VULTURE IN ISRAEL SUPPOSED TO BE EXTINCT 30 YRS AGO. 8 KILLED IN SAN
JOSE RAIL FIX STATION. BIDEN NOW BELIEVES CONSPIRACY ABOUT CHINA MADE
COVID IN TUBE.
KILLER OF 8 IN SJ SAMUEL CASSIDY - NO MUSLIM I AM SURPRISED.

ALSO THE LIBDEMONUTS ARE SO DESPERATE TO HAVE A JAN 6TH COMMISION TO TRY TO SAY TRUMP CAUSED THE VIOLENCE AGAINST THE BUILDING NEAR THE WHITE HOUSE. THAT THEY HAVE TO GET THE MOTHER OF A COP THAT DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES BY STROKES-NOT VIOLENCE FROM ANYONE ON JAN 6,21.A LAST DESPERATE TRY TO NAIL TRUMP. THATS WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT BY THE NUTCASE DEMOLIBNUTS. THEY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT JAN 6TH ATTACK. ITS ALL ABOUT NAILING TRUMP. BECAUSE THESE LEFTY LOSERS COULD NOT STICK ANY RUSSIA DUNG AGAINST TRUMP FOR THE 4 YEARS HE WAS IN POWER AS PRESIDENT OF AMERICA.THE REPUBLICANS REFUSE TO GO FOR THE SCAM SETUP AGAINST TRUMP. BY THE LIBS TO GET A COMMISION ON JAN 6TH.
Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes: D.C. medical examiner-Chris Sommerfeldt 4/19/2021-Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes after fending off far-right rioters during the Jan. 6 attack, the D.C medical examiner ruled Monday-Francisco Diaz, the medical examiner, said in a statement that an autopsy discovered no evidence that the 42-year-old officer’s death on Jan. 7 was the cause of injuries. Rather, Sicknick died from “acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts” — medical jargon for strokes — caused by a blood clot in an artery supplying the brain, Diaz said.It’s not clear from Diaz’s statement if the strokes were brought on by an underlying medical condition. However, the statement clarifies that the office only uses the term “natural” when “a disease alone causes death.”
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)
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN
REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion)
to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500
million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the
beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
THE COVID-19 TOTALS.
WORLD OVER ALL CASES 169,044,557 DEAD 3,511,102 AS OF WED MAY 26,21 (6.40PM)
Giving
credence to lab leak theory, Biden calls to investigate COVID-19
origin-US president asks intel officials to ‘redouble’ efforts to find
source of virus, says world must ‘press China to participate in a full,
transparent, evidence-based’ probe-By Zeke Miller and AAMER MADHANI-27
May 2021, 12:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Joe Biden on
Wednesday asked US intelligence officials to “redouble” their efforts to
investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any
possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese lab.After months of
minimizing that possibility as a fringe theory, the Biden administration
is responding to both US and world pressure for China to be more open
about the outbreak.Biden asked US intelligence agencies to report back
on their findings within 90 days. He directed US national laboratories
to assist with the investigation and called on China to cooperate with
international probes into the origins of the pandemic.Republicans,
including former US President Donald Trump, have promoted the theory
that the virus emerged from a laboratory accident rather than naturally
through human contact with an infected animal.Biden in a statement said
the majority of the intelligence community had “coalesced” around those
two likely scenarios but “do not believe there is sufficient information
to assess one to be more likely than the other.” He revealed that two
agencies lean toward the animal link and “one leans more toward” the lab
theory, adding, “each with low or moderate confidence.”“The United
States will also keep working with like-minded partners around the world
to press China to participate in a full, transparent, evidence-based
international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data
and evidence,” said Biden.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said
Tuesday that the White House supports a new World Health Organization
investigation in China, but she added that an effective probe “would
require China finally stepping up and allowing access needed to
determine the origins.”Biden still held out the possibility that a firm
conclusion may never be reached, given the Chinese government’s refusal
to fully cooperate with international investigations.“The failure to get
our inspectors on the ground in those early months will always hamper
any investigation into the origin of COVID-19,” he said.Administration
officials still harbor strong doubts about the lab leak theory. They
view China’s refusal to cooperate in the investigation — particularly on
something of such magnitude — as emblematic of other irresponsible
actions on the world stage.Privately, administration officials say the
end result, if ever known, won’t change anything, but note China’s
stonewalling is now on display for the world to see.White House Chief
Medical Adviser on Covid-19 Dr. Anthony Fauci listens in the Eisenhower
Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, February 25, 2021. (SAUL
LOEB/AFP)-Dr. Anthony Fauci, a White House coronavirus adviser, said
Wednesday that he and most others in the scientific community “believe
that the most likely scenario is that this was a natural occurrence, but
one knows that 100 percent for sure.”“And since there’s a lot of
concern, a lot of speculation and since no one absolutely knows that, I
believe we do need the kind of investigation where there’s open
transparency and all the information that’s available, to be made
available, to scrutinize,” Fauci said at a Senate hearing.Andy Slavitt,
Biden’s senior adviser for the coronavirus, said Tuesday that the world
needs to “get to the bottom … whatever the answer may be.”“We need a
completely transparent process from China; we need the WHO to assist in
that matter,”” Slavitt said. “We don’t feel like we have that now.”
IT
SEEMS THIS SHOOTER WHO HAD EXPLOSIVES IN HIS HOUSE. BURNT HIS HOUSE.
