The current unrest in the Middle-East focuses on the civil struggle between the government of Israel and its Palestinian people who want to establish a separate Palestinian state. Most of the Arab and/or Islamic nations in the area are also involved. The United States, the U.N., the European Union, and even Russia are all trying to broker peace in the region.
The current wave of violence could die out and become one of many such cycles in the area, or it could lead to more serious war. The outcome of this war could be a most welcome peace agreement.
Such a peace agreement might be just another phase in the age-old struggle between these nations, or it could be the false peace mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (NIV)
When Israel finally is at peace, it will be the first time since they became a nation in 1948 that they have enjoyed such security. This could cause them to lower their guard, which would set the scene for yet another war, such as the one predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39. (Many good Bible teachers think that war is more likely at the end of the Tribulation, but it does not correspond exactly to the Battle of Armageddon.) If it does come before the Tribulation, it will most likely correspond to the 2nd Seal of Revelation 6.
The dramatic end of this great war of the 2nd Seal could produce the treaty predicted in Daniel 9:27, which many prophecy scholars identify as the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period.
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Powell tells Palestinians cease-fire would seal statehood, Israel prepares to give up all Gaza, much of West Bank
Dec. 16, 2003 - U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell is putting pressure on leaders of Israel and the PLO to return to the "Road Map" peace plan. If hostilities would cease it could lead quickly to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Sources say a shakeup in the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization is likely to come in the next few days – perhaps precipitating an agreement on a cease-fire.
Dec. 13, 2003 - President Bush made new statements Friday enforcing his opinion that it is in the best interest of both Israel and the Palestinians for a new Palestinian state to be created. He said,
It's time for Palestinian leadership to emerge that believes in peace and believes in the aspirations of the Palestinian people.
He also had a warning for Israel. He said they must be mindful "that they don't make decisions that make it hard to create a Palestinian state."
Dec. 11, 2003 - Three people were killed and twelve others were injured by an explosion at a Tel Aviv money changer’s shop. It is not yet known whether it is related to terrorism or to criminal (mob) activity.
Dec. 8, 2003 - After the colapse of discussions about an Egyptian proposal for a Palestinian cease-fire, members of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction said they would keep trying to bring about a truce.
"The dialogue with the factions will continue
inside the occupied territories, and the
Palestinian cabinet will pursue its peace
efforts despite the collapse of the Cairo
talks," senior Fatah official Ahmed Ghneim told
Reuters in Egypt.
Dec. 1, 2003 - At the signing ceremony for the Geneva Accord, one speaker after another blamed Israel for the failure of the "Road Map" peace plan, and decried the idea of the security fence Israel is building.
Dec. 1, 2003 - The unofficial document known as the "Geneva Accord" will be signed today in Geneva by representative Israelis and Palestinians.
It is based on behind-the-scenes work by academics from both sides: Israelis who oppose Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government and Palestinians, some of whom are close to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.
The document is symbolic, and has no official standing in either Israel or Palestinian areas. Ariel Sharon is opposed to it, and Yasser Arafat does not endorse it.
Nov. 24, 2003 - At a rally of about 20,000 Muslims in Beirut, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, warned Israel that they might strike Israel anywhere if Israel attacks Lebanon or Syria. Israel did bomb a Palestinian militant training camp near Damascus in October, and has threatened more strikes if Syria does not restrain Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups.
Oct. 31, 2003 - According to a survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres/EOS Gallup of Europe, Over half of Europeans think Israel poses the "biggest threat to world peace." The poll, which was commissioned by the European Commission, also revealed that Europeans think the United States contributes to world instability more than Iran, Iraq and North Korea do.
Oct. 28, 2003 - Israel's Foreign Ministry director-general, Yoav Biran, told Swiss officials that Israel was displeased with the "active involvement" of the Swiss government in promoting the so-called Geneva Accord initiative around the world.
Biran said Israel "did not authorize anyone to deal with this issue, and therefore these understandings have no legal standing, and represent only one initiative out of many."
