Earth calamities and Rumors of war

[Bible2+]

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1400:

When a state imports and builds rockets, fires them at a neighbouring country, builds tunnels into its territory and does whatever it can to burn and destroy that neighbour, most rational people would call that waging a war.

A pathetic war, which is no real threat to Israel.

The rockets hit nothing, the tunnels are blown up, and the "arson kites" are ridiculous, destroying nothing but dry grass.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1400:

Winning means destroying the enemy who is attacking you, or at least putting him in a position where he can no longer attack you. That means putting an end to the Hamas regime in Gaza.

No, winning means keeping the status quo.

Putting an end to Hamas would require an all-out Israeli ground invasion of Gaza by thousands of IDF troops, many hundreds of which would lose their lives. And then Israel would be left facing having to control millions of Palestinians for years on end, with endless, and deadly, "insurgency" attacks on its valuable troops.

Leave Gaza alone. Let it rot under Hamas mismanagement, which spends millions on terrorism while its people face malnutrition and utter misery.

Hamas is a total failure. Even Fatah has withdrawn from supporting it.

Israel has nothing at all to gain from occupying the hellhole of Gaza.

*******

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1399:

“If they want to stop Iranian oil exports, we will not allow any oil shipment to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Kowsari said, according to the Young Journalists Club (YJC) website.

Not for long. The U.S. could send forces to blow any Iranian forces out of the water in no time.

The Iranians have no bargaining chip except only-temporary oil-price hikes if they block Hormuz.

But if Saudi Arabia fails to deliver on increasing its output by 2 million barrels per day, a U.S. block on Iranian exports will result in lasting oil-price hikes. You're looking as $4 to $5 per gallon in the U.S. from now on.

It all hinges on Saudi Arabia.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1399:

[Rouhani:]

“We told all our foreign parties that if they speak to the Iranian nation with the language of logic and respect, then we can get problems solved… and that threats, pressure and humiliation will never work against the people of Iran,” he said.

No, there is no solving the problems posed by Iran without regime change.

For the current regime is not rational; it is an Islamic-theocratic-extremist regime supporting terrorists across the Middle East.

It is threatening Israel by its troops and militias in southern Syria.

It is still developing ballistic missiles and nuclear technology precisely, as it has repeatedly promised, to "blow Israel off the map".

It is an unending, world menace.

It even recently planned to set off bombs at a major conference in Europe, which would have killed Giuliani.

And it talks about being "rational", and giving it "respect".

It needs to end, as soon as possible.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1399:

“The package proposed by Europe ... does not meet all our demands,” Rouhani was quoted as saying.

It cannot, without Europe's top businesses suffering crushing sanctions from the U.S.

The dollar is still supreme in world markets. Go against it, and you die economically.

Iran has nothing to offer Europe. Nothing, but problems with the U.S. trade office and Treasury.

*******

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1400:

Russian airstrikes creep toward Golan, rebels reject surrender

How sad that the U.S. is abandoning its friends in southern Syria to please Putin.

He must have "promised" to keep Iranian forces and militias out of the area, as they pose a grave threat to Israel and Jordan, while Russian and Syrian forces have no agenda against Israel.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1400:

Three minor earthquakes hit Israel, serious one only a matter of time

The future, third Jewish temple of Revelation 11:1-2, Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31,36, and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 could be built on Jerusalem's Temple Mount by the ultra-Orthodox Jews after future, great earthquakes clear the site by destroying the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Analysis: Next Stop for Assad: The Golan Heights

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east...xt-stop-for-assad-the-golan-heights-1.6247041

Israel is preparing for the next stage, in which Assad forces will deploy in positions they held before the war, determined by the disengagement lines agreed upon by Israel and Syria in 1974

Israel-Syria border agreement in danger of collapsing

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5304538,00.html

The 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement between Israel and Syria may be in danger of collapsing, with Syria's announced intention to return military forces to the town of Quneitra, located three kilometers from the Israeli border.

The city is located in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, that according to the Separation Agreement is supposed to remain demilitarized.

The arrival of the Syrian military in the city would test Israel's demand that the agreement be fully implemented.

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot visited Moshav Alonei HaBashan on Wednesday in the eastern Golan Heights in order to access the situation and the possible scenarios that could erupt as a result.

The IDF is preparing for the possibility that the Syrians will not respect the 1974 agreement, which could lead to a military conflict with Israel.

The Separation Agreement, which is part of an overall armistice arrangement that ended hostilities following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, promises, among other things, guarantees immunity for Syrian refugees who flee to Quneitra.

According to the Russian RIA agency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss the issue next Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the official visit to Moscow.

The report says that Hezbollah and Iranian military forces are in the process of leaving the area.

It also appears that during the talks between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman with their Russian counterparts, the latter made a commitment that the Iranians will not be permitted to entrench their forces within 100 miles from the Israeli border—which has so far only been partially implemented.

https://syriancivilwarmap.com/

Red = Syrian Government
Green = Syrian Rebels
Grey = ISIS
Blue = Golan Heights (Israel)

This is something to keep an eye on. Once the Syrian government has complete control of southern Syria, the Gog/Magog forces will have their land bridge to Israel. If memory serves me right, the invading alliance has to come from the north.

My rough estimate of when Syria reclaims their land is by the end of the month. Assad, Putin, and Rouhani are throwing hard balls at the rebels.

 

[Bible2+]

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1403:

The IDF is preparing for the possibility that the Syrians will not respect the 1974 agreement, which could lead to a military conflict with Israel.

It all hinges on Russia, the only power which has been able to give the Syrians success so far.

