blog.Tribulationperiod.com

Future Northern, Central, and Southern Offensives against Israel!

November 1, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Empowered by weapons replacement, rebuilding of military bunker complexes, and a political offensive, we now find Hizballah, a terror army led, financed, and put in place by Iran and Syria, preparing for a northern offensive against Israel, while the Hamas is creating a trained army in Israel for a Southern and Central Attack.

Begin Four Excerpts from Boston Globe, Y Net News, DEBKAfile, and Jerusalem Post.

Excerpt from Boston Globe

Hizballah Demands More Government Power in Lebanon

Chanassis Hambanis

Emboldened by this summer’s war with Israel, the radical Islamist Hizballah has gone on the political offensive inside Lebanon, determined either to replace or to bring down the pro-American government. Hizballah and an allied Christian political party led by Gen. Michel Aoun are demanding a government reshuffle that would give them more positions – and would in effect give Hizballah veto power over any legislation.

They have threatened to boycott the government or try to bring it down through strikes and street demonstrations if they don’t get more posts.

U.S. officials say that by gaining veto power, Hizballah would paralyze the government, extend Syrian influence over Lebanon, and ruin Lebanon’s prospects to rebuild.

(Boston Globe)

Excerpt from Y Net News

Hizballah Could Take Power within Five Years

Roee Nahmias

Hizballah could definitely take power in Lebanon within a few years…even within five years,” said Dr. Boaz Ganor, deputy dean of the Lauder School of Government and Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and executive director of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism. (Ynet News)

Excerpt from DEBKAfile

DEBKAfile Exclusive: Israel Air Force warplanes over-fly Hizballah’s reconstructed command centers and fortifications in S. Beirut Tuesday

October 31, 2006, 1:22 PM (GMT+02:00)

According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the low Israeli air passes, about which the Lebanese government complained, recorded Hizballah’s reestablishment in Beirut’s Shiite Dahya district, two months after its military centers were flattened in the Lebanon war. It is now a closed military zone whose entry is closely guarded by Hizballah operatives. Israeli warplanes also recorded Hizballah’ s revived bunker

system, foundations for new rocket launchers and rebuilt intelligence and surveillance positions rising day by day along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Similarly, the tempo of Iranian-Syrian weapons consignments to Hizballah units has been stepped up. They include ground-to-ground missiles, anti-air, anti-tank and shore-to-sea missiles.

DEBKAfile’s military sources confirm that Hizballah has fully re-stocked the arsenal of rockets

of the type which blasted northern Israel for 33 days in July and August. A senior Israeli military source pointed out to DEBKAfile that intelligence-gathering on Hizballah’s recovery, rearming and regrouping for battle is of little use when it is not followed up by action. He disclosed that each time the disturbing data is put before the chief of staff and his superiors in Jerusalem, no one there decides on a response. Syria and Hizballah are exploiting this inertia to openly refortify and rearm their former positions on the border and southern Beirut, while their arms convoys ply Lebanon’s highways in broad daylight. Neither the Lebanese army nor UNIFIL’s European contingents deployed in S.

Lebanon and at sea make any move to stall the illegal influx of war materiel.

An Israeli intelligence source commented that the arms embargo contained in UN resolution 1701 is a one-way exercise. It keeps the Lebanese army and anti-Syrian militias from procuring weapons but does nothing to halt supplies to Hizballah and other pro-Syrian groups, which Israeli intelligence officers see as having two goals: 1. The takeover of Beirut’s government centers in Beirut by Iran-backed Hizballah and pro-Syrian factions – if possible without bloodshed. The weapons will be used to quell possible political or armed resistance. None of these groups, joined by Gen. Michel Aoun’s pro-Syrian Maronie Christians will have no qualms about sparking a civil war or murdering prime minister Fouad Siniora and other ministers in order to achieve their aims.

This information has been in American, French, German and Israeli intelligence since the start of October, prompting US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to say Monday, Oct. 30: “We too have heard that there are people who would like to destabilize the government of Prime Minister Siniora. We’ve heard that there are people who would like to intimidate or assassinate again, they’ve done it before in Lebanon.” 2. In the case of an armed clash, however limited in scope, between the US and Iranian forces massed in the Persian Gulf or in Iraq – which Israel’s high command believes unavoidable – informed Israeli sources have no doubt Hizballah will hit back on Tehran’s behalf with a fresh rocket offensive against Israeli cities. Intelligence-gathering is important, say those sources, but action to head off a fresh war offensive against Israel is vital. Buzzing Beirut will solve nothing.

