Global SITREP C3-24: SYRIA!

UPDATED 2 December 2024: The map above is current to the present date and represents the most current information on the advance of Islamist forces in northeastern Syria. The advance of the several allied Sunni Islamist militias southwards from the Idlib Governorate is encapsulated within the bold, red-colored borders. The military situation in this region is extremely fluid and will likely change rapidly in the coming hours and days. 

An Eschatology Today assessment of this map indicates the Sunni Islamist forces currently have two primary objectives in the wake of their blitzkrieg-like capture of Aleppo (further to the north or top of this map): 1.) The city of Hama. Islamist forces are within a very few miles of HAMA this morning, certainly within its northern suburbs. 

2.) The Russian military enclave at Khmeimim Air Base adjacent to the town of Jablah. Khmeimim AB is noted by the symbol of a black jet aircraft approximately 15 miles from the red-colored protrusion towards the Mediterranean Sea from the main axis of the Islamists southern advance.

This map also shows the main M5 north-south highway in western Syria, which runs straight from Aleppo to Hama, to Homs and south to Damascus. It is noted as the thin red line top to bottom within the red-bordered Islamist advance through newly captured territory.

Has covered the prophetic elements of the Syrian Civil War for a minimum of the past decade with the essential cores being Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27. Keep these two Scriptures close because they both clearly indicate near-future developments. The Syrian civil war is a key element in the end-times prophetic scenario, with Isaiah 18:3 as a particular standout. Jeremiah 49:23-27 brings in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the ancient region of Edom and Dedan (Arabia), Hamath (Hama), Arpad and finally Damascus.

ISW Critical Threats map of Syria 12/4/24

UPDATE 6 December 2024: Following their capture of Hama and the Hama military air base yesterday the Sunni Islamist forces continued their advance southward and toward the equally strategic city of Homs. The advance is along two axes of approach. The primary approach is via the north-south Highway 5, and the secondary is from Ismaili Shi'a town of As-Salamiye (Salamiyah) via the Raqqa-Homs Highway. 

This advance appears to be more rapid than previously seen as the local municipalities are negotiating surrender prior to the arrival of rebel troop columns. The Sunni Islamists promised no retribution against local populations and that they can continue their normal functioning. The Syrian army had all but disintegrated in front of the Sunni Islamist advance with only minor engagements or brief firefights. As of this date there are no Syrian army defensive positions along the approaches to Homs.

A potential death knell for the Al-Assad regime may be seen in Hezbollah declaring it will not send additional forces to defend Damascus as it is committed to "sheltering and rebuilding" in Lebanon; that it will abide by the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire agreement. 

Few, if any, take Hezbollah at its word. Israel this morning sent IAF strike aircraft to destroy new missile launch sites pointed at Israeli targets. Israel has greatly beefed up the IDF forces along the Syrian border as daily and even hourly IDF re-assessments of the situation in Syria are becoming the norm.

In this light the next best hope for the survival of the Syrian regime is for Russia to airlift its forces (numbering in the several thousands) in the African Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Central African Republic and Libya) to the Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia, Syria. It remains to be seen if this redeployment will take place.

Global SITREP B6-24: Northern Front

IDF troops prepare for operations in Lebanon

UPDATED 18 September 2024: It's said that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. As we have seen in the past couple of days the IDF's "center of gravity" is moving inexorably towards the Northern Front. The IDF mission objective is to fight Hezbollah on Lebanon's territory so as to allow Israeli civilians to return safely to their homes in northern Israel. Based upon Bible prophecy, the books of Joshua, Jeremiah and Isaiah especially, Eschatology Today believes that the Northern Front holds much more in store for Israel and its defense forces than merely driving Hezbollah terrorists north of the Litani River. We'll follow key events closely and as they occur.

UPDATE 23 September 2024: To use colloquial terminology, It's on! 

As of this morning, and following unprecedented leaflet drops, telephone calls and text message warnings from the IDF there are tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians in mass exodus from southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley. The IDF has also provided video evidence of civilian homes in Lebanon which show irrefutable proof of special construction of hatches and openings constructed by Hezbollah that contain cruise missiles and other hostile aircraft launch platforms within them. Resident and neighbors were urged for their own safety to depart from these areas with all due haste and these structures will be destroyed. Somewhere between 300 and 400 hundred structures have been destroyed in at least three waves of strikes thus far today, and its only 3:30 PM in Israel as of this writing. The warnings were specific and included the Beqa'a Valley where Hezbollah has long occupied as its primary stronghold.

Global SITREP A5-20: IRAN Part IV

Fake News Iranian Twelver Style

25 January 2020: We begin Part IV of the Iran series by noting that the fake news reported in Iranian media is not really that different from what the American public recieves from ABC, CBS or NBC and all of its subsets. The above image is touted as a recent "anti-US rally." In reality it is photo of a Shi'a religious procession known as Arba'een Chechelom that was taken on Safar 20 (October 19, 2019).

Iraqi Shi'a to US Troops: "Leave to Live" 

The above images are from the Khamenei regime's Keyhan newspaper, show pro-Iranian demonstrators advising US troops to "Leave [Iraq] to Live" and "Leave to Survive." These IRGC-QF-led demonstrators also hung in effigy a manikin of President Trump and three uniformed US soldiers. The threats against US troops continues day in and day out. Truly, the Iranian Twelver regime and its proxies are the Nazi's of the 21st century.