Oct. 13, 2003 - Representatives of Israel and the Palestinians have spent two years in secret negotiations to produce an unofficial, alternative peace plan for the area. The plan is called the Geneva Accord, because it is backed by Swiss diplomats and human rights activists and intellectuals. The heart of the deal is a compromise: Palestinians would give up the right of refugees to return, and Israel would surrender sovereignty of the Temple Mount.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has angrily denounced the proposal, accusing left-wing Israelis of trying to bring down his coalition government.
Oct. 8, 2003 - Two days after bombing a terrorist camp in Syria, Israel released a map pinpointing what it said were homes and offices of Palestinian militant leaders in Damascus.
Oct. 8, 2003 - According to Palestinian officials, Yasser Arafat suffered a heart attack last week, but should make a full recovery. The Palestinian press said he was suffering from the flu, and had become very weak.
Asked why it had not been made public at the time, the official said that it would "have created panic at a critical time when the Israelis are threatening Arafat's life".
Oct. 7, 2003 - In a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Bush affirmed Israel's right to defend itself, but urged caution to keep from raising tensions in the area.
"I made it very clear to the prime minister, like I have consistently done, that Israel's got a right to defend herself, that Israel must not feel constrained in terms of defending the homeland," Mr. Bush said in Washington.
Oct. 6, 2003 - Israel has bombed a suspected terrorist training camp in Syria in response to a suicide bombing in Haifa. Syria is calling for condemnation of the action by the U.N. The U.S. is urging all sides to show restraint, while not criticizing Israel for the attack. John Negroponte, US ambassador to the United Nations, defended Israel's actions at an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
"The United States believes that Syria is on the wrong side of the war on terrorism. We have been clear of the need for Syria to cease harbouring terrorist groups.
Oct. 5, 2003 -
At least 19 people were killed and more than 60
wounded when a woman suicide bomber blew herself
up in a popular Haifa restaurant around 2:15 P.M.
yesterday, one day before the Yom Kippur
observances.
Sept. 25, 2003 - A U.N. official says there will be a new meeting of the four mediators in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in New York on Sept. 26. The four ("Quartet") are from the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union. The purpose of the meeting is to get the peace process back on track.
Sept. 15, 2003 - Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom assured that Israel has not adopted a formal decision to kill Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had claimed that killing Arafat was an option. He said,
We are trying to eliminate all the heads of terror, and Arafat is one of the heads of terror... In my eyes, from a moral point of view, this is no different from killing others who were involved in ... acts of terror.
Sept. 13, 2003 - Israel still says that Yasser Arafat will be expelled, but it will be at some future time of Israel's choosing. This change of tone was evidently caused by American contact with Sharon and his Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz. America, in turn, will insist that Ahmed Quereia, the new Palestinian Prime Minister, should fulfill the PA's obligations under the road map peace plan.
Sept. 10, 2003 - Following two suicide bombings in Israel, Israeli Defense Forces used missiles to attack the Gaza City home of Mahmoud Zahar - a senior member of Hamas. Zahar sustained only minor injuries, but his son and bodyguard were killed. About 25 other people were also injured. Ahmed Qurei, Yasser Arafat's newly appointed prime minister called the attack "cowardly."
Sept. 3, 2003 - Yaser Arafat says the Roadmap peace plan is dead. He blames Israeli agression and U.S. neglect because of the Iraq war and domestic elections. The U.S. disagrees. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher blames Arafat for failing to turn security services over to his Prime Minister, Mahmud Abbas.
Arafat "needs to cooperate with the new government, he needs to turn over security services that have remained under his control to the control of the new government so that they can be real and effective action against terrorist groups by the Palestinian government," he said.
Sept. 2, 2003 - Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that Yasser Arafat, who is involved in a bitter power struggle with his Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, must "disappear from the stage of history." He said that Arafat will most likely be expelled from the country before the end of the year.
Israel's Cabinet has repeatedly considered expelling Arafat, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has blocked such a move, in part because of opposition by the United States and because his security advisers have cautioned against it.
