The foreign minister of Bahrain, Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa said that his
country recognizes Israel’s right to exist, knows that it is “there to stay,”
and wants peace with it reports The
Times of Israel. Unlike Egypt and Jordan, this makes Bahrain the first Arab country to
express interest in peace with Israel without first having lost a war to them.
Referring to the Arab Peace initiative, Khalifa said “We offered it to
Israel. So we do believe that Israel is a country to stay, and we want better
relations with it, and we want peace with it.” The Bahraini official added, “we
know our brothers in the region do believe in it”.
Khalifa noted the Arab Peace Initiative as the outline for normalization with
Israel. Israel’s rejection of the proposal is a “missed opportunity,” he
stated, but Jerusalem can always rethink its position.
He advised Israelis to communicate to Arab leaders regarding any issues they
might have with the plan.
“Come and talk to us. Talk to us about it. Say, guys, you have a good
initiative, but we have one thing that worries us,” he added.
The Arab League’s “Peace Plan” is an initiative that offered Israel “normal
relations” in exchange for a
withdrawal to the 1967 borders and resolution of the Palestinian refugee
issue.
Among other things, the plan includes a demand that Israel withdraws from
the Golan Heights, a position that stands in direct
contradiction from the US, who recently recognized the Golan as an integral
part of Israel.
“History and Allah brought a real opportunity,” a top-ranking Saudi diplomat told Israelis via an interview in Globes on Friday. “The blood conflict had lasted too long. Us Saudis and all Gulf States plus Egypt and Jordan realize that the age of going to war with Israel is over.” Pointing to “the advantages of normalizing relations,” he argued that “the whole Arab world could benefit from it,” Globes reported. The plan — formally dubbed “Peace to Prosperity” — said that the economic package, if implemented, would double the Palestinians’ gross domestic product, create more than one million jobs in the territories, reduce Palestinian unemployment.
Days
before the US-sponsored Bahrain conference, Jared Kushner and the White House
released its proposal to boost the Palestinian economy by offering a $50
billion aid package that can only be implemented through an Israeli-Palestinian
peace agreement.
On one hand, the ‘Peace To Prosperity’ Middle East peace plan created
by Jared Kushner seems to be little
more than giving the Palestinians an obscene amount of money, in this case $50
billion in cash, loans, incentives including allocation to Jordan, Egypt, and
Lebanon. But when I took a closer look at the mechanics of it, I saw something
else lurking in the shadows that just may contain the right ingredients to push
this thing through. What is that, you ask? The newly-forged alliance between the
Trump White House and the Saudi Kingdom.
“And he shall confirm the
covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause
the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” Daniel 9:27
(KJV)
Having the backing of the Saudi Kingdom is a potential game-changer in getting
the Palestinians to the table. The close bond between Benjamin Netanyahu and
both Jared Kushner and Donald Trump ensures that Israel is already at the
table. Are all the elements in place to finally see the ‘deal of the century’
successfully consumated? We shall see, but know this. If it is, then it is not
only the ‘deal of the century’, it will be the prophetic ‘deal of the
millennium’ and Jared Kushner will be the Antichrist. Let’s see
how far it goes, popcorn anyone?
Jared Kushner finally unveils ‘Peace to Prosperity’
economic plan for Palestinians
FROM TIMES OF ISRAEL: The 40-page plan, which Senior Adviser
Jared Kushner will push in Manama next week, rests on three initiatives,
according to the document — to “unleash the economic potential” of the
Palestinians, “empower the Palestinians to realize their ambitions,” and
“enhance Palestinian governance.”
Neither Israeli officials nor
Palestinians will be attending the confab. Palestinians have refused to
participate, or engage at all with the Trump administration since it moved the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Israeli officials and ministers were not invited, though a business
delegation will be attending. A senior administration official told The Times
of Israel that they wanted the focus of the gathering to be “on the economic
aspect, not the political.”
Arab nations such as Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia
have all said they would participate in the conference.
REMEMBER THIS? HAS THE NEWLY-FORMED
FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND SAUDI ARABIA BECOME THE ‘SECRET WEAPON’ IN
JARED KUSHNER’S ‘PEACE TO PROSPERITY’ PLAN?
