My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.Hosea 4 : 6

Ali Sawafta

Fri, July 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM GMT+3

3 min read140

Israeli settlers accused of killing 117 sheep in West Bank attack

1 of 5

Palestinians accuse settlers of slaughtering their sheep

By Ali Sawafta

JORDAN VALLEY, West Bank (Reuters) -Palestinian Bedouins accused Israeli settlers on Friday of killing 117 sheep in an overnight attack and stealing hundreds of others in an apparent effort to chase farmers off their land in the occupied West Bank.

The incident comes amid what the United Nations described this week as intensifying attacks by Jewish settlers and security forces against Palestinians in the West Bank and record mass displacements.

Advertisement

Newsletter: The Yodel

Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox

See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.Sign up

By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.

The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment about the mass slaughter of the animals belonging to the Arab al-Kaabaneh Bedouin community, in the Jordan Valley.

Veterinarians were called in to treat a handful of sheep which had survived the knife and gun attack, some of the animals shaking uncontrollably and in apparent shock.

Salem Salman Mujahed, a resident of Arab al-Kaabaneh, said multiple groups of settlers working in coordination had orchestrated the assault, and accused the army of standing by.

“(Settlers) came near the houses. I asked them what are you doing here then we started fighting with each other,” he said. “The army detained me, and they handcuffed me.”

[30] Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. [31] And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.Luke 19 : 30-31

Advertisement

He said other groups of settlers then attacked the sheep, which are vital to his community’s survival.

And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.Exodus 2 : 14

Reuters was unable to independently verify who was responsible for the attack.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them. GC 608.2

Palestinian Minister Moayad Shaaban condemned the incident, calling it part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians from the region.

More in World

Russian banks prepare for bailouts as Putin’s war hammers economy

The Telegraph

50-Year Legend Calls Exact Month Stocks Will Crash NextGoVisionaryProfit・Ad

On the beaches of northern France, exhausted police admit they’ve lost control

The Telegraph

These sheep and animals were slaughtered and shot at!

“These sheep and animals were slaughtered and shot at,” he told Reuters. “They are using these tools to terrify these people to leave these areas, which have been inhabited for dozens of years.”

MOVING AWAY

The attack prompted at least one family to begin relocating.

Advertisement

Bedouin Tareq Kaabaneh said he could no longer withstand what he called settler intimidation.

“They were armed, they steal donkeys and sheep. In the night they come here and start shooting toward us,” Kaabaneh said.

“I am moving now from here, I want to protect my kids and my sheep, my livelihood … yesterday I was safe, but I don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow,” he added.

Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.Exodus 10 : 26

The United Nations reported this week that mass displacements in the West Bank had reached levels unprecedented since Israel first took military control of the territory nearly six decades ago.

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva also said there had been 757 settler attacks on Palestinians or their properties since January – a 13% increase from the same period last year.

Advertisement

At least 964 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Over the same period, 53 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes.

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee demanded this week a full investigation into the killing of a Palestinian American who was beaten to death by settlers in the West Bank on July 11, describing it as a “criminal and terrorist act”.

The United Nations’ highest court said last year that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, was illegal and should end as soon as possible.

Israel disputes this, citing security needs as well as historical and biblical ties to the land, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The West Bank is among the territories Palestinians seek for an independent state.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

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.1 Thessalonians 5 : 3

Associated Press

Fri, July 18, 2025 at 10:10 AM GMT+32 min read

35

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Education Ministry issued a safety warning for Chinese students in the Philippines after what it said were a series of criminal incidents targeting them.

The brief warning Friday did not identify any specific incidents but told students to increase their safety awareness should they choose to study in the Philippines. The number of Chinese students in the country was not given but enrolments have fallen to just a few hundred in recent years, according to the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post.

Relations between the governments of China and the Philippines are particularly tense due to disputes over maritime claims in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. China has used water cannons and other non-lethal shipboard deterrents to drive off Philippine fishing boats.

ADVERTISEMENT

Undersecretary Claire Castro of the Presidential Communications Office said on Friday that China has the right to issue such an advisory but underscored that the crime rate in the Philippines has been falling and “safety and security in the Philippines, we can say, have been improving as far as we are concerned.”

Police response to public concerns over crime has been fast. Crimes sparked by Chinese online gambling have declined or have been eradicated and many Chinese suspects have been deported by the Philippines, Castro told a daily news briefing.

Chinese student was kidnapped in Manila by a Chinese-led gang

In February a 14-year-old Chinese student was kidnapped in Manila by a Chinese-led gang, which killed his driver and cut off the student’s finger in a bid to force his parents to pay a huge ransom. The Philippine interior secretary said the student’s family and the Chinese leader of the kidnappers were allegedly former operators of lucrative online gambling outfits.

Politically, China has dismissed a U.N.-backed court decision in The Hague that ruled out most of China’s claims in the South China Sea and has expressed resentment over close ties between the U.S. and Manila.