Excerpt from Jerusalem Post

Galant: Hamas building real army in Gaza

JPost Staff and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST

October 31, 2006

OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant said Tuesday that since the disengagement from Gaza, the strength of Hamas has grown considerably.

Speaking before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Galant went on to say that Hamas was preparing units for battle, even against IDF armored units.

According to experts, Hamas has drawn many conclusions from the war in Lebanon and is attempting to emulate Hizbullah’s tactics.

Galant said that Hamas was organizing itself into a “professional” army, with battalions, divisions, and perhaps even more.

In addition, said Galant, “Thousands of families living in the Gaza Strip make a living by smuggling weapons into the area.”

End Jerusalem Post Article

Begin Comments on Boston Globe, Y Net News, DEBKAfile, and the Jerusalem Post articles

Ezekiel 38:8 – “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.”

The “after many days” have piled up to some twenty-six hundred years since Ezekiel wrote these words. “Thou” refers to Gog, the anti-Christ. “Be visited,” means to muster, or to be called to arms. The rest of the verse identifies the general time, the place of the battle, and the people he will attack.

The time (latter years) represents the closing years of the age of the Gentiles. The land is the restored nation of Israel that has been “brought back from the sword” (that has been restored from war). “And is gathered out of many people” refers to the residents of the land that is “brought back from the sword,” which have been gathered out of many nations across the face

of the earth.

“Against the mountains of Israel, which have always been waste” gives a topographical description of the land of Israel into which the anti-Christ will plunge southward. “Which has always been waste” refers to the hundreds of years between A.D. 135 and 1948 that the land of Israel was, compared to her former years of productivity, virtually a barren wasteland. “But is brought forth out of the nations” is exactly how the present nation of Israel was formed – by Jews brought forth from virtually every Gentile nation on this planet. Thus far, I am confident that all this has already been fulfilled. However, the last expression in verse eight has yet to be fulfilled, but I am convinced it is very likely to occur before 2012.

The last phrase in verse eight, “And they shall dwell safely all of them,” has not happened since the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70. Israel has not lived a single year, since she became a nation in 1948, without facing the constant possibility of war or a conscious awareness of a terrorist act at any given moment. They have most assuredly not dwelled “safely all of them.” In many of my previous Prophecy Updates, which you may bring up by clicking on the

Prophecy Archive button on this page, I have detailed what I believe will cause peace to finally come to the Mid-East, in spite of what is currently going on in the region. But it will be a false peace, and of short duration. It will abruptly end with primarily the forces of Syria, Lebanon, and Iran pulling off a surprise blitzkrieg attack from the north.

The Palestinians will attack Israel from within at the same time, and Israel will be forced to withdraw into the Negev. There will be seven other Islamic nations involved in the peace of deceit but Iran, Syria, and Lebanon will provide the bulk of the force. My guesstimate for this attack will be at some point in time

between 2008 and 2012.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

Spooky Halloween Trick or Treat in Iran’s Persian Gulf!

SUPPLEMENT TO ARCHIVE BLOG OF OCTOBER 12, 2006

October 31, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

This is a supplement to our Archive Blog of October 12, 2006, titled “A Spooky Halloween Party,” which carried the DEBKAfile announcement that a ga

thering of five different naval forces would be merging in the Persian Gulf at the end of October. The Persian Gulf washes on Iran’s long western shoreline. We are living in troublesome times heading for the time of Jacob’s trouble. Archive Birth Pang Number 5 follows the DEBKAfile Military Report.

Begin DEBKAfile Military Report

US-Led Military Thrust Focuses Heavily on Broad Naval Deployment

DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Report

October 30, 2006, 11:53 AM (GMT+02:00)

Hundreds of US and allied war

ships foregathered in the strategic seas of the Middle East and India in the last days of October 2006 for two primary missions: To prepare for a US-led military strike against Iran which has stepped up its uranium enrichment program with a second centrifuge project – undeterred by the prospect of UN sanctions; and measures to fend off palpable al Qaeda threats to oil targets.