PROBABLY TO TRY TO MAKE IT BLOW UP AND KILL NEIGHBOURS. WHILE ALSO A
GREAT DISTRACTION WHEN HE THEN WENT TO THE TRAIN COMPANY WERE HE WORKED
JUST BRIEFLY AND SHOT AND KILLED AT LEAST 8 PEOPLE AT THAT TRAIN RAIL
WORK PLACE. THIS HAPPENED AT AROUND 6.30AM OR 9.30AM EST. WHEN THE
POLICE CAME AND CONFRONTED THE KILLER. REPORTS ARE THE SHOOTER KILLED
HIMSELF. LEAVING THE MOTIVE TO GO WITH HIM TOTHE GRAVE AND BURN FOREVER
IN HELL FIRE WITH HITLER FOREVER. FOR KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE. AND LIKE
THE TYPICAL MEDIA NO MENTION OF THE KILLERS NAME. SO IT MIGHT BE AN
ISLAMIC MUSLIM. BUT WE WILL FIND OUT IF THEY FINALLY SAY THE KILLERS
NAME. I MISSED HOW MANY WERE INJURED. ITS 5.36PM WED MAY 26,21. SNIFFER
DOGS PICKED UP EXPLOSIVED AT THE SHOOTING SCENE ALSO. ALL THE VICTIMS
ALL KNEW THE SHOOTER WHO WORKED AT THE RAIL YARD. THE TRAINS ARE FIXED
AT THIS SAN JOSE SHOOTING MASSACRE SITE. CHINA JOE WHO REFUSES TO
BELIEVE CHINA MADE THE COVID IN A LAB. GOT HIS MOUTH AGAIN IN THIS
SHOOTING SAYING - MOST OF THE AMERICANS (LIBERAL-DEMONUTS) HE MEANS NOT
REPUBLICANS. WANT GUNS BANNED IN AMERICA. THEN COMMUNIST-SOCIALIST CHINA
JOE CARRIES ON THAT MOST OF THE GUN OWNERS (LIBDEMONUTS) WANTS GUNS
BANNED ALSO. WHAT A PILE OF DUNG. GET THE WHEELBARROWS OUT. CHINA JOE IS
PILLING IT HELL HIGH. Eight people killed in
shooting at California railyard-Gunman dead; motive unclear; bomb squads
searching rail complex after receiving information about possible
explosive devices-By Jocelyn Gecker and Terence Chea-MAY 26,21-Today,
8:12 pm
SAN JOSE, California (AP) — An employee opened fire
Wednesday at a California rail yard serving Silicon Valley, killing
eight people. The suspect was also dead, authorities said.Santa Clara
County sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Russell Davis said the suspect was an
employee of the Valley Transportation Authority, which provides bus,
light rail and other transit services throughout Santa Clara County, the
largest county in the Bay Area.Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith
said it was “undetermined” how the shooter died.The shooting took place
around 6:30 a.m. at a light rail facility in San Jose next door to the
sheriff’s department and across a freeway from the airport. The facility
is a transit control center that stores trains and has a maintenance
yard.Davis said the attack resulted in “multiple major injuries.” He did
not know the type of weapon used or whether the gunfire happened
indoors or outdoors. He said the victims included VTA employees.
Authorities did not release any of the victims’ names.“These folks were
heroes during COVID 19, the buses never stopped running, VTA didn’t stop
running. They just kept at work, and now we’re really calling on them
to be heroes a second time to survive such a terrible, terrible
tragedy,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez.Police vehicles and
orange crime-scene tape blocked off the area where the shooting
happened, and reporters were kept at a distance The rail yard is in the
city’s administrative neighborhood, near the sheriff’s office and city
and county offices.Bomb squads were searching the rail complex after
receiving information about possible explosive devices inside the
building, Davis said.VTA trains were already out on morning runs when
the shooting occurred. Light rail service was to be suspended at noon
and replaced with bus bridges, agency Chairman Glenn Hendricks told a
news conference.“It’s just very difficult for everyone to be able try to
wrap their heads around and understand what has happened,” Hendricks
said.Two patients were transported to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center,
according to spokesperson Joy Alexiou. One person was pronounced dead
upon arrival, and the other was in critical condition.Outside the scene,
Michael Hawkins told The Mercury News that he was waiting for his
mother, Rochelle Hawkins, who had called him from a co-worker’s phone to
assure him that she was safe.When the shooting started, “she got down
with the rest of her coworkers” and dropped her cellphone, Michael
Hawkins told the newspaper. Rochelle Hawkins did not see the shooter,
and she was not sure how close she had been to the attacker, her son
said.The attack was the county’s second shooting in less than two years.
A gunman killed three people before killing himself at a popular garlic
festival in Gilroy in July 2019.At a news conference, San Jose Mayor
Sam Liccardo lamented the “horrific day for our city.” Gov. Gavin Newsom
said in a tweet that his office was “in close contact with local law
enforcement and monitoring this situation closely.”Agents from the FBI
and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were
responding to the crime scene, officials said.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3
JUDGEMENT) and the other left.41 Two women shall be grinding at the
mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)
IN
REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND
POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV
17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A
RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN
REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)
ISAIAH 34:10
10 It
(AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the
smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it
shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29
And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD
shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land
of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The
mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have
remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women:
they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031 One
post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to
shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32
And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D)
and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are
affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)
COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3
For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her,
which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they
shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a
snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou
wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast
striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE
ATTACK ON AM
EZEKIEL 39:11-22
11 And it shall come to pass in
that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there
of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA
IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of
the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his
multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of
Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13
Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it
shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified,
saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual
employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to
bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth,
to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15
And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s
bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the
buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of
Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN
THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY
SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and
come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do
sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM
ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood
of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of
bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall
see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon
them.
