WORLD AT WAR: 8.10.24 - Israel Sends Message In The Form Of A Sonic Boom Over Beirut

Is Iran About to Start World War III? - by Michael Snyder - https://endoftheamericandream.com/did-iran-just-start-world-war-iii/ Have we reached a point of no return? As I write this article, the world is waiting for news that Iran has attacked Israel. If it happens, it is likely to be a significantly larger attackthan the last one. Of course once Iran attacks, then everyone will be watching Israel to see if they strike back or not. If Israel chooses not to strike back, this could be the end of it for a while. But ultimately this is a war that is still just gettingstarted. It is just a matter of time before all-out war erupts, and when we finally reach that point the death and destruction that we will witness will shock the entire globe. Everyone pretty much understood that there would be no Iranian attack until after the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday. Following that meeting, Iran�s actingforeign minister warned that Iran �has no choice but to exercise its inherent right to legitimate defense�� Iran has no choice but to respond to Israel�s �aggressions,� Iran�s acting foreign minister said on Wednesday, as the Middle East awaits Tehran�s response to Israel over the killing of a Hamasleader in the Iranian capital last week. �In the absence of appropriate action by the Security Council against the aggressions and violations of the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to exercise its inherentright to legitimate defense against this regime�s actions,� Iranian media quoted Ali Bagheri-Kani as saying during an extraordinary session of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting was convened partly at Iran�s request, following the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last Wednesday, an attack that Iran has attributed to Israel. Israel has notclaimed responsibility for the attack. Elsewhere, the head of the Iranian Army also seemed to indicate that a decision to attack Israel has already been made� Chief Commander of the Iranian Army Abdolrahim Mousavi did not sound consolatory when he spoke of Israel�s pending destruction on Wednesday. �The Zionist regime will soon receive a strong and definite response, and there is no doubt about it,� Mousavi reportedly said, according to IRNA and Tasnim. �It is clear that they themselveshave realized the speed of their own destruction, and by doing so, they want to save themselves from the quagmire, but they definitely cannot save themselves from annihilation.� It certainly appears that an attack will be coming. We just don�t know exactly when that attack will take place. Egypt made headlines when it issued instructions for its airlines �to avoid Iranian airspace for a three-hour period in the early morning on Thursday�� Egypt instructed all of its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for a three-hour period in the early morning on Thursday. The NOTAM, a safety notice provided to pilots on Wednesday, said theinstruction would be in effect from 0100 to 0400 GMT. It provided no further details as to why the notice was issued. An Egyptian official was quoted by the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV as saying that the Iranian authorities said to avoid flying in Iranian airspace because of �military exercises.� �Based on a report from Iranian authorities to all civil aviation companies, flights over Iranian airspace are to be avoided,� the unnamed official was quoted as saying. Now that the period of time in that warning has passed, it seems clear that this was just a false alarm. And there are many that are hoping that Iran will ultimately decide not to attack at all. If you can believe it, that even includes the new president of Iran. It is being reported that the president of Iran specifically asked Ayatollah Ali Khamenei not to launch an attack� Iran�s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has reportedly asked the Islamic Republic�s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to refrain from attacking Israel, according to a report by Iran Internationalon Wednesday. Pezeshkian warned Khamenei of the potential attack�s effects on his presidency, with Iran International quoting sources familiar with the development. The new Iranian president cautioned that an Israeli retaliatory attack could cripple Iran�s economy, infrastructure, and even lead to the country�s collapse. I really wish that the Ayatollah would listen to him. On the other side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is assuring the Israeli people that his government is prepared for whatever might happen� �We are prepared both defensively and offensively,� Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during a visit Wednesday to the IDF induction base at Tel Hashomer. �I know that the citizens of Israel are concerned, and I ask one thing of you: Be patient and level-headed,� he said. �We are striking our enemies and are determined to defend ourselves.