DEBKAfile’s military sources give details of the massive deployments:

1. A large-scale US-Indian sea exercise called Malabar 06 is in progress off the Indian coast of Goa, ending Nov. 5. The American vessels taking part are the USS Boxer carrier, the USS Bunker Hill guided missile battle cruiser, the guided missile destroyer USS Howard and the USS Benfold , as well as the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine Providence and the Canadian guided missile frigate HMCS Ottawa .

Indian maritime might is displayed with its warships like INS Beas , INS Mysore , INS Shakti , INS Ganga , tanking ship INS Gharial , submarine INS Shankush and Coast Guard ship CGS Samar

Malabar also involves the landing of large number of soldiers ashore, ahead of the Indian acquisition of the massive amphibious USS Trenton transport dock which can carry six helicopters and about a 1000 soldiers.

Our Tehran sources report that last Thursday, Oct. 26, Iranian officials were seriously rattled by a rumor that an Iranian spy plane had located the USS Boxer heading for the Persian Gulf. It prompted fears of an imminent American military assault to lift Republican prospects in the coming US midterm elections of Nov. 7. In any case, the Iranians suspect that at the end of the joint US-Indian exercise in the Arabian Sea, Boxer will veer west and head into the Persian Gulf.

There would then be four US air carriers with task forces parked opposite Iranian shores, including the USS Enterprise Strike Group, the USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group and the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which are already in place.

According to the intelligence reaching Iran, the Boxer and its escorts carry 850 Marines who have just spent months in special training for operations on offshore oil rigs and platforms.

2. American, Italy, France, Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are taking part in an exercise practicing the interception of ships carrying nuclear materials or components for use in advanced weapons. The exercise opposite Bahrain is the first to be held in the Persian Gulf under the three-year old proliferation security initiative. It applications could be translated equally into the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, or Iran.

On Oct. 27, Robert Joseph, the US undersecretary of state for arms control remarked: “From Iranian news reports we know the exercise got the attention of Iran.” But rather than climbing down, Tehran referred two days later to the war games as “adventurous” and placed its armed forces on a high alert which encompassed the joint naval units of the military and Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf, while the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian army, navy and air force were placed on “yellow” alert, one level short of full war.

Also Oct. 29, , supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei replaced Iran’s air force chief, Karim Qavami with Brig Gen Capt Ahmad Miqani, on the recommendation of the Revolutionary Guards commander.

DEBKAfile’s Iran sources report that Khamenei did not approve of Qavami’s admiration for America’s military capabilities – especially the US air force’s advanced aircraft and equipment. Qavami was wont to speak out at general staff meetings in favor of procuring a new air fleet the better to stand up to a possible US attack. His successor follows the supreme ruler unquestion ingly and has complete faith

in the ability

3. Saudi Arabia did not join the multinational Bahrain exercise, but instead mustered its entire navy and all its special forces for deployment in dense defensive array around the biggest oil terminal in the world, at Ras Tanura. Riyadh acted in response to tangible intelligence that al Qaeda is preparing to attack its oil installations.

Warnings have intensified in recent days of impending al Qaeda attacks on the oil fields, oil ports, oil tankers and oil fields of Saudi Arabia and the Arabian oil emirates. One threat specifically targets the Bahraini offices and staff of the Benin Republic’s Societe Togolaise de Gaz and Societe Bengaz S.A.

It is not clear exactly why al Qaeda is targeting this African-owned oil company in particular. In addition, the US embassy in Riyadh has warned Americans operat

ing in the Gulf region to stay clear of all oil installations, especially in Saudi Arabia. Another pointed alert covers Western residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, specifying American expatriates as al Qaeda targets. Saudi security forces are standing guard at these compounds which were fatally attacked in November exactly three years ago.

4. The fourth major naval concentration is deployed in the Red Sea along Saudi Arabia’s west coast. The oil kingdom has placed its military and fleet at their highest level of preparedness for Al Qaeda-instigated terrorist attacks along this coast, particularly at the ports of Jeddah and Yanbu.

DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report: That the Saudis have by and large switched their defenses against al Qaeda to coastal targets indicates the receipt of intelligence input of a new local sea base established by al Qaeda, which enables the jihadist group to stretch its capabilities for assaulting oil and Western shore targets from the sea.

This base might be located on the shore of a Gulf nation, somewhere in the Arabian Sea or in the Horn of Africa.

