Global SITREP B3-19: The Gaza Op and Syria Strike

The Chief of staff at the briefing for commanders and combatants in the Southern Conference area, Friday, 29 March 2019.

UPDATE 30 March 2019: The lines are all in battle array; orders given (image above). Warning from the factions in Gaza; Israel responding "Don't do it."  HAMAS had included in its final set of demands the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. Shots have been fired this morning and a critical head wound to a Gazan combatant occurred east of Jabalia in the northern part of the strip. Other injuries reported in other sectors as 1 PM Israel Daylight Time (IDT) approaches. High explosive/high yield IEDs were thrown at IDF troops. Heavy gunfire by IDF against groups of enemy combatats attempting to breach the security fence at Gaza and Rafah (northern and southern strip). Use this detailed map for location data.

Occasional volleys of tear gas are being used by IDF troops to keep Gazans from getting to close to the 20-foot tall security fence. The 300-meter no go zone adjacent to the fence in side Gaza is being strictly enforced. The level of violence on the border varies sector by sector.

With this as the current status, there will be near real-time updates during the day...

Screen capture of IAF strike on IRGC-QF depot near Aleppo 27MAR19

28 March 2019: SYRIA - As noted in real-time comments to this SITREP last evening, a major air strike was launched around midnight IST by Israel on an IRGC-QF weapons depot in an indistrial area northeast of Aleppo known as Sheikh Najjar. Reports vary claiming 7 to 10 Iranian soldiers were killed in the strike. The initial strike and secondary blasts of detonating ordnance rocked the entire region for hours afterwards, cut power to Aleppo city and caused general chaos according to Syrian rebel sources which recorded the event on cell phones and posted to social media in near-real time.

Immediately after the strike the airspace over the Golan Heights east of the Jordan River was closed when Israel issued a NOTAM to all air traffic above 5000 feet. This air region is part of the Tel Aviv FIR (Flight Information Region). Israel's air defenses are on full alert status.

GAZA - The terror coming out of Gaza continues unabated. IED-laden balloons, grenades and even IED-drones are being sent over the security fence into the Negev and Eshol Regional Council areas this morning. Reports (coming from Gaza) of an agreed upon truce are being taken with an enormous dose of salt; one would have to be mentally unstable to believe anything the Gaza jihadists have to say. The Egyptian shuttle diplomacy mission returned to Israel with the factions response to the Israeli ultimatum on total disarmament and inspections. No one is holding their breath, even as IDF forces continue to flow southwards.

This is the fourth "war" in the Gaza region since HAMAS' takeover of the strip in 2007. The Israeli public is overwhelmingly calling for a permanent resolution to the Gaza terror; Israeli civilians in this region are at the breaking point with their rage against the terror and inaction by the Natanyahu government. The Natanyahu government's continued existence hangs in the electoral balance in the voting scheduled for 9 April.  

IDF armored troops ready their Merkave Mk.IV 'Barak' Main Battle Tank
These AI-enhanced tanks were designed for urban insurgent combat in Gaza.

IDF armor in ready position at one point on the Gaza border today.

26 March 2019: This is as near to a real-time SITREP as has ever been done on Eschatology Today. Collection activity continues in real-time as this is being prepped for posting.

The IDF has had hundreds of its armored forces in ready assault positions around Gaza for most of the day today, even as more armor and tracked heavy artillery are seen on Israel's highways streaming south as recently as 7 PM EDT this evening. 

The current status is that PM Netanyahu, IDF general staff and cabinet ministers remain in a highly classified security assessment meeting. At the conclusion of the assessment it is expected the order will be given for ground operations to commence inside Gaza. In addition to the battalion of heavy artillery that has been mobilized and sent south, the 35th Airborne Regiment has also been ordered to deploy to Gaza.  

The last HAMAS rocket launched into Israel about two hours ago; it was shot down over Ashkelon by an Iron Dome interceptor. Nothing more than shrapnel landed on a residential house. The IAF has been active for some time this evening striking dozens of HAMAS and other identified targets.

Meanwhile, Syria has requested a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Golan Heights, and rumors of Hezbollah threats to intervene on HAMAS behalf continue to percolate.

Global SITREP B2-19: Has The Prophetic Flood of Wars Arrived?

Widely distributed map of the Golan Front

UPDATE 24 March 2019: Big happenings expected in the next 48 hours based upon the happenings of the past 72-96 hours. 