� And of course the U.S. stands ready to defend Israel as well. In fact, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is sending additional military assets to the region� �To maintain our carrier strike group presence in the Middle East, I�ve ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt later this month,� he said. �I�ve also ordered more cruisers and destroyers capable of ballistic missile defense to the region,� Austin stressed. Another fighter squadron has also been deployed to the Middle East �to reinforce our defensive air support capabilities here,� he added. We better hope that an all-out war does not erupt in the Middle East any time soon. Because the truth is that the U.S. military is definitely not prepared to fight a major war. Our military is in such bad shape that we were not even able to conduct a successful withdrawal from Afghanistan. We really need to get our act together, because it is just a matter of time before thousands of missiles start being lobbed back and forth in the Middle East. It isn�t going to happen yet. But as I have been warning for years, it is definitely coming. So don�t get too comfortable. This war in the Middle East will eventually blow up in a major way, and once that happens there will be no going back. Israel Sends Message In The Form Of A Sonic Boom Over Beirut, As US Pressure Emboldens Iran’s Axis Of Evil ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ – By Erick Stakelbeck - https://harbingersdaily.com/israel-sends-message-in-the-form-of-a-sonic-boom-over-beirut-as-us-pressure-emboldens-irans-axis-of-evil/ The Times of Israel reported that earlier today, Israeli jets set off Sonic booms in Beirut just as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was set to start delivering his fiery speech once againthreatening the world’s one and only Jewish State. “Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut just ahead of a pugnacious speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday afternoon, as northern residents were told to stayclose to bomb shelters amid a series of cross-border attacks from Lebanon,” the Times of Israel detailed. “At the beginning of his televised address on Tuesday to mark the one-week anniversary of Shukr’s death, Nasrallah charged that the sonic booms set offby Israeli planes flying low over Beirut were intended as a provocation.” “The loud booms sent residents rushing to open their windows to prevent the glass from shattering or standing on their balconies to get a glimpse of the planes flying over,” the report continued. Clearly, this was a message from Israel. There has been talk of Hezbollah striking Israel prior to Iran’s promised attack. If Hezbollah tries to attack Israel in some major way, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon where Nashallah routinelyhides, will be on the table. Israeli leaders, both military and political, have said this for years. If Lebanon is hosting Hezbollah, if Hezbollah has essentially built a state within a state, Lebanon will also pay aprice—hence, sonic booms over Beirut. Additionally, five Hezbollah terrorist operatives were taken out in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon today, and Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at the Galilee region and the GolanHeights. It is a high-intensity war that’s gone on since October 8th between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Offense vs Defense — Awaiting The Iranian Attack The world continues to wait for the promised Iranian axis of evil attack on Israel. It has been one week since the news broke that Israel had eliminated top Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh andHezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. While Shaukr was killed in Beruit, Haniyeh was taken out in Tehran under the noses of the Iranian regime, his host. Ever since, we have been hearing threats of revenge from the Iranian axis. Iran reportedly told diplomats that they are going to strike Israel—or at least they will try. Is the moment is upon us? Some have suggested the regime will wait until the ninth of Av, a significant day on the Jewish calendar. This was the day, a few hundred years apart, when both Jewish temples were destroyed,and the Jewish people were exiled from the land of Israel. First, the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s temple. Later, in 70 AD, the Romans led by General Titus, destroyed the second temple, often referred to as “Herod’s Temple,” where Jesus taught and chasedout the money changers. We don’t know when this Iranian attack is coming, but sitting in the United States, it has been difficult watching this all unfold. Call me crazy, but if someone is planning to strike you… strike them first before they get the chance! It has been maddening to see Israel have to sit around and wait for this Iranian attack before they can respond. The reason for that is the Biden Administration. That’s not political; that’s a fact. Just as they did during the April 13th attack on Israel by Iran, the Biden Administration is telling Israel that they will help “defend” against any Iranian attack, but if Israel goes on theoffensive, that support will no longer remain. It’s a disgrace on the part of the American Administration. I just sat down with my good friend Yair Pinto, a TBN Israel correspondent out of Jerusalem and spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces who served in Gaza. On an episode of Stakelbeck tonight,I expressed my frustration with Yair that the world is pressuring Israel to sit and wait to be attacked. He responded by saying that he did not believe that this attack will be like April 13th. On April 