ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH SITES.
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)(50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE)
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)
EZEKIEL 32:18-29 (NOTICE ALL THE COUNTRIES LAND PROMISED ISRAEL BY GOD ARE IN THE JORDAN VALLEY BURIED)
18 “Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:
19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised! (IN HELL FIRES)
20 They will fall among those slain by the sword. The sword is appointed! Let them drag her away along with all her multitudes.
21 Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’
22 Assyria (SYRIA) is there with her whole company; her graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who once spread terror in the land of the living.
24 Elam (IRAN) is there with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit.
25 Among the slain they prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed among the slain.
26 Meshech and Tubal (RUSSIA) are there with all their multitudes, with their graves all around them. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their bones, although the terror of the mighty was once in the land of the living.
28 But you too will be shattered and lie down among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.
29 Edom (JORDAN) is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.THIS IS RIGHT FROM 93:
PSALMS 83:1-8 (GODS LAND PROMISED TO ISRAEL)
1 O God, do not remain silent;do not turn a deaf ear,do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they (ARAB,MUSLIMS) conspire against your people;they plot against those you cherish.(ISRAELIS)
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;(TREATIES) they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom (JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites, (EGYPTIAN ARABS SO CALLED PALESTIANS) of Moab (JORDAN) and the Hagrites,(EGYPT)
7 Byblos,(HEZBOLLOH) Ammon (JORDAN) and Amalek,(SYRIAN ARABS IN THE SINAI) Philistia,(ARABS) with the people of Tyre (LEBANON).
8 Even Assyria (SYRIA) has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
DR SAMUEL DOCTORIANS VISION - SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another."I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries. I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these words:"Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come." The angel said, "The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God."I saw fires rising to heaven.The angel said: "This is the final judgment. My church shall be purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Water shall be sc
Israel strikes Hezbollah sites as attacks on northern towns persist-Two horses killed when rocket strikes family’s barn in Betzet; two anti-tank missiles strike community of Misgav Am-By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff Today, 5:44 pm-JUN 29,24
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon Saturday as the terror group continued to hit northern communities with rockets and anti-tank missiles amid the growing threat of an escalation and all-out war.Saturday morning saw two anti-tank guided missiles fired from southern Lebanon that targeted the community of Misgav Am. No injuries were reported. The army responded with artillery strikes to the source of fire.A rocket fired in a Hezbollah barrage Friday night struck a barn inside the Western Galilee community of Betzet, killing two horses, after Israeli forces failed to down the projectile.On Saturday afternoon Israeli fighter jets struck a building in southern Lebanon’s Houla where a group of Hezbollah operatives were gathered, the military said. The IDF said the operatives were spotted by troops of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, and a short while later the airstrike was carried out.Another building used by Hezbollah in Houla was also struck, the IDF added. It published footage of the strikes.In Betzet, resident Idan Ishach Erez told Ynet the two horses belonged to her 14-year-old daughter Shahar, whose bedroom window looked out onto their pen.“Who will look out for and care mentally for our children, who along with us were forced to hear the horses crying out in pain, while asking us to help them, but we couldn’t do more than put them to sleep to prevent their continued suffering,” she said.She added that the rocket attack came as the family was eating Shabbat dinner on their porch, from where they rushed inside their home to take shelter.“There was crying and hysteria. It did not matter [to my children] that the house was also struck. They cried about the horses, who are family members in all senses.”Saturday saw Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati tour south Lebanon, saying his country faced “psychological warfare” in clashes with Israel, but was working to reach calm on the border.Mikati was checking in on matriculation exams, which were being held despite daily clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the border.“The army is Lebanon’s wall. If the army does not have a presence in southern Lebanon, the exams could not be held,” he was quoted as saying.Lebanon’s military is deployed in south Lebanon but has no control over Hezbollah, which operates independently and unrestrained.On Friday Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was “not looking for war” with Hezbollah and that a diplomatic solution was preferable. Nevertheless, Gallant reiterated that Israel was making preparations and planning for a wider conflict, and said the ball was in Hezbollah’s court.The defense minister’s remarks came hours after a tense cabinet meeting in which National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticized Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for supporting a deal with Hezbollah to avert all-out war in the north. Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit indicated it could bolt the government if Israel shied away from launching a full-scale assault on the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group.Hezbollah on Friday claimed responsibility for dozens of barrages earlier in the day, including rockets fired at a military base near Kiryat Shmona, explosive-laden drones launched at another army position in the Western Galilee, and several more attacks along the border.The Israel Defense Force said it launched interceptor missiles at three drones, but failed to down the devices. According to the military, damage was caused to a building in Western Galilee by one of the rockets, which also sparked several fires in northern Israel.No injuries were caused in the attacks, although a home in the border community of Shlomi was damaged by one of the rockets. The IDF said it shelled the sources of fire with artillery and later carried out a “wave of attacks” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.Hezbollah has been shelling northern communities on a near-daily basis, beginning soon after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel. Fearing Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, Israel evacuated residents of the Lebanon border communities, some 60,000 of whom remain displaced.Diplomatic efforts led by the United States have so far failed to remove Hezbollah forces from Israel’s northern border, where skirmishes with the Iran-backed terror group appear on the verge of full-blown war.Politico on Thursday cited a United States official as saying that the risk of war was higher than it has been for weeks. According to the official, a major attack by either side could spark a war, which could happen with “little notice.” A United Nations official said on Wednesday war would be “potentially apocalyptic.”Speaking to troops at an Iron Dome air defense system battery in northern Israel, Gallant said the country was developing two “significant” alternatives for Lebanon.“[We are] preparing the military force… and this can happen quickly. On the other hand, the political alternative is being prepared, it is always better,” he said.“We are not looking for war but we are ready for it. And we will reach a junction, it will be a T junction both for the enemy and for us. If [Hezbollah] chooses to go to war, we will know what to do. If it chooses to go to an agreement, we will respond to this matter,” Gallant said.Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Friday that if Israel embarks on a “full-scale military aggression” in Lebanon against Hezbollah, “an obliterating war will ensue.”Writing on X on Friday, the Iranian UN mission said that if Israel were to launch a war on Hezbollah, “all options, including the full involvement of all resistance fronts, are on the table.”Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria and Iraq, has been targeting Israel since October 7.Iran itself also launched an unprecedented missile-and-drone strike on Israel on April 14, two weeks after an alleged Israel airstrike near Tehran’s embassy in Damascus killed several senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian strike was almost entirely repelled by Israel, the United States and other allies, though a 7-year-old girl was seriously injured in the attack.