Israel's PM Netanyahu arrives in Washington, D.C. for an important summit with President Trump tomorrow. At that summit Trump will present an official document of U.S. recognition of Israel's annexation of and sovereignty over the Golan Heights. This summit comes just 14 days prior to Israel's highly-charged national election. (Just a note, both PM Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are in the U.S.) With the official recognition of te Golan as Israeli territory there is an anticipation of violence to erupt on that front.

SECSTATE Pompeo also traveled to Beirut to warn the Lebanese government of the dangers it faces by allowing Hezbollah to control the national destiny.

The U.S. and Israel have successfully completed testing of anti-ballistic missile  (ABM) systems in Israel against both long and medium range ballistic threats.

A large-scale IDF operation inside Gaza is currently on a short fuse. Heavy IDF reinforcements have been arriving in the area non-stop. Of note, last night was among the most violent along the entire Gaza border region, but the IDF offered virtually no response to those attacks. This is a strong I&W of the large-scale operation commencing in a matter of hours. The scale of this imminent operation has been discussed here within the past month, so no one should be surprised by it.

AN-124 at Maiquetia Int'l photo: Frederico Back

Unrelated to Middle East events, but of keen interest. Uniformed Russian Federation military forces and their equipment have arrived in Venezuela within the past 24 hours. They were photographed disembarking from IL-62M and AN-124 heavy lift aircraft at Maiquetia International Airport.

21 March 2019: At 1PM today the President of the United States of America tweeted this message: 

"After 52 years it's time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability."
14 March 2019: About four hours ago rockets were fired at Tel Aviv from Gaza. It is currently assessed that these rockets were the Fajr-5 type made by Iran and smuggled into Gaza for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) to use against Israel. With the rejection of their demands noted below, it was expected that something like this would take place. Israel contacted the Egyptian delegation in Gaza and told them to depart from Gaza with all due haste. 

A significant Israeli response has commenced against the Gaza terrorists as of 19:30 EDT. 

13 March 2019: This topic has been discussed on Eschatology Today for quite some time, and based upon all of the real-world events, war-time actions, wars and rumors of wars that have been placed before us within the past 30 days, dare this blog put forth the assessment that, yes, it does appear the time has arrived for the flood of literal prophetic fulfillment to commence in very short order.

The precise sequence is no longer of concern as elements of all of the prophetic pre-70th Week military engagements are now present in one form or another, both around Israel and along the periphery as we've recently discussed. How does the weight of all this get walked back to the relative stability of just a few months ago? It probably can't be walked back, so down the slippery slope the Middle East will almost certainly go. Brothers and sisters, we're talking inevitability at this point, and that's the thing about Bible prophecy - it inevitably comes to pass as written by the ancient prophets.

Look at Jerusalem. The Temple Mount issue is legitimately a white-hot coal. Then look at Gaza. The terrorists of HAMAS and PIJ presented a list of cease fire demands through Egyptian mediators that was so outrageous no Israeli government however liberal could accept them, much less a conservative Likud government facing election in about a month, on top of a purely political witch hunt to carve several pounds of flesh from the current embattled Prime Minister. Then look at the Lebanese and Syrian front. We've been on this through a four-part set of SITREPs, each one becoming more inflamed that the last. And some have said the Syrian civil war is over; that Bashar al-Assad won. Eschatology Today says, nonsense. Damascus and Syria's future fate are foretold quite explicitly in Scripture.

Look at the whole, like a big picture, and there's Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-37; Psalm 83 with the attendant parallel prophecies of Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26. How does Israel fully deal with Hezbollah without a literal fulfillment of Joshua 13:1-7. Plus Iran and it's ballistic and nuclear program once again are approaching, pun intended, critical mass. Further afield, several of the 'kings of the East" are rumbling, all three with nuclear weapons at the ready and the means to deliver them. So, with this as the current situation the next report could be about any or all of the above prophecies in any combination thereof. 

Global SITREP B1-19: Israel's Northern Front Offensive - Part IV

NZIV.Net map of enemy forces in Golan region.

Update 13 March 2019:  At 23:00 EDT last night the IDF issued an alert regarding declassified intelligence on an enemy that would be made public in one hour.  As promised exactly at midnight my phone rang with  the declassified intel which was presented in video form by the IDF spox (LTC Jonathan). 