13th, Israel waited, he explained. They knew Iran had launched over 300 rockets, missiles, and attack drones, and it took a few hours for some of them to actually reach Israel. Thankfullyand miraculously 99% of them were shot down. It was a miracle. This time around, Yair said, as soon as Iran fires one missile, Israel’s going to strike crucial facilities in Iran—perhaps military, oil facilities, or water infrastructure. Israel is not going to stand pat once Iran pushes that trigger, he stressed during our discussion. Five days after the April 13th attack, Israel responded in a very limited way, with one air strike near an Iranian nuclear facility. It had symbolic value, but overall, it was not the kindof response from Israel that served as a deterrent to Iran. If it was, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today. Yair believes that the Israeli response will be carried out quickly, in real-time. During the Six-Day War, another miraculous victory, Israel struck first. Egypt, Syria, and Jordan en mass were on Israel’s borders. Like now, everyone knew the attack was coming. Israel struckthem and destroyed the Egyptian Air Force while it was still on the ground. They never got in the air. The war was effectively over in the opening hours because of preemptive action. That was 1967. Contrast that with the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Israel’s enemies made major gains in the early days of the war before Israel eventually turned the tide and ended up with a resoundingvictory. However, over 2,500 Israeli soldiers lost their lives. That’s a heavy price for a tiny Nation like Israel to pay. That was the difference between offense in 1967 and defense in 1973. Biden Administration Tying Israel’s Hands There have been rumblings that Israel may strike preemptively now. If Israel does not, I believe it would be because the world will howl and blame Israel. Whereas, if Israel waits for therockets to start flying from Iran and the Jewish State reacts overwhelmingly, they can point to Iran taking the first shot. It’s a sad state of affairs ladies and gentlemen, but that’s where we’re at in the world right now. The world as a whole is trying to restrain Israel from taking decisive action against genocidalforces that want to wipe it off the map. On April 13th, Joe Biden told Benjamin Netanyahu, “Take the win,” it wasn’t a successful attack, so let sleeping dogs lie. The problem with that is Iran became emboldened. April 13th, in onesense, was a resounding victory, with 99% of those projectiles being shot down, in another sense, Iran took notes. They got away with it. We know from the public statements of the Biden Administration that they’re tying Israel’s hands and threatening them not to attack preemptively. Though under Biden they don’t act as such, the United States remains the leader of the free world. When the United States is weak, it leaves a vacuum for the world’s worst actors to fill.Weak men create hard times, and we’re seeing this throughout the West. Iran is not frightened or nervous about the US—they’re emboldened. That’s why they’re doing this again, and they will very likely try to do it with greater force and magnitude this timearound. Until the US shows strength and takes the pressure off of Israel, allowing them to do what is necessary, we’ll continue to have these provocations from the likes of the Iranian regime. Hamas Names Sinwar Top Leader Meanwhile, in the demonic death cult known as Hamas, the Osama Bin Laden of Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, ascended (more accurately descended) to the top leadership post, replacing the not-so-dearlydeparted Ismail Haniyeh who was taken out in Tehran last week. Sinwar, a barbaric butcher, is the face of October 7th. If you are following Hamas as I have since its inception, you shouldn’t be surprised. They’re doubling down. There is no turning back.Hamas is a genocidal jihadist organization that exists to destroy Israel. Pray For Israel Right now, Israel could use a few good friends (it goes without saying). As Christians, we must try to fulfill that biblical mandate of blessing the people of Israel and assisting the peopleof Israel as laid out in Genesis 12:3. Israel needs to rely on the God of Israel. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I ask you to join me in praying for Israel’s leaders—for them to have the wisdom of Solomon, spines of steeland boldness, and the courage to do what’s right. --------------------------------------- Israel's Long Arm of Retribution: Where is The United States In All Of This? – Stephen Flatow - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=7167 The killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 is just another in a long line of anti-terror activities that take place outside the borders of Israel. For a country that strugglesto manage mail delivery within its borders, delivering a concealed bomb to a hotel 1,000 miles away in Tehran didn't seem to be a problem. Haniyeh's and other recent assassinations are not one-off events, as Israel's long arm of retribution for harm againstits citizens has been seen before. Following the massacre of 11 members of the Israeli athletic team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir authorized the Mossad to undertake "OperationWrath of God," which targeted individuals