This eight-meter-deep tunnel is one of many discovered in Israel.
Shalom,
As Terrorist Tunnels Collapse Hamas Promises More Terror
“He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me.” (2 Samuel 22:48–49)
The fourth Hamas tunnel in two weeks collapsed Monday night, bringing the recent official death toll of Palestinian terror tunnel workers to 10.
Monday night, one worker died while repairing a damaged tunnel near the Gaza/Egypt border. Last Wednesday evening, in the Zeitoun area of the Gaza Strip, a Hamas terror tunnel also collapsed, but Hamas has not allowed any details to be released.
Hamas confirmed that two died and eight are missing in the tunnel failure Tuesdaynight of last week. The previous week’s collapse left seven Hamas men dead, according to Hamas news reports. (Arutz 7)
The terror tunnels were designed to inflict terror in Israel and were also being used to smuggle arms to ISIS insurgents in the Sinai Peninsula, according to military wing of Hamas in Gaza, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigade.
A graphic Al Qassam Brigades music video (Hamas Tunnel Song)
shows militants launching guerrilla style attacks and ambushes using the
tunnel system. (YouTube capture)
shows militants launching guerrilla style attacks and ambushes using the
tunnel system. (YouTube capture)
Mosques across Gaza mourned those killed working on terror tunnels to attack Israel, calling them “Martyrs of the Preparation.”
In a sermon delivered on Al-Aqsa TV on January 29, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh underscored Gaza's commitment to digging tunnels and upgrading rockets in preparation for attacking Israel.
“There are heroes east of Gaza City, digging the rocks and building tunnels," said Haniyeh. "And west of Gaza, heroes are testing rockets every morning and every day and it is all preparations."
"Under the ground and above the ground, in tunnels and above the ground and into the sky, with rockets and in the sea and everywhere, it is the permanent preparation for the sake of Jerusalem and Palestine, and for the sake of the intifada of Jerusalem and the sake of our people,” Haniyeh said. (JPost)
Ismail Haniyeh
Heavy rains were initially reported by Hamas as the cause, but Ynet revealed that Egypt has been periodically flooding the tunnels with Mediterranean seawater since September, persistently weakening the land surrounding the tunnels.
These tunnels understandably worry Israelis living near Gaza.
“Even though Israel destroyed several tunnels during the 2014 war with Hamas in Gaza, the residents here continue to hear digging sounds, the kind made by massive digging instruments. This says something about the terrorists' motivation to dig more tunnels for them to use next time,” said a resident of a town near the Israel-Gaza border to Israel Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, on a visit this year.
“We're tired of constantly worrying about terrorist infiltrations to the communities through the tunnels,” the resident told Kahlon. (Israel HaYom)
“The biggest problem is detecting a tunnel when it is already ready, and it [looks like] just a hole in the ground,” said Yiftah Shapir, an analyst at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. (Algemeiner)
One of many terrorist tunnels discovered in Israel.
(Photo by Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv)
(Photo by Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv)
A solution is on the way.
Israel and the United States have agreed to invest $120 million each over the next three years to develop a defense system that will find tunnels by isolating underground construction and other man-made noises from natural ones.
Such a system will also help the US detect illegal immigrants and drug runners from Mexico who use similar tunnels. (Algemeiner)
Israeli companies Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (RADS) are participants in the system’s development. RADS designed the Iron Dome that protected Israel against short-range mortar, rockets, and artillery during the 2014 Gaza war.
In response, Gaza official Mahmoud al-Zahar vowed that "Israeli technology will not be able to stop the resistance as long as Hamas exists." He added, “Even if Israel is able to uncover a tunnel, or two, or 10, they [the tunnels] run deep under Israel, beyond Gaza, into 1948 territory.”
The remains of Torah scrolls burned by arsonists at the Givat Sorek
outpost on February 6, 2016. (Source: Benjamin Netanyahu Facebook)
outpost on February 6, 2016. (Source: Benjamin Netanyahu Facebook)
Palestinian Arsonists Set Fire to Torah Scrolls and Prayer books
“I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.” (Psalm 119:30)
On Saturday, Palestinian arsonists set fire to Torah scrolls and prayer books at a makeshift synagogue named for the three boys who were kidnapped and murdered in the area last summer — Gil-ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel, and Eyal Yifrach.
