“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 25:6-8) [NOTE: We can’t be too quick to assign a meaning to events….And “the end is not yet”….It is the “beginning of sorrows.”
HOW DID IT HAPPEN? WHERE IS IT HEADED?
It seems right now there are more questions than answers. So many are asking how could this have happened to Israel. Reputed to have one of the most sophisticated and advanced security forces, how did Mossad and the IDF miss the signs? Former members of the IDF are asking: ‘Was there something more to this? The second question is perhaps even more important. Where is this thing headed? This is clearly not just between Hamas and Israel. Each side is linked in with sponsors and allies that could see this break out into a major regional conflict – or even World War III!
As for the surprise of the attack here’s some of what we know. We are told that because of security concerns, regarding the West Bank (Judea & Samaria) forces normally guarding the border with Gaza were moved in that direction. About 60% to 80% of Gaza border was left without a military presence. One year ago, there were military operations to prepare for these events. The Israelis have underground censors in place along the border wall. Why was there no knowledge of the coming attack. It was reported by the BBC that Egypt let Jerusalem know that they had knowledge of the planning of a soon coming attack. This was communicated three days before. Yet the border was left bare. One former IDF soldier offered this explanation. “It seems like a planned operation. It seems like the work of the Deep State.”
Then there is the curious relationship between the Israeli Government and the Hamas terror group. In 2009, the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled ‘How Israel Helped Spawn Hamas.’ Israel supported Hamas as a “counterweight” to the PLO. In 2014, the Washington Post put out an article with the controversial title: ‘How Israel Helped Create Hamas.’ The strategy was actually simple. Israel did not want a separate Palestinian State. So, because Hamas was opposed to the Palestinian Liberation Organization which later became the Palestinian Authority, why not encourage divisions among the Palestinians. ANONHQ reported that Julian Assange had revealed that the “West is behind ISIS and Ukraine Crisis and Israel behind Hamas.” HAARETZ told the story of how Netanyahu wanted to strengthen Hamas at the “expense of PA would be ‘good for Israel.’” The Jerusalem Post reported how it was PM Netanyahu that was behind funding the terror group. They quoted Bibi in 2019. as telling members of his Likud Party, “The money strategy is part of the plan to divide the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Anyone who opposes a Palestinian State, needs to support the transfer of the money from Qatar to Hamas. In that way we will foil the establishment of a Palestinian State.”[i] So, that’s sort of the long-term background of this bit of a sticky situation. The situation gets really interesting when we consider an AP article of October 13, 2023 that ran under the headline: “Hamas Practiced in Plain Sight.”
“Less than a month before Hamas fighters blew through Israel’s high-tech ‘Iron Wall’ and launched an attack that would leave more than 1,200 Israelis dead, they practiced in a very public dress rehearsal. A slickly produced two-minute propaganda video posted to social media by Hamas on Sept. 12 shows fighters using explosives to blast through a replica of the border gate, sweep in on pickup trucks and then move building by building through a full-scale reconstruction of an Israeli town, firing automatic weapons at human-silhouetted paper targets. The Islamic militant group’s live-fire exercise dubbed operation ‘Strong Pillar’ also had militants in body armor and combat fatigues carrying out operations that included the destruction of mock-ups of the wall’s concrete towers and a communications antenna, just as they would do for real in the deadly attack last Saturday.”
All of this was done quite openly. “The group appears to have hidden its extensive preparations for the assault in plain sight. One of the compounds Hamas used to prepare was so close to an Israeli border checkpoint that soldiers could have been able to observe the site with binoculars.” Hamas had released over 100 videos covering portions of the exercises using mostly Telegram. Scouring through satellite imagery AP identified “five sites Hamas used to practice shooting and blowing holes in Israel’s border defenses.”[ii]
None of these answers the burning question of just how this was all missed. There was no response for seven hours after the attacks began. Many have suggested some sort of government connivance, a planned stand-down of Israeli forces to allow the attacks to occur. That would in turn give Israel cover to brutally take out Hamas in much the same way that the mysterious events of 9/11 opened the door to the Patriot Acts and heightened surveillance. At this point, this seems little more than conjecture.