End DEBKAfile Military Report

As I indicated in the heading of this BLOG, we are headed for the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. During this time of unbelievable tectonic chaos, two-thirds of the world’s ships will be destroyed. Birth Pang Figures, which accompany the Archive Birth Pangs, may be found on our first web page by clicking on “Birth Pang Figures.”

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Birth Pang Number 5

ARCHIVE BIRTH PANG NUMBER 5

1979

CHAPTER 7- SINKING SHIPS AND SHAKING SHORES

Revelation 8:9 – And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

The preceding chapters have continually added to the premise that God will destroy sinful mankind with the earth. This chapter, and those which follow, will continue to build upon that premise. The major contention of this premise is that God will move the massive tectonic plates shown in figure 3 approximately one to two feet during the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation Period. It is this destroying with the earth that will create the horrifying scenes described in Isaiah 29:6 and Luke 21:25.

Isaiah 29:6 – Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Luke 21:25 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

In Luke 21:25 the word translated wave is saiou, which means a particular type of wave. It means a wave that breaks on the shoreline, a wave of the surf. The nations of the world will be in great perplexity because of the roaring sound of the sea and surf. It is this phenomenon of sea and surf that will destroy one-third of the world’s shipping.

The claim has been made that unbelievably violent earth¬quake and volcanic activity will be occurring along the area indicated by dashed lines of figure 3 during the last half of the Tribulation Period. Please note that most of these great cracks in the earth’s crust lie on the ocean and sea floors of the world. If I am correct about the earthquake and volcanic activity along these cracks, then I am positive that what I am about to describe will definitely occur.

There are many types of waves that exist on the ocean sur¬face. The most common being those induced by the winds and tides of the earth.

But the most horrifying of all waves that pound the shorelines of the world is not produced by wind or tide; it is the unbelievable tsunami produced by earthquake and volcanic eruption on the seafloor.

Tsunami are not “tidal waves.3 They are caused by undersea earthquakes or volcanoes and have killed millions of people down through the ages.

Tsunami is the Japanese word for “storm wave.” The Alaska earthquake of 1964 produced the tsunami wave pattern shown in figure 6.

As you can observe from the figure, it only took the tsunami four hours to move from the epicenter to Hawaii. Tsunami travel as fast as some jet aircraft. Tsunami can now be predicted so that appalling death tolls of yesteryear can be avoided. A network of seismic warning stations now functions across the Pacific Ocean to give early warning of an approaching tsunami.

As you can observe on the lower half of figure 6, a tsunami is generated when an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption causes a sudden downward movement of an earth block. The downward displacement of water above the block produces not a surface wave, but rather a wave which moves horizontally outward through the water from the bottom to the top. Tsunami cross the ocean as long low waves which seagoing vessels may not even notice. But as you may observe in figure 7, when the tsunami approaches the shoreline the energy of the wave is con¬fined in shallower and shallower water. Tsunami have been known to rise to heights in excess of two hundred fifty feet. The increase in tsunami occurrences, during the past 190 years, is made evident in figure 8. When a tsunami crashes against a coastline it destroys everything in its path, often up to half a mile inland.

Shipping on the open sea is virtually unaffected by a tsunami, but woe unto the ship that is caught in port. There is not a ship built which can withstand the force of a full blown tsunami as it roars into port. In one day the old city of Lisbon and all the ships in port were destroyed by a wall of water that washed half a mile inland. During the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation Period most of the coastal cities of the world and the ships in port will be completely destroyed by tsunami after tsunami. This is what will produce much of the distress and perplexity among the nations of the world. Now, how does all this fit in with Revelation 8:9 regarding John’s statement: “and the third part of the ships were destroyed?”

At any given time approximately two-thirds of the world’s shipping is “under way” on the open sea, and one-third is in port or dry dock. The two-thirds on the open sea will be spared, and the one-third in port will be destroyed by tsunami during the sounding of the second trumpet.

The following Scriptures leave little doubt that God has con¬trol of the sea and the destructive forces

of its waves. Those who “do business in great waters” will lose one-third of their busi¬ness on the sounding of the second trump.

Psalm 89:9 – Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

Isaiah 51:15 – But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name.