Houthis claim hits on 4 ships in Mediterranean, Red Sea amid contradicting reports-British maritime body says Liberia-flagged vessel not damaged despite claim of ‘direct hit’; US military destroys 7 drones, ground control station vehicle operated by Yemeni terrorists-By Agencies Today, 12:34 pm-JUN 29,24
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Friday claimed responsibility for attacking a Liberia-flagged vessel in the Red Sea that a maritime agency said had survived five missiles, while also saying they targeted three other vessels including two in the Mediterranean.The Iran-aligned Houthis say their attacks on shipping lanes are in solidarity with Palestinians in the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, said in a televised statement that the group launched ballistic missiles at the Delonix, an oil tanker, and that it took a “direct hit.”However, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitor said earlier in the day that the ship, which was targeted 150 nautical miles (172 miles) northwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, reported no damage and was heading northward.The Houthis have exaggerated their claims in the past. The rebels have targeted more than 60 vessels by firing missiles and drones in their campaign, which has killed a total of four sailors. They seized one vessel and sank two since November.Saree also said the Houthis attacked the Ioannis ship in the Red Sea, as well as the Waler oil tanker and the Johannes Maersk vessel in the Mediterranean.He said the Johannes Maersk, which is owned by Maersk, the world’s second-largest container carrier, was targeted because it belongs to “one of the most supportive companies for the Zionist entity and the most that violates ban decision of access to the ports of occupied Palestine.”Twice this month, the group claimed to have launched joint military operations with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance against ships in Haifa, though there were no reports of an incident at the Mediterranean port city.Also Friday, the United States military said that it destroyed seven Houthi drones and one ground control station vehicle in Houthi-controlled Yemen.International shipping has been disrupted since November by attacks in the region launched by the Houthis. Many vessels have opted to avoid the Red Sea route to the Suez Canal, taking the longer journey around the southern tip of Africa instead.The US is spearheading a naval coalition to protect vessels in the vital waterway, and has also conducted air strikes in Houthi territory, both on its own and alongside Britain.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Weekly rally to highlight plight of kidnapped siblings-US said rewording truce-hostage offer to revive talks, as families set to rally for deal-New effort focused on changes to conditions for talks in first phase, US official says; protest groups to gather Sat. night, and plan July 7 shutdown to mark 9 months since Oct. 7-By ToI Staff Today, 12:33 pm-JUN 29,24
The United States has proposed new language for parts of the proposed hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in an effort to reach an agreement, a report said Saturday, as relatives of those still held captive in Gaza were set to protest on Saturday night to urge the government to secure a deal.The Axios news site reported on Saturday, citing three sources with direct knowledge of the talks, that the US, with fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt, was focused on amending Clause 8 of the hostage-truce deal, concerning negotiations to be held during the six-week ceasefire stipulated by the agreement’s first phase.“The US is working very hard to find a formula that will allow reaching a deal,” one of the sources was quoted as saying, while another predicted that the agreement could be sealed if Hamas okays the changes.Under the proposal’s current provisions, the deal’s first phase would see the fighting in Gaza cease for six weeks, during which Hamas would release the remaining living female, elderly and sick hostages.In tandem, the sides would hold talks to secure a second six-week truce during which Hamas would release the remaining living hostages, including young men and male soldiers.However, if Hamas were found to violate its commitments under the deal, Israel could resume fighting.Hamas reportedly wants talks during the agreement’s first phase to address only how many and which Palestinian prisoners will be released in return for the living male hostages; Israel, on the other hand, also wants to discuss the demilitarization of Gaza, among other matters.According to partial leaks of the Israeli proposal earlier this month, Clause 8 reads: “No later than day 16 [of phase one], the commencement of indirect negotiations between the two sides to agree on the conditions for implementing stage two of this agreement, including those relating to the keys for the exchange of hostages and prisoners (soldiers and remaining men), and this should be concluded and agreed upon before the end of week five of this [first] stage.”The fate of the proposal was unclear earlier this week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with the right-wing Channel 14 on Sunday that he was willing to temporarily withdraw the army from the Gaza Strip in return for a “partial deal” that would see some of the hostages returned, but would then “continue the fighting” until Hamas is destroyed.But the prime minister appeared to walk back the statement the following day, insisting that he was still “committed to the Israeli [ceasefire] proposal welcomed by [US] President Biden. Our position has not changed.”A senior Arab official from one of the mediating countries told The Times of Israel on Monday that Netanyahu’s comments had vindicated Hamas’s concerns Israel will only carry out phase one of the deal before finding a way to resume fighting.For its part, the US State Department for the first time on Tuesday characterized Hamas’s response to the Israeli proposal as a rejection. The terror group “came back several weeks ago and rejected the proposal that was on the table,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing. “They gave us a written response that rejected the proposal put forward by Israel, that President Biden had outlined, that the United Nations Security Council and countries all around the world had endorsed,” he added, calling it a “written rejection and counter-proposal that came from Hamas.”Meanwhile, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which will hold its weekly rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Saturday night, pledged to keep calling on the government to realize the deal, first presented by US Biden in a May 31 speech. The rally will be complemented by a nearby protest of anti-government groups, which have often joined the main rally at past demonstrations.The hostages’ families forum, as well as some opposition figures, eviscerated the premier earlier this week for appearing to renege on the deal presented by Biden, which had been approved by Israel’s since-disbanded war cabinet.Announcing its weekly Saturday rally, the Hostages Forum said: “We must approve the deal — we cannot miss this opportunity for an agreement that will bring all the hostages home, the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for proper burial.”The rally will highlight the plight of kidnapped siblings, the group said in a statement, adding that among the 120 remaining hostages are five pairs of siblings.This week’s demonstration will feature a video message from Noa Argamani, who was rescued from Hamas captivity in early June along with three other hostages. Other speakers will include the parents of hostage Liri Albag and siblings of hostages Itzik Elgarat, Tsachi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi and Tamir Adar, the statement said.Near the Hostages Square rally, anti-government groups will protest on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street to demand the government’s resignation and new elections.The anti-government groups have also said they are organizing a shutdown of businesses and commerce on July 7, marking nine months to the day of Hamas’s shock assault, which protest groups accuse the government of failing to prevent.Over the past week, protest leaders had campaigned for a shutdown of commerce on Thursday, but the call went largely unheeded.The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.It is believed that 116 hostages abducted 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.Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 42 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.Hamas has also been holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Iran’s UN mission threatens ‘obliterating war’ if Israel launches Lebanon offensive-Amid push for diplomatic solution, US official warns full-blown conflict with Hezbollah could break out with ‘little notice’, Gallant says Jerusalem ‘not looking for war’-By ToI Staff and Reuters Today, 10:44 am-JUN 29,24
