Learn what will happen during the tribulation period from beginning to end
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By Megan Goldin
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinians shot dead a rabbi from a
Jewish settlement in the West Bank Thursday in what militants called the first
response to an Israeli air strike that killed 15 Palestinians, including a top
militant. Two Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for
killing Rabbi Elimelech Shapira, 43, and wounding another man in an ambush as
they drove along a road near a Jewish settlement close to the West Bank city of
Qalqilya. "The operation is part of the armed struggle and in
response to the assassination of our people in Gaza and (Hamas militant) Salah
Shehada," the Popular Army Front-Return Battalions, a coalition of militant
groups, said in a statement. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group which is part of
the coalition and has links to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah
movement, also took responsibility for the ambush, which heightened fears of a
fierce new round of violence. The Islamic group Hamas has vowed to kill hundreds
of Israelis to avenge Tuesday's attack by an F-16 warplane which fired a one-ton
guided missile at the house of Shehada, commander of Hamas's military wing,
killing him and 14 others. Nine children were among the dead, most of them in buildings
near Shehada's home, and 145 people were injured in an assault which was
criticized in Israel and abroad. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Israelis and
Palestinians alike must brace for more violence following the air strike, in
which he said Israel had made mistakes. "I know that this is a serious escalation and I am
really afraid that innocent people on both sides will pay a high price,"
Peres told Israel's Army Radio. Palestinian witnesses said troops arrested four Palestinians
in Qalqilya after the West Bank ambush, including a militant leader, and that an
army bulldozer demolished the house where he was found. Hospital sources also said 10 Palestinians were hurt by an
explosion between a minibus and a taxi in the West Bank city of Jenin. They said
the blast may have been caused by a land mine planted by Palestinians as a
defense against Israeli forces. At least 1,467 Palestinians and 560 Israelis have been killed
since Palestinians began an uprising for independence in September 2000 after
peace talks stalled. Israel reoccupied West Bank cities last month in response
to suicide bombings. Israel has rarely been confronted with as much criticism in
the 22 months of conflict as it has over Tuesday's air strike. It faced more
during a late-night emergency debate in the United Nations Security Council. Nation after nation said Tuesday's attack was unacceptable
and unwarranted. But U.S. officials said from Washington, Israel's closest ally,
would oppose a draft resolution condemning the attack if it were put to a vote. Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer defended the
killing, saying Tuesday that intelligence had come in indicating Shehada was
plotting a "mega-terror attack" soon with an explosives-filled truck
that would have killed hundreds. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, speaking during a visit to
Paris, said the Gaza attack was an attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon to sabotage recent efforts by Palestinian moderates to reduce violence. Sharon has condemned the Palestinian Authority as a backer of
terror -- which it denies -- and wants a new leadership and sweeping reforms as
conditions for fresh peace talks. U.N., European and dovish Israeli critics say the right-wing
Sharon's priority is to avoid negotiations on a Palestinian state in territory
Israel took in the 1967 Middle East war. Sharon rules out Palestinian
independence in the near future and backs Jewish settlements in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip. END Personally, I believe that peace is closer then anyone may think, but it's not God's timing yet. This could turn around in a dramatic fashion very quickly. But I look for the rapture to take place long before any signs of real peace. I also look for the final formation of the New Roman Empire (EU) to take shape after the rapture occurs. Until then, you will continue to see a cycle of violence and retaliation. Any cease fire that may occur will be short lived. Pastor Malone