Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Report: 3,000 PA Policemen to Join Gaza Security Forces
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

PA police officer

Flash 90

The Palestinian Authority (PA) will establish a police presence in Gaza, Palestinian Arab sources told Walla! News Sunday morning, after Hamas and Fatah's renewed declaration of faith in the "unity" government was made last week. 

Three thousand PA policemen will be deployed in Gaza, according to the agreement, and will guard Gaza's border area, including crossings into Israel and Egypt.

The plan has been approved in principle - not implemented in practice - sources said, noting that Israel, too, must agree for the policemen to be approved for travel between the PA and Gaza. 

It is unclear whether the plan is a new proposal following the renewed unity pact, or simply a follow-up to declarations in May that would have seen 3,000 PA policemen join Gaza's security forces "on an interim basis." 

A PA police presence may not increase the overall level of security in Gaza, especially after Fatah claimed that Hamas regularly refuses to let the PA govern there. 

The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) revealed last month that a large-scale coup had been planned by Hamas in Judea and Samaria to overthrow the PA and Abbas's Fatah party, in orders given from Hamas officials abroad. 

The discovery calls into question the claim by several leftist MKs - as well as most of the international community, including the UN, EU, and even the US- that the PA's "government of technocrats" was impervious to Hamas terror, as well as the overall efficacy of the PA's security forces.

PA University Ejects Leftist Journalist for Being Jewish
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Antisemitism

Amira Hass

Flash 90

A Haaretz reporter was ejected from a pro-Palestinian conference at Birzeit University on Saturday, reporter Amira Hass said - simply for being an Israeli Jew. 

Hass attempted to attend the "Alternatives to Neo-Liberal Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories – Critical Perspectives" conference at the university, which is located near Ramallah where she lives.

But she was ejected from the hall by the organizers, Hass claimed, after students at the admission desk noted she worked for the Israeli publication and alerted security authorities to intervene. 

Birzeit University has had a policy of barring Israeli Jews from the campus for over 20 years, administrators said, and ejected her for fear that she would be attacked by an unruly mob of students. 

Hass was not assaulted by Palestinian Arab students at the conference, she noted, but rumors did surface shortly afterwards of such a confrontation. 

Her colleagues and professors told her that she was being ejected on the one hand "for her own protection" and also to give the students "a safe space" free of Jews.

Meanwhile, the University has officially denied that there was a problem. 

"The administration has no objection to the presence of the journalist [Amira] Hass," it insisted, in an official statement. "The University distinguishes between friends of the Palestinian people and its enemies ... and works with every person and institution who opposes the occupation." 

But Hass - who is well-known in Arab and leftist circles for her aggressive anti-Zionism, and provoked outrage last year for justifying rock-throwing attacks against Jews - angrily noted that she was "not told" about the policy and that "Palestinian citizens of Israel [i.e. Israeli Arabs - ed.] who teach at Israeli universities are not subject to the same policy." 

Even the conference's organizers were offended, Hass added, noting that keynote speaker Katja Herrmann - the regional head of the pro-Palestinian NGO the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation - stated after the incident that she would not have agreed to attend the event had she known about the discrimination policy. 

The incident surfaces amid growing tension between parts of the Israeli Left and the Palestinian Authority. Several left-wing parties, including Labor and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni's HaTnua party, openly supported Israel's self-defense operation in Gaza, Operation Protective Edge. More recently, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's anti-Israel tirade at the UN General Assembly offended even Meretz Chairman Zehava Gal-On, who branded the remarks as "serious and grave."

Officials Deny Link to Islam, Terror in Ok Beheading Rampage
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Alton Alexander Nolen, mugshot (file)

Reuters

The Muslim convert who allegedly beheaded a female colleague during a deadly rampage in Oklahoma Thursday was "screaming Islamic phrases" during the attack, eyewitnesses said Sunday - and details about events leading up to the massacre are even more troubling.

Alton Alexander Nolen, 30, had been trying to convert his co-workers at Vaughan Food processing plant in Moore, OK to Islam shortly before the rampage, officials stated. 

He also stated that "women should be stoned for an offense," according to a classmate, who spoke to the local McCurtain Gazette. 

Nolen was fired hours before the rampage, police said - then returned and "attacked the first person he could find." 

He savagely beheaded Colleen Hufford, 54 - "screaming Islamic phrases" the entire time - and then attacked 43-year-old Traci Johnson. Johnson is suffering "numerous wounds" and is in stable condition in a nearby hospital, police said. 

"He wasn't targeting anyone, wasn't going specifically after them," the police spokesman said. "It appears they were just in his way as he came in."