SO, WHERE FROM HERE?
It is the next steps that make this situation dicey. There are so many moving parts in play. And what makes this especially dangerous is the complicated dance of informal international alliances that have cast a spider web of military tripwires across the region. The main fight right now is centered on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. PM Netanyahu has announced that the date for a Gaza invasion has been set. The Israelis are awaiting the soon-arrival of missile defense systems from the US. Others will be sent to other US allies in the region to protect American bases there. Ominously, America is also sending Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense systems (THAAD). These are used to intercept incoming Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) from space. The US is preparing for the near-term launch of ICBMs. That’s a sobering thought. The only nation possessing nuclear-capable ICBMs with interests in this region is Russia.[iii] Is it really as bad as all that?
THE SET UP – Israel could be being set up for a multi-front War of National Survival
- The initial battle will be against Hamas in Gaza, in Israel’s southwest. It will be bloody on both sides. The IDF will likely take many casualties and it will be a sloppy affair that will see numerous civilian casualties that will be seen as the collateral damage of war. This will inflame the Arab / Muslim world drawing ever-more countries into the conflict.
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Hezbollah has vowed to come in full force against Israel if / when it goes into Gaza. They are coming with a huge force rated to be about ten-times the load of Hamas. The latest estimates say they may have 200,000 rockets and missiles ready to launch against Israel. They, of course are based in Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border. They are equal to a regular military force, trained by Iran and possess many modern weapons including tanks and armored vehicles. They were a heavy load for the IDF the last time these two tangled.[iv] Some analysts have pointed out that the IDF twice war-gamed conflicts with Hezbollah and came up on the short end. That is believed to be one of the chief reasons the US has two aircraft carrier groups in the region.
- Those carrier groups have been targeted. Both Russia and Iran have ordinance that could strike the American ships. Russia has “deployed MiG-31s armed with Kinzhal missiles within range of the Eisenhower.” US assets may be vulnerable. Syrian and Iraqi fighters, backed by Iran have been attacking US bases. “The Russian Kinzhal has defeated the US Patriot batteries around Kiev; the Hamas swarms of drones and rockets defeated Israel’s Iron Dome on October 7.” American naval forces in the Red Sea “will be within range of several types of Iranian ballistic missiles,” which they have not yet been tested against.[v]
- Palestinians living in Jordan are anxious to get into the fight against Israel. There have already been attempts to rush the border. The more civilian casualties are reported the harder it will be for Jordan to look the other way – or even, themselves, come into the fight.
- The same is true for Egypt. The armed forces there are mobilized and a large portion of them are massed on Israel’s border. Mass protests in Cairo could force the Egypt to push their military into the fray.
- It is part of the charters of all of the terror groups that populate the Middle East. I’m talking about the destruction of the State of Israel. Palestinian maps do not even recognize the existence of Israel.
ESCALATIONS
- President Erdogan of Turkey cancelled the energy deal with Israel and announced: “We will do everything against Israel, diplomatically and militarily if necessary.”
- Libya “called for a halt to oil and gas exports to countries that support Israel,” and tossed out the ambassadors of the US, UK, France and Italy.
- “Iran is deploying missile and drone units of the army and the Revolutionary Guards on the shores of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,” aimed at The USS Eisenhower and its’ support ships in the region. Iran is said to possess precision guided missiles that can target both US assets and Israel.[vi]
- The US has already been involved in shooting down Hezbollah launched missiles ai at Israeli targets.
- US bases in the region have been the target of at least 14 attacks in the last couple of weeks by Islamic terror-militias supported by Tehran.
- UNCONFIRMED REPORT – Hamas’ military chief has been killed.
- UNCONFIRMED REPORT – Hezbollah shot down an Israeli F-16 over Lebanon.
