blog.Tribulationperiod.com

The Unbelieving World is Blind as a Bat,

And Dumber than Spock’s Cat in the Hat!

Even a Bat has a God-Given Type of Radar,

But Today’s World is a Mad Religious Bazaar,

Containing what prophecy said would be Here,

Just Before The Great Tribulation Would Appear,

And the time Man Loses his ow

n Soul is very Near!

The World Indeed does have a reason to be in Fear,

Christ Rejecters will soon lose all that They hold Dear,

As well as Believers Works found Spiritually in Arrears!

Mammon they held dear in a Puff of Smoke Disappears!

Atheists And Agnostics Do From Belief In Religions Steer!

A weakening dollar and rising prices is the Cry of the Year,

And the preaching of God’s judgment is falling on Deaf Ears!

“Tickled Ears” send in Money thinking great Riches will Appear,

But last day prophecy warned of Fables, so that’s not so Queer!

July 1, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Luke 16:11-13 – If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches

? [12] And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? [13] No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

I Corinthians 3:11-15 – For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; [13] Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. [14] If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. [15] If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

II Timothy 4:1-4 – I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; [2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

The following three sets of Scriptures from I Timothy and II Timothy are a perfect overlay on the status of mankind today. There are many more immoral men and women in religion and the secular world than at any time in the history of the planet. The pursuit of mammon in both of these two categories of mankind today has made a shambles of both

I Timothy 6:3-10 – If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; [4] He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, [5] Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

[6] But godliness with contentment is great gain. [7] For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

[8] And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. [9] But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. [10] For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I Timothy 4:1,2 – Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; [2] Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

II Timothy 3:1-7 – This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

[2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, [3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, [4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; [5] Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. [6] For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, [7] Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Begin Excerpt from The Times of India

Global economy set for worse-than-expected downturn:

BIS

June 30. 2008

AFP

BASEL: The global economy might be set for an unexpectedly severe downturn, the world’s top central banking forum said on Monday, blaming lax credit for fuelling the current financial crisis.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) pinpointed “imprudent and excessive credit growth” as the root cause of the current crisis, in its latest report.

The bank, known as the central bankers’ central bank, suggested that interest rates should tend towards vigilance even in good times in order to discourage excessive borrowing.

While it was difficult to predict the severity of a downturn, it appeared that a “deeper and more protracted global downturn than the consensus view seems to expect” was on the way, the BIS said.

It dampened hopes that emerging markets which have been booming, would offset the slowdown, saying that many of these markets were significantly dependent on external demand, notably from the world’s largest economy – the US.

“With a significant risk of recession in the United States, compounded by sharply rising inflation in many countries, fears are building that the global economy might be at some kind of tipping point. These fears are not groundless,” said the BIS.

The global financial sector has been under pressure for a year, in a crisis during which banks and financial institutions reported sharp losses and massive asset writedowns.

For the BIS, the subprime mortgage market or credit given to borrowers with poor credit ratings, which was widely blamed for the crisis, was not a root cause of the turmoil, but a trigger.

The real culprit, it said, was simply lax credit. Years of cheap borrowing had led to an extraordinary accumulation of debt.

Begin New York Daily News Excerpt

Number of atheists & agnostics grows

March 2, 2008

By Ari Goldman

In the religious world there are the “nuns” and the “nones,” and while the first category is declining, the second is growing.

We all know who nuns are, even though you don’t see them much anymore. All surveys show that they are fast disappearing.

But the “nones” are another matter. That is the term sociologists use to describe the people who answer “none” when asked about their religious affiliation. This category includes atheists (“don’t believe”) and agnostics (“don’t know”) as well as those who simply “don’t affiliate.”

A vast new survey of religion in America conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life showed that a whopping 16% of Americans fall into the “none” group. The number is more than twice what it was in the early 1990s.

Where have all the faithful gone

?

I put this question to Barry Kosmin, the director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism at Trinity College in Hartford, and he rattled off five sensible reasons:

The “overreaching” of the religious right, which may have pushed too hard on issues like creationism, abortion and gay marriage.

The priest sex scandals in the Catholic Church that drove away many regulars.

The migration of Americans to the West, where religion just isn’t as important as it is back East or in the South. “They join the Sierra Club and forget about Father Feeney back home,” Kosmin said.

The trend toward late marriage. “Most marriages take place in a religious context,” he said, and, once wed, couples join a house of worship and their offspring follow suit.

The rise in immigration. While some immigrants do seek out religious communities, many, he said, “are running away from places with too much religion,” and don’t affiliate.

All this doesn’t mean religion in America is dead. Far from it. With 16% unaffiliated, that leaves the vast majority, 84%, who still identify with a particular religion.

But the survey, released last week, shows that even the affiliated are a restless bunch. For example, more than 25% of American adults have left the faith of their childhood to join another one. If you factor in moves from one Protestant denomination to another, the number rises to 44%.

“We are in an interesting state of flux,” Kosmin said.

