03/05/2012

          Struggle for Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:3; Luke 21:20)

Barak: Elections would not alter Iran plans

 The prospect of an imminent election in Israel will not affect its strategy for tackling Iran's nuclear program, including plans for a possible preemptive war, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday. Rifts in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition over military conscription and budget cuts have prompted parties to mobilize to bring forward the ballot to as early as September, a year ahead of schedule.

Lapid to Blair: Israel must resume talks with Palestinians 

Yair Lapid, head of Israel's new Yesh Atid Party, met with Quartet envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair on Wednesday evening and said that Israel must return to talks with the Palestinians. Lapid and Blair, who initiated the meeting, discussed the situation in the Middle East and the need to restart the peace process. "Lapid said Israel must return to talks with the Palestinians in order to create a normal reality for the citizens of Israel and maintain a Jewish majority," Yesh Atid reported.


 Tel Aviv boosts troops at borders with Egypt and Syria

Israel is to deploy at least 22 reserve battalions on its borders with Egypt and Syria, claiming the growing instability in the two countries makes it necessary to be ready for possible external security threats.
­The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has been given an approval of a call-up of additional force by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee although they exceed the average.

          Damascus, Syria (Isaiah 17:1-3)

Deadliest day for Syria troops as monitors fan out

Rebels killed 22 troops Wednesday in the Syrian army's deadliest day of a three-week-old ceasefire deal, even as UN observers said they were having a "calming" impact as they deploy on the ground.

Fifteen troops, including two colonels, were killed in a rebel ambush at dawn in the northern province of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.Two rebels also died in the attack near Al-Rai village, after President Bashar al-Assad's forces had "scaled up military operations" there in the days since the truce took effect on April 12, said the watchdog.

Russia accuses Syrian rebels of intending to ruin peace plan

 Blaming terrorist groups for the recent surge in violence in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused armed groups fighting against the Damascus government of attempting to ruin Annan’s plan in order to pave the way for foreign military intervention in the country. The attacks "in essence unleashed a large-scale campaign to destabilize the situation and disrupt ...

                 Middle East (Psalm 83:1-4) (Rev 9:16) (Rev 16:12)

Egyptian Presidential Candidate 'Ready to Visit Israel'

Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq said on Wednesday that he would be ready to visit Israel, Channel 10 News reported.Shafiq, who served as deposed leader Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, said, “I am ready to visit Israel, provided it gives something to show it has good intentions.” He made the comments during an appearance on a local television program, according to Channel 10.



Report: Israel spied on Turkish military training flights

 "Israel wiretapped conversations between Turkish pilots on military training flights," Turkey's Today's Zaman news website reported on Wednesday, prompting Turkish authorities to initiate a program to encrypt communiqués during the flights.According to the report, originally published in the Habertürk daily, Israel allegedly wiretapped radio communications between pilots of Turkish fighter jets during their training flights at the Konya 3rd Main Jet Base Command, with aim of finding out details about the Turkish Air Forces' (THK) training programs and flight strategies.
  
 Saudi Arabia warns Iran: Will not tolerate threats to Gulf state

Saudi Arabia repeated on Wednesday that it would not tolerate threats to the Gulf Arab states' sovereignty, the latest warning to Iran after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to an island claimed by both Tehran and the United Arab Emirates.The warning, the third in as many weeks by a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comes amid increased nervousness in the region over Iran. Shi'ite-led unrest is resurgent in Bahrain a year after the ruling Al Khalifa family brought in Saudi and UAE troops t....

 

 Pentagon encircles Iran: Victory would take 3 weeks

As the US beefs up its military presence in the Persian Gulf region, Pentagon strategists estimate that they would need less than a month to defeat Iranian forces should a military conflict take place.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) believes it can destroy or significantly degrade Iran's conventional armed forces in about three weeks using air and sea strikes, a defense source told The Washington Post.

Magog Invasion – Iran, Russia (Ezekiel 38-39)

  Iran: Israel's Nuclear Weapons Are the Greatest Threat

 A senior Iranian official said on Wednesday that Israel's undeclared nuclear weapons pose the greatest threat to Mideast peace.According to The Associated Press, Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mahdi Akhondzadeh accused the United States and other nuclear powers of hypocritically ignoring their disarmament commitments.Akhondzadeh made the comments to a 189-nation nonproliferation meeting, reflecting Iran's attempts to deflect international concerns that its nuclear activities could be turned to making weapons.

02/05/2012

                  Struggle for Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:3; Luke 21:20)

IAF Strikes Terror Tunnel in Northern Gaza

IAF aircraft struck a terror tunnel in northern Gaza on Tuesday night, according to a statement by the IDF Spokesman. The statement said that direct hits were identified and that all aircraft safely returned to their bases. The attack came in response to recent rocket fire from Gaza at Israeli territory. Earlier on Tuesday, Gaza-based terrorists fired a Qassam rocket at southern Israel. The rocket exploded in an open area in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council.