- Several sources are reporting that Israel, with American help, is preparing to use a non-lethal form of nerve gas in the tunnels beneath Gaza that serve as the hiding places for Hamas brass and operatives. One source referenced “large quantities of nerve gas being pumped into Hamas tunnels, capable of paralyzing the bodily movement for a period of time between six and 12 hours.”[vii]
THE OUTLOOK AHEAD – Retired Colonel Douglas MacGregor is a military analyst who has been providing those that would listen with realistic assessments of the situation in Ukraine sine the beginning of that conflict. In many cases, they differed from the rosy assessments provided by the American administration.
- The Israeli / Hamas conflict is driving the United States toward war with Iran. That would come with some severe implications.
- Around 20% of the world’s oil and 25% of its’ natural gas moves through the Strait of Hormuz. Its’ absence from the world market would send energy and financial markets into a tailspin.
- Energy inflation would drive up the cost of food and all other goods.
- Ten-year Treasury yields would spike even higher, meaning the US would have to pay even more interest to continue to borrow – which it needs to do in order to operate as a country.
- Iran’s missiles are capable of reaching Tel Aviv and Haifa.
- American bases in Iraq and Syria would be severely endangered.
- Hezbollah and Hamas cells – (perhaps even Chinese etc) – would likely become active in the continental US. Hezbollah already has a documented presence in Mexico.
- Col MacGregor says American & Israeli Special Ops already went into Gaza and got shot up pretty badly.
- The IDF’s objective in Gaza is to “systematically root out” Hamas and kill them. They will pay a high price in Israeli casualties.
- As more civilians are killed, support for Israel will wane even more.
- “Egypt is in a difficult position.” They have put 100,00 troops on the border with Israel. Continued protests in Cairo and elsewhere could force Egypt to engage the Israelis.
- The confluence of all the forces arrayed against the Jewish State could “threaten the existence” of Israel.[viii]
A PSALM 83 CONNECTION?
Of course, whether this will all go the way of the doom-sayers is unknowable except to God. We can look at the Prophecy found in Psalm 83 – and find that if many of the people groups that are threatening to enter the war actually do, they could indeed fulfill the conditions of that prophecy. As of now, this is NOT A FULFILLMENT. But the potential remains. We covered this in some detail in Issue #992 linked HERE! Scroll down to the segment labeled “THE PROPHETIC TAKE.” Here’s just a quick review.
The prophecy is found in Psalm 83:4-8. “‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you- the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot. Selah” Of course, this is using all the ancient names of the people groups. Let’s look, as best we can at the modern equivalents. Hamas checks the Philistine box. Tyre is in Lebanon, controlled by Hezbollah. Edom refers to Jordan. Jordan itself is neutral but there is a large, radicalized, Palestinian presence in that nation. The Ishmaelites are Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Moab again is Jordan. The Hagrites” refers to the Egyptians and possibly other North African peoples. Ammon yet once more refers to Jordan. Finally, Assyria takes in part of the areas of Syria, Iraq. Iran is included only as a portion of which used to be under Assyrian control. So, as of now this is a prophecy that has not been fulfilled – but one that bears watching.
[i] Dane Wigington, Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, October 21, 2023, #428
[ii] MICHAEL BIESECKER AND SARAH EL DEEB, Hamas Practiced in Plain Sight, AP, October 13, 2023
[iii] Netanyahu: “The Start Date” for Gaza Invasion “Has been set”, Hal Turner Radio, October 25, 2023
[iv] Hezbollah – Israel’s monster to the north, Daily Mail, October 25, 2023
[v] The Existential Trap, The Burning Platform, October 24, 2023
[vi] Middle East exploding in escalations, Hal Tuner Radio, October 25, 2023
[vii] “Nerve Gas” – Hal Turner Radio, October 25, 2023
[viii] Col Douglas MacGregor interviewed by Tucker Carlson on X, October 24, 2023
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