Catholicism, the survey showed, experienced the greatest losses. While 31% of Americans were raised in the Catholic faith, only 24% still describe themselves as Catholic. And these numbers would be even more pronounced if they were not offset by the large number of Hispanic Catholic immigrants now filling the church pews.

The full survey, which is available online at religions.pewforum.org, also has a useful state-by-state breakdown of the numbers.

For New York, it showed that the single largest denomination continues to be Catholic, but that Protestants are gaining. New York is 39% Catholic, 32% Protestant, 6% Jewish and 1% each Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu.

The unaffiliated are 17%, just slightly above the national average.

More than 35,000 people were interviewed for the survey, which was conducted between May and August last year.

Given all the flux it describes, the numbers have probably changed since then.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by

the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

A Strong Earthquake will Initiate a Travail

And Armageddon will appear to end the Tale

After 1260 days pass during a Wilderness Trail

The Prophetic Scriptures Tell Of It In Great Detail

For During the 1260 Day Period Men will cry in Wail

As against the God of Heaven many will curse and Rail

Between 2010 & 2015 is likely the time this ship sets Sail

June 30, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Please take time to consider the two current news excerpts, which follow Archive Prophecy Update Number 93.

Isaiah 29:6 – Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake,

and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Revelation 6:12-15 – And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. [14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. [15] And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Revelation 16:10,11 – And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, [11] And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Begin Archive Prophecy Update Number 93

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 93

November 8, 2002

THE FINAL 1260 DAYS OF THE GENTILE AGE SERIES

A CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF THE EVENTS OF THE FINAL 1260 DAYS OF THE TRAVAIL OF ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHICH IS CLOSED BY THE FINAL BATTLE AT ARMAGEDDON!

Event Number 2 – The Attack and Occurrences Associated With It!

As indicated in Prophecy Update Number 92, Event Number 1, we began this series with I Thessalonians 5:3, which indicated the Israeli

s would be hit

suddenly by a period of unanticipated destructive travail. Revelation 12:6 indicated the travail would cover a period of some 1260 prophetic days.

Zechariah 13:8,9 indicated that 2/3 of the Israelis would perish in the attack, but that the remaining 1/3 would be brought through the time of travail, and would turn to their God

through Messiah while going through the travail in the Negev.

I believe the opening of the Sixth Seal in Revelation will occur

in the same general time frame as the antichrist’s lightening blitzkrieg attack against Israel from the north.

Revelation 6:12 – And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

This is the first earthquake in the book of Revelation, and it launches the final 1260 days before the Battle of Armageddon. This is when all the tectonic plates begin to move and, by the time of the last earthquake in Revelation, their movement will have changed the microsecond locations of every mountain and island in degrees of latitude and longitude. The earthquakes, and the effects of massive volcanic eruptions, will produce much of the havoc described from the seventh seal to the last vial of the wrath of God in Revelation 16:18. The islands and mountains begin to move horizontally as the plates slip on the sixth seal and, by the end of the tribulation period, cannot be found at the same microsecond latitudes and longitudes they held at the opening of the sixth seal.

Revelation 6:12-14 – And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. [14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

For a full exposition of Revelation 6:12-14 please read Birth Pangs 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10 in our archives.

Revelation 16:16-21 – And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. [17] And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. [18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. [19] And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. [20] And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. [21] And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

For a complete exposition of Revelation 16:16-21 please read Birth Pangs 24 and 27 in our archives.

When the antichrist attempts to overtake those Israelis fleeing into the Negev, his army will be rushing southward like a flood to overtake the stragglers before they reach the safety of Beersheva, where Israel’s northern defensive shield will begin. It is at this time that God will open a series of folds and faults, which run northeast to southwest north of the city of Beersheva, and this action will swallow advance elements of the forward penetration of his troops. It is the earthquake of Revelation 6:12 that will subsequently open these cracks in the earth.

Revelation 12:13-17 – And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. [16] And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. [17] And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

For the last 1260 days before Armageddon, about 1.8 to 2 million Jews will exist as the remnant of Israel in the Negev, and 144,000 of them will witness that Christ is the Messiah of Israel. By the time of Armageddon Israel, as a nation, will turn to their God through his Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Revelation 7:1-4 – And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. [2] And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, [3] Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

[4] And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Zechariah 13:8,9 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Micah 5:4 – And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Begin BREITBART.COM EXCERPT 1

Israeli authorities warn hospitals to prepare for earthquake

AFP

June 30, 2008

A strong earthquake could soon rock Lebanon and parts of Israel, authorities said on Monday, urging health officials in northern Israel to make preparations for such an event.

“The probability of an earthquake of a magnitude of up to six on the Richter scale, originating in Lebanon and being felt in Israel has increased,” the health ministry said in a letter sent to medical officials in northern Israel.

Since February, abnormal seismic activity has been noted in southern Lebanon, which had suffered some 500 minor earthquakes in a three-month period, health ministry director-general Avi Yisraeli said in the letter.