associated with the Palestinian Black September movement and operatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization for assassination. While the precise number of targets remains unknown, it is reported to have included 20 to 35 individuals. The operation spanned two decades, emphasizing the global scale and extended durationof the Jewish state's response to the violent tragedy in Germany. More recently, as Palestinian terrorists murdered and maimed Israelis in the 1990s following the signing of the Oslo Accords, Israel again acted. For instance, in October 1995, Fathi Shaqaqi--the leader of Palestine Islamic Jihad--stepped out of a hotel on the Mediterranean island of Malta. Two men on a motorcycle stopped opposite himand shot him at point-blank range. While no one took credit for the attack, it was attributed to the Mossad as payback for PIJ carrying out an April 9, 1995 terror attack near Kfar Darom that took the lives of eight people, including my daughter Alisa. January 1996 saw the assassination of Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash, known as "The Engineer," who was responsible for rigging bomb vests and designing other deadly terror tools. His cell phonewas returned to him after a "repair," and when he answered a call, an explosion did what it was intended to--remove a potent member of the Hamas terror team. Yet it's disheartening to realize how little the U.S. government has done in similar cases and how muddled the American reply has been to attacks against American citizens in Israel and elsewhere. You may recall then-President Bill Clinton's 1996 promise to the family of Nachshon Wachsman--a U.S. citizen kidnapped and murdered by Hamas in 1994--that he would bring Mohammed Deif, themastermind of the kidnapping, to justice. Safe under the protection of the PLO and then Hamas, polite requests from Washington to PLO chief Yasser Arafat for Deif to be handed over to it were met with silence. While it took almost 30 years, Deif did meet hisend last month, courtesy of Israel. Going further back, on Aug. 11, 1976, terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacked the El Al Terminal in the Istanbul Airport. Four people were killed and dozenswere injured. Two of the wounded were American women. One of those killed was Harold W. Rosenthal, 29, of Philadelphia, who had been a staff member for several Democratic members of Congress. The PFLP is the second-largest faction of the PLO. The PLO is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, which receives $500 million a year from the United States. Yetno U.S. administration has ever demanded that Abbas expel the PFLP from the PLO. Rosenthal was not the only terror victim with close ties to Democratic leaders. On March 9, 1978, a group of Palestinian terrorists led by Dalal Mughrabi landed on a northern Israel beachwhere they encountered Gail Rubin, a nature photographer and niece of Sen. Abraham Ribicoff, a Connecticut Democrat. Mughrabi shot Gail point-blank. The P.A. has named streets, parks and sports tournaments in honor of Mughrabi, whom it considers a "heroine"and "martyr." While the U.S. reaction to the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, eventually brought about the killing of mastermind Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and the arrests of some of Al-Qaeda's most notoriousvillains who are now imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, the absence of any American response to the murder and kidnappings of Americans by Hamas on Oct. 7 is discouraging. It's not that the United States can't act; it certainly does when it wants to. Al-Qaeda was the target of "Operation Enduring Freedom" initiated in 2001 to dismantle the terror group and removethe Taliban from power in Afghanistan. This operation involved extensive military action, including airstrikes and ground operations. It has employed drone strikes targeting Al-Qaeda leaders and operatives in countries like Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. It has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities associated withAl-Qaeda, aiming to disrupt their financial networks and limit their ability to fund terrorist activities. You may be surprised to learn that U.S. laws allow for the prosecution in the United States of crimes against Americans that are committed overseas. Other laws address the deaths of Americansoverseas as a result of state-sponsored terrorism as well as hostage-taking. The U.S. Code has a section dealing with hostages. It applies to "whoever ... seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure or to continue to detain another ... in order to compel a ...a governmental organization to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the person detained, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be punished by imprisonment for any term of years or for life and, if thedeath of any person results, shall be punished by death or life imprisonment." This law clearly applies today, as at least nine American citizens are being held captive in the Gaza Strip. The "whoever" cited in the statute are those members of Hamas who not only participatedin the attacks but "conspired"--namely, the Hamas leadership. With Haniyeh out of the way, Hamas senior leader Yahya Sinwar is a ripe candidate for indictment and U.S. action to bring him to