Meanwhile, all across Iraq and Iran, and even in Lebanon, there are anti-Iran protests. Yesterday the Amal militia in Beirut attacked an anti-Iran demonstration. The Lebanese army immediately came to the defense of the demonstrators. Late word that the downtown area of Basra, Iraq is in flames today.

The US military confrontation with Iran continues unchanged. The US position that was made clear by President Trump as the Davos economic summit has several bullet points. 

Firstly, bilateral relations between the US and Iraq are far deeper than just the presence of US forces in the country. Any talks must take all aspects into account. 

Secondly, NATO will be taking on an increased role in the fight against Islamic State. To this end the establishment and/or expansion of bases in the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government (Erbil) seems is highly likely. 

FFinally, the defense of the large US base at al-Tanf on the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border region from encroachment by Iranian and Syrican forces will be robust; confronting of IRGC-QF and proxy forces at various points along the Iraqi-Syrian border and denial of access to all land corridors linking Iran to Syria and Lebanon, plus denying access of Russian forces to the Iraqi-Syrian border region.     


This will be continued...

Global SITREP A4-20: Miscellaneous Items

(6FEB20 UPDATE BELOW) 23 January 2020: This SITREP is to cover miscellaneous items, some new, some just for updating purposes.

Firstly, it's necessary acknowledge the passing of televangelist Dr. Jack Van Impe. He was truly amazing in his ability to call up chapter and verse of prophetic Scripture, and his passing is mentioned here simply because he was a brother in Christ. It is irrelevant if one agreed or disagreed with some of what he taught, but I do thank the Lord that Dr. Van Impe was true to his calling for several decades. He will be missed. There is an entire generation of us who grew up with prophecy teachers in Jack's class, and now we look forward to being with them again at the Lord's side.

Secondly, in recent studies the angel Gabriel's prophecy in Daniel 9:26b, "And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary," has been in the forefront. Almost exactly ten years ago at the very beginning of Eschatology Today several posts were made to identify specifically who the people of the prince to come were. The prince is the coming Antichrist; the people were the several legions of the Roman Empire that besieged, sacked and destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple, specifically and most prominent among them was Legio X Fretensis. 

The army of the Antichrist, as has been written about here in several posts, is back in the news. One post in particular was brought to mind recently because of this, "It Was Never About the EU, But All About NATO." It's three and a half years old now, but that post deserves a revisiting because there's lots of noise of late about an EU army being stood up, one building block at a time. Breitbart published an article on this today that is worth reading. And yet, the EU army will be wholly reliant on NATO and buttressed American military power that will enable it to take the field in future combat operations as seen in our discussions on Daniel 11:40-45 taking place during the 70th Week.

The thing here, and this is a lot to wrap any one's head around at one time, but I must also be recalling other Eschatology Today posts such as "Ten Toes" and "The Little Horn," which rest upon even more very specific Bible prophecy regarding ten kings or leaders of nations among whom an eleventh little horn rises and plucks three of the ten out by the roots (making them his own). This occurs while there's a war going on. This is the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7-8. So, while some might tend to think its quiet and not much is going on, oh but to the contrary!, this world has a great deal going on andis moving inexorably down the Prophetic Road to Revelation.

Thirdly, and as an adjunct to the above (rumor intelligence (RUMINT) has been rampant all week long in advance of the Davos economic summit and the VP Pence trip to Israel) it looks as if Trump will have both Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu and Israeli PM wanna-be Benny Gantz as his guests in the White House next week to be briefed on the so-called "Deal of the Century" peace initiative. 

Both Netanyahu and Gantz have pledged to annex the Jordan Valley to Israel, and Netanyahu acknowledging that since that is now the case, then Israel should move forward immediately an make the annexation happen. And guess who would like to blow that up in all of their faces? The Iranian Ayatollah. So little wonder that today rockets were launched again from Gaza.

Meanwhile, In Iraq, there are raging battles between anti-Iran protesters and pro-Iran forces in several cities this evening, and just about every evening this week, most involving life fire automatic weapons. In the Iraqi-Syria border town of al-Qaim unknown aircraft attacked the 45th Brigade of Kata'ib Hezbollah with reports that a commander was killed. This coincides to today with the United States warning the new IRGC-QF commander, MG Esmail Qa'Ani, that he faces that same fate of MG Qassem Soleimani if any US forces are harmed in Iraq.

Finally, the truth about the coronavirus that emerged in China and has spread around the world is finally being acknowledged. There are over 20 million people trapped in Chinese cities as that government attempts to get a handle on an epidemic in the making. Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, plagues and pestilences... sounds like a Jack Van Impe telecast, but its real and its all happening today just as our Lord said it would in the Olivet Discourse.

UPDATE 06 FEB 20: Taiwan News recently leaked the actual numbers of 2019-nCoV in the PRC. Infected 154,023; Suspected infected 79,808; Deaths 24,589, Victims cured 269. These numbers dwarf the "official" numbers being reported. The 2019-nCoV Infected and Suspected Infected total is well over one-quater million people (circa 234,000). 