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Friday that if Israel embarks on a “full-scale military aggression” in Lebanon against Hezbollah, “an obliterating war will ensue.”The warning came after the Israel Defense Force attacked several Hezbollah positions, in response to the Iran-backed terror group’s latest barrage on northern Israel hours earlier, amid escalating tensions on the Lebanese border.Writing on X on Friday, the Iranian UN mission said that if Israel were to launch a war on Hezbollah, “all options, including the full involvement of all resistance fronts, are on the table.”Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria and Iraq, has been targeting Israel since October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.Iran itself also launched an unprecedented missile-and-drone strike on Israel on April 14, two weeks after an alleged Israel airstrike near Tehran’s embassy in Damascus killed several senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian strike was almost entirely repelled by Israel, the United States and other allies, though a 7-year-old girl was seriously injured in the attack.Soon after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, Israel evacuated much of its north, fearing Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, would carry out a similar attack. Some 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain displaced, as the country seeks to remove the terror group from its northern border.Albeit Iran deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon, should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table.— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) June 28, 2024-Diplomatic efforts led by the US have so far failed to make the terror group retreat beyond the Litani River — some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the border with Israel — in accord with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have been steadily mounting, with a US official cited in Politico on Thursday as saying that the risk of war is higher than it has been for weeks. According to the official, a major attack by either side could spark a war, which could happen with “little notice.”In a June 19 speech, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said “no place” in Israel would be spared from the group’s weapons in case of a full-blown war, adding that Hezbollah would fight with “no rules” and “no ceilings.”He also threatened Cyprus for allowing Israel to use its territory for military exercises, and appeared to threaten Israel’s offshore gas rigs, saying Israel “knows that what also awaits it in the Mediterranean is very big.”Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks at a ceremony commemorating a slain Hezbollah senior commander, June 19, 2024. (Screenshot)-Speaking at a ceremony commemorating senior Hezbollah commander Taleb Abdullah, whom Israel killed in an airstrike a week before, Nasrallah said the Shiite terror group does not want “total war” but is only acting in support of Hamas.“We will continue to support Gaza and we are ready for anything. We are not afraid,” said Nasrallah. “Our demand is clear: A complete and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”Israeli security leaders have also said they would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, but were readying the military in case war became necessary.Speaking to troops at an Iron Dome air defense battery in northern Israel on Friday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country was “not looking for war.”“[We are] preparing the military force… and this can happen quickly. On the other hand, the political alternative is being prepared, it is always better,” said Gallant.Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
US officials say thousands of 2,000-pound bombs shipped to Israel since Oct. 7-Over 14,000 MK-84s, which Biden paused a shipment of, are among the US munitions sent to Israeli forces fighting against Hamas and Hezbollah-By Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 3:25 am-JUN 29,24
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has sent to Israel large numbers of munitions, including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles, since the start of the war in Gaza, said two US officials briefed on an updated list of weapons shipments.Between the war’s start last October and recent days, the United States has transferred at least 14,000 of the MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions, according to the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly.While the officials didn’t give a timeline for the shipments, the totals suggest there has been no significant drop-off in US military support for its ally, despite international calls to limit weapons supplies and a recent administration decision to pause a shipment of powerful bombs.Experts said the contents of the shipments appear consistent with what Israel would need to replenish supplies used in this eight-month intense military campaign in Gaza, which it launched after the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists who killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.“While these numbers could be expended relatively quickly in a major conflict, this list clearly reflects a substantial level of support from the United States for our Israeli allies,” said Tom Karako, a weapons expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, adding that the listed munitions were the type Israel would use in its fight against Hamas or in a potential conflict with Hezbollah.The delivery numbers, which have not been previously reported, provide the most up-to-date and extensive tally of munitions shipped to Israel since the Gaza war began.Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in near-daily skirmishes since the Iran-backed terror group being launched attacks from Lebanon a day after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, and concern is rising that an all-out war could break out between the two sides.The White House declined to comment. Israel’s Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The shipments are part of a bigger list of weapons sent to Israel since the Gaza conflict began, one of the US officials said. A senior Biden administration official on Wednesday told reporters that Washington has since October 7 sent $6.5 billion worth of security assistance to Israel.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent weeks claimed that Washington was withholding weapons, a suggestion US officials have repeatedly denied even though they acknowledged some “bottlenecks.”The Biden administration has paused one shipment of the 2,000-pound bomb, citing concern over the impact it could have in densely populated areas in Gaza, but US officials insist that all other arms deliveries continue as normal. One 2,000-pound bomb can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.Reuters reported on Thursday that the United States is discussing with Israel the release of a shipment of large bombs that was suspended in May over worries about the military operation in Rafah.International scrutiny of Israel’s military operation in Gaza has intensified as the Palestinian death toll from the war has exceeded 37,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, an unverified figure that does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.316 troops have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission. A civilian Defense Ministry contractor has also been killed in the Strip.Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to its longtime ally. While Biden has warned that he would place conditions on military aid if Israel fails to protect civilians and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, he has not done so beyond delaying the May shipment.Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas has emerged as a political liability, particularly among young Democrats, as he runs for re-election this year. It fueled a wave of “uncommitted” protest votes in primaries and has driven pro-Palestinian protests against Israel at US universities.While the United States provides detailed descriptions and quantities of military aid sent to Ukraine as it fights a full-scale invasion of Russia, the administration has revealed few details about the full extent of US weapons and munitions sent to Israel.The shipments are also hard to track because some of the weapons are shipped as part of arms sales approved by Congress years ago but only now being fulfilled.One of the US officials said the Pentagon has sufficient quantities of weapons in its own stocks and had been liaising with US industry partners who make the weapons, such as Boeing and General Dynamics as the companies work to manufacture more.