“In May, the tremors have become more intense and were felt in northern Israel,” he said adding that “should an earthquake of such magnitude hit northern Israel it may cause substantial infrastructural damage in the area.”

“All medical facilities and organisations must do everything they can to enhance the level of readiness,” Yisraeli said in the letter published by the ministry on Monday.

Some seismological experts point out quakes historically have rocked the region every eight decades, and the last one was just about 81 years ago. About 300 people were killed in Jerusalem and nearby Jericho by the July 11, 1927 temblor.

A similar quake measuring seven on the Richter scale and with an epicentre in the Hula Valley, today in northern Israel, devastated the town of Safed and killed some 4,000 people in 1837.

Begin Arutz Sheva Excerpt 2

Israel Prepares for a Major Earthquake

27 Sivan 5768, 30 June 08 09:34

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Increased seismic activity in the region has prompted the Health Ministry to advise hospitals in the north of the country to prepare for a major earthquake.

The prospect didn’t seem to faze National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, who kibitzed Monday on Voice of Israel government radio’s midday news program, saying he’s “more afraid of a political earthquake” than of a major natural disaster.

Nonetheless, the issue is one that Ben Eliezer takes seriously, as do others.

The Health Ministry warning came in response to a government report that a major earthquake in the Galilee may be on the way.

Ben Eliezer noted that literally hundreds of very weak tremors have been registered in the past decades.

The minister also warned cabinet ministers a little over a week ago that the irregular seismic activity has been affecting southern Lebanon.

According to Rami Hopsteter, director of the Geophysical Institute of Israel, hundreds of tremors have hit the region since February 15, in a series of four waves that emanated from southern Lebanon.

The tremors were felt in an area some 10 to 15 kilometers west of Metulla and Kiryat Shmona

in Israel, and 20 kilometers east of Tyre, in Lebanon.

In an exclusive interview with Israel National News, Hopsteter said the pattern of the quakes was unusual, one that had never been seen before in the region.

“Had you been checking the activity in early February you would have seen that the average was one or two events per year, really low activity,” he said. “Then suddenly there was this very pronounced activity, with the strength going up and down, and this has happened four times. Such activity, the up and down activity, sometimes ends with a strong event,” he noted.

Hopsteter said the pattern is one that is sometimes seen by seismologists in New Zealand and Japan “and elsewhere, particularly in the Pacific region, where it is much more active.” But along the Dead Sea Fault, where Israel is located, the pattern has never before been recorded.

So how likely is it that Israel will get hit with a major earthquake?

“We cannot say numbers,” Hopsteter stressed. “But it is clear that the probability is now much higher. It may occur. And different organizations should do what they can to minimize damage in any event. The Health Ministry decided, look, there is this report and let’s just make sure everything is in order. That was smart.”

There is no reason to break out the alarm bells, however, he hastened to emphasize. “In any case, you have to do it, to prepare for natural disasters.

Look, there is a chance that a strong quake could occur. So do something about it and get ready.

A Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On

More than 500 tremors have been recorded by seismic registers in the region since mid-February, and among them have been a number of significant earthquakes in Israel.

Four moderate quakes shook the northern region on June 12, all originating in southern Lebanon and ranging from 3.9 to 4.2 on the Richter scale. Those were followed by another wave of more than 70 aftershocks, all within a two or three-day period, according to Hopsteter. There were also seven tremors since June 13, which were felt by residents of the Galilee.

In March 2008, an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale was felt throughout much of northern and central Israel, the strongest quake to hit the country in years. Several days prior to it, a temblor measuring 4 on the Richter scale shook the Jewish State from Kiryat Shmona to Jerusalem, also originating in Lebanon.

On July 11, 1927, an earthquake that registered 6.2 on the Richter scale caused major havoc on both sides of

the Jordan River, in the northern Dead Sea area, said Hopsteter. He explained that 285 people were killed, 985 others were wounded and thousands of buildings were damaged and destroyed. “A similar event would affect all neighboring areas,” he commented.

The bottom line, he said bluntly, was this: “If you can do something at home or in an office to prevent damage, just do it.”

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

THE FINAL ACT OF THIS LONG GENTILE AGE

CURTAIN WILL RISE BETWEEN 2010 and 2015!

June 30, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Jeremiah 30:7 – Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Romans 11:25-28 – For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. [26] And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. [28] As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

Matthew 24:21,22 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

[22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Revelation 7:4 – And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Revelation 12:17 – And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

There is a fantastic round of saber rattling going on between Israel and Iran at the present time.

I do not believe this will ignite into the final war of

the Gentile Age prior to 2010, but I do believe the curtain will go up at some point in time between 2010 and 2015.

The three excerpts which follow present a good outline of the drums of war now being beaten by Israel and Iran.

