages’
families to rally at the nearby entrance to the Defense Ministry at the
conclusion of the anti-government protest.A protest calling for
elections will also be held outside the President’s House in
Jerusalem.Participants were set to gather at 8:45 p.m. in Paris Square,
before marching to the President’s House at 9:45 p.m.In a nod to the
traditional ceremony honoring outstanding citizens at the start of
Independence Day, set to begin with the conclusion of Memorial Day on
Monday evening, the Jerusalem rally will “honor the citizens who were
revealed in all their glory during the war, in the face of the lack of
the country’s leadership,” organizers said.Speakers were to include
government critic Noam Tibon, a retired IDF general who mounted a
mission to rescue his son, his wife and their two young children from
their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz.Thousands were expected to call for
elections in rallies at other locations across the country, organizers
said.Some families of hostages, frustrated that after nearly seven
months of war their loved ones are still in captivity, have turned
against the government, speaking out publicly against the country’s
leaders.The government’s popularity has plummeted since the beginning of
the war, leading to growing calls for elections. It has faced blame
over its failure to prevent the October 7 massacre, while some have
charged it has fumbled when dealing with key matters relating to the
conflict.Polls consistently show that were elections to be held,
anti-Netanyahu parties would win a clear majority, with war cabinet
Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity, the largest party.A Channel 12
survey last week showed that 58 percent of voters asked think Netanyahu
should resign.The war began when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a
devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people.
The thousands of attackers who burst through the border with the Gaza
Strip also abducted 252 people who were taken as hostages into the
Palestinian enclave.Israel responded with a military offensive to topple
the Hamas regime in Gaza, destroy the terror group and free the
hostages.
Troops operate against Hamas regrouping in Gaza City’s
Zeitoun-IDF calls on Gazans to leave additional Rafah neighborhoods as
it presses operation-300,000 have left southern Gaza city to
‘humanitarian zone,’ military assesses; IDF also gearing up for fresh
operation in north Gaza’s Jabaliya, as Hamas renews presence there
By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 12:36 pm-MAY 11,24
The
Israeli military on Saturday morning began calling on Palestinians in
additional neighborhoods of Rafah to evacuate the area, as it pressed on
with an operation against the Hamas terror group in the city in the
southern Gaza Strip.Last week, the Israel Defense Forces issued an
evacuation warning for the eastern outskirts of Rafah, before it pushed
into the area.The latest warning covered the Rafah and Shaboura camps
and the neighborhoods of Geneina and Khirbat al-Adas, slightly deeper
into the city.Around a million Palestinians, who fled other parts of the
enclave during the war, are sheltering in Rafah.In the initial
evacuation zone and other areas of Rafah, around 300,000 Palestinians
have evacuated to a designated “humanitarian zone,” according to IDF
assessments.Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language
spokesman, published on Saturday morning a list of the new zones that
needed to be evacuated.The IDF also dropped flyers, sent text messages
and made phone calls with the evacuation instructions.The civilians were
called on to move to the expanded humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi
and Khan Younis areas in southern Gaza.Adraee also warned Palestinians
against moving toward the Israeli border.The move came after Israel’s
security cabinet voted on Thursday night to approve a “measured”
expansion of the IDF’s operation in Rafah.The expansion was deemed as
measured in what Israel hopes will not cross the line into what the
United States sees as a “major operation.”US President Joe Biden warned
earlier this week that he would halt certain offensive weapons shipments
to Israel if it entered into the population centers of Rafah, due to
concerns over the one million-plus civilians sheltering there.In a
highly anticipated report to Congress, the Biden administration said
Friday it found “credible and reliable” Israeli assurances that it will
use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law,
allowing for the further transfer of American arms amid Israel’s war
with Hamas in Gaza.However, in the strongest such statement from Biden
officials, the US State Department report also said it was “reasonable”
to assess that Israel has used US-supplied weapons since Hamas’s October
7 attack in instances that were “inconsistent” with its international
humanitarian law obligations, but that it does not have complete
information to verify Israeli forces did so.The IDF’s operation in Rafah
has so far been limited to the eastern part of the city and the border
