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)
IRANS ON FIRE, CITIZENS DYING AND TRUMP AND ISRAEL READY TO GO AGAINST IRAN.AND GET READY FOR AN IRAN STRIKE ON THEM ALSO.
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of
Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST
DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four
winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS
IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there
shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD
IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be
dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life:
and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES
POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I
have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
38 I will set My throne in Elam,And will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the Lord.
39 ‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days:I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the Lord.”
Ezekiel 32:24
24
There [is] Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of
them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into
the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of
the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to
the pit.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning
Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard
evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR
SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is
waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her:
anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of
war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I
will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it
shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN
DAMASCUS)
Trump said briefed on military, cyber, psychological
options-IDF says it’s on alert for ‘surprise scenarios,’ as US mulls
military strikes on Iran-Israel said to believe Trump will make good on
threat to attack in support of anti-regime protesters; US president puts
25% tariff on countries doing business with Tehran By Stav
Levaton,Jacob Magid and Agencies 13 January 2026, 4:50 am
The
Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it remained on alert for possible
“surprise scenarios” as anti-government unrest in Iran has prompted the
United States to threaten intervention over the killing of
protesters.Tehran has threatened to retaliate against Israel and US
military bases if it comes under American attack.Human rights groups
allege the death toll in the country has risen to 648, though it may be
much higher amid an internet blackout enforced by the regime since
Thursday, making it difficult to assess the reported bloodletting. Some
Iranians still have access to the internet via Elon Musk’s Starlink
satellite service, three people inside the country said.IDF spokesperson
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin urged the public not to “lend a hand to rumors”
about the ongoing situation in Iran.“The protests in Iran are an
internal matter,” he said in a post on X.He said the IDF is “prepared
defensively” and continues to hold regular situational assessments, and
that it will provide updates if there are any changes.In June, Israel
waged a 12-day war with Iran that began with a sweeping assault on
Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment
sites, and ballistic missile program. It said the attack was necessary
to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to build
nuclear weapons and destroy the Jewish state.According to the Kan public
broadcaster, Israel believes US President Donald Trump will make good
on his threat to attack, and that this will lead to another war between
Israel and Iran.Former strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer was
summoned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join a meeting on
Sunday with senior ministers and security officials as the US weighed
action, according to Channel 12 news.The network reported that Dermer
was consulted due to the potentially fateful decisions that the Trump
administration may take vis-à-vis Iran. Dermer, a longtime Netanyahu
confidant who resigned from his post in November, had been in charge of
overseeing ties with the Trump administration.The network also quoted an
unnamed Israeli source warning that Iran’s offer a few days ago to hold
talks with the US is “a trap” meant to delay potential American strikes
on the Islamic Republic.In his latest attempt to pressure Tehran, Trump
announced on Monday that “effective immediately, any country doing
business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a tariff of 25
percent on any and all business being done with the United States of
America.”“This order is final and conclusive,” he wrote on Truth
Social.Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are
among economies that do business with Tehran.The White House declined to
offer further comment about the president’s tariff announcement.Iran
had no direct reaction to Trump’s comments, which came after the foreign
minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran —
traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran
could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its
nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists
is crucial for its national defense.While Trump has avoided explicit
talk of regime change, he has threatened military action against Iran if
it kills protesters.Trump said Sunday that Iran’s leadership reached
out to the US over the weekend, expressing interest in holding nuclear
negotiations. The president said he may take up the offer but indicated
he may strike Iran first.Trump is slated to hold a security consultation
on Tuesday, during which he will be briefed on potential actions to
take against Iran. He is said to lean in favor of a military strike,
while also remaining open to a diplomatic solution.The president has
expressed support for the protesters and has pledged that “help” is on
the way, without elaborating.The Pentagon has briefed Trump on possible
military strikes, cyberattacks, and psychological measures that can be
taken to support the protesters, CBS News reported, citing two American
officials, who said that a final decision has not yet been made.The US
Department of State Consular Affairs has highlighted the escalating
protests and said US citizens in Iran should consider leaving by land to
Armenia or Turkey.“US nationals are at significant risk of questioning,
arrest, and detention in Iran,” the department said on its TravelGov
account on X.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to
foreign diplomats in Tehran earlier on Monday, insisted “the situation
has come under total control,” in remarks that blamed Israel and the US
for the violence, without offering evidence.“That’s why the
demonstrations turned violent and bloody to give an excuse to the
American president to intervene,” Araghchi said, in comments carried by
Al Jazeera. The Qatar-funded network has been allowed to report live
from inside Iran, despite the internet being shut off.Araghchi said Iran
was “open to diplomacy,” and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail
Baghaei said that a channel to the US remained open, but talks needed to
be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a
negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”The
demonstrations began on December 28 over the collapse of the Iranian
rial currency, which trades at more than 1.4 million to $1, as Iran’s
economy is squeezed by international sanctions, in part levied over its
nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls calling
for the overthrow of Iran’s theocracy.
In first calls to outside
world, Iranians describe heavy security and damage-Cellphone users say
government offices and some banks were burned; security forces
patrolling Tehran streets, many fear possible US attacksBy Agencies 13
January 2026, 2:25 pm
Iranians could call abroad on cellphones
Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a
crackdown on nationwide protests in which government sources said at
least 2,000 people have been killed.Several people in Tehran were able
to call The Associated Press and speak to a journalist. The AP bureau in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The
witnesses said SMS text messaging still was down and that internet
users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but
nothing abroad.The witnesses gave a brief glimpse into life on the
streets of the Iranian capital over the four and a half days of being
cut off from the world. They described a heavy security presence in
central Tehran.Anti-riot police officers wearing helmets and body armor
and carrying batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers stood
watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the
Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, who similarly carried
firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in
public spaces as well.Several banks and government offices were burned
during the unrest, they said. ATMs had been smashed and banks struggled
to complete transactions without the internet, the witnesses added.Shops
were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital.
Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began December 28, was
to open Tuesday. A witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers
who said the security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what.
Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.The witnesses spoke
on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.Many remain concerned
about a possible military strike by the US, even as President Donald
Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington.“My customers
talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military
strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave
just his first name out of concerns for his safety. “I don’t expect
Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of
Iranians.”Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said
protests also remain front of mind for many.“People — particularly young
ones — are hopeless but they talk about continuing the protests,” he
said.Meanwhile, it appeared that security service personnel were
searching for Starlink terminals as people in northern Tehran reported
authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While
satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them
in their homes and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law
in recent years.On the streets, people also could be seen challenging
plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at
random.State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue
services being free — a signal some likely charged high fees for the
release of bodies amid the crackdown.Iran says it communicated with
Washington-Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to the
Qatar-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera in an interview aired
Monday night, said he continued to communicate with US envoy Steve
Witkoff.The communication “continued before and after the protests and
are still ongoing,” Araghchi said. However, “Washington’s proposed ideas
and threats against our country are incompatible.”White House press
secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran’s public rhetoric diverges from the
private messaging the administration has received from Tehran in recent
days.“I think the president has an interest in exploring those
messages,” Leavitt said. “However, with that said, the president has
shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems
necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”Meanwhile,
pro-government demonstrators flooded the streets Monday in support of
the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly
challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, which
appeared to number in the tens of thousands, who shouted “Death to
America!” and “Death to Israel!”Others cried out, “Death to the enemies
of God!”Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in
anti-regime protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a
death-penalty charge.Trump imposes tariffs on Iran trading
partners-Trump announced Monday that countries doing business with Iran
will face 25 percent tariffs from the United States. Trump announced the
tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective
immediately.”It was action against Iran for the protest crackdown from
Trump, who believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding
friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.Brazil, China,
Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among economies that do
business with Tehran.Trump said Sunday that his administration was in
talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to
act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government
continues to arrest protesters.“I think they’re tired of being beat up
by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”Iran,
through the country’s parliamentary speaker, warned Sunday that the US
military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses
force to protect demonstrators.Around 2,000 people have been killed in
the protests, an Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, blaming
“terrorists” for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.More
than 10,700 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests,
said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been
accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the latest death
toll early Tuesday. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking
information.With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations
from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been
unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government hasn’t
offered overall casualty figures.
Iranian authorities say some
2,000 people killed in protests, as news trickles out-Opposition-aligned
site claims 12,000 killed, far higher than any NGO or state estimates;
Tehran defends internet block, as Germany’s Merz predicts regime in
‘last days and weeks’By Agencies and ToI Staff 13 January 2026, 3:17 pm
An
Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that about 2,000 people have
been killed amid mass demonstrations, blaming “terrorists” for the
deaths of civilians and security personnel.The figure came as Western
nations and the UN responded to emerging reports of protesters being
killed en masse, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz went so far as
predicting the Islamic Republic’s demise.The demonstrations across Iran
began in late December over an economic crisis, but have come to include
mass calls for the fall of the regime.As of Tuesday, estimates of the
death toll varied dramatically. The Norway-based organization Iran Human
Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the
protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely
much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000.”The Iran
International news site, which is based in the UK and is critical of the
Islamic Republic, claimed at least 12,000 people have been killed in
recent days — far beyond any other report. The site claimed this is the
estimate used internally by Iran’s own security authorities.In its
report, the opposition website said the killings were “fully organized,”
and mostly carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
and Basij militia, on the direct order of supreme leader Ali
Khamenei.Iran International said it compiled and cross-referenced the
information from multiple sources, including a source close to the
Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian presidential office,
as well as sources in the IRGC, witness accounts, and information from
medical officials.“This data was examined and verified through multiple
stages and in accordance with strict professional standards before being
announced,” it said.Iran’s FM: Internet cut amid anti-regime ‘terrorist
operations’Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi defended the regime’s move to cut off internet access
across the country last week, a blackout that is ongoing.“The government
was in dialogue with the protesters. The internet was cut only after we
confronted terrorist operations and realized orders were coming from
outside the country,” he said.Iran has blamed “America and the Zionist
regime,” referring to Israel, for the protests. The US has threatened
military intervention, but has also backed the demonstrations as an
organic opposition movement and said it favors diplomacy. Israel has
similarly endorsed the protests, but otherwise kept a low profile amid
the unrest while warning of a possible attack by Iran.On Tuesday,
Iranian security forces claimed to have arrested what a state television
report described as terrorist groups linked to Israel in the
southeastern city of Zahedan.The report, without providing additional
details, said the group entered through Iran’s eastern borders and
carried US-made guns and explosives that the group had planned to use in
assassinations and acts of sabotage.UN denounces ‘horrific violence,’
EU vows more sanctions-International bodies denounced Tehran for its
crackdown.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X
that the EU will “swiftly” propose “further sanctions on those
responsible for the repression.”She said the “rising number of
casualties in Iran is horrifying. I unequivocally condemn the excessive
use of force and continued restriction of freedom.”“We stand with the
people of Iran who are bravely marching for their liberty,” von der
Leyen wrote.UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a
statement read by a spokesman that the “cycle of horrific violence
cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness,
equality and justice must be heard.”He also voiced concern that the
death penalty might be used against thousands of protesters who have
been arrested.Responding to the possibility of US intervention, however,
spokesman Jeremy Laurence said there is “concern that (the protests)
have been instrumentalized, and they shouldn’t be instrumentalized by
anyone.”Germany’s Merz: Iran’s regime in its ‘last days and weeks’In the
Netherlands, Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said he’d summoned
Iran’s ambassador to protest against the “excessive” violence.German
Chancellor Freidrich Merz, during a visit to India on Tuesday, went a
step further, predicting that “we are now witnessing the last days and
weeks of this regime.”“When a regime can only maintain power through
violence, then it is effectively at its end. The population is now
rising up against this regime,” he said.Iran’s leaders have “no
legitimacy” as they were not elected by the people and the population is
now “rising up,” Merz said, adding: “I hope that there is a way to end
this conflict peacefully.”He said Germany was in contact with the United
States and other European governments with the aim of ensuring “that
there can be a peaceful transition to a democratic government in
Iran.”He did not comment on Germany’s trade ties with Iran. Germany
maintains limited trade relations with Iran despite significant
restrictions, making Berlin Tehran’s most important trading partner in
the European Union.US President Donald Trump said on Monday that any
country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on
trade with the United States.