justice. America has the tools to join in the fight against Hamas. So, why hasn't it? The hostages and the memories of those murdered on Oct. 7 deserve at least that much. ------------------------------ Middle East War Could Be Trigger for Much Larger Energy War � Brandon Smith - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=7163 If the year of 2024 has proven anything so far, it's that our worries about the potential outbreak of WWIII are absolutely reasonable. The skeptics making accusations of "conspiracy theory"and "doom and gloom" have been proven wrong yet again. The geopolitical atmosphere is turning sour fast. I still don't think a lot of people realize how truly volatile the situation is globally right now. From my point of view, WWIII has already begun, at least in economic terms. Let's not forget the fact that Ukraine is essentially a proxy for all of NATO against Russia. And, the situation in the Middle East is about to become much worse. Because of the alliancesinvolved and the fragile nature of global energy exports there is a danger of systemic collapse should a wider war break out between Israel and multiple Arab nations. It appears that such a war is imminent. But why should Americans care? It's pretty simple - War spurs shortages, and shortages in the middle of a stagflationary crisis are a very bad thing. Sanctions against Russia affect around 10% of the global oil market and around 12% of global natural gas consumption. But so far all that oil and natural gas is still flowing around the world,only the trade routes have changed. The Middle East, on the other hand, accounts for over 35% of the global oil market and 18% of the natural gas market. Widespread chaos in this region would mean economic crisis on a scale not seen in a century. Think we have problems with stagflation now? Just wait until energy prices go to the moon. Around 30% of all oil exports travel through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage which a nation like Iran can easily block for months at a time. Sinking a few larger vessels in the straightwould obstruct all cargo ship traffic and oil tanker traffic. Trying to clean up the mess would be difficult because artillery, which is almost impossible to intercept, can rain down from Iran on any vessels trying to drag sunken ships out of the way. Iran has mutual defense pacts with multiple governments in the region including Lebanon and Syria, along with military ties to Russia. The Turkish government is unlikely to allow western troopsto use their airspace to launch attacks. The US military presence in Afghanistan is gone and the Iraqi government will never allow foreign troops to use their land to come to the aid of Israel. This greatly limits the west's launch points for an offensive large enough to blitz Iran. The vast majority of attacks would be from the air, and if the Russians start supplying Iran withbatter radar and missile technology then there's no guarantees Israel or the US would gain full control of the air space. In other words, if a wider war breaks out it will not end for YEARS and it's going to be fought on the ground. Of course, most establishment experts have claimed that the situation will never escalate to that point and that the threat of direct confrontation between Israel and Iran is minimal. I havebeen predicting the opposite for a number of reasons, just as I predicted that there was a high chance of war in Ukraine months before it happened. In October of 2023 in my article 'It's A Trap! The Wave Of Repercussions As The Middle East Fights "The Last War"' I warned that a multi-front war was about to develop between Israel and variousMuslim nations including Lebanon and Iran. I noted: Israel is going to pound Gaza into gravel, there's no doubt about that. A ground invasion will meet far more resistance than the Israelis seem to expect, but Israel controls the air and Gazais a fixed target with limited territory. The problem for them is not the Palestinians, but the multiple war fronts that will open up if they do what I think they are about to do. Lebanon, Iran and Syria will immediately engage and Israel will have great difficultybeing able to fight them on all fronts.. My purpose in that article was to outline the dangers of US involvement in a larger war that would require conscription and escalation with Russia. Despite the "experts" insisting that theodds are overblown, it now appears that the next stage of escalation is about to begin. Iran, Lebanon and Israel have been exchanging limited fire for months now. This is nothing new. What is new is the change in tone after a Hezbollah rocket strike on a children's soccer gamein the remote Druze village of Majdal Shams that killed 12. On the other side, Israel's brazen assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil this week is a clear catalyst for war. Haniyeh has been engaged in a diplomaticmission to start peace negotiations in Gaza. His assassination sends a clear message that Israel has no intention of entering into talks with Hamas. IDF officials also announced that they had killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut. There's no escaping it now. Iran's supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered retaliation against Israel and issued an order for Iran to strike the Israelis directly. Iran will likely use