2019-nCoV Data
Left to Right: Confirmed cases, Suspected cases, Cured cases, Deaths.

Other data from Taiwan strongly suggests that 2019-nCoV may be an "unkillable" virus due to the many insertions of other viruses in the core. That may mean in 2021 it may resurface again with unknown consequences. Also, H5N1 Bird Flu has recently made a reappearance in the People's Republic just south of Wuhan.

UPDATE 25 January 2020: Another of the older posts, one from December 2018, is worth noting again. "Psalm 68: A Messianic Prophecy for a Snowy Israel." There are a couple of interesting passages in it, with a reference to a specific season of the year; when snow is present upon a certain mount. This has me recalling what Jesus said in the Olivet about the middle of the 70th Week as Matthew 24:20 recorded. More convinced than ever that nothing here is coincidental.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP A2-20: IRAN Part III

Ayn al-Asad Airbase

Update 18 January 2020:  President Trump, as we're all aware of now, warned the Ayatollah of Iran about 52 targets that would he struck if American military personnel were killed in retaliatory strikes by Iranian forces. President Trump noted that included within those 52 targets were Iranian "cultural sites." Most everyone, including the entire gamut of media, was aghast at the idea of American weapons destroying Iranian cultural sites.

Three years now and people still do not fully comprehend "Trump-speak."  It's a fact.

When President Trump said "cultural sites" he was unambiguously informing the Ayatollah, his Twelver regime and the IRGC: WE KNOW YOU'RE USING IRANIAN CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS SITES AS COVER FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT. 

Let that sink in as it has for the Iranian Twelver regime. It is language they understand implicitly as not just a threat, but a promise that remains in effect.

8 January 2020: The media, lock, stock and barrel, is rife today with not just disinformation about what took place last night in Iraq, but absolute bald-face lies. And they cite "Western sources" as the origin for the "truth" they are trying to cloud our minds with. 

The claim, which actually originated from within the propaganda of the Iranian government, is that the volley of ballistic missiles were deliberately pre-programmed to miss killing American and allied troops at Ayn al-Asad Airbase. This lie is intended to deceive and convince the public that the Iranian government intended to do no harm; that they just had to save face and show their people a win against the "Great Satan" by firing harmless missiles at an American airbase.

Earlier today the image at the top was acquired. It may go viral in due course, along with others like it. Save it, enlarge it, and look closely at it. You will see white-dashes forming circles in several (five to be precise) places in the base perimeter. Those are NOT misses. They are, in fact, direct hits on facilities which had been populated by American and allied troops.

American orbital reconnaissance satellites, of many types and capabilities, had detected Iranian preparations for a ballistic missile attack many hours before the fact. The soldiers who would have been in harms way, in the very structures that were hit, were moved well in advance to safe, secure spaces. This was done hours prior to the Swiss/Iraqi communication that Iran was going to attack. It was the US intelligence which ultimately saved Iran, its people and probably the world at-large, from the devastating consequences of American strikes, many of which would have obliterated active Iranian nuclear weapons sites. 

If you have not already done so, watch President Trump's statement made this morning and carefully listen to what he said. Do so with the information you have now just read in mind. Yes, American mainstream media, all the major TV and cable news networks, would rather fill your head with the abject lies concocted by the Iranian regime simply because of their all-consuming hatred of President Donald J. Trump.

P.S. Eschatology Today advised its readership to track events today on the Times of Israel website. Unbeknownst to Eschatology Today THIS was published about two hours ago. Imagine that, truth being told in Israeli media, but not in American media.

The above graphic illustrates the SRBM attacks from Iran that began last even before the burial of MG Qassem Soleimani had come to a conclusion in Kerman.  We await a statement from President Trump on what action, if any, he has determined to take.

Global SITREP A1-20: IRAN Part II

UK Royal Navy nuclear attack submarine

UPDATE 5 January 2020: It's about 9:30 PM in Israel, 10:30 in Baghdad and Tehran. Iranian proxies just announced they will commence retaliation tonight. 

If Iran attacks the US directly, the NATO common defense charter will be invoked. The UK has its nuclear-powered subs in the region and prepared to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iran. Here, my brothers and sister, is the "coalition of nations" often referred to here regarding Jeremiah 49:34-39. Cruise missiles can be programmed to fly to their targets from every direction on the compass (confuses defenders).

4 JANUARY 2020: President Trump just tweeted a SEVERE WARNING to Iran 30 minutes ago:

"Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters. He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years. 

Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"

Screen grab of Soleimani's last Damascus-Baghdad flight.

SECOND UPDATE 3 January 2020: A second American precision airstrike has just occurred north of Baghdad, near Camp Taji. There are six confirmed dead from the Hashd al-Shaabi, an Iranian-led Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) militia, in what is being reported as a Predator drone strike against a multiple vehicle convoy. Two precision strikes in as many days, both against moving vehicles after sunset. 

3 January 2020: The tremendous capabilities of US intelligence was on full display last night in the real-time tracking of Quds Force MG Qassem Soleimani's and the terrorist ensemble accompanying him on his last flight (Cham Wings FLT 6Q501) from Damascus to Baghdad. Upon arrival the surveillance continued with US military aircraft loitering overhead, and ended with four Hellfire missiles slamming into the convoy of vehicle as they departed the Baghdad International Airport. 

