Global SITREP B5-24: The Multi-Front War

IDF Mass in the North

UPDATED 29 August 2024: Indications and Warnings (I&W) of a ground war erupting on Israel's northern front (Lebanon and Syria) have increased exponentially in recent days. This is despite false global media claims that neither Hezbollah nor their Iranian overlords being desirous of a full-scale war with Israel; such claims ignore the Shi'a Twelver's core jihadist theology. Multiple sources linked to Hezbollah declare a renewed Iranian rocket and drone assault against Israel is close at hand. We should not discount that a major Israeli preemptive strike could come at any moment, the intelligence is that good.

The northern front I&W comes as the IDF is now openly operating with full military force in Judea and Samaria where the IRGC-QF has infiltrated significant advanced weaponry and distributed them via Jordan to numerous jihadist cells throughout the region. At least two of Israel's cabinet minister have stated that Judea and Samaria action is a war no different than in Gaza, including the need to evacuation non-combatant civilians to safer 'humanitarian' areas.

IDF commander's briefings of late speak to the IDF being actively engaged on seven fronts completely encircling the State of Israel. Obviously, the multi-front war described by the singing prophet Asaph in Psalm 83 and other prophecies discussed here since 2009 are present and accounted for in 2024.

4 September 2024: The update to this SITREP can been viewed as a substantial modification to the interpretation of who Assur (Assyria) is where Asaph prophesied in Psalm 83:8 (NIV) "Even Assyria has joined them, to reinforce Lot's descendants." The them are identified in verses 6 and 7. Lot's descendants are identified in the subsequent verses, 9 through 11. Lot's descendants are the peoples identified in verses 3 and 4 who cunningly consult conspire together to destroy the nation of Israel. 

This brings us to the above map which illustrates the maximum extent of Assur (Assyria), the regional military superpower concurrent with the time of Asaph. This map then gives context to the role played by the modern-day Islamic Republic of Iran in the current Psalm 83 warfare. Iran has been an existential enemy of Israel since the revolution (coup d'etat) of the Shi'a Twelvers over the Shah of Iran 45 years ago. There is no question, hindsight being 20/20, that Shi'a Iran (IRGC-QF) and its Shi'a proxies as established in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Houthis of Yemen are providing a strong arm of military assistance, both weaponry and foot soldiers, in the war against Israel. It would be a gross error in the exegesis of Psalm 83 not to make this interpretive distinction.

In conducting recent research on this issue, it has also resulted in the gaining of additional knowledge concerning the Lord's prophet Asaph. Asaph ("who gathers together") was a Levite and was put in charge of music by King David when the Ark of the Covenant was moved from the Tabernacle to Jerusalem. He was in the same role when Solomon was King, and the First Temple was inaugurated. Asaph's relationship with God is best known by Psalm 73:25-26. "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire but you. My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." We all would do well the study what Scripture says concerning Asaph.

Panoramic image of CERS strike near Masyaf, Syria.
(Image source: Ma'ariv)

UPDATE 13 September 2024: The massive air assault against the Tier-One High Value Target on the CERS complex near Masya Syria turns out to have been a highly coordinated and hugely successful air-ground assault according to new information published on numerous news sites. Moreover, this strike strongly indicates that Israel has now embarked on nothing less than a strategic offensive. Initial Iranian reaction to this assault reveals how damaging to the IRGC-QF's overall campaign against Israel and to their millions of rials investment in Syria's military-industrial capabilities. The CERS complex was the crown jewel in the Iranian investment in Syria.

IAF Shaldag special forces training at Palmachim Air Base
(Source: IDF)

The IAF's elite Shaldag unit was the ground component which assault the CERS facilities; they were reportedly on the ground collecting computers, important equipment, documentation as well as capturing at least two Iranian specialists (putting the lie to Iranian denials of any connection to the previous CERS activities), before detonating high explosive satchel charges to destroy the underground and above ground sections of the complex. The IAF commandos were able to infiltrate by repelling from helicopters due to the IAF's total suppression of Syrian air defenses, complex access denial and drone attacks on any and all responding defense forces. Access roads were cratered as well to deny access. The intelligence collected is no doubt of immense value, the exploitation of which will be evident in the near future.

Global SITREP F1-21: The Next War Will Be The Psalm 83 Finale War

24 November 2021: For nearly a full twelve years Eschatology Today has been keyed to the the Psalm 83 war scenario as a paradigm shifting event. The major domino to fall in a series of rapid events on the proverbial Road to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, a/k/a the '70th Week of Years.'

The sum of this prophetic scenario is the combination of Psalm 83 and its parallel prophecies by Isaiah (11:12-14) and Ezekiel (28:24-26) as well as Isaiah 17 and Joshua 13:1-7. To these we also add Jeremiah 49:23-27 and Jeremiah 49:34-39. All of these should be read as being part of a whole prophetic narrative to be fulfilled prior to the '70th Week of Years' which we also know as the Thlipsis and Megas Thlipsis (Tribulation and Great Tribulation). These prophecies are kinetic warfare enabled by the technology of the 21st century. These are lightning-quick missile warfare.