The synagogue was housed in a tent in the Givat Sorek outpost of Gush Etzion (“Etzion bloc”), several miles south of Jerusalem in the Judean mountains.
The tent, which burned down completely, was erected next to the site where the bodies of the three Jewish teenagers were found.
“The sight of the burned Torah scrolls in the Etzion bloc is heartrending,” said Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Saturday. “The assault on our people’s holy items hurts all the more when it is done at the place that commemorates Eyal, Gil-ad and Naftali, who were murdered by a cruel hand.”
These three Israeli teens, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, Gil-ad Shaer, 16, and
Eyal Yifrach, 19, were abducted and murdered by Hamas terrorists
dressed as Orthodox Jews on June 12, 2014. They were targeted because
they were Jewish.
Eyal Yifrach, 19, were abducted and murdered by Hamas terrorists
dressed as Orthodox Jews on June 12, 2014. They were targeted because
they were Jewish.
The books and scrolls were stacked in the center of the room before being lit on fire. Footprints of the suspects led to a Palestinian Arab village near the town of Halhul. (Ynet)
The burning of these holy books is a symbolic attack on the Jewish People.
“In a place where books are burnt, there in the end people will also be burned,” Shaer’s mother, Bat Galim Shaer, wrote on Facebook after the attack, quoting the German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine.
“Attacking Torah scrolls is an attack on the soul of the Jewish people. Those who wish to harm our bodies do not flinch from attacking our spirit. We will continue to choose life — and to strengthen the spirit of the Jewish people, which is stronger than ever,” she wrote.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the suspected Palestinian arsonists would be tracked down and brought to justice.
“We will prosecute the perpetrators of this crime. I expect the international community to condemn the desecration of a synagogue, an act that is the result of incessant Palestinian incitement,” the prime minister said.
“We are in a harsh struggle between those who — like us — seek coexistence and peace, and those who seek war and bloodshed,” Netanyahu stated.
Sara Netanyahu comforts one of the mothers of the kidnapped boys.
On Sunday, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said the arson was “the outcome of incitement by those who hate anything that has even a Jewish smell to it, and by those who are responsible for the murderous climate in which we have been living recently.”
The pictures of the burned books were so shocking that Gush Etzion Regional Council head David Perl said, “I am certain that Holocaust survivors who experienced Kristallnacht and then founded Gush Etzion never dreamed that they would see such pictures of burned books here, under Israeli authority.” (BIN)
International groups such as the United States Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and local groups, including the chairman of the Muslim religious council in Israel, all condemned the destruction. (Arutz 7)
“Throughout the millennia, anti-Semites have burnt Torah scrolls as a way of expressing hatred and contempt for the Jewish People, and it is greatly disturbing that similar incidents continue to occur today,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said, emphasizing that such actions have no political justification. "We call on Palestinian political and religious leaders to unequivocally condemn this terrible incident."
Greenblatt called the arson “nothing short of an act of anti-Semitism.”
The chairman of the Muslim council, Sheikh Mohammed Kaiyuan Abu Ali, condemned the destruction in a Sunday conversation with Israel's Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi David Lau.
“We hope the perpetrators will be caught and that they will be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” the sheikh said. “In my name, and on behalf of all imams, we condemn this act and hope another disaster like this doesn't happen again in any holy place.”
Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi David Lau
Mary's Birthplace Reveals Ancient Jewish Presence at Zippori in the West Bank
“Yeshua went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23)
In the face of erroneous claims that Jews are foreigners in the Holy Land, Israeli archaeologists continue to find evidence to the contrary.
Recently they found 1,700-year-old epitaphs near Nazareth that speak of “rabbis” and sign off with “shalom.”
The 17 ancient epitaphs, most inscribed in Aramaic, the common Jewish language of Yeshua’s (Jesus) day, were found at the Zippori moshav (cooperative agricultural community).
“Zippori was the first capital of Galilee from the time of the Hasmonean dynasty until the establishment of Tiberias in the first century CE,” the researchers’ press release stated.