I'm sure that alert and video are the lead story in Israel this morning regarding Hezbollah's (Iran's) drive to establish fighting positions on the Golan from which to attack Israel. We also now have open confirmation from Israel about the recent IAF strikes on Quneitra, Hader (Khader) and Erneh on the Syrian Golan. No doubt there will be a lot more strikes coming in the days ahead, and that quickly takes us to the next SITREP. 

11 March 2019: Syria has now twice declared its intention to attack Israel and recover the Golan. The first declaration was to the U.N. three days ago and the second to the world at-large. Behind Bashar al-Assad's government pushing for this is the apocalyptic regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is but one side of the proverbial coin. 

The other side of that coin is the now persistent RUMINT (Rumor Intelligence) that the United States will recognize the Golan  as sovereign Israeli territory and do so prior to upcoming election in Israel on 9 April. It will be interesting to see if we get to the Israeli election without a major conflict erupting beforehand.

6 March 2019: As if on cue, what began as a continuous HAMAS nighttime assault against the security fence around Gaza and an ever increasing level of balloon-borne IEDs into southern Israel has transformed over the past 48 hours into a large scale engagement. The timing of this to take the focus off of the Golan has not been lost on anyone, so it is included here as part of the Psalm 83 war.

As of this evening a barrage of katyusha rockets was cut loose by HAMAS. Iron Dome intercepted them. Israel has responded with punishing airstrikes throughout Gaza from drones and fighter aircraft. Tremendous explosions make these strikes far different than the pin-pricks that have been so routine in the past several months. The new port area at Khan Younis is recieving at lot of IAF attention. IDF armor, Merkava tanks to be precise, are staring into Gaza from several locations (avenues of ingress should that order be given).

Bibi with US Army troops deployed in Israel

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Israel... The above image is of PM/DM Bibi Netanyahu posing this morning for a selfie with US Army troops deployed in Israel. The US soldiers are part of the deployment of the THAAD (Theater High Altitude Air Defense) and AN/TPY-2 system. 

This system is specifically going to counter any and all Iranian ballistic missiles fired towards Israel. None will make it as the TPY-2 can "see" an object the size of a baseball hundreds of miles away. In fact, this radar can see many baseball size objects at the same time. An Iranian ballistic missile warhead would obviously be much larger than a baseball, so you get the point, TPY-2 sees anything and everything. TPY-2 then tracks, targets and fires the THAAD interceptor(s) which intercepts the target(s) by impacting at a speed of Mach 8 and a distance of about 93 miles from Israel. THAAD is a "hit to kill" high altitude air defense system. Now you know why Bibi and the US soldiers are smiling. Ayatollah checkmated. 

3 March 2019: We begin Part IV of this series with a current Operational Intelligence (OPSINT) map from NZIV.net. This map serves as a companion to an also current ILTV report (video below) on the massing by IRGC-QF General Qassam Soleimani of Hezbollah and Iranian proxy forces on the Israeli Golan border. Solemani's intent is for these forces to invade and capture the Israeli Golan.

As you may recall, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Tehran just last week for a pair of face-to-face meetings with Ayatollah Khamenei. General Soleimani accompanied al-Assad in both the public and private meetings al-Assad had with the Ayatollah. Below is the image of the private meeting attended by the three and the Arabic-Farsi interpreter. It would appear that operational orders have been issued to both Soleimani and al-Assad for the war to shortly commence upon Israel. This is the war Eschatology Today has long identified with the literal fulfillment of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27.

Global SITREP B2-19: Magog's Not So Excellent Adventurism

Screenshots from Liwa al Quds’ video (LWJ)

Updated 8 March 2019: Not sure how many jaws dropped or how many remember the Breaking News Alert 02-16 (December 2016) or the update of March 2017, but that info is now worthy of its own SITREP. Use the link as a memory refresher or as a backgrounder if this is new news to you. The Ezekiel 38/39 overtones, and much more, are louder than ever.

There is a new report by Caleb Weiss on the Threat Matrix blog of the FDD Long War Journal. The report is headlined: Russian Special Forces Train Palestinian Militia in Syria. The Palestinian militia the Russian Spetsnaz troops are training is the Liwa al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigade), a Sunni muslim militia loyal to Alawite Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Liwa al-Quds is apparently the Russians favorite jihadist militia in Syria, and they are also allies of Hezbollah, the IRGC-QF, the PFLP-GC and the Palestine Liberation Army.