The plan — formally dubbed “Peace to Prosperity” — said that the
economic package, if implemented, would double the Palestinians’ gross domestic
product, create more than one million jobs in the territories, reduce
Palestinian unemployment to single digits (it was 31 percent in 2018, according to
the World Bank), and cut the Palestinian poverty rate by 50%.
Speaking at a “Black Women in Defense of Ilhan Omar” event
on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar blamed President Donald
Trump for a rise in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in America. She also
declared, “This is not going to be the country of white people.” Soak that in
for a second.
Speaking at a “Black Women in Defense of
Ilhan Omar” event on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Rep. Ilhan Omar declared,
“This is not going to be the country of white people.”
Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar has gotten herself into a load of trouble
after being sworn in back in January with seemingly endless outbursts and
invectives against the Jews in general and against Israel in particular. First,
she denounced Israel as a terror state in a
fiery Twitter attack, she said that the Muslim terrorists who
slaughtered 3,000 on 9/11 were just “some
people who did something‘. It got so bad that Congress was forced
to pass
a bill denouncing anti-semitism. Now Ilhan Omar wants you to
know that white people will have no place in the new America that she and her
Democratic Socialist buddies want to create. If you doubt she actually used
those words, watch the video below.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from
extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be
fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we
will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children
what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” Ronald
Reagan
Racism in America will never go away as long as there are
Liberals and Progressives around to keep it alive. It is their bread and
butter, without
the race card they would have no platform and nothing to stand on.
Ilhan Omar and all her friends seek to destroy the America the Founding Fathers
put together. And if Trump doesn’t win in 2020, it might actually happen.
Muslim Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar: America Is Not Going to Be the ‘Country of
White People’
FROM LIFEZETTE: Speaking at a “Black Women in Defense of
Ilhan Omar” event on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)
blamed President Donald Trump for a rise in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in
America. She also declared, “This is not going to be the country of white
people.”
Silver lining here: It appears Omar is at least no longer
hiding the fact that she is part of a “coin of bigotry.”
Because on that one side — the anti-Semitic side — there is Omar, whose
legacy includes references to Israel as “evil,” comparisons of Israel to Iran,
repeated anti-Semitic
tropes, support of the BDS movement, and the public badgering of a
Jewish diplomat. The rally was held in defense of Omar after President
Trump called her out for minimizing the terrorist attacks.
Just getting warmed up.
Omar didn’t stop at one clearly racist comment. No, she was
just getting warmed up. “The thing that upsets the occupant in the White House,
his goons in the Republican Party, many of our colleagues in the Democratic
Party, is that they can’t stand … that a refugee, a black woman, an immigrant,
a Muslim shows up in Congress thinking she’s equal to them,” Omar claimed.
Perhaps they’re more concerned with the one adjective she
left out: “ignorant.”
While she was busy denouncing half of America as xenophobes and blasting
white people, Omar took a stand to defend her home of Somalia.
“I also happen to be a refugee and immigrant from what they call one of the
s***hole countries,” she said in reference to Trump’s infamous comments. “The
reality is that s***hole country raised a very proud, dignified person.”
Then there was this little moment when she praised Angela
Davis — a Communist, a fellow anti-Semite, a once-proud honoree of the FBI’s
Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List, and a clear accessory to murder in a case
involving the kidnapping and killing of a judge.
Aside from that, it was a pretty good speech.
Why she gets away with it. The Democrat Party is directly
to blame for Omar’s feeling emboldened to make continuous racist and
anti-Semitic remarks. Her colleague in Congress, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
(D-N.Y.), has classified criticism of Omar as stoking Islamophobia, even
railing against her “white
or male” colleagues.
When the Democrats aren’t echoing her bigotry, they’re actively defending it
by issuing watered-down resolutions denouncing different forms of generic
“hate.”
She even gets away with criticizing
John McCain, which the liberal media has made clear is strictly verboten.
Why is it OK for Omar to spread her bigotry? Because racist groups, the
Democrat Party, and the mainstream media are all perfectly content with it
The ballistic missiles, reportedly intercepted over Taif, were fired by Yemeni Houthi rebels and were headed for Islam’s holiest city as well as Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea
Saudi Arabia intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles
fired from Yemen over Taif on Monday, Riyadh’s embassy in Washington said. One
of the missiles was heading for Mecca and the other for Jeddah, Saudi news
outlet Al Arabiya cited eyewitnesses as saying.