According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Zippori is the traditional birthplace of Miryam (Mary, the mother of Yeshua) and is located four miles northwest of Nazareth, the home of Yeshua.
One of the 1,700-year-old funerary inscriptions found at the Zippori site in
the Galilee. (IAA Photo by Miki Peleg)
the Galilee. (IAA Photo by Miki Peleg)
The Zippori epitaphs were found during a joint excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology. So far, the archaeologists have decoded the Aramaic inscriptions for “rabbis” (their names have yet to be translated), forever (l’olam), “the Tiberian,” and “shalom.”
The Israel Antiquities Authority stated that “l’olam” refers to a person’s burial place, “which will remain his forever — nobody will take it from him;” while “shalom,” a Hebrew blessing meaning “the fullness of peace,” ends both Aramaic texts. (Haaretz)
Overall, “the wealth of inscriptions found in the cemeteries attests to the strong Jewish presence and the city's social elite in the late Roman period," the official press release said.
The ancient city was founded by Alexander Janneus of the Hasmonean line (the Maccabee family) who reigned from 103–76 BC. Jewish historian Josephus Flavius called it “the ornament of all Galilee.”
1,700-year-old funerary inscriptions of “rabbis” were exposed in the
ancient cemetery at Zippori, which is in the Galilee area of Israel.
ancient cemetery at Zippori, which is in the Galilee area of Israel.
Zippori became the administrative capital of the Galilee in the middle of the first century AD under Roman rule.
The Romans captured the city in 37 BC “when its inhabitants fled in the midst of a snowstorm,” writes Jewish Virtual Library. About 100 years after Zippori’s capture, the Bar-Kochba revolt in Jerusalem led to the transformation of this Galilean city into the center of Jewish religious and spiritual life.
“The Jewish life in the city was rich and diverse as indicated by the numerous ritual baths discovered in the excavation; while at the same time, the influence of Roman culture was also quite evident as reflected in the design of the town with its paved streets, colonnaded main roads, theater, and bathhouses,” the press release said.
Zippori also became the base for the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious judicial body of the nation, which was led by Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi (Judah the Prince). Ha-Nasi (AD 135–217) edited and compiled the Mishna (the body of oral law) and lived in Zippori with “the Tannaim, and after him the Amoraim — the sages who studied in the city’s houses of learning,” said Dr. Motti Aviam of the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology.
The Holy of Holies mosaic at Zippori shows a mosaic of the Holy of
Holies and worship instrument at the Temple. (Go Israel photo by
Itamar Grinberg)
CBS Headline Presents Palestinian Terrorists as Victims
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” (Proverbs 6:16–19)
Western Media coverage of Palestinian violence against Jewish Israelis continues to enable terrorism by presenting Palestinian terrorists as the victims.
Last week, after three Palestinians attacked Israeli security officers in Jerusalem, CBS News ran the propaganda-packed headline, “3 Palestinians killed as daily violence grinds on.”
The deplorable headline not only omitted that the three were heavily armed, but that they were killed while seriously injuring two female Israeli security officers — including 19-year-old Hadar Cohen, who succumbed to her wounds.
“The most important component of a news story may very well be the headline. In fact, most people only skim headlines to get their news,” statesHonest Reporting. “That is why it is critical that headlines be accurate, from the moment the story is first published. When it comes to Palestinian terror against Israelis, this is often not the case.”
Border Police officer Hadar Cohen was killed by a Palestinian
terrorist. Despite a fatal bullet wound to the head, she responded
quickly, saving the lives of many others.
terrorist. Despite a fatal bullet wound to the head, she responded
quickly, saving the lives of many others.
On Wednesday, the day of the attack, Cohen was still in training after being drafted as a Border Police officer two months ago. She and two others were deployed at Damascus Gate outside Jerusalem's Old City when her team saw three Palestinians acting suspiciously and asked for identification.
One of the three Palestinian men pulled out an ID card while the other two started shooting and brandished knives to attack the officers. One of the attackers shot Cohen in the head; Cohen responded by shooting one of the three before she quickly fell unconscious.