Psalm 107:23-25 – They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; [24] These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

[25] For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

The earth is God’s creation and all the things thereof. God does not need man’s weaponry or technology to fulfill His prophecies. God has already made all the elements necessary to destroy man, and He has molded them into forms, shapes, com¬pounds and processes capable of fulfilling His revelation of end-time events. I know that a great war will occur. Many men will die in that war.

Bullets and other weaponry will kill many of them; but that will be only a few compared to the earthquake, fire and brimstone toll exacted by the force of Almighty God upon sinful mankind. For too long biblical expositors have been concentrating on a single tree (man’s weaponry and technology) as the fulfillment of Revelation prophecies. In so doing, they have overlooked the forest of God’s creation, the earth’s natural destructive forces.

Man will not destroy himself in a nuclear holocaust of his own making. If you desire to be frightened by such a possibili¬ty, be my guest and join the crowd. I do not fear the armies with thermonuclear arsenals. May I remind you whom you should fear with this closing passage of Scripture.

Luke 12:4,5 – And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. [5] But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him,

which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.

We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

A Final War in the Middle East is a Bible Conclusion – Should be Soon!

October 30, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

I have, for some time, been guesstimating the most likely time for a war to occur between the forces of Islam and Israel to be at some point in time between 2008 and 2012. When we first began our Web Site in the last century, I did not believe the attack would occur before 2003. I guesstimated the outer limit time would be 2012, but more likely before 2008, and the most probable between 2004 and 2006. There are a group of experts that are now making that outer range guesstimate of 2012 appear to be in the range of good probability.

When we issued Archive Prophecy Update 7 five years ago, I believed it likely that things would really start to heat up between 2004 and 2006, and the attack was most likely to occur before 2008, but I did extend its outer limit time of probability to 2012.

Archive Prophecy Update Number 7 was issued in February of 2001. The article by Yaakov Lappin, which follows, came from Y Net News, October 25, 2006.

Begin Archive Prophecy Update Number 7

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 7

February, 2001

In Prophecy Update Number 6 we discussed the military buildup by Israel in her Negev wilderness.

The Negev is the wilderness of Revelation 12:6, to which the woman, who is Israel, will flee in the tribulation period: “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” Within the foreseeable future, Syria will lead an Islamic array of nations against Israel. The well coordinated effort of these nations, aided by the Palestinians within Israel, will be able to initially defeat the woman Israel, and she will be forced to remain in the Negev for three and one-half prophetic years, or 1260 days. According to Zechariah 13:9 to 14:2, only one-third of Israel will make it into the Negev, and the city of Jerusalem will fall to the Islamic conglomerate: “[9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. [1] Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” Considering the present number of Jews in Israel, about 4.8 million, if the attack were to occur now, it would mean about 1.6 million Jews would be hedged in the Negev for 1260 days.

If the attack were to occur in the distant future that number could reach 2 million.

I really do not expect such an attack to occur this year, because it has to first be secretly coordinated behind closed doors, between several Arab nations confederate with Syria,

and with the terrorist groups they control. This will take several years.

I feel confident the attack will not occur before 2003, but I do believe it

will occur before 2012, with the most likely time being between 2004 and 2005. But if 1.6 to 2 million Jews will survive in the Negev, they must have enough water and food to sustain them for 3 and ½ prophetic years. Has God already been instrumental in assuring they will have it? More on this in Prophecy Update Number 8.

End Archive Prophecy Update Number 7

Begin Y Net News Extract

Expert: Prepare for War

Y Net News

Yaakov Lappin

October 25, 2006

Middle East experts give their forecasts for the coming months in the region, warning of ‘terrible deterioration’ on Israel’s northern border.

The coming months will present Israel with strategic threats from three different directions, Dr.

Boaz Ganor, founder of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism told Ynetnews.

The first threat, stemming from the Shiite alliance of Iran and Hizbullah, will result in “terrible deterioration” on Israel’s northern border, according to Ganor.

“The year 2007 is going to be a critical year, as the international arena will do its utmost to narrow down the nuclear capabilities of Iran.

It could be done by using more affirmative sanctions, or even a military campaign,” Ganor said. “And the ramification of such an attempt, even if it’s only sanctions, will cause a terrible deterioration of the situation on the northern border, where Iran will use its proxy Hizbullah to retaliate against Israel, and make clear that Israel has to pay for any activities against Iran,” Ganor added.