Iran has aired some 100 forced
confessions by anti-regime protesters, activists say-Tehran ups pace of
notorious broadcasts amid unrest, with regular references to Israel and
US as supposed proof of foreign plots; activists report that confessions
follow torture By Melanie Lidman Today, 1:34 am-JAN 13,26
AP —
They are shown handcuffed, their faces blurred. The confession videos,
broadcast on Iranian state media, feature dramatic background music
interspersed with clips appearing to show protesters attacking security
forces. Some showcase gruesome homemade weapons that authorities claim
were used in the attacks. Others highlight suspects in grainy security
footage, appearing to set fires or destroy property.Iran alleges these
confessions, which often include references to Israel or America, are
proof of foreign plots behind Iran’s nationwide protests. Activists say
they are coerced confessions, long a staple of Iran’s hard-line state
television, the only broadcaster in the country. And these videos are
coming at an unprecedented clip.Iranian state media has aired at least
97 confessions from protesters, many expressing remorse for their
actions, since the protests began on December 28, according to a rights
group that is tracking the videos.The US-based Human Rights Activists
News Agency says that based on testimony from prior detainees, the
confessions often come after psychological or physical torture — and can
have serious consequences, including the death penalty.“These rights
violations compound on top of each other and lead to horrible outcomes.
This is a pattern that’s been implemented by the regime time and time
again,” said Skylar Thompson, the group’s deputy director.Iran’s mission
to the United Nations did not return a request for comment from The
Associated Press. Iranian officials have described the protests as
“riots” orchestrated by the United States and Israel. Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the violence must be foreign-influenced
because Iranians would never set mosques on fire.An unprecedented
number of confessions over two weeks.The nearly 100 confessions
broadcast over just two weeks is unprecedented for Iran, Thompson
said.By comparison, from 2010 to 2020, there were around 350 forced
confessions broadcast on state media, according to the activist groups
Justice for Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, the
last major study compiled by activists. The rights group Together
Against the Death Penalty said there were 40 to 60 confessions aired in
2025.Additionally, Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death
Penalty reported at least 37 televised confessions of people facing the
death penalty in the weeks following the 2022 protests over the death of
Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police for
allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of authorities. More than
500 people were killed and over 22,000 detained during the month-long
protests and security crackdown, the last major protests in Iran.A 2014
UN Special Rapporteur human rights report on Iran found that among
interviews with previously detained individuals, 70 percent said coerced
information or confessions were used in their hearings. In nearly half
the cases, the trial lasted just a few minutes.After the Amini protests,
the European Parliament adopted a resolution in January 2023 strongly
condemning “the Islamic Republic’s policy of forcing confessions using
torture, intimidation, threats against family members or other forms of
duress, and the use of these forced confessions to convict and sentence
protesters.”United Nations: Iran executed 975 people in 2024In 2024,
Iran executed 975 people, the highest number since 2015, according to a
report by the United Nations. Four of the executions were carried out
publicly. Iran carries out executions by hanging. According to the UN
report, most people in Iran are executed for drug-related offenses or
murder.In 2024, security-related offenses, such as espionage, accounted
for just 3% of the executions.Thompson said she is “gravely concerned”
over a surge in executions connected to the latest protests, adding that
many of the video confessions are serious security-related offenses
that carry the death penalty.Tehran is known to have executed 12 people
for espionage since the 12-day war in June between Israel and Iran. The
most recent execution for espionage was last week, when Iran said it
executed a man who was accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad spy agency
in exchange for cryptocurrency. The state-run IRNA news agency said the
man confessed to the spying charges.A long history of coerced
confessions-The use of televised, coerced confessions dates to the
chaotic years after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. State TV aired
confessions by suspected members of communist groups, insurgents, and
others. Even Mehdi Bazargan, Iran’s first prime minister after the
revolution, warned at one point that he could be detained and put on
television, “repeating things like a parrot.”Among coerced confessions
that gained international attention was one in 2009 by then-Newsweek
correspondent Maziar Bahari, who was also imprisoned for several months.
He directed a documentary, “Forced Confessions,” and wrote a memoir
about his ordeal.Since the protests began on December 28, 16,700 people
have been arrested, and more than 2,000 have been killed, the vast
majority protesters, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The organization relies on a network of activists inside Iran that
confirms all reported fatalities.The Iranian government has not released
overall casualty figures for the demonstrations. The AP has been unable
to independently assess the toll, given that the internet is now
blocked in Iran.Even before the protest movement exploded across the
country, human rights organizations and Western governments had
condemned Iran’s increasing use of capital punishment, particularly for
political and espionage-related offenses.Activists argue that many of
the convictions rely on coerced confessions and that trials often take
place behind closed doors, without access to independent legal
representation.
