Germany Returns to Peacekeeping in Gaza

Egyptians protest in front of the Rafah crossing, rejecting the displacement of Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan on January 31.
Ali Moustafa/Getty Images

Germany Returns to Peacekeeping in Gaza

A small beginning of an earthshaking prophecy

European border guards arrived at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Friday. They’ve been gone for nearly 20 years.

Israel controlled the Gaza Strip until 2005, when it was handed over to Palestinian Arabs. The Israeli military forcibly removed its own people from their homes.

This withdrawal left a problem. With no Israeli troops in Gaza, Hamas and other terrorist groups controlled their border with Egypt. They could bring in whatever weapons they wanted.

So in stepped the one power apparently considered fair and unbiased by both parties: the European Union. The EU dispatched 70 border monitors to watch the Rafah border.

The agreement fell apart quickly. In 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza, Egypt closed the border, and the European monitors fled. The border opened and closed again depending on Egypt’s government, until Israel retook it in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. It has been closed since then.

On January 31, it reopened and the European Union Border Assistance Mission (eubam) returned. In its ceasefire deal, Israel agreed to allow 50 terrorists to cross into Egypt for medical treatment per day—starting February 2. However, Israel let the deal go into effect early. Once again, the border is under Palestinian control with EU monitoring.

When Israel first agreed to the EU’s presence, we wrote: “This compromise marks a watershed moment for both Israel and Europe. …

The plain truth is that toothless European observers will not provide the security guarantee Israel needs. The uselessness of the compromise agreement will quickly become obvious. Sterner steps will be necessary—and quite soon. Trumpet readers should expect Europe’s role to grow.

Germany already sees the need to give its border guards actual teeth.

The 2005 eubam mission clearly failed. Yet Europe has not given up on playing a role.

This time around, Germany wants to make sure its border guards have weapons, German news agency dpa reported, citing an anonymous government source. It is amending the 2005 cabinet decision that authorized the initial deployment of border guards to allow them to be armed.

Italy, Spain and France all pledged to send personnel.

This is a small force—probably in the same ballpark as the 70 observers the EU sent in 2005—but it is an important step.

It establishes that after 20 years, Israel and the Palestinian Arabs continue to look to Europe and Germany as peacekeepers in the region. United States President Donald Trump pushed Israel into accepting the ceasefire deal. That means his administration is also happy to see Europe take on this role.

Even armed, these border guards will be insufficient. Expect the EU to be invited to take on an even greater role.

In the aftermath of the October 7 attack, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote that “the most important” development after that massacre “is being overlooked completely by most people.”

“The most shocking problem in the Middle East is not what is happening in Gaza but what is happening with Germany,” he wrote. A little later he stated, “Germany is building its diplomacy and its military in preparation to intervene in the Middle East in ways that will shock the world.”

The Bible prophesies that Germany will get much more involved in the Middle East—and it will all revolve around a peace process.

Daniel 11:40-45 forecast an end-time clash between a European-led “king of the north” and a radical Islamic “king of the south.” Verse 45 states that the king of the north will set up its headquarters “in the glorious holy mountain.”

“[T]he capital of this revived Roman Empire, along with the Vatican, will make a lightning move to Palestine—probably Jerusalem!” wrote Plain Truth founder Herbert W. Armstrong in 1951. “That shall be the last abomination to be set up there! Notice, in Daniel 11:45, ‘tabernacle’ is a place of worship, and ‘palace’ the residence of a king.”

This German-led Holy Roman Empire is very interested in Jerusalem.

Verse 41 says that this power shall “enter also into the glorious land.”

“The Hebrew for ‘enter’ indicates a peaceful entry, not forced,” Mr. Flurry writes in his book The Eternal Has Chosen Jerusalem. “The Germans will undoubtedly be invited in as a peacekeeping force.”

Daniel 8 contains a parallel prophecy describing the soon-coming strongman who will lead this empire. Verse 25 says that he “shall cause craft to prosper”—“craft” could be translated “deceit” or “fraud.” The verse warns that he “by peace shall destroy many.”

Many Bible prophecies, written hundreds of years apart, warn about this shocking betrayal. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 warns: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child ….” Scriptures such as Jeremiah 30:14, Ezekiel 16:33 and Ezekiel 23:1-10 warn that the Jews would trust in foreign “lovers” or allies for defense and be betrayed.

Hosea 5:13 gives an even more specific warning: “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.”

The Jews see that they have a wound. Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon defines “wound” as “the pressing together, binding up of a wound; hence used figuratively of a remedy applied to the wounds of the state ….”

“In other words, the remedy is the wound!” Mr. Flurry writes in Jerusalem in Prophecy. He continues later: “Is the peace pact with the Arabs the Israeli wound that God refers to in Hosea 5:13? There would have been no peace pact if Judah would have trusted God instead of men.”

Israel sees that giving the Palestinians land and withdrawing its soldiers doesn’t lead to peace. So instead it turns to Assyria—who we have long proved refers to Germany in Bible prophecy.

The Bible has a very consistent warning: This European Holy Roman Empire will move into the Holy Land through a fraudulent peace process. It will shock the world by turning on Israel and taking Jerusalem for itself.

That’s what makes these armed European border guards so important. Seventy-odd men will not be enough to betray Israel. But it shows Israel can see that handing over territory to the Palestinian Arabs cannot lead to peace. So it is turning to Germany. And the U.S. has no problem with it—and is even encouraging it.

What’s to stop this pattern playing out on a larger scale? Expect Israel to keep relying on European peacekeepers.

But the Bible reveals more than this deadly trap. It shows that these events in and around Jerusalem are pivotal for the whole world. This double cross is part of a chain of events that will bring the world to the brink of annihilation. But the Bible also reveals that Jesus Christ will step in, returning to Jerusalem to bring real, genuine peace to the world.

Our free book The Eternal Has Chosen Jerusalem will explain all of this in more detail. More importantly, it will put all of these events in the clear context of God’s plan for mankind. You can read it online or order your own free print copy.