Turning to the Palestinian arena, Ganor said that “the Palestinians are now at the stage of shaping their self-identities,” a process he described as ultimately “positive.” They are torn between “terrorism and violence against Israel, definitely the concept used by Yasser Arafat under the Oslo accords,” as well as today’s “Islamic radical terrorist organizations,” and the “alternative option, which is actually being represented by (PA President Mahmoud Abbas) Abu Mazen,” based on the idea that “terrorism and violence will never fulfill the Palestinian national interest.”

“The problem is that this is not a smooth process. It involves battles within the Palestinian arena. And I think in the coming months this may spill over into Israel,” Ganor said.

Ganor then pointed out the “third process, which I have to admit that many Israelis, including decision makers and security services in Israel underestimate, is the threat of global jihadists against Israel,” posed by al-Qaeda and its affiliates.

“In my view, in the coming months, global jihadists will try to launch what we call a major attack against Israel. Zawahiri (deputy leader of al-Qaeda) has announced that.

I tend to believe him.

The activities of al-Qaeda and global jihadist movements are surrounding Israel, from Sinai, Amman, Jordan, some involvement in Lebanon, and ongoing and growing involvement in Gaza Strip. And it’s only a matter of time before they infiltrate Israel soon. So this is in my view a very negative process and I have to admit that… we are under-prepared,” Ganor added.

‘Very little time until next war’

In a document made available to Ynetnews by Professor Moshe Sharon, an expert on Islamic history at the Hebrew University, Sharon declared that the next war Israel would have to fight was almost here.

“Today it is clear to everyone who is prepared to confront unadorned reality, and they are the majority of people in Israeli society with the wish to live, that we have to take advantage of the short period of time left to us to prepare the army for the inevitable next war. It is already on the way,” Sharon wrote.

He added: “Hizbullah is the immediate enemy.

No one will disarm it because it has no intention of disarming and there is no one to coerce it to do so.

The UN is collaborating with Hizbullah and none of its member nations has any interest in dealing with it.”

“The Shiite of Hizbullah has taken control of Lebanon with the generous help of Iran and Syria and it will not relinquish it even if this means bringing about its total destruction. Lebanon will gradually be emptied of its remaining Christian population and zealous Islam will have achieved an important objective: One of the only two non-Muslim countries in the Middle East will just disappear,” Sharon said.

“Islam came into being as a fighting religion. Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, imposed his authority, first and foremost, by means of his military strength. He understood that even when speaking in the name of Allah, this must be accompanied by tens of thousands of fighters with drawn swords,” the professor added.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included in formation

for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

Hamas and Buddies vs. Fatah and Buddies – Internal Terror Conflict!

October 30, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin DEBKAfile Exclusive

DEBKAfile’s Exclusive Sources reports Fatah and Hamas brace for armed showdown after breakdown of the Saudi-Egyptian initiative for unity government and release of Israeli soldier

October 27, 2006, 11:34 PM (GMT+02:00)

To avert a bloody showdown, their commanders met in Gaza City and Hebron Friday night but failed to agree on a venue for talks. Our Middle East and intelligence sources disclose: The failed peace initiative was kicked off by a Saudi invitation to Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal. They tried to prevail on him to accept a deal for Hamas and Fatah to set up a national unity government under the incumbent Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh and trade the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit kidnapped by Hamas for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners

in Israeli jails, including high-profile convicted terrorists.

Had Meshaal agreed to continue to Cairo to seal the plan at an Arab mini-summit with Saudi, Syrian and Egyptian officials and the Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the hard-line Hamas leader would have been granted a private audience with King Abdullah and the Riyadh would have resumed its stipend to his movement. But Meshaal spurned the deal.

Instead of traveling to Cairo, he went straight to Damascus Friday, having opted to stick with Tehran rather than switch to the moderate Arab camp. He also announced Shalit would not be freed and cut Hamas loose for an armed showdown with Fatah.

Reading the signals, the rival Palestinian forces have called up their troops and are in heightened preparedness for battle in Gaza and the West Bank.

End DEBKAfile Exclusive

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

Abbas hopes to import PLO reinforcements from Jordan

Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST

October 28, 2006

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas hopes to beef up his loyalist forces with Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) troops stationed in Jordan, Palestinian officials said, as rival factions bolstered their ranks in anticipation of a feared civil war.