Despite this, we are led to believe by some Israeli and other media outlets that the Russian Federation (i.e. Vladimir Putin) is interested in bringing Israel (i.e. Bibi Netanyahu) into the working group that will determine the future of Syria. With so-called allies like these, who needs enemies? Wake up Israel; stop trusting men, their nations and alliances and put your faith back in the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel).

Meanwhile, to the west in Libya, word is out once again, as of last Sunday, 3 March 2019, that the Wagner Group (Russia's globe-trotting mercenary army) is vigorously expanding its support of Libyan warlord General Khalifa Haftar and also expanding Moscow's influence deep into Africa. The UK paper The Telegraph published an article on this, but the full read requires a subscription to access it.

Yes, Libya is part of the Ezekiel 38/39 Magog military confederation. But do not forget the prophecy of Daniel 11:40-43 and its account that during the 70th Week the "king of the South" (Africa) is joined with the "king of the North" (Russia) in an attack upon the forces of the Western Antichrist. We know at that time there is the "covenant among many" which is an alliance of the West, Israel and Sunni Arab nations. It does appear from the text of Daniel 11:40-43 that this attack occurs at just about (prior to) the middle of the 70th Week, and we all know what significance there is to that point in time! (See: Revelation 13:3-17)

So, the point of all this is that we can see fairly clearly the 'players' in direct connection to the military events of both the pre-70th Week wars and battles, as well as those which occur during the 70th Week. These are again indications and warnings (I&W) of events to occur in the near future and how temporally close the people of the earth are to them. In pre-WWII times no one had such information available to them. In these last days we can see future events taking shape right now.

Global SITREP A10:19: In These 'Last Days'

Seen recently on Russian television...

3 March 2019: Been meaning to post this for about a week now, but there've been a couple of real-world disturbances that required some attention. The image above is a screen capture from a program which recently aired on the Russian Government (i.e. state-owned) channel Russia-1. The screen capture clearly depicts a Russian submarine launching a new Russian weapon from the Pacific Ocean against multiple targets in the western United States.

If you're not familiar with this news item, it is the Russian Federations response to the Trump Administration's cancelling our participation in the three decades old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) due to many years of the Russian Federation being in blatant material breach of the terms of the treaty. In comman language, Russia has been cheating so no good purpose is served by the United States remaining the only nation fully adhering to the terms of the INF.

President Trump knows a 'bad deal' when he sees one, so as with serveral other 'bad deals' he identified in the past two years (i.e. NAFTA, Paris Climate Accord, etc.) he pulled the United States of America out of this one too. Sometimes you just have to walk away from a bad deal in order to get a better deal later on. If you followed the news recently, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un also just experienced a POTUS Donald Trump walk out during nuclear negotiations. It's the same principle here with the INF.

However, instead of the Russian Government recognizing the American withdrawal from the INF for what it is, (i.e. a tactic to get a new or better deal regarding intermediate-range nuclear weapons), the Russian's immediately went to threatening the USA with a nuclear Armageddon scenario. The screen capture above depicts this scenario in action - a preemptive nuclear strike on a west coast command and control center and a facility whose purpose is specifically to aid in national recovery from a natural, or as in this case, a man-made disaster. They also announced a list ofsimilar targets on our eastern coast. 

The Russian's, especially those in their government, have learned nothing about American in the past century, especially the fact that we don't take kindly to threats, especially terroristic nuclear threats. The USA takes such threats seriously from the folks who have used WMD like polonium and novichok to poison their expats on forign soil, or invade other sovereign nations (Georgia and Ukraine) on the flimsiest of excuses. 

What kind of Godless villians are in charge of the Russian Federation today? Is it not obvious that such a government as this is the one identified 2600 years ago in the God-breathed prophecy of Ezekiel? And our Israeli friends are intent on playing with fire by trusting Russia and believing in a mutual partnership with them to create security for Israel in Syria. None of this is going to pan out as we know from several volumes of God-breathed Scripture regarding the last days prior to the start of the 70th Week. 

For example. PM Netanyahu recently returned from his face-to-face meeting with RF President Putin. In his weekly briefing to Israel's security cabinet Netanyahu related how Putin agreed on the removal of all foreign forces in Syria, especially those that arrived after the 2011 start of the indigenous Syrian civil war. This statement by PM Netanyahu includes a very special detail that is worthy our attention. 

