ISRAELI-IRANIAN WAR APPARENTLY ISN'T OVER YET

It is beginning to look like the recent war that flared between Israel and Iran may not be over; it may only be paused.

The first indication was that the Houthis, backed by Iran, fired a missile which penetrated Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and impacted near the main Tel Aviv airport. Media stories reported Israel was investigating how this missile penetrated so far into Israel. Since it was fired from the Houthi region of Yemen and traveled a long way to Israel, Israeli radars should have detected it and intercepted it. Somehow, that didn’t happen. Thankfully, that Houthi missile missed the Tel Aviv airport.

However, the Houthis then launched drone strikes which did hit an airport in southern Israel (first link and second link), and the drones did enough damage that airport had to shut down for a time. There is also a report that Saudi Arabia has shot down Houthi drones and/or missiles that were fired from Yemen at Israel (third link). The Houthis complained about this, but Saudi Arabia has every right to shoot down drones and missiles flying through its airspace without permission. This action does place Israel and Saudi Arabia in the de facto position of being on the same side vs. the Houthis. Israel launched retaliatory air strikes vs. the Houthis that reportedly killed the Houthi Prime Minister (fourth link), and Israel has also shot down some Houthi drones that were fired at Israeli territory (fifth link).

The sixth link reports Iran is threatening a renewed warfare between Iran and Israel if the strikes and counterstrikes continue, but in my perception, that is a rather slanted view of things by Iran as it is Iran that keeps supplying the Houthis with missiles and drones to fire at Israel. Indeed, this raises an important question I don’t hear being discussed anywhere. It seems like the Houthis have an inexhaustible inventory of missiles and drones to fire at Israel. All of them are long-range weapons because short-range drones and missiles would never reach Israeli territory if fired from Yemen’s Houthi region. Why aren’t these missiles and drones from Iran being intercepted and confiscated so they can’t be shot at Israel? It seems obvious Saudi Arabia isn’t allowing Iran to resupply the Houthis via its airspace. This leaves the only realistic option for Iranian weaponry to reach the Houthis in Yemen is for them to be shipped by Iran to the Houthis via ships sailing through the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Why isn’t there a sea blockade with warships intercepting all Iranian ships headed toward Yemen? Such ships would be taken into custody if they have weaponry on board. Could it be such an obvious action hasn’t been implemented yet? If not, why not??

Both the USA and Israel attacked Iranian targets in a large air strike in which the USA used large bunker-buster bombs to collapse the underground Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities being used to produce materials for Iranian nuclear weapons. The seventh link warns that Iran might launch terror strikes vs. US targets on the American homeland. It is my opinion that if Iran launches terror attacks on US targets on US soil, President Trump will order very harsh counter-strikes vs. Iranian targets on its homeland.

The Israeli navy has also shown that it can conduct long-range strikes vs. Houthi targets. The eighth link cites an Israeli naval attack which fired missiles 2000 kilometers to reach their targets. Additionally, Israel has launched a new spy satellite to monitor events and military movements throughout the Mideast I’d expect (ninth link). Iran has no meaningful spy satellite capability that I’ve seen evidence of, but Iran may be getting satellite detection support from Russia or China.

There is another worrisome development. Undersea cables are used all over the world for communications purposes. These benefit all nations are are usually left alone. However, someone has been cutting undersea communication cables in the Red Sea. The Houthis’ territory in Yemen borders the Red Sea so suspicions are obvious that a ship allied to the Houthis and Iran dragged its anchor across the communications cables to disable them. Internet service was disrupted in Africa and Asia due to this damage (tenth link). This action also raises the likelihood that nations other than Israel will act to guard their interests in these undersea communication lifelines.

As I write this post, reports are being released by many media sources that Israel has just launched an air strike at a building in Doha in Qatar that houses Hamas leaders (eleventh link). This is a serious escalation on Israel’s part. It seems to send a message that no Hamas agent or leader is safe anywhere until the war is over between Israel and Hamas. However, Qatar and Egypt were the two Islamic nations trying to act as mediators between Israel and Hamas to find an agreement to end this war. I saw a report tonight on TV that Qatari spokespersons are saying they received notice from the USA about the attack but it came ten minutes after the attack. Was Israel late in notifying the USA about the attack or was the USA late in notifying Qatar about the attack? This attack is sure to complicate the overall effort to find an end to this Iranian-/Houthi war against Israel.

This ongoing fight between Iran and Israel could lead to a major conflict between Iran and Israel, and the USA and other nations could be dragged into the conflict. There are only a reported 20 or so Israeli hostages still alive in Hamas custody. If no more Israeli hostages are released alive, I personally think Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political career is likely over. His strategies to pummel Hamas harder and harder to obtain the hostages’ release have so far not worked. If any hostages do make it out alive, they will be emaciated and deeply traumatized by years of captivity in Gaza. I doubt Hamas has refrigerated facilities to store the bodies of the Israeli hostages who have died in captivity, and the condition of their bodies may harden Israeli attitudes against both Hamas and even against Netanyahu’s administration. This is hard to predict, but it adds to the volatility of the crisis. Israel knows Hamas does what Iran tells it to do so the trauma of the surviving Israeli hostages and the deteriorated conditions of dead Israel hostages could so infuriate the Israelis that Israel will launch brutal air strikes vs Iranian civilian and military targets. Be assured that this conflict could escalate quickly or be defused quickly. This crisis does seem to be reaching an end-game as Hamas started this war but lost it long ago.

Whatever happens going forward, I reiterate the biblical prophecies about “Judah” in the latter days (Judah means the Jews/Israelis). Genesis 49:9-9 foretell the Jewish state will be victorious in its wars and no one will annihilate the Jewish state. Zephaniah 2:1-11 prophecy that God will punish the nations which “magnify themselves” vs. the borders of the Jewish nation in the latter days. This prophecy includes such specificity that it is a powerful argument that the Bible had to be inspired by a Creator God. Zephaniah 2:4 foretells “Gaza shall be forsaken” in the latter days and verses 6-7 prophesy that the seacoast region of the Holy Land and the city of Ashkelon will be under Jewish control in the latter days. When the Israeli nation was born in 1948, it included the seacoast region of the Holy Land and the city of Ashkelon as well. How’s that for a 2600-year old prophecy coming so specifically to pass? No Nostradamus prophecy has ever been that specifically fulfilled. Zechariah 12:1-9 also prophesies a terrible doom against any nation that tries to harm the Jewish nation in the latter days. I have confidence God’s prophecies will come to pass.

ISRAELI-IRANIAN WAR APPARENTLY ISN’T OVER YET

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