Prophecy and Current Events
Behold, I set Thee a Watchman on the Wall" (Isaiah 62:6)
Wars and Rumors of Wars - Prophetic News from Israel
David Dolan
01/16/2000
01/16/2001 -
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed peace talks today, after a one day suspension following the killing of a Jewish resident of the Gaza Strip. "The Palestinian side expects to receive answers and clarifications as well as maps from the Israelis to questions and reservations" about President Clinton’s peace plan, said Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Korei.
Negotiators are trying to hammer out a document that would serve as a guideline for negotiations under the Bush administration. Both sides are playing down chances that the document could be signed before President Clinton leaves office, but according to Rehavam Ze’evi of the far-right National Union party, the sides are planning to sign some kind of agreement on Thursday. He said the accord would include allowing 250,000 Palestinian refugees to return to Israel.
Also, the Palestinians would be sovereign in Arab sections of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, and a bridge would be built to link Judea, Samaria and Gaza Strip.
Both sides denied Ze’evi's claim.
Tension remains high in Gaza, after Jewish residents carried out revenge attacks following yesterday’s killing of one of their own. Enraged by the murder, friends of the victim from the community of Kfar Yam set fire to Palestinian homes, fields and greenhouses. Israeli police arrested two settlers on suspicion of arson, saying residents would not be allowed to take the law into their own hands. The violence sparked renewed overnight gun battles in Gaza. The army said Palestinian gunmen opened fire in a number of areas, including the Neve Dekalim industrial zone, and army posts next to the Jewish communities of Neve Dekalim, Dugit and Gadid. Israeli soldiers returned fire.
The Palestinian Authority is taking the heat for executing two collaborators convicted of helping Israel assassinate Palestinian militiamen.
The European Union has now joined Israel and human rights groups in protesting the brutal executions by firing squad, in which one man was tied to a post and pulverized with 47 bullets! Palestinian Justice Minister Freih Abu Medein defended the executions are a deterrent "to stop the Israeli assassination of our people. We have to protect ourselves," he said. However, in an apparent attempt to deflect criticism, the Palestinian Authority offered "amnesty" to collaborators who turn themselves in. But after the shocking executions, it appears that few will take the risk. Another suspected collaborator was found dead today in an apparent settling of accounts by Palestinian militiamen.
Officials in Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement said masked men seized the victim from his home last night. It was not immediately clear whether the Palestinian Authority sanctioned the killing.
Opposition leader Ariel Sharon took his election campaign to an area in the Negev desert near the Gaza Strip, that Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered in a land swap to the Palestinians. In exchange for annexing big settlement blocs in five percent of Judea and Samaria, Barak offered the Palestinians an area called the Halutsa Sands, an empty expanse of scrub, rock and dust near the Egyptian border, dotted with dried-out trees, Bedouin shanty towns and flocks of sheep. As farmers applauded, Sharon promised that one of his first steps as prime minister would be to create a series of new settlements to connect isolated Negev villages with each other. "For me, settlement is more important than any political consideration and any political camp. This area must stay in our hands," he said. Playing up his image of Mr. Security, Sharon blasted Barak for making concessions as Palestinian violence continues. "This is a policy of surrendering to terror, this is the policy of Barak," Sharon charged.
01/15/2001 -
A 32-year-old Jewish resident of the Gaza community of Kfar Yam was found dead today in an onion field on his farm, after he was abducted and killed by Palestinian terrorists while working at his greenhouses. Roni Tsalah went missing lasting night prompting a major search by the Israeli army. His car, carrying a locating transmitter, was tracked to the Palestinian city of Khan Yunis where it was set on fire. The army discovered later that the terrorists stole the car and drove it to Khan Unis after the murder. Israel radio said there were two claims of responsibility: the Moslem fundamentalist group Hamas and an offshoot of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction. In response to the killing, the army sealed Gaza off; tanks blocked roads, borders were closed and the Gaza airport was shut down. The settlers retaliated by burning Palestinian greenhouses in the area.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak sharply condemned the killing, calling it a "murder in cold blood" and a "base crime that will not be forgiven.
"The murderers will not be let off," Barak said in a statement. "Israel will reach them and they will be punished as others have been punished for attacks in the past against Israeli civilians and soldiers...Israel views the Palestinian Authority as the body responsible for acting...against initiators of attacks." The killing prompted Israel to cancel peace talks set for today. The talks are not expected to resume for a few days, meaning the chances of reaching an agreement before President Clinton leaves office are practically nil. However, security talks aimed at reducing the violence will take place.
Barak has also condemned the Palestinian Authority's execution of two "collaborators" convicted of helping Israel assassinate Palestinian militiamen.
The two men were executed by firing squad on Saturday after lightning trials.
One of the condemned men died hooded and tied to a stake in the parade ground of a Gaza police station. Israel's Channel Two broadcast graphic videotape of the execution, which ended with loud cheers from a crowd and a final bullet to his brain from a lone rifleman.
According to a new government report, Israel is likely to experience an apocalyptic earthquake in the next 50 years. The estimates, which had been kept secret, are shocking: 10,000 dead, 22,000 injured, 250,000 made homeless and $50 billion in damage! Israel is located on a major fault—the Syrian-African rift—that runs through the Jordan Valley. Experts say thousands of homes are subject to severe damage because they were not constructed to withstand a strong earthquake.