There is a member of the Israeli Knesset from the Likud by the name of Nir Barkat. He spoke today at a conference held at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel. Eschatology Today views statements he made there as being a very precise summation of the prophetic scenario about to be fulfilled in the near-term as has been discussed on this blog over the course of the past twelve years.

"In the next attack, with missiles coming from Lebanon, this will not be the Third Lebanon War, this will be the First Iran War. I think we are not properly assessing the threat coming from Iran that plans to act against us in six arenas: The Lebanese, the Gazan, the long-range missiles, the attempt to establish itself in Syria, Judea and Samaria and there is also a new threat from home - some residents of the State of Israel." 

MK Nir Barkat continued with, 

"The Iranian conventional threat requires us to rethink how we not only harm Lebanon when we are attacked by the Iranian proxy sitting in Lebanon, but how we harm Tehran. So that when the Iranians in Tehran want to order Hezbollah to open fire against Israel, their voice will tremble because they will know that they themselves would be harmed in Tehran - and they are no longer protected."

That's quite a summation from the former mayor of Jerusalem of ten years (2008-2018). In the view of Eschatology Today the above quotes are prescient and descriptive in an almost peculiar prophetic yet secular sense. That may be the net result of Barkat's in-depth knowledge of modern military tactics due to his six years of service as a former elite IDF paratrooper. Major Nir Barkat was wounded during combat operations in Lebanon, and knows of what he speaks. He may also be aware of the above Old Testament prophecies as well. Whatever the case, his words have a profound resonance.

As has been stated before, any one of Israel's strikes at Iranian or Hezbollah targets in Syria could be the one which begins the toppling of the precisely arranged prophetic dominoes. There was another IAF strike in Homs, Syria mere hours ago as this SITREP began being composed. There were casualties in the strike. Eyes on continued developments, updates as they occur.

Global SITREP B7-20: Rumors of War Part III

King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

UPDATE 2 June 2020: Each tick of the clock these days brings a new item, and each new item brings fulfillment of Bible prophecy that much closer. Here are the latest ticks worth mentioning. 

An overwhelming number of Middle East observers now agree that IAF combat aircraft (likely a pair of F-35I Adir) conducted a strike Sunday afternoon on a vehicular convoy of Iranian proxy militiamen near Albukamal, Deir Ezzor province, Syria. At least five foreign militiamen serving Iran were killed. 

Russia has deployed one of its newest main battle tanks, the T-14 Armata, onto the Syrian battlefield. Along with these tanks the Russians have also deployed their newest anti-air laser weapons system, known as the Peresvet, for operational combat testing. The Peresvet is a near clone of the U.S. Navy's AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapons System (LaWS) and is credited with the recent shoot-down of an Israeli reconnaissance drone flying in Syrian airspace just north of the Golan.

Upgraded Russian MiG-29 were delivered to the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) on 30 May at Hmeimim Air Base. The SAAF intends to use them to engage and shoot down the IAF F-16I Sufa strike aircraft. SAAF pilots commenced flying the MiG-29's yesterday.

A massive amount of armor of Syrian Arab Army (SAA) as well as Hezbollah and other Iranian proxy militia are prepped for an imminent full-scale offensive in the Daraa, Syria region (northeast of the Golan) against a rebel resurgence there.  Israel will take a very dim view of such an offensive.


26 May 2020: Today the Commander USAFRICOM released at statement announcing the detection of Russian strike aircraft deploying to eastern Libya from Syria. These aircraft were watched closely from the moment they departed Russian airspace, into Syria, and then across the Mediterranean Sea into Libya. These aircraft will be for ground combat support of Russia's ground forces (Wagner Group) mercenaries fighting to defeat the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord in Tripoli. Russian pilots in Russian aircraft bombing Libyan soldiers in order to advance Russia's interests in Libya. The link to Ezekiel 38/39 in this action is blatantly obvious.

According to PM Netanyahu yesterday, Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria will commence on 1 July 2020. Jordan annexed Judea and Samaria, as well as East Jerusalem, in the aftermath of Israel's War of Independence in 1948. This was not a problem for Israel at that; no bellicose or warlike threats were made. Yet after Israel conquered Judea and Samaria in the June 1967 war it has remained under Israeli state control ever since. Only now the the Muslim enemies around Israel, and in Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey are bellicose and warlike words heard from their side. Erdogan went so far as to say that he personally would not permit Israel's annexation of Judea and Samaria to occur. Given this level of bellicosity, with or without Turkish threats, should we expect war to erupt in about a month from now if PM Netanyahu fulfills his plan for annexation? Eschatology Today would assess war under these circumstances as a high probability.

18 May 2020: While this may be Part III of the current 'Rumors of War' series, it is also a timely follow-up to Global SITREP D3-19 of 06OCT19, serving to remind us of the events which took place eight months to a year ago as Israel's secular government began devolving into political collapse. Indeed, we've discussed this overall picture now and then for the better part of the past six years.