extended missilebarrages, but also stage troops in Syria and Lebanon. The Houthis in Yemen will then increase their attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea. It's hard to say how much Russia will involve itself at first, but I have no doubt more advanced Russian missiles andother weapons will make an appearance on the battlefield. The prospect of world war is immense. Israel will not be able to fight in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran all at the same time. Energy exports in the region will definitely face a slowdown,if not a complete breakdown. At that point the war won't just be about Israel, it will be about a global energy crisis. I don't see any scenario in which the US government doesn't get involved and that is why it is currently in full panic mode trying to stopIran from a massive retaliation. The high risk of terrorism this entails should not be overlooked. We've had an undefended border and record illegal crossings for a few years now under Biden. There's not telling how manyforeign agents are in the country and I believe this was by design. I think the establishment maintained open border policies because they wanted such people here. The more terror these agents cause the more the public will be tempted to increase governmentpowers to deal with the attacks. Beyond that, the political left in the west has tied itself to the Palestinian wagon as if it's their business. In reality, leftists view the war in Gaza as just another vehicle for theiroutrage. They use minorities, they use gays and now they're using Muslims. It's the classic Marxist strategy of hijacking the social causes of other groups and co-opting their momentum. Gaza is just another excuse for progressive spastics to riot and start burning more of the west down (their true goal). Anyone that opposes them will automatically be accused of being a "Zionistsympathizer" even if Israel is not their concern. So, there will surely be Muslim terror attacks, but also civil conflicts triggered by leftists exploiting the situation to their advantage. The timing of these events in tandem with the election is definitely not coincidental. Whoever ends up in office will essentially be "stuck" with the war, inheriting a disaster from day one.Once US forces are committed to an allied effort, there's no chance any president (including Trump) will pull those forces out. If things get bad enough, there might not even be an election in November. For those that think we can "win" on multiple fronts, the truth might shock you. Eric Edelman, who serves as Vice Chair of the US National Defense Strategy Commission, has given warning aboutthe impending conflict, stating: "There is potential for near-term war and a potential that we might lose such a conflict...We need our allies to produce more. Our defense industrial base is in very bad shape. The Europeandefense industrial base is in even worse shape. We need our industrial base, their base, and the industrial base of our Pacific allies. Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan-they all need to be stepping up because to match what Russia, China, Iran and NorthKorea are doing is beyond our ability to do it ourselves." I have written about the logistical shortcomings of the west in a WWIII scenario for some time now. At the top of the list will be manpower, just as we have seen in Ukraine. This is why wehave been hearing military and political officials hint about a new draft over the past two years. They know what's coming. The trap has just been set. We'll have to wait and observe the scale of the response from Lebanon and Iran, but I believe the worst case scenario is at hand. There are multiple powder kegevents in progress around the world right now, but the Middle East situation looks to be the most disastrous by far in terms of how it will affect the US and the global economy. --------------------------------- The Fuse of The Gog-Magog War Is Beginning To Burn � By Mark Hitchcock - https://harbingersdaily.com/the-fuse-of-the-gog-magog-war-is-beginning-to-burn/ The name Hezbollah has been all over the news. Hezbollah was founded by Iran in 1982 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Iran has many proxies in Iraq; however, the three majorterror organizations they control are Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen. Hezbollah means �Party of Allah,� and it is Iran�s strongest proxy. Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel almost nonstop since October 8th�a day after the Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel and committed its atrocious massacre. Cross-borderfighting has gone on almost daily for nearly ten months, as both sides are firing back and forth. Israel has taken out several key Iranian and Hezbollah leaders during this exchange of fire, and many thousands of Israelis have been displaced in the country�s north. I was reading this weekthat northern Israel is littered today with what we could call �ghost towns.