Analysis-Why the massive Iran protests haven’t
toppled its clerical establishment-Protests have gone on for weeks, but
unless street unrest and foreign pressure can prompt defections at the
top, the regime, though weakened, will likely hold, analysts say By
Samia Nakhoul 13 January 2026, 11:24 pm
Reuters —Despite Iran’s
nationwide protests and years of external pressure, there are as yet no
clear signs of fracture in the Islamic Republic’s security elite that
could bring an end to one of the world’s most resilient
governments.Adding to the stress on Iran’s clerical rulers, US President
Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened military action over Tehran’s
severe crackdown on the protests, which follow an air war between Israel
and Iran last June in which the IDF, joined by US bombers, struck
Iran’s nuclear facilities and key officials.Responding to Reuters, a
White House official said “all options” were at Trump’s disposal to
address the situation in Iran.But unless the street unrest and foreign
pressure can prompt defections at the top, the establishment, though
weakened, will likely hold, two diplomats, two government sources in the
Middle East and two analysts told Reuters.Around 2,000 people have been
killed in the protests, an Iranian official told Reuters, blaming
people he called terrorists for the deaths of civilians and security
personnel. Human rights groups had previously tallied around 600 deaths.
Some estimates of the death toll have been far higher.Iran’s layered
security architecture, anchored by the Revolutionary Guards and Basij
paramilitary force, which together number close to one million people,
makes external coercion without internal rupture exceedingly difficult,
said Vali Nasr, an Iranian-American academic and expert on regional
conflicts and US foreign policy.“For this sort of thing to succeed, you
have to have crowds in the streets for a much longer period of time. And
you have to have a breakup of the state. Some segments of the state,
and particularly the security forces, have to defect,” he said.Iran’s
foreign ministry declined to comment.The country’s supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, has survived several past waves of unrest.
This is the fifth major uprising since 2009, evidence of resilience and
cohesion even as the government confronts a deep, unresolved internal
crisis, said Paul Salem of the Middle East Institute.For that to change,
protesters would have to generate enough momentum to overcome the
state’s entrenched advantages: powerful institutions, a sizeable
constituency loyal to the clerical rule, and the geographic and
demographic scale of a country of 90 million people, said Alan Eyre, a
former US diplomat and Iran expert.Survival, however, does not equal
stability, the analysts said. The Islamic Republic is facing one of its
gravest challenges since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Sanctions have
strangled the economy with no clear path to recovery. Strategically, it
is under pressure from Israel and the United States, its nuclear program
degraded, its regional “Axis of Resistance” proxies weakened by
crippling losses to terror groups and other allies in Lebanon, Syria and
Gaza.For this sort of thing to succeed, you have to have crowds in the
streets for a much longer period of time. And you have to have a breakup
of the state. Some segments of the state, and particularly the security
forces, have to defect.Nasr said that while he didn’t think the Islamic
Republic had reached the “moment of fall,” it was “now in a situation
of great difficulty going forward.”The protests began on December 28 in
response to soaring prices, before turning squarely against clerical
rule. Politically, the violent crackdown has further eroded what
remained of the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy.What sets this moment
apart, and raises the stakes, analysts say, is Trump’s explicit warnings
that the killing of demonstrators could trigger an American
intervention.On Tuesday, Trump urged protesters to take over
institutions and said “help is on its way,” while saying he was
cancelling meetings with Iranian officials. Earlier, he threatened
tariffs on countries that trade with Iran. China is Tehran’s top trade
partner.In a phone call on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of US
intervention in Iran, according to an Israeli source present for the
conversation.Trump’s interest in the protests, the analysts said, is
likely tactical rather than ideological, Salem said. The aim could be
pliability — weakening the state enough to extract concessions such as
curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program, he said.The White House did not
respond to a request for comment about Trump’s goals in Iran. The White
House official said Trump had demonstrated with military operations in
Iran and Venezuela last year and this month “that he means what he
says.”The idea of a “Venezuela model” has growing appeal in some circles
in Washington and Jerusalem, a diplomat and three of the analysts said.
It envisions the removal of Iran’s top authority while signaling to the
remaining state apparatus: stay in place, provided they cooperate, they
said.Applied to Iran, however, it collides with formidable obstacles — a
security state entrenched for decades, deep institutional cohesion and a
much larger and ethnically complex country.Two regional officials and
two of the analysts told Reuters that foreign military action could
fracture Iran along ethnic and sectarian lines, particularly in Kurdish
and Sunni Baloch regions with histories of resistance.For now,
constraints remain. US military assets are stretched elsewhere, though
the diplomats said that deployments could shift quickly.David Makovsky
at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank, said
that if Trump acts, he expects a swift, high-impact action rather than a
prolonged campaign – consistent with the president’s preference in
recent conflicts for a single decisive action rather than deploying
ground troops.“He looks for this one gesture that might be a game
changer, but what is it?” said Makovsky.Options range from maritime
pressure on Iranian oil shipments to targeted military or cyber strikes,
all carrying serious risks.Some measures, all the sources said, could
stop short of force, such as restoring internet access via Starlink to
help protesters communicate. Some telecommunications access came back on
Tuesday.The White House and State Department did not respond to
Reuters’ questions about what action, if any, Trump might take.“Trump
sometimes uses threats to delay decisions, sometimes to deter
adversaries, and sometimes to signal he is actually preparing to
intervene,” said Makovsky. “We just don’t know yet which applies
here.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Mossad
reportedly puts death toll at 5,000-‘Help is on its way’: Trump urges
Iranians to keep protesting, seize institutions-US president says he has
canceled unspecified meetings with Iranian officials, declines to
elaborate on offer of help; Witkoff said to meet with son of deposed
shah By ToI Staff, Agencies, Lazar Berman and Jacob Magid-13 January
2026, 11:10 pm
Appearing to depart from the notion of negotiating
with the Iranian government, US President Donald Trump told protesters
in Iran on Tuesday that “help is on its way” and urged them to keep
protesting and take control of the country’s institutions.He added that
those who have killed protesters would “pay a big price.”Trump’s
remarks, made in a social media post, came after Iranian authorities
said some 2,000 people had been killed in the mass demonstrations,
though the Mossad was reported to say that the true toll was more than
twice as high.Iranian authorities have now insisted that they have
regained control of the country. But Trump urged the protests to
continue.“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR
INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay
a big price,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have
cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless
killing of protesters STOPS.”“HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” he added.Two days
before publishing that post, Trump had appeared to tack toward
negotiations with Iran, saying the regime wanted to talk and that the
discussions were “being set up.” Now, the US president was broadcasting
ambiguity about what his post means.“You’re going to have to figure that
one out. I’m sorry,” he told reporters on Tuesday in response to a
question about the post.Later, in a speech in Michigan otherwise focused
on the economy, Trump essentially repeated the text of the post,
telling protesters to “take over your institutions if possible,”
reiterating that meetings with Iranian officials had been canceled, and
saying again, without elaborating, that “help is on its way.”“Save the
name of the killers and the abusers,” he repeated, “because they’ll pay a
very big price.”Talks on the Iranian protests did happen — but not with
representatives of Iran’s regime. Axios reported, citing an unnamed
senior US official, that White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met
with Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, over the weekend
to discuss the demonstrations.Pahlavi, who lives in exile, has become
an increasingly prominent voice in the fragmented Iranian opposition in
recent days. He has been encouraging Iranians to take to the streets to
oppose the regime. The meeting comes after Trump, last week, had
indicated that he did not plan to meet with Pahlavi, saying that he
“seems like a nice person,” but that it would not be “appropriate at
this point.”“There has been an ascendance of Pahlavi. They are chanting
his name in demonstrations in many cities and it seems to be happening
organically,” a US official told Axios.Elsewhere, diplomatic engagement
was taking place. The European Union summoned Iran’s ambassador in
Brussels over the Islamic Republic’s response to the protests, an EU
official said Tuesday on condition of anonymity.France, Germany and the
United Kingdom also summoned their Iranian ambassadors to protest what
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called “state violence
unquestioningly unleashed on peaceful protesters.”Trump’s post came as
reports of the death toll from the protests has continued to mount.