Sept. 1, 2003 - The Israeli Defense Force killed another member of the Hamas military wing, Hader al-Huseri, by firing a missile into a car while it was traveling on the streets of Gaza City.
Israeli helicopters last attacked on Saturday,
killing Abdullah Aqel, a senior member of the
Hamas military wing in central Gaza.
Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, says the actions are necessary because the Palestinians will not stop the terrorist actions against Israel. The average number of attempts to carry out terror attacks against Israel has risen from 7 to 13 a day since the Jerusalem bus bombing on August 19, which killed 21 people.
Aug. 21, 2003 - After yesterday's suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem, Israeli Defense Forces used missiles to destroy a moving vehicle in Gaza City, killing a Hamas leader and his bodyguards. Now Hamas and Islamic Jihad have called off their ceasefire, and have vowed to take revenge.
The upsurge in violence threatens to derail the US-backed roadmap for peace, accepted by Israel and the Palestinians as a way to end the three-year-old conflict.
Aug. 20, 2003 - A suicide bomber destroyed one bus in Jerusalem and caused damage to another nearby bus. At least 20 people were killed.
Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy said the explosives charge was particularly large; Avi Zohar, head of Israel Medical Relief Services, said this was the biggest bus explosion in the past three years. 120 wounded persons were evacuated to hospitals around the city.
The action caused a halt to diplomatic peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
July 11, 2003 - The peace process is not working according to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. They say that the security situation in Palestinian areas had become "virtually intolerable," and that the quest for Palestinian statehood will not move ahead until the Palestinians carry out their pledge to dismantle terrorist groups.
On another front, Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon fired shells at northern Israel on Sunday, killing a 16-year-old and wounding five, including an infant, in the border town of Shlomi. Israel retaliated with an air strike and an artillery barrage.
July 14, 2003 - U.S. forces have lost an estimated 31 soldiers, and scores of others have been wounded since the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1st.
American Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believes that more attacks on troops may take place this month because of their traditonal celebrations of the month, which include the coup against the British-backed monarchy in 1958, the anniversary of the Baath Party revolution in 1968, and Saddam's assumption of power in 1979.
July 12, 2003 - President Bush was acting on what was given to him as credible intelligence when he told the nation that Iraq posed a nuclear threat. His information [was from the British government, and] had been cleared by the CIA. The President says he still has confidence in the CIA and its director, George Tenet.
Mr Tenet has acknowledged that his organisation was wrong to let President Bush tell the American people that Iraq was trying to acquire uranium for use in nuclear weapons from the state of Niger.
July 10, 2003 - Fatah's leadership council refused to accept the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, but the crisis over Abbas' leadership could delay an important meeting about the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The United States — which on Wednesday announced $20 million in direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority — has not taken a public stand on the prisoners, but it reportedly urged Israel in private to release more prisoners and dismantle more settlement outposts to show goodwill.
July 8, 2003 - Citing an "internal crisis," Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas cancelled a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
They said the crisis involved
opposition within Yasser
Arafat's Fatah political
movement, of which Abbas is a
senior member, to Abbas's
negotiating strategy in a new
U.S.-backed peace process with
Israel.
Abbas has offered his resignation to Yasser Arafat.
July 1, 2003 - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet today with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to discuss next steps in the implementation of the "road map" peace plan. Violence has dropped dramatically, Israel has withdrawn from Gaza, and is scheduled to move out of Bethlehem tomorrow.
June 30, 2003 - Hamas and Islamic Jihad issued a joint statement suspending paramilitary activities for three months.
The Fatah movement and the
Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, which
did not sign the original
announcement, issued their own
similar declarations later
yesterday evening.
Israel also made positive steps by withdrawing troops from the Beit Hanun area of the Gaza Strip.
June 28, 2003 - Hamas and Islamic Jihad have agreed in principle to halt attacks on Israelis for three months. For their part, Israelis have suspended target attacks on Hamas leaders, and have agreed on terms for Israeli troop pullbacks from the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem. Formal announcements could be made today or tomorrow.
June 26, 2003 - Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders say that a cease-fire will be announced later today.