At this time we have renewed forward momentum, even with a new secular, merry-go-round coalition government forming. It is very telling that the immediate and somewhat preemptive reaction from Amman looks and smells very much like the prophetic scenario formed by Psalm 83; Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26. 

Jordan's king Abdullah II is once more lifting up his head in warning about "Chaos and extremism" followed by a "massive conflict" when Israel proceeds with its long-rumored land-swap annexation of  Judea and Samaria within the framework of the Trump Administration's "Peace and Prosperity" plan. This kind of oratory bellicosity has to be proceeded by in-depth counsel and consultation among the various regional Arab factions. Accordingly, the overall prophetic narrative is having all the right boxes checked.

Additional background can be found within SITREPs: C9-18; D1-19 and A6-20 in the blog archive.

Global SITREP C7-19: The One-State Solution

Near-future map of Israel; the One-State solution

8 August 2019: The abduction and murder in Etzion last night by HAMAS operatives of 18-year old yeshiva student, Dvir (Yehuda) Sorek, who also had just begun his stint of service in the IDF, stands a very good chance of igniting a significant, if not defining, final act of the ongoing Psalm 83 war (1947 to Present). 

HAMAS claims Dvir's murder was a "powerful response" to discussions in Israel about the annexation of Judea and Samaria. In reality, Dvir's murder makes the annexation of Judea and Samaria more not less likely, and by force of arms more than likely. HAMAS also reiterated its goal of expelling "the occupiers" from all of Jueda and Samaria. Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Tehran's patron, referred to this murder, which some of its operatives may have also participated, as "heroic."

PM/DM Bibi Netanyahu immediately countered by saying "our mission is to establish the nation of Israel in our country, to secure our sovereignty over our historic homeland." The key word here is sovereignty. Israel's sovereignty over all of its historic homeland. 

At the present time none of the major political parties in Israel are talking about the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, the so-called two-state solution. What Likud, Labor and the Blue and White List are all talking about is separation of the the Palestinians from Israel. This separation is being accomplished by the building of walls. Walls around settlements, walls that divide highways straight down the middle. Walls that separate the citizens of the State of Israel from the areas and transportation nodes of the "Palestinians."

This is now. Taking a snap-look forward to a time nearing and soon to become a present reality, how does the God-breathed prophecy of Ezekiel describe the land of Israel's habitation prior to the Magog's attempt to invade? 

Ezekiel 38:10-12 

‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land."

Unwalled villages inhabited by peaceful people dwelling safely, all of them dwelling without walls, bars or gates in the midst of the land. This is certainly not the Israel we know today, but it will be the Israel that exists immediately prior to the events of Ezekiel 38/39. 

Do we recognize that this complete lack of walls, bars or gates not only refers to the midst of the land of Israel, but also includes the rather significant defensive walls, bars and gates currently surrounding Gaza? They're going to be coming down, and soon. This is what the Lord GOD through Ezekiel is telling us if were willing to listen. The future reality well ahead of the time in which it will be.

Isaiah 11:14, as has been discussed here several times previously, directly links Israel's military coming conquest of the terrorist-controlled Gaza with a simultaneous military conquest of most of western Jordan. This near-future reality, is reflected in the map at the top of this SITREP. The only missing piece in this map is the area to the southeast of the Dead Sea, that too will be Israel. And it will occur, as Eschatology Today believes, before Ezekiel 38/39 takes place. Ditto for Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:34-39. All of this constitutes a very big paradigm shift if not a geo-political tsunami for the Middle East, which won't come even close to looking like it does today.

So, let's see how this new developing paradigm takes shape before our eyes and falls in with the marching cadence set by the Lord's prophets so long ago.

Global SITREP B4-19: Another Look Ahead

UPDATED 6 April 2019: Within 48 hours the Trump Administration will have the U.S. declare the iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The designation was accompanied by a warning to all US interests and military forces around the world to be prepared for retaliatory strikes or outright attacks by the IRGC or any of its proxies (i.e. Iraqi, Lebanese or Yemeni Shi'a militias).

The IRGC was founded by Iran's first Shi'a Twelver Ayatollah (literal meaning: "Sign of God") in 1979. The IRGC's purposes are to be the Ayatollah's personal army, to defend the Ayatollah and his regime from foreign or domestic enemies, and to export the Shi'a Twelver revolution globally in order to create the apocalyptic chaos necessary to thereby hasten the arrival of their mythical al-Mahdi. 

The IRGC, and its most notorious offshoot, the Qods (Jerusalem) Force (IRGC-QF), are actively involved in terrorist military and covert assassinations activity within Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, several nations in South America, (most notably Venezuela) as well as within the European Union. They do, in fact, operate in covertly on a global scale. 

The timing and rationale behind the IRGC FTO designation is not a stand-alone event, even though it is decades over due. It is part of the US-Israel commitment to contain, confront and roll back the Shi'a Twelver agenda as kinetically executed by the IRGC around the world. This means in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghaistan and, yes, Venezuela. 

Eschatologically, this US-Israeli alliance against the IRGC can be seen as part and parcel of the Jeremiah 49:34-39 prophecy. The US-Israeli alliance also has strategic partnerships with the EU nations as well as the Arab GCC nations. These are all nations directly referenced in the text of Ezekiel 38:13. 

