War Erupts in Gaza!

As more intelligence reports emerge, it is clear that Hamas deliberately targeted children and babies in their recent assault on Israel (Telegraph, October 14, 2023). Documents found on dead Hamas fighters showed that their orders were to “achieve the highest level of human losses” and to “kill as many individuals as possible” (Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2023).

The result has been an outcry from nations around the globe and sympathy toward the nation of Israel—at least for now. The United States has now sent a second carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean (CNN, October 15, 2023). Israel is now working to destroy the leadership of Hamas in order to prevent future actions like the attack last week. Intelligence reports also suggest that the Iran-backed Hezbollah trained Hamas’ paragliding fighters for their mission (Telegraph, October 13, 2023).

Israel has preemptively bombed airports in Damascus, and as the fight continues, the risk that Hezbollah might join the fray increases. As one analyst put it, “Everybody knows the stakes by now: we are one escalation away from a showdown between Iran and the Western democracies, which are broadly standing behind Israel, as they must after the savagery of the Hamas attack” (Telegraph, October 13, 2023).

This Work has long warned our readers to watch the Middle East. While events around the globe intensify, it is easy to become distracted or speculate about their meanings and eventual results. However, Bible prophecy makes clear that the climax of world events will center on Jerusalem, both in terms of world governments and armies, and in terms of the return of Jesus Christ. To learn more about why Jerusalem is so critical to world peace, view our short introduction to the near-term future of Jerusalem, “Watch the Middle East!”