Iran installs half of planned new centrifuges at Fordow, IAEA report says-Atomic energy agency says Tehran’s four new cascades have been put in place but haven’t yet started enriching uranium-By Reuters 28 June 2024, 10:59 pm
VIENNA – Iran has installed half the advanced uranium-enriching machines it said earlier this month it would quickly add to its Fordow site dug into a mountain but has not yet brought them online, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report seen by Reuters.Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency two weeks ago it would rapidly expand its enrichment capacity at Fordow by adding eight cascades, or clusters, of IR-6 centrifuges at Fordow within three to four weeks.Within two days the IAEA had verified that two of the cascades had been installed. In a confidential report to member states on Friday the agency said that number had now doubled.“The Agency has verified that Iran has installed four of the aforementioned eight IR-6 cascades in Unit 1 at FFEP (Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant),” the report said, adding that the verification happened on Sunday.“Iran has not specified to the Agency when it would start feeding any of the cascades in Unit 1 with UF6 or the planned enrichment level,” it added, referring to uranium hexafluoride gas, the feedstock for centrifuges.Diplomats say the addition of the IR-6 machines was a response to a resolution against Iran by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors on June 5 calling on Tehran to step up cooperation with the watchdog and reverse its recent barring of inspectors. Iran tends to bristle at such resolutions.The United States announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil trade on Thursday, saying it was acting in response to “steps (by Iran) to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose.”Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, at two sites: Fordow and an above-ground pilot plant at Natanz. It has enough material enriched to up to 60%, if enriched further, for three nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.At Fordow, it is currently using the two only operating cascades of IR-6 centrifuges there to enrich to 60% from 20%.Iran also informed the IAEA this month that it would bring online more of the dozens of advanced centrifuges it has installed at its largest enrichment site, the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz.The report said Iran plans to feed UF6 into 15 cascades of IR-2m and IR-4 machines already installed but not yet enriching. The last quarterly IAEA report in May put the number of those machines installed but not operating at 21.Iran has now carried out passivation, a process that involves feeding UF6 into centrifuges in preparation for enrichment without accumulating enriched uranium, on six of those cascades, Friday’s report said.“Iran has started feeding, for passivation purposes, 4 natural UF 6 into an additional three IR-2m cascades and three IR-4 cascades for the first time,” it said.Iran had also begun installing one of the 18 extra IR-2m cascades it said this month it would set up at the FEP, the report added.
Gallant: Israel ‘not looking for war’ with Hezbollah, diplomatic route always better-Lebanese terror group fires dozens of rockets at the north; IDF fails to intercept three drones; far-right party threatens to leave coalition unless Israel launches offensive-By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff 28 June 2024, 11:50 pm
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday that Israel is “not looking for war” with Hezbollah and that a diplomatic solution was preferable, as the far-right Otzma Yehudit indicated it would bolt the government if Israel shied away from launching a full-scale assault on the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group.Nevertheless, Gallant reiterated that Israel was making preparations and planning for a wider conflict, and said the ball was in Hezbollah’s court.The defense minister’s remarks came hours after a tense cabinet meeting in which National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the leader of Otzma Yehudit, criticized Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for supporting a deal with Hezbollah to avert all-out war in the north.Meanwhile, Hezbollah on Friday claimed responsibility for dozens of barrages earlier in the day, including rockets fired at a military base near Kiryat Shmona, explosive-laden drones launched at another army position in the Western Galilee, and several more attacks along the border.The Israel Defense Force said it launched interceptor missiles at three drones, but failed to down the devices. According to the military, damage was caused to a building in Western Galilee by one of the rockets, which also sparked several fires in northern Israel.No injuries were caused in the attacks, although a home in the border community of Shlomi was damaged by one of the rockets. The IDF said it shelled the sources of fire with artillery and later carried out a “wave of attacks” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.The targets included a military site in Zibqin, infrastructure in Khiam and Houla, and a building used by Hezbollah in Odaisseh, according to the military.Hezbollah has been shelling northern communities on a near-daily basis since soon after October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take over 250 hostages, amid sexual violence.Fearing Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, Israel evacuated residents of the Lebanon border communities, some 60,000 of whom remain displaced.Diplomatic efforts led by the United States have so far failed to remove Hezbollah forces from Israel’s northern border, where skirmishes with the Iran-backed terror group appear on the verge of full-blown war.Politico on Thursday cited a United States official as saying that the risk of war is higher than it has been for weeks. According to the official, a major attack by either side could spark a war, which could happen with “little notice.” A United Nations official said on Wednesday the war would be “potentially apocalyptic.”Speaking to troops at an Iron Dome air defense system battery in northern Israel, Gallant said the country was developing two “significant” alternatives for Lebanon.“[We are] preparing the military force… and this can happen quickly. On the other hand, the political alternative is being prepared, it is always better,” he said.“We are not looking for war but we are ready for it. And we will reach a junction, it will be a T junction both for the enemy and for us. If [Hezbollah] chooses to go to war, we will know what to do. If it chooses to go to an agreement, we will respond to this matter,” Gallant said.“I know it’s not easy, not easy for you and not easy for the residents of the north. There is one thing I can tell you and that is that it is much more difficult for Hezbollah and Lebanon. It is easy to speak from the bunker and make statements,” he said, referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.“At the end of the day, there are over 450 terrorists killed [in Lebanon]. The area is hit on a very severe level. Therefore, this burden is placed on the enemy in a much greater way than on us,” Gallant added.Gallant reportedly made a similar point at the cabinet meeting which began late on Thursday.“I told the Americans that we are not the ones who want a war in the north, and if we reach a deal that removes [Hezbollah] from a border, that would be acceptable,” said Gallant, who recently returned from a four-day visit to Washington.“How can we not have a war?” Ben Gvir was said to interject. “Have we learned nothing from 20 years of deal-making? We’ll make a deal, and then within a year or two they’ll rape our women and murder our children.”Ben Gvir also reportedly pushed back when Netanyahu expressed support for a diplomatic resolution to the tensions with Hezbollah.“If we reach an arrangement that allows the return of residents to the north, then we can make a deal,” Netanyahu was quoted by Hebrew media as saying, “but that’s the crux of it — returning the residents up north. Only with the conditions that allow that [will Israel make a deal].”Ben Gvir was said to reiterate that making a deal with Hezbollah would lead to a repeat of October 7, adding: “You don’t make deals with Nazis.”A member of Ben Gvir’s party was later quoted in Makor Rishon as threatening the faction and would bolt the government if Israel did not launch an offensive on Hezbollah.“If there is no campaign in the north, we will have to make a decision about remaining in the government,” Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer told the weekly. “This government cannot continue to exist if a diplomatic agreement is made [to end tensions] in the north.”The far-right party, whose name translates literally as “Jewish power,” holds six of the Knesset’s 120 seats. If it were to leave the coalition, the government would be left with 58 seats — three short of a majority — and would be unable to govern.The party has threatened to leave the government several times in the past.
NGOs seek Dutch ban on export of F-35 parts that could end up in hands of IDF-The Hague court set to rule July 12 in suit by human rights groups to block shipment of jet components, after Feb. decision found parts’ use in Gaza could violate international law-By Reuters 28 June 2024, 9:55 pm
THE HAGUE — Lawyers for rights groups asked a Hague court on Friday to order the Dutch state to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts that might end up in Israel, including parts sent to the United States to build fighter planes destined for the Israeli army.The court case, started by rights groups including the Dutch arm of Oxfam, flows from another district court ruling in February that the Netherlands cannot send F-35 parts to Israel over concerns the jets could be involved in breaking international humanitarian law in the war in Gaza.According to the rights groups’ lawyers, the Dutch state stopped direct export of parts to Israel but continues to deliver fighter jet parts to the US and other countries which are then sent on or used in planes destined for Israel.“The state must actively prevent that parts from the Netherlands reach Israel via a detour,” lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld said.Lawyers for the Dutch state told the court on Friday that the rights groups had a flawed interpretation of the earlier court ruling, and the legal end destination of component parts was the country where production takes place, not the country where a final product may end up.“In these deliveries the United States [is] the end destination” as understood by European regulation, lawyer Reimer Veldhuis said, adding that the Netherlands was complying with the earlier court order.The court is set to rule in the case on July 12.