It is also a fact that the rocket fired on March 25th by the terrorists in Gaza which indiscriminately struck a private civilian residence in Mishmeret, Israel, injuring 7 (including an infant), precipitated the current military crisis with Gaza. That rocket launch was an order by Iran to its terrorist proxy in Gaza. That rocket resulted in PM Netanyahu cutting short his meeting with POTUS Trump, but not before they agreed to coordinate to robustly act in-concert against Iran.

We now also know that the US sanctions regime re-imposed upon Iran after the unilateral US withdrawal from the 2015 JCPOA is having a devastating effect as a form of the economic war upon the Ayatolaah's regime. One of the most affected is Hezbollah, and this assists (blesses) Israel greatly. 

The effect has been manifested in Iran being forced to drastically cut its financial support to Hezbollah. Consider:

1.) Hezbollah's soldiers have not been paid regularly in the past three months, and what they have recieved is half of their normal salary. Same goes for Hezbollah's reserve soldiers.

2.)These Hezbollah soldiers have had their upscale apartments in Beirut's al-Dahieh al-Janubiya neighborhood taken away from them and their families because Iran can no longer afford to pay the rent. 

3.) Hezbollah's social engineering network, the backbone of its popular support in Lebanon, has been shut down due to the lack of Iranian funding.  

The next time someone tries to tell you that America is not blessing Israel as it should, tell them to read this and think again.

5 April 2019: In this update we do not have to look ahead to see what's coming. Instead we look at what a senior IDF source assesses to be the threats Israel is facing right now. We also must understand that since senior IDF leadership assesses this, then it's a fair assessment to make that some part of their senior civilian leadership assesses it as well.

The assessment is that Hezbollah and HAMAS are acting in concert to drag Israel deep into Lebanon and Gaza where an underground network of tunnels has created a spider web maze of direct links between homes, mosques, educational facilities and hospitals. IAF air power alone cannot defeat these terrorist armies or completely destroy the tunnel networks, so the insertion of significant ground forces in such a campaign would be essential. 

As the IDF would pass through these areas of Lebanon and Gaza then the enemy infantry in the tunnels below deployed to execute many ambushes with heavily-armed elite forces plus anti-tank rockets in order to kill IDF armor from their rear, as well as killing and capturing individual IDF soldiers. Therefore, the assessment continues, the IDF ground entry into this combat is something that would occur only under the most extreme circumstances. 

This precisely confirms my 6:59 AM comment on March 31 beneath SITREP B3-19: 

"Clearly, it will require a far more serious threat to Israel's national security than a largely unarmed mass of 40,000 Gazans and hundreds of small IEDs before Isaiah 11:14 is fulfilled. Not even a barrage of unguided rockets roughly aimed at civilian housing has been a triggering event. Yes, something of greater consequence will occur for this part of the Psalm 83 fulfillment to take place. Yet, it will happen at the appointed time."

The senior IDF assessment then continued to identify Iran, meaning Iran as forward deployed in the IRGC-QF, as the power directing the activities of Hezbollah in Lebanon and HAMAS in Gaza in drawing Israel into this combat scenario. And so accordingly, Israel is quite busy laying the groundwork for "the big war" and the day when the IDF actually will enter into Lebanon and Gaza. In military terms, Israel is busy right now preparing the battlefield and setting conditions favorable to the IDF emerging from it victorious. This may happen soon, or down the road a bit, but it will happen. Iran will be dealt with leaving Hezbollah and HAMAS, divided by some distance, to each fend for themselves against Israel's formidible military power. We know how this will conclude.

As students of Bible prophecy we have to recognize this IDF assessment as dovetailing very nicely with the pre-70th Week prophetic scenarios we see in Scripture, even if the IDF does not see this direct linkage at present, they will definitely see it in hindsight in the not too distant future. We see in the prophetic Scripture of Psalm 83 Gaza and HAMAS plotting together in direct from the text of Psalm 83. Only the Hashemites of Jordan need be added to the mix, and that, according to Psalm 83, Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26 is precisely what will take place. And Iran is taken care of to a great extent, and prior to Ezekiel 38/39, per Jeremiah 49:34-39. Syria, per Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27.  Eschatology Today will leave the issue of what occurred at the Russian Ministry of Defense a day ago to address the almost certain questions that will appear in the comments section below this SITREP.

3 April 2019: While we wait for Gaza's fate to be determined, there are a couple of items that should be addressed from the perspective of prophetic implications.

The first item regards the stunning turn of events in Ukraine where a popular comedian and TV actor (who has a role playing the president of Ukraine) could soon actually become elected to that office. Perhaps you've read about this or seen a news report on it in the past week. It certainly and immediately got my mind racing with the potential for possible prophetic implications. 