Other sources have reported far higher numbers than the figure cited by
Iran’s authorities. According to an American official quoted by Channel
12 news on Tuesday, the Mossad has conveyed to the US that at least
5,000 Iranians have been killed in the protests.“[Security forces] are
deliberately shooting at the head and the eyes. They want to damage the
head and the eyes so they can no longer see, the same thing they did in
[2022],” a doctor at a Tehran hospital told the Guardian.“Eyes were hit
by birdshot pellets and it was deliberate, they are shooting to
kill.”Trump lamented the death toll on Tuesday, even as he said its true
scope was unclear.“I hear five different sets of numbers,” Trump said
in the Michigan speech. “Look, one death is too much, but I hear much
lower numbers, and then I hear much higher numbers.”Against that
backdrop, Trump has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if
his administration found the Islamic Republic was using deadly force
against anti-government protesters. On Sunday, he told reporters he
believed Iran was “starting to cross” that line and has left him and his
national security team weighing “very strong options.”On Monday, Trump
said he would slap 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Tehran
“effective immediately,” but the White House has not provided details on
that move.China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Brazil and Russia
are among the economies that do business with Tehran.Vice President JD
Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and key White House National
Security Council officials began meeting Friday to develop options for
Trump, ranging from a diplomatic approach to military strikes.Iran,
through the country’s parliamentary speaker, has warned that Israel and
the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington
uses force to protect demonstrators.On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet for a prescheduled
meeting.More than 600 protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31
provinces, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Tuesday. The
activist group said 1,850 of the dead were protesters and 135 were
government-affiliated. It said more than 16,700 people had been
detained.The demonstrations are the biggest Iran has seen in years —
protests spurred by the collapse of Iranian currency that have morphed
into a larger test of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and
his repressive rule.The Iranian government on Monday sought to regain
control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies that Khamenei hailed
as proof that the protest movement was defeated, calling them a
“warning” to the United States.But advocates urging Trump to take strong
action against Iran say this moment offers an opportunity to further
diminish the theocratic government that’s ruled the country since the
Islamic revolution in 1979.Trump also may have hinted at that
possibility in his speech.“I say make Iran great again,” he said, in a
play on his “MAGA” slogan. “You know, it was a great country until
these monsters came in and took it over.”
Israel said to suggest US wait to strike Iran until heat further turned up on regime.
Israeli
and Arab officials have suggested the Trump administration hold off on
striking Iran for now, believing that the Islamic Republic may not be
sufficiently weakened in order for an American attack to topple it, NBC
News reports.Citing a US official, an-ex US official briefed on the
matter, a person familiar with Israeli leaders’ thinking and two Arab
officials, the network says that the Israeli and Arab officials prefer
the US wait to strike until the Iranian regime is further stretched.The
report says these messages were relayed in talks held the past few days
involving US political and military leaders.According to NBC, Israeli
officials told their American interlocutors that they strongly support
regime change and US efforts to bring it about, but are worried that
foreign military action may not be enough.They also reportedly suggested
the US act in other ways to destabilize the regime and support the
protesters, who could do more to undermine the Islamic Republic until
strikes could have a decisive role. Among the actions that NBC says
Israel proposed are assisting Iranians get around the communications
shutdown, toughening economic sanctions, engaging in a cyberattack or
launching targeted strikes against specific senior leaders in Iran that
could help spur the regime’s demise.One of the Arab officials quoted in
the report says there is a “lack of enthusiasm from the neighborhood”
for an American attack on Iran at the moment, while the other is worried
that “any attack or escalation by Israel or the US will unite
Iranians.”
3hr ago-Iran claims US, Israel to blame for ‘loss of innocent civilian lives’ in deadly protest crackdown By Reuters
Iran
is accusing US President Donald Trump of encouraging political
destabilization, inciting violence, and threatening the country’s
sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security, Iran’s UN
Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani writes to the Security Council.“The United
States and the Israeli regime bear direct and undeniable legal
responsibility for the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives,
particularly among the youth,” he writes in the letter, which was also
sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
3hr ago-Tehran doctors say Iranian security forces intentionally firing at protesters’ eyes and heads
Over
400 eye wounds from gunshots have been documented at a Tehran hospital
by an ophthalmologist working there, according to the Guardian.The
British newspaper reports that it received three messages from doctors
about the conditions in hospitals, which they say have been overwhelmed
by demonstrators with gunshot wounds — most of them to the eyes and
heads.“[Security forces] are deliberately shooting at the head and the
eyes. They want to damage the head and the eyes so they can no longer
see, the same thing they did in [2022],” one of the doctors is quoted as
saying. According to the doctor, many of the injured had to have their
eyes removed and were blinded as a result.“Eyes were hit by birdshot
pellets and it was deliberate, they are shooting to kill.”