Earlier Thursday, Palestinian MP Kadura Faras
confirmed that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah
reached a basic agreement for a three-month
cease-fire, or hudna, on attacks both in Israel
and the territories.
June 24, 2003 - While Hamas only talks about a possible cease-fire agreement, Israel continues to dismantle their organization. Several key leaders have been killed by Israeli air strikes recently, and now they are conducting massive arrests.
More than 130 Palestinians were rounded up and arrested in Hebron Tuesday as Israeli military forces continued their crack down on the Hamas terror network.
June 16, 2003 - An Egyptian mediator, deputy intelligence chief Mustafa Albuhaeiry, met in Gaza, first with the Fatah leadership, where he obtained an agreement for a cease-fire.
He then went to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's home for a
meeting with the entire Hamas leadership -
including Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who survived an
Israeli assassination attempt last week.
Hamas accepted the cease-fire, realizing that if they did not do so, it would face
combined Israeli-Palestinian pressure to eliminate the organization.
June 12, 2003 - The Islamic militant group Hamas took credit for another bloody bus bombing and other attacks in Israel yesterday, killing 28 people. In less than an hour Israel responded with airstrikes in a Gaza City neighborhood, killing two senior Hamas operatives.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon swore on Thursday to hunt Palestinian militants "to the bitter end" in response to violence.
In a continuing escalation of the violence, Hamas issued a new order for "all military cells" to carry out more attacks on Israelis.
June 11, 2003 - President Bush rebuked Israel for its missile strike against Hammas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi yesterday, but Israeli intelligence is being turned over to Washington to show that al-Rantissi was planning attacks against Israel.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman told the BBC that Israel would not hesitate to act "if the Palestinian Authority fails to take action against ticking bombs".
June 10, 2003 - Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi,a top political leader of the Palestinian militant Islamist movement, was targeted by missiles from an Israeli helicopter on a busy street in Gaza City. His jeep was destroyed, but he was only injured since he was not in the vehicle at the time. Nearby, a woman and a girl were killed by the attack, and another 25 people were injured.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Rantissi vowed revenge, saying Hamas would continue the fight against Israel until every last "Zionist" was gone.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas called the incident a "terrorist attack", and said that it could derail the peace effort.
June 9, 2003 - Because Hamas cut off cease-fire talks with Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the White House has issued a strong statement against them.
The White House denounced Hamas and other militant
Islamic groups Monday as "terrorists" who were a
threat to the stability of the Palestinian
Authority and the creation of a Palestinian
state.
Meanwhile, there have been fresh attacks and more deaths caused by terrorism in the area, and Mahmoud Abbas vowed to keep working with militant groups to persuade them to agree to a cease-fire.
June 6, 2003 - Hamas, the Islamic militant group responsible for much of the terrorism in Israel, had been engaged in talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on ending its attacks on Israelis, but now says it will discontinue the talks because the prime minister went too far in his promises at yesterday's meeting with President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The militant Islamic group Hamas said on Friday ...
“Abu Mazen closed the door to dialogue by himself,” Rantisi told The Associated Press. “He committed himself in front of Bush and Sharon (to) what Palestinians refused.”
June 4, 2003 - As expected, the summit meeting in Jordan resulted in strong commitments to the 'road map' peace plan. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, called for an end to the Palestinian intifada and all terrorism against Israel.
He said he would ensure that Palestinian weapons were in the hands only of those responsible for enforcing the law.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who had released about 100 Palestinian prisoners yesterday as a good will gesture, promised to dismantle "illegal outposts" - unauthorised Jewish settlements - immediately. He does expect the Palestinian state to be "completely demilitarised". It will also be the home of displaced Palestinians, who should not expect to return to their homes in Israel.
Mr Bush said the Holy Land "must be shared between a state of Palestine and state of Israel living in peace with each other".
June 3, 2003 - Today's coverage by Ha'Aretz, of today's two summit meetings ( first between President Bush and Arab leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh, and later, the meeting in Aqaba with President Bush, Ariel Sharon, and Mahmoud Abbas), presents an optimistic vision:
Mubarak, who hosted the Arab summit said that, "We
convene today to examine the peace process in
order to ensure stability in our region." He
welcomed Bush's commitment to Palestinian and
Israeli states existing side-by-side, each
enjoying "peace and security."