The actor, Volodymyr Zelensky, captured twice as many votes (30%) as the current Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko (16%) in the first round of the election. These two will face-off in the next round of voting on 21 April. The result is surprising as both Zelensky and Poroshenko have fairly similar views. Both are pro-NATO and pro-EU. Conventional wisdom would say that Poroshenko, as the incumbent, would be favored over Zelensky who has zero experience in this kind of arena. Yet, by 2:1 margin the Ukrainian people went for the comedian/actor. That result was despite the fact that Russia interferred in it with a massive disinformation campaign. My take is that Zelensky took 30% of the vote because Poroshenko has not been effective in countering an aggressive Vladimir Putin and his designs on the whole of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky

And there's the rub. If Zelensky wins the presidency of Ukraine it's a near certainty that Russia's Putin will pounce after him like a lioness getting after a gazelle. And what it is that Ezekiel tells us? God puts hooks in the jaws of the northern leader (Gog of Magog): "I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws and lead you out..." Gog of Magog will be busy with his army in one direction, when God hooks him up and turns him about face, with his military forces and allies, and leads them all into a great slaughter of the mountains of Israel. I'm not saying Ezekiel 38:4 will be fulfilled precisely in this manner, but if the election result places Zelensky in the Ukrainian presidency it may be too much of an opportunity for Russia to let pass. Oh, and not to forget, but did I mention than Zelensky is Jewish from parents who are both Jewish?

Among the signs our Lord has given as indicators of the end times are natural disasters. Floods are a big one and they are occurring all over the globe as a direct result of severe weather. We pray and open our wallets to assist those affected here in the US and abroad. One place where significant, even unprecedented flooding is taking place is in Iran. Of particular note is the flooding taking place in ancient Elam. Ancient Elam is today divided among a few modern provinces, three of which are known as Ilam, Lorestan and Khuzestan. These floods are even more of a disaster for the people because they're already hard pressed due to an economic form of war we refer to as sanctions that are intended to turn the Iranian government away from its nuclear weapons program. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has been more direct in acknowledging the economic sanctions imposed upon Iran has severely hampered their ability to deal with the flooding, calling the sanctions "economic terrorism" in a recent social media post.

The provinces of Ilam and Lorestan have been ravaged by the floods and all of that water is moving south towards the gulf through Khuzestan. Khuzestan has a great many dams throughout it territory, but those dams are at 95% full and the water coming will easily overwhelm their capacity to hold it back. Disaster looms in a region where the population is mostly ethnic Arabs who aren't very happy with the clerical regime in Tehran to begin with. And these floods are not just occurring in Iran's southwest, the entire country is experiencing flooding, particularly since the middle of March. Roads are blocked, which brings land transport to a complete halt, which bring deliveries of essentials to a halt. Most locations are reachable only by rotary winged craft, helicopters, and Iran's antiquated fleet of choppers is simply not up to the task. 

Flooded Iran

So the people are very quick to blame the clerical regime which has spent, and continues to spend, billions upon billions on the wars in Iraq, Syria and far away Yemen. Iran already has a festering insurrection of its people as we have discussed previously. This is just another important aspect of what the prophet Jeremiah has forecast to occur in Iran. Eschatology Today's position on Iran has for ten years been that Iran will be greatly reduced by the time Ezekiel 38/39 is appointed to occur. We are seeing that reducing happening in real-time today, and there's much more to come.

Speaking of Ezekiel 38/39, and to some extent this will be a repeat of what has been written about on Eschatology Today before, the view here is that Saudi Arabia and the bulk of GCC (Sheba and Dedan) are clearly referenced as the allies of the West, and therefore allies of Israel in the pre-70th Week fulfillment of this prophecy. This strongly indicates that the emerging Israel-Saudi ties will not be broken in the series of conflicts we refer to as the Psalm 83 scenario. The Saudi's will have no qualms with the overthrow of the Jordanian monarchy as Asaph prophesies in Psalm 83. In this we need be aware that the al-Saud monarchy and the Hashemite monarchy of Jordan have long been bitter rivals, well over a millennia in fact.

As a segue into the probable next SITREP to follow, expect new IAF strikes on Iranian targets in both Syria and Lebanon following PM Netanyahu's meeting with Putin on Thursday, 4 April. Some Israeli media have reported the meeting was cancelled. To the contrary, it has not been cancelled.

Global SITREP A8-19: Temple Mount

Sheikh Abdelazim Salhab

24 February 2019: Last night Israeli police arrested the man pictured above, the head of the Jerusalem Waqf, because on Friday, 22 February, he ordered the breaking of the locked chain in place since 2003 at the Gate of Mercy. This gate, known in Hebrew as the Sha'ar HaRachamim, is known in Christianity as the Golden Gate and provides direct access to the Temple Mount. 

The door known as bab al-Rahma opened (i24 image)

The Friday order to break in allowed Muslims to swarm inside the long-closed interior compound through double doors known as Bab al-Rahma (southern door) and bab al-Taubah (northern door). Also arrested was Sheikh Salhab's deputy, HAMAS' Sheikh Najih Bakirat, who is also leads the Academy of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Islamic media are referring to these arrests as "abductions." In this action the Jordanian Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Abdul Nasser Abu Al-Basal, declared Israeli forces  to be "playing with fire." Later this morning the two Waqf officials were released from police custody with an order banning them from Temple Mount for one week.

