Global SITREP B10-18: Dara'a, Quneitra and the Israeli Golan

Liwa Zulfikar - Iraqi Shi'a militia under IRGC command in Syria

UPDATE  11 July 2018: A final warning given to Tehran via Moscow.

10 July 2018: Pay attention to the now bold red text in the 4 July update below. Any Syrian, Hezbollah or IRGC-led military forces crossing the eastern Line Bravo into the DMZ will trigger the IDF into the large-scale operation described. Israel again yesterday directly warned against such movement. Nevertheless, the enemy has begun firing into the Quneitra area. The rest will soon be prophetic fulfillment in real-time.

4 July 2018: Eschatology Today is fairly well convinced that the Syrian-Hezbollah-IRGC Dara'a offensive on Dara'a (ancient Edrei) with Russian air support was suddenly ordered into a "quick halt" by Russian generals at Khmeimim Air Base. That order came from further up the chain of command in Moscow because Russian leadership learned that an Israel counter-offensive was with hours of being launched into Syria. Indeed, at about that same time, and as if to press home the point, the Dara'a joint-Syrian-Iranian weapons and ammo depot was attacked and largely destroyed.

Despite the military halt in Dara'a, Russia doubled down with Israel on the critical Iranian/Hezbollah issue. This morning Russian FM Sergei Lavrov declared that a total Iranian withdrawal from Syria was "completely unrealistic." Lavrov issued his double-down knowing full well that Israel had recently attacked and drove back Iranian militia attempting to cross into Syria from Iraq. What part of that message did Mr. Lavrov fail to comprehend? 

Clearly, for Israel, the Russians should save their breath as the issue of Iranian military forces remaining in Syria is non-negotiable. How they leave is the only option on the table: either willingly or by being destroyed in-place. For its part, Iran will ignore the Israeli red line, as it sees continuing the offensive through Dara'a and into Jordan itself as a means to outflank the IDF on the Golan. The rest is largely predictable.

With respect to the Golan, and Quneitra, the above map provides a key visual aid. The thin purpule-colored strip of land is the U.N. Disengagement Of Forces (UNDOF) zone that has existed since it was negotiated in 1973. Notice Quneitra (indicated by the red-colored oval) lies on the western side of this no-mans land. It is nigh impossible for Syrian, Hezbollah and IRGC-QF militias to enter any part of the UNDOF zone, or even appear to be about to enter it, without triggering an IDF offensive operation to push the enemy forces back another 30 to 35km away from the Israeli border. A 30-35km push would mean the entire right-hand side of this image becoming an Israeli military conquest within a couple days time.


2 July 2018: When these SITREPs are posted they always contain enough information, enough keywords, for the true Christian reader to eagerly seek out more information from the Word of God. This has been true from day one of Eschatology Today and its secondary objective of getting the reader to seek out the truth directly for themselves. Sad to report, this is not happening with this SITREP; if it were the comments section would have been flooded by this morning with questions or requests for clarifications regarding prophetic content within the first paragraphs of SITREP B10-18, if not the title itself.

Eschatology Today will now illustrate because this is a "teaching moment." We find in the Book of Numbers 21:33-35 that during Israel's arrival in the Promised Land, that Israel turned up (went north) to Bashan and then fought and won the Battle of Edrei. With whose help did Israel prevail in those ancient battles? Is the IDF not similarly empowered by THWH God today? 

Here's an eye-opener: Edrei is the modern city of Dara'a. We must understand Bashan is all of the land of this part of southern Syria, from the border of Gilead in the south to Mount Hermon on the north, and from the Jordan River valley east to the city of Salkhad (Salchah). And Israel possessed this land. See the map below with a thin black outline across southern Syria. 

Those who have read Eschatology Today all these many years are very well aware of the frequent mention of Joshua 13 as a prophetic chapter for this modern era. Joshua 13 goes hand-in-hand with Psalm 83, Isaiah 17 and the other pre-70th Week war prophecies. Once again, the prophetic importance of Joshua 13 cannot be understated, yet from far too many prophecy teachers little to nothing is ever mentioned. Now read Joshua 13:29-31 to know what lies in the near future for these same places where battles rage at the moment. Know that today Israel's mighty army stands at the ready on the Golan Heights against the approaching armies of Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah and their Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force overlords. Once again the Word of God presented the past as the prologue for future events. Very near future events.

All the land of Bashan, the kingdom of King Og.

Eschatology Today - Out front where we belong.

