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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/13/2014 11:03:03 AM
	Heavy fighting breaks out near Libya's Tripoli airport 2 hours ago TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Heavy fighting between militias with anti-aircraft guns and rocket propelled grenades broke out near the airport of the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday, residents and Reuters witnesses said. Explosions could be heard on the airport road and other parts of Tripoli though it was not immediately clear who was fighting whom. Libyan social media websites said the airport had been closed. A Reuters reporter on the airport road said he could see no inbound or outbound flights. British Airlines and Turkish Airways canceled their flights, while thick smoke could be seen near the airport, residents said. A senior airport official declined to comment. Social media websites said several rockets had hit the airport perimeter. Pictures posted on Facebook showed thick smoke at what was said to be the parking area in front of the main terminal. The airport area, some 30 km (18 miles) south of Tripoli, has been controlled by militia fighters from Zintan in northwestern Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 though other groups have challenged them. Libyan television channel al-Nabaa said a militia called Stability and Security Force had entered the airport area. No more details were immediately available. Libya has been in turmoil as government and parliament have been unable to control militias who helped oust Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy state authority. Libya's nascent army and police are no match for militias battle-hardened from the eight-month 2011 uprising. (Reporting by Feras Bosalum and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Louise Ireland)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel

1162

61587

Lima

RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?

7/13/2014 11:16:31 AM

Israel calls for north Gaza evacuation after raid

By PETER ENAV1 hour ago

Watch original video

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel briefly deployed ground troops inside the Gaza Strip for the first time early Sunday as its military warned northern Gaza residents to evacuate their homes, part of a widening offensive that's killed more than 160 Palestinians.

Neither Israel nor Palestinian militants show signs of agreeing to a cease-fire, despite calls by the United Nations Security Council and others to end the increasingly bloody six-day offensive. With Israel massing tanks and soldiers at Gaza's borders, some fear that could signal a wider ground offensive that would cause heavy casualties.

"We don't know when the operation will end," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday. "It might take a long time."

Early Sunday, Israeli troops launched a brief raid into northern Gaza to destroy what it described as a rocket-launching site, an operation the military said left four soldiers slightly wounded.

The Israeli air force later dropped leaflets warning residents to evacuate their homes ahead of what Israel's military spokesman described as a "short and temporary" campaign against northern Gaza to begin sometime after 12 p.m. (0900 GMT). The area is home to at least 100,000 people.

It was not clear whether the attack would be confined to stepped-up airstrikes or whether it might include a sizeable ground offensive — something that Israel has so far been reluctant to undertake.

As the ultimatum drew near, hundreds fled Beit Lahiya, one of the communities the Israeli announcement affected. Some raced by in pickup trucks, waving white flags.

"They are sending warning messages," resident Mohammad Abu Halemah said. "Once we received the message, we felt scared to stay in our homes. We want to leave."

Ignoring international appeals for a cease-fire, Israel widened its range of Gaza bombing targets Saturday to include civilian institutions with suspected Hamas ties. One strike hit a center for the disabled, killing two patients and wounding four people. In a second attack, an Israeli warplane flattened the home of Gaza police chief Taysir al-Batsh and damaged a nearby mosque as evening prayers ended, killing at least 18 people, 17 of whom were al-Batsh family members. Fifty were wounded, including al-Batsh himself.

On Sunday, Palestinians with foreign passports began leaving Gaza through the Erez border crossing. Israel, which is cooperating in the evacuation, says 800 Palestinians living in Gaza have passports from countries including Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

U.S. citizen Ahmed Mohana said he had mixed feelings about leaving friends and family behind in the troubled Gaza Strip.

"It is very hard, it is very tough," he said. "We are leaving our family, our relatives and brothers and sisters in this horrible situation —we have to do what we have to do."

Israel has launched more than 1,300 air strikes since the offensive began, military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said Sunday. Palestinian militants have launched more than 800 rockets at Israel, including 130 in the last 24 hours, the Israeli military said Sunday. Several Israelis have been wounded, but there have been no fatalities.

Israel has said it's acting in self-defense against rockets that have disrupted life across much of the country. It also accuses Hamas of using Gaza's civilians as human shields by firing rockets from there.

Critics say Israel's heavy bombardment of one of the most densely populated territories in the world is itself the main factor putting civilians at risk.

The offensive marks the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire. The outbreak of violence follows the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack, and wide-ranging Israeli moves against Hamas militants and infrastructure in the West Bank.

Foreign diplomats also continued their efforts to end the bloodshed. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will fly to Israel for talks Monday and Tuesday with both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Arab League will meet Monday to discuss the offensive.