4hr
ago-Senior Khamenei aide speaks with Qatari PM about protests after
calling Trump, Netanyahu ‘main killers’ of Iranians-By Agencies
Iranian
and Qatari officials speak amid the deadly crackdown in Iran and
America’s escalating threats to intervene if protesters are not
spared.Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security
Council, speaks by phone with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,
Qatar’s prime minister.In a statement on X, Al Thani says he “reaffirmed
the State of Qatar’s backing of all de-scalation efforts, as well as
peaceful solutions to enhance security and stability in the
region.”Qatar got caught in the crossfire during Israel’s 12-day war in
June when the Islamic Republic retaliated on US airstrikes on its
nuclear facility by targeting US forces at Al Udeid Air Base outside of
Doha.Earlier, after Trump’s social media post urging Iranians to “take
over” government institutions, Larijani posted on X: “We declare the
names of the main killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2- Netanyahu.”
4hr ago-Heading into briefing, Trump says he’ll soon have ‘accurate numbers’ on Iran protest death toll-By Jacob Magid
US
President Donald Trump says he is about to be briefed on the situation
in Iran, during which he is expecting to receive a more accurate figure
of protesters killed by the regime.“We’ll get some accurate numbers as
to what’s happening with regard to the killing. The killing looks like
it’s significant, but we don’t know yet for certain… I’ll know in about
20 minutes,” Trump tells reporters after landing back in Washington
after a brief trip to Detroit.“It looks like they’re killing a lot of
people, but it has not been confirmed,” he adds.Trump says he knows what
the possible responses to Iran’s killing of protesters might be, but
has not yet decided on which action the US will take.
5hr ago-Trump threatens ‘very strong action’ if Iran starts hanging protesters-By Agencies and ToI Staff
US
President Donald Trump warns of unspecified “very strong action”
against Iran if its authorities go ahead with the threatened hanging of
some protesters.Trump tells CBS News that the United States would act if
Iran began hanging protesters, after Tehran prosecutors said Iranian
authorities would press capital charges of “moharebeh,” or “waging war
against God,” against some suspects arrested over recent
demonstrations.“I haven’t heard about the hanging. If they hang them,
you’re going to see some things… We will take very strong action if they
do such a thing,” says the American leader, who has repeatedly
threatened Iran with military intervention.“When they start killing
thousands of people — and now you’re telling me about hanging. We’ll see
how that’s going to work out for them,” Trump adds.He also says “no one
has been able to give us accurate numbers” on how many demonstrators
the Islamic Republic has killed in its crackdown on the unrest.“It looks
like it could be a pretty substantial number, and that’s going to be a
lot of problems for them,” Trump says. “I’ve heard two numbers, but
we’ll see what that is.
US labels Muslim Brotherhood branches in
Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan as terror organizations-Washington accuses
brotherhood branches of collaborating with Hamas and Hezbollah; Egypt,
where fundamentalist group was born, praises move against ‘extremist
ideology’By Agencies 13 January 2026, 9:04 pm
The United States
on Tuesday designated the Egyptian, Lebanese and Jordanian branches of
the Muslim Brotherhood as global terrorists, citing in part what it
called their support for the Hamas terror group.The move, which
Washington formally set in motion last November, will bring sanctions
against one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist
movements.The Treasury said it was labeling the three chapters as
specially designated global terrorists. It has accused the trio of
supporting or encouraging violent terror attacks against Israel and US
partners.“Chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood purport to be legitimate
civic organizations while, behind the scenes, they explicitly and
enthusiastically support terrorist groups like Hamas,” the Treasury
Department said in a statement.The designations mean that the United
States will block any assets by the Muslim Brotherhood in the world’s
largest economy and criminalize transactions with its groups.The move
also severely impedes members’ ability to travel to the United
States.Egypt’s foreign ministry welcomed the move, describing it as a
“crucial step that reflects the gravity of the group and its extremist
ideology and what it represents as a direct threat of regional and
international security and stability.”Founded in 1928 in Egypt, the
pan-Islamist movement once spread across the Arab world, but it has been
in retreat as it comes under concerted pressure from major Arab
powers.The movement rose to power in its native Egypt democratically
through the 2012 election of Mohamed Morsi following the overthrow of
longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, who had imposed a ban on the Muslim
Brotherhood, even though some of its activities were tolerated,
including its network of social services.Morsi was deposed in 2013 in a
coup by then-military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has since pursued a
sweeping crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood.Egypt, as well as
US-allied monarchies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have
long sought to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood, whose vision calls for
the creation of a unified Islamic caliphate.Targeting links with
Hamas.The Trump administration designated the groups in part on the
basis of their support for Hamas.The Treasury Department said that the
Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the brotherhood both have coordinated
with Hamas, whose massive October 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered
an overwhelming Israeli offensive into Gaza.The State Department said
that in Lebanon, the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Muslim movement, had
allied itself with the Hezbollah terror group in firing rockets into
Israel.The Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood has “pushed for a more formal
alignment with the Hizballah-Hamas axis,” the State Department said.The
Muslim Brotherhood had gained strength in Jordan, where its political
wing is the main opposition party in parliament.In April last year,
Jordan banned the Muslim Brotherhood, ordering confiscation of its
assets, after accusing the movement of stockpiling weapons and planning
to destabilize the kingdom, which has a peace agreement with Israel.In
recent years, US conservatives have also seized upon the Muslim
Brotherhood, with some spreading the unfounded conspiracy theory that
the organization is infiltrating the US government with a goal of
imposing Islamic sharia law.Republican lawmakers have repeatedly sought a
ban on the Muslim Brotherhood, hoping to cut off any financing for the
movement.The US had held off on the designation in part out of concern
about jeopardizing ties with Turkey, whose president, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, has a deep and longstanding ideological affinity with the
Muslim Brotherhood.Trump has a generally positive relationship with
Erdogan and has also played down the Turkish leader’s fierce criticism
of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7,
2023, massacre of southern communities.Times of Israel staff contributed
to this report.