Palestinians, Israeli left slam cabinet move to legalize settlement outposts-PLO says steps and punitive measures against PA are part of continued ‘war of genocide’ against the Palestinian people; settler leaders welcome efforts led by Smotrich-By ToI Staff and Reuters 28 June 2024, 6:26 pm
A decision by Israel to legalize five West Bank settlement outposts drew widespread criticism on Friday from dovish Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, which accused Israel of continuing a policy of “genocide” against the Palestinian people.The statements came after the security cabinet, at the behest of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, announced the steps and a series of punitive moves against the PA.Smotrich, who also heads the Defense Ministry’s civilian administration, said the move was in response to the PA’s international lawsuits against Israel and its “push for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” referring to the recent decisions of Spain, Norway, Ireland and Slovenia to recognize Palestinian statehood.“The government of Israel is advancing de facto annexation of millions of Palestinians to our territory,” Labor party leader Yair Golan wrote on X. “This annexation will harm the security of our citizens, the future of our children and will bring about the end of the Zionist dream.”Far-left lawmaker Ofer Cassif, of the majority-Arab Hadash-Ta’al faction, slammed the decision. “No front will satisfy the pyromaniacs’ government’s bloodlust,” Cassif wrote on X. “More violence, more abandonment, more killing, more theft, more occupation.”Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the settlements are “illegal colonies that violate all international resolutions.“The decisions by the occupation government aim to pursue the war of genocide against our Palestinian people,” he told Reuters, adding that the PLO and the PA would continue pressing for Israel to be taken before international courts and punished for “crimes against our people, and in particular in the Gaza Strip.”Israel is embroiled in several international legal cases, including a suit at the International Court of Justice claiming the country’s conduct in the Gaza war amounts to “genocide.”In addition, Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, in May requested the tribunal issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the country’s conduct throughout the war.Khan also sought warrants against Hamas leaders for atrocities committed on October 7, when the terror group led a thousands-strong onslaught on southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and saw over 250 taken hostage, sparking the Gaza war.Khan’s predecessor Fatou Bensouda in 2019 launched a still-ongoing probe into Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank, which she said could amount to war crimes. The probe was launched soon at the request of the PA — then a newly minted UN member — in a move that Israel’s envoy to the UN at the time termed “diplomatic terrorism.”Israel, which captured the West Bank in 1967’s Six Day War, has gradually dotted the territory with settlements, which most of the international community considers illegal occupation.There are currently some half a million Jewish settlers in the West Bank, living alongside over two million Palestinians, whom Israel does not consider citizens, and whose movements the country routinely restricts.Israel has never annexed the West Bank, claiming its military presence there was a temporary measure pending a future resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The country occasionally clears out outposts erected without the government’s consent, usually to right-wing ire.Smotrich said the sanctions would include “enforcement action against incitement” by PA officials, cancelation of their exit visas and stripping the PA of its jurisdiction over illegal construction in a Judean desert nature reserve.The outposts set to be legalized are Evyatar in the northern West Bank, Sde Efraim and Givat Asaf in the central West Bank, and Heletz and Adorayim in the territory’s south.The cabinet also okayed the publication of tenders for thousands more homes in settlements, according to Smotrich’s statement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid are yet to comment on the matter, as is the White House.Smotrich, himself a settler from the Kedumin settlement in the northern West Bank — whose own home was allegedly built, in part, on private Palestinian land — was recorded last week as saying that the government was plotting a “mega-dramatic” plan to exert still greater control over the West Bank.Settler leaders welcomed the move, with Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, saying it “strengthens the State of Israel.”Yaron Rosenthal, head of the Gush Etzion regional council, commended the “rare moment of peace” brought about by Smotrich’s decision to strip the PA of its authority over illegal construction in the Judea desert nature reserve.“The meaning on the ground is that the massive [illegal Palestinian] construction we have seen until now will be stopped immediately,” Rosenthal wrote in a message to residents, adding that the council would seek to bring down existing buildings.The late Thursday cabinet that resulted in Smotrich’s touted settlement legalization was reportedly delayed due to a dispute between the hard-right minister and Netanyahu over the move’s potentially negative impact on ties with Washington — barely a day after Defense Minister Gallant returned from there.