WELL THIS IS VERY
INTERESTING. THIS MORNING AT 7AM WAS A SUPER MOON. AND NOW 2 TIMES IN
THE LAST MONTH. A VULTURE THAT EATS HUMAN FLESH HAS BEEN SEEN IN ISRAEL.
IT WAS THOUGHT VTO BE EXTINCT 30 YEARS AGO. AND ITS INTERESTING THE 500
MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS ARE IN ISRAEL AS THE SPRING BIRD MIGRATION
COMES TO TOWN FOR A POSSIBLE FEAST ON THE RUSSIA-ARAB-MUSLIMS BODIES IF
ISRAEL WOULD NUKE THEM. WERE THEY WILL HAVE A 300 MILLION MAN BURIAL
SITE EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY. IT WILL TAKE ISRAEL 7
MONTHS TO BURY THIS HOARD AFTER 7 YEARS OF LETTING THE RADIATION IN THE
BONES SUBSIDE. THE PROFESSIONAL NUKE BOMB CREW WILL COLLECT THE BONES.
AS PEOPLE WILL BE ASKED NOT TO TOUCH ANY BONES FOUND IN THE AREA. JUST
PUT A MARKER BY THEM. AND THE NUKE CREW PROFESSIONALS WILL BURY THE
BONES IN THE JORDAN VALLEY. WERE THE ARAB-MUSLIMS. CAN VISIT THIS
ISRAEL HATER FAMILY MEMBERS THAT ARE BURNING FOREVER IN THE LAKE OF FIRE
WITH THEIR NEVER DYING BODIES. THIS WILL BE THE RUSSIANÉARABÉMUSLIM
CEMETARY. DURING THE VTRIBULATION PERIOD AT LEAST.With
wingspan of nearly 10 ft., 'it was incredible to see' Vulture thought
extinct from Israel for 30 years spotted twice in a month-Israel Nature
and Parks Authority hopes sightings of subspecies of ecologically
important lappet-faced vulture signal its return-By Sue Surkes-MAY
26,21-Today, 8:43 pm
Last month, the chief scientist of the
Israel Nature and Parks Authority witnessed the appearance in Israel of a
species recorded as extinct for the second time in his career.The first
time was in 2011 when the Hula painted frog, endemic to the Hula
marshes of northern Israel, was rediscovered. It was thought to be
extinct in the wild as a result of habitat destruction during the
1950s.The second time was in late April, when the lappet-faced vulture,
extinct in the country since 1989, paid a visit to the Hai Bar Nature
Reserve at Yotvata in southern Israel.On Tuesday, it — or another bird
of prey of the same species, nobody is sure — appeared at Hai Bar for a
second time.Yehoshua Shkedy told The Times of Israel that the return or
rediscovery of just one species that had gone extinct was “enough to
make me ecstatic.”He added, “I feel so blessed. When the bird was
reported the first time, I dropped everything and drove down to Yotvata
to see it. I saw it spread its wings. It has a wingspan of 2.9 meters
(9.5 feet). It was incredible to see.”Torgos tracheliotos negevensis,
named for the Negev desert, is a subspecies of lappet-faced vulture. Its
head is a duller color than that of its African cousin — pink rather
than red — and it does not have the distinct white line on the underwing
that the African one has.It could once be seen from the northern Negev
and central Judean Desert down to the Eilat mountains on the country’s
southernmost tip. It still inhabits the Arabian peninsula and Shkedy has
made preliminary inquiries with nature organizations in the United Arab
Emirates, with which Israel normalized relations last year, with a view
to acquiring birds and establishing a breeding program.The most
powerful of the African vultures and the one with the biggest wingspan,
the lappet-faced vulture stands at around a meter tall (3.3 feet) and
has a powerful beak. According to Shkedy, it is the only creature in
Africa other than the lion and the hyena capable of ripping open the
carcass of a large mammal. Unlike the other two, it will allow smaller
vultures and other animals to join the feast.Its bald head is adapted to
its feeding habits. There is no point having a fancy hairdo when your
face spends much of its time inside the entrails of a corpse.In recent
decades, the whole species of lappet-faced vultures, including the
negevensis subspecies, has seen a drastic decline, with just 5,700 birds
left in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. It is now classified as
endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
The main reason is poisoning by humans of animal carcasses to get rid of
other wild animals that prey on their livestock.By eating carrion,
vultures perform a critical service, cleaning up waste and, according to
the Vulture Conservation Foundation, preventing the spread of diseases
such as anthrax and rabies.The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has
already been successful in breeding other species of birds of prey. But
it is a long process.The organization prefers to use pairs of birds that
cannot survive in the wild anyway either due to injury or disability,
Shkedy explained. The birds need to successfully breed and be able to
feed their young, and the chicks need to survive a few years before they
can be released.“If we started today and saw the first nest in six or
seven years, that would be regarded as a success,” Shkedy said.This is
why he is praying that the visitor or visitors to the Hai Bar, of as yet
unknown gender, might be scouting out Israel as a place to start
nesting again.“I didn’t agree to catching the bird the first time for
ringing,” Shkedy said. “I wanted to see whether it would bring its
partner and others of the same species, whether there will be natural
rehabilitation.”April also saw the first sighting in Israel of a
white-backed vulture over the Og streambed in the northern Dead Sea
area. This species is categorized as critically endangered by the IUCN.
Its numbers have dropped by 90% over the last 55 years.