If Russia gives the go ahead to Assad, then there will be war with Israel.

For Israel will attack Syrian forces massing too close to the Israeli border, and Russia will give the Syrian forces air cover with Russian fighters and advanced SAMs, resulting in the downing of many IAF bombers.

But if Russia instead tells Assad to stick to the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, then there will be peace with Israel. And Syria can then focus on rebullding itself instead of continuing on with endless war.

--

The problem is that Russia loves chaos. For it inserts itself into the vacuums of power created by chaos.

So Russia could urge Assad to ignore the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement and mass its troops along the Israeli border. These troops would be accompanied by Russian special forces, and have Russian air cover, thereby extending Russian power right up to the Israeli border.

Putin would love this. For all he wants is more power for Russia.

But he may hold back because he knows that he can't ultimately defend Syria against Israel's mighty military.

Why pick a new fight that he knows he can't win?

Better to consolidate his position in Syria and look for some other country to create chaos in and take over and build Russian bases in.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1403:

The report says that Hezbollah and Iranian military forces are in the process of leaving the area.

That is key. For they have an agenda against Israel, while Russia and Syria don't.

Wayholka said in post #1403:

Once the Syrian government has complete control of southern Syria, the Gog/Magog forces will have their land bridge to Israel.

Note that the Gog/Magog invasion of Israel (Ezekiel chapters 38-39) will not occur until after the future Millennium (Revelation 20:7-10), when there will be no defensive walls or fear of attack in Israel whatsoever (Ezekiel 38:11). This is the exact opposite of today's situation, when Israel is filled with very high defensive walls and is in constant fear of attack. At the beginning of the Millennium, all present-day weapons of war throughout the world will be destroyed, and they will not be allowed to be remade during the Millennium (Micah 4:3-4). That is why after the Millennium, the Gog/Magog armies will travel only by horses (Ezekiel 38:15), and will employ only rudimentary, wooden weapons like bows and arrows, spears, shields, and clubs (Ezekiel 39:9), which, after the defeat of the Gog/Magog armies, will be able to be used as convenient firewood by the people living in Israel at that time, instead of them having to go out and collect or cut down firewood from the forest (Ezekiel 39:10).

The Gog in Revelation 20:8 is the same as in Ezekiel chapters 38-39: an individual human whose personal name is "Gog" (Ezekiel 38:3). He will be the chief leader of a future country which will form somewhere north of Israel (Ezekiel 39:2, Ezekiel 38:15), and which will be called "Magog" (Ezekiel 38:2). It will include at least two major cities and/or tribes which will be called "Meshech" and "Tubal" (Ezekiel 38:2). This country could come into existence during the future Millennium. Gog could be born near the end of the Millennium, and he will be killed and buried at the end of the Gog/Magog event (Ezekiel 39:11).

Both accounts of the event show that the Gog/Magog armies will ultimately be completely defeated by miraculous fire from heaven (Ezekiel 38:22, Revelation 20:9). Also, whereas the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) will occur subsequent to the Gog/Magog event (Revelation 20:7-15), nothing requires (as is sometimes claimed) that the Great White Throne Judgment has to happen immediately after that event. For there will be at least seven years (Ezekiel 39:9b) between the end of that event and the Great White Throne Judgment.

Also, the Gog/Magog attack will not have to (as is sometimes claimed) involve only the nations listed in Ezekiel chapters 38-39. Those nations could be just a sampling. For the "nations" (ethnos), or peoples, who will be involved in the Gog/Magog attack will come from all over the earth (Revelation 20:8). They will still be physically part of Jesus Christ's worldwide Kingdom, still legally under His rule, just as they had been during the preceding Millennium (Psalms 72:8-11, Psalms 66:3, Psalms 2). But after the Millennium, they will be deceived by Satan into committing the attack (Revelation 20:7-10).

Also, while the Gog/Magog attack on Israel will not occur until after the future Millennium (Revelation 20:7-10, Ezekiel chapters 38-39), Israel could suffer a different attack before the Millennium, at the start of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, which attack could result in Israel's total defeat and occupation (Daniel 11:15-17).

Also, the city of Jerusalem could be attacked and totally defeated in the future at least three times before the Millennium: once near the start of the future Tribulation (Daniel 11:22), then again mid-tribulation (Daniel 11:31), and then at the Tribulation's end (Daniel 11:45), right before Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming and the start of the Millennium (Zechariah 14:2-21).

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

Hi @Bible2+ .This is an interesting topic, but it needs a new thread. I will start the new thread and will post the link here. If you don't mind, I will copy and paste your post #1404 as OP on the new thread so we can unpack it properly.

@Bible2+ here is the link.
https://www.christianforums.com/thr...-1974-separation-of-forces-agreement.8072481/

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Turkey's Erdogan sworn in with new powers, names son-in-law finance minister

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...powers-promises-a-strong-turkey-idUSKBN1JY10S

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan appointed his son-in-law as Turkey’s finance minister on Monday hours after he was sworn in with sweeping new executive powers, promising a “strong government and a strong Turkey”.

The lira TRYTOM=D3, which has lost nearly a fifth of its value against the dollar this year, dropped nearly 3 percent to 4.74 to the U.S. currency after the cabinet announcement.

Erdogan named his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as treasury and finance minister in an updated cabinet that excluded former deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek, seen as the main market-friendly minister in the previous government.

The lira has been battered by concern about Erdogan’s drive for lower interest rates and by comments in May that he planned to take greater control of the economy after the election, which he won on June 24.