The Islamic Twelver regime had ignored President Trump's quite specific warning that if they continued with the planning they were engaged in yesterday another "big hurt" would occur. It was only a matter of a couple hours before the warning became fact. Iran is not so arrogant today. A regime-declared three-day mourning for Soleimani is in progress, with promises of retribution to follow. The image below is of Gen. Esmail QaAni, the just announced IRGC-QF replacement for MG Soleimani. His days are numbered as well.

What next? There is a very high probability that the military reduction of Iranian warfighting capabilities which Eschatology Today interpreted from Jeremiah 49:34-39 nearly ten years ago will shortly commence. This will be a highly kinetic and asymmetrical war as the opening verses of Jeremiah's prophecy attest. These developments are being closely monitored in real-time, updates as they occur.

2 January 2020: It appears that the US launched a preemptive decapitation strike tonight against the IRGC-QF-led PMF terrorists just outside of Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). There are reportedly 8 killed in the Predator drone strike by four Hellfire missiles on an SUV convoy that had just departed BIAP. One of the reported dead may well be IRGC-QF Major General Qassem Soleimani (image above). The unique ring on the finger appears to be a dead giveaway on the identity of the deceased. Other dead include several high profile terrorists of Lebanese Hezbollah, Kata'ib Hezbollah and Hashd al-Shaabi head Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The Times of Israel is now reporting confirmation that MG Soleimani and al-Muhandis were killed in the strike.

Height of the Iranian Proxy Assault on US Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq 31DEC19

US Marines arrive US Embassy at dusk 31DEC19

US Embassy this morning 1 January 2020

1 January 2020: The above images reflect the three stages of the reiterated Iranian declaration of war against the United States that began in 1979 with the attack and seizure of hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran. The Baghdad embassy assault by soldiers of the Iranian-led PMF (Hashd al-Shaabi) and Kata'ib Hezbollah) of yesterday morning was pushed back by dusk last evening with the arrival of 100 US Marines who flew in on MV-22 Osprey aircraft accompanied by a pair of Apache attack helicopters. Forewarned of the US Marines approach, the terrorists began to withdraw from the embassy's perimeter compound and the last few stragglers were sent fleeing when flash-bang grenades were distributed into their ranks.

Acting on orders from Ayatollah Khamenei, the two individuals who are essentially the government of Iraq, IRGC-QF MG Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis had prepared this assault well prior to the strikes on five Kata'ib Hezbollah camps in al-Qa'im, Iraq and Deir Ezzor, Syria last week as well as prior to the K1 attack which killed a US military contractor (see previous SITREP). 

Additionally, the current leader of the Shi'a terrorist Badr Organization in Iraq, Hadi al-Amiri, was photographed during the siege yesterday. Hadi al-Amiri had been a guest of former President Barack Hussein Obama in the White House in 2011. Al-Amiri was responsible for the smuggling of Iranian-made Explosively Former Penetrator (EFP) munitions into Iraq that killed or main hundreds of US soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom, even while he was Obama's guest in the White House. Former-President Obama's links to Islamic terrorists are deep and well known, and thus his fingerprints as a coup d'etat plotter and Deep State operative have been found yet again in yesterday's terrorist attack, with former SECSTATE Kerry known to be actively advising Tehran on how to oppose the foreign policy of President Trump. 

82nd Abn DRB boarding one of the
three C-17A that flew to Iraq last night.

With the deployment of the Marines it was also announced that President Trump directed SECDEF Esper to authorize the deployment of the 82nd Airborne Division's Ready Brigade. The first 750 of these nearly 4,000 airborne soldiers went wheels up immediately last evening and flew non-stop to Kuwait, refueling in mid-flight over the Strait of Gibraltar. Make no mistake, the miscalculation of all involved in this latest Iranian folly will result in severe kinetic damage being done to the Twelver regime in Tehran.

Questions remain on how the normally tight security of the Green Zone in Baghdad was breached with ease yesterday allowing hundreds if not thousands of Hashd al-Shaabi and Kata'ib Hezbollah terrorists access to the US Embassy compound. 

This new chapter of the war involves not only the United States, but also the entire CJTF-OIR international military coalition and Israel. The coming days of this brand new decade have begun most ominously, with the immediate prophetic implication of Jeremiah 49:34-39 and Isaiah 17 holding emphasis. 

Global SITREP D6:19: A Syrian Precedent With Overtones of Ezekiel's Prophecy

U.S. Forces Secure Oil Fields in Eastern Syria

6 November 2019: For several months we've heard about the U.S. forces in Syria east of the Euphrates River were being brought out, only to find out that they stayed, built several bases and were defending the Kurds. Then in October we learn again that out troops were coming home, only to find out days later they were redeploying into Iraq, and days later that even heavier U.S. forces were moving into eastern Syria to defend a whole lot of oil fields that our forces supporting the Syrian Kurdish Forces (SDF) had captured in destroying the ISIS caliphate east of the Euphrates River. 