In this action the Islamic Waqf is seeking to usurp Israeli sovereignty by igniting a full-fledged religious war over control of the Temple Mount. It is not Israel that plays with fire, but Islam itself. Eschatology Today made this clear nearly ten years ago when we quoted Zechariah 12:2-3 in the post titled: America, Listen to the Lord thy God and Leave Jerusalem Alone!!! 

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of [a]drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it."

The Jerusalem Post yesterday also published an article under the headline:

WAQF: TEMPLE MOUNT SITE WILL REMAIN OPEN DESPITE ISRAELI CRACKDOWN. The article has a nice photo of the interior view. Also worth checking out is the GotQuestions website's article on this subject. It contains important details worthy of our contemplation: What is the significance of the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem?  This article may answer questions some of us may have on this subject.

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. 

Global SITREP C7-17: The Syrian Situation Revisited, Part VIII

The military Situation in Syria, 7 July 2017. These are current and true front lines of the Trump-Putin agreement. Click on the map for greater detail. Less than 24 hours later Syrian and Hezbollah forces launched a major assault upon rebel-held As-Suweida.

The former line beyond which enemy forces of Iran and Hezbollah were not to advance southwards.

Update 14 July 2017:  Now it gets a whole lot more interesting, prophetically speaking! Eschatology Today has learned that Russia wants its CSTO allies, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in particular, to deploy their military forces into Syria in support of Russian military objectives.

As most of you are aware from previous Eschatology Today reports, the view here is that the prophecy of Ezekiel 38/39 reflects modern-day geo-political realities. This interpretation holds that the Central Asian nations (former republics of the Soviet Union) constitute the bulk of the nations identified in Ezekiel's prophecy which also participate in the near future doomed-to-failure attempt to invade and conquer Israel for the spoils of war.

Here these nations are now with Russia putting the prophetic hooks in their jaws in drawing them into a middle eastern war which itself is like a derailed locomotive disaster about to happen at the next bend in the tracks. Looking up with eyes wide open, brother sand sisters!

11 July 2017: The US-Russian agreement for a partial ceasefire in southwestern Syria along the Israeli-Jordanian borders went into effect two and one-half hours ago. (See new 7JUL17 map at top) This is not a formalized, written and signed document for a cessation of hostilities, but a verbal agreement made between the US and Russian leadership during their sidebar meeting at the G20 conference in Hamburg, Germany. It is the most recent ceasefire in a long series of failed ceasefires brokered by the US and Russia in Syria. 

The closest thing to any detail of what is in the agreement is that all opposing forces must maintain their current positions; they are essentially to be frozen in place. Reportedly, according to the Russian side, the cessation is to be policed by Russian MPs. There are no US forces on the ground in southwestern Syria east of Al-Tanf or Raqqa. In Syrian government media there has been no mention of the cessation of hostilities.

Israel, Jordan and the US have long been monitoring southern Syria with the most advanced, high-tech surveillance systems on any international border in the world. Since the surrveillance system made by Raytheon went active there has never been a succesdful infiltration of Jordanian territory. The system monitors troop movement deep inside Syrian territory. Any infiltration attempt receives a warning. If the warning is ignored the infiltrators are summarily exterminated.

7 July 2017: The unexpected has happened. The expected 30-minute meeting of presidents Trump and Putin at the G20 became an unexpected meeting of two and a quarter hours. The unexpected happened again when the announcement of a negotiated ceasefire in Syria to commence Sunday was made public by SECSTATE Tillerson right after the US and Russian presidential meeting concluded. 

Details on what is within the ceasefire agreement should be forthcoming. However, initial reporting seems to confirm that Iranian militias, including Hezbollah, must withdraw at least 30 miles from the Israeli and Jordanian borders as related in the 3 July update below. Also, combat operations against IS will continue. How Iran and Turkey will respond to this agreement is unknown, but Iran is likely going to be furious at being jilted by their Russian ally.

And there's the rub. No ceasefire of Russian involvement in Syria has ever been worth the paper it wasn't written on. This fact is also primarily superceded by what Isaiah and Jeremiah wrote more than two and one half millennia ago. How the truce collapses is not as important as how Bible prophecy guarantees that it will fail.

VBIED terror attack in Damascus on 2 July 2017. Image by AFP from Times of Israel. This image is proof that Damascus is not yet destroyed as some prophecy teachers are prematurely teaching.

3 July 2017: Part VIII of this SITREP series on the war in Syria begins by focusing on a rather critical circumstance. This circumstance is present, as seen in the map above, from Israel's Golan Heights adjoining Lebanon, south to Quneitra and on down to and along all of the 235-mile long Syrian-Jordanian border. Under a joint US-Jordan-Russia agreement no military forces other than Syrian government's own forces are permitted to be any nearer than 30 miles of the border as indicated by the red line. This agreement exists despite the fact that the Syrian armed forces are under the de facto control of IRGC-Qods Force commander, Brig. Gen Qassem Soleimani, and therefore, Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei. Also in accordance with this agreement only token Syrian government forces would be present at border crossings. This 'closed' foreign military region clearly includes the city of Dara'a.

