Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Report: Hamas, not Israel, Rejected Cease - Fire
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Tanks prepare for a ground assault

IDF Spokesperson's Office

Despite reports that Cairo has been staying out of the conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist groups, Egyptian officials have reportedly been working behind the scenes to broker a temporary ceasefire between the sides - but to no avail. Attempts to do so ultimately fizzled out last week, and rocket fire on Israel continued. 

However, while Hamas and PLO officials have blamed Israel for the lack of a cease-fire, it was actually Hamas who rejected the offer of a 40-hour "cooling-off" period, Walla! News revealed Sunday. 

Both Israeli and Palestinian Arab sources told the daily that Cairo presented Israel's offer of a ceasefire to Deputy Head of the unity government Political Bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk last week.

Marzouk immediately rejected the cease fire, the sources said, after a brief consultation with senior officials from Hamas's "military wing," the Ezzadine Al-Qassam Brigades.

Egyptian officials stressed that were not be responsible for publishing Hamas's rejection of the offer, but did say that Hamas would be responsible for the negative repercussions of that decision. 

The sources added that while neither Israel nor Hamas has presented a counter-offer, European countries, the US, and Egypt are all kicking around options to bring an end to the fighting.

Cease-fire: not in anyone's interest

Palestinian Authority and Hamas spokesmen have said repeatedly since the operation was launched last week that Hamas has no interest in a cease-fire.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stressed Saturday that no one "presented us with no plan or outline for a cease-fire" and that there is "nothing to talk about while aggression continues." 

Former Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) legal adviser and negotiator Diana Buttu went so far on Friday as to accuse Israel of rejecting a cease-fire, as well as breaking previous cease-fires, in a wooden monologue later ripped apart by CNN's Jake Tapper. 

It should be noted that Hamas has breached each previous cease-fire, continuing a steady trickle of rockets or turning a blind eye to attacks by other terrorist groups. As of June, before the recent escalation, over 450 rockets had been fired at Israel since the previous ceasefire was brokered at the end of 2012.

Israeli officials, for their part, have rejected the idea of a cease-fire as well at this point, saying that after approximately 8,000 rockets have been fired on Israeli civilians since the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza they would accept nothing should of an unconditional end to the attacks.

"The pace of attacks in this operation is double that of Operation Pillar of Defense and the military strikes will continue until we can be certain that the quiet has returned to Israeli citizens," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated Friday afternoon.  

Not even international pressure would sway Jerusalem from protecting its citizens, he said - despite multiple calls for restraint and an absolute skewering from the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, Navi Pillay. 

"I had good talks with all of them, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and British Prime Minister David Cameron, and of course with French President Francois Hollande," Netanyahu noted. "To all of them I said something simple – no country would accept its civilians being fired at without a harsh response."

"I said that I would not allow Israel's citizens to live in this reality," he added. "No international pressure will prevent us from operating with full force against a terrorist organization that calls for our destruction."

There appears to be a broad consensus within the coalition government on the issue. 

"The Israeli government at this stage is not answering ceasefire efforts because we want to know first that we have taken away Hamas's desire to do this again in another year or six months," Finance Minister and Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid told IDF Radio Sunday. 

"That has not happened yet. When that happens, then we can talk."

Over 10,000 Gazans Flee Their Homes in Fear of Israeli Strike
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

IDF armor

Flash 90

Fearing for their lives, more than 10,000 people have taken shelter in installations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said its spokesman Chris Gunness in a Tweet.

Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on border areas in northern Gaza, calling on the citizens to evacuate their homes before noon Sunday as it prepared to bomb the area.

The IDF warned that those who do not obey their instructions will be risking their lives and the lives of their family.

UNRWA has opened eight schools to accommodate the evacuees from northern Gaza, said Robert Turner, director of UNRWA operations, during a press conference held Sunday in one of these schools. He said about 4,000 people had already taken shelter in the schools and that the stream of evacuees was increasing.

Turner said that UNRWA will open more schools for evacuees if necessary, but pointed out that UNRWA schools can accommodate no more than 35 thousand people.

About 50,000 residents of northern Gaza similarly evacuated their homes and sought refuge in UNRWA schools during the IDF's Cast Lead operation in 2008-9.

No end in sight

Some calls for a ceasefire notwithstanding, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the military was hitting Hamas "with growing force," warning there was no end in sight.

"We do not know when this operation will end," he told ministers.