In France’s high-stakes election, a Jewish candidate faces hate and division-Shannon Seban, a candidate for Macron’s centrist camp, assailed while campaigning for being a Jew and Zionist, told ‘there’s no place for you here’By John Leicester and ALEX TURNBULL 28 June 2024, 6:10 pm
IVRY-SUR-SEINE, France (AP) — Amid market stalls heaped with fresh foods, the shopper walked past the young candidate campaigning for votes in France’s high-stakes and torrid legislative election but then paused and doubled back to give Shannon Seban a piece of her mind.What happened next is becoming depressingly familiar for the 28-year-old candidate, who is Jewish and says she’s increasingly on the receiving end of antisemitism that has surged as a hot-button issue in the campaign. Seban’s heated exchange with the shopper in the Paris suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine this week before Sunday’s first round of voting appeared to bear out her concerns.The woman accused Seban of being a Zionist, which the candidate took as an insult. She then brought up Seban’s Jewish faith, which further riled the prospective lawmaker because she regards her religion as nobody’s business but her own.Both of them increasingly angry, the shopper upped the temperature by saying to Seban: “There’s no place for you here.” She then wheeled away and melted back into the crowd, muttering “you’re a Zionist” like a curse as she did so.“To tell me I have no right to be here is unacceptable,” Seban, who was born in the Paris suburbs, shouted after her. The woman yelled back: “Aren’t you ashamed to be here?”Although the roughly half-million people of Jewish faith make up only a small portion of mainland France’s 66 million inhabitants, they have unwittingly been thrust into the electoral fray by the country’s bitter divisions over the Hamas-Israel war and a tinderbox of accusations of antisemitism that opposing camps in the legislative elections are hurling at each other.Jewish voters are agonizing over how to choose in an election where the centrist camp of President Emmanuel Macron is bracing for another possible beating by the far-right National Rally — after it surged in European parliament elections on June 9 — and by a new coalition of left-wing parties that coalesced to stave off the prospect of France’s first far-right government since World War II.Holocaust survivor and renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, whose father was deported to the Auschwitz death camp, never to return, provoked stupefaction in the campaign by declaring that in a run-off between far left and far right, he’d vote for the National Rally despite its historical links to antisemitism. Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of the National Rally’s forerunner, the National Front, has multiple convictions for racism and antisemitism, including for repeatedly saying that Nazi gas chambers were “a detail” of WWII history.He was eventually expelled from the party as part of a makeover by his daughter and successor, Marine Le Pen, to make it palatable to mainstream voters.Speaking to French broadcaster LCI, Klarsfeld said that, in his eyes, the National Rally has transformed and “supports Jews, supports the state of Israel.” Klarsfeld added that he regards the left-wing coalition’s largest component, the far-left France Unbowed party, as being tinged with antisemitism and “violent anti-Zionism.”France Unbowed leaders have staunchly condemned the conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas and accused it of pursuing genocide against Palestinians. But they have repeatedly and strongly denied accusations of antisemitism. The left-wing coalition’s campaign manifesto says: “Antisemitism has a tragic history in our country that must not be repeated. All those who spread hatred of Jews must be fought.”The manifesto notes that France’s estimated 5 million Muslims are also targets of hatred. It pledges that, if elected, the coalition’s government would propose plans to combat both antisemitism and Islamophobia.The anti-immigration National Rally has long spoken out against what it argues is a creep of Muslim religious and cultural influences in France, often singling out Muslim women for wearing headscarves and drawing links with Islamist extremism. In a section titled “Preserving French civilization,” the National Rally’s campaign manifesto promises legislation “targeting Islamist ideologies, a genuine totalitarian threat of modern times.”The party also continues to face intense scrutiny over antisemitism. In this election, it initially disavowed one of its candidates in Brittany after the left-leaning newspaper Liberation reported that Joseph Martin posted “gas brought justice to the victims of the Shoah” in 2018 on what was then Twitter. The National Rally subsequently rehabilitated Martin after ruling that his post was taken out of context, said the party’s vice president, Louis Aliot. Brittany newspaper Le Telegramme quoted Martin as saying the “tweet was a tribute to victims of the Shoah.”Seban, who is campaigning for Macron’s centrist camp, describes both the far right and the left-wing coalition as “extreme” and says that “in power, it’s civil war in the country.”“Far left, far right — for me, it’s a choice between the plague and cholera,” she said.Contesting a seat in the Val-de-Marne region southeast of Paris, Seban is notably up against a France Unbowed leader, Mathilde Panot. Seban is pessimistic about her chances — Panot won with 68% of the vote in 2022 — but is battling on.“Good morning, Madame,” she said as she thrust a leaflet into the hands of another market shopper. “We’re counting on you Sunday to be a bulwark against the extremes. It’s important.”Attacks targeting French Jews, places of worship and Holocaust memorials have surged in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, that killed some 1,200 people, most of them civlians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza.Seban says she faced antisemitism before that. She spoke in an Associated Press interview of being the target of particularly hurtful verbal abuse that she said referenced her supposedly “murderous Jewish nose.” But she says hatred has become particularly unrestrained since Oct. 7.Three burly private security guards discreetly watched from a distance as Seban canvassed voters at the market and on Ivry’s streets. She said her party assigned her the security detail out of fears for her safety after a hostile crowd confronted her on another stop in Ivry last Sunday.“I was booed, hissed, heckled and, truly, I felt humiliated. At first, I stood firm. I said ‘No, I won’t leave. I have the right to be here as a citizen,” she recounted. “But as time went on, I saw that the crowd was starting to get bigger and bigger. The shouts were very loud: ‘Get out, dirty Zionist ! You are not at home here! Get out, get out!'”Finally and reluctantly, “I had to leave.”“Anti-Zionism today is the new face of antisemitism.” she said.Seban initally had a running mate, Mouayad Mnemoi, who is Black. But he withdrew from the race almost immediately after suffering racist abuse online and threatening phone calls, she said. A photo Seban posted of the two of them together after they registered their candidacy drew lots of messages of support but also abusive comments referencing Mnemoi’s skin color.“It proves,” she said, “that my fight is legitimate.”
US pier again removed from Gaza coast due to sea conditions, may not be reanchored-Pentagon says there’s a need to bring in more aid through the pier but the storage area is ‘pretty close to full,’ after UN halted distribution of supplies due to security concerns-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 1:32 am-JUN 29,24
The pier built by the US military to bring aid to Gaza has been removed due to weather to protect it, and the US is considering not re-installing it unless the aid begins flowing out into the population again.While the military has helped deliver desperately needed food through the pier, the vast majority of it is still sitting in the adjacent storage yard and that area is almost full. Aid agencies have had difficulty moving the food to areas further into Gaza where it is most needed because the humanitarian convoys have come under attack.The UN, which has the widest reach in delivering aid to Palestinians, hasn’t been distributing food and other emergency supplies arriving through the pier since June 9. The pause came after the Israeli military used an area near the pier to fly out hostages after an operation to rescue four hostages from Hamas captivity sparked deadly fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in Gaza, prompting a UN security review over concerns that aid workers’ safety and neutrality may have compromised. The US has denied the pier was used in the rescue mission.UN World Food Program spokesman Steve Taravella said Friday that the UN participation in the pier project is still on pause pending resolution of the security concerns.While always meant to be temporary and never touted as a complete solution to the problems getting humanitarian aid into Gaza, US President Joe Biden’s $230 million project has faced a series of setbacks since aid first rolled ashore May 17 and has been criticized by relief groups and congressional Republicans as a costly distraction.The pier has been used to get more than 19.4 million pounds, or 8.6 million kilograms, of food into Gaza, but has been stymied not only by aid pauses but unpredictable weather. Rough seas damaged the pier just days into its initial operations, forcing the military to remove it temporarily for repairs and then reinstall it. Heavy seas on Friday forced the military to remove it again and take it to the Israeli port at Ashdod.Several US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said the military could reinstall the pier once the bad weather passes in the coming days, but the final decision on whether to reinstall it hasn’t been made.Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, acknowledged that she doesn’t know when the pier will be reinstalled. “When the commander decides that it is the right time to reinstall that pier, we’ll keep you updated on that,” she said.She also said Friday that there is a need for more aid to come into Cyprus and be transported to the pier. She noted that the secure area onshore is “pretty close to full,” but that the intention is still to get aid into Gaza by all means necessary. She said the US is having discussions with the aid agencies about the distribution of the food.But, she added, “Of course, if there’s not enough room in the marshalling yard, then it doesn’t make sense to put our men or women out there when there’s nothing to do.”Palestinians are facing widespread hunger amid the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught. Border crossings are far more productive than the sea route, but the Rafah Crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt has been shuttered since Israel launched an offensive there, while the World Food Program says aid workers trying to get shipments through the main remaining crossing — Kerem Shalom — face risks from fighting, damaged roads, unexploded ordnance and Israeli restrictions. The army claims it is trying to facilitate aid shipments and accuses Hamas of disrupting them, noting earlier this week that the terror group shelled a UNICEF aid convoy being escorted by troops.