The kingdom’s
air defenses reportedly destroyed the missiles.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement denied the reports.
“The Saudi regime is trying, through these allegations, to rally support
for its brutal aggression against our great Yemeni people,” Houthi
military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Facebook .
Al Arabiya reported that an official Saudi comment was
expected later in the day.
Last week, Saudi Arabia reported that Houthi
explosive-laden drones struck
two Saudi oil pumping stations. Citing a source in the group,
Yemen’s Houthi-controlled SABA news agency said Sunday that
the targeting of these installations was the beginning of military operations
against 300 vital military targets.
Other targets included military headquarters and
facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia as well as their bases in
Yemen, SABA quoted the source as saying.
Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister accused
Iran of ordering the attack on the Saudi oil pumping stations
which Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia claimed responsibility for
Last week, a state-aligned Saudi newspaper called for
“surgical” U.S. strikes in retaliation against alleged threats from
Iran.
The editorial says U.S. airstrikes in Syria, when the
government there was suspected of using chemical weapons against civilians,
“set a precedent.”
It added that it’s “clear that [U.S.] sanctions are
not sending the right message” and that Iran “must be hit hard,”
without elaborating on what specific targets should be struck.
The newspaper’s publisher is the Saudi Research and
Marketing Group, a company that had long been chaired by various sons of King
Salman until 2014 and is regarded as reflecting official position. Turki bin
Salman al Saud owns the group and is the brother of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman..
“And they gave money to the quarriers and to the artisans, and food and
drink and oil to the Zidonians and to the Tyrians to bring cedar wood from
Lebanon to the sea of Jaffa, by the sanction of Cyrus the king of Persia upon
them.”Ezra 3:7 (The
Israel Bible™)
Visitors to the Temple Mount have documented timbers from the First and
Second Temple being abused in a manner that will ultimately lead to their
destruction.
Their actions were in gross violation of agreements between Israel and
Jordan concerning the site. In 1967 there was one mosque on the Temple Mount:
the silver-domed al Aqsa. Due to Mulsim expansionism, there are currently five
areas set aside for Muslim prayer that are off-limits to non-Muslims. As per
the initial agreement, non-Muslims are restricted from praying on the Temple
Mount.
This area is incredibly sensitive for political as well as religious reasons
and this violation led to international negotiations involving Jordan and the
United States. Several court orders were issued by the Israeli High Court. The
Waqf ignored these summonses and ultimately was allowed de facto control over
the site.
According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will arrive via the Sha’ar
HaRachamim. Out of a mistaken belief that Jewish tradition speaks of the
Messiah being from the priestly caste, the Ottomans built a cemetery in front
of the gate in order to prevent the Jewish Messiah from arriving.
In addition to religious interests, the site has archaeological significance
that is being overlooked. Adjacent to the site is a pile of timber covered in a
tarpaulin. Though they appear to be refuse and are treated as such by the
Muslims, some of these timbers are from Solomon’s Temple. Jewish visitors to
the Temple Mount have noted that refuse is being piled on top of these precious
timbers.
Dr. Gabriel Barkay is familiar with Waqf abuses leading to the destruction
of artifacts. He began the Temple Mount Sifting project in 2005 after Waqf
renovations to Solomon’s Stables resulted in over 400 truckloads of material
containing artifacts being removed from the Temple Mount and dumped in
landfills. Much of the material was lost but Dr. Barkay’s Sifting
Project has succeeded in recovering many of these invaluable remnants
from the Jewish Temples.
Dr. Barkay explained the history and significance of the timbers.
“The earthquake in 1927 caused extensive damage to the Aqsa Mosque, causing
it to collapse,” Dr. Barkay explained to Breaking Isreal News. “The
roofing beams were dismantled and later, at the request of the Waqf, the beams
were studied by Robert W. Hamilton, director of antiquities for the British
Mandate. He described most of the beams and wooden panels as being from the
early Islamic Ummayad Dynasty from the Eighth Century. The best examples were
taken to be displayed at the Rockefeller Museum near Jerusalem where they are
on display to this day.”
Dr. Barkay explained that some of the beams are currently in the Islamic
Museum on the Temple Mount. Others were stored underneath the Temple Mount in
Solomon’s Stables.
“When that area was turned into the Marwani Mosque, the beams were moved and
many of them disappeared,” Dr. Barkay said. “The leftovers were put in the
outer courtyard next to the Golden Gate.”