Israel has objected in the past to letting members of the Jordan-based Badr Brigade enter Palestinian areas. But with clashes intensifying between Abbas’ Fatah Party and forces loyal to the Palestinians’ militantly anti-Israel Hamas government, Israeli officials said they would consider allowing them in, the Palestinian officials said.

Israeli authorities weren’t immediately available for comment.

Palestinian officials did not say how many Badr forces Abbas hopes to mobilize. What is most important to him is that he would command their loyalty as head of the PLO.

Abbas, elected separately last year, is nominally the supreme commander of all seven Palestinian security branches, and most security personnel were hired by Fatah, which controlled the Palestinian Authority for more than a decade. But after Hamas swept Fatah out of office in January elections, it set up a militia of its own, which now numbers 5,700 armed men, and has announced plans to recruit an additional 1,500 forces in the West Bank, Fatah’s stronghold.

The rival security forces have clashed frequently in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks as political tensions between the two sides grow. The violence has left more than a dozen dead and stoked fears of a bloody showdown.

The threat of heightened unrest led Palestinian officials from both sides to increase police presence on Saturday.

In Gaza, police in blue-and-white camouflage uniforms deployed around the parliament building, and in the West Bank town of Ramallah, security personnel were posted outside parliament, the Prime Minister’s office and the Education Ministry.

In an attempt to ease tensions, a coordinating committee for all Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, met on Friday night in Gaza, and agreed to remove all their non-uniformed gunmen from the streets.

The confrontations have heated up amid Abbas’ efforts to ease crippling international sanctions by persuading Hamas to moderate its anti-Israel stance and ally with Fatah in a coalition government.

The EU, U.S. and other donors cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas took power in March. Despite growing hardship in the Palestinian areas, Hamas has rejected international calls to renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Abbas plans to dissolve the Hamas-led government within two weeks if the Islamic militant group doesn’t agree to form a coalition with Fatah, Palestinian officials said Friday.

Meanwhile, Palestinian factions that kidnapped an Israeli soldier four months ago offered conflicting assessments Saturday on whether a prisoner swap deal was imminent.

Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, said his faction has agreed to an Egyptian proposal to release Cpl. Gilad Shalit in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

“There is an Egyptian proposal that would include the release of our Palestinian prisoners and we agreed on this proposal,” he said.

“We expect a solution to our prisoners case in the near future.”

But a spokesman for the military wing of the Palestinians’ ruling Hamas Party said prospects for an imminent deal have faded.

“There were hopes for a deal some days ago, but there’s no new advances because the Zionist enemy hasn’t said anything on accepting the conditions we set foward,” spokesman Abu Obeidah said.

He wouldn’t be more specific.

Israeli officials have said they were unaware of any progress to win Shalit’s release.

Shalit was captured June 25 in a cross-border raid and is believed to be held in Gaza. His abduction sparked an Israeli military offensive there that has killed more than 200 Palestinians, most of them militants.

Separately, Abbas confidant Saeb Erekat announced in Ramallah that the Palestinians’ gross domestic product (GDP) was projected to drop 28 percent in 2006 to $2.9 billion (€2.3 billion) from $4.04 billion (€3.2 billion) in 2005. The projections were based on data from the first nine months of the year, Erekat said.

Investments this year are projected to drop 60 percent to $400 million (€320 million), from $1 billion (€800 million) in 2005, he said.

Erekat blamed the decline on the international aid freeze, imposed in March to pressure Hamas to recognize Israel and disarm, and Israeli closures of vital border crossings.

He warned that if the economic decline continued, the Palestinian areas would face “total collapse.”

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site.

However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

THE ISLAM TV VERSION OF PTL (Pass the Loot)!

October 28, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

While the Hizbollah and Hamas have been shoveling dirt, rock, and sand to build, improve, stock, and fortify their underground tunnel city complexes, Iran has been their “sugar daddy” financier, shoveling many millions of their oil revenues into them in the form of military experts, operatives, technical advisors, and numerous types of ground and air projectiles, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Iran seems determined to build two fortresses on Israel’s borders, one in the south and one in the north, capable of resisting or launching an attack.

Hamas and Fatah are fighting for control of the Palestinian government and Iran has been smuggling millions of oil dollars into Hamas to pay the Palestinian police, thereby gaining their favor, which would lead to Hamas, an Iranian-Syrian backed terrorist group, being able to defeat Fatah.