President Trump correctly decided that fighting over that desert was not in America's interest; that's it's been fought over for thousands of years by the groups of people still fighting over it right now, so our troops were going to have no part in that forever conflict. So American forces were not going to defend the Kurds after three years of fighting side by side with them. Then, in a real stunner, President Trump announced, "...but we have the oil." And within hours of that announcement we learn that significant U.S. armored forces were rolling into Syria from Iraq to seize the vast oil fields that cover the desert all along the Iraqi border. 

Let me ask something that might be of critical interest to us. Doesn't this remind us of what Ezekiel 38 has prophesied about the vast Magog military confederation which will one day soon swoop down upon a wealthy and secure Israel "to take plunder and to take booty"?  

Has the U.S. just now become engaged in taking plunder and taking booty from Syria's eastern oil fields? And then look at Iraq and realize that this taking of oil plunder and booty is exactly what Iran has been doing in Iraq for months that has the entire population of Sunni and Shi'a Iraqis in open revolt against the Iranian Ayatollah and his military forces?

Yes, there's a whole lot of plundering and booty-taking going on in Syria and Iraq. This appears to be setting a precedent for the prophetic future in Israel we've been studying and drilling down on in Ezekiel 38/39 for years now. Plundering and the taking of booty is no longer some obscure Old Testament language any more, it's right here, right now in our faces, and even the United States of America is participating in it! 

This realization hit me today out of the clear blue like a ton of bricks. What do you all think; what do you have to say about sudden new reality?

Global SITREP D5-19: Is the IDF Prepared to Plow Gaza?

IDF D9 Heavy Combat bulldozer

UPDATE 12 November 2019: The answer to the title question of this SITREP may well come in the coming hours. HAMAS and Islamic Jihad have launched another massive rocket barrage against the civilian population of Israel. Israel's Iron Dome defenses have intercepted rockets as far north as Tel Aviv. These are massive rocket barrages that target sectors of Israel as if a grid was being used for targeting purposes.

As this is being written the massive barrage continues with Red Alert sirens blaring in: Shokeda, Kfar Maimon and Tushia, Zimrat and Shuva, Nachal Oz, Sa'ad, Alumim, Be'eri,Beit HaGdi, Netivot, Eshbol, Zru'a, Yoshivia, Mabu'im, Pa'amei Tashaz, Klachim, Talmei Bilu, Tkuma and Havat Izra'am, Tkuma.

Current Red Alerts in Israel at 09:20 AM Israel time 12NOV19.

More to come...

3 November 2019: The focus has been to the north and east of Israel for most of the year because that's where the military action has been taking place, from Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Wherever the Iranian regime has reached out its bloody hands war has resulted. And as 2019 closes out it can be seen that many of those countries have had their fill of Iranian hegemony over their affairs. So much so that the population of Iraq, especially the Iraqi Shi'a, want the Iranians out of the country. Now even in Lebanon the Iranians and their proxy Hezbollah have created conditions under which revolt was the obvious recourse for the population, to the point where another civil war is possible.

Eschatology Today assesses that the rocket fire coming out of Gaza this weekend occurred due to a direct order to the PIJ from the IRGC-QF and MG Qassem Soleimani who needed something positive given the unrelenting unrest that been ongoing in Iraq and now Lebanon where his Quds Force and Iraqi Shi'a militias are supposed to reign supreme. Israel has expected the rocket fire to come from the north, so perhaps the PIJ action, for which HAMAS paid the price, was merely a diversion? We shall see.

In any event, HAMAS may have gotten the message when a squadron of the IDF's heavy combat D9 bulldozers (image above) suddenly appeared in enmass on the berms facing GAZA earlier this week. The message the D9's appearance conveys is that the IDF is well advanced preparations for a dynamic entry-in-force into Gaza. In other words, D9 bulldozers mean business. There is nothing in Gaza which can stop the D9's from erasing the current Gaza-Israel border. Israel knows this, and no so do the leaders of HAMAS and their other terrorists in the strip, and it's not as if they haven't been warned. And contrary to some Israeli media reports, this coming operation is not a dilemma for Israel, but one in which HAMAS sees itself in an existential threat.

Irregardless of that fact that the political factions in Israel have not been able to form a government, the threat of Iranian (and/or proxy) rocket attacks from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza should be a catalyst to set differences aside and form a coalition to meet the threat head-on. Surely Israel's leaders must be aware that they dodged a catastrophe had the family in the Sderot home not been in their shelter and been killed with the rocket making a direct hit on their home. Nearly 24 months of complete inaction in dealing conclusively with the terrorist threat in Gaza is wearing very thin on Israel's population. Israel's leadership, both Likud and Blue/White simply have to get their act together, less a messianic figure emerge to act decisively in their absence.

More to come, no doubt. Marana'tha!

Global SITREP D4-19: The Crisis That Isn't A Crisis

US Armor Moves into Syria for Oil Fields Defense

Update 3 November 2019: The decision by Presdient Trump has been to reverse the wholesale withdrawal of lightly armored American special forces from northern Syria. The reversal is the deployment into eastern Syria of a brigade or more of U.S. Army heavy armor and rapid mobility special forces armor that had previously been based in western Iraq. This armored force is for the defense of oil fields captured by the SDF and the US during the campaign that destroyed the territorial Caliphate of ISIS. 