CEO and reserve deputy Mark Vaughan shot Nolen to stop the attack. 

Warning signs

Nolen has a detailed criminal history, according to CNN - including having spent seven years in prison for possession of a controlled substance, escaping confinement and resisting an officer. He was released in March 2013. 

Meanwhile, Nolen posted a series of disturbing Facebook posts in the days leading up to the attack, according to the Daily Mail, including celebrations of terrorism, remarks against non-Muslims, and promotions of radical Islam. 

Under the name Jah'Keem Yisrael, he posted such graphic posts as a picture of Pope Francis alongside the caption "SHARIA IS COMING" and a photo of the Joker from the Batman series cursing the US and "wicked" Israel.

In one photo, he makes what appears to be the sign of the Islamic State (IS) terror group; another lauds eliminated Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. 

Less virulent posts include photos of Nolen donning Islamic traditional dress and praying in a mosque. 

In denial?

US law enforcement officials have waffled over the term "terrorism" for the attacks, CNN notes, and have stated that they allegedly see no link between Islam and the attacks. 

The FBI is currently investigating Nolen's background and his motives, according to Fox News. 

Meanwhile, to defuse tensions, the Oklahoma Conference of Churches issued a statement on Saturday urging "all Oklahomans and people everywhere not to equate Mr. (Nolen's) actions with the beliefs and practices of the Islamic Community in Oklahoma."

The statement said that "The Islamic Community of Oklahoma has consistently condemned all violence -- most especially acts of violence ostensibly carried out in the name of Islam. Along with our Muslim brothers and sisters we affirm that true Islam is, in fact, a religion of peace and that those inflicting violence in the name of Islam are perverting Islam for their own ends."

No burial in sight for the faith of our fathers
Sep 28th, 2014
Thought For The WeekA. W. Tozer
Categories: Commentary;Exhortation

There is a notion abroad that Christianity is on its last legs, or possibly already dead and just too weak to lie down. In the minds of many who do not understand Christianity, the chief proof of her death is said to be her failure to provide leadership for the world just when she needs it most.

Let me say that those who would come forward to bury faith of our fathers have reckoned without the host. Just as Jesus Christ was once buried away with the full expectation that He had been gotten rid of, so His church has been laid to rest times without number; and as He disconcerted His enemies by rising from the dead so the church has confounded hers by springing again to vigorous life after all the obsequies had been peformed over her coffin and the crocodile tears had been shed at her grave!

Christianity is going the way her Founder and His apostles said it would go. Its development and direction were predicted almost two thousand years ago, and this itself is a miracle!

Had Christ been less than God and His apostles less than inspired they could not have foretold with such precision the state of the church so far removed from them in time and circumstance. The true church is the repository of the life of God among men, and if in one place the frail vessels fail, that life will break out somewhere else! Of this we may be sure.

"To the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." (Hebrews 13:23)

Netanyahu Promises 'Razor Sharp' Speech At UN
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Binyamin Netanyahu

Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is promising a “razor sharp” speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.

Speaking to reporters who accompanied him on his flight to New York, Netanyahu said the speech would be made up of two parts: a response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s speech and a response to the speech made by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who accused Israel of “genocide” and “war crimes” in his speech last Friday.

Arutz Sheva has learned that Netanyahu's full speech is not yet ready and is expected to undergo some last minute touch ups, but his associates said, “It is worth the wait”.

Speaking just before takeoff on his way to New York, Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to "refute the lies" against Israel at the UN General Assembly.

"In my speech to the General Assembly, I will refute the lies that are being told about us and I will tell the truth about our state and the heroic soldiers of the IDF, the most moral army in the world," Netanyahu said on the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv before boarding the plane.

Abbas’s speech garnered strong reactions from the U.S. - which called the tirade "offensive" - and from Israeli MKs across the political spectrum. 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Sunday that Abbas has become irrelevant following his speech.

Abbas’s speech “has made him irrelevant with regards to any attempts to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians”, Liberman told his counterparts in a meeting in New York.

Netanyahu Departs for New York, Vows to 'Fight the Lies' At UN
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Speaking just before takeoff on his way to New York, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to "refute the lies" against Israel at the UN General Assembly.

"In my speech to the General Assembly, I will refute the lies that are being told about us and I will tell the truth about our state and the heroic soldiers of the IDF, the most moral army in the world," Netanyahu said on the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv before boarding the plane.

He was referring particularly to the Friday address by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who accused Israel of carrying out a "genocidal crime" in its 50-day war against Gaza terrorists in a speech slammed as "offensive" by the US.