Some of the beams were sold to an Armenian wood merchant and even more
disappeared.
“They were sold as scrap wood,” Dr. Barkay said. “It is quite possible that
some ended up as firewood.”
Some timbers found their way to the town of Ofra in Samaria where they are being
stored. Some of these beams have Arabic inscriptions and decorations while
others have Roman inscriptions and decorations.
In the 1970’s, the beams were checked by a team of Israeli botanists who
determined that most of them were cedars from Lebanon and some are Cyprus
trees. They carried out Carbon-14 tests on several of the timbers. Some
were determined to have been felled about 1,340 years ago which is
approximately when al Aqsa Mosque was originally built. One cypress beam was
determined to be was found to be 2,600 years, or around 630 BCE, around 50
years before the destruction of the First Temple.
Shockingly, one of the oak beams was determined to be 2,860 years old. That
meant the tree had been cut down around 880 BCE, early in the First Temple
period.
“It may be that these beams were used in al Aqsa Mosque as a secondary use,”
Dr. Barkay said. “It is possible that when al Aqsa was first built, the
builders used materials that were on site from the destroyed Jewish Temples.”
About a decade ago, the Israeli Antiquities Authority wanted to preserve the
beams but the Waqf insisted the beams are their property. There have been
unconfirmed sightings of some of the beams stored next to the Golden Gate being
burned.
“It is a very sad situation when antiquities of this importance are
destroyed,” Dr. Barkay said. “Past experience has shown that the Waqf does not
care about the antiquities of any civilization but their own. And here we see
that they don’t even care to preserve artifacts from their own history.”
“When the Waqf worked with heavy machinery and carted away over 400
truckloads of earth from the Temple Mount, they showed a barbaric approach.
They for sure should not be entrusted to take care of such delicate and
important antiquities. These artifacts are important for the history of
all of humanity and civilization. We see here, as in other nations, that the
Muslim attitude towards history and the past is entirely lacking tolerance and
respect. This is a war of civilization; the Islamic civilization against all
others. It is, quite simply, a cultural intifada.”
The appearance of refuse at the Golden Gate is additionally disturbing
because it may indicate that the Waqf is renovating the site into a more
permanent prayer area. Shortly after the riots that opened the area to Muslims,
the Waqf requested permission from the Israeli authorities to perform these
renovations at the site and they were denied. If the renovations are extensive,
then even more artifacts will be destroyed.
The Vatican has sent a special message to all the world’s Muslims, wishing them “a peaceful and fruitful celebration of Ramadan.” “We Muslims and Christians are called to open ourselves to others, knowing and recognizing them as brothers and sisters,” the text states. “In this way, we can tear down walls raised out of fear and ignorance and seek together to build bridges of friendship that are fundamental for the good of all humanity.”
The endearing use of the phrase “brothers
and sisters” invokes a vision of harmony and peace together. This is not
the case between Muslims and Christians globally. This is Chrislam.
If I call someone who is not my biological
sibling my ‘brother or sister’ what exactly am I saying? Well, with the use of
that term, I am acknowledging that that person and myself share an overwhelming
and fundamental agreement about the major issues in life. The bible tells us
that two people cannot ‘walk together’ through life unless there be in
agreement with each other, as we see in the bible verse below. And when
we read the entire chapter from which that verse is taken, we see that verse is
used as a rebuke, which is exactly how I am using it here.
“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
Amos 3:3 (KJV)
Pope Francis continues his full court press of
wooing the Muslims and Islam into the folds of the Roman Catholic tent as he
builds the
One World Religion that Revelation 13, 17 and 18 tells us the
Roman pontiff will do. As we have long said, just as Rome used the armies of
Spain to enforce the demonic Spanish Inquisition for nearly 300 years, so will
Rome now seek to use the armies of Islamic jihad to promote the Roman Catholic
harlot at the point of a sword. You may not know much bible, you may not
believe in bible prophecy, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are
watching it come to life before your very eyes. The pope is effectively using false
teachers like Rick Warren to advance his cause.