The truly critical and problematic circumstance detail is that the IRGC-led Hezbollah and Iranian proxy militias are present within this established foreign military no-go zone. They have made no effort to withdraw, and actually have continues their advance. Keeping these Iranian-led forces away from the Israeli and Jordanian borders was the key objective of the tri-party agreement in order to forestall an escalation of the warfighting to include Israel and Jordan in defense of their borders from Iranian military encroachment. 

As of this point in time, particularly in the pro-regime offensive against rebels in and around Dara'a (ostensibly under the control of the Multinational Operations Center (MOC) in Amman) and just outside of Quneitra, the agreement has become an objective failure posing a clear and present danger for unpredictable consequences. These unpredictable consequences, which we have been expecting per Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27, could quickly become tomorrow's headlines. 

Global SITREP C3-17: Stage-Setting for the pre-70th Week Flood of Prophetic Fulfillment

President Trump at the Western Wall

24 May 2017: CJTF-OIR has attempted to place an embargo on news coming out of its control zone in the al-Tanf/al-Walid border crossing Area of Responsibility (AoR). The last item reported by Kurdish NRT news about 48 hours ago was that Norwegian special forces had taken control of securing the Syrian side of the border. Aside from that there have also been several propaganda reports from dubious Russian sources (Sputnik and RT) which are worthless and will never be repeated here. 

The New York Times published a report yesterday dateline from Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, but not surprisingly it reads as if it were not an American news agency but that of a Globalist Corporate News Entity, and that's par for the course. 

More recent is a Gulf News report which appeared this morning (24 May) and was updated as this update is being composed. The Gulf News report confirms the original 21 May portion of this SITREP that a "battle is brewing between the US-backed forces and Iran-backed troops over who will control a strategic section of the 599km Syrian-Iraqi border."   And "But Iranian-backed Shiite militias such as the Iraqi Hashed Shaabi and the Lebanese Hezbollah were deployed on May 6 to grab territory south of Al Bukamal, which is important to Iran as it is the only land route to Syria, Lebanon and ultimately, the Mediterranean Sea." This region is the northern portion of the corridor discussed below. This linked report is worth the time to read for the details it contains, further corroborating what is reported below and in SITREP C2-17 Part V.

21 May 2017:When U.S. President Trump arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia he personally began the process of cementing the pre-70th Week 'last days' military alliance we know from Ezekiel 38:13 as "Sheba, Dedan the merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions."  And to make no mistake, this Arab-Western military alliance has as its current primary military foe the Islamic Republic of Iran. But there's more, much more to see here in terms of a prophetic flood of fulfillment (Dan. 9:26c) and the real-world scenario which is currently the driving force for that fulfillment.

The battle which has just begun in southern Syria at the al-Tanf/al-Walid border crossing between Syria and Iraq and within 50 miles of the Jordanian-Iraq border crossing at Trebil is one in which Iranian generals have ignored Russian generals advice to avoid. Therefore, Iran is the driving force behind this battle being engaged against the western allies (Combind Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve or CJTF-OIR) because it is imperative to maintain its strategic Tehran-to-Beirut corridor. This corridor is a direct overland route from Tehran to Baghdad to Damascus to Beirut, a corridor which the Iranian mullahs eventually wish to terminate in Jerusalem. 

The Iranian Dream - Overland Corridor from Tehran to Beirut

Having Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) controlled territory to the north (de-facto Kurdistan) and to the south at the Syria-Iraq-Jordan border region poses a very high risk tactical threat to the Iranian's military ability to maintain this corridor. Therefore, in the view of Eschatology Today, the current battle is the first or preliminary military engagement of the Jeremiah 49:34-39 prophecy, as well as what has been discussed in the preceding SITREP C2-17 Part V and its role in the impending fulfillment of Isaiah 17.  

The Iranian's see this military threat in terms of the executive order President Trump gave to U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and thus to NATO, to encircle the Islamic State's remaining territory and de-facto capital at Raqqa, Syria in order to cut off all jihadists escape routes and to "annihilate" the Islamic State (the remaining remnant of Saddam Hussein's military) once and for all. The wrench in this plan of action is the IRGC-Hezbollah militia force now pressing its attack on the Operation Inherent Resolve base of operations at al-Tanf. 

Following the meetings with the leaders of "Sheba and Dedan" President Trump will stop in Israel, and then move on the the NATO and "Ezekiel Summit" in Brussels, Belgium next week. Without any doubt updates will result from these meetings and ongoing ground warfare.                                                               

Global SITREP B6-16: Knowledge is Power

Jordan Border Crossing: Jabhat al-Nusra (Al Qaeda) In Control

7 April 2016: Some time ago I gave the readers of Eschatology Today a warning regarding acceptance of news reporting. The warning to the reader was that during wartime the truth will often be hidden by a bodyguard of outright lies or various levels of disinformation. The war continues and so does my warning. We need to be careful no matter where the information we receive comes from.