Assuming the new executive presidency he has long fought to establish, Erdogan earlier took the oath of office in parliament before addressing international leaders gathered at the presidential palace in Ankara.

“We, as Turkey and as the Turkish people, are making a new start here today,” he told the dignitaries and thousands of guests. “We are leaving behind the system that has in the past cost our country a heavy price in political and economic chaos.”

Erdogan named Fuat Oktay, a former Turkish Airlines executive who studied in the United States, as vice president. Armed forces chief of staff Hulusi Akar was named defense minister. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu remained in his post.

Erdogan, 64, says a powerful executive presidency is vital to drive economic growth, ensure security after a failed 2016 military coup and safeguard Turkey from war across its southern border in Syria and Iraq.

“We are embarking on this road by using this opportunity as best we can for a strong parliament, strong government and strong Turkey,” he said.

‘INSTITUTIONALIZED AUTOCRACY’
The introduction of the new presidential system is the biggest overhaul of governance since the Turkish republic was established on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan, makes a speech during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey July 9, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bekta
The post of prime minister has been scrapped and the president will be able to select a cabinet, regulate ministries and remove civil servants, all without parliamentary approval.

Erdogan’s supporters see the changes as just reward for a leader who has put Islamic values at the core of public life, championed the pious working classes and overseen years of strong economic growth.

Opponents say the move marks a lurch to authoritarianism, accusing Erdogan of eroding the secular institutions set up by modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and driving it further from Western values of democracy and free speech.

Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Turkey and visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, said Erdogan’s new powers effectively make him a “super-executive president”.

“Most powers will be concentrated in his hands, there will no longer be a prime minister, and almost none of the checks and balances of liberal democracies will be present. In other words, Turkey will be an institutionalized autocracy.”

NO WESTERN LEADERS
State news agency Anadolu said Erdogan’s inauguration celebration was attended by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

No major Western leader featured on a list of 50 presidents, prime ministers and other high-ranking guests.

Slideshow (14 Images)
Turkey is a member of the Western military alliance, NATO, but it has been at odds with the United States over military strategy in Syria and with the European Union over Ankara’s purges of state institutions, armed forces, police and media following the failed coup.

There are 16 ministers in Erdogan’s streamlined new cabinet, which Erdogan has said will be more efficient and act faster.

The new government faces immediate economic challenges. Inflation surged last month above 15 percent, its highest level in more than a decade, even though the central bank has raised interest rates by 5 percentage points since April.

Turkey also faces a widening current account deficit making it reliant on weak foreign investment to plug the gap.

Earlier on Monday the lira briefly dropped more than 1 percent after a decree removed a clause stipulating a five-year term for the central bank governor.

Scrapping the term would remove a shield that helps ensure the bank’s independence from politicians, former central banker Ugur Gurses said. A senior adviser to Erdogan later said that governors would still be appointed for a five-year term.

Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun, Daren Butler, Ali Kucukgocmen and Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul, and Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Writing by David Dolan and Gareth Jones; editing by Dominic Evans and Grant McCool

Iranian official: We will fight the enemy from Lebanon

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/248641

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Deputy Commander Hossein Salami promised to fight Israel from Lebanese soil, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported.

Speaking at an al-Quds Day event in Mashhad, Iran, Salami explained his rationale for destroying the State of Israel. He also explained that the "problem" of the State of Israel's existence could be solved primarily by using the "mighty power" of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group.

MEMRI researchers translated Salami's speech, which was titled "The problems of the Islamic world stem from the existence of the false, counterfeit, historically rootless, and identity-less regime named Israel."

"Seventy years have passed since the policy of England and America planted in the Islamic world an accursed and criminal tree [i.e. Israel]," Salami said at the event. "For 70 years, this poisoned dagger has been embedded in the body of the Islamic ummah, and all the problems of the Islamic world stem from the existence of the false, counterfeit, historically rootless, and identity-less regime named Israel."

"In addition to the threat to Palestine's existence, the Zionist regime constitutes a threat as well to the entire Islamic world. That is the philosophy of the establishment of this regime: ... [Israel] brings the range of America's missiles against the Islamic world 12,000 kilometers closer, and becomes a tool for imposing America's policy against the Islamic world.

"The Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] spread the rationale of eradicating Israel [from the world] as a new notion in the world's political discourse... Since then, the Zionists have not succeeded in triumphing over the Muslims in any war."

Noting that Hezbollah has "over 100,000 missiles ready for launch," Salami promised that "today has tremendous might on the ground that can on its own break the Zionist regime. The Zionist regime has no strategic-defensive depth."

"In some places, the breadth of this regime is barely 34 km, and in order to destroy it, it will take only one 'Jerusalem operation' to destroy it," he emphasized.

The "Jerusalem Operation" was Iran's name for its operation against Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

According to Salami, Palestinian Authority terrorists are now "armed with missiles" and every Israeli site is now "under fire from the missile launchers."

Salami continued to explain how Israel's recent wars, including both the Second Lebanon War and Israel's operations in Gaza, have all shown that "the more time passes, the weaker the Zionist regime and its allies become," emphasizing that "the Zionists are paralyzed and fear death" but "their fate is sealed."

He also noted Israel's lack of response to the missiles fired from Syria towards Israel's Golan Heights, bringing it as further proof of Israel's weakness.

Salami also promised that Iran "will not disarm," even though the world wants to "weaken the foundations of our might."

"Today, we have changed the balance of might, but we will not settle for that... In today's global order, either you have might, and thus honor, or you must surrender.”