U.S. High-Mobility Special Forces Armor moving into Syria

Some of the US armor is from the 30th ABCT of the South Carloina National Guard with their Abrams MBT, Bradley IFV and armored infantry troops. Other elements are U.S. Special Forces in the now familiar M-ATV SOCOM and the Armored Ground Mobility System (AGMS) which is a SOCOM-modified 6x6 Pandur APC (image above) used by Delta and the Stryker ICVs of 75th Ranger Regiment. This deployment was rapid as Iranian forces in Dier Ez-Zor Syria were seen to be preparing operations to seize the oil fields from Kurdish-Syrian SDF guarding them. The oil fields will remain in production providing revenue to the Kurds as well as funding US forces defending for the region.

US M-ATV SOCOM Force departs Syria for Iraq

21 October 2019: For two weeks Eschatology Today kept its keyboard idle while the rest of the world couldn't stand to wait to see what would come to pass and instead passed judgment from the instant the U.S. military withdrawal from northeastern Syria was announced by President Trump. And all of that judgment, including some from very prominent Christian leaders, was absolutely wrong. To his credit, Pastor Graham, reversed his earlier position to one of giving POTUS the benefit of the doubt. Smart move. 

In any case, it is Eschatology Today's view, as most should be well aware by now, that everything occurring in the present time is related one way or another to the ongoing fulfillment of prophecy. If you doubt it keep watching the news, it'll catch up with this SITREP in due course.

Prophetically, Syria is a house of cards, Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:34-39 make that very clear. And pulling the U.S. card out of the top tier of Syria will have the ultimate effective of destabilizing the entire house that is Syria today. Look forward and ask if Syria and Bashar al-Assad without a real problem in its northeastern corner would then find itself free to finally concentrate on the governornates of Idlib and Hama, leaving Iran, Hezbollah and proxies free to make moves against Israel. 

Remember, just before the announced U.S. withdrawal from Syria, Israel was in high alert status for Iranian missile strikes. That alert has by no means diminished, and intermittent strikes on the Iranian forces in the Dier Ez-Zor region continue to be struck by stealthy aircraft, keeping them off-balance.

And getting back to the U.S. forces that just left Syria, they are now in Iraq where they'll continue to hunt ISIS and be a northern hammer for the other American anvil that will remain in Syria at Al-Tanf. They will also defend Iraq from Iranian encroachment. These two forces can strangle any Iranian military moves towards Israel. 

This is almost certainly what SECSTATE Pompeo and Israeli PM Netanyahu discussed a day ago or so. Meanwhile in Jordan, as we were informed recently, King Abdullah II gave some very direct advice to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The King told her to stop with her interfering in affairs that were none of her concern. Good advice.

Global SITREP D3-19: Missing Pieces for Prophetic Fulfillment

Jordan Valley

Update 6 October 2019: All the speculation about the revealing of the Trump Administration "Deal of the Century" is pretty much a moot point. We recall that it was to be revealed in full a few months ago. Avigdor Lieberman essentially put a stop to that ongoing process with his resignation as Defense Minister, a portfilio that PM Bibi Netanyahu continues to hold himself. Lieberman's resignation has since resulted in two elections, with possibly three or even four, national elections to come. And since the "Deal" was to be announced after the new Israeli was formed and stabilized, obvious the deal is in haiatus indefinitely. 

Curious thing we have here then. God is in complete control, and so no government, no leader, means no "Deal." And that means this plan to divide the land has not progressed any further than from the paper or computer program it has been written on. Eschatology Today is of the mind and believes at this point it is obvious that God is quite definitively expressing His will, the understanding being that His supremely appointed times are the determining factor not only on the non-formation of a new government for Israel, but also on the fact that the Trump Administration's "Deal" has been prevented on being brought forward in any meaningful way.

But this is not to say that there is no movement going on. The U.S. Ambassador is reported in a Times of Israel report today as saying that PM Netanyahu's previously announced plan to annex the Jordan Valley (image above) "does not preclude a political solution." The "Deal of the Century" is precisely that, a political solution. I suggest those with a keen interest read the linked ToI article and ask yourselves if it does not reflect the express will of God. 

A Netanyahu decision to enact Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley could happen, probably will happen, now that the U.S. has made public it would be no obstacle. Recall that the Jordan Valley, and the political situation in Jordan (the expected "great upheaval), have been key SITREP topics every now and then for nearly 6 years, always looking for an expected breaking point. Keep an eye on this as well.

And it should not go without saying that Israel remains on very high alert for an Iranian attack. Also, do not be distracted by Iran's ongoing political destabilization of Iraq. The Iranian Shia (IRGC-QF in particular) are committing horrible crimes against humanity in Iraq as we speak. The Iraqi Shi'a who are not part of the pro-Iran militias are fully aware of the Iranian pilfering of multiple millions of dollars worth of Iraq's oil revenues, and that nearly five million Shi'a Iraqis live in abject poverty because of it. Iran's attempt to turn Iraq into another Lebanon will backfire.

2 October 2019: As the Israeli political situation continues to be sorted out, it occurrs that there is something to be said about the still missing pieces, or specific prophetic dominos, which have yet to fall into place.