The terrorists, Ahmed Abou Al-Roub, Mohammed Kameel, and Ahmad Rajeh Ismail Zakarneh, are from Qabatiya and Jenin in the northwest area of the “West Bank,” which is Biblically known as Samaria. They carried fabricated Carl Gustav rifles, two pipe bombs, and knives. Police say that Cohen’s quick response helped to stop more violence.
“As far as we can tell from the armaments, [the terrorists] planned a larger, more sophisticated attack,” Jerusalem Deputy Police Chief Brig.-Gen. Avshalom Peled said. “This is an escalation from what we’ve seen thus far. The police officers prevented a combined and much larger attack.”
The second victim and the three attackers were in their early 20s.
Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the wounded border policewoman and
soldier telling them: "Your reactions and your resourcefulness prevented
terrible disasters. The entire Israeli people embrace you and hope that
you will recover quickly."
soldier telling them: "Your reactions and your resourcefulness prevented
terrible disasters. The entire Israeli people embrace you and hope that
you will recover quickly."
In the wake of the attack, Hamas called the murderous strike a “unique and heroic operation,” as well as a “blow to the security system of the occupation.”
Media outlets like CBS News added to the propaganda game, as often before, by distorting the story through their headline.
In their first edit after public rebuke, CBS News changed the headline to “Israeli police kill 3 alleged Palestinian attackers.” Complaints emerged about the use of “alleged,” which pertains to unverifiable actions, while the attack indeed occurred.
A second headline edit aired seven hours after the story stating, “Palestinians kill Israeli officer, wound another before being killed.”
To the publication of the first headline: “3 Palestinians killed as daily violence grinds on,” Stand With Us accused CBS News of “shameful bias that enables incitement to thrive.” The pro-Israel advocacy group also said public outcry had pushed CBS to fix their mistakes, while others say the damage is done.
One such outcry came from Florida resident Joseph Waks, who called CBS to express his anger:
“You’re enabling terrorism,” Waks said. “By scribing that type of headline, you’re helping them, ... giving them encouragement. They are killing innocent people! ... Come with me to Israel. You’ll see what’s actually going on over there.” (Stand With Us Facebook video posted February 4, 2016)
“Even though the headline was updated after CBS heard from outraged readers, the question remains: How could a major news organization like CBS News write and then publish such a misleading headline?” asks Honest Reporting in an open petition to CBS News President David Rhodes.
Three terrorists armed with guns, knives, and explosives attacked two border
Policewomen in Jerusalem on February 3. Border Policewoman Corporal
Hadar Cohen was killed in the attack.
Israeli Cancer Patients Receive Free Holidays
“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (Proverbs11:25)
About half of Israel’s bed-and-breakfast owners agreed to provide cancer patients and survivors free “healing holidays” at their restful retreats.
The owners were approached by Robyn Shames, the Jerusalem-based founder and CEO of non-profit Refanah Healing Holidays, who had decided to “do something good on a daily basis.”
With 28,000 new people diagnosed with cancer in Israel each year, Shames began to explore how to equip Israeli vacation homes owned by foreigners abroad and empty through spates of the year for cancer survivors and patients to use.
“I liked the idea of using available resources not fully utilized for the benefit of people who could really use it,” Shames told Times of Israel. “I thought the idea was really interesting, especially with all the ghost apartments in this country.”
Wooden tzimmers in the Nofey Gonen Holiday Village, Upper Galilee, Israel
When her initial idea fell through because of insurance liability, Shames turned to Israel’s bed-and-breakfast industry, recognizable by their relatively small, one-storytzimmers (צימר) — cabins or apartments — often ensconced in a pastoral setting.
Shames reached out to 100 tzimmer owners, looking to find interest from 5–10 percent of those she called. She was surprised to find that one out of every two owners jumped at the idea, offering “multiple repeat visits.”
“My great surprise is the number of places that give me carte blanche and said, ‘You keep sending us people and when it’s enough, we’ll tell you,’” Shames told the Times of Israel. “People in general are very, very excited about having this opportunity to do something nice.”
Please take this opportunity to do something nice for Yeshua today, and stand with us in these last days as we bring the Good News of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) to the Jewish People and Arabs here in Israel and around the world.
“You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, 'Here is your God!'” (Isaiah 40:9)
"Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins." (Isaiah 40:1–2)
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