"We must squeeze the throats of the enemies from afar. We must give them no chance to come near us, or to focus on us. We are monitoring them from afar, and grabbing them by the throat in other places.

"We are creating might in Lebanon because we want to fight our enemy from there with all our strength.

"The Iranian people pursues the enemy everywhere in the world, and does not allow this country to be in danger," Salami concluded.

 

[Bible2+]

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1406:

Opponents say the move marks a lurch to authoritarianism, accusing Erdogan of eroding the secular institutions set up by modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and driving it further from Western values of democracy and free speech.

Erdogan is ruining Turkey. He will drive it into the ground. Bad for the Turks, but good for the world. Otherwise, a strong Turkey could cause problems.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1406:

Slideshow (14 Images)

For a minute I though it said "Sideshow". That is what Erdogan has made Turkey. Thank God.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1406:

Iranian official: We will fight the enemy from Lebanon

No, you won't. For any attacks on Israel from Lebanon will be met with huge reprisals against your poor lackeys Hezbollah.

Ask Hezbollah what Israel did to southern Beirut the last time Hez got uppity. The Hez stronghold was obliterated.

Hezbollah remembers. That's why it has not made a major attack against Israel ever since.

But Iran wants to use Hezbollah as cannon fodder for its own sick hatred against Israel.

Wake up, Hezbollah! Iran wants you slaughtered while it sits safely far away.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1406:

Iranian official: We will fight the enemy from Lebanon

Note that he does not say from southern Syria, thank God.

The Russkies must have told Iran and its poor lackeys Hezbollah to skedaddle out of southern Syria.

The Russians and Syrians have no sick agenda against Israel, like Iran does.

For they know that they cannot defeat Israel.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

https://syriancivilwarmap.com/

Syrian State, Russian, and Iranian forces capture more land along the Jordan border. Syrian rebels are ready to hold talks with Russia to negotiate the return of the Deraa province back to the Syrian state.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like they're going to negotiate a surrender.

 

[Bible2+]

Wayholka said in post #1408:

. . . it sounds like they're going to negotiate a surrender.

They already did, after the U.S. abandoned the rebels in far-southern Syria, telling them not to expect any U.S. support against Russian/Syrian attacks.

Sad.

The U.S. could have easily occupied far-southern Syria like it's still occupying far-eastern Syria.

Why it didn't could be explained by a Trump desire to please Putin. Also, Putin could have promised not to let Iranian/Hezbollah forces stay in far-southern Syria to attack Israel and Jordan.

Also, Jordan preferred Syrian/Russian forces along its border instead of the rebels, so that Jordan could reopen its border and reestablish trade with Syria.

Getting rid of the rebels as well as Iranian/Hezbollah forces from far-southern Syria reimposes stability to the border between Syria and Jordan, as between Syria and Israel.

But U.S. forces could have provided the same stability, if they had been willing.

No one would have attacked them, just as no one is attacking them in far-eastern Syria.

For everyone knows what happens to forces that attack U.S. forces.

Boom.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

ANALYSIS: Iranian officials reveal next goal in Syrian war

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/248709

As the Iranian-backed Syrian army and Shiite militias approach the Syrian Golan Heights and the Israeli border, Iranian officials and commanders now openly speak about the next phase in the Syrian war: The destruction of Israel.

Over the weekend the pro-Assad coalition reached a surrender agreement with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other rebel groups which, since the outset of the civil war in 2011, had been in control of most of the area along the Jordan border in the Daraa province in southwest Syria.

This happened after heavy bombardments by the Russian and Syrian air force at the end of an offensive which started in the middle of June and which has killed more than 150 people, while some 320.000 civilians have been displaced.

The negotiated surrender was brokered by Russia and included the handover of all heavy weapons and the forced transfer of FSA members and other rebels to the predominantly Sunni Arab province Idlib in northern Syria.

Soldiers of the pro-Assad coalition finally retained control most of the observation posts along the Jordanian border as well as the Nassib border crossing 15 kilometers away from Daraa city.

Assad’s forces are now in control of two thirds of the Daraa province and are reportedly gearing up for an offensive to ‘liberate’ the Kuneitra province, while laying siege on Daraa city where the upring against Assad began in 2011.

An offensive in Kuneitra could easily lead to a confrontation with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which are closely following events in southern Syria and have recently sent reinforcements to the Golan Heights.

The predominantly Islamist rebel groups along the Israeli border on the Golan Heights and in the area of the Yarmouk basin along the south Syrian-Jordanian border are not part of the Russian-brokered surrender agreement.

The remaining rebel groups in southwest Daraa have reportedly formed a new coalition named Southern Army ahead of the confrontation with the Syrian army and its allies. The new ‘army’, however, lacks outside support and is not in the possession of missiles and other heavy weaponry.

This could be the reason the new ‘army’ immediately signaled it was interested in a negotiated surrender similar to the deal in eastern Daraa, according to local sources who were interviewed by Fars News in Iran.

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) and Islamic State affiliate Jaish Khalid bin al-Waleed, who control most of the Yarmouk basin and the Syrian Golan Heights, have vowed they will fight until death.

Iran and Hezbollah call the surrender of the FSA and other rebel groups in Daraa a “heavy defeat” for the “Zionist regime” and claim Israel has already confessed to its failure to provide sufficient support to the “terrorists” in the area along the Jordanian and Israeli border.

“The plots of the US and the Zionist regime of Israel in Syria are against achievements of the Axis of Resistance and are doomed to fail,” according to Ali Da’moush the chairman of Hezbollah’s Executive Council.