crossing with Egypt.The IDF says troops have located several tunnel
shafts and killed dozens of gunmen so far.On Friday, Hamas launched two
barrages of rockets from Rafah and central Gaza at Beersheba, the first
attack on the southern city in nearly six months. The attack lightly
wounded a woman and caused damage to a public playground.The military on
Saturday said it was also preparing to launch a new operation in
northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, after identifying attempts by Hamas to regroup
there.A separate evacuation order was given for the Jabaliya area,
where the IDF estimated between 100,000 and 150,000 Palestinians
were.Civilians were being told to move to shelters west of Gaza
City.“You are in a dangerous combat zone. Hamas is trying to rebuild its
capabilities in the area, and therefore the IDF will work with great
force against the terror organizations in the area in which you are
located,” Adraee said in his announcement.It would be the second time
the IDF operated on the ground in Jabaliya after it was captured during
the first months of Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas. The IDF
later withdrew from north Gaza.The evacuation order came as the IDF
continued to operate in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, after
similarly identifying Hamas regrouping there.Four soldiers were killed
battling Hamas in Zeitoun on Friday.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and his government have long faced criticism over their refusal to make a
plan for the management of Gaza after the war.Hamas has reportedly
reasserted significant civil control in a number of areas of the enclave
after troops swept through and then left.The war in Gaza erupted after
Hamas’s October 7 attacks, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across
the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people
and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality
and sexual assault.The ensuing war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians,
according to Gaza health officials, though data issued by the Hamas-run
authorities cannot be independently verified, and is believed to include
both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a
consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.Israel has said it has
killed some 15,000 terror operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000
terrorists inside Israel on October 7, while 271 soldiers have been
killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations
along the Gaza border.
Many Hamas fighters in Rafah fleeing
northward -- official-Sinwar not hiding in Rafah, officials tell ToI, as
PM publicly prioritizes IDF op there-Officials say recent intel placed
the Hamas leader in underground tunnels around Khan Younis, as the
accused October 7 mastermind continues to elude Israeli forces in Gaza
By Jacob Magid-Today, 5:23 am-MAY 11,24
Hamas
leader Yahya Sinwar is not hiding in Rafah, two officials familiar with
the matter told The Times of Israel on Friday, as the Israel Defense
Forces moves to expand its operations in Gaza’s southernmost city.Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has elevated a potential IDF operation in
Rafah to the top of his public agenda, with the targeting of Hamas’s
leadership believed to still be a major Israeli war aim as well.The IDF
has had some success on this front, killing Hamas military wing deputy
commander Marwan Issa — considered the terror group’s No. 3 leader in
Gaza — along with other senior commanders in recent months. But Sinwar
and his deputy — military wing chief Mohammed Deif — have remained
elusive, despite repeated claims by Israeli officials that the IDF was
closing in on them.The two officials speaking to The Times of Israel
were unable to say with certainty where Sinwar is currently located, but
they cited recent intelligence assessments that placed the Hamas leader
in underground tunnels in the Khan Younis area, some five miles north
of Rafah.A third official — an Israeli one — asserted that Sinwar is
still in Gaza.Israel has made eliminating Sinwar a key element of its
goal to destroy Hamas. In February, the IDF released footage of what it
said was Sinwar walking through a tunnel with several family members,
the first time he was apparently spotted since going into hiding before
the devastating October 7 onslaught he’s accused of orchestrating,
triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.IDF ground forces began operating in
Rafah on Monday, launching a targeted operation in the eastern part of
the city aimed at taking over the Gaza side of the border crossing with
Egypt. The security cabinet voted Thursday to approve a measured
expansion of the Rafah operation in what is aimed at remaining within
the scope of what Washington is willing to accept.US President Joe Biden
said he would stop sending certain offensive weapons to the IDF if
Israel went forward with a major ground offensive in the population
centers of the city where over one million Palestinians are sheltering.