”Neo-Nazi convicted of planning to fire
explosives at cops during San Diego anti-Trump rally-Messages found by
investigators show ex-Navy SEAL Gregory Vandenberg was mad at the
president because he believes the US government is controlled by Israel
and the Jewish people-By AP Today, 2:15 am
SAN DIEGO — A jury has
convicted a former Navy SEAL with neo-Nazi beliefs of transporting
fireworks across state lines with plans to shoot explosives at police
during last year’s “No Kings” protest in San Diego, federal prosecutors
said.Following his conviction on Monday, Gregory Vandenberg was ordered
held in custody until his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been
scheduled. He faces up to 10 years in prison, according to the US
Attorney’s Office.During a five-day trial in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
prosecutors outlined Vandenberg’s intention to travel from El Paso,
Texas, to California to injure law enforcement officers at the June 14
rally.Investigators found messages on his phone indicating he was angry
with President Donald Trump because he believed the US government is
controlled by Israel and the Jewish people, according to prosecutors.
His home screen on his phone displayed a picture of the Taliban flag.FBI
agents testified that they found clothing and paraphernalia in
Vandenberg’s car with anti-Israel slogans and neo-Nazi symbols,
including a flag for the militant group the Caucasian Front and a
message in Latin saying “Judea must be destroyed.”Vandenberg, 49,
stopped at a travel center near Lordsburg, New Mexico, on June 12 and
purchased six large mortar fireworks as well as 72 M-150 firecrackers,
which are designed to sound like gunfire. He told the store clerk that
he had significant knowledge of explosives and prior special operations
forces experience, and he outlined his intentions to harm police at the
upcoming demonstration, prosecutors said.Vandenberg, who had no stable
employment and lived in his car, urged the clerk to join him, according
to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office. While in the store, he
wore a T-shirt with the word “Amalek” on the front, which he said he
designed specifically to mean “destroyer of Jews,” the statement
said.Store employees wrote down his license plate and contacted
authorities. Vandenberg was arrested June 13 while sleeping in his car
at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. He told FBI agents he
was traveling for work, despite being unemployed, and visiting friends
in Phoenix, prosecutors said.Vandenberg was convicted of transportation
of explosives with intent to kill, injure or intimidate and attempted
transportation of prohibited fireworks into California. A phone message
was left Tuesday seeking comment from his attorney, Russell Dean
Clark.Acting US Attorney Ryan Ellison said in a statement that the
verdict shows that the government will prosecute those who intend to use
violence to express political beliefs.“People in this country are free
to hold their own beliefs and to express them peacefully,” Ellison said.
“What they are not free to do is use explosives to threaten or
terrorize others. Vandenberg intended to turn explosives into a tool of
intimidation.”Asked what is “the end game” in Iran, Trump answers, “the
end game is to win. I like winning.”
Palestinian technocrats
invited to join transitional Gaza governing committee — sources-Former
deputy PA minister to head panel, which will include Gaza Chamber of
Commerce head, who tells ToI that he is ‘eager to start work to
alleviate suffering of Gazans’By Jacob Magid-Today, 4:24 am-JAN 13,26
Roughly
a dozen Palestinians received official invitations on Tuesday to serve
on the technocratic committee slated to manage Gaza’s daily affairs in
place of Hamas, an Arab diplomat and a Palestinian official told The
Times of Israel.The letters were signed by the Board of Peace’s
designated high representative, Nikolay Mladenov, two of the technocrats
who received the letters said.A Bulgarian diplomat, Mladenov previously
served as the UN special envoy to the Middle East and will be tasked
with directly overseeing the technocratic committee on behalf of the
Board of Peace. He held meetings last week with senior officials in
Israel and the Palestinian Authority in preparation for the transition
to phase two of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza
Strip.Inked in October, phase one saw the start of a fragile ceasefire
along with a hostage-prisoner. Phase two is supposed to see the
disarmament of Hamas, the completion of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza,
the reconstruction of the Strip and the establishment of the various
transitional bodies tasked with running the enclave before it is handed
off to a reformed PA.One of those bodies is the Board of Peace, a panel
of world leaders headed by Trump that will oversee the Palestinian
technocratic committee, formally called the National Committee for the
Administration of Gaza (NCACG). Washington had aimed to unveil the Board
of Peace last month, but that announcement has been delayed as foreign
policy priorities have shifted between Gaza, Venezuela and Iran.The US
has also struggled to recruit international support for the plan, with
the Arab diplomat citing heavy skepticism that Hamas will agree to
disarm or that Israel will agree to further withdraw from the Strip and
allow for its reconstruction.While the Trump administration had hoped to
announce this week the world leaders joining Trump on the Board of
Peace, those plans are up in the air, said a senior Arab diplomat.The US
informed interlocutors last month that it secured commitments from
Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy and
Germany to have their leaders join Trump on the Board of Peace, four
officials familiar with the matter revealed at the time.Washington still
aims to hold the first meeting of the Board of Peace on the sidelines
of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week, the Arab
diplomat said on Tuesday.With the invitations sent out to the members of
the Palestinian technocratic committee, the public unveiling of the
panel could come as soon as Wednesday in Cairo, where several
Palestinian factions are already gathered for talks on phase two.Those
factions include Hamas, whose team headed by senior leader Khalil
al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, according to a statement from the
terror group.Hamas announced earlier this week that it had instructed
its agencies to prepare to rescind power to the US-backed technocratic
committee.Notably absent in Cairo were officials from the
Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which had hoped to play a more
prominent role in the formation of the technocratic committee.However,
Mladenov met with PA Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh last week in