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

PA: Hamas Smuggled Millions into Gaza to Pay Police

Khaled Abu Toameh

(Jerusalem Post)

October 26, 2006

PA Interior Minister Said Siam of Hamas, who returned to Gaza via the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, brought with him suitcases full of cash, estimated to contain from $3 million to $10 million.

The cash will be used to pay salaries to thousands of Palestinian policemen, senior PA officials revealed on Wednesday.

Siam raised the funds during visits to Egypt, Iran, and Syria.

Begin Palestine Network Article

Hamas “Executive Forces” Recruiters Active in Bethlehem in West Bank

Najib Farag

(Palestine News Network)

October 26, 2006

According to Palestinian security sources, Hamas activists have begun recruiting young Palestinians in the Bethlehem area for service in the “Executive Forces.” The recruiters have been able to attract numerous young people, many of whom are former Fatah activists who

have become disgruntled with the movement.

Begin Haaretz Article

IDF Likely to be Swept Up in West Bank Struggle

Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

(Ha’aretz)

October 26, 2006

The conflict between Israel and Hamas is likely to escalate soon in light of the Israel Defense Forces’ decision to try to thwart the establishment of a Hamas security service in the West Bank.

In Gaza, Hamas’ “Executive Forces” have become one of the organization’s main power bases in its struggle against Fatah. Members of this force are well-equipped and very disciplined, and they have won almost all their street battles with Fatah gunmen. To arm its people, Hamas is making massive weapons purchases. In addition, it is trying to persuade Fatah security service members to desert to Hamas. Thus far, Hamas has apparently succeeded in organizing a few hundred armed men in several West Bank cities, the most prominent of which is Hebron.

Begin DEBKAfile Exclusive Article

DEBKAfile Exclusive: A heavy influx of foreign-based Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian, Lebanese and Hizballah fighters swells Hamas strength for internecine showdown

October 25, 2006, 10:58 AM (GMT+02:00)

Senior IDF officers told DEBKAfile that the foreign fighters are slipping into Gaza through large gaps in the Gazan-Egyptian border. Among the arrivals are scores of bomb experts and commando combat instructors. They are coming to augment and upgrade Hamas’ “Rapid Deployment” unit and the Popular Resistance Committees terrorist coalition.

Mingled among them are al Qaeda operatives from Sinai.

The influx aims to:

1. Assure Hamas of a quick victory over Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority security services. The final Hamas-Fatah confrontation is planned to go ahead in both territories straight after the Eid festival Wednesday, Oct.25 and is expected to expand into a full-blown civil war.

2. Position Hizballah-style ambush squads armed with missiles for waylaying Israeli ground units, in the event a large-scale ground offensive is launched to stem Palestinian attacks and the smuggling of upgraded weaponry through the Gaza Strip tunnels.

DEBKAfile’s military sources add: Because of the vacillations of the Olmert government, the IDF may have missed the boat for an offensive of this kind being surgical enough to avoid large-scale casualties.

This week’s cabinet meeting Sunday Oct.

22 ended again without operational decisions.

The rival Palestinian factions are in the midst of a feverish arms-and-recruitment race.

In Gaza, Hamas backed by the PRC, the Popular Front and al Qaeda followers has raised an estimated 15,000 recruits.

The Iran-backed Jihad Islami is keeping its options open to see which side comes out on top. Hamas’ first ever-enlistment campaign on the West Bank, the traditional Fatah stronghold, has yielded several hundred recruits in its

first stage. Several thousand joiners, many of them defectors from Abbas’ Presidential Force 17 and other Fatah frameworks, are to be fielded in a new “Independent Intervention Force.” Hamas scouts are handing out grants of thousands of dollars to defectors. Their object is to deplete the military strength available to Abu Mazen and assemble a military force able to stand up to the Israeli army on the West Bank.

To stem the rate of defections, Abbas has recalled the retired former commander of Palestinian forces on the West Bank General Hajj Ismail.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that at this late date, some Israeli military planners are beginning to think that it would be folly for Israel to launch a large-scale ground attack on the Gaza Strip on the eve of a Palestinian civil war, because A. the troops would be walking into a prepared Iranian-Syrian trap, and B. the troops would be caught in the same predicament as US and British forces in Iraq.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.