Pope Francis is not merely a ‘defender of
Islam’, he is a promoter of Islam and by extension Sharia Law. He has been
working on this partnership and it soon will be completed, when it is, look
out. Rome will once again have an army, and at that point they will quit
pretending to be a lamb, and go right back to being the ‘roaring lion’ who only
comes to seek, kill and destroy. Pope Francis and his Roman religion is creating
Chrislam, the merger of counterfeit Christianity and Islam, and
he is doing it with impunity. He knows that ‘now is his hour’ and that the
‘power of darkness’ will continue to propel him forward. That’s how he can look
on Muslims who practice Sharia Law and preach hatred of the Jews and Israel as
‘brothers and sisters’ because he is one of them.
Vatican issues a happy Ramadan to all “Muslim brothers and sisters”
FROM JIHAD WATCH: Too many Christians live under
the worst conditions in Islamic countries, as they endure violent persecution
daily under the Sharia. The Pope of Islam is
living a lie and promoting the same. Ongoing, he has abandoned persecuted
Christians, and also persecuted other minority groups including minority Muslim
groups and other victims of jihad. He has also turned a blind eye to Islamic
supremacist assaults and jihad attacks in Western countries as a result of open
door immigration.
His pursuit of dialogue has never included the
demand that Islamic leaders and adherents accept religious freedoms, and the
equality of other faiths and human beings regardless of gender and personal
identity. The Pope does not promote a two way street in his so-called
advancement of “dialogue”. His expectation is that Christians must
embrace “dialogue”, “diversity” and “tolerance” of everyone—including
jihadists– but he has no such message and expectation of Muslims.
The Pope has also declared Rome to be a “city
of bridges, never walls!,” and further stated that “Jesus
demands” we take in Muslim migrants. Meanwhile, he lives in a walled city
within Rome, surrounded by security, and he is not taking in any migrants
himself.
Conversely, Cardinal
Robert Sarah — prefect of the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments — compared “the modern influx of
Muslim migrants to the invasions of barbarian tribes that ultimately brought
down the Roman Empire in a.d. 475.” Sarah also warned that “it is a false
exegesis [interpretation of scriptural text] to use the Word of God to promote
migration. God never wanted these rifts.”
For the Pope’s trip to Morocco, Vatican media
promotions abandoned the traditional papal insignia and replaced it with the
cross and the crescent; and the crescent did not appear “alongside the cross,
as if a companion to it. Rather, the Islamic symbol encircles the Christian
one” symbolizing a kind of submission
to Islam.In
Islamic law, Muslim lives are explicitly worth more than those
of non-Muslims. The Shafi’i Sharia manual Reliance of the Traveller dictates:
“The indemnity for the death or injury of a woman is one-half the indemnity
paid for a man. The indemnity paid for a Jew or Christian is one-third the
indemnity paid for a Muslim. The indemnity paid for a Zoroastrian is
one-fifteenth that of a Muslim.” (o4.9) Sikhs rank even lower, as they are not
People of the Book. The Pope addresses none of this.
Pope Francis has accurately been hailed the “defender of Islam”. As
Robert Spencer rightly notes:
Pope Francis is not only disastrously wrongheaded about an obvious fact that
is reinforced by every day’s headlines; he is also deceiving and misleading his
people about a matter of utmost importance, and keeping them ignorant and
complacent about a growing and advancing threat. source
“Vatican Pope Francis Wishes Happy Ramadan to ‘Muslim Brothers and Sisters’
The Vatican has sent
a special message to all the world’s Muslims, wishing them “a
peaceful and fruitful celebration of Ramadan.” The month of Ramadan, which
began this year on May 5, is “a month for strengthening the spiritual bonds we
share in Muslim-Christian friendship,” reads the message from the
Vatican’s office of interreligious dialogue bearing the title “Christians and
Muslims: Promoting Universal Fraternity.”
“We Muslims and Christians are called to open ourselves to others, knowing
and recognizing them as brothers and sisters,” the text states. “In this way,
we can tear down walls raised out of fear and ignorance and seek together to
build bridges of friendship that are fundamental for the good of all humanity.”
“We thus cultivate in our families and in our political, civil and religious
institutions, a new way of life where violence is rejected, and the human
person respected,” reads the message, which bears the signature of Bishop
Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
Our religions invite us to “remain rooted in the
values of peace; to defend the values of mutual understanding, human fraternity
and harmonious coexistence; to re-establish wisdom, justice and love,” the text
says, citing a
joint declaration signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmed a-Tayyeb in
Abu Dhabi this past February.