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran (Parac according to the text of Ezekiel 38:5 and Daniel 6:28, Persia and Persian, respectively.)

The first and most apparent is the agressive role the Islamic Republic of Iran is playing accross the entire MIddle East. According to all of the prophetic texts that relate to the current pre-70th Week period of wars and rumors of wars, the Islamic Republic of Iran is absent from thos texts. What is present is a militarily reduced Iran of Ezekiel 38:5 in the company of other lesser military powers, namely Libya and Sudan, that are part of the larger Magog-led (Russian-led) military expedition that will move against Israel.

What does Ezekiel's prophecy relate? That Persia comes with "shield and helmet." Shields and helmets are the warfighting implements of foot soldiers. This is no further reference in this verse to the other common implements of modern warfare like armor, missiles and artillery. Footsoldiers. So this is is why Eschatology Today interprets Ezekiel 38:5 and referring to a militarily reducing iranian threat, and as we can all see today, Iran is currently the most heavily armed nation in this region. Therefore some kind of military engagement is necessary to reduce Iranian military power to the level of support it will provide to the Magog expedition. We believe this will be manifest in Jeremish 49:34-39 in the near term.

2. Libya and Sudan

Aslo, there are the other nations two named with Iran in Ezekiel 38:5. They are the modern-day Libya and Sudan. Libya is in the midst of its second civil war. Current speculation would follow that the Libyan National Army headquartered in Tobruk and Benghazi and led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, will emerge with a victory. Haftar's forces are aligned with and armed by with Putin's Russia. Sudan is also in the throes of civil war at present and the outcome will also be consistent with Ezekiel's prophecy.

3. The Fourth Beast (Physical Empire)

The third piece is often overlooked, but has been discussed here a couple of times previously, so an eschatological reminder is a good idea. Read Revelation 13:1-2. Eschatology Today interprets "the sea" in verse 1 as being the gentile nations of the earth. This is confirmed by verse 2 which is the focus of this item. 

"Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority."

As noted previously, the fourth beast constituent parts are here given in the reverse order of how they were originally prophesied to appear on the earth in Daniel 7. Originally the four empires were the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Macedonian-Greek Empire and the Roman Empire. In Revelation 13:2 description of the reconstituted Roman Empire, the fourth beast, includes in reverse order the Macedonian-Greek, Medo-Persian and Babylonian Empires. 

Is this what we see in the world today? No, today we see the Persians ascendent in the Middle East as in ancient times. Persia (Iran) today again appears as a bear with three ribs in its mouth. Who are those three ribs in this modern era? Look at a map. They are Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. This is an undeniable fact.

So, for the appearance of the fourth beast as this prophecy (Revelation 13) from God, Jesus and John on Patmos there are some events that have to come to pass. What has been previously identified as the "eastern leg" needs to be subdued to become integral to the fourth and final beast empire. This may indicate yet another major war as we've also discussed here previously. The emergence of the little horn among the ten occurs as it is conquering and crushing to pieces as we read in Daniel 7:7-8. 

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP C8-19: Crisis Points

22 August 2019: Jesus told us to "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." (Matthew 24:42) Been doing nothing but that, and especially of late. If you're watching in like manner as I, then perhaps your thoughtful prayer has been something akin to, "Lord if not now, then is there an emergency stop button for all the madness, lawlessness and hate in this world." Never before have I seen in my lifetime the things which have occurred in the past month. Surely the spirit of the antichrist has gone into overdrive of late, it is so blatant, so in our face, that there may be some feeling like the Corinthians did when Paul addressed them in his second letter. 

Well, we all know God is in complete control and there is no emergency stop button. Instead there is the Harpazo, and that blessed hope is anything but an emergency stop. Instead it's a full speed ahead throttle for all manner of things to get drastically worse. Imagine what would occur if the Harpazo occurred tomorrow. In Portland, Oregon or any large city, such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, LA or San Francisco where the Antifa domestic terrorists and other lawlessness and abject, depraved filth runs rampant; where law enforcement all but stands down because the socialist politicians who run such places really want that kind of mayhem as it suits their purposes very nicely indeed. 

I think we all agree that in a post-Harpazo America the very perception safety and security would rapidly go right out the window. That's what I saw this past week where the Philly PD had just rescued approximately 80 kids, aged 6 months to 10-years old, from a drug crazed radical Muslim with an AK-47 shooting wildly out the window, were turned on by the local residents because the LEOs had just shut down the neighborhood crack house. Forget the safety of the children rescued, they wanted their crack. It was big news, carried live on TV for hours on end, and then once facts were known the media pulled the plug; the facts weren't anything close to the image they wanted to present on American TV.

And you know what, this is just the tip of a monstrous iceberg that is pulling up right alongside the SS United States ship of state. The opposition Democraft party willl not only not denounce Antifa insurgents on our streets, but they're doubling down on the effort to remove President Trump from office. And I mean they want to remove him by any means at their disposal. Not the first time I've said this here, hopefully it will be the last time.

