Bible Prophecy, Signs of the Times and Gog and Magog Updates with Articles in the News
‘Tense’ calls between Trump, Netanyahu as Israel refused to join Board of Peace launch
Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly barred President Herzog from taking part in the Board of Peace inaugural event amid “tense and difficult” phone calls with President Trump.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barred President Isaac Herzog from attending the inauguration of the Board of Peace last week, according to a report published by Axios over the weekend, in order to distance Israel from the new body.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump led the inauguration ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
While Netanyahu – who was the recipient of Trump’s invitation to the Board of Peace – was not present in Davos at the time, Herzog took part in the WEF annual gathering.
According to two sources cited by Axios, Herzog’s office had broached the idea with Netanyahu of the president representing Israel at the Board of Peace launch.
Netanyahu reportedly shot down the proposal, barring Herzog from taking part in the event.
The report claimed that the Trump administration had tried to convince Netanyahu to back sending a representative.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, US officials reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office, suggesting that Herzog join the launch.
The sources cited in the report said that some of the calls between the White House and the Prime Minister’s Office were “tense and difficult,” while one source said the clash over Israel’s participation created tension between Netanyahu’s office and the White House.
Netanyahu, who did not travel to Davos due to the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him, is said to have vetoed Herzog’s participation in part out of a desire to distance Israel from some of the board’s planned policies for the Gaza Strip.
The Trump administration had sought Israel’s participation alongside Arab and Muslim states in order to showcase broad support for the American plan.
The White House did not press the issue of Israel’s participation in part because the administration chose to focus its pressure on securing the opening of the Rafah crossing in Gaza, the report said.
Iran’s Khamenei ordered brutal crackdown on protesters ‘by any means necessary’
Units were deployed with shoot-to-kill orders, the officials said, and the number of casualties rose sharply in the days that followed.
Security forces across Iran were ordered to fire without restraint after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directed the Supreme National Security Council on Jan. 9 to suppress nationwide unrest “by any means necessary,” according to two Iranian officials briefed on the instruction, The New York Times reported.
Units were deployed with shoot-to-kill orders, the officials said, and the number of casualties rose sharply in the days that followed. Despite widespread internet blackouts and phone disruptions, some Iranians bypassed restrictions to share accounts and hundreds of videos.
Footage from multiple cities shows the scale of the crackdown. In Tehran, gunfire came from the roof of a police station toward crowds below.
In Karaj, live ammunition struck a marcher in the head. In Isfahan, young men hid behind makeshift barriers in a narrow alley as shots and blasts echoed nearby.
The protests had simmered since late December, beginning with a strike in Tehran’s bazaar amid a worsening economy.
By early January, demonstrations had spread widely, prompting a lethal response from security forces. Medical staff and a nurse working in Iranian hospitals described scenes of overwhelming casualties, while photographs authenticated by The Times showed large numbers of bodies brought to a Tehran morgue.
Human rights monitors say the true toll may be far higher than confirmed figures.
The Washington-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports at least 5,200 deaths, including 56 children.
Iran Human Rights, based in Norway, has verified at least 3,400 fatalities, with both groups cautioning that the final numbers could be two to three times greater as verification continues.
Iran’s National Security Council acknowledged 3,117 deaths in a statement, including 427 members of its own security forces. Senior officials, including Khamenei, blamed the violence on terrorist cells linked to Israel and the United States.
“This is not merely a violent protest crackdown,” said Raha Bahreini, a lawyer and Iran researcher at Amnesty International. “It is a state-orchestrated massacre.”
Iranian government officials say 30,000 + killed in protest crackdown
Death toll in Iranian protest crackdown continues to soar, with human rights groups estimating as many as 43,000 killed.
The death toll resulting from the Iranian government’s violent crackdown on anti-regime protests continues to rise, with reports of as many as 43,000 fatalities since the protests began on December 28.
Two senior officials from the Iranian Ministry of Health who spoke with Time on condition of anonymity in a report published Saturday estimated that around 30,000 people were killed in just two days.
The report did not provide figures regarding the total death toll since the protests began.
On January 8, the Iranian government shut down internet access across the country and severely limited cellphone coverage.
According to witnesses, reports by observer groups, and estimates assembled by healthcare providers in Iran, thousands of people were killed in a massive crackdown from January 8 to 9.
While Iran has officially placed the death toll at 3,117, human rights groups and opposition activists put the number of fatalities in the tens of thousands.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a Washington-based group with ties to activists inside Iran, has received reports of 22,490 deaths during the protests, including 208 pro-regime personnel.
Of those, the group has managed to confirm 5,459 fatalities.
However, according to data collected by doctors and other healthcare providers in Iran and forwarded to German-Iranian eye surgeon Dr. Amir Parasta, 30,304 fatalities had been documented as of last Friday.
In addition, 97,645 non-fatal casualties have been reported, with 30% of those injured suffering injuries to at least one eye, amid reports that pro-regime forces used shotgun blasts fired indiscriminately into crowds to break up the protests.
The Toronto-based International Centre for Human Rights in Iran claimed last Tuesday that at least 43,000 people were killed during the protests, with 95% of the fatalities occurring on January 8 and 9.
The center also claimed that some 350,000 people have been wounded in the crackdown and more than 20,000 people arrested.
WATCH: Middle East on edge as US firepower moves toward Iran
As a U.S. carrier strike group moves toward the Middle East, unease is growing in Iran amid reports that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been relocated to a secure underground bunker.
Iran has ‘finger on the trigger,’ head of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warns
Head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warns that the regime has prepared to strike Israel or American assets at a moment’s notice, as US deploys additional forces to the region.
Iran is prepared to carry out massive strikes against Israel and American assets at a moment’s notice, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Thursday.
In a statement published by Iran’s Nournews, an outlet that is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour said the paramilitary force has its “finger on the trigger.”
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guards and dear Iran stand more ready than ever, finger on the trigger, to execute the orders and directives of the commander-in-chief,” Pakpour said, warning Israel and the United States to “avoid any miscalculation” with Iran.
“The US and the Zionist entity,” Pakpour continued, “must learn lessons from the past so as not to face an even more painful fate. We are more prepared than ever and ready to carry out the orders of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to the armed forces.”
“Iranian forces are at the highest level of vigilance and readiness for any scenario that may occur. Tehran will not hesitate to defend its interests and its security.”
“Tehran is ready to respond immediately in any situation in which an act of folly or a miscalculation is carried out by Washington or Tel Aviv.”
Pakpour’s comments come as the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, and three destroyer escorts, make their way to the Persian Gulf, part of a broader American build-up of military forces in the region.
A day after Pakpour’s statement, a senior Iranian official speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that Tehran would treat any attack by the US or Israel as “an all-out war against us.”
“This military buildup – we hope it is not intended for real confrontation – but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran.”