Earlier, an official from Netanyahu's office called the Palestinian leader's remarks "an inciteful hate speech full of lies," with Netanyahu pledging to refute it along with claims laid out in the UN speech of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

"After the Iranian president's deceptive speech and Abu Mazen's inciteful speech, I will tell the truth on behalf of Israel's citizens to the entire world," he said in a statement late Saturday, using Abbas's nickname.

"In my UN General Assembly speech and in all of my meetings I will represent the citizens of Israel and will - on their behalf - refute the slander and lies directed at our country," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu will deliver his speech to the General Assembly on Monday, then will travel to Washington to meet US President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday.

Liberman: Abbas Has Become Irrelevant
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Liberman meets Uganda's Foreign Minister

Foreign Ministry

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Sunday that Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has become irrelevant following his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

Liberman’s comments came in a meeting in New York with the foreign ministers of Canada, the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria and Rwanda.

Abbas’s speech “has made him irrelevant with regards to any attempts to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians”, Liberman told his counterparts.

In his speech, Abbas accused Israel of “war crimes” and “genocide”,  garnering strong reactions from the U.S. - which called the tirade "offensive" - and from Israeli MKs across the political spectrum. 

In Sunday’s meeting, Liberman also thanked his counterparts for their country’s representatives voting against the anti-Israel proposal that was brought last week before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Liberman further warned at the meeting of the dangers from global terrorist organizations.

"The biggest threat right now to stability in the world is the terrorist organizations that work consistently to take over weapons of mass destruction by taking over countries,” he said, calling for a united and determined front against the efforts of those terrorist organizations.

Regarding the negotiations between the West and Iran, Liberman said he is pessimistic about the ability to reach an agreement.

"The Iranians must not be allowed to continue with the nuclear program which threatens to hurt even the little stability that still remains in the Middle East," he said.

Let the Headlines Speak
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Japan volcano: Mt Ontake rescue teams find 31 bodies
The bodies of 31 hikers have been found near the top of Japan's Mount Ontake a day after a sudden volcanic eruption. The hikers were not breathing and their hearts had stopped. The search for a total of 45 missing climbers has now been called off for the night. The volcano, about 200km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, erupted without warning on Saturday, spewing ash and rocks.  

Analysis: Israel increasingly anxious over world's flexibility to nuclear Iran
As Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu departed to address the UN General Assembly in New York on Sunday, and to meet with US President Barack Obama, the fear in Israel was mounting with regard to the warming ties between Iran and the United States. Amid the struggle against Islamic State, there were more and more indications that the US and the Western powers were willing to relax their position regarding Iran's nuclear program.  

Inventor of World Wide Web warns of threat to internet
The British inventor of the World Wide Web warned on Saturday that the freedom of the internet is under threat by governments and corporations interested in controlling the web. Tim Berners-Lee, a computer scientist who invented the web 25 years ago, called for a bill of rights that would guarantee the independence of the internet and ensure users' privacy.  

Catalonia president signs independence referendum decree
The president of the Spanish region of Catalonia has signed a decree calling for a referendum on independence. Artur Mas wants Catalonia to hold a Scottish-style vote on 9 November, but does not have the backing of the central government in Madrid.  

Iran threatens to attack Islamic State "deep into Iraqi territory"
An Iranian military commander said that forces have been built up on the Iraqi border to counter the IS threat, and that they would attack into Iraq if necessary.  

Liberia's chief medical officer under Ebola quarantine
Liberia's chief medical officer has put herself under quarantine for 21 days, after one of her assistants died from the deadly Ebola virus. Bernice Dahn, a deputy health minister, said she had no symptoms but wanted to take every precaution. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says more than 3,000 people have died from Ebola in West Africa.  

Japanese troops head for volcano after eruption leaves missing, at least 40 injured
More than 500 Japanese military and police set out on Sunday to search the peak of a volcano popular with hikers a day after its sudden eruption trapped hundreds on the mountain for hours, amid conflicting reports about missing and injured climbers.  

Police: Ferguson officer shot; 2 suspects wanted
St. Louis County police say a Ferguson officer was shot after encountering two suspects at a community center who fired at him during a foot chase.  

Thousands at Hong Kong protest as Occupy Central is launched
The leader of Hong Kong's Occupy Central pro-democracy movement has announced the launch of a mass disobedience campaign. Benny Tai addressed thousands who had gathered outside government headquarters in central Hong Kong. It comes a day after the arrests of more than 60 protesters who had entered a restricted area on the same site.  