US Secretary of State John Kerry phoned Netanyahu to renew a US offer to help mediate a truce and he "highlighted the US concern about escalating tensions on the ground," a senior State Department official said.

The top US diplomat also told the Israeli leader that he was engaged with regional leaders "to help to stop the rocket fire so calm can be restored and civilian casualties prevented".

Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas said he would ask UN chief Ban Ki-moon to "put the State of Palestine under the UN international protection system" in order to address the violence in Gaza.

Gaza terrorists have pounded Israel with more than 690 rockets since the fighting began on July 8. More than 150 have been intercepted.

Overnight, Israeli naval commandos staged a brief ground assault in northern Gaza on a mission to destroy longer-range rockets, with the army warning residents to leave the area ahead of a major assault on the sector.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Israeli military official said the area was rife with rocket launchers and would be targeted in an operation awhich would begin during the evening.

MK Zeev: Israeli Arabs are Trying to Destroy Us from Within
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

MK Nissim Ze’ev believes that we cannot ignore the ongoing rioting of Israeli Arabs in eastern Jerusalem and other areas.

“They are trying to drag the population into a third intifada,” Ze’ev said.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Minor tsunami hits Fukushima region after strong quake
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ISIS May Ultimately Target Mecca
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Israel carries out first ground operation of Gaza crisis
Israel carried out the first ground operation of the Gaza conflict on Sunday when commandos attacked a site used for launching rockets. Leaflets were dropped warning thousands of people to leave their homes in a northern area of the Palestinian territory before the raid took place. The first deployment of Israeli troops coincided with a further escalation of the air campaign.  

Ebola Spreads to Sierra Leone Capital of Freetown as Deaths Rise
The worst outbreak of Ebola moved to Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown where an Egyptian was found with the city’s first confirmed case of the disease. The unidentified Egyptian national had traveled from Kenema, the largest city in the nation’s Eastern Province, and checked into a clinic east of Freetown, Sidie Yahya Tunis...The person was moved back to the Ebola center in Kenema, he said.  

Libyan rival militias clash near Tripoli airport
Fighting has broken out between rival militias near the international airport in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Anti-Islamist rebels from the Zintan region who control the airport have been attacked by a rival group trying to take over the area. Flights to and from the airport have been suspended amid reports of heavy explosions and gunfire.  

Pope Francis: 'About 2%' of Catholic clergy paedophiles
Pope Francis has said reliable data indicates that "about 2%" of clergy in the Catholic Church are paedophiles. In an interview with the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, the Pope said that abuse of children was like "leprosy" infecting the Church. He vowed to "confront it with the severity it demands".  

Coldest Antarctic June Ever Recorded
Antarctica continues to defy the global warming script, with a report from Meteo France, that June this year was the coldest Antarctic June ever recorded, at the French Antarctic Dumont d’Urville Station. According to the press release, during June this year, the average temperature was -22.4c (-8.3F), 6.6c (11.9F) lower than normal. This is the coldest June ever recorded at the station, and almost the coldest monthly average ever – only September 1953 was colder, with a recorded average temperature of -23.5c (-10.3F).  

IDF Begins Dropping Leaflets Telling Gazans to Leave Their Homes
The IDF has begun dropping leaflets on certain parts of Gaza, telling residents to leave their homes, reported Channel 2 Saturday night. The move is being interpreted as a preparation for a possible ground offensive by the IDF.  

Iraq gunmen target prostitutes in shocking slaughter of 33 people including 29 women
Gunmen appeared to be ­targeting prostitutes in Iraq last night after 33 people, 29 of them women, were slaughtered in two apartment buildings. A police officer described ­gruesome scenes in Zayouna, eastern Baghdad after a raid by men wearing plain clothes and camouflage.  

Israel and Palestinians continue to trade strikes; 159 dead in Gaza
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Putin Signs Nuclear Energy Deal With Argentina
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a nuclear energy cooperation deal with Argentina during a visit to Buenos Aires on July 12. Putin and President Cristina Fernandez said the Russian atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, would be involved with the construction of two units at an existing plant.  

North Korea fires two ballistic missiles into eastern waters: Japan
North Korea on Sunday fired two ballistic missiles into its eastern waters, prompting Japan to lodge a protest with Pyongyang, the Japanese government said.  

Saddam deputy praises jihadist 'heroes' in unverified message
The wanted deputy of executed dictator Saddam Hussein praised the Islamic State jihadists who took over large swathes of the country last month as heroes in an unauthenticated audio message released on Saturday.  