29 June 2018: Israel Defense Forces crossed overland into Syria last night on a humanitarian mission to provide many tons of tents, food, water, medicine and clothing to Syrian civilian war refugees pushed up against the Israeli Golan and Jordanian borders. Several tractor trailers loaded with the supplies and forklifts where escorted by heavily-armed IDF troopers through no-mans-land security fences where the humanitarian relief was transferred to waiting Syrian civilian trucks which delivered it all directly to the make-shift refugee camp nearest to the Israeli border. 

There are an estimated total of 125,000 civilian refugees pressed into this no-mans-land in the tri-border region, and whose ranks are swelling at a high rate due to indiscriminate and unrelenting Syrian and Russian Air Force bombings in and around Dera'a. The three best hospitals in Dera'a were bombed into forced closeure. War crimes and crimes against humanity are normal fare here as in other parts of Syria. Direct Israeli military intervention is only a matter of time now.

28 June 2018: This SITREP will focus on the newest and most dangerous flashpoint in the Syrian war: Dara'a, Quneitra and the Israeli Golan. Considerable fresh OSINT is being assessed along with material that has aged for at least five years regarding Iraqi Shi'a militias operating in Syria for iranian strategic interests. These militia, under IRGC-QF command, have added Syrian Shi'a militia to their ranks. Thus Syrian militia is also under the command of IRGC-QF General Qassem Soleimani and the iranian Ayatollah. The in-progress OSINT assessment is pointing to these militia joining the battle underway in southern Syria within the U.S., Israel and Jordan deconfliction zone.

The prophetic importance, besides the obvious regarding Syria, can also be attached directly to Psalm 83:8.  

Assyria also has joined with them;

They have helped the children of Lot.

Eschatology Today has for many years held the interpretation of this verse to point directly at troops from Iraq. These iraqi Shi'a militia have recently completed campaigns in that part of Iraq and Syria where the ancient Assyrians once had uncontested rule. There are now on Israel's northern doorstep.

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 D4-16: Syrian Chaos and a Certain Generation of Jews

Aleppo's Tariq-al-Bab neighborhood on 24 September 2016. Reuters photo.

UPDATED 25 September 2016: The Russian, Iranian/Hezbollah and Syrian government assault on Aleppo, where Sunni jihadist rebels and an estimated 250,000 civilians are trapped without running water, medical aid or sustenance. Over the past 48 hours the assault has been of an intensity never before seen in the Syrian civil war, and in all probability not seen since the wholesale flattening of European cities occurred during World War II. The civilian death toll in Aleppo is expected by on-scene observers to be of an equally unprecedented scale. With water supplies having been cut off to all of Aleppo an estimated 2 million people are at risk of dehydration and the usual accompanying outbreak of rampant disease. 

The city of Aleppo is literally being churned into heaps of rubble by incessant Russian air strikes, cruise missile and multiple rocket launch bombardment, artillery barrages and a combined forces ground assault led by Russian T-90 tanks. And this is just the start of the assault in which war crimes against humanity appear to be the norm. The phrase 'total war' is applicable to the destruction of Aleppo at this time. 

Let no one doubt the literalness of Jeremiah 49:23-27 and that of Isaiah 17 being in an active process of fulfillment before our eyes.


21 September 2016: So much for the US-Russian brokered ceasefire. It has been aborted. But this should come as a surprise to no one reading the Holy Bible or the interpretation of its prophecies presented here over the past several years. Based upon what the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah were inspired by the LORD God to write thousands of years ago there is no question on how the war in Syria will be concluded. This is the truth behind the final words of this SITREP. If you want to see Bible prophecy come to a literal fulfillment in real-time before your eyes - Watch Syria!!! Damascus will cease to be a city and the nation of Syria itself will cease to exist.

The reasons for the coming literal fulfillment are not nearly as important as the soon-to-be-fact that Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27 will come to their joint fulfillment exactly as they both foretell. If you've not read them before, by all means do so now. 

Does it really matter that warplanes of the Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve this week annihilated a Syrian Army position - either intentionally or purely by accident - near the eastern city of Deir-ez-Zor in a series of four strikes, or that Syrian MiGs bombed Dara'a, or that an agreed upon civilian humanitarian aid convoy unloading its precious cargo in Aleppo was bombed - an international war crime - by Russian aircraft, leaving Russia holding responsibility for the war crime, or that the stridently Islamist, US-armed Free Syrian Army (FSA) forced US Special Operations Forces (SOF) to leave the battlefield in the northern town of al-Rai? No, not at all. The end of Damascus and of Syria itself will occur exactly as it has been foretold to occur. Our God knew all these things would occur long before He passed on this knowledge to His prophets.

In Syria there are a plethora of alliances among fighting forces, too numerous to count  or too tenuous to matter, which are utterly meaningless in the long-run. Man-made truces are doomed to failure by the actions of men. And what has occurred this early week is just the beginning of far, far worse to come in Syria. These events all serve to vividly illustrate and provide a forewarning of the total chaos yet to occur in Syria... and here at home in the U.S.