Trump again denounces political foe as a ‘Palestinian,’ this time going after Schumer-CAIR and Amnesty International say former US president’s use of term is racist, after he called Biden ‘a very bad Palestinian’ at debate-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 4:59 am-JUN 29,24
Former US president Donald Trump’s references to Palestinians during Thursday’s debate with President Joe Biden were strongly denounced by advocacy groups, as he again deployed the term against a political foe.Biden and Trump had a brief exchange on the war in Gaza but did not have a substantive discussion on the conflict sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.“The only one who wants the war to continue is Hamas,” Biden said. Trump responded by saying Biden has “become like a Palestinian,” which rights advocates said came across as a slur.“Actually, Israel is the one (that wants to keep going), and you should let them go and let them finish the job. He (Biden) doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one,” Trump said.On Friday, Trump again used the term “Palestinian” in a similar way, this time saying in a rally that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, was a Palestinian. “He’s become a Palestinian because they have a couple more votes or something,” he added, apparently suggesting the veteran New York lawmaker has become too critical of Israel.The Council on American Islamic Relations, whose executive director hailed the Hamas-led atrocities, said Biden was wrong to claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the war to end, while adding it viewed Trump’s Palestinian comment in the debate as a racist insult.Trump: Schumer has become a Palestinian. He’s Jewish but he’s become a Palestinian pic.twitter.com/w95R9AbA8X— Acyn (@Acyn) June 28, 2024-“Former President Trump’s use of ‘Palestinian’ as an insult was racist. President Biden’s touting of his military support for the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza was callous,” Corey Saylor, research and advocacy director at CAIR, said in a statement.“To insinuate that being Palestinian is somehow a bad thing, as former President Trump did when he called President Biden Palestinian, reeks of racism and anti-Arab hatred,” Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA, told Reuters.CAIR has reported a rise in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias since the latest eruption of conflict in the Middle East on October 7, which has fueled a surge in antisemitism in the US and around the globe. The war in Gaza and Washington’s support for Israel has also led to months of protests against the Jewish state across the United States.Trump also faced criticism for using the term “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” while claiming immigrants who were coming into the United States from its border with Mexico were taking away those employment opportunities.The Trump campaign did not have an immediate comment to the criticism.Immigration is a key election issue and Trump has claimed Biden has failed to secure the southern US border, ushering in scores of criminals. Studies show immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans.
Why it would be tough to replace Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket in November-As party weighs options after US president’s debate flop, long list of candidates-in-waiting and legal challenges touted by conservative groups could jeopardize potential shake-up-By Will Weissert Today, 12:19 am-JUN 29,24
WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Joe Biden’s halting debate performance has led some in his own party to begin questioning whether he should be replaced on the ballot before November.There is no evidence Biden is willing to end his campaign. And it would be nearly impossible for Democrats to replace him unless he chooses to step aside. Here’s why:Every state has already held its presidential primary. Democratic rules mandate that the delegates Biden won remain obligated to support him at the party’s upcoming national convention unless he tells them he’s leaving the race.Biden indicated that he had no plans to do that, telling supporters in Atlanta shortly after he left the debate stage, “Let’s keep going.” Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt was even clearer, saying Friday: “Of course he’s not dropping out.”The conventions and their rules are controlled by the political parties. The Democratic National Committee could convene before the convention opens on August 19 and change how things will work, but that isn’t likely as long as Biden wants to continue seeking reelection.The current rules read: “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.”The vice president is Biden’s running mate, but that doesn’t mean she can swap in for him at the top of the ticket by default. Biden also can’t decree that she replace him should he suddenly decide to leave the race.The Democratic National Convention is being held in Chicago, but the party has announced that it will hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin. The exact date for the roll call has not yet been set.If Biden opts to abandon his reelection campaign, Harris would likely join other top Democratic candidates looking to replace him. But that would probably create a scenario where she and others end up lobbying individual state delegations at the convention for their support.That hasn’t happened for Democrats since 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson jockeyed for votes during that year’s Democratic convention in Los Angeles.Other potential Democratic candidates would also face challenges-In addition to the vice president, others that had endorsed Biden in 2024 while harboring their own presidential aspirations for future cycles include of California and Governors Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and J. B. Pritzker of Illinois, as well as Rep. Ro Khanna.Still others who Biden bested during the party’s 2020 presidential primary could also try again, including Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.If Biden were to abruptly leave the race, conservative groups have suggested they will file lawsuits around the country, potentially questioning the legality of the Democratic candidate’s name on the ballot.US presidential candidates vying for the Democratic party’s nomination after the party’s primary debate: (L-R) former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, now-But Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, who wrote a book about the presidential nominating process and is also a member of the Democratic National Committee’s rulemaking arm, said that courts have consistently stayed out of political primaries as long as parties running them weren’t doing anything that would contradict other constitutional rights, such as voter suppression based on race.“This is very clear constitutionally that this is in the party’s purview,” Kamarck said in an interview before the debate. “The business of nominating someone to represent a political party is the business of the political party.”