Hamas
Gaza chief threatens to renew fighting if Israel ‘violates’
Al-Aqsa-Yahya Sinwar vows terror group won’t touch ‘one cent’ of
international aid for Strip, says the ‘greatest gift Israel can give me
is to assassinate me’-By Agencies and Aaron Boxerman-MAY 26,21-Today,
7:26 pm
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Wednesday
threatened to renew intense fighting against Israel if the Jewish state
“violates” the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, and
downplayed damage to its military infrastructure following the 11-day
conflict in the Gaza Strip.“What has happened is but a drill for what
will come if Israel violates the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the terror group’s
Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, said on Wednesday, days after a ceasefire
entered effect. “The occupation must know — Al-Aqsa has men who will
defend it.”Violent clashes between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli
police at the Jerusalem holy site in early May preceded the Hamas rocket
barrage on Israeli cities and towns that began the Israel-Hamas
conflict.The Hamas leader also said he would welcome Israel killing him
in a targeted strike.“The greatest gift Israel can give me is to
assassinate me,” he said. “I prefer to die a martyr from an F-16 than to
die of coronavirus or [another] disease.”In a speech, Sinwar also vowed
not to touch “a single cent” of international aid to rebuild Gaza
following its war with Israel that ravaged the enclave it rules. Sinwar
promised “transparent and impartial” distribution of aid.Diplomatic
efforts are underway to solidify a fragile Egypt-brokered truce that
halted the fighting, with plans to rebuild the Gaza Strip where Israeli
airstrikes damaged infrastructure and leveled buildings.“We welcome any
international or Arab effort to rebuild the Gaza Strip,” Sinwar told a
news conference in Gaza City.“I affirm our commitment not to take a
single cent intended for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts,” he
said. “We have never taken a cent in the past.”Sinwar said that Gaza has
“sufficient financial resources… a large part of which are from Iran,
and another part comes from Arab and Muslim donors and free people of
the world who stand in solidarity with our people and their
rights.”During a visit to Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
said Wednesday that all aid would be “administered in a way that
benefits the Palestinian people — not Hamas.”Sinwar added: “I say to
Blinken and to everyone else: enough playing with our internal divides.
We know how to solve our problems internally. Enough cultivating of
internal conflict. We will make way for anyone who wants to rebuild in
Gaza or improve the economic situation.”An Israeli Defense Ministry
official said all funds to Gaza would have to flow through an
international “mechanism” to reach people directly, to prevent the
terror group from replenishing its rocket arsenal.The latest military
confrontation with Hamas ended in a ceasefire early Friday. It began on
May 10 when Hamas launched a massive rocket barrage on Israeli cities,
sparking IDF retaliatory strikes and 11 days of fighting, leaving 13
dead in Israel and over 240 fatalities in Gaza. The Israeli army said
most of those killed in Gaza were terror combatants.Over 4,000 rockets
were fired at Israeli cities, according to the IDF, sending civilians
throughout the center and south of the country rushing to bomb shelters
at all hours of day and night and leaving hundreds of Israelis
injured.In his address, Sinwar also praised Arab Israeli riots in which
Jewish Israelis and their property were attacked during the conflict. He
claimed there are “10,000 suicide bombers in Israel” willing to respond
to any Israeli “violations” in Jerusalem.He said Arab Israelis “have
proven that so-called ‘Israelification’ — the attempt to turn them into
Israeli citizens rather than Palestinians — “and ‘coexistence’ have
fallen once and for all.”Sinwar also dismissed an Israeli operation to
bomb Hamas’s underground network of tunnels, which its terrorists use
for military operations. Statements by the Israeli military during the
fighting led foreign journalists to believe that an Israeli ground
invasion had begun, reportedly in the hope that Hamas fighters would
enter the tunnels to prepare for war.The IDF later denied misleading
anyone, saying the statements were made erroneously. Hebrew media later
reported that the operation had been less successful than hoped:
relatively few Hamas fighters had entered the tunnels before they were
bombed.“It was clear to our military intelligence that this was a
deception, and that there was no ground invasion,” Sinwar said.Hamas’s
public works ministry said 258 buildings — around 1,042 residential and
commercial units — were destroyed by the Israeli air campaign. Another
769 units were severely damaged, rendering them uninhabitable, and
14,536 suffered minor damage. Seventeen hospitals were damaged, as well
as 53 schools.Over 100,000 people were internally displaced during the
hostilities, according to the UN. While many have since been able to
return to their dwellings, others have been left homeless.The Israeli
military says it does not target civilian structures and takes pains to
minimize harm to noncombatants. It maintains it is forced to operate in
civilian areas because Palestinian terror groups fire rockets at Israel
from inside Gaza’s densely packed cities.
Muslim nations ask UN
to form unprecedented permanent panel to critique Israel-Proposal comes
ahead of rights council session on ‘grave human rights situation’ in
Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem; no commission of inquiry has ever
received a continuing mandate-By Jacob Magid and Agencies-MAY
26,21-Today, 6:45 pm
Member states of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation are calling on the UN Human Rights Council to set up a
permanent commission to report on alleged human rights violations in
Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.The move comes in the wake of this
month’s 11-day conflict between Israel and terror groups in Gaza. If
passed, it would mark an unprecedented level of scrutiny authorized by
the UN’s top human rights body.The proposal by the OIC comes ahead of a
special session of the Geneva-based council on Thursday to address “the
grave human rights situation” in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The meeting was sought by Pakistan, the OIC’s coordinator.The
investigators, the text of Pakistan’s request said, should probe “all
alleged violations and abuses” of international law linked to the
tensions that sparked the latest violence.The Hamas-run health ministry
in Gaza said at least 243 Palestinians were killed, including 66
children and teens, with 1,910 people wounded in the violence. It does
not differentiate between terror group members and civilians. The
Israeli military maintained that it killed some 225 terrorist operatives
and that the Palestinian death toll was in fact considerably higher
than was reported. It said some of the civilian fatalities were caused
by Hamas rockets falling short and landing in the Strip.Palestinian
volunteers sweep dust in front of a building destroyed during the latest
round of fighting, in Gaza City’s Rimal district on May 25, 2021.
(MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)-Thirteen people were killed in Israel, all but one
of them civilians, including a 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl.
Some 357 people in Israel were wounded.During the fighting, outgoing
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the court
may look into the fighting as part of its current probe into alleged war
crimes in the region, which date back to the events leading up to the
last major Gaza conflict in 2014.But the Human Rights Council draft text
goes far beyond the most recent conflict, also calling for
investigators to probe “underlying root causes of recurrent tensions and
instability, including systematic discrimination and repression based
on group identity.”The investigation should focus on establishing facts
and gather evidence and other material that could be used in legal
proceedings, and as far as possible should identify perpetrators to
ensure they are held accountable, it said.“Long-standing and systemic
impunity for international law violations has thwarted justice, created a
protection crisis and undermined all efforts to achieve a just and
peaceful solution,” the draft text said.The session at the
47-member-state rights is slated to last all day.A vote on the draft
resolution is likely at the end of Thursday’s session, which will be
largely virtual.Council spokesman Rolando Gomez says passage of the
draft resolution would mark the first time that a commission of inquiry
received a “continuing mandate.”It remains unclear whether there will be
enough support at the Human Rights Council to pass the
resolution.Twenty of the council’s 47 members were among the 66
countries that backed holding Thursday’s special session, which was
requested by Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority.The rights council
holds three regular sessions each year, but can hold special sessions if
at least a third of members support the idea.Israel accuses the council
of anti-Israel bias and has generally refused to cooperate with its
investigators. Israel’s ambassador, Meirav Eilon Shahar, has called on
member states to oppose Thursday’s meeting.“The convening of yet another
special session by the Human Rights Council targeting Israel is
testament to the clear anti-Israeli agenda of this body,” she said on
Twitter.Israel is the only country that is systematically discussed at
every regular council session, with a dedicated special agenda item.The
standing agenda item and body’s overall anti-Israel stance were among
the main reasons that the United States under former president Donald
Trump decided to leave the council.His successor Joe Biden has returned
the United States to the fold as an observer, with an eye on membership,
arguing that while the council “disproportionate[ly] focuses on
Israel,” the US can be more influential from within it than it can from
the outside.
GOD MAY HAVE GAVE
HEZBOLLAH LEADER HASAN NASRALLAH COVID-19 TO KILL HIM OFF. FOR COMING
AGAINST ISRAEL. THAT WOULD SAVE ISRAELS ROCKETS AND NUKES FOR GAZA AND
HAMAS (VIOLENCE MEANING IN THE BIBLE) AND THE ISLAMIC MUSLIMS AROUND
ISRAEL.After cough-filled speech, Israeli
military hints Nasrallah may have COVID-Defense officials mock Hezbollah
leader: Instead of being threatening, his televised address made him
seem weak and infirm-By Judah Ari Gross-MAY 26,21-Today, 10:09 pm
The
Israeli military believes Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah may have
contracted the coronavirus, following a speech on Tuesday in which the
terrorist leader was seen coughing and occasionally struggling for
breath, The Times of Israel has learned.The Israel Defense Forces’
assessment appeared to be largely based on circumstantial evidence as,
according to Israel’s Channel 13, Nasrallah has not yet actually been
tested for COVID-19.During his speech, the terror leader threatened
“regional war” if Israel attacked holy sites in Jerusalem.“The Israelis
must understand that breaching the holy city and Al-Aqsa mosque and
sanctuaries won’t stop at Gaza resistance,” Nasrallah said, referring to
the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City.“Jerusalem means a
regional war. All the resistance movements cannot stand by and watch
this happening if the holy city is in real, grave danger,” he added.The
speech came on the 21st anniversary of the IDF’s withdrawal from
southern Lebanon, following an 18-year occupation of the area, and days
after Israel and the Hamas terror group fought an 11-day battle in and
around the Gaza Strip, which began when the latter fired multiple
rockets toward Jerusalem after Israeli police officers responded
forcefully to a riot on the Temple Mount.Israeli military officials
derided the speech by Nasrallah, who appeared pale and weak on camera,
calling it a mistake.Instead of being menacing, the usually media-savvy
Nasrallah appeared sick and weak, Israeli defense officials
believe.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is speaking on TV, and he's
not looking well. Pale, thin, a bit breathless and coughing from time to
time. — Liz Sly (@LizSly) May 25, 2021-Hezbollah’s shadow loomed large
during Israel and Hamas’s conflict, with the possibility it could
unleash its arsenal of missiles — far more powerful than Hamas’s — in
support of the Palestinians. But the Iran-backed group largely remained
on the sidelines.Though Hezbollah did not play an active part in the
fighting, three barrages of rockets were fired toward Israel from
southern Lebanon during the Gaza battle, which Israel believes Hezbollah
at least tacitly approved.Daily protests, including by members of
Hezbollah and Palestinians in Lebanon, took place along the frontier
with Israel in solidarity with Gaza. One Hezbollah member was killed
when Israel opened fire to push back against protesters who tried to
break through the volatile frontier.Agencies contributed to this report.