The Islamist attacks in New Jersey (multiple IEDs in Seaside Park and Elizabeth), New York City (multiple IEDs) and the stabbings in Minnesota are all a part of the war Islam is waging against us. These attacks ARE the direct result of the unrestrained Obama Administration-sponsored importation of Islamic terrorists from the Middle Eastern warzone and their deliberate resettling in urban and rural  American towns. And we are allowing this to occur. They walk among us with IEDs and concealed carry handguns with which to shoot at local law enforcement. Obama is responsible for this; the blood is on his hands.

It used to be said that our troops were fighting terrorists on their home turf in the Middle East so that we would not have to fight them here on our turf. Obama, and soon Hillary according to her own words, have determined to bring the over abundance of Middle Eastern terrorists by their thousands into the United States, give them U.S. government welfare support and jobs so they can kill us in comfort and at their leisure. 

In Hungary, a truly massive wall is being built by the government along the entire length of its Serbian and Croatian borders to keep out the Middle Eastern terrorists flooding into Western Europe. One can legitimately refer to this an enforced moratorium on Muslim immigrants; it's what a nation's president must do to protect his people from cold-blooded murderers. In America, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is vilified and demonized by the Left and the Democrat Hillary Clinton campaign for just suggesting "extreme vetting" of Muslims and the building of a similar wall if elected. Is it not clear that the American Left is for the cold-blooded murder of America's citizens of every race, creed and color by Islamic jihadists?

And, no, there is no need to wait for our Dhimmi government in Washington, D.C. and other State capitals to officially determine that these attacks are the work of directly-linked Muslim terrorists (there is no such thing as a Muslim "lone wolf" terrorist), or that Islam is a clear and present danger to us all. That has been a known fact since Bill Clinton took office in 1993, over 23 years ago. 

As the Lord Jesus Christ said (Mark 13:7; emphasis added), "But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet."  War in Syria and war in America, we have been foretold about these events and yet we are clearly instructed by the Lord to not worry about them. For us, as it is written in Luke 21:13 concerning Jesus' instructions, this is our opportunity for testimony on the inerrant nature of His Word!  

And so I testify.

14 September 2016: As is often stated in many of Eschatology Today's SITREPs concerning the ongoing war, truth is always the first victim in any war. This became painfully evident once again when it was all but impossible to determine exactly what had occurred between Monday morning and this morning in and around Syria's Quneitra Governorate (province) abutting Israel's line of defense-in-depth in the Golan.

However, and despite the lack of accurate intelligence, something new and potentially game-changing must be noted.  In the past Israel has always held Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus as being solely responsible for any "spill-over" of the war on Syrian territory into Israel's territory. Israel's Air Force has now struck Syrian Army artillery positions at least twice in the past three days as a result of the spillover of rounds into Israel's Golan territory. This occurred even though hindsight may prove that it was Sunni jihadist artillery fire that struck Israeli territory, yet the Syrian Army still paid the price for the aggression.  Now an IDF spokesman has made it crystal clear that the anti-regime jihadist rebels will also be fired upon by the IDF if their artillery fire lands on Israel's side of the current border in the future.

In other words, the war in Syria could easily and very quickly become a free-for-all conflict with both the Syrian regime, its Iranian and Hezbollah allies, as well as the numerous Sunni jihadist factions targeting their weapons on IDF positions in the Golan or beyond. One does not need to be a prophet to see the net result should this potential become a reality as that kind of prophecy has apparently already been given by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and perhaps even Asaph.

Important Note: A Certain Generation of Jews 

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres (born Szymon Perski), who just turned 93 years old last month (1923-2016), recently suffered a stroke and is reportedly in "critical but stable" condition. 

Why is this important?  I believe this to be important to note because Shimon Peres is the last of Israel's 'founding fathers,' or those who were born prior to May 1948, alive today. Shimon Peres is the last of the generation that were living in the land and were directly involved in the founding of the modern State of Israel in a single day, as prophetically foretold in Isaiah 66:8. 

The subsequent generation of Israelis counts among its members one Benjamin Netanyahu, who was born in Tel Aviv on 21 October 1949, and is the current Prime Minister of Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu will turn 70 years old on 21 October 2019. 

Readers of Eschatology Today all understand why I believe this is important. Jesus was directly answering His disciples, privately on the Mount of Olives, about their question concerning the sign of His coming, of the end of the age. And to this select group of Jews the Lord Jesus Christ said, "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it (or He) is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." 

To repeat for emphasis "...this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."

Watch Syria!!!