ADVERTISEMENT

China often disrupts cultural and economic ties!

China often disrupts cultural and economic ties to register their discontent over actions by foreign governments.

In April, China issued a similar warning about the risk to Chinese students in the United States.

James Crisp

Tue, March 18, 2025 at 10:46 PM GMT+35 min read

45

Nuclear-armed fighter jets will be sent to an airbase near France’s German border by 2035, Emmanuel Macron said in a sign of his country’s willingness to extend its deterrent to protect Berlin from Russia.

In a speech at the Luxeuil-les-Bains base, Mr Macron said France would buy more Rafale warplanes as Donald Trump was holding controversial ceasefire talks with Vladimir Putin without Ukraine.

The French president later travelled to Germany to meet Friedrich Merz, the incoming Chancellor, who secured parliamentary backing for an unprecedented debt package to lavish over a trillion euros on the country’s run-down military and infrastructure.

[54] And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. [55] He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Psalm 78 : 54-55

The chancellor-in-waiting has said he will ask France and the UK for shelter under their nuclear umbrellas, if the US pulls out of Nato, and urges Europe to stand on its own two feet on defence.

By 2035, Luxeuil-les-Bains will become “the first base to receive the next version of the Rafale and its hypersonic nuclear missile”, Mr Macron said.

“Our country and our continent will have to continue to defend themselves, to equip themselves, to prepare if we want to avoid war.

“No one can say what will happen in the coming months and years. What I want is for us to be ready. What I want is for us to be protected.”

France spends about 2 per cent of GDP on defence but Mr Macron wants to increase that to 3.5 per cent.

He said France would invest nearly €1.5 billion to adapt the base, which the Elysée said plays “a central role in protecting the interests of the Transatlantic Alliance [Nato] and beyond”.

European leaders are horrified that Mr Trump has begun negotiations with Russia without both Ukraine and Europe present.

The US president’s apparent adoption of Kremlin talking points, such as blaming Ukraine for the invasion, has exacerbated European fears over the country’s reliability and the continent’s dependence on US arms.

Unlike the UK’s Trident, which requires US support, France’s deterrent is truly independent.

Mr Macron has been urging Europe to build its ability to act independently of Washington since Mr Trump’s first term in office. At the weekend, he said he wanted to offer Europeans the Dassault-made Rafales as an alternative to US F-35 jets

On March 6, France offered its nuclear shield to EU allies at a European Council summit in Brussels, sparking fury at the Kremlin, which compared him to Napoleon.

The French president had twice before offered his country’s deterrent to EU allies before Mr Merz said he wanted to discuss it seriously shortly before his election victory last month.

Poland is among the other EU members open to considering the idea, which would require a change in French nuclear doctrine. Paris insists the final decision on whether to use the bomb would be its alone.

ADVERTISEMENT

In February, The Telegraph reported that France was considering deploying fighter jets carrying nuclear arms to Germany to send a message to Putin.

Merz already changing Germany’s outlook

On election night, Mr Merz, a staunch Atlanticist, dramatically broke with Washington, calling for Europe to achieve “real independence” from the US.

After the Bundestag backed the centre-Right politician’s plan to relax strict fiscal rules, he said it was “the first major step towards a new European defence community”.

He needed a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag to pass the legislation due to the fact that it required a change to the country’s constitution, which imposes strict limits on borrowing.

Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.

Daniel 3 : 8

CDU lawmakers could rebel

The bill passed comfortably with only seven lawmakers voting against or abstaining, despite speculation CDU lawmakers could rebel.

Sabbath Genocide Again? ‘UN is not the Bible,’ Rwanda to contest its reports: Foreign minister

The vote was rushed through the outgoing German parliament before the new voting body could assemble.

After the hard-Right and hard-Left made significant election gains in February’s election, Mr Merz would have struggled to pass his bill without relying on votes from the fringes.

But the decision to use the old parliament to tie down the spending options of the new one led to furious accusations from the hard-Right AfD that Mr Merz had carried out a “coup”.

‘Clear message Germany is determined to invest in defence’

Mr Merz had presented himself as the candidate of fiscal discipline in opposition to Olaf Scholz, the defeated chancellor, who advocated taking on more debt to deal with the threat from Russia.

This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

John 12 : 6

In a spectacular U-turn, Mr Merz announced days after the election that he wanted to take on the largest debt package in the modern country’s history.

Opponents say that the real intention of the debt package is to smooth out a coalition with the Social Democrats, who reject the welfare cuts Mr Merz advocated before the election. Mr Merz hopes a coalition government will be in office by Easter.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said the vote sent “a very clear message to Europe that Germany is determined to invest massively in defence”.

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

2 Peter 2 : 19

EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday for a summit, which is being held after Ms Von der Leyen launched a €800 billion plan to boost defence manufacturing and spending in Europe.