The Iranian axis in Syria also accuses Israel of “collaborating” with the “militants” on the Syrian Golan Heights - meaning the alleged delivery of weapons, the transfer of humanitarian aid to civilians along the Israeli border and the treatment of wounded Syrians in Israeli hospitals.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign affairs adviser of the speaker of the Iranian parliament, even threatened Israel and claimed Israel was trying to take over Syria and said this is was the reason Iran won’t leave the war-torn country.

“The Zionist regime tries to gain dominance over Syria after Daesh (ISIS), but resistance forces and military advisers from the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue their presence alongside Syria to counter terrorism, Amir-Abdollahian claimed during meeting with Salah al-Zawawi, the PA ambassador to Iran.

“The Syrian people will not allow the country to be turned into the hotbed of Zionist terrorists once again,” the Iranian official added.

Amir-Abdollahian’s comments came after Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps vowed an “Islamic army in Syria” was ready to destroy “the evil regime” of Israel.

“Today an international Islamic army has been formed in Syria, and the voices of the Muslims are heard near the Golan,” The IRGC commander said. “Orders are awaited, so that… the eradication of the evil regime will land and the life of this regime will be ended for good. The life of the Zionist regime was never in danger as it is now,” he claimed.

The Iranian commander admitted Iran was building up “Hezbollah’s tremendous might” in Lebanon and claimed the terrorist organization would be able to “break the Zionist regime” alone with its “100,000 missiles aimed at Israel.”

Israel was “a threat to the entire Muslim world” according to Salami, who lied about the first large confrontation between the Iranians in Syria and the Israeli air force (IAF) on May 10th, when the IAF destroyed much of Syria’s air defenses and a significant number of Iranian bases and weapon depots in Syria.

Salami claimed Israel had done nothing when “dozens” of Iranian missiles were launched at the Israeli Golan Heights - but failed to reach their targets.

Iranian-backed Shiite militias are involved in the current offensive to regain control over southern Syria by Assad’s forces and Hezbollah terrorists have been spotted wearing Syrian army uniforms while the Lebanese terror organization’s elite Radwan unit is also involved in the current offensive in southern Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has already indicated Israel will not tolerate a violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement with Syria which effectively secured a forty-year-during calm between Israel and Syria after the Yom Kippur War

In addition, Israel continues to conduct airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria while the IDF last week introduced a zero tolerance strategy on the Golan Heights.

On Sunday night the IAF reportedly again targeted the T-4 base, an IRGC controlled base in the Homs province in northwest Syria while the IDF immediately responded to what seemed to be an errant mortar shell which landed on the Israeli Golan Heights on Friday.

Netanyahu meets top Russian envoys ahead of summit with Putin

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-meets-top-russian-envoys-ahead-of-putin-summit/

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday met with senior Russian officials ahead of his visit to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

A statement form the Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu discussed “regional developments” with Putin’s special envoy Alexander Lavrentiev and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin.

During the meeting, Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s position that it would “not tolerate a military presence by Iran or its proxies anywhere in Syria and that Syria must strictly abide by the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement.”

Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Russia on Wednesday for talks with Putin for their second meeting in under a month. Netanyahu has spoken and met with Putin regularly in recent years regarding Syria, where Russia is fighting on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The two most recently met in Moscow on June 15. Shortly after that meeting, an airstrike in Syria attributed to Israel targeted an Iranian military base. Like Russia, Iran is a key backer of the Syrian regime.

Israel has repeatedly vowed it will not tolerate any Iranian military presence in Syria and has carried out strikes against Tehran-backed forces and attempts to smuggle advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

Both Syria and Iran deny there is an Iranian military presence in Syria, a claim repeated recently by Assad. This is routinely dismissed as nonsense by Israeli, Arab, and Western defense officials.

Late Sunday night, Syrian air defenses were activated near the T-4 air base in response to an airstrike on the facility, which state media attributed to Israel.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that the missile bombardment killed an unspecified number of “Iranian and pro-regime fighters” at the T-4 base and the source of the strike was “likely to be Israeli.”

Israel has attacked the T-4, or Tiyas, air base on multiple occasions.

In addition to the Syrian army, Iranian fighters and Lebanese Hezbollah troops are also stationed at the air base, according to the Observatory.

An opposition news site claimed nine fighters allied with the Syrian regime had been killed in the strike. The report could not be confirmed, and Israel declined to comment.

Israeli defense officials have claimed the base is being used by Iranian forces as part of the Islamic Republic’s efforts to entrench militarily in Syria.

For years, Israel has been waging a quiet campaign against Iranian interests in Syria. That campaign came to light and began stepping up considerably in February, when the IDF said an armed Iranian drone entered its airspace. Israel shot down the drone, then struck Iranian targets deep in Syria before one of its warplanes was downed.

Then, in early May, Israel attacked what it said was dozens of Iranian targets in Syria in response to Iranian rocket fire aimed at Israel. The rocket fire was retaliation for earlier Israeli strikes.

Since then, Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran, or its Shiite proxies, to establish a permanent presence in postwar Syria. An Israeli military official last week said the concern is that Iran will use these forces to launch a low-level “war of attrition” with Israel.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

South Syrian rebels agree surrender deal, Assad takes border crossing

https://globalnews.ca/news/4317817/south-syrian-rebels-surrender-deal/

South Syrian rebels agreed to give up arms in a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal on Friday, rebel sources said, surrendering Deraa province to the government in another major victory for President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies.

The Syrian government recovered the Nassib border crossing with Jordan, held by rebels for three years, state media reported, after an assault backed by Russian air strikes in insurgent territory along the frontier.