Israel calls for north Gaza evacuation after raid

Following its deployment inside the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military warns residents there to evacuate their homes.
Leaflets dropped

City

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/13/2014 11:26:38 AM
	Thousands of Gaza civilians flee after Israeli warning By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ari Rabinovitch30 minutes ago After five days of continuous fighting, Israel has widened its air assault against Hamas as the Palestinians say their death toll rose to over 125 on Saturday. (July 12) Watch video By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller Related Stories Gaza death toll rises; Hamas fires rockets at Tel Aviv Reuters Hamas rockets land deep in Israel as it bombards Gaza Strip Reuters Israel strikes Gaza mosque as death toll tops 120Associated Press Gaza rockets land deep in Israel as it bombards Palestinian enclave Reuters Lebanese rockets hit Israel in offensive's 4th dayAssociated Press GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Thousands fled their homes in a Gaza town on Sunday after Israel warned them to leave ahead of threatened attacks on rocket-launching sites, on the sixth day of an offensive that Palestinian officials said has killed at least 160 people. "Those who fail to comply with the instructions will endanger their lives and the lives of their families. Beware," read a leaflet dropped by the Israeli military in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel. Militants in the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip kept up rockets salvoes deep into the Jewish state and the worst bout of Israel-Palestinian bloodshed in two years showed no signs of abating despite mounting international pressure to cease fire. A Palestinian woman and a girl, aged 3, were killed in Israeli air strikes early on Sunday, Gaza's Health Ministry said. Hours earlier, the ministry said 18 people were killed when the house of Gaza's police chief was bombed from the air in the single deadliest attack of Israel's offensive. Despite intensified Israeli military action - which included a commando raid overnight in what was Israel's first reported ground action in Gaza during the current fighting - militants continued to launch rocket after rocket across the border. View gallery An explosion is seen in the northern Gaza Strip after an Israeli air strike July 13, 2014. REUTERS/A … A long-range salvo on Sunday morning triggered air raid sirens at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion international airport, which has not been hit in the hostilities and where flights have been operating normally, and some city suburbs. On Saturday night, Hamas - the Islamist movement that rules Gaza - made good on a threat to send rockets streaking toward Tel Aviv at 9 p.m. (2.00 p.m. EDT) and other areas in heavily populated central Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis sought shelter as Palestinians in the streets of Gaza City cheered the launchings, the biggest strike yet on the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Those rockets and the ones unleashed on Sunday were intercepted by the Israeli-built, and partly U.S.-funded, Iron Dome missile defense system that has proved effective against Hamas's most powerful weaponry. No one has been killed by the more than 800 rockets the Israeli military said has been fired since the offensive began, and during Saturday night's barrage, customers in Tel Aviv beachfront cafes shouted their approval as they watched the projectiles being shot out of the sky. View gallery Israeli soldiers from the Nahal Infantry Brigade walk across a field near central Gaza Strip July 12 … The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 160 Palestinians, including about 135 civilians - among them some 30 children, have been killed six days of warfare, and more than 1,000 have been wounded. Israeli leaflets dropped on Beit Lahiya, where 70,000 Palestinians live, said civilians in three of its 10 neighborhoods were "requested to evacuate their residences" and move south, deeper into the Gaza Strip, by 12 p.m. The Gaza Interior Ministry, in a statement on Hamas radio, dismissed the Israeli warnings as "psychological warfare" and instructed those who left their homes to return and others to stay put. The warnings cited roads that residents could use safely and said Israeli forces intended to attack "every area from where rockets are being launched". The military did not say in the leaflet whether the strike would include ground troops. It was the first time Israel had warned Palestinians to vacate dwellings in such a wide area. Previous warnings, by telephone or so-called "knock-on-the-door" missiles without explosive warheads, had been directed at individual homes slated for attack. View gallery Palestinians stand amongst the rubble of Tayseer Al-Batsh's family house, which police said was … At least 4,000 people fled Beit Lahiya and crowded into eight U.N.-run schools in Gaza City on Sunday, a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said. Some arrived on donkey carts filled with children, luggage and mattresses, while others came by car or taxi. One man, still in his pajamas, said some residents had received phone calls warning them to clear out. "What could we do? We had to run in order to save the lives of our children," said Salem Abu Halima, 25, a father of two. GROUND INVASION OPTION Israel says a ground invasion of Gaza remains an option, and it has already mobilized more than 30,000 reservists to do so, but most attacks have so far been from the air, hitting some 1,200 targets in the territory. View gallery Israeli soldiers from the Nahal Infantry Brigade walk across a field near central Gaza Strip July 12 … International pressure on both sides for a return to calm has increased, with the U.N. Security Council calling for a cessation of hostilities and Western foreign ministers due to meet on Sunday to weigh strategy. Hostilities along the Israel-Gaza frontier first intensified last month after Israeli forces arrested hundreds of Hamas activists in the Israeli-occupied West Bank following the abduction there of three Jewish teenagers who were later found killed. A Palestinian youth was then killed in Jerusalem in a suspected Israeli revenge attack. Giving details of the naval commando operation early on Sunday, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said four members of the force were wounded in exchanges of fire with militants but the long-range rocket launching site they attacked was hit. Hamas said its fighters had fired at the Israeli force offshore, preventing them from landing. Lerner said the forces had "completed their mission". Israel said it has carried out 1,320 attacks on militant targets, that have included homes - which it described as command centers - warehouses, smuggling tunnels and rocket launching and manufacturing sites. Palestinian residents say some of the dwellings hit in the attacks did not belong to militants and that attacks on homes have caused numerous civilian casualties. View gallery Smoke trails are seen as rockets are launched towards Israel from the northern Gaza Strip July 12, 2 … A Hamas source commenting on the air strike against the Gaza police chief's home said the officer, Tayseer Al-Batsh, was in critical condition. All of those killed in the air strike. which television footage showed was reduced to piles of rubble, were members of Al-Batsh's family. Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, said 45 people were wounded in the bombing. An Israeli teenager was wounded on Sunday by a rocket that struck the southern town of Ashkelon, emergency services said. Israel says it tries to avoid civilian casualties and accuses of Hamas of putting innocent Gazans in harm's way by placing weaponry and gunmen in residential areas. A senior Israeli military officer said aircraft had aborted "hundreds" of strikes to avoid collateral damage and that targets bombed were meant to impact Hamas fire capacity. Israel's north also came under rocket fire late on Saturday, from Lebanon. Hamas, which is not known to have a presence in southern Lebanon, claimed responsibility for the attack, which Israel suspects was launched by other Palestinian militants. After three rockets landed, causing no damage or casualties, Israeli artillery fired into Lebanon, the military said. (Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell, Ari Rabinovitch and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, Editing by Mark Heinrich) View Gallery Israeli commandos attack Gaza rocket site It's the first such gunfight of Israel's offensive to stop rocket fire coming from the Palestinian territory. Clash with Hamas
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel

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61587

Lima

RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?

7/13/2014 5:33:56 PM

Palestinians flee north Gaza after Israel warning

By KARIN LAUB and PETER ENAV2 hours ago

Watch original video

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel briefly deployed troops inside the Gaza Strip for the first time early Sunday as some 4,000 people fled southward from the northern part of the territory in the face of Israeli threats to step up attacks there.

Neither Israel nor Palestinian militants show signs of agreeing to a cease-fire to end their weeklong conflict, despite calls by the United Nations Security Council and others that they lay down their arms. With Israel massing tanks and soldiers at Gaza's borders, some fear the latest Israeli threats could signal a wider ground offensive that would bring even heavier casualties than the 166 Palestinian deaths already registered.

"All our ground forces are ready," a senior Israeli military official said Sunday. "We have been training for this. We will exploit our ability the moment a decision is made to do so."

Early Sunday, Israeli naval commandos launched a brief raid into northern Gaza to destroy what the military described as a rocket-launching site, an operation it said left four of its soldiers slightly wounded.

It was not clear whether the possible attack would be confined to stepped-up airstrikes or whether it might include a sizeable ground offensive — something that Israel has so far been reluctant to undertake.

As the ultimatum drew near, hundreds fled Beit Lahiya, one of the communities the Israeli announcement affected. Some raced by in pickup trucks, waving white flags.

"They are sending warning messages," resident Mohammad Abu Halemah said. "Once we received the message, we felt scared to stay in our homes. We want to leave."

Adnan Abu Hassna, a spokesman for the U.N. agency in charge of aiding Palestinian refugees, said eight schools were opened as temporary shelters, and about 4,000 people had moved in. He said more schools would be opened if needed.

Essam Al Sultan, 46, a farmer from Beit Lahiya said he had taken the decision to flee the area because the youngest of his eight children had been terrorized by the constant sound of explosions in and around their community.

'For me I don't fear death because we are dying every single moment of this war but I left because I want to protect my family," he said.