He already withheld a shipment of high payload bombs last week amid
fears they’d be used in Rafah.Netanyahu has pledged to launch a major
offensive in Rafah for months, arguing that the operation is essential
for defeating Hamas, which has four of its remaining six active
battalions located in the city.But one of the officials speaking to The
Times of Israel said many Hamas fighters in Rafah have fled northward as
Israeli threats of an invasion intensified in recent weeks.While Israel
says 18 of Hamas’s 24 battalions have been dismantled, the terror
group’s fighters have managed to regroup and return to areas previously
cleared by the IDF.The IDF was operating in the Gaza City neighborhood
of Zeitoun this week for the third time since the war’s outbreak, with
security officials warning that the IDF would be forced to continue
playing this game of cat and mouse with Hamas until the Israeli
government advances a viable alternative to Hamas rule.While much of the
security establishment would like to see the Palestinian Authority — or
at least Palestinians linked to the PA — fill the vacuums that the IDF
is briefly creating through its operations throughout the Strip,
Netanyahu has rejected the idea outright, as his far-right allies have
pushed for Israel to permanently occupy the Strip and re-establish
settlements there.Absent a diplomatic strategy to compliment the
military operations, many of the IDF’s achievements on the ground have
been short-lived, the Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
Hamas
rethinking strategy, says talks are back to square one-US: Ongoing IDF
op in Rafah doesn’t amount to major offensive we’ve warned against-White
House says it’s watching ‘with concern,’ urges Israel to reopen Rafah
Crossing for humanitarian aid; calls collapse of hostage talks ‘deeply
regrettable’ but efforts continue-By Jacob Magid-Today, 4:12 am-MAY
11,24
The White House said Friday that the US does not believe
the IDF’s operation in Rafah over past the day amounts to a wide-scale
military operation, which President Joe Biden warned would lead him to
halt offensive weapons shipments to Israel.“I wouldn’t go so far as to
say that what we’ve seen here in the last 24 hours connotes or indicates
a broad, large-scale invasion or major ground operation. It appears to
be localized near the crossing largely with the forces that they had put
in there at the beginning,” White House National Security Council
spokesperson John Kirby said.At the beginning of the week, Israel
launched an operation to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah
Crossing, which it said was being used for terror purposes. The crossing
has since been shuttered, with Israel offering no timetable for when
the crossing will be reopened for the delivery of aid.On Thursday night
the security cabinet voted to approve a measured expansion of the
operation.Israel has ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from
eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, as it has carried out repeated
airstrikes and engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists in the
area.“We’re watching this with concern,” Kirby said during a briefing
with reporters. “Every day that crossing is not available and usable for
humanitarian assistance, there’s going to be more suffering, and that’s
a deep concern to us. We urge the Israelis to open up that crossing to
humanitarian assistance immediately. That aid is desperately needed, and
we urge them… to be as careful, precise, and discriminate as they
can.”The US has offered tepid support for the limited operation to
remove Hamas from the Rafah Crossing area, but warned that its stance
could shift if the offensive widened to civilian areas or if the
delivery of humanitarian aid was hampered for a sustained period, with
Biden saying Wednesday that he could halt arms transfers to Israel if it
launches a wide-scale invasion. That came after the White House
confirmed a delay in the transfer of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs over
concerns that the IDF could use them in Rafah, as it has in other parts
of Gaza.According to a Lebanese report, Israel is planning on breaking
its offensive into smaller, separate operations in different areas in
Rafah so as not to draw the ire of the United States and the
international community.Touching on efforts to reach a hostage and truce
deal, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby
called the departure of Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams from talks
in Cairo “deeply regrettable,” after the latest round of meetings again
failed to yield an agreement.“We’ve seen the comments that officials
from both sides have made speaking to the impasse that they’re at right
now,” Kirby told reporters in a briefing.“But we are working hard to try
to keep both sides engaged in continuing the discussion — if only
virtually — and to continue to work on the actual text itself. We still
believe that a deal was possible… The gaps remaining can be surmounted,
but it’s going to require leadership, some moral courage and it’s going