Meanwhile, across the oceans there are strong indications that the prophetic Psalm 83 scenario is very close at hand. Violence is very likely to begin within hours on the Gaza front, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced this week that they are at war with Israel. And Israel has suddenly made clear that its forces are operating in central Iraq against the Iranian PMU terror proxies under IRGC-QF control. Most interesting thing here, as it relates to Psalm 83:8, is that these very stealthy IDF attacks are occurring in the area formerly known as the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad. Why the Iranians have based their Shi'a Iraqi proxies in this particular region is no great mystery either. Nevetheless for a few weeks now the Israeli attacks have been devastating.

In Syria, the battle for Idlib is fast approaching another crisis point because the accords which Russia and Turkey reached last spring now to have collapsed. Turkish forces crossed into Syria and Syria dropped bombs as a shot across the head of the column. Russian and Turkish jets nearly clashed overhead this past week. And the expected crisis in this area, per our interpretation of Jeremiah 49:23, remains very much a crisis point.

Then there's a series of massive explosions that have occurred recently in Russia. The most significant was one which involved a weapon that was either nuclear powered or had a nuclear warhead, or both. The primary Russian radiation monitoring stations in this region have suddenly gone silent in an attempt to keep the lid on this disaster as was done in the Soviet days at Chernobyl. However, the radiation that resulted from the explosion was recorded and it was significant. There was also the recent secret submarine mishap plus a series of explosions that all but leveled the weapons depot and nearby towns.

Global SITREP A5-19: Southeastern Syria

U.S.-led CJTF-OIR base at Al-Tanf

UPDATE 22 February 2019: As my comments in the past couple days initmated, the decision has been made to maintain the presence of US military forces in Syria. The number of troops to remain is technologically irrelevant. Even a highly mobile handful of soldiers equipped with our battlefield technology can rain havoc upon far larger enemy forces - as has been demonstrated several times in Dier-Ez-Zor and the approaches to the small garrison at Al-Tanf in the past year. Far larger numbers of dead Russian contractors, Iranian proxy troops, Syrian and Lebanese Hezbollah troops who participated in these foolhardy engagements do attest to this fact.

This real-world reality task some recent predictive writings by various Christian authors to task. They have suggested that the withdrawal of US troops form Syria would cause Russia, Turkey and Iran - the three primary antagonists in the Ezekiel 38/39 prophecy - to see an opportunity to be seized upon to attack and despoil the State of Israel. Thus, these writers claim Ezekiel 38/39 is an imminent fulfillment. Eschatology Today is here to declare that such pronouncements are excessively premature and just plain wrong by unqualified armchair generals. In sum, it is dangerous writing and false teaching.

The problem is that this kind of Christian writing is without question blatant newspaper exegesis. Moreover, this kind of eschatological Christian writing actually ignores what the Lord told Ezekiel would happen and had him write it down in detail. Russia, Turkey and Iran have not and will not regard the departure of US troops as an open door opportunity to strike Israel for the purpose of plundering her. 

Much to the contrary what God told Ezekiel is that He would put hooks in the jaws of Gog of Magog and pull him and all his forces to their destruction on the mountains of Israel (Judea and Samaria). So, what these writers are saying and what God has said are in direct opposition to one another. Readers who are wise in the Holy Spirit will automatically believe what God has said will take place and ignore the nonsense being written.

And, dear brethren, do not for a minute forget that in the real-world the State of Israel has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a very powerful, nuclear-armed nation. Unless Russia, Turkey and Iran are suicidal nations, they will not be coming down on Israel before other prophetic events have taken place. And it goes without saying that on the Spiritual level Israel has the angelic forces of Michael the Archangel watching over her people. 

09 February 2019: This is a special SITREP on the U.S.-led CJTF-OIR base at Al-Tanf (image above) in the tri-border junction region of Syria, Iraq and Jordan. This is not news for regular visitors to Eschatology Today as it has been covered in previous SITREPs. It remains to be seen what the ultimate fate of this base will be given the announced U.S. "complete military withdrawal" from Syria while still confronting aggressive Iranian expansionism into Syria, not to mention Iraq.

As seen in the clickable image below, Al-Tanf is an extremely strategic location and therefore its immense value cannot be ignored. Al-Tanf commands the southernmost of the two logistics land-corridors through Iraq and Syria essential to Iranian military entrenchment in Syria and continuity into Lebanon. This is the so-called Tehran-Damascus-Beirut highway. It is also known as Route 1 between Baghdad and Damascus, but which also runs in a straight line east to west across the Jordanian panhandle as Highway 10 to the northwestern Jordanian population centers and capital at Amman. U.S. forces have on multiple occasions attacked with devastating effect that Syrian or iranian forces that have attempted to penetrate the 34-mile (55km) buffer zone around al-Tanf.

Iranian land-corridors to the west

It's essential nature to iran is based upon the Shi'a Twelvers eschatologically-mandated landwar confrontation with Israel. Jordan also faces a very significant threat from the purely military aspect an western military abandonment of Al-Tanf would create. Imagine the nightmarish crisis that Iran-controlled Shi'a militias numbering in the tens of thousands from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan would present to Jordan (and Israel) when presented with a "back-door" entry into western Jordan. 

Iranian control of this region would present an intolerable situation to both Jordan and Israel, a situation that would demand a coordinated large-scale military action at some point in the future - if al-Tanf were to be abandoned by the U.S. We'll revisit this when the expected crisis unfolds.