Ramallah, days after the latter traveled to Cairo along with PA intel
chief Majed Faraj for talks with top Egyptian officials involved in the
formation of the technocratic committee.The technocratic committee will
be headed by Ali Shaath, who previously served as the PA’s deputy
transportation minister, the Arab diplomat and Palestinian official
said. Shaath is from Gaza but currently based in the West Bank.Gaza
Chamber of Commerce chairman Ayad Abu Ramadan was also among those who
received a letter from Mladenov on Tueady. He said he has been asked to
serve as the technocratic committee’s commissioner for Economy, Trade
and Industry.Abu Ramadan said he is “eager to start working to alleviate
the suffering of the people in Gaza.”Despite The Times of Israel being
an Israeli news outlet, Abu Ramadan agreed to speak on the record, a
stark contrast from the policy of Gaza’s current Hamas rulers.He said
his apartment in Gaza City is one of the few that has not been
completely destroyed in the war and that his building is surrounded by
tents, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are
living.“The people in Gaza are suffering immensely. They are living in
inhumane conditions in a big jail,” he continued. “We’re looking forward
to ending all of this, to starting recovery and reconstruction and to
holding the world to its commitment to peace.”“Now, it’s President
Trump’s turn to execute his plan, which we’re ready for and thrilled
that it’s finally starting,” Abu Ramadan said before stressing that the
“proper environment is needed for reconstruction and recovery” to move
ahead.An Arab diplomat said that the US is working to coax Israel to
agree to a series of steps that will give an initial boost the
technocratic committee’s legitimacy, including the reopening of the
Rafah Border Crossing.Israel has pushed back on allowing Palestinians to
return to the enclave, arguing that Hamas must first return the body of
the last Israeli hostage, Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.The Trump
administration told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the
latter’s visit to the US late last month that it is committed to both
bringing back Gvili and disarming Hamas, but is not prepared to
condition the commencement of phase two of its peace plan on either, a
US official and two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of
Israel last week.Jerusalem has pushed back on proceeding with phase two
before Hamas returns Gvili and hands over its weapons.The US has been in
talks with mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured
Washington that Hamas will agree to a gradual disarmament plan that
would begin with the terror group giving up its heavy weaponry and the
launch of a “buy-back” program for lighter weapons, according to the US
official and two Arab diplomats, who said the goal is to begin
implementing the program in the coming weeks.It was not clear whether
this framework will be sufficient for Israel. Hamas officials have
publicly asserted that the organization will only agree to give up its
weapons in a negotiated process that results in the establishment of a
Palestinian state.
WAY TO
GO ISRAEL.THE USELESS UNITED NOTHING NATIONS CAN NOT CONDEMN WHOS NOT
IN THE U.N. FOLD NOW U.N. YOU ISRAEL,GOD HATING SCOUNDRELS OF DUNG.TRUMP
JUST HAS TO GET OUT OF UN AGENCIES.AND THEY WILL FOLD LIKE AN
ACCORDIAN.
Jerusalem severs ties with 7 UN agencies,
citing anti-Israel bias-Sa’ar decries UN Women for ignoring sexual
violence cases on Oct. 7, slams another agency for wastefulness, will
examine ties with further UN organizations By ToI Staff 13 January 2026,
8:59 pm
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Tuesday
Israel’s withdrawal from several United Nations agencies and associated
organizations for reasons ranging from their alleged anti-Israel bias to
“ineffective bureaucracy.”The agencies Israel withdrew from, effective
immediately, are the: Office of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; UN Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); UN Conference on Trade
and Development; UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia; UN
Alliance of Civilizations; UN Energy; and Global Forum on Migration and
Development.In a statement announcing the move, the Foreign Ministry
said it was ceasing cooperation with the Office of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
after it added the IDF to a “blacklist” in its annual report on children
in armed conflict, along with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic
Jihad.“Israel is the only democratic country to be listed, alongside
ISIS and Boko Haram,” it noted, adding that Israel already cut ties with
the office in June 2024.Similarly, it said, Sa’ar pulled Israel out of
UN Women after it “deliberately ignored all cases of sexual violence
committed against Israeli women on October 7, 2023.”It cited “virulent
anti-Israel reports” as the reason for withdrawing from both the UN
Agency for Trade and Development and the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia, and says the Alliance of Civilizations is
“used as a platform for attacks against Israel.”Finally, it accused UN
Energy of being a “wasteful organization,” reflective of the “excessive
and inefficient bureaucracy of the UN,” and said that the Global Forum
on Migration and Development “erodes the ability of sovereign nations to
enforce their own immigration laws.”The ministry added that it will
continue to examine Israel’s ties with additional UN agencies.Israel has
long accused the global body of bias, with more resolutions against
Jerusalem annually than against other countries combined.Israel has been
particularly critical of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees,
even before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror assault in southern Israel —
accusing the agency of colluding with Hamas and teaching anti-Israel
hatred, which UNRWA denies.Israel has already banned UNRWA from
operating in Israeli territory and has curtailed its activities in the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank, based on what it says are its entrenched
ties to terror groups.Israel has also provided evidence that UNRWA
schools incited hatred of Israel and glorification of attacks against
Israelis.Additionally, Israel last year refused to renew visas for the
heads of at least three United Nations agencies in Gaza.Under the
Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service adopted by the
UN, staff are advised not to take sides or express their convictions
publicly on controversial matters.Last week, US President Donald Trump
withdrew the United States from a total of 66 global organizations and
treaties — roughly half affiliated with the United Nations — accusing
them of acting “contrary to the interests of the United States.”
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