Terrorists Fire Qassam Rocket at South

Gaza-based terrorists fired a Qassam rocket at southern Israel on Tuesday evening. The rocket exploded in an open area in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council.There were no reports of physical injuries or damages.On Monday, terrorists in Gaza launched a rocket at the town of Sderot. The rocket landed in an area about a kilometer away from Israel's security fence along the Gaza border.

 Case closed: 'IDF did not commit war crimes in Gaza'


Major Dorit Tuval, the deputy Military Advocate for Operational Matters, informed B'Tselem on Tuesday that the Military Police investigation into an incident in which 21 members of the al-Samouni family were killed during an IDF strike on Gaza's Zeitoun neighborhood during Operation Cast Lead in 2009 has been closed.
In her letter to the human rights group, Tuval wrote that the military prosecution has decided not to take any legal action against those responsible for the incident after "the investigation completely disproved any claim about deliberate harm to civilians, as well as haste and recklessness about possible harm to civilians, or criminal negligence."

 Intelligence rupture over Iran eroding Israel appart

 A rift the size of a potential coup is taking shape between the Israeli government and the military-intelligence men over Iran, a fact which threatens the ruling Israeli political apparat on the one hand and exonerates Iran of all years-long groundless allegations on the other. In fact, Iran has become a recent obsession with the present and past Israeli intelligence men insofar as the very mention of the name is enough to cause anger in the Israeli officials.


                    Damascus, Syria (Isaiah 17:1-3)

More killings reported as Syrian forces fire at demos in Damascus neighborhood

 Syrian government forces shot at overnight demonstrations in al-Tadamun neighborhood in Damascus, for the second successive day, Al Arabiya reported on Wednesday.As many as 45 people were killed by the forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad across the country on Tuesday, Al Arabiya said citing activists at the Syrian Local Coordination Committees (LCC).Heavy gunfire was reported in Areeha and Idlib, a province bordering Turkey, despite the presence of the U.N. observers, activists told Al Arabiya.

               Babylon, Iraq (Jeremiah 50:9, 13) (Jeremiah 51:6, 29, 37, 55, 64) (Revelation 18)

Explosions hit Kabul following Obama visit (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The Afghan capital Kabul was hit by at least five explosions on Wednesday shortly after US President Barack Obama’s surprise visit to the city to sign a strategic agreement. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks.At least six people have been killed by the blasts in eastern Kabul, which were followed by sporadic shooting, the Afghan government says. At least 17 people have been injured.
One of the explosions was a suicide car bomb that struck the Jalalabad road area, which is home to several foreign military bases, Kabul's police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi told AFP.

                  Magog Invasion – Iran, Russia (Ezekiel 38-39)

Iranian naval exercise follows on Israel’s northern border drill 

 Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak offered the view this week that the next round of Six-Power talks with Iran taking place on May 23 in Baghdad would lead nowhere, throwing cold water on the current optimism. As for US media reports of a lessening in war tensions over Iran because of the internal debate in Israel over an independent attack, they were soon overtaken by significant military steps embarked on Tuesday, May 1, by the US, Israel and Iran.

           Decline of United States (Hosea 4-14) 

 95 Percent Of The Jobs Lost During The Recession Were Middle Class Jobs

Who is the biggest loser in the ongoing decline of the U.S. economy? Is it the wealthy? No, the stock market has been soaring lately and their incomes are actually going up. Is it the poor? Well, the poor are definitely hurting very badly, but when you don't have much to begin with you don't have much to lose. Unfortunately, it is the middle class that has lost the most during this economic downturn. According to Bloomberg, 95 percent of the jobs lost during the recession were middle class jobs.

   Famines, Drought, Floods, Earthquakes & Pestilences (Matthew 24:7-8) (Luke 21:11; 25) (Rev 6:5-8)

 Mexico shaken by several quakes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Several earthquakes rattled Mexico on Tuesday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage as the country celebrated a national holiday.The first quake shook near the northwest, off the coast of Baja California, just before 9 a.m. local time and there were no reports of damage.

That quake registered a 5.0 magnitude at a depth of 6 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.The second tremor, in the central state of Michoacan, struck before noon and shook Mexico City, although the epicenter was more than 100 miles away.

California residents nerves rattled by earthquake swarm in Inland Empire

 May 2, 2012 – LOS ANGELES, CA – An ongoing swarm of small earthquakes is rattling homes and nerves in the Inland Empire. Over the weekend, there were a handful of new quakes near Devore, Idyllwild and Indio. The Devore quake on Saturday morning measured 3.8. The recent earthquakes have been near the San Andreas Fault, that ominous crack in the Earth that threatens SoCal with the “Big One.” The current swarm may seem like a lot of quakes, but that’s not necessarily the case.

           Preaching the Gospel (Mat 24:14)

 NC Megachurch Pastor Says It's a Sin to Forbid Speaking in Tongues

A Durham, N.C., megachurch pastor recently asserted that he would not forbid people from speaking in tongues and to do so is a sin."You're never going to hear me either publicly or privately tell somebody that they should not be speaking in tongues in their private prayer times," The Summit Church Pastor J. D. Greear stated on Sunday to his congregation, noting that the Apostle Paul was clear on this. "That's not going to be forbidden at our church."