Begin DEBKAfile Excerpt 1

Iran sets up 31 martial districts, prepares 320,000 graves for war dead

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

June 29, 2008, 10:31 PM (GMT+02:00)

Iran has divided the country up into 31 military sectors as part of its stepped up preparations for war, DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report. Sunday, June 29, Brig. Gen. Mir-Faisal Baqerzadeh, head of the Iranian Army’s Foundation for the Remembrance of the Holy Defense and MIAs, said the 320,000 graves were to be dug for enemy forces in case of an attack on Iranian territory.

“We don’t wish the families of enemy soldiers to experience what Americans had to go through in the aftermath of the Vietnam War,” said Baqerzadeh.

Our sources report that it was obvious to the average Iranian that the graves, concentrated in the border regions, were intended for prospective domestic victims of US and Israeli bombardments.

The plan to divide the country into 31 military districts was approved at a top-level consultation at the office of Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week.

Each sector will have its own command center headed by a Revolutionary Guards officer-in command, which in a war contingency will assume control of the district government and keep supplies of food, water, medicines running as well as emergency services for evacuations.

A military force attached to each command will be responsible for maintaining order and responding to problems.

According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, Iran has in effect established a home front command controlled by the Revolutionary Guards and manned by the million- strong Basij volunteer militia, the Guards’ local reserve units.

This arrangement guarantees the government regime in Tehran effective control of every part of the country in any war contingency.

Begin DEBKAfile Excerpt 2

Top US commander briefed on IDF’s four-front strategy in potential Iran war context

June 29, 2008, 9:08 AM (GMT+02:00)

The visiting Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, carried out a guided tour of Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip over the weekend. It was led by the IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and OCs Northern and Southern Commands, Maj. Gens. Eisenkott and Galant.

He was briefed on IDF tactics in a war on all these potential flashpoints in the context of a comprehensive conflict with Iran and then held long conversations with defense minister Ehud Barak and Ashkenazi.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that it is very unusual for the top American commander to carry out a close, on-the-spot study of Israel’s potential war fronts. It was prompted on the one hand by skepticism in parts of the US high command of Israel’s ability to simultaneously strike Iran’s nuclear installations and fight off attacks from three borders while, at the same time, Adm. Mullen showed he was open to persuasion that the IDF’s prospective tactics and war plans were workable.

Military circles in Washington, commenting on the large-scale air maneuver Israel carried out with Greece earlier in June, have opined that 100 warplanes are not enough for the Israel Air Force to destroy all of Iran’s secret nuclear sites; more than 1,000 would be needed. Israel military tacticians in contact with US commanders have countered that, while Iran’s secret nuclear locations are scattered and buried deep, still, every chain has weak links and is therefore vulnerable.

The tough threats issued by Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Mohamed Ali Jafari on Saturday, June 28, were prompted by the Adm. Mullen’s Israeli border tour, word of which was flashed to Tehran by Syrian-Iranian observation posts inside Syrian and Lebanese borders.

(The Sunday Times added that Iran moved its ballistic Shihab-3 missiles

into launch positions, with Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant among its possible targets.)

Saturday, DEBKAfile reported:

The IRGC chief, Mohammad Ali Jafari issued Tehran’s toughest and most explicit threats yet in response to recent reports of Israeli preparations to strike Iran’s nuclear installations.

Hinting at an American attack, he said: “If there is a confrontation between us and the enemy from outside the region, definitely the scope will reach the oil issue.”

After this action (of imposing controls on the Gulf waterway), the oil price will rise very considerably,” he said.

Speaking to the Iranian newspaper Jam-e Jam, Jafari differentiated between Iran’s responses to possible American and Israeli attacks.

The oil weapon would be applied in reprisal for the former – “and this is among the factors deterring enemies”, he said, while “Israelis know if they take military action against Iran… the abilities of the Islamic and Shiite world, especially in the region, will deliver fatal blows.”

Jafari noted that Israel was in range of Iranian missiles.
He said Iran’s “allies in the region” could also retaliate, referring to those living in “Lebanon’s heartland of South Lebanon,” without naming Hizballah.

US forces were “more vulnerable than the Israelis” because of their troops in the region. “Iran can in different ways harm American interests, even far away,”

Jafar warned Iran’s neighbors not to let their territory be used.

“If the attack takes place from the soil of another country … the country attacked has the right to respond to the enemy’s military action from where the operation started,” he said.

Begin Arutz Sheva Excerpt 3

Iran Aims Shahab-3B Missiles at Dimona

27 Sivan 5768, 30 June 08 04:15 (Time in Israel)

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Iran has aimed its Shahab-3B ballistic missiles at the State of Israel, according to a report published Sunday in a British newspaper.

The Times of London reports that the missiles were moved on to launch pads and are reportedly focused on several targets in the Jewish State, among them the nuclear reactor in the Negev city of Dimona.

The Shahab-3B can be armed with a variety of different types of explosives, including conventional high explosives and submunitions as well as chemical, biological, radiological dispersion and, potentially, nuclear warheads.