The foreign forces that must depart from Syria is inclusive of American, British, French, Iranian, Lebanese, Iranian Shi'a proxy forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, but also as importantly, Russian forces at Tartus and Latakia which are beyond the number which were stationed there in bilateral agreement prior to the start of the civil war. What is missing from the Russian-Israeli foreign forces in Syria agreement is a fail-safe mechanism for its full implementation. Other than that, the agreement is also more akin to swiss cheese than a binding agreement on the status of foreign forces in Syria today. This is problematic and we'll soon see how much.

In these 'last days' we know not how, or what spark or unforeseen event or events will take place, but the whole of Syria won't survive that event or events as it exists today as Isaiah 17:3 and Jeremiah 49:24-26 inform. This current situation, even globally speaking, is what Christian eschatologists have been warning about, particularly since the 1970s to present. Keep your eyes on Christ! The LORD God is in complete control. Marana'tha!

Global SITREP A9-19: India and Pakistan

Indian Nuclear Missile

1 March 2019: The standoff between India and Pakistan continues. Ceasefire violations across the LoC from Pakistan into Indian Kashmir occur with some regularity. Most recent occurred an hour ago. The Pakistani gesture of releasing the captured Indian pilot appears to be taking place at this time (06:50 EST).

Indian Army Pinaka 214mm Multiple Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL)

18:40 PM EST and the escalation of "high intensity" military action continues unabated. Guided anti-tank missiles, Indian Pinaka 214mm MBRL, 155mm heavy artillery and snipers are apparently "weapons free" - that is, no targets are off limits. This includes hospitals, schools, civilian homes, businesses. Casualties rising exponentially. If this isn't full-scale conventional war, I don't know what is.

27 February 2019: There are millions of people in Pakistani and Indian cities who are trying to stifle tangible fears with the hope that military deconfliction and de-escalation back from the brink of a full-scale war which with little warning could become the world's first nuclear exchange between neighboring nations. 

India and Pakistan are both rushing troops, heavy armor and artillery to the flash point Line-of-Control (LoC) in the formly princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (JK). Fighter aircraft from both nations are flying combat air patrols (CAP) non-stop along their common border and the JK LoC. Most reports have it that India has lost two aircraft and Pakistan one aircraft in hostile actions.

Pakistani PM Imran Khan made an overture to India to "sit down and talk about our problems," but at the same time made clear that a failure to do so risks an escalation the the nuclear threshold. Indian PM Narendra Modi earlier today gave his military commanders clearance to proceed with the course of action they believe is necessary because Pakistan has refused to take "credible action against terrorist entities and individuals operating from its soil," and instead has "acted with aggression against India.

Indeed, the fighting between the military forces of India and Pakistan is the direct result of a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist VBIED bombing on 14 February which killed 45 and wounded more than 35 Indian paramilitary officers in Pulwama, Indian Kashmir. India subsequently retaliated on 26 February with a dozen Mirage 2000 strike aircraft destroying the JeM training camp in Balakot, Pakistani Kashmir and two other camps nearby. India struck a non-military terrorist target that was well removed from the Pakistani population. This was clearly lost on the Pakistani leadership.

The JeM is believed by the intelligence agencies of many nations around the world to be the creation of Pakistan's intelligence service, known as the ISI, and therefore Pakistan is directly responsible for all JeM attacks against India. There have been over 3,800 terrorist attacks in India since 2015. Clearly, India and its 1.35 billion people has had enough of the terrorism coming from Pakistan and its 203 million people. Pakistan's leadership had better do the math.

While there is nothing in Scripture about this ongoing conflict, or the several other India-Pakistan clashes that have occurred in the past 70 years, we do know that during the 70th Week a truly immense army to 200 million troops will march towards the Middle East, killing 2.5 billion of the world's population, in making war on the Antichrist and his beast empire (Daniel 11:44 and Revelation 9:13-19 and 16:12.) 

Note this, there are more nations with nuclear weapons in the east (Russia, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan) expressing a desire to use them as there are in the west (US, UK, France and Israel). It may well be, in fact I believe it is a fact, that we are witnessing the rise of the kings of the east. If nothing else, the timing of this India-Pakistan war and its very real potential for nuclear escalation is no mere coincidence.