A state television correspondent said the rebels had agreed to hand over heavy and medium weapons in all the towns and cities included in the surrender deal.

Rebel sources said Russia would guarantee the safe return of civilians who fled the government offensive in the biggest exodus of the war, with 320,000 people uprooted.

Seven years into the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people, Assad now commands most of Syria with his allies’ help, though most of the north and a chunk of the east remains out of his hands. The presence of Turkish and U.S. forces in those areas will complicate further gains.

As Assad seeks victory, there seems little hope of a negotiated peace, with six million Syrians abroad as refugees and 6.5 million more internally displaced.

Russia has been at the forefront of the Deraa campaign, both bombing and negotiating with rebels who were told at the start of the offensive to expect no help from the United States.

Assad’s next target in the southwest appears to be rebel-held areas of Quneitra province at the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where fighting between insurgents and the government escalated on Friday.

Israel said it had targeted a Syrian army post that shelled a frontier “buffer zone” in the Golan area.

Government advances in Deraa since mid-June had brought large parts of the province back under state control.

Taking back the Nassib crossing paves the way for Assad to reopen a trade artery vital to his hopes of reviving the Syrian economy and starting to rebuild government-held areas.

Russian guarantees will also be extended to rebel fighters who wish to “settle their status” with the government — a process by which former insurgents accept to live under state rule again, the rebel sources said.

Rebels who did not wish to come back under Assad’s rule would leave for the insurgent stronghold in northwest Syria, they said.

It echoes the terms of previous opposition surrenders, but according to rebel sources, they also secured a concession that some government forces would withdraw from the area.

Russian military police would deploy instead, with local forces overseen by Russia also deployed, they said.

The deal is to be rolled out across rebel-held areas of Deraa in phases, but there is no timeline as yet, said Abu Shaima, spokesman for an operations room for rebels under the Free Syrian Army banner.

The initial phases will cover the area along the border with Jordan, rather than the parts of northwestern Deraa around the city of Nawa, he said.

BORDER CROSSING

He said Syrian and Russian jets had pummeled towns across the southwest and villages near the border crossing.

Most of the hospitals had shut down amid the destruction in insurgent territory, which now barely had access to water or electricity, he said.

Several witnesses along the Jordan border fence with Syria said they people saw a convoy of over a hundred armoured vehicles and tanks with Russian and Syrian state flags, along with hundreds of troops near Nassib.

Assad’s Iran-backed allies are also fighting in the campaign, defying Israeli demands they keep out of the border area. Hezbollah is helping lead the offensive but keeping a low profile, pro-Damascus sources told Reuters.

Both Israel and Jordan, which beefed up their borders, said they would not let refugees in but distributed aid inside Syria.

The UN refugee agency has urged Jordan to open its borders to the fleeing Syrians. The Norwegian Refugee Council has called this the largest displacement of Syria’s seven-year war.

https://syriancivilwarmap.com/

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

Top Iranian general: Forces in Syria ‘awaiting orders’ to destroy Israel

https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-i...ia-lebanon-awaiting-orders-to-destroy-israel/

In a recent speech, the deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) boasted that the “Islamic army in Syria” in the Golan Heights was awaiting orders to eradicate the “evil regime” of Israel.

He also said the Tehran-backed Hezbollah terror group had 100,000 missiles aimed at Israel.

“We are creating might in Lebanon because we want to fight our enemy from there with all our strength,” he stated. “Hezbollah today has tremendous might on the ground that can on its own break the Zionist regime. The Zionist regime has no strategic-defensive depth.

In the speech for the anti-Israel al-Quds Day in June, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Hossein Salami said that the dangers Israel faces today are greater than at any time in history.

“Today an international Islamic army has been formed in Syria, and the voices of the Muslims are heard near the Golan,” he said. “Orders are awaited, so that… the eradication of the evil regime [Israel] will land and the life of this regime will be ended for good. The life of the Zionist regime was never in danger as it is now.”

Salami stressed that “the Zionist regime constitutes a threat… to the entire Islamic world. That is the philosophy of the establishment of this regime.”

In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader on May 20, 2015, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, arrives at a graduation ceremony of the Revolutionary Guard’s officers, while deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, second right, former commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rezaei, second left, and Yahya Rahim Safavi salute him in Tehran, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
He praised Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Iranian revolution, for making the destruction of Israel a goal of the regime.

Khomeini “spread the rationale of eradicating Israel as a new notion in the world’s political discourse,” Salami said. “Since then, the Zionist regime is fearful, delusional, and worried.”

Israel has for years warned of Iran’s ongoing attempts to entrench itself in Syria, and has been waging a quiet campaign to prevent Tehran from establishing a new front on its border. That campaign came into the light and shifted into more open conflict in February, when an Iranian drone carrying explosives briefly entered Israeli airspace, before it was shot down. In response Israel launched a counterattack on an air base in Syria, hitting the mobile command center from which the drone had been piloted and killing at least seven members of the IRGC.

Tehran vowed revenge after the T-4 army base strike. On May 10, the IRGC’s al-Quds Force launched 32 rockets at Israel’s forward defensive line on the Golan Heights border. Four of them were shot down; the rest fell short of Israeli territory.

In response, over the next two hours, Israeli jets fired dozens of missiles at Iranian targets in Syria and destroyed a number of Syrian air defense systems. The operation was widely seen as a success in Israel.

But Salami boasted of Iran’s success in launching the rockets, claiming the barrage silenced Israel.

