Important Takeaways:
- Lebanon and Israel have regularly traded cross-border fire since the start of the Jewish state’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas — which, like Hezbollah, is backed by Iran — in the Gaza Strip.
- Fire exchanges have intensified since an Israeli airstrike last week killed a senior Hezbollah commander
- Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said: “Israel knows very well that no place will be safe from our missiles and drones”
- He added that Hezbollah has now “obtained new weapons,” but did not share any more details.
- The Hezbollah leader also threatened war against the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, if the European Union member permits Israel to launch military operations from its territory.
- Nasrallah’s speech fans the flames of increasingly heated rhetoric over the past week, as the spike in missiles traded between Israel and Lebanon raises concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also warned that his country is now “very close to the moment of decision to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon.”
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Important Takeaways:
- IDF: Half of Hamas Battalions Destroyed in Rafah; Operation to Last Two More Weeks
- The IDF entered Rafah in early May — against the wishes of the Biden administration — to destroy the four Hamas battalions that remained there, having destroyed at least 18 of the 24 battalions in fighting elsewhere in Gaza since late October. The White House relented but insisted on a slow pace, with limited use of heavy munitions, and care to avoid civilian casualties.
- The IDF raced to secure the Philadelphi Corridor — the road along the Gaza-Egypt border — and the Rafah border crossing. It has since fought a steady, methodical, house-to-house and tunnel-to-tunnel battle against Hamas there.
- The Jerusalem Post reported:
- The IDF on Monday said that its Division 162 has defeated half of Hamas’s battalions in Rafah, including killing at least 550 terrorists, as well as destroyed around 200 tunnel shafts, and eliminated the terror group’s last major rocket inventory.
- Further, the IDF said that within a couple of weeks it would likely be in control of all of Rafah and that the final battles with the remaining two Hamas battalions in parts of Tel al-Sultan and the eastern part of Shabura are already underway.
- Currently, the IDF says Division 162, commanded by Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, has already achieved operation control of over 60-70% of all of Rafah with all of the 1.4 million or so civilians having long fled to al-Muwasi on the coast, central Gaza and Khan Yunis.
- Once it is concluded, the IDF will shift to a counterinsurgency strategy in Gaza — and will likely shift focus to a potential clash with Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
- There are still 116 Israeli hostages in Gaza, of whom 41 are known to be dead. They are being hidden — possibly underground.
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Important Takeaways:
- “We are prepared for a very intense operation in the north. One way or another, we will restore security to the north,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the border area.
- Almost eight months of exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed movement, a Hamas ally, have intensified over the past week, with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory.
- Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have both called in recent days for urgent action to restore security to northern Israel.
- “They burn us here; all Hezbollah strongholds should also burn and be destroyed. WAR!” Ben Gvir said
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel’s foreign minister warned time’s running short to find a diplomatic solution to the presence of Hezbollah fighters along the country’s northern border with Lebanon.
- Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group backed by Iran, and Israeli forces have exchanged fire almost daily since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7. While those skirmishes have killed scores of people and forced almost 100,000 Israelis and thousands of Lebanese to evacuate their homes, neither side has escalated its operations.
- Israel has said, though, that it’s prepared to open another front with a military attack on southern Lebanon if Hezbollah doesn’t move back to about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the border, as per the terms of a long-standing United Nations resolution.
- Hezbollah has expressed solidarity with Hamas and fired missiles, mortars and rockets into Israel. The Israeli military has responded with artillery fire and also assassinated senior Hezbollah figures.
- Hezbollah is the most powerful militia in the Middle East. It has an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets and missiles, according to Israeli intelligence estimates, far bigger than what Hamas could muster before Oct. 7.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israeli hospitals near Lebanon border preparing for ‘desert island’ scenarios
- A massive attack by Hezbollah could leave the medical centers for days without access to equipment, medicine or food, as well as staff in the reserves
- The Israeli Health Ministry ordered hospitals in the north to be ready to receive thousands of wounded, under extraneous conditions, as fighting intensifies on Israel’s border with Lebanon, according to a report by Kan.
- The Ziv Hospital in Safed and the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya started preparing for what has been described as a “desert island” situation, meaning days without equipment, medicines or food in the event of a massive Hezbollah attack.
- The hospitals in Safed and Nahariya have also been instructed to prepare for the transfer of patients to other medical centers. Furthermore, the Health Ministry advised an increased vigilance and preparedness in all hospital systems and health insurance funds across the country.
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Important Takeaways:
- Day 84, 1,400+ Israel’s Killed, 129 Hostages still being held
- Israeli Official Warns Time Running Out For Lebanon To Stop Hezbollah, Raising Fears Of 2nd War Front
- “The hourglass for a political settlement is running out,” Gantz told reporters.