Blinken:
Israel ‘took very significant steps’ to avoid hitting Gaza civilians-In
interview with Israeli TV, top US diplomat laments Palestinian death
toll, underlines Biden’s support for two-state solution and Iran deal-By
TOI staff-MAY 26,21-Today, 11:18 pm
US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken said Israel “took very significant steps” to avoid civilian
casualties in Gaza during the recent fighting with Hamas, while
underscoring the Biden administration’s backing for a two-state solution
for solving the Israeli-Palestinian process.In an interview with
Israeli television aired Wednesday, Blinken also stressed US President
Joe Biden’s support for rejoining the international accord limiting
Iran’s nuclear program if Tehran returns to compliance with the deal,
which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes.Blinken spoke with
Channel 12 news while visiting Israel to shore up the ceasefire reached
last week to end the 11 days of hostilities between the Israeli military
and Hamas, the Islamist terror organization that runs the Gaza Strip.
He also visited the West Bank, Egypt and Jordan during his tour of the
region.In the interview aired Wednesday night, America’s top diplomat
reiterated Biden’s commitment to Israel’s security, when asked about
opposition among progressive Democrats in Congress to a sale of
precision-guided missiles to Israel.“President Biden has been absolutely
clear, and he’s been clear on more than one occasion: We are committed
to Israel’s security, period. We will make sure that Israel has the
means to defend itself,” he said.Blinken said this was “particularly”
the case in light of the “attacks from a terrorist group
indiscriminately targeting civilians,” saying “we want to make sure that
Israel has the means to deal with that.”He stressed though that as a
democracy, Israel has an “extra burden” to avoid civilian casualties
when responding to attacks targeting Israeli citizens. The interviewer,
news anchor Yonit Levi, asked Blinken if Israel sought to avoid hitting
civilians while striking in Gaza during the recent conflict.“I think
Israel took very significant steps to do that, but we also know that on
both sides men, women, and especially children were lost, and I think
that’s deeply painful, and it’s a reminder that we throw around numbers,
statistics, but these statistics, these numbers can’t hide the fact
that we’re talking about real human beings,” he said.The latest military
confrontation with Hamas ended in a ceasefire early Friday. It began on
May 10 when Hamas launched a massive rocket barrage on Israeli cities,
sparking IDF retaliatory strikes and 11 days of fighting, leaving 13
dead in Israel and over 240 fatalities in Gaza. The Israeli army said
most of those killed in Gaza were terror combatants.Blinken said he
believed there was “a lot of work” needed to “rebuild some confidence,
to try to rebuild some trust,” before seeking to restart
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.“We continue to believe very strongly
that a two-state solution is not just the best way, but probably the
only way to really assure that going forward, Israel has a future as a
secure Jewish and democratic state, and the Palestinians have a state to
which they’re entitled,” he said.The current focus, however, was
“trying to build on the ceasefire, address the immediate needs and
concerns,” according to Blinken, before seeing “if over time the
conditions are such that there’s a better environment for trying to
pursue a two-state solution.”Turning to the ongoing nuclear talks in
Vienna on restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the US is taking
part in indirectly, Blinken said “the jury is still out” on whether the
Islamic Republic is willing to reverse its breaches of the deal since
then-president Donald Trump withdrew America from the agreement in 2018.
Biden has repeatedly said the US will return to compliance with the
deal if Iran does.“I think we’ve clarified increasingly what each side
would need to do to come back into compliance with the JCPOA, but it
remains an unanswered question whether Iran is actually prepared to do
what it needs to do to come back into compliance,” Blinken said of the
talks, using the initials for the deal’s formal name, the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action.Blinken acknowledged differences with
Israel over how to prevent Iran from an atomic bomb, but insisted the
countries were united in opposing such a prospect.“We are joined in that
goal and in that commitment. It’s also no secret that over time we’ve
had differences over the best way to get there, to make sure that Iran
does not get a weapon,” Blinken said.While meeting Tuesday with
Netanyahu, the premier told Blinken he hopes the US does not return to
the JCPOA in its current form, arguing it will allow Iran to acquire
nuclear arms.The secretary of state argued the nuclear deal was doing
“exactly what it set out to accomplish,” saying Iran would have needed
at least a year to produce enough material for an atomic weapon before
Trump pulled out. Now Iran could obtain sufficient material in a “very
short order,” he said.“And so far from getting less dangerous without
the deal, it’s gotten more dangerous,” he warned.If the deal is
restored, Blinken said the Biden administration will seek to make it
“longer and stronger” and to also address Iran’s “destabilizing
activities in the region, proliferation of weapons, support for
terrorist groups, et cetera.” He added this could include an extension
of the so-called sunset clauses, which allow Iran to begin resuming some
nuclear work when they start expiring in 2025.Blinken, whose stepfather
was a Holocaust survivor, was also asked about the antisemitic
incidents in the US amid the fighting in Gaza.“It’s profoundly,
profoundly disturbing. And we have seen, not just in the last week
although we’ve seen – well, actually, we have seen a very disturbing
eruption of antisemitic incidents,” he said. “And so when I see that I
feel it both on a very personal level, but I also see it as a warning
sign, a signal that there are – things are happening that we have to
address.”He was also asked if comments by “known figures on the far
left” in the US calling Israel an apartheid state could fuel
antisemitism.“No Israeli politics, no American politics,” he replied,
refusing to comment directly. “When we see antisemitism emerge anywhere,
whether it’s in the United States, whether it’s in this part of the
world, whether it’s anywhere in the world, we have to take it seriously,
we have to address it, we have to deal with it.”The Israeli network
also asked Blinken if Biden was planning a trip to Israel.Blinken
replied that he had no information on such a trip, but said Biden “very
much looks forward to coming back.”