Islamic State crisis: Al-Nusra issues threat over air strikes
Syrian militant group al-Nusra Front has denounced US-led air strikes as "a war against Islam". In an online statement, the al-Qaeda-linked group called on jihadists around the world to target Western and Arab countries involved.  

British warplanes return from Iraq without bombing
British warplanes flew their first mission over Iraq since parliament authorised strikes against Islamic State jihadists, but returned without bombing on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence in London said.  

Islamic Bloc Supports PA Bid to Prosecute Israel
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Mahmoud Abbas

Flash 90

The world’s largest bloc of Islamic countries has been lobbying the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) so it can prosecute Israeli politicians and military leaders for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the bloc’s leader told The Associated Press (AP) on Saturday.

Iyad Madani said the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly supports PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s plan to ask the UN Security Council to impose a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.

“As OIC, we’re lobbying him to join the Rome Treaty and open the door as a member of the ICC court to bring up charges against the individual politicians and military people in Israel who are responsible for all those atrocities, the latest of which is Gaza,” Madani said.

He said the OIC agrees with Abbas’s statement to the UN General Assembly’s ministerial meeting on Friday that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide were committed in Gaza.

Madani accused Israel of “dehumanizing” treatment of the Palestinian Arabs for decades, “and we think there is a strong case to classify this current government of Israel as an apartheid state that should be dealt with internationally as an apartheid state.”

The PA has been threatening for years that it will sue Israel at the ICC. The PA’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, recently met with ICC officials and inquired about the legal procedures necessary for the PA to join the ICC and sign the Rome Statute, thus allowing it to take action against possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

That move came the PA requested to join 15 international agencies in breach of the conditions of the peace talks that were going on with Israel at that time.

A senior PA official recently said, however, that Abbas had blocked the initiative to turn to the ICC in order to push forward a new peace talks bid.

Despite the constant threats to turn to the ICC, PA officials realize that doing so is a calculated risk because it would give Israel a forum to pursue war crimes charges against the PA as well and particularly against Hamas.

In a recent interview, the PA's envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) admitted the PA has no hope of pressing charges against Israel in international courts - because Palestinian terrorist groups are far worse violators of international law themselves.

Iranian Army Aiding Palestinian Terrorists 'In the Field'
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Not yet categorized

Hamas terrorists in Gaza

Flash 90

Iran's Deputy Chief of Staff has said that soldiers from the Islamic Republic were operating "in the field" together with Palestinian terrorist groups.

Speaking to a group of senior military officers in Tehran on Saturday, Major General Gholam Ali Rashid appraised the extensive support Iran was providing for its proxies throughout the region.

"Some of our commanders are in the field to give military advice to the Iraqi army, Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance movement," he said, according to the semi-official Fars News. 

Iran has long been a key sponsor of terrorism against Israel, providing funding and arms to a wide range of Palestinian terrorist groups - most notably Hamas and Islamic Jihad - as well as to its largest and most powerful regional proxy, Lebanese Hezbollah.

Regionally, Tehran also funds, trains and even sends special forces to fight alongside a growing array of Shia Islamist militias. In Iraq and Syria, those militias - such as the Abbas Brigades, Iraqi Hezbollah and the notoriously brutal Asaib Ahl al-Haq - are playing a key role in propping up the Iranian-allied regimes in both those countries against Sunni rebels.

Iran has also provided training to Palestinian terrorists in the past via training camps in Iran or Syria, but Rashid's words appeared to indicate that Iranian operatives were on the ground - most likely in Gaza - to provide "military advice" there as well.

An Iranian presence in Gaza would not be hard to imagine, given that Tehran has invested considerably in both the territory's Hamas rulers and its major rival, Islamic Jihad. And although a high-profile falling out between Hamas and Tehran over the Syrian civil war resulted in a serious deterioration in their relationship, recent months have seen a limited rehabilitation of those ties. 

The reports come just over a month after the commander of Iran's state paramilitary force, the Basij, boasted that Tehran was actively arming terrorists in Judea and Samaria.

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi also claimed that most of the arms used by Hamas in its 50-day war against Israel this past summer were Iranian-made.

Fatah, Hamas Agree to Station Thousands of PA Cops in Gaza
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Fatah and Hamas agreed to station thousands of Palestinian Authority officers in the Gaza Strip.

The sides have yet to discuss the implementation of this decision. Israel has yet to confirm these details, as the country must approve or reject the placement of thousands officers from Judea and Samaria in Gaza.