“When the Zionists bombed the T-4 base in Syria and killed some young men, they thought that they would get no reaction. They thought that America’s and England’s support could frighten the resistance front. They thought that no one would respond,” Salami said. “But the response came in the Golan, and dozens of missiles were fired, along with the message ‘If you respond, we will flatten the heart of Tel Aviv into dust.’ They were silent, and did nothing further.”

Iran has been accused by Israel, the Trump administration, Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries of supporting terrorism and instability in the region.

Salami blamed Israel for all the Middle East’s troubles.

“All the problems of the Islamic world stem from the existence of the false, counterfeit, historically rootless, and identity-less regime named Israel,” he said.

On Sunday Syrian air defenses were activated near the T-4 air base, in response to an airstrike on the facility, which Syrian state media attributed to the Israeli military, although as a rule, the Israeli military does not comment on its operations abroad.

 

[Bible2+]

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1411:

The negotiated surrender was brokered by Russia and included the handover of all heavy weapons and the forced transfer of FSA members and other rebels to the predominantly Sunni Arab province Idlib in northern Syria.

Regarding Idlib, it is in effect a huge holding pen for the rebels from all parts of Syria. Ultimately, it will be mercilessly bombed by Russia and Syria, just as they mercilessly bombed eastern Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta. Russia and Syria will murder thousands of civilians in Idlib with their bombs, including women and children, claiming that they are targeting the rebels which they penned up there, through "surrender agreements".

The rebels and civilians holed up in Idlib will receive no help from the U.S. or anyone else while they are cruelly slaughtered, just as the rebels and civilians in eastern Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta received no help.

All that the West will do is wring its hands and say "Bad! Bad!", while Putin laughs and finishes up his conquest of Syria.

The rebels and civilians in Idlib need to get out now while they still have a chance. Try to sneak into Turkey, or hitch a ride on some truck headed for Iraq. But do not stay for long in Idlib. For it is marked for utter annihilation by Russian and Syrian forces, once they have mopped up far-southern Syria.

Wayholka quoted a news article in post #1411:

The predominantly Islamist rebel groups along the Israeli border on the Golan Heights and in the area of the Yarmouk basin along the south Syrian-Jordanian border are not part of the Russian-brokered surrender agreement.

That's great. Then the West still has a chance to redeem itself before the rebels in those areas are sent to the concentration camp of Idlib.

That is, the West could send troops into Syria along that border to protect the rebels there, and to create an international-force "buffer zone" between any massed Syrian troops there and Israel, to prevent another Syrian/Israeli war, which could devolve into a very-dangerous proxy war between Russia and the U.S.

But the West won't send troops into Syria along that border. For Trump wants nothing to do with Syria, or the entire Middle East for that matter. He wants to bring all of the U.S. troops there home and (as he might say) "let those people in Syria and the rest of the Middle East fight it out among themselves. We can make billions selling weapons to friendly nations over there, while saving billions by not wasting our weapons and stationing troops over there".

Even Israel might prefer a modest number of Syrian/Russian troops next to the Golan instead of unpredictable rebels, just as Jordan wanted with regard to its border with Syria.

But if Syria tries to mass too many troops next to the Golan, it is asking for trouble from Israel.

Also, Israel will not put up with any Iranian forces or Hezbollah forces anywhere near to the Golan, just as Israel will continue to target Iranian/Hezbollah bases elsewhere in Syria (with continued Russian complacence).

 

[jgr]

No problem if Israel does it.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news...top-arming-neo-nazis-in-the-ukraine-1.6248727

Arming those historically responsible for your own destruction necessitates a unique type of amorality.

 

[jgr]

Even Bibi is sounding surprising.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...tin-meeting-could-mark-close-syrian-proxy-war

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

https://syriancivilwarmap.com/

In the coming days, there's expectations of a Syrian Arab Army offensive in north rebel held territory. A rebel held city wants to come to an agreement with Assad. Maybe it's another surrender?

The barrier between Assad's regime and Israel held Golan Heights is getting smaller and smaller. Once Assad captured these lands, Iran and their proxies will be able to have a land bridge to the Golan Heights and ultimately Israel.

 

[Bible2+]

Wayholka said in post #1417:

Once Assad captured these lands, Iran and their proxies will be able to have a land bridge to the Golan Heights and ultimately Israel.

But they don't have the forces to overtake Israel, even from the Golan.

The IDF will blow them to bits before they even cross the border.

Nonetheless, the last three of the four horsemen (Revelation 6:4-8) still represent a horrible, future war, which will begin the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, and which war will, with its aftermath of famines and epidemics, end up killing one-fourth of the world (Revelation 6:8). And the "great sword" of this war (Revelation 6:4) could be Israel's nuclear weapons.

Also, the Antichrist may not appear on the world stage until after the horrible, future, Tribulation-starting war of Revelation 6:4-8 and Daniel 11:15-17 has resulted in the total defeat and occupation of Israel, and Egypt, and the death of one-fourth of the world. It could be this war which will help open the way for the Antichrist to arise on the world stage as a great man of peace, and antitypically fulfill the "vile person" of Daniel 11:21-45.

One way that the future, Tribulation-starting war of Revelation 6:4-8 and Daniel 11:15-17 could happen is the U.S. could undertake a massive buildup of the Iraqi Army, initially to bring about the total (and lasting) defeat of the Islamic State militant group (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) in Iraq and eastern Syria, and eventually so that the Iraqi Army can serve as a proxy army, for the U.S. and Israel, for an all-out ground invasion of Iran, to end Iran's nuclear weapons program, its ballistic missile program, its terrorist-group support operations, and its extremist regime. As part of the buildup of the Iraqi Army, the U.S. could reinstall much of the former Iraqi Baathist military hierarchy (which existed under Baathist Saddam Hussein) to run the present Iraqi Army more efficiently and ruthlessly.