Jewish Democrats accuse
colleagues of antisemitism over Israel criticism-Hawkish lawmakers pen
letter to Biden expressing alarm after Squad members allege that Jewish
state guilty of ‘apartheid’ and ‘terrorism’-By JTA and Jacob Magid-MAY
26,21-Today, 11:13 pm
Four Jewish House Democrats on Tuesday made
an accusation of antisemitism against party colleagues who have alleged
that Israel has committed “apartheid” and “terrorism” against the
Palestinians.Their rebuke was part of a letter to US President Joe Biden
condemning the rising antisemitism sparked by the Israel-Hamas war
earlier this month.One congressman who signed the letter, Dean Phillips
of Minnesota, was chastising a fellow Democrat, Ilhan Omar, in a
neighboring district, though Phillips did not use her name.“Elected
officials have used reckless, irresponsible antisemitic rhetoric,” said
the letter sent Tuesday.Along with Phillips, the other signatories were
fellow hawkish Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Elaine
Luria of Virginia and Kathy Manning of North Carolina. They did not name
their colleagues, but included direct quotes of their controversial
comments.The Jewish Democrats also called out a Republican lawmaker who
likened a mask mandate in Congress to the Nazi yellow star.“These
include repeated, unacceptable and blatantly antisemitic statements made
by a Member of Congress comparing face-masks and other COVID-19 public
health measures to ‘what happened in Nazi Germany’ during the
Holocaust,” the letter said, referring to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene,
R-Ga., who has drawn condemnations from leaders of her own party for her
remarks.“We also reject comments from Members of Congress accusing
Israel of being an ‘apartheid state’ and committing ‘act[s]’ of
terrorism,” the letter said. “These statements are antisemitic at their
core and contribute to a climate that is hostile to many Jews. We must
never forget that less than eighty years ago, within the lifetime of our
parents and grandparents, six million people were murdered by the Nazis
in the Holocaust because they were Jews. Israel has long provided the
Jewish people with a homeland in which they can be safe after facing
centuries of persecution.”Omar and Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan,
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of New York have
accused Israel of apartheid, and Omar has said “Israeli airstrikes
killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism.”Phillips’ district
covers the suburbs of Minneapolis, while Omar’s includes part of
Minneapolis. Phillips has criticized Omar in the past for her Israel
statements, but has also defended her.Hours after the letter was
published, Omar tweeted her own condemnation of the recent rise in
antisemitic attacks, calling it “appalling.”“We must be clear and
unequivocal: antisemitism is unacceptable and has no place in any
movement,” she continued. “Fighting bigotry of any kind means fighting
bigotry of every kind.”But Omar also made a point to implicitly call out
those attacking her, without mentioning the letter by name.“We cannot
equate legitimate criticism of the Israeli government, its policy, and
its military occupation with antisemitism. Connecting the actions of a
foreign country’s government and military with an entire faith does
nothing to keep the Jewish people safer,” she wrote.There are 25 Jewish
Democrats in the House. The letter comes as Republican leaders who have
criticized Greene have lambasted Democratic leaders for sparing Omar,
Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez.
Biden administration adds $38.5 million
in aid to the Palestinians-Blinken says additional US financial support
won’t go through Hamas or PA, which would violate US law, but rather via
UNRWA and NGOs-By JTA and Jacob Magid-MAY 26,21-Today, 10:42 pm
The
Biden administration increased its assistance to Palestinians by $38.5
million in the wake of the latest Gaza war and pledged to abide by
existing law that bars US aid to the Palestinian Authority as long it
continues its prisoner payment policy.On Wednesday, US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken outlined the additional funds that the
administration plans to steer to the Palestinians in a statement from
the State Department. It came as Blinken wrapped up his trip to Israel
and the West Bank where he met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to
discuss sustaining the ceasefire that ended the 11-day rocket exchange
this month between Israel and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group.Blinken
said an additional $33 million would go to UNRWA, the United Nations
agency that administers relief to the Palestinians, on top of the $150
million for the agency announced in April.Along with another $150
million that Congress has approved for humanitarian assistance to the
Palestinians for 2020 and 2021 directed to nongovernmental
organizations, $5.5 million will be designated for recovery from the war
this month, including “emergency shelter, food, relief items, and
health care, as well as mental health and psychosocial support for those
who experienced trauma,” Blinken said.US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken waves as he boards a plane on May 24, 2021, at Andrews Air Force
Base, Maryland, en route to the Middle East. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon,
Pool)-He added that the Biden administration would abide by laws that
require the money go directly to the Palestinians and not to Hamas or
the Palestinian Authority.The United States bans any assistance to
Hamas, a designated terrorist group. The Taylor Force Act bars aid to
the Palestinian Authority as long as it subsidizes families of
terrorists who have killed Israeli or US civilians as part of its
welfare program. Officials in Ramallah told The Times of Israel in
December that it is working on amending the policy so it falls into
compliance with the US legislation by basing the stipends on recipients’
financial needs rather than the length of the prison sentences.“US
foreign assistance for the Palestinian people serves important US
interests and values,” said Blinken in the statement. “It provides
critical relief to those in great need, fosters economic development and
supports Israeli-Palestinian understanding, security coordination and
stability.”The Trump administration suspended virtually all aid to the
Palestinians. US President Joe Biden campaigned on a pledge to restore
the funding.While in the region, Blinken also formally announced plans
to reopen a consulate in Jerusalem. The de facto representative to the
Palestinians was merged into the US embassy in Jerusalem in 2019.