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH: THE END TIMES
‘UNIVERSAL PEACE DOCUMENT’ POPE FRANCIS SIGNED WITH ISLAMIC LEADER MAKES NO
REFERENCE OF ANY KIND TO JESUS CHRIST OR THE BIBLE
That same declaration brought down heavy
criticism on the pope particularly due to the assertion that the plurality and
diversity of religions “are willed by God in His wisdom,” just as God wills a
plurality of colors, sexes, races, and languages.
A number of Catholic theologians raised objections to the statement, insisting
that it seemed to suggest that either God actively wills error, or that all
religions are equally valid paths to God. The existence of a variety of colors,
races, and languages in humanity is very different from a variety of
contradictory claims about God’s identity and way of acting, they said.
In early April, Francis walked back the earlier statement,
clarifying that in reality God only permits the existence of many
religions without actively willing it. The Vatican’s Ramadan message steers
clear of such theological swampland.
“We are encouraged, therefore, to continue advancing the culture of dialogue
as a means of cooperation and as a method of growing in knowledge of one
another,” the message says.
Iran’s intelligence minister has admitted publicly for the first time that
Christianity is spreading throughout Iran.
Iranwire.com reports
Mahmoud Alavi, the Islamic Republic’s intelligence minister, was giving a
speech in front of several Shia Muslim clerics when he announced
“Christianity is spreading in “parts” of Iran.”
In an apparent attempt to make light of the people are converting, Alavi
said: “These converts are ordinary people whose jobs are selling
sandwiches or similar things.”
The intelligence minister also told the clerics to quit bickering among
themselves.
“We had no choice but to summon them to ask them why they were
converting,” said Alavi told the assembled group. “Some of them said
they were looking for a religion that gives them peace. We told them that Islam
is the religion of brotherhood and peace. They responded by saying that: ‘All
the time we see Muslim clerics and those who preach from the pulpit talk
against each other. If Islam is the religion of cordiality, then before
anything else, there must be cordiality and peace among the clerics
themselves.”
“It is not the job of the intelligence community to find the roots of
these conversions from Islam. But it’s happening right before our eyes,”
he added.
Iran is known for its mounting persecution of Christians. The Islamic
Republic is listed as number 9 among the world’s top persecutors of Christians,
according to Open Doors USA. Christians in Iran are forbidden
from sharing their faith with non-Christians. Consequently, church services in
Persian (Iran’s national language) are not allowed.
Throughout the day, Palestinians launched dozens of
incendiary devices, carried by balloons, into southern Israel from the Gaza
Strip. However, it was not immediately clear if the Eshkol fire was sparked by
one of these objects.“At this point, the cause of the fire is not known. We
will only know after a check by fire investigators,” a spokesperson for the
Eshkol region said. The strike came after a large brushfire broke out in
the Eshkol region of southern Israel on Wednesday night, with suspicions that
it was caused by a balloon-borne incendiary device from the nearby Gaza Strip,
officials said.
Israeli aircraft were striking target in the
Gaza Strip early Thursday, Palestinian reports said after a wave of fire
balloons were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Fire balloons are no joke, and have done millions of
dollars in damage to myriad acres of fields in southern Israel since the Gaza
Strip riots began a little over a year ago. They show no signs of abating
anytime soon.
In keeping with Israel’s zero tolerance policy on attacks
by Palestinians in the Strip, the Israel air force launched a series of targeted
strikes early Thursday. We will update this story as events progress.
Israeli aircraft said to strike targets in Gaza after wave of fire balloons
FROM THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: There was no immediate comment
from the IDF. The reports said the aircraft bombed targets in northern Gaza.
There were no reports of injuries. The strike came after a large brush fire
broke out in the Eshkol region of southern Israel on Wednesday night, with
suspicions that it was caused by a balloon-borne incendiary device from the nearby
Gaza Strip, officials said.
A fire rages in the Eshkol region of southern
Israel on May 1, 2019. (Tzvika Korbeshi/Eshkol)
The blaze began in a field between the Eshkol National Park
and Kibbutz Urim, spreading throughout the grasslands and into a wooded area,
according to Fire and Rescue Department Eli Cohen.
The fire came amid heightened tensions between Israel and terror groups in
the Strip, after a rocket was launched from the coastal enclave, landing
several kilometers off shore on Monday night.