- “If the world and Lebanon’s government will not work to stop the shooting at Israel and to distance Hezbollah from the border, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will do so.”
- Hezbollah, a heavily militarized terrorist organization, holds a strong grip over southern Lebanon and began firing rockets into Israel a day after Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack.
- At least 11 Israelis, including four civilians, have been killed by the strikes.
- Around 150 Lebanese — mostly Hezbollah terrorists and 17 civilians — have been killed by Israeli counterstrikes. Thousands of civilians have been displaced on both sides of the border.
- Gantz’s warning came after Hezbollah launched its most expansive assault yet on Wednesday, firing more rockets and drones at Israel than in any other single day since the assaults began.
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Important Takeaways:
- Hezbollah says it is introducing new weapons in ongoing battles with Israeli troops
- The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said Saturday his fighters have introduced new weapons, including a missile with a heavy warhead in the ongoing fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border, adding that they will keep using the tense frontier to pressure Israel.
- Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also blasted the United States over the Israel-Hamas war, saying it is the only country that can stop Israel’s wide offensive on the Gaza Strip but doesn’t do so. He said attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, that Washington says have reached more than 40 rockets and suicide drone attacks, will continue until the war in Gaza comes to an end.
- Nasrallah’s comments came as the situation along Lebanon’s southern border continues to escalate. Hezbollah on Friday attacked northern Israel with three suicide drones after an Israeli strike in central Syria killed seven Hezbollah fighters.
- Hezbollah officials say that by attacking Israeli posts along the border, the Iran-backed group is keeping three Israeli army divisions busy at a time when Israeli troops are pushing into the Gaza Strip where more than 11,000 people have been killed over the past five weeks, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
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Important Takeaways:
- Mass Drone Attack Reported from Lebanon; Northern Israel in Shelters
- Israelis in the northern part of the country, near the border with Lebanon, have been warned to descend into bomb shelters as sirens have been sounding warnings indicating a large attack of drones.
- The Times of Israel reported, citing Israel’s Channel 12, that “some 15-20 drones were identified flying into the country from Lebanon.
- Israel’s Army Radio reports that rockets have landed near the northern coastal city of Haifa, and that there has been a suspected terrorist infiltration.
- It also advised residents in the region to stay in their homes, to take shelter in reinforced “safe rooms,” and to keep their doors and windows locked.
- There have already been small but deadly clashes along the border this week, with Iranian-controlled Hezbollah threatening to open a second front…
- Iran is known to have a sophisticated drone program that has been deployed on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine.
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Rev 6:6 NAS And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
Important Takeaways:
- LEBANON OFFICIALLY DECLARES BANKRUPTCY; A PROPHECY OF EZEKIEL
- Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister, Saadeh al-Shami made an official announcement on Monday declaring that Lebanon is bankrupt.
- “Unfortunately, the state is bankrupt, as is the Banque du Liban. Our Government wanted to come up with a solution, and the loss occurred due to policies for decades, but if we did nothing, the loss would be much greater.”
- “This is a fact that cannot be ignored, and we cannot live in a state of denial, and we cannot open (bank) withdrawals to everyone. I wish that our situation was normal.”
- In chapter 26 in the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet foresees that Lebanon will become a place of “drying nets” and a “spoil for the nations.” The chapter speaks of Tyre, which was the Phonecian capital of Lebanon at that time.
- She shall be in the heart of the sea A place for drying nets; For I have spoken it —declares Hashem. She shall become spoil for the nations (Ezekiel 26:5)
- The prophecy about Lebanon becoming a ‘spoil for the nations’ seems to have merit today. That’s because, following the infamous Beirut blast of 2020, China has targeted the northern port of Tripoli as a critical link for Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Lebanon has also been reported to be a Chinese business target.
- This might also be referenced in the 12th passage:
- They shall plunder your wealth And loot your merchandise. (Ezekiel 26:12)
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Revelations 6:3-4 “ when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Iran has 3,000 ballistic missiles, many that can reach Israel – US general
- In Gen. Kenneth McKenzie’s written statement, he called Iran’s missile force the greatest threat to the region’s security.
- “At a military level my concern is first of all that they do not have a nuclear weapon but I am also very concerned about the remarkable growth and efficiency of their ballistic missile program,” McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
- “They have over 3,000 missiles of various types, some of which can reach Tel Aviv,” McKenzie said in response to a query by the senate committee. “None of them can reach Europe yet.”
- US CENTCOM assessed…Syria and Iraq will continue to be used as supply routes and hubs to forward its “campaign against Israel.”
- This is in part to arm its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. It was estimated last year that Hezbollah has 130,000-150,000 rockets that can reach deep into Israeli territory. This arms stockpile also includes Iranian ballistic missiles.
- He said that the US remains steadfast in its commitment to Israel’s security and to support Israel’s right to defend itself
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