And if the current, Shiite-dominated government of Iraq balks at any return of a Baathist-dominated military (which cruelly suppressed the Iraqi Shiites under Saddam Hussein), or balks at any invasion of fellow-Shiite Iran, this could lead Western intelligence agencies to bring about a Baathist coup d'etat in Iraq. For they could see a well-run, Baathist Iraqi Army and government as the only way to permanently defeat Islamic State (and all of its successors), and the only way to eventually invade and defeat Iran, which invasion the Iraqi Baathists could agree to perform. For they see meddling, non-Arab Iran as a great enemy of Arab autonomy.

Indeed, the current military brains of the Islamic State are former Iraqi Baathist generals who cannot stand that the Iraqi government is so heavily controlled by Iran. They see (Sunni Arab) Islamic State as the only current, viable bulwark against the (Shiite, non-Arab) Iranians, and their Shiite Arab cronies, taking total control of all of Iraq and Syria. But if there are secret, Western overtures toward these Baathist generals (who are now holed up in eastern Syria), they could very well agree to defect from serving Islamic State to serving a non-sectarian, "Free Iraqi Army" drawn mainly (not exclusively) from Sunni Arab and Kurdish militias in western and northern Iraq, which Army, with secret Western assistance, could then march on Baghdad and completely overthrow the current, Iranian-controlled, Iraqi government, which is very weak and corrupt.

Once the Iraqi Baathists (and Kurds) take back control of the Iraqi government and military, they could then also defeat all of the Iranian-controlled Shiite Arab militias in Iraq. Then, to help get the Iraqi masses and the world behind the idea of a subsequent, all-out Iraqi invasion of Iran itself, "false flag" operations could be managed by Western intelligence agencies by which it will be made to seem that (non-Arab, Persian) Iran is attacking the Iraqi Sunni Arabs and Kurds (and their little children) terroristically with "dirty bombs" made from Iranian-enriched uranium, so that the Iraqi masses will become enraged, and begin to call for all-out retaliation against (what they could call) "the vile Persians". And the world could see an Iraqi invasion of Iran as being completely justified by self-defense.

But then, right when Iraq is all ready to invade Iran, the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel (who by that time could be led by a great miracle-working false "Messiah": cf. Matthew 24:24) could destroy the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque (the third-holiest sites in Islam) on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to clear the site for the building of a third Jewish temple (Revelation 11:1-2, Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31,36; 2 Thessalonians 2:4). This could so enrage Muslims worldwide, including the (Muslim) Iraqi Army, that the Iraqi Baathist Generals could see it as a perfect excuse to abandon the plan to invade huge Iran, and instead (pretending that they are doing so in the name of Islam) turn and send their vast army against the small territory of Israel, completely defeating and occupying it (Daniel 11:15-17; in verse 17, the original Hebrew word translated as "daughter" is "bath").

But this would not be the ultimate reason for the Baathist attack, which could continue on south to also defeat and occupy Egypt (Daniel 11:15). For Egypt is ruled by the U.S.-supported Egyptian Army, which the Baathists could see as being a puppet of the U.S., just as they could see Israel as being like a 51st state of the U.S. Baathism's ultimate aim is to unite all Arab lands from Oman to Morocco into one massive, powerful United Arab States free from all foreign (including U.S.) hegemony.

The all-out Iraqi attack on Israel could be joined by the entire (Baathist) Syrian Army (with all of its missiles, many still secretly tipped with nerve agents), as well as by all of Iran's long-range missiles, and all of Hezbollah's and Hamas' missiles and guerrillas. Israel could find itself suddenly attacked from three directions at the same time (from the east, north, and south), with thousands of missiles raining down on its cities and military bases, and a thousand Iraqi tanks (meant to defeat and occupy Iran) pouring across its borders. As Israel starts to see its small area of land overrun, and sees that its total defeat and occupation is imminent and assured, in retaliation it could drop nuclear bombs on Baghdad, Damascus (Isaiah 17:1), Tehran, and other major cities of Iraq, Syria, and Iran.

There could be so many nuclear explosions sending so much radioactive dust and ash so high into the atmosphere that they could be blown eastward and fall on hugely-populated South Asia, ruining so many crop fields and immune systems there with radiation that one-fourth of the world could end up dying from the war and its aftermath of famines and epidemics. This could fulfill the horrible war which will begin the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, which war will, with its aftermath of famines and epidemics, end up killing one-fourth of the world (Revelation 6:4-8). The "great sword" of this war (Revelation 6:4) could be Israel's nuclear weapons. This war could be blamed not only on the religious fundamentalism of Islam and Judaism, but also on religious fundamentalism in general, and so could lead to a worldwide crusade against all forms of religious fundamentalism, including Christian fundamentalism, that is, the (correct) idea that the Bible is wholly true (2 Timothy 3:16, Matthew 4:4), and that all other religions are cursed, doubly cursed (Galatians 1:8-9, John 14:6, John 3:36, Acts 4:12).

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

https://syriancivilwarmap.com/

The Syrian regime continues to take land back from the rebels. Two days after the rebel held city of Qasim expressed interest in reaching a deal with Assad, pro-government protests have broken out in the rebel held city of Namar. Nab as-Sakhr is also under siege it appears. It appears that the southern Syrian rebels know that they are done for and are throwing in the towel.