01/12/2001 -
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held urgent talks today to discuss President Clinton's peace plan, but came away empty handed. "Wide gaps remain," Israeli negotiator Danny Yatom told Army Radio after three hours of talks at the Erez Crossing on the Israel-Gaza border. "There was no breakthrough." Chief Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said it would take "a miracle" to reach an agreement before President Clinton leaves office on January 20th. Abed Rabbo indicated that the Palestinians have not retreated from maximal demands which no Israeli government could accept: Israel must withdraw to the 1967 borders, hand over all of East Jerusalem including the Temple Mount, and give all 4 million refugees and their families the right to return to their original homes in Israel. However, talks will continue in the coming days.
President Clinton has concluded that reaching a last-gasp agreement in his final days in office is all but impossible. "In all my eight years...as president, I've never seen a situation quite like this where circumstances, including my short time in office, seem unfavorable," Clinton told reporters aboard Air Force One. "Whatever happens will be the responsibility of the next administration and the winner of the Israeli election, whoever that may be." Clinton added that he did not expect major changes in Mideast policy under the Bush administration. "There may be differences in approach and priorities...but my guess is that their general direction will be the same," he said.
The revival of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations came after a week of security talks, mediated by the CIA and aimed at reducing the violence. Some security cooperation has been restored, and in response, Israel is lifting restrictions on the Palestinian territories. The Gaza airport reopened today, although flights will only be allowed during the day. Israel has closed the airport four times since the start of the Palestinian uprising at the end of last September. The airport, opened in 1998, is seen by the Palestinians as a window to the outside world and a symbol of independence. Israel also reopened a main road in Gaza and four border crossings around the country.
The weekly Friday polls show Ariel Sharon is maintaining a strong lead over Prime Minister Ehud Barak ahead of the February 6th election. A Dahaf poll in the "Yediot Ahronot" newspaper said 50 percent of those surveyed planned to vote for Sharon and 32 percent for Barak, a margin unchanged from the previous week. A Gallup poll in the "Maariv" daily put support for Sharon at 44 percent compared with 25 percent for Barak. A week ago, the poll showed a 50-22 percent margin in Sharon's favor. But the surveys indicated that Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres, widely expected to be a candidate if Barak drops out, is running neck-and-neck with Sharon. Dahaf had Peres edging Sharon 47 percent to 45. Gallup put support for Peres at 44 percent compared with 42 percent for Sharon. Barak has been under pressure from left-wingers to withdraw and make way for Peres since polls over the past weeks have shown he has a better chance of winning.
But Barak says he has no intention of dropping out.
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Editorial Comment by To His Glory Ministries:
Things are heating up for Israel. She is surrounded by radical Muslim nations dedicated to her destruction. Russia is arming and preparing these troops exactly as the Bible predicted. And the peace process -- though fraught with problems, is continuing forward. When it eventually reaches conclusion, it may produce a false sense of security for Israel and may perhaps be the time that "Russia thinks an evil thought", and leads the radical Muslim nations in their ill-fated invasion of Israel. Or, perhaps, it is in the aftermath of the invasion that peace is achieved only to later usher in destruction as Israel cries out, Peace, Peace!
What Israel's enemies will not anticipate is God's intervention in the course of human history. The result is catastrophic for the invaders, but will change life for all mankind, as well. These events include nuclear weapons and an earthquake so large that it shakes the entire earth. But most important is that, during this time in history, God once again pours out His Spirit on the House of Israel, showing His greatness and holiness, and making Himself known in the sight of many nations. "Then they will know that I am the LORD". (Eze 38:23) God will "once again, in a little while, shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts."(Haggai 2:6-7) "And the desired of the nations shall come.''
``It is now the hour to awake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith.'' (Rom 13:11)
God's righteous judgements are always redemptive. He does not desire that anyone perish, but that all come to repentance and everlasting life.
This invasion could now take place at almost any time. To prepare for it, stay close to the Lord by purifying your heart and thoughts through the daily washing of the Word. Be careful not to forsake the Holy One of Israel. Soon the culmination of all things shall begin.
Purify yourselves daily by the reading of the Word. Jesus is returning for a Holy and Spotless Church. ``Today is the day of salvation for many who are perishing; their tomorrow shall not see my return in glory to judge the living and the dead. Today is the day of their salvation." Don't delay. Time is short. You have no guarantee that you will even see tomorrow. If you die without receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your eternal destiny is fixed.
As we see the signs of His return drawing close, what manner of holy life should we be living? Remember that Jesus is returning for a Holy and Spotless Bride. Whether His return is today or 10 years from now is irrelevant since eternity is only a heart beat away for any of us. So choose this day whom you will serve, ask the Holy Spirit to search you to see if there be any iniquity in you, and then call upon Jesus your Deliverer. He is faithful for forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unfaithfulness.
"Watch and pray, therefore, that you would be counted worthy to escape the judgment that is coming upon the earth and be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).
Maranatha!
Blessings on you all as we all wait for the return of our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Maranatha!
How to Be Saved Through Jesus
DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist. He has written the monthly Israel News Digest for CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL since 1986. His just-released new book, ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD? may be ordered in North America by phoning 888-890-6938 or by e mail at: resources@yourisraelconnection.org
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