Perhaps the most dramatic aspect expected today is that Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, is expected to say that the "armed intifada must come to an end, and we will turn to peaceful measures."
The Divine Zionist Roadmap - Rabbi Eliezer Waldman tries to warn President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, that God has already given a different road map for Israel's future, and that the land will not be productive for any but the Chosen People. - Arutz Sheva - Israel National News.
June 2, 2003- Analysts are not expecting a "breakthrough" at the upcoming initial meeting between President Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian Prime Ministers in Jordan, but there is optimism that at least initial statements can be offered formally recognizing each other's right to statehood.
Those could be delivered by the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas - commonly known as Abu Mazen - at the beginning of the meeting in Aqaba.
May 31, 2003 - Senior member of Hamas, Isma'eel Abu Shanab, said that the Gaza Strip members of the group are willing to accept a one-year cease-fire to test Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's intentions to end Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories. The rest of the organization is discussing the issue to see if they will officially adopt this stance before the meeting next week between President Bush and the Prime Ministers of the Palestinians and Israelis.
May 30, 2003 - If conditions are right for it, President Bush will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian Prime Ministers in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba on June 4, after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah.
Bush will cut short his meeting at the Group of Eight summit in France to head to the Middle East, staying for one night instead of two.
May 29, 2003 - An Israeli newspaper has quoted Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas that he expected Hamas militants to agree to halt attacks on Israelis by next week. Abbas is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon today, in preparation for a major meeting with President Bush in Jordan on June. 4.
But a senior Hamas official, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, said he was not aware any such agreement was in the works and repeated the group’s list of conditions for a truce that Israel has always rejected.
May 26, 2003 - By a narrow margin, the Israeli Cabinet approved the concept of the "Road Map" peace plan that would result in a Palestinian state by 2005. This is the first time the government of Israel has officially approved the eventual acceptance of a separate Palestinian state.
The Cabinet approved steps outlined in the peace plan, but it didn't approve the document itself. That could allow Israel to back away from parts of the proposal.
A dozen objections to the original wording of the peace plan must be discussed, including a provision for dealing with Palestinian refugees
May 23, 2003 - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to submit the "road map" peace plan to his cabinet Sunday. This decision came after assurances from the White House that the U.S. is willing to address Sharon's serious concerns about the plan. Condoleezza Rice said:
"The United States shares the view of the government of Israel that these are real concerns, and will address them fully and seriously in the implementation of the road map," the statement said.
May. 20, 2003 - An “Interfaith Zionist Leadership Summit” in Washington D.C. has led to the issuance of a letter to President Bush, signed by twenty-two American Christian conservative leaders, protesting against the road map to Middle East peace. It urges the President to respect Israel's right to defend itself, and points out the difficulty between treating Israel and Palestinians as equals in the light of the attrocities perpetrated by Palestinians, and even in the light of their anti-American attitudes, as seen by rejoicing in the streets there after the 9-11 attack.
Gary Bauer, Jerry Faldwell, John Hagee, and other high-profile Evangelical leaders signed the letter.
May 19, 2003 - Hamas takes credit for the latest of four suicide bombings in Israel since Saturday, in an obvious effort to sidetrack the current peace plan and discredit new Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen. A spokesman said, “We will not stop our resistance as long as one Zionist continues to breathe our air.”
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has renewed restrictions on Palestian areas that were opened up just last week. Israel blames Yasser Arafat for the continuing violence, and says that he might be expelled if he blocks efforts by the new Prime Minister to halt militant violence against Israel.
May 7, 2003 - Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to arrive in Israel this weekend to work with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the "road map" peace plan. He will deal with problems on both sides.
The first Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, clashed with Yasir Arafat and other Palestinian officials over his efforts to reorganize the Palestinian security services.
Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has serious objections to the plan, which will probably slow the process until he can meet with President Bush later this month or early next month.