to require continued ability to compromise and to negotiate in good
faith. We’re not giving up on that,” Kirby added.“There are no in-person
meetings now in place… That doesn’t mean the process has to end… We’re
still all in, and we’re still going to keep working on it,” he said.On
Monday, Hamas claimed to have accepted a truce agreement with Israel,
though it later emerged that the proposal it said had come from Egyptian
and Qatari mediators included several elements fundamentally different
from what Israel had agreed to. Jerusalem swiftly rejected the proposal
for falling short of its “vital demands,” but okayed dispatching a
working-level delegation to the indirect talks in Cairo.Hamas said
Friday it is holding consultations to reconsider its negotiating
strategy in light of Israel’s rejection of its counter-proposal in the
talks, and the expanding IDF operations at the Rafah Border Crossing.The
terror group claimed in a statement that Israel’s response to the
hostage talks brought them back to square one — a similar charge that
Israeli officials made in response to Hamas’s response to the hostage
proposal crafted by mediators and green-lit by Israel last week.Hamas
wants calmness and a real hostages-for-prisoners swap deal, but Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the war to continue, Hamas senior
official Khalil al-Hayya claimed Friday.“Hamas did not suspend nor
withdraw from the [truce] negotiations; the occupation turned against
the mediators’ proposal,” Al-Hayya added in comments to Al Araby TV
published by Hamas.The specifics of the proposal Hamas said it had
accepted Monday (Arabic text here) differed in numerous regards from the
reported terms of what the US had hailed as an “extremely generous”
Israeli offer.Among the differences: Israel had demanded the release of
33 living hostages in a first stage, but the Hamas proposal would allow
the group to free remains in place of living hostages, with most only to
be released after the truce was over a month old; the Hamas proposal
removes the veto Israel demanded on the release of certain Palestinian
security prisoners, and raises the number of Palestinian security
prisoners to be freed; the Hamas proposal provides for the free movement
of Gazans back to the north of the strip, without security checks as
required by Israel to prevent Hamas gunmen returning.The Hamas proposal
also changes the timing of hostage releases within the phases, and some
of the specifics on Israeli troop withdrawals. It also demands the
release of all Palestinian security prisoners who were freed in the 2011
Shalit prisoner deal and have since been re-arrested.Significantly,
Hamas said on Monday night that it regards itself as having accepted
terms for an end to the war, whereas both the Israeli-backed text and
the Hamas response refer to restoring “sustainable calm.” In an
introductory paragraph, however, the Hamas text says the “framework
agreement aims for … a return to sustainable calm in a way that achieves
a permanent ceasefire.”Israel has consistently said it will not accept a
deal that entails a permanent ceasefire, and that it will resume its
military campaign after any truce-for-hostages deal in order to complete
its two declared war goals: freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas’s
military and governance capabilities.According to CNN, Hamas created
another major obstacle in the negotiations on Monday by demanding Israel
agree upfront to an initial 12-week truce, rather than the six weeks in
the original framework.War broke out between Israel and Hamas following
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel which saw terrorists kill some 1,200
people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 252.It is believed that 128
hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them
alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a
weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior
to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the
bodies of 12 hostages have also been recovered, including three
mistakenly killed by the military.The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 36
of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings
obtained by troops operating in Gaza.One more person is listed as
missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.Hamas is also
holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin
since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham
al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of
their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.The Hamas-run Gaza health
ministry says more than 34,000 people in the Strip have been killed in
the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified,
does not distinguish between combatants and civilians and includes some
15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel
also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.Two
hundred and seventy-one soldiers have been killed during the ground
offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza
border.Reuters contributed to this report.