Blinken
visits Jordan, wrapping up Mideast tour to shore up Gaza truce-US
secretary of state meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II following two
days of talks in Israel, the West Bank and Egypt-By Agencies and TOI
staff-MMAY 26,21-Today, 8:28 pm
US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken visited Jordan Wednesday, wrapping up a two-day Mideast tour
that aimed to shore up an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and
Palestinian terror groups in Gaza.After meeting Egyptian President
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi — whom he praised for helping bring an end to the
intense violence “relatively quickly” — he flew to Jordan, where half of
the 10 million-strong population is of Palestinian origin.Blinken met
King Abdullah II, following two days of regional talks — including with
both Israeli and Palestinian leaders — to throw Washington’s support
behind the truce that ended 11 days of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip
into Israel and heavy Israeli retaliatory airstrikes.“Securing the
ceasefire was important, particularly because of the devastating toll
violence took on families on both sides,” Blinken told reporters after
meeting with the Jordanian monarch in Amman, his final stop.“We see the
ceasefire not as an end, but as a beginning of something to build
on.”Following talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Blinken vowed to
rebuild US relations with the Palestinians by reopening a consulate in
Jerusalem, as well as give millions in aid for the war-battered Gaza
Strip.The announcements signaled a break with US policy under former
president Donald Trump, who had shuttered the diplomatic mission for
Palestinians in 2019 and slashed aid to the Palestinian Authority.In the
long term, Blinken evoked the “possibility of resuming the effort to
achieve a two-state solution, which we continue to believe is the only
way to truly assure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state,
and of course to give the Palestinians the state they’re entitled
to.”After meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he reiterated
support for Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks by
Gaza’s Hamas rulers, adding that they must not benefit from the
reconstruction aid.Hamas political chief Yahya Sinwar vowed Wednesday
not to take “a single cent” of the aid, insisting that “we have never
taken a cent in the past.”Rebuilding Gaza-On Wednesday, after meeting
with Sissi, Blinken later said that both “believe strongly that
Palestinians and Israelis deserve equally to live in safety and
security,” and that “Egypt is vital to these aspirations.”Unlike the
United States and many European governments, which boycott the Hamas
terror group, Egypt maintains regular contacts.Last week, Sissi pledged
$500 million to help reconstruction efforts in Gaza.Egypt was also the
first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, with
Jordan following suit in 1994.Cairo has sent delegations to both Tel
Aviv and Gaza to watch over the implementation of the ceasefire, and has
also been coordinating international relief and reconstruction aid for
the enclave, which has been under Israeli and Egyptian blockade for
nearly 15 years to prevent Hamas from building terror
infrastructure.Blinken said Wednesday the US was in the process of
providing more than $360 million in assistance to Palestinians,
including $250 million announced in March and April.On top of that, the
administration intended to provide $75 million in aid to the
Palestinians, as well as $5.5 million in immediate disaster assistance
for Gaza, and nearly $33 million for an emergency humanitarian appeal by
the UN.The latest military escalation started when Hamas fired rockets
at Jerusalem after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police
officers at the Temple Mount.Israeli security forces had also sought to
quell protests against the threatened eviction of Palestinian families
from homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to make
way for Jewish families.Rocket and other fire from Gaza claimed 13 lives
in Israel, including one child and teenager, an Israeli soldier, one
Indian national and two Thai workers, medics say. Some 357 people in
Israel were wounded.Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire on Gaza killed
254 Palestinians, including 66 children, and wounded more than 1,900
people in 11 days of conflict from May 10, the health ministry in Gaza
says. Israel asserts some 200 of those killed were terror operatives.
Qatar
says it will contribute $500 million for Gaza reconstruction-The Gulf
state, a key backer of the Strip’s Hamas rulers, pledges money following
recent fighting in the enclave-By Agencies and TOI staff-27 May 2021,
12:26 am
Qatar announced on Wednesday that it would provide $500
million for Gaza’s reconstruction after the coastal enclave was battered
by Israeli airstrikes in 11 days of hostilities between the Jewish
state and Palestinian terrorists earlier this month.“The state of Qatar
announces $500 million in support for the reconstruction of Gaza,”
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani
tweeted.Qatar is a key backer of the Islamist terror group Hamas that
controls the Gaza Strip.The funds aim to help Gazans “face the life
challenges posed by the recent Israeli attacks, and to contribute to the
reconstruction of service facilities in Gaza… in addition to the homes
that were destroyed,” the official QNA news agency said.Al-Thani also
vowed in a statement that Qatar will continue to support Palestinians so
as to reach “a just and lasting solution by establishing their
independent state in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative,”
referring to a Saudi-backed peace initiative first offered in
2002.Several countries have pledged funds to help reconstruct Gaza.
Qatar’s regional rival Egypt has said it will also spend $500 million on
reconstruction efforts. The United States has promised $37.5 million in
immediate relief to the Gaza Strip, with millions more in development
assistance to be distributed later.Qatar has funneled cash into the
blockaded, Hamas-ruled enclave for years with Israeli approval. The Gulf
state had already pledged $360 million in aid to Gaza at the beginning
of the year.The announcement came amid diplomatic efforts to solidify a
fragile Egypt-brokered truce that halted the fighting, with plans to
rebuild Gaza.Al-Thani visited Cairo on Wednesday, as ties improve
between the countries after a January declaration ended a diplomatic
crisis that began in 2017 with a rift between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain on one side and Qatar on the other.The
latest military confrontation between Israel and Hamas ended in a
ceasefire early last Friday. It began on May 10 when Hamas launched a
massive rocket barrage on Israeli cities, sparking IDF retaliatory
strikes and 11 days of fighting, leaving 13 dead in Israel and over 240
fatalities in Gaza. The Israeli army said most of those killed in Gaza
were terror combatants.