Jewish and Black advocacy groups announce support for mask ban at NY demonstrations-At Manhattan press conference, heads of organizations link surging antisemitism since October 7 to past actions of Ku Klux Klan: ‘We can’t let history repeat itself’-By Luke Tress Today, 4:16 am-JUN 29,24
New York Jewish Week via JTA — Jewish and Black advocacy organizations came together to announce their support for a ban on masks at protests in New York State, linking contemporary antisemitism by masked attackers to past actions by hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan.Calls for a mask ban have gained momentum in recent weeks, as legislation has been introduced in Albany and the idea has the endorsement of Governor Kathy Hochul as well as Mayor Eric Adams. This week, Los Angeles’ mayor floated a similar ban after clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists outside a synagogue there.The effort comes as antisemitism has surged in New York City and as pro-Palestinian street protests, often by demonstrators wearing masks, have roiled the Jewish community. Law enforcement has said masking among demonstrators has hindered prosecution of crimes linked to demonstrations — such as the occupation of a Columbia University building earlier this year.“This is not about political speech,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said at a Thursday press conference outside Columbia University announcing the joint effort to ban masks at protests.“What we’re talking about today aren’t activists, they’re antagonists,” Greenblatt said, charging protesters with “hiding their identities behind masks so that they can menace their fellow Americans with impunity.” proposed mask ban has been gaining traction in New York, particularly following an incident earlier this month when masked protesters in a subway car chanted “Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist.” That same evening protesters, many of them masked, demonstrated outside an exhibit commemorating the Nova music festival massacre in a rally widely condemned as antisemitic.“People have a right to be safe on our public transportation, walking down the streets in their places of worship,” Hochul said in an interview with MSNBC. “And no one should be able to hide under the cover of almost a full-face mask to commit these atrocities against fellow New Yorkers. That’s where we have to draw the line.”Pro-Palestinian and leftist groups have pushed back against the anti-masking effort, calling it an infringement on the right to free assembly as well as a risk to the immunocompromised. The progressive advocacy group Jews for Economic and Racial Justice announced an effort called Jews for Mask Rights to oppose the legislation.“In addition to offering the NYPD another reason to stop and harass people, a mask ban gives the NYPD further excuse to claim arrests made at whim are justified,” JFREJ executive director Audrey Sasson said in a Thursday statement. “This proposed law is not about safety but about controlling the bodily autonomy of and further marginalizing those who hold currently unpopular political views.”The pro-ban coalition of Black and Jewish groups, called Unmask Hate NY, is backing legislation to bar most masking at protests which was introduced in the New York State Assembly by Bronx Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is Jewish. The effort has the backing of the ADL, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the NAACP, prominent Harlem pastor Johnnie Green, the National Urban League, the UJA-Federation of New York and other state-level lawmakers.In a statement, Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference, cited the Ku Klux Klan’s white hoods in her endorsement of a mask ban. Several states enacted mask bans in the past in order to hinder the hate group’s activities.“Black communities know all too well that individuals who hide their identities with intent to terrorize, intimidate or harass are a threat to all of our safety and have no place in New York,” Dukes said in a statement. “Reinstating New York’s masking laws will protect New Yorkers from some of the most terrifying periods in our history; when the Klan menaced Black Americans, faces covered, without accountability. We can’t let history repeat itself.”Dinowitz’s legislation, which is still being finalized, says it aims to “remove the cloak of anonymity from individuals who commit aggressive actions against others during a lawful or unlawful assembly or riot.” The proposed legislation makes exemptions for masks and face coverings worn for medical and religious reasons.New York State had an anti-masking law in place dating back to the 1800s, but scrapped the bill in 2020 as masking became widespread to help stem the spread of COVID-19. The Ku Klux Klan unsuccessfully challenged the previous law in the US Court of Appeals in 2004.Dinowitz’s bill has not yet come to a vote in the State Assembly, but he hopes to see it passed by the beginning of next year.“Since October 7, antisemitism hasn’t spiked, it’s skyrocketed, and we cannot allow people who are hateful to conceal their identities,” he said at the Thursday briefing, adding that the law was “not focused on any particular group.”New York State lawmakers Brian Cunningham of Brooklyn and Nily Rozic of Queens, who is Israeli, also spoke in favor of the legislation at Thursday’s briefing.Law enforcement has said masking has impeded some investigations into criminal conduct by protesters. Last week, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office dropped charges against most of the protesters who forcibly took over a building at Columbia University in April. One of the reasons the charges were dropped was a lack of evidence against individuals who were wearing masks, making them difficult to identify in security footage, the D.A.’s office told the New York Jewish Week.Along with JFREJ, other left-wing and pro-Palestinian groups — as well as free-speech advocates — are mobilizing to protest a potential ban.A group of anti-Israel activist groups announced a Saturday rally outside Hochul’s office, calling the proposal “a clear infringement on the rights of the people.” The activist groups often encourage followers to wear masks at protests, and many wear keffiyehs, a scarf that has become a symbol of the pro-Palestinian movement.“No mask ban. No Zionist collaboration. Develop the summer of resistance,” an advertisement for the rally said. “Mask up, bring rage and solidarity.”The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group that has also criticized some pro-Palestinian protest activities, likewise voiced concern, saying anonymity was core to free-speech protections in the Constitution.“The First Amendment protects the right to speak anonymously, shielding individuals from retaliation for expressing dissenting or unpopular ideas,” Aaron Terr, FIRE’s director of public advocacy, told the New York Jewish Week. “While some people may wear masks to conceal their identity while engaging in illegal activity, that does not justify an overly broad mask ban that criminalizes lawful expressive activity.”Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League and a former mayor of New Orleans, told the New York Jewish Week that protesters’ fears of doxxing were not “unreasonable,” and that “no one should lose their job, their standing, their status because they exercise their constitutional right.”But he supports a mask ban, tying it to when the Ku Klux Klan targeted his family while he was growing up in the South.“The KKK sprayed its insignia on our home,” he said, adding that his family had received death threats from hooded agitators. “The First Amendment and the right to peacefully assemble should not mean masks or disguises while protesting.”Greenblatt said the comparison between that experience and today’s protests resonated with him.“It’s a lot like what we’re seeing here in New York, here and now with these masked protesters marching down Broadway, so I think the parallels are there,” he said. “Our communities have always been partners.”Pastor Johnnie Green of the Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem said his support for the legislation was not an “endorsement” of the war in Gaza, and that he backed anti-masking out of solidarity with the Jewish community.“We are here to stand with our Jewish friends who have been attacked by masked individuals,” Green said. “I’m not afraid of repercussions.”
US targets petrol tankers over Iran nuclear 'escalation'
Washington, June 27 (AFP) Jun 27, 2024-The United States on Thursday announced sanctions against shipping companies for transporting Iranian oil, saying it was a response to Tehran's nuclear "escalation," on the eve of presidential elections in the Islamic republic."Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.He said the United States was imposing the sanctions "in response to these continued nuclear escalations," saying, "We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome."The State Department announced sanctions on three shipping companies, all based in the United Arab Emirates, for allegedly transporting Iranian oil as well as 11 associated vessels.The sanctions block any assets of the companies in the United States and criminalize US transactions with them.The United States already has a sweeping unilateral ban on other countries buying Iranian oil, imposed by former president Donald Trump when he withdrew from a nuclear deal.President Joe Biden's administration initially said it would restore the 2015 deal but gave up after exhaustive negotiations with Tehran, major protests inside Iran and, more recently, tension over Iran's support for Palestinian militants Hamas.The UN nuclear watchdog said earlier this month that Iran is further expanding its nuclear capacities, with Tehran informing the agency that it was installing more cascades at enrichment facilities.Iran's cleric-led government denies seeking a nuclear weapon. Iran on Friday holds elections for president after conservative Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash.
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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