� Israel has been fighting against Hamas in Gaza, down to the south, but the ongoing question is: when will this northern front with Hezbollah break out? For ten months now, there�s been a greatdeal of back and forth, but all-out war has been avoided. Israel and Hezbollah have been pursuing a long campaign of almost �low-level hostilities� along the border. However, last Saturday, it appears that Hezbollah may have gone too far. We all saw news of the missile strike in the Golan Heights that killed 12 children between the ages of 10 and 20 who were practicing out on a soccer field. The Hezbollah rocket, fired fromLebanon, hit this soccer field in a Druze-Arab village. The Druze are a people who live in northern Israel, as well as in Syria and Lebanon. There are about a million Duze people today. They are an Arab sect, considered separate from Islam, thatbelieves in a conglomeration of several religions and philosophies. Really, they are an offshoot of Islam. Despite Iran denying any connection whatsoever, the deadly rocket that hit the Druze soccer field was unequivocally proven to have been made in Iran. Tehran�s fingerprints are all over thisbrutal attack. As mentioned earlier, the missile was fired at a community in the Golan Heights. You may wonder, what is the Golan Heights? The Golan Heights is about a 500 square mile-area in northern Israelthat borders Syria. It was captured by Israel in the 1967 war. While it is claimed to be a disputed territory, when Donald Trump was President, it was recognized as part of Israel. Because of its location in proximity to the borders of Lebanon and Syria, itis more accessible to rocket fire. In light of this missile attack, Israel�s security cabinet approved a military response, giving Prime Minister Netanyahu full leeway to respond to this attack. CNN has a headline that says, �The Israel-Hezbollah War That No One Wants Could Finally Blow Up.� Hezbollah�s attack could be the final trigger for this war. Prime Minister Netanyahu saidon Monday, �Our response is coming, and it will be severe.� Over the course of a few hours, Israel this week carried out the targeted elimination of Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah�s military chief, who ordered the deadly rocket attack, and Ismail Haniyeh, chairmanof Hamas� Political Bureau, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran�s new President. The world right now is holding its collective breath. Will Hezbollah unleash a full offensive, and what part might Iran play in this war if it breaks out? Hezbollah has at least 150,000 missilesand rockets pointing south into Israel, and many of those projectiles are locked on Tel Aviv. A war would certainly devastate Lebanon, but would also do serious damage to Israel. Now, at the same time that Israel is facing this potential Northern Front war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Turkey is turning up the heat on Israel in a major way. Earlier this week, they issueda threat of invading Israel. This is a stunning development. A headline from Fox News reads, �Turkey�s Erdogan Threatens To Invade Israel Over The War In Gaza, As Regional Tensions Grow.� This is a shocking and significant escalation by Turkey, which is amember of NATO. Reuters reported: President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey might enter Israel as it had done in the past in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, though he did not spell out what sort of intervention he wassuggesting. Erdogan, who has been a fierce critic of Israel�s offensive in Gaza, started discussing that war during a speech praising his country�s defence industry. �We must be very strong so that Israel can�t do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them,� Erdogan tolda meeting of his ruling AK Party in his hometown of Rize. �There is no reason why we cannot do this � We must be strong so that we can take these steps,� Erdogan added in the televised address. Erdogan has also said that Hamas is not a terrorist organization but instead a �liberation group� who are �waging a battle to protect their land and their people.� Meanwhile, he calls Israela terror state. In a statement on Monday, Turkey�s Foreign Ministry compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, claiming his actions in Gaza are �genocidal.� I think we can safely say that the Middle East powder keg is being ignited like never before. The fuse of the Gog-Magog war is beginning to burn, and here we see two of the key players heatingup that the Bible says will attack Israel in the end times. In Ezekiel 38:5, we have Persia, modern-day Iran, mentioned, as well as four ancient nations that are located in modern-day Turkey. Iran and Turkey today are in the headlines with the will,the desire, the means, and the motivation to attack Israel. In addition, Hezbollah could easily be part of the �many peoples with you� mentioned in Ezekiel 38:6 that will join Russia, Iran, and Turkey to invade the Jewish State. Iran wants to attack Israel and invade Israel. They already have, and it�s doing so through its proxy, Hezbollah, as we speak. Now, the President of Turkey is threatening to invade Israel.Russia, of course, is the other key player in all this; they are �Rosh� mentioned in Ezekiel chapter 38. It would take little convincing at this point for these nations to join together to form this coalition. These developments show that we�re far down the road to the Gog-Magog war, and ultimately, to Armageddon. It�s another sign to us of the nearness of the coming of Jesus Christ. We need tobe ready in how we live our lives each day and what we do to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ. ---------------------------------