US: Israel’s
assurances on weapons use ‘credible,’ but ‘reasonable’ to assess
otherwise-Seemingly contradictory report ordered by Biden clears way for
further arms transfers, while asserting IDF likely breached
international humanitarian law in specific cases
By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 2:46 amUpdated at 3:36 am-MAY 11,24
In
a highly anticipated report to Congress, the Biden administration said
Friday it found “credible and reliable” Israeli assurances that it will
use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law,
allowing for the further transfer of American arms amid Israel’s war
with Hamas in Gaza.However, in the strongest such statement from Biden
officials, the State Department report also said it was “reasonable” to
assess that Israel has used US-supplied weapons since Hamas’s October 7
attack in instances that were “inconsistent” with its international
humanitarian law obligations, but that it does not have complete
information to verify Israeli forces did so.The seemingly contradictory
assessment came after the State Department was asked to report to
Congress, under a new National Security Memorandum (NSM) that US
President Joe Biden issued in early February, on whether it finds
credible Israel’s assurances that its use of American weapons does not
violate US or international law.At the time the White House agreed to
the review, wit was working to head off moves from progressive
Democratic lawmakers and independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
to start restricting shipments of weapons to Israel.The presidential
directive also obligated the report to examine whether Israel has acted
“arbitrarily to deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or
indirectly,” delivery of any US-supported humanitarian aid into Gaza for
civilians there.The report was issued on Friday as Biden has tried to
walk an ever-finer line in his support of Israel since the Hamas-led
atrocities that sparked the war, while he faces growing rancor at home
and abroad. Last week, Biden took one of the first steps toward
conditioning military aid to Israel, pausing a shipments of thousands of
bombs over concerns over Israeli plans to invade of Rafah, and on
Wednesday he threatened to halt further arms deliveries if the IDF moves
into populated parts areas of Gaza’s southernmost city.Along with
Israel, the report covered several other countries.“Embassies Bogota,
Baghdad, Jerusalem, Nairobi, Abuja, Mogadishu, and Kyiv obtained the
required assurances signed by the designated representatives of their
respective countries, which were in turn reviewed by the State
Department in order to determine credibility and reliability by March
24, 2024,” the State Department wrote.“While in some countries there
have been circumstances over the reporting period that raise serious
concerns, the USG [United States government] currently assesses the
assurances provided by each recipient country to be credible and
reliable so as to allow the provision of defense articles covered under
NSM-20 to continue,” the report stated.The section of the report devoted
to Israel begins by noting the October 7 onslaught that started the
war, during which Hamas and other terror groups killed some 1,200 people
and took 252 hostages into Gaza.“There are also credible reports that
individuals associated with these organizations raped or committed other
acts of sexual violence against women and girls killed and abducted on
October 7,” the report said, stating that “Hamas does not follow any
portion of and consistently violates international law.”The report then
turned to Israel’s military offensive in response to the attack, which
was launched with the aim of toppling Hamas and returning the hostages.
The State Department relied on Hamas-controlled health ministry’s
unverified figure of nearly 35,000 Palestinian deaths, which it said
“international organizations generally deem credible” while
acknowledging does not differentiate between civilians and
combatants.The report also noted Israeli figures that “approximately
half of the 34,700 killed in Gaza have been Hamas fighters,” but said
“we do not have the ability to verify this estimate.”“Israel has not
shared complete information to verify whether US defense articles
covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been
alleged as violations of IHL or IHRL in Gaza, or in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem during the period of the report,” the State Department
said.“Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made
defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles
covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since
October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with
established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.”The US
government reviewed numerous reports that raise questions about Israel’s
compliance with its legal obligations and best practices for mitigating
harm to civilians, the report said.Those included Israeli strikes on
civilian infrastructure, strikes in densely populated areas and others
that call into question whether “expected civilian harm may have been
excessive relative to the reported military objective.”In the period
after October 7, the report found, Israel “did not fully cooperate” with
US and other international efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
But it said this did not amount to a breach of a US law that blocks the
provision of arms to countries that restrict US humanitarian aid.It said
Israel had acted to improve aid delivery since Biden warned Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call early last month that Washington
would withhold some arms supplies if the humanitarian situation did not
improve.The report said individual violations do not necessarily
disprove Israel’s commitment to international humanitarian law, as long
as it takes steps to investigate and hold violators
accountable.“Israel’s own concern about such incidents is reflected in
the fact it has a number of internal investigations underway,” the
report said.Following the release of the report, progressive Democrats
who have been calling to restrict weapons transfers to Israel fumed, as
it was not used in the way they ultimately hoped.“This report
contradicts itself,” Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a
briefing with reporters. Van Hollen has been one of the leading critics
on Capitol Hill of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and the
pressure applied by him and other Democrats is seen to have played a
major role in Biden’s decision to order the report.“It provides a useful
accountability structure, but it will be most useful if judgments can
be made based on the facts and the law and not driven by what we wish
the facts and the law were,” Van Hollen continued. “They’re ducking a
determination on the hard… politically inconvenient cases.”“The report
might create an atmosphere where people will push for more limitations
on offensive weapons to Israel,” Van Hollen warned.But given that
Congress is split and a sizable number of Democrats aren’t as critical
of Israel’s military campaign as he is, it is less likely that such
limitations will get very far on the Hill.Representative Michael McCaul,
the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said
the review “only contributes to politically motivated anti-Israel
sentiment” and should never have been done.“Now is the time to stand
with our ally Israel and ensure they have the tools they need,” he said
in a statement.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC)
and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION)
the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing
them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST
JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST
GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING (BUT WILL NOT KILL EVERY BODY WITH
WATER)(BUT 50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE (4 BILLION PEOPLE) FROM NUCLEAR
WAR)(THE BIBLE SAYS BY FIRE OR ATOMIC BOMBS THIS TIME)
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the
light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of
his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold,
the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the
burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his
tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22
And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED)
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE)
those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID
HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God,
which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him
glory.
EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7
And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the
stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon
shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9
I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy
destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not
known.
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 and baby murderers by abortion)
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.
Intense solar storm causes spectacular northern lights
displays across the globe-Auroras seen in skies of US, north Europe and
Australasia as result of most powerful solar storm in over 20 years;
changes to Earth’s magnetic field could cause power disruptions.By Issam
Ahmed Today, 7:57 am-MAY 11,24
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The most
powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday,
triggering spectacular celestial light shows in skies from Tasmania to
Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power
grids as it persists into the weekend.The first of several coronal mass
ejections (CMEs) — expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun
— came just after 1600 GMT, according to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center.It
was later upgraded to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm — the first since
the so-called “Halloween Storms” of October 2003 caused blackouts in
Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. More CMEs are
expected to pummel the planet in the coming days.Social media lit up
with people posting pictures of auroras from northern Europe and
Australasia.“We’ve just woken the kids to go watch the Northern Lights
in the back garden! Clearly visible with the naked eye,” Iain Mansfield,
a think tanker in Hertford, Britain told AFP.“ Absolutely biblical
skies in Tasmania at 4am this morning. I’m leaving today and knew I
could not pass up this opportunity,” photographer Sean O’ Riordan posted
on X alongside a photo.Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4am
this morning. I’m leaving today and knew I could not pass up this
opportunity for such a large solar storm. Here’s the image. I actually
had to de-saturate the colours. Clouds glowing red. Insane. Shot on
Nikon. Rt appreciated pic.twitter.com/210hlkmoeg — Sean O' Riordan
(@seanorphoto) May 10, 2024-Authorities notified satellite operators,
airlines and the power grid to take precautionary steps for potential
disruptions caused by changes to Earth’s magnetic field.Unlike solar
flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around
eight minutes, CMEs travel at a more sedate pace, with officials putting
the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.They
emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our
planet. The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings
heightened activity.‘Go outside tonight and look’Mathew Owens, a
professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP that
while the effects would be largely felt over the planet’s northern and
southern latitudes, how far they would extend would depend on the
storm’s final strength.“Go outside tonight and look would be my advice
because if you see the aurora, it’s quite a spectacular thing,” he
added. If people have eclipse glasses, they can also look for the
sunspot cluster during the day.In the United States, this could include
places such as Northern California and Alabama, officials said.NOAA’s
Brent Gordon encouraged the public to try to capture the night sky with
phone cameras even if they can’t see auroras with their naked eyes.“Just
go out your back door and take a picture with the newer cell phones and
you’d be amazed at what you see in that picture versus what you see
with your eyes.”Spacecraft and pigeons-Fluctuating magnetic fields
associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires,
including power lines, which can potentially lead to blackouts. Long
pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering
problems.Spacecraft are also at risk from high doses of radiation,
though the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.NASA has a
dedicated team looking into astronaut safety, and can ask astronauts on
the International Space Station to move to places within the outpost
that are better shielded.Pigeons and other species that have internal
biological compasses could also be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a
reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Officials said people should have the
normal backup plans in place for power outages, such as having
flashlights, batteries and radios at hand.The most powerful geomagnetic
storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event, occurred in
September 1859, named after British astronomer Richard Carrington.Excess
currents on telegraph lines at that time caused electrical shocks to
technicians and even set some telegraph equipment ablaze.
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