Throughout the day, Palestinians launched dozens of
incendiary devices, carried by balloons, into southern Israel from the Gaza
Strip. However, it was not immediately clear if the Eshkol fire was sparked by
one of these objects.
“At this point, the cause of the fire is not known. We will only know after
a check by fire investigators,” a spokesperson for the Eshkol region said.
Three teams of firefighters were working to put out the
fire. In addition to the Fire and Rescue Department, firefighters from the Jewish
National Fund and from the Parks Service were involved in the effort, the fire
department spokesman said.
“The teams are working together to get control over the fire and prevent it
from spreading,” Cohen said.
Due to the blaze’s location, the firefighters were not able
to bring their trucks into the area, requiring them to use smaller, hand-held
equipment to battle the flames, the fire department spokesman said.
On Tuesday, a fire broke out near Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the
Sha’ar Hanegev region. That blaze was caused by a balloon-borne incendiary
device launched into Israel from Gaza. In recent weeks, such arson attacks have
tapered off under the ceasefire brokered by Egypt last month. That fire was
quickly extinguished by a team of volunteers, the fire department said.
Also Tuesday, the Israeli military deployed Iron Dome missile defense
batteries throughout the country, following a rocket attack from Gaza the
previous night and ahead of what is expected to be a sensitive next few weeks.
The military expects the coming weeks to be particularly
tense, as they will see the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the
international Eurovision song competition in Tel Aviv, Israel’s Memorial and
Independence days, and the first anniversary of the opening of the contentious
US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Following Monday’s rocket launch, Israel scaled back the permitted Gaza
fishing zone from 15 nautical miles to six until further notice. The fishing
zone had previously been extended to 15 miles — a level that the coastal
enclave has not seen in over a decade — as one of the first concessions by
Jerusalem under an unofficial ceasefire agreement with terror groups in the
Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday morning, the IDF said the Islamic Jihad
intentionally fired the rocket from the northern Gaza Strip toward coastal
Israel the day before in an effort to derail ongoing efforts to maintain the
ceasefire.
While there has not been a complete cessation of violence along the Gaza
border since the ceasefire went into effect last month, the situation there has
been relatively calm. Terror groups in the Strip have threatened to bring back
regular border riots if Israel does not abide by its side of the deal.
There have been various reports on
what Trump’s peace plan might include. Channel 13 News reported in
January, that the deal would include a Palestinian state with 85-90% of the
West Bank and the division of Jerusalem. Part of the deal would also
include giving Jordanian land, Naharayim and Tzofar, to Israel. These enclaves
are currently leased to Israel, but officially Jordanian land. In return,
Jordan would receive land from Saudi Arabia, the report claimed.
President
Donald Trump will push for Jordan to grant citizenship to one million
Palestinian refugees as part of his “Deal of the Century,” according to the
Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.
As improbable as it seems, with each passing month, President Trump and Jared Kushner
are inching closer to presenting a very unique and different peace deal and one
that actually might be accepted by both parties. Amazingly, it will not
create a Palestinian state existing alongside with Israel. Now the question is,
who will control Jerusalem.
“For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a
woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)
The battle for control of Jerusalem goes all the way back to the first book of the
bible ever written, the book of Job. Job represents in type Jews who will find
themselves in the time of Jacob’s trouble in the days after the rapture of the
Church takes place. Because God has proclaim over and over that Jerusalem is
the place where He has place His own name, Satan wants it for himself. You
cannot have peace in the Middle East without first figuring out who will
control Jerusalem.
TRUMP’S
PEACE PLAN: GRANT JORDANIAN CITIZENSHIP TO A MILLION PALESTINIAN REFUGEES –
REPORT
FROM THE JPOST: Trump will also ask Egypt to grant citizenship to
Palestinian refugees. Granting Palestinians refugees citizenship status from
other countries may be a way for Trump to avoid establishing a Palestinian
state. The report hints that a confederation of three states may be an option,
where there would be a joint government between Israel, Jordan, and the
Palestinian Authority for specific and limited purposes.
According to the report, Jordanian King Abdullah II expressed opposition to the
establishment of a joint confederation and told Egyptian leaders that he
prefers Jordan to remain in charge of the holy sites in Jerusalem “without
interfering in the details between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”
If the Al Akhbar report is correct,
Jordan and Egypt will receive USD $110 billion in economic aid, according to
the report. It is not yet clear where this reported aid will come from. Jordan
would receive USD $45 billion, and the remainder would go to Egypt. For both of
the countries part of the money will be used for implementing projects on the
ground.