Ignoring international appeals for a cease-fire, Israel widened its range of Gaza bombing targets Saturday to include civilian institutions with suspected Hamas ties. One strike hit a center for the disabled, killing two patients and wounding four people. In a second attack, an Israeli air strike flattened the home of a cousin of Gaza police chief Taysir al-Batsh and damaged a nearby mosque as evening prayers ended, killing at least 18 people. Fifty were wounded, including al-Batsh himself, who had earlier received warnings that he was an Israeli target and had moved away from his own home.

On Sunday, hundreds chanting "God is Great" joined the funeral procession for 17 members of al-Batsh's extended family who were killed. Among the dead were his cousin and her husband, along with the couple's seven children, ranging in age from 13 to 28. A neighbor also was killed.

Mourners carried the bodies, wrapped in the green flags of the Islamic militant Hamas, through the streets on stretchers.

The attack reduced al-Batsh's cousin's home to sand and rubble. Ahmad al-Batsh, a nephew of the police chief, said Israel had not given a warning before the strike.

Hamas activists said the group's military wing had asked the families of its members to leave their homes, after Israel targeted several such homes in a series of airstrikes.

On Sunday, Palestinians with foreign passports began leaving Gaza through the Erez border crossing. Israel, which is cooperating in the evacuation, said 800 Palestinians living in Gaza have passports from countries including Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

Rawan Mohanna, a 21-year-old chemistry major at the University of Texas, said she had arrived in Gaza with her family a month ago because her older sister was getting married to a Gazan.

"We got the wedding out of the way before all of this happened," Mohanna said. Mohanna, who lives in Dallas, said her family is now returning to the U.S. with mixed feelings because her newlywed sister and other relatives were staying behind.

"We are so fortunate ... that we have the right to travel," she said. "People in Gaza, they can't even leave, and that's such a basic right. It's stripped away from them. It's bittersweet that we get to leave but they are still there and they can't get out."

Critics say Israel's heavy bombardment of one of the most densely populated territories in the world is itself the main factor putting civilians at risk.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he had appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon for "international protection" for the Palestinian people.

"The situation has become unbearable — hundreds of martyrs and thousands of wounded and huge destruction," Abbas said. Despite forming a government with Hamas' backing last month, Abbas' influence in Gaza is minimal.

Seven trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza from Egypt on Sunday. Relations between Egypt and Hamas have cooled considerably in the wake of the Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's ascension to power in Cairo earlier this year, but the new Egyptian government has been steadfast in providing civilian assistance to Gaza since the Israeli operation against Hamas began.

___

Enav reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Gazans evacuate as Israeli campaign escalates

Israel briefly deploys troops inside the Gaza Strip as some 4,000 people flee from the northern part of the territory.
Schools provide refuge

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/13/2014 11:34:45 PM
	US warns of 'widespread conflict' in Libya 20 hours ago Security forces patrol a street in the Libyan city of Benghazi on June 25, 2014 (AFP Photo/) Washington (AFP) - The United States warned Saturday that the conflict in Libya could become "widespread," urging that a new parliament be quickly seated after contested elections. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also called for work on drafting Libya's new constitution to take place unhindered, amid increasing lawlessness and unrest in the country. "The United States is deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in Libya and dangerous posturing that could lead to widespread conflict there," Psaki said in a statement. "We affirm our support for Libya's democratic transition and urge the seating of the new Council of Representatives as soon as possible." The new constitution has been billed as a milestone in the North African country's transition from the 42-year dictatorship of Moamer Kadhafi, who was overthrown and killed in 2011. "We stress the vital role Libya's Constitution Drafting Assembly plays in building the new country for which Libyans sacrificed so much during the revolution," Psaki added. APNewsBreak: No 'stand Down' Order In Beng …Play Video "Its work must advance without interference or violence." Libya's electoral commission has scrapped the results from 24 polling stations due to fraud in a parliamentary election contested at 1,600 stations in June. Final results are due to be released July 20, but will only cover 184 seats. Polling for the remaining 16 seats is set to take place at a later date, after voting was canceled in several constituencies due to violence. Libya has been awash with weapons since the end of the uprising against Kadhafi and has been gripped by increasing lawlessness. The unrest has had far-reaching security implications for Libya's neighbors. A Tunisian diplomat and fellow embassy staffer were freed in late June months after being seized by gunmen in Tripoli. In January 2013, militants coming from Libya stormed the In Amenas desert gas plant in Algeria's far southeast, in a devastating four-day hostage crisis that left nearly 40 foreigners dead. U.S.: Conflict in Libya could become 'widespread' As it struggles to seat a new parliament, Libya's increasing lawlessness threatens the security of its neighbors. Awash with weapons
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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