The missile, an “enhanced” version of the Shahab rocket, is believed to have been produced in ranges of approximately 1,300-1,500 km and 2,000 km, according to Jane’s Defence News, bring it well within range of Israel’s cities.

The move came following a large-scale exercise earlier this month in which the Israel Air Force flew en masse over the Mediterranean in an apparent rehearsal for a threatened attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.

Defense sources quoted by the newspaper said the missiles were readied for a counterstrike should Israel attack Iran. General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard which operates the missiles, threatened over the weekend that “Iran has many different ways to strike worldwide… and the important part of this is based on our missiles.”

Israel has repeatedly warned that Iran is preparing a nuclear weapon of mass destruction, and has stated that it will not tolerate a threat to its existence.

Shabtai Shavit, the former director of Israel’s international intelligence agency, the Mossad, said in an interview with the British Telegraph newspaper published Sunday that the window of opportunity to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is rapidly closing.

The intelligence chief estimated that the Islamic Republic would achieve its goal of developing such a weapon within “somewhere around a year.”

He added that the sooner Israel made plans for that probability, the better off the Jewish State would be.

“As an intelligence officer working with the worst-case scenario, I can tell you we should be prepared,” he said. “We should do whatever necessary on the defensive side, on the offensive side, on the public opinion side for the West, in case sanctions don’t work. What’s left is a military action.”

Shavit said it would be preferable to have American support for a strike on Iran, if Israel is forced to fall back on that option, but predicted that US presidential elections might eliminate that possibility.

“If (Republican candidate John) McCain gets elected, he could really easily make a decision to go for it. If it’s Obama: no. My prediction is that he won’t go for it, at least not in his first term in the White House,” said, Shavit.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed numerous times over the past two years that he intends to annihilate the State of Israel. He has referred to the Jewish State as a “malignant cancerous growth,” which he has repeatedly said he intends to “wipe off the map.”

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site

is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

Grain Outweighing Price in Black Horse Scales

June 29, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Revelation 6:5-7 – And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balance s

in his hand.

[6] And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Begin Archive Special Prophecy Update 145C

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 145C

November 10, 2003

The Seals, the Trumpets, and the Vials of Revelation

Part 3 – The Third Seal

The first four seals of Revelation open before the period known as the tribulation period. They occur during the period of time Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows.”

Matthew 24:7,8 – For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. [8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.

The first seal has already opened and then closed.

The second, third, and fourth seals are already open, and will all remain open until the end of the tribulation period, and all three will rapidly intensify when it begins.

Their primary area of fulfillment is the maximum extent of land occupied by the Roman Empire in the first and second century. The “whole earth,” “all the world,” and similar expressions in the prophetic writings of both the Old and New Testament periods, in many instances, are hyperbolic, and do not refer to the world as we know it today, but to the world as the people, to whom they wrote, knew it from 600 B.C. to 135 A.D. The most severe judgments of the second, third, and fourth horse riders, along with the mark of the beast, will occur in this area.

I have known for a long time that if I lived to my allotted threescore and ten years, I would see the third seal open in the area known to those that lived in the era of Roman domination. The African continent was known to exist at the time of John’s writings, and that is where I knew it had to start. Good ole Mr.

Wills, my ninth grade teacher in Junior High School, is the one who introduced me to this in 1947. It was such a simple thing, but such a certain thing, that I had no fear of being wrong about it when I wrote my first book in the seventies. It was based on food supply and population increase.

Revelation 6:5,6 – And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. [6] And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

The population explosion, particularly in Africa, which has suddenly burst on the scene, should be no surprise to the human race. The world’s population has roughly, in a somewhat similar pattern, followed a formula of daily penny doubling. Suppose someone proposed to give you five billion dollars if you would double a penny he gave you for forty days, and then give him all the proceeds of the doubling process on the fortieth day – Would you take the deal

? A single penny on the first day would produce two cents on the second day, four cents on the third day, eight cents on the fourth day, sixteen cents on the fifth day, thirty-two cents on the sixth day, sixty-four cents on the seventh day, and only a dollar and twenty-eight cents on the eighth day. So, based on what you’ve read so far, it seems like a pretty good deal. But on day forty you would have to fork over more than five billion dollars. This principle has been the backbone of when the famine prophecy prediction would occur ever since eight people stepped off the Ark of Noah. This principle opened the famine seal, and will cause it to intensify until Armageddon.

The world’s famine outbreaks in its developing countries have been occurring closer and closer together in time since World War II, and the trend will accelerate until the Second Advent.

Why? A few thousand years ago eight men and women descended in an ark “upon the mountains of Ararat,” and then began to multiply. At first, like the penny, the increase was insignificant from a numerical standpoint. When Jesus was born the world population had only reached about 200 million. When Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 it had barely reached 400 million.

