VFI News July 17, 2020

Hezbollah is continuing to bolster its cache of weapons by storing them in more urban, densely-populated locations throughout Lebanon, a new study has revealed.

According to a report released this week by the Israel-based Alma Center, 28 new depots have been determined, with the highest concentration in the capital city of Beirut, the Beqaa Valley, and southern Lebanon.

Most significantly, ALMA claims that the locations – which include command and control launch capabilities, bunkers and missile assembly lines – are disguised in routine civilian areas, nestled in and around hospitals, personal residences, golf clubs, offices, soccer fields, churches, schools, and restaurants.

It's a tactic deemed the "human shield," which has long been associated with Hezbollah's operating procedures. (Fox / VFI News)

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord. —Isaiah 54:17

“God, we ask that you bring justice to those who do evil—particularly those who entangle innocent lives in their plans of hatred.”

Ziklag is mentioned several times in the Bible, most famously in the Book of Samuel, when a young David was granted refuge from King Saul by the Philistine King Achish of Gat. David was awarded Ziklag as a vassal state, under the protection of Achish, and he used it as a base for raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites.

According to the Book of Samuel, the city was destroyed by the Amalekites and the population was enslaved. After Saul was killed in battle with the Philistines, David left Ziklag and traveled to Hebron to be anointed king of Israel.

Tel a-Sharia in the Negev has long been identified as one of the possible locations of Ziklag and has one of the strongest claims to being the ancient settlement. Now, another theory has been put forward that supports Tel a-Sharia’s claims. (JPost / VFI News)

Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire. —1 Samuel 30:1

At least seven ships were on fire in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr, Tasnim reported on Wednesday, adding that the cause of the fires remains unclear.

Efforts are underway to bring the fire under control, IRNA cited Jahangir Dehghani, the head of the crisis management organization for Bushehr province, as saying. The incident follows a series of explosions that have rocked Iran in recent weeks. An explosion occurred at an Iranian chemical plant Monday, Iranian media reported.

The blast allegedly occurred at a gas condensate plant in the Kavian Fariman industrial zone in the Razavi Khorasan Province in eastern Iran. The explosion was caused by a fire that broke out at one of the gas tanks. Firefighters were able to put out the blaze before it spread to other tanks and caused additional explosions. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A gas explosion shook a residential building in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, injuring one person, Iran's semi-official ISNA reported. (INN / VFI News)

Controversy erupted as an Egyptian report circulated on social media on Tuesday, claiming that Yemen’s Houthis arrested Jews in the Kharif District of the 'Amran Governorate northwest of Sana'a as part of "ethnic cleansing" efforts.

The report, published in several Yemeni media outlets and then the Egyptian newspaper Al-Mesryoon, stated that local sources from Kharif had reported that the Houthis had rounded up the Jews and imprisoned them due to their religion and were pressuring them to leave Yemen.

The Houthis additionally forced the Jews to sign pledges to sell their homes, land, and property to Houthi leaders at nominal prices and then leave the country, according to the report.

The report has yet to be confirmed by any official source, leaving questions about the report’s validity. The fate of the Jews in Yemen, if the report is true, is uncertain. (JPost / VFI News)

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Yeshua the Messiah will be persecuted —2 Timothy 3:12

“God, we ask that you bless and protect all your children, with particular care for those living in Yemen, and facing such strong persecution.”

Researchers at Israel’s Hebrew University of Jerusalem and New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center believe they could potentially downgrade COVID-19’s severity into nothing worse than a common cold.

New research by Hebrew University Prof. Ya’acov Nahmias and Sinai’s Dr. Benjamin tenOever revealed that the FDA-approved drug Fenofibrate (Tricor) could reduce SARS-CoV-2’s ability to reproduce or even make it disappear.

SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name for the novel coronavirus.

“Viruses are parasites,” Nahmias explained. “They cannot replicate themselves. They cannot make new viruses. They have to get inside a human cell and then hijack that cell.”

As such, Nahmias and tenOever spent the last three months studying what SARS-CoV-2 is doing to human lung cells. What they found is that the novel coronavirus prevents the routine burning of carbohydrates, which results in large amounts of fat accumulating inside lung cells – a condition the virus needs to reproduce. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you continue to bless those seeking answers to this pandemic and that you speed the process to as many as possible.”

Far-right white nationalist Canadian politician Travis Patron – leader of the Canadian Nationalist Party – shared antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories involving Jews to the political party's official social media channels on Saturday – personally labeling the religious group a "parasitic tribe."

The CNP shared both a video and a flier featuring Patron, with the latter displaying the proper way to do a Roman salute – which can be easily construed as a Nazi salute.

Patron further made a comment that could be construed as being oblivious to the Holocaust, although not directly mentioning it.

"It's their world, and we're just a number to them," he stated. "If they had their way, our entire way of life would be eradicated. They don't like us. In fact, they despise us because of what we are. They cannot coexist with it."

Patron then formulates a call to action, calling for the removal of Jews from Canada as per the consensus in the CNP. (JPost / VFI News)

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. —Matthew 5:10-12

“God, we ask that you help us to eradicate the evil of antisemitism that has plagued our governments all around the world.”

Israeli foodies will be able to take a bite out of the world’s first 3D-printed plant-based steak later this year thanks to a breakthrough in food technology.

Redefine Meat, an Israeli company based in Rehovot, has unveiled the “Alt-Steak,” which it says replicates the texture, flavor and appearance of real meat via the use of a patent-pending 3D printing technology.

“This is the world’s first 3D-printed steak that can really pass the test of what is a steak,” Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, CEO and co-founder of Redefine Meat, told The Media Line. “We’ve reached a milestone because we can print steaks on a large scale and the taste and texture are amazing.”

Plant-based ground meat varieties have been available on the market for several years but mimicking an actual cut of meat – with its distinctive combination of fat, muscle, sinew and mouthfeel – has proved to be a much greater challenge. (JPost / VFI News)

An innovative, non-pharmaceutical treatment that filters the blood of cancer patients, similar to dialysis, is currently undergoing clinical trials at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel. Called immunopheresis, this revolutionary technology removes proteins produced by malignant cells that block the body's natural immune system, enabling the body to better attack and destroy cancerous tumor cells.

The 40-patient clinical study was conceived and led by Professor Gal Markel, director of the Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno-Oncology at Sheba Medical Center. It will treat patients with various types of cancer, including breast cancer, resistant metastatic melanoma, renal cell carcinoma and lung cancer.

Professor Markel explained that certain cancer cells can protect themselves from the body's immune system by producing proteins that circulate in the patient's bloodstream and sabotage the ability of the immune cells to battle disease.

Prof. Markel added that the technology has the ability to "neutralize the cancer by filtering those proteins out of the bloodstream so that the patient's own immune system can fight effectively, either alone or in tandem with existing immunotherapy drugs." (INN / VFI News)