European Leaders Speak Out Against Increasing Anti - Semitism
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Manuel Valls

Reuters

Possibly fearing the increasing loss of their Jews as European Aliyah escalates, European leaders and communities are taking steps to combat local anti-Semitism.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls visited the Great Synagogue in Paris just before Rosh Hashanah, and declared, "Denying the existence of Israel is the first step towards anti-Semitism."

Speaking to more than 1,000 representatives of the French Jewish community, Valls assured them that the fight against anti-Semitism is a national cause. 'To be a Jew, to be French, French and Jewish identities are inseparable,’’ he said.

In Italy, the Jewish community announced the launch of a special hotline by which victims of anti-Semitic attacks - and witnesses thereof - can report the incidents.

Renzo Gattegna, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, explained that the goal is "to nullify any threat of hatred and discrimination." He added that the hotline would have great benefit "especially now that old biases are back even in the most advanced and democratic societies."

The hotline, known as 'Antenna Anti-Semitism,' will be accessible by phone and online. It was launched with the backing of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) and the Foundation of Jewish Contemporary Documentation of Milan (CDEC).

In Germany earlier this month, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared before thousands of people, "Anyone who hits someone wearing a skullcap is hitting us all. Anyone who damages a Jewish gravestone is disgracing our culture. Anyone who attacks a synagogue is attacking the foundations of our free society."

According to the Service for the Protection of the Jewish community of France (SPCJ), a 91% increase in anti-Jewish acts was recorded there during the first seven months of this year – an average of more than 2.5 anti-Semitic acts or threats per day.

Questioned by the President of the Consistory Joel Mergui regarding the measures taken by the French authorities to ensure the safety of the Jewish community, PM Valls said that the government had redesigned its national action plan against racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia and made it "more ambitious."

Canada to Take Part in Coalition Against ISIS
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is known for his hawkish views in regards to terrorism, said over the weekend that the “Islamic State” (IS or ISIS) group is a direct threat to Canada and the world, and therefore Canada will take part in the coalition against the group.

Harper noted that the fight against IS is a complicated challenge, as the group is a terrorist caliphate, which controls large areas and which slaughters hundreds of thousands of people.

He said the Canadian government will not hesitate to act in light of the security threat to Canada and Canadian interests.

This week the Canadian government is expected to discuss further steps against IS, in addition to the 69 military advisers Ottawa has already decided to send to help the Iraqi army and the Kurdish militia.

In 2011 participated, Canada took part in the military campaign that helped topple the Muammar Qaddafi regime in Libya, but the Canadian opposition parties strongly oppose military participation in Syria and Iraq.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird recently expressed Canada’s determination to act against the IS.

In an article published in The Globe and Mail newspaper, Baird said that IS poses a threat not only to Iraq, Syria and the region, but also for global security, and that the interest of the free world is to eliminate it.

Meanwhile on Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama said U.S. intelligence officials failed to appreciate the gains made by Islamic State extremists in Syria during the last few years of that country's civil war.

"I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria," Obama said in an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes program.

"Over the past couple of years, during the chaos of the Syrian civil war, where essentially you have huge swathes of the country that are completely ungoverned," the president said, Islamic State was "able to reconstitute themselves and take advantage of that chaos.

Al - Nusra Front Threatens Western Countries
Sep 28th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Al-Nusra Front terrorists

Reuters

The Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel group Al-Nusra Front on Saturday denounced U.S.-led airstrikes on Syria and threatened to retaliate against Western and Arab countries that took part, Reuters reported.

"We are in a long war. This war will not end in months nor years. This war could last for decades," group spokesman Abu Firas al-Suri was quoted as having said.

"It's not a war against Nusra Front, it's a war against Islam,” he added in an audio message published on the group's social media network in its first reaction since the launch of the U.S.-led strikes on Tuesday.

The airstrikes that include some Gulf and European nations killed scores of Al-Nusra fighters in an attack on a base in a rebel held area of northwestern Syria on the first day of the military campaign, according to Reuters.

"These countries have done a despicable act that will put them on the list of those targeted by jihadist forces all over the world," the spokesman said.

The United States has been carrying out strikes in Iraq since August 8 and in Syria, with the help of Arab allies, since Tuesday. It says the campaign is aimed at "degrading and destroying" Islamist terrorists who have captured swathes of both countries.

Al-Nusra Front, whose leader pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, has been heavily involved in the fighting in Syria as well as in neighboring Lebanon, where it has claimed responsibility for several bombings and has also threatened local Sunnis.

Most recently, members of the group kidnapped 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers and threatened to try them under Islamic law before ultimately releasing them.