But, like the multiplying principle of the penny, it began to accelerate noticeably about the time of the Civil War, and exploded after the Great Depression of the thirties. In 1989 the world population reached five billion and, the same year, eleven million of the earth’s residents died of starvation. The population of our planet passed six billion in October of 1999, and is predicted to reach ten billion in 2030. Some say it will only reach between eight and nine billion by 2030.

But even if that is true, how can the additional three plus billion be fed, if eleven million died of starvation in 1989 with a population of only five million.

Some say, “don’t worry, agricultural technology is on the way to solving the famine problem.” No way! The latest U.N. study found ten percent of the world’s soil profile badly damaged. The three-year study accessed the soil conditions on a global scale, and involved more than 250 soil scientists. It marked the first time since World War II that soil profiles had been accessed on a global scale. As reported by Larry B. Stammer in the Los Angeles Times, the study found that “about two-thirds of all seriously eroded land is in Asia and Africa, home to most of the world’s poor. The article, using the report as its basis, proclaimed: “Despite the much acclaimed great green revolution of the past several decades, which have produced unprecedented gains in food production by the introduction of fertilizers and hybrid grains, per-capita food production has declined in some eighty developing countries in the past decade” The 1993 report, “Vital Signs, The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future,” as reported in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette of July 18, 1993, stated: “This new report shows the first clear sign that population is outpacing the available food supply for humans. The trend is mostly because of record world population growth, but also reflects a slowdown after decades of increasing food supplies. The main sources of food – farms, ranches, and oceans – all are approaching, or may have reached, their maximum per-capita output, according to the Vital Signs Report.”

The simple truth is this, in 1993, for the first time since records began to be kept, world food utilization exceeded world food production. Utilization continued to exceed food production until 1996, and a massive endeavor was made by technology to catch up with utilization. The endeavor allowed food production to pass utilization in 1996, and it continued to exceed utilization until 1999, but the population passed six billion in October of 1999, and the production again fell below utilization, where it has remained to the present.

In April of 2003, a report published by the International Committee of the Fourth International, stated that 200 million people in Africa are malnourished. The world food production has not been able to keep up with the stork in the twenty-first century, and the disparity can only increase with an increasing population growth.

The third horse rider will gallop faster and faster as he heads for Armageddon. I contend that the famine now occurring in Africa, which was a part of the prophetic world when the prophecies were written, is the beginning of the fulfillment of those prophecies, and that famine will spread out of this area into all sections of the world that were known at the time the book of Revelation was written by John. There will be a serious food shortage in the United States, but it will in no way be comparable to the famines that ravage what is referred to as the “Old World,” or the pre-Columbus world. I believe the vast majority of “Old World” residents, both religious and non-religious, will take the mark of the beast to get food without hesitation, but I do not believe the mark of the beast will be put on the residents of the United States. I believe that Revelation 13:16,17 applies only to that part of today’s world that was known when John wrote Revelation.

Revelation 13:16,17 – And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Followers of Islam have no idea whatsoever about even the existence of this prophecy. The Catholic priests have not taught their masses in Europe about this, and only a handful of Catholics understand anything about it.

The same is true among all the different sects of religion that are spread across the “Old World.” They will all take it without hesitation to obtain food.

I believe the antichrist’s empire will, at first, take in the vast Arab area of Islam from Morocco to Pakistan, but it will spread out quickly like water, and when the time for the final battle of Armageddon arrives, he will dominate all of the “Old World.”

The collection of news stories from World News Sources which follows, paints a grim picture of more and more money being required on one side of the weight balance to lift the same measure of food grains on the other. It is certainly getting the world’s attention, but it seems the situation will slowly get worse, not better.

Related News Stories from Gulf Daily News via World News

FOOD PRICES BLOW

June 27, 2008

High food prices

hit poor Europe, central Asia — FAO

Inquirer

MILAN — Soaring food prices may reverse recent strong agricultural output growth in poor European and Central Asian countries, the United Nations’ food agency said on Thursday.

Food prices have been rising…

Turkish Press
FAO General Director Jacques Diouf at a conference on World Food Security in Rome on June 5. African ministers have gathered in Nairobi to discuss food security as the world’s poorest continent reels from a…
African experts meet to discuss food security

Mail Guardian South Africa

African and United Nations experts gathered here Monday to discuss food security as the world’s poorest continent reels from a global food crisis triggered by surging energy and commodity prices. The 25th Food…

Business Day

THE factors behind the global food crisis may be complex, but its effect is simple in its brutality. The worst affected countries are those that need to import agricultural produce, and the hardest hit people…
President calls for urgent action to curb rising food prices

Kenya Broadcasting Corp

Written By:PPS, Posted: Thu, Jun 19, 2008 President Mwai Kibaki has called for urgent and decisive action to curb the rising food prices.

Speaking when he officially opened the 25th Food…

Food agency: Prices to remain high, more production needed

USA Today

Posted | Comment | Recommend | | | INNSBRUCK, Austria (AP) — The head of the U.N.’s food agency on Wednesday warned that food prices will remain high and has called for a boost in…
Food for thought

The Star

Countries should make agriculture a political priority.