‘I,’ ‘Me,’ ‘My’—Obama Uses First Person Singular 199 Times in Speech Vowing Unilateral Action
Not counting instances when he quoted a letter from a citizen or cited dialogue from a movie, President Barack Obama used the first person singular--including the pronouns "I" and "me" and the adjective "my"--199 times in a speech he delivered Thursday vowing to use unilateral executive action to achieve his policy goals that Congress would not enact through the normal, constitutional legislative process.  

Gallup: Majorities of Muslims and Atheists Approve of Obama; Christians Don't
While President Barack Obama’s job approval rating was highest, by religion, among Muslims, other non-Christians, Jews (by faith), and atheists, his highest job disapproval ratings were among Christians -- Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, and other Christians.  

Jesus Calls Us to His Rest: Meekness Is His Method
Jul 13th, 2014
Thought For The WeekA. W. Tozer
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not w
orth the effort. He develops toward himself a kindly sense of humor and learns to say, “Oh, so you have been overlooke
d? They placed someone else before you! They have whispered that you are pretty small stuff after all? And now you fe
el hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself! Only yesterday you
were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust. Where is your consistency? Come on, humble yourself
, and cease to care what men may think!”
Rest is simply release from the heavy, crushing burden borne by mankind and the word Jesus used for ‘burden’ means
a load carried or toil borne to the point of exhaustion. The ‘rest’ is not something we do—it is what comes to us when we
cease to do.
The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as
bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimat
e of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at th
e same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself nothing; in God, everything. He res
ts perfectly content to allow God to place His own values!
A.W. Tozer

Chris Christie Blames Obama for War With Hamas
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

President Obama and Gov. Christie

Reuters

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie laid some of the blame for the violence between Israel and Hamas at the doorstep of President Barack Obama, whom he accused of not supporting Israel sufficiently.

"This has been a symptom of this administration for the last six years, that Israel is not sure that they have America’s support like they used, and that’s a real failure of this presidency in my view," Christie said, according to NJ.com.

He called on Hamas to be "dealt with firmly" and charged Obama with allowing the conflict to escalate by not affirming the United States’ support for its ally, Israel.

"I think the unrest you see in the Middle East is caused in some measure, not completely, but in some measure, by the fact that this president has not acted in a decisive and consistent way," Christie said.

"He draws red lines then doesn’t enforce them; he doesn’t stand up for our friends in a vocal and forceful way," he said. "Those are things that he should be focused on, trying to bring stability to that region by having America be a forceful voice in favor of a democracy like Israel and be condemning, in the strongest terms and in actions, the things that are being done by Hamas against Israel."

Christie spoke to reporters shortly after attending a governors’ luncheon Saturday at a semi-annual conference for the National Governors Association. A potential Republican candidate for the White House in 2016, visited Israel in 2012.

Canada Calls on Allies to Support Israel
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Canada's Prime Minister Harper

Reuters

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement in response to the situation in Israel:

“The indiscriminate rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel are terrorist acts, for which there is no justification. It is evident that Hamas is deliberately using human shields to further terror in the region.

“Failure by the international community to condemn these reprehensible actions would encourage these terrorists to continue their appalling actions. Canada calls on its allies and partners to recognize that these terrorist acts are unacceptable and that solidarity with Israel is the best way of stopping the conflict.

“Canada is unequivocally behind Israel. We support its right to defend itself, by itself, against these terror attacks, and urge Hamas to immediately cease their indiscriminate attacks on innocent Israeli civilians.

“Canada reiterates its call for the Palestinian government to disarm Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups operating in Gaza, including the Iranian proxy, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”

California Governor Signs Homosexual Bill Eliminating Terms Husband and wife
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsChristian News Network
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Abbas to UN: Put PA Under International Protection
Jul 13th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority is to ask the United Nations to put the PA under "international protection" due to the worsening violence in Gaza, the Palestine Liberation Organization said Sunday, according to Agence France Presse. The terror organization said, in a statement, that Abbas would present a letter to this effect to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Abbas also wants a commission of inquiry into Israel's air strikes on Gaza, aimed at halting terrorist rocket fire into the Jewish state. The statement was issued after a meeting of the PLO executive. Abbas has asked Switzerland, the depository of the fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime, to ask signatories to place sanctions on Israel which, as the occupying power, is responsible for the safety of civilians, even though Israel has not occupied Gaza since the summer of 2005.