The absorption would happen in
stages, where the largest number of refugees that Jordan would have to take in
at one time would be 300,000. Palestinians from Gaza who are currently in
Jordan would be included in this deal.
Part of the deal would also include giving Jordanian land, Naharayim and
Tzofar, to Israel. These enclaves are currently leased to Israel, but
officially Jordanian land. In return, Jordan would receive land from Saudi
Arabia, the report claimed.
Al Akhbar reported that Trump intends on updating Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi on the details of his peace plan. Trump would also propose that
Lebanon absorbs a portion of their Palestinian refugees, but if the refugees
accept Lebanese citizenship, they would forgo their claim to the right of
return.
There have been various reports on
what Trump’s peace plan might include. Channel 13 News reported in
January, that the deal would include a Palestinian state with 85-90% of the
West Bank and the division of Jerusalem.
The report, based on a source who took part in a briefing in
Washington on the plan by a senior American official, said it calls for the
annexation of the large settlements and the evacuation of settlement outposts
deemed illegal under Israeli law
U.S. senators from both parties want further details about recent approvals for companies to share nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia Haaretz and Reuters
Apr
04, 2019 12:50 PM
Saudi
Arabia has almost finished building its first nuclear reactor, according to
Bloomberg’s assessment of the first satellite images of the facility,
which were published on Google Earth.
Bloomberg
reported Wednesday that satellite photos show a containment vessel for
atomic fuel at the reactor site in Riyadh. The report notes the
“ advancement is alarming to arms-control experts because Saudi Arabia has
yet to sign up to the international framework of rules other nuclear
powers follow to ensure that civilian atomic programs aren’t used to build
weapons.”
U.S. senators from both parties on Tuesday asked Energy
Secretary Rick Perry for details about recent approvals for companies to share
nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia, with the lawmakers expressing
concern about possible development of atomic weapons.
Saudi Arabia has engaged in “many deeply troubling
actions and statements that have provoked alarm in Congress,” Senators Bob
Menendez, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, told Perry in a letter, a
copy of which was seen by Reuters.
The senators said Congress was beginning to reevaluate the
U.S.-Saudi relationship, and they believe Washington should not be providing
nuclear technology or information to Saudi Arabia now.
The Trump administration has been quietly negotiating a
deal that would potentially help Saudi Arabia build two reactors.
Last week news reports revealed that since November 2017,
Perry has authorized so-called Part 810 approvals allowing U.S. companies to
share sensitive nuclearinformation with the kingdom. The approvals were kept
from the public and from Congress.
The senators asked Perry to provide them by
April 10 with the names of the companies that got the 810 approvals, what was
in the authorizations, and why the companies asked that the approvals be kept
secret.
While 810 agreements are routine, the Obama administration
made them available for the public to read at Energy Department headquarters.
Lawmakers say the department is legally required to inform Congress about the
approvals.
Perry approved the seven recent authorizations as the
administration has tried to hash out nonproliferation standards with Saudi
Arabia. Such a pact, known as a 123 agreement, would have to be agreed before
U.S. companies can share physical exports of materials and equipment to build
reactors.
The kingdom has resisted standards on reprocessing spent
fuel and enriching uranium, two potential paths to making nuclear weapons.
The United States has been competing with South Korea,
France, Russia and China on a potential deal to help build reactors in Saudi
Arabia. The kingdom is expected to announce the winner this year.
Lawmakers from both parties have been concerned about
Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaigns in Yemen, which is on the brink of famine, and
the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, last October in the
Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Concern in Congress grew last year after the kingdom’s
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS that “Saudi Arabia does not want
to acquire any nuclearbomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear
bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible.”
Perry has said the 810 approvals were kept from the public
for corporate proprietary reasons.
He has also said that if Saudi Arabia relies on China or
Russia for building nuclear reactors those two countries don’t give a
“tinker’s damn” about non-proliferation.
Many non-proliferation experts dispute the notion that a
deal with China or Russia would be riskier. These people say the United States
has many other levers it can pull to influence nuclear behavior.
Revelation 1:3 "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near".
Tommy Settipani,
Watchman for Christ
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