A case in point is the above image posted by DEBKAfile yesterday. It carried this opening sentence: "ISIS forces in southern Syria overran several Jordanian border crossings south of the Yarmouk River on Tuesday, April 5. This disastrous turn of events is illustrated by an exclusive picture obtained by debkafile of an ISIS fighter unfurling the organization’s flag at one of the crossings which sports a Jordanian flag."

Everything about this sentence is true except for the most important part - the identification of the terrorist group and flag in the image. As I privately informed the editors at DEBKAfile yesterday  afternoon (we are on the same side in this war, no?) that is NOT an ISIS terrorist waving the ISIS battle flag at an apparently abandoned Jordanian border crossing.  It is a Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) terrorist waving the Al-Qaeda-aligned Jabhat al-Nusra battle flag. 

There is no way on Earth that the astute and experienced editors at DEBKAfile made such a blatant error in the positive identification of an ISIS flag versus the Jabhat al-Nusra flag. It is something a 6-year old child with two minutes of instruction could correctly do with flash cards. 

So, the first question is: For what not-so-obvious political purpose or agenda would DEBKAfile deliberately publish a disinformational report for the whole world to see, and then create a narrative account of reactions to the image by the Israeli government and those of Jordan, the US, the Saudi and UAE military officers? Is the world to believe the military intelligence professionals working for these governments do not know the existent facts on the ground at the Jordanian border? Of course they do. So why the nonsense from DEBKAfile for John and Jane Q. Public to consume?

The second question is: If this photograph is accurate in its depiction, does it provide the first solid evidence that the forces of Islamic State and the jihadists of Al-Qaeda's brand have joined forces in the face of the ongoing Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah-Syrian military offensive, plus the U.S.led Coalition military operation? 

The third question is: If so, then why is this not the core subject of the DEBKAfile report? Why is it not the subject of Corporate News Media (in the U.S. that's ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN and the lot) reporting? Buckle up, a completely unexpected Immelmann maneuver begins with the next sentence. 

DEBKAfile actually got the core issue correct. The Sunni jihadists of the self-declared Islamic State caliphate and the nebulous global jihadists under Al Qaeda's banner are not enemies - they're allies! They are allies in their primary jihad against the secular West, Christianity and Judaism, and secondarily against their enemies of the Russian-Syrian-Iranian axis. How do I know this? I read the stuff the corporate media have embargoed in their boardrooms because they are in agreement with the agenda being pursued by Western governments, led by our own.

Remember the good ol' days? The enemy was known and clearly identified. They were Communists who followed the rigid ideology of Communism. The US and our European and Pacific allies took this clear identification of the enemy and his ideology and crafted a warfighting doctrine with which to defeat the enemy. Ultimately the doctrine succeeded, at least with respect to the former-USSR. 

Now look at the enemy today. We know them as Islamists and their ideology is Islamism. And that's where the similarity ends because the US and our European and Pacific allies resolutely refuse to name Islamists as the enemy and Islamism as their ideology. From this point the failure escalates due to an abject refusal to use this knowledge to craft a warfighting doctrine with which to defeat this enemy. 

This is the reason why this war in many military and intelligence circles, which was fully engaged long before many of us realized that out enemy was at war with us, is known as "The Long War." Without the requisite definition of an enemy and his ideology upon which a warfighting doctrine must be crafted this war will be endless. A perpetual and perfectly good global crisis which those wielding power have no intention of allowing to go to waste.

Remember the "Global War on Terrorism"?  My how the political establishment wailed when this nomenclature was done away with, never mind the fact that no nation has ever successfully waged war against a tactic. Terrorism is not an enemy, it is a tactic used by the enemy. And the recent media headlines across Europe and the US were absolutely predictable: "Terror Attacks San Bernardino" and "Terror Attacks Paris" and "Terror Attacks Brussels."  Terror did not attack anyone or any city. Islamists executing their ideological Islamism attacked the US and French Marines in Beirut in 1983, and every cold-blooded Islamic assault since then to include San Bernardino, Paris, Brussels, Madrid, London, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, PA, just to name a handful.

Why isn't this the real news then? Why propagate falsehood for the public to consume. You see where I am coming from, and where I am going. People are being conditioned to believe the lie. Any lie.  Any lie the regime in power wants the public to believe will be accepted because the public has been pre-conditioned to believe it. Heaven help those who reject the lie, whatever it is. And it took me all of four days to attempt to make some kind coherent sense of this and express it here.

I'm not going to hold my breath on this, but there is just the slightest chance the Islamic State-Al Qaeda alliance might become public knowledge through the global corporate media. I hold out this slim chance because I have seen in the past day or so news from Arab-language media where some exceptionally brave Muslim journalists have actually called out Islam as being responsible for the unending wave of global terror. Muslims usually don't call out other Muslims or cite Islamism as the cause of cold-blooded carnage and live long to tell about it. Chances are they'll be assassinated or beheaded, or worse, but it is a faint glimmer of a chance that will likely evaporate with a new wave of jihadist assaults in Rome, London, New York or WhoKnowsWhere. 

Marana'tha Lord, Marana'tha!