April 30, 2003 - The long-awaited "road map" for peace was delivered today to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, informally known as Abu Mazen. Abu Mazen had just been installed, claiming he would not tolerate terrorism.
"We reject terrorism by any party and in all its forms."
Just hours later, in an an apparent challenge to the new Palestinian leader's words, a terrorist's bomb exploded at a cafe called Mike's Place, killing three people and injuring as many as 50 others.
April 25, 2003 -
There is talk that the proposed 'road map' peace plan, designed by the so-called "Quartet" (U.N., E.U., Russia and the U.S.) will be presented by the U.S. alone. This would make it easier for Ariel Sharon to sell it to the Israelis, but would probably turn the Arab nations against it.
The Israeli government is said to be demanding that the ‘road map’ for peace in the Middle East, agreed upon by the international community, be presented to them only by the United States. Moreover, the US congress is looking increasingly likely to back this move.
Apr. 22, 2003 - By rejecting the proposed cabinet of the man Yasser Arafat selected to be Prime Minister for the Palestinians, he has created an obstacle to the "road map" peace plan. Abu Mazen, the proposed Prime Minister was to be installed soon, as a pre-condition to making the peace plan public. But Arafat is upset that Abu Mazen has rejected most of Arafat's close associates, and has chosen younger, friendlier cabinet members.
April 18, 2003 - The "road map" plan for peace in the Middle East has not yet been made public, and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office has voiced reservations about some of its provisions, but the EU and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell have said that the plan will be made public without changes once a new Palestinian government is sworn in.
The road map, agreed upon by the EU, the United States, Russia and the United Nations, proposes the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.
April 4, 2003 - A plan, known as the "road map," for the creation of a Palestinian state within three years was drafted last year by the so-called quartet -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
The plan envisions a three-stage process that would create Palestinian institutions, establish provisional borders for a state by the end of this year and reach a final agreement with defined borders in 2005.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon asked for a delay of the process of adopting the plan until after Israeli elections in January, and again until the Palestinians confirmed a new prime minister of their own. Israel has voiced serious concerns over some portions of the plan, and now key legislators in the U.S. (Republicans and Democrats) are pressing the White House to adopt a more pro-Israel stance.
March, 2003 - Information from Israel's IDF about Iraq's history, involvement in two Gulf Wars, and how it threatens Israel and other Middle East countries. It gives information about Iraq's missiles, unconventional weapons, and its blatant violations of human rights.
Feb. 24, 2003 - CBN Middle East Correspondents John Waage & C. Hart describe Israel's complicated three-front war. The first of these is the border between Jordan and Israel, which is only 300 miles from Western Iraq. Iraqi missiles would come from that direction.
Their second front is their northern border with Lebannon.
More than 10,000 rockets, some armed with chemical weapons, point at Israel from Syria and Lebanon, home of the radical Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
The third front for Israel is their ongoing struggle with Terrorism in West Bank areas and Gaza.
Feb. 10, 2003 - The Hezbollah movement in Lebannon, backed by Iran, is planning to attack Israel just as the U.S. prepares to strike Iraq. Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin says:
"Hezbollah has been equipped with tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft guns and missiles – lots of missiles," it reports. "Israeli officials believe Hezbollah has about 10,000 short-range missiles and rockets that can strike much of Israel."
Jan. 14, 2003 - Greek Orthodox Archbishop Attallah Hanna advocates the creation of an Islamic-Christian union that would foil the "American offensive" against Iraq and "release Palestine from the river to the sea." He also praised suicide bombers as heroes.
According to ArabicNews.com, the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, Arinous 1st, criticized Hanna and fired him as an official Orthodox spokesman because of "supporting Palestinian terrorism."
Jan. 6, 2003 - Two nearly synchronous bombings in Tel Aviv have killed at least 23 people and wounded over 100. This is the deadliest attack since last March. The Israeli government blames the Palestinian Authority for its inability to stop such terrorism. Military occupations and retaliatory strikes by missiles have been increased.
for Treasury of Scripture,