They should also re-look the biofuel trend as cereals should not be used to feed machines but people. IT’S not a good time to be the head of a government….

Food prices will remain high, says FAO chief

Independent online (SA)

By Veronika Oleksyn Innsbruck, Austria – The head of the United Nations food agency on Wednesday warned that food prices will remain high and has called for a boost in production. Food and…
Politics trumps hunger, again

International Herald Tribune

One might expect that food riots in Egypt and Haiti would convince the world’s wealthy nations of the need to do more to feed the world’s poorest. Or maybe the threat of 100 million more people falling into…
Kenya urges Africa to boost food security

Turkish Press

A child walks past a fish stall at the Abobo market in Abidjan earlier this month. Kenya has urged African governments to boost food security in the face of soaring prices at the opening a regional meeting of…

A paradigm shift in agriculture

Dawn

By Shahid Javed Burki Along with an unsettled political situation, increasing acts of violence perpetrated by extremist groups operating from the country’s tribal areas and the quick unraveling of the model of…

Kenya calls for end to food trade barriers

International Herald Tribune

Africans must unite to demand an immediate end to Western trade barriers that are worsening the impact of a global food crisis on the world’s poorest continent, Kenya

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

Hamas Is Serious About Keeping This Truce

June 29, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

I have always contended the time of “peace and safety,” spoken by the Apostle Paul, would not be fulfilled until the terrorist groups, and those nations controlling them, could see it was advantageous for them to stop their terrorist activities long enough to lull Israel into a false sense of security. I have been hoping since May the present scenario in the Gaza Strip would lead to a temporary cessation of terrorist activity from the hostile groups in and around Israel.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – 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. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

In January of 2001, in Archive Prophecy Update Number 3, I made the following statement:

Begin Quote from 2001

“[But there is something far more important in the peace process than who is the leader of Israel, and who is the leader of the Palestinians. I retired from the USAF/National Security Agency as a synoptic analyst. When one analyzes anything, it is imperative to advance from what controls the conclusion of the problem being examined. Some problems do not have a definite controlling factor, and all the factors, both incidental and insignificant, must be given the appropriate weight in making a forecast of the outcome.

However, this is not the c ase in m

aking a determination of when peace will come between Israel and the Palestinians. The controlling fac tor, which determines when a false peace will come

to Israel, rests solely with the terrorist groups that plague her. There can never be a period of peace, even false peace, without the approval of all the terrorist groups.

Yassar Arafat cannot control the terrorist groups, nor can any other single Arab leader.

The terrorist complex of Osama Bin Laden, the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Hisbullah, and Fatah are really controlled by leaders in Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Until these leaders finally come to the conclusion that the only way Israel can be driven into the Negev is by being lulled into a false sense of security, the terrorist groups will continue to operate, and the killing will continue.

I believe these terrorist groups will soon realize that if they really want to slaughter Jews by the hundreds of thousands, and drive the rest into the Negev, they will have to lull Israel into a brief period of false peace. When this happens, an agreement will be reached between Israel and the Palestinians. So my advice to those who want to get a feel of when the false peace will come is this: WATCH the terrorist groups. When their actions drop to zero, and stay there for a while, you may rest assured it has been as a result of meetings behind closed doors between the leaders of the aforementioned nations, and the leaders of the terrorist groups they sponsor.

I don’t pay much attention to any leader of Israel or the Palestinians. The terrorist groups are the key to a false peace in the Mid-East.

When they grasp that by appearing to cease their activities they will be able, at a later time, to kill many Jews, and drive the rest into the Negev, they will settle down and wait for the surprise attack against Israel from the north.

Ariel Sharon may try to put a “forced peace” on the Palestinians before the terrorist groups shut down. This was one of the options considered by his party in

the past. But it will not work. Watch for a cessation of terrorism.

Then, after a brief period of false peace, look for a vicious surprise attack from the north out of Syria.]”

End of Quote from 2001

Mahmoud al-Zahar is one of the extremists in the Hamas movement, and from comments he makes in the Haaretz excerpt which follows our heading, it is apparent Hamas is quite series about wanting to maintain the present truce agreement with Israel. The statements made Friday by the Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh were also quite clear that Hamas desires a period of calm.

Just as I finished typing the preceding paragraph Saturday night, some renegade terrorist group lobbed a couple of mortar shells at Israel from the Gaza Strip, but Israel still plans to allow 80 truckloads

of food to cross into Gaza on Sunday. It actually appears both sides are trying to promote a time of calm between them.

Begin Haaretz Excerpt

Top Hamas official: We’ll stop anyone who breaks Gaza truce

By Fadi and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies

June 28, 2008

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, told a Saudi newspaper on Saturday that his organization will move against any armed group that attempts to violate the cease-fire with Israel, including members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Al-Zahar warned that any Palestinian group who deviates from the national consensus and harms the interests of the Palestinian people can no longer be considered a part of the resistance, but rather as someone who seeks to harm it.

