USA URGES UN NOT TO PUBLISH ANTI-ISRAEL BLACKLIST: The Trump administration is urging the United Nations not to publish a “blacklist” of international firms that do business in Israeli communities in Judea & Samaria, diplomats and others said. The UN Human Rights Council voted to approve the database of companies last year, despite objections from the United States and Israel. American companies on the list drawn up by the Geneva-based council include Caterpillar, TripAdvisor, Priceline.com, Airbnb and others. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, has told USA officials he plans to publish the list by the end of the year and has asked for comments by 1 Sept. 2017 from countries where affected firms are headquartered. When the announcement of the blacklist was first made public, PM Netanyahu condemned it and said that "the UNHRC has become an anti-Israeli circus with their attacks on the only democracy in the Middle East and their disregard for the gross violations in Iran, Syria and North Korea.” The prime minister called on “responsible governments” not to respect the UN resolution that discriminates against Israel. The UN is known for its anti-Israel bias, and regularly approves anti-Israel resolutions. The body's former Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, publicly admitted that the UN has an anti-Israel bias. (INN)

HAMAS CAMP TRAINS CHILDREN FOR ‘LIBERATION OF PALESTINE’: Hamas held a closing ceremony in Gaza on Friday 18 August 2017, for 120,000 boys and girls attending the terrorist group’s summer schools. The ceremony, for some 1,000 students who took part in the camps was framed as part of the group's plan to continue its armed conflict with Israel. Boys between 15 and 18 years of age were put through military drills, including shooting with live ammunition and training in scouting skills. Hamas official Ashraf Abu Zayed said the training came within the framework of "preparing for the liberation of Palestine. We are trying to invest the younger generation and guide them towards the liberation project," he told media sources, referring to armed struggle against Israel. Hamas’ so-called “military wing”, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, regularly trains children at its camps on military skills, such as use of weapons, and also simulates the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. Hamas has previously launched a program to teach “resistance” to Israel in Gaza’s public school system. (Arutz-7) Pray for the children of Gaza to be rescued and released from this hellish agenda for their lives. Pray for God's better plan to come into place.

NEW TUNNEL SITES UNCOVERED IN GAZA: In addition to disclosing new information about the Israel’s southern border barrier, the military revealed that it found two Hamas tunnel sites buried beneath an apartment building and a family’s home in the northern Gaza Strip. Major General Eyal Zamir accused the Hamas terror group of purposefully building the tunnels under civilian structures to provide cover for its operations. That being the case, the general warned, “these sites are legitimate military targets. Anyone inside of one, should another conflict begin, endangers himself and endangers his family, and the responsibility is on the Hamas organization.” The work on Israel’s 37-mile barrier around Gaza began in earnest earlier this summer, and Zamir said it would be completed within two years. It will feature an advanced underground protection system that extends dozens of meters below the ground in order to detect and destroy tunnels that attempt to penetrate into Israeli territory, as well as an above-ground metal fence adorned with sensors. The Defense Ministry will also bulk up the defense along the Gaza coast, putting up breakwaters and other protective measures in order to prevent infiltration into Israel from the sea, as occurred during the 2014 Gaza war. (Times of Israel) Hamas continues to exploit its own Gaza Strip society - in need of a future and a hope - by using foreign aid money to build terrorist tunnels, buy weapons and invest in its next war against Israel.

NETANYAHU BACKS PUSH TO SHUT DOWN AL JAZEERA’S ISRAEL OFFICES: Security comes before freedom of expression, Communications Minister Ayoub Kara said Sunday 6 August 2017, laying out a five-point plan backed by PM Netanyahu to shut down Qatari cable network Al Jazeera. Kara said Al Jazeera should be banned from broadcasting from Israel on grounds of incitement. “I want to make clear: Our citizens’ security and welfare overcomes freedom of expression in times of terror, period. Freedom of expression is not freedom to incite,” Kara said at a press conference. Kara asked the Government Press Office to revoke Al Jazeera reporters’ press cards. He also spoke to the cable and satellite television companies in Israel, which he said expressed willingness to stop broadcasting Al Jazeera. In addition, Kara asked Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to use his authority to close down the network’s Israeli offices, and asked for the channel’s broadcasts on open satellites, used by many Israeli Arabs, to be blocked. (J.Post) Pray that these types of demeaning cable networks will be banned and blocked in Israel and receive no further funding from Israel-hating sources to pollute - rather than to promote - materials that further reliable reporting and peace.

ISRAEL CANNOT RETURN TO THE PRE-1967 BORDERS: Israel cannot return to the pre-1967 borders. It would leave the center of the country a mere nine miles wide and its borders indefensible. The Jewish State could be cut in two by an Arab tank charge in just minutes. Arab forces would be positioned all along Israel’s eastern border, taking in the areas that contain the greatest concentration of Israel’s population, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. Israel would be stripped of its protective Judea-Samaria mountain ranges. USA Lieut.-General Thomas Kelly, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War, pointed out that Israel would be virtually indefensible without those mountainous areas. An Israeli retreat to the pre-1967 borders would also include the re-division of Jerusalem. The Arabs would gain control of the Old City section of Jerusalem (known as “east Jerusalem”), which includes the holiest sites in Judaism, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. That area also includes the historic Jewish Quarter and the Mount of Olives cemetery, which is the oldest Jewish cemetery in the world. An Israeli retreat to the indefensible pre-1967 borders would encourage further Arab attacks and lead to an all-out war. (JNN)