Al-Zahar added that Hamas has recently arrested gunmen who fired missiles at the Karni crossing as well as at trucks carrying goods

that passed through the crossings.

“There are families who will turn their children into Hamas because they are acting against the law,” al-Zahar said.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday appealed to Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to honor the week-long truce with Israel, and stop firing at the Negev, for the good of the Palestinian civilian population.

Two mortar shells from Gaza hit the western Negev on Friday, exploding in open areas, despite the cease fire agreement. No damage or injury were reported.

“We expect everyone to respect the agreement so that the Palestinian people achieve what they look for, an end to this suffering and breaking the siege,” he told reporters outside a G

aza mosque after Muslim prayers.

The attack on Friday came one day after two Hamas also has demanded that Israel allow reopening of Gaza’s only border crossing with Egypt in the final phase of

the six-month truce deal.

The Rafah crossing has been sealed since the Hamas violent takeover over the Strip last June, confining Gaza’s people to the tiny seaside territory. Israel has said it would not allow reopening of Rafah until the soldier is freed.

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

Palestinians fire shells as Israel decides to open Gaza crossings

June 28, 2008

KHALED ABU TOAMEH and YAAKOV LAPPIN

THE JERUSALEM POST

Shortly after Israel decided to open all the crossings into Gaza Saturday night several mortar shells were fired by Palestinian terrorists at the Karni Crossing area.

It was unclear whether the shells landed in Israeli territory or fell short of the perimeter fence and there were no reports of wounded or damage.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i, in consultation with defense chiefs, decided to allow 80 truckloads of food to cross from Israel to Gaza on Sunday.

The crossings, including Karni, had been closed since Tuesday after Palestinians violated the Gaza cease-fire by shooting Kassams rockets at the western Negev.

A mortar attack on Israel Friday prompted Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip to issue new warnings to Palestinian armed groups there against violating the cease-fire with Israel and threatening to arrest anyone who does not abide by it.

This is the first time Hamas has threatened to arrest Gazans who fire rockets at Israel. The threat is seen as a sign of Hamas’s keenness to preserve the cease-fire and show that it is capable of enforcing its will on all the factions in the Strip.

Terrorists fired two mortar shells at Israel from northern Gaza on Friday, marking the end of a week marred by cease-fire breaches.

One shell hit near Kibbutz Kfar Aza while the second slammed into an uninhabited area. No injuries or damages were reported.

Sources in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas’s security forces arrested five Fatah militiamen Friday on suspicion of firing three rockets at Israel last week. The men were arrested in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the sources said, noting that Fatah’s armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, had claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas official, said his movement’s position regarding the violations committed by Fatah and Islamic Jihad was “clear.” He said representatives of Fatah and Islamic Jihad had been summoned to meetings with Hamas officials who warned them against breaching the agreement.

“Some elements were working secretly to foil the [cease-fire] agreement,” Zahar told reporters. “They don’t want this agreement to succeed because they are working against the national interests of our people.”

Zahar also said some Palestinian “collaborators” and unruly factions were behind the attempts to foil the truce. He said that his movement had made it clear that anyone who violated the agreement would be arrested.

“We have reached an agreement with Islamic Jihad that anyone, even if he’s from Hamas, would be arrested and disarmed if he violates the agreement,” he said. “Those who violate the agreement will be accused of sabotaging the national program.”

Asked if he is not concerned that Hamas would be accused of serving Israel by arresting rocket-launchers, Zahar said: “Whoever makes such an allegation does not understand anything and is himself a collaborator with Israel. This agreement was reached on the basis of national consensus.”

Zahar revealed that Hamas has already arrested a number of Palestinians who fired mortars and rockets at the border crossings to the Gaza Strip or trucks supplying fuel. He also said some Gazan clans had handed over their sons who were accused of violating the truce and “harming the national interests of the Palestinians.”

Hamas’s Interior Minister, Said Siam, summoned representatives of Palestinian armed groups to an urgent meeting at his home on Friday night where he warned them against breaching the cease-fire.

“All those who accepted the agreement must now honor it,” he said after t

he meeting. “Anyone who acts otherwise will be held responsible and will be seen as serving the interests of Israel.”

Israel did not respond militarily to the mortars over the weekend, choosing instead to keep Gaza border crossings closed, as it had done throughout the previous week.

Kfar Aza has come under frequent mortar attacks in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said a 17-year-old boy was shot dead by IDF soldiers in Beit Omar, north of Hebron. The IDF said soldiers opened fire after identifying a group of youths throwing Molotov cocktails at motorists on Highway 60.

The latest incident came after IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) men shot dead a senior Islamic Jihad figure and a lower-ranking member of the organization on Tuesday.

AP and JPost.com Staff contributed to this report

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site.

However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.