Hezbollah Is Getting Pounded

Good morning!

On the sidelines of the Iran war, Israel has started absolutely pounding Hezbollah in Lebanon. Beirut is in chaos. Half a million Lebanese are on the streets, trying to evacuate.

[BRIEF]

And in an extraordinary development, the Lebanese government appears OK with this and is actually blaming Hezbollah for pulling it into a war with Israel.

Lebanon has been dominated by Hezbollah and in Iran’s pocket for decades. But Bible prophecy foretold this relationship would be severed. This largely happened a year and a half ago when Israel invaded southern Lebanon and killed Hassan Nasrallah. In “The Fall and Rise of Lebanon,” Gerald Flurry wrote: “Israel is doing nothing less than breaking Lebanon’s ties with Iran!”

As he brought out, this development opened the door for Europe to swoop in and forge an alliance with Lebanon, as prophesied in Psalm 83.

Turns out, though, the job wasn’t complete: Hezbollah was still there, and still active.

Shortly after American and Israeli attacks on Iran began on February 28, Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into northern Israel. The Israelis sprang into action in retaliation, and the conflict escalated quickly.

In the past three days, Hezbollah has carried out a total of 91 attacks against Israelis through the use of drones, rockets and uavs. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes and a limited ground invasion. It has even issued evacuation orders, not just to specific buildings as in the past but to whole neighborhoods and villages in southern Lebanon, even in Beirut’s southern suburbs, prompting a mass exodus. Israel seems to be going all in. It sees an opportunity to finish the job and root Hezbollah out completely.

Lebanon’s leaders haven’t condemned Israel; they have blamed Hezbollah. They called it “irresponsible,” banned its military activities, ordered disarmament north of the Litani River, and threatened arrests—including of Iranian Revolutionary Guards fighters. Even powerful Lebanese Shiite clans issued a statement saying they don’t support Hezbollah.

This is a seismic change. The Lebanese appear to be done with this Iranian terrorist proxy group within their borders. Some observers speculate that the government is actually working in tandem with the Israelis.

Adding a layer of intrigue is Europe’s involvement. Again, prophecy shows that it will be the ultimate beneficiary of Iran losing control in Lebanon.

About the same time that Hezbollah struck northern Israel, it also sent Iran-made drones to strike Britain’s air base in Cyprus, a strategic Mediterranean island just a short flight from the Holy Land. One caused minor damage; others were intercepted.

At this provocation, Europe sprang into action. As our feature story this morning from Richard Palmer shows, it has deployed a sizable military force to defend Cyprus, an EU member state.

Mr. Flurry’s article drew attention to one of Nasrallah’s last acts in 2024: threatening Cyprus. The radical Muslims understand how crucial this island was in Europe’s past crusades.

Germany and the Vatican have been strengthening their hold on Cyprus in recent months. It is easy to see this as essential preparation for its prophesied offensive into the Holy Land. Read Mr. Palmer’s article to learn more.

Iran Fires on Turkey

Yesterday, Iran appeared to launch a missile at Incirlik Air Base, a major military base in Turkey housing Turkish troops, U.S. troops and U.S. nuclear weapons. Though a United States Navy destroyer intercepted it, this was a significant provocation.

• Iran has targeted Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, especially U.S. interests in these nations. But it had stopped short of attacking Turkey, a nato member. Such an attack risks expanding the current war, since the nato treaty establishes that an attack on one member is an attack on the entire alliance.
• After the U.S., Turkey has the largest military in nato. It also shares a 300-mile border with Iran.

Turkey’s Defense Ministry responded, “We reserve the right to respond to any hostile act directed at our country.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey was issuing “warnings in the clearest terms to prevent similar incidents from happening again.”

Prophesied betrayal: Iran and Turkey have been partners for years. Yet Iran did not balk at targeting Turkey even when it seemingly had nothing to do with Tehran’s current troubles.

The Bible prophesies that Turkey will not remain a strong ally of Iran for much longer. Its allegiance will soon turn northward, away from Iran—and away from the U.S. Read what Bible prophecy says in “The Turkish Betrayal.”

U.S. Officers: Return of Christ Imminent

United States military commanders are telling their troops that the biblical “end times” are here and that the Iran war has divine aspects, according to complaints made to a watchdog group.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation stated on March 3 that it has received more than 200 complaints about this from more than 50 military installations across all branches of the armed forces.

• One noncommissioned officer complained that in one combat-readiness status briefing, the commander “urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. … He said that ‘President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.’”

Context: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is an activist group that pressures the U.S. military to avoid religion, and its report is being amplified by a media that want religion out of public life. It provided no information about how senior the leaders are.

The U.S. has well over 200,000 commissioned officers—200-plus complaints may not reflect a widespread belief. There is an agenda behind this report, but it still indicates that certain leaders in the military hold these striking beliefs.

But … While many people dismiss the idea that current events are linked to Bible prophecy, it is this very criterion that sets the Trumpet apart from other news sources. Bible prophecy does indeed connect directly to our current generation and current events, and God reveals its true meaning to His true Church to show what is coming next.

Bible prophecy shows that—as some U.S. commanders allegedly acknowledge—we are in the “time of the end,” the years immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ.

It reveals the outcome of the Iran war. Iran will not be conquered by the U.S. and Israel. The present conflict will not lead to World War iii. But the Great Tribulation prophesied by Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 24 is coming.

To learn more about how current and specific Bible prophecy is, read “Will the Iran War Start World War III?”

IN OTHER NEWS

European companies working on AI independence: Over 70 European companies are building European cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure independent from the United States through project euro-3C, which was announced on March 2 by Spanish Telecom giant Telefónica, along with the European Commission. The project is designed to bypass American services like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Europe is working rapidly to catch up with American and Chinese networking capacity, and Bible prophecy indicates it will more than succeed. For more information, read “The Unknown Future of Artificial Intelligence.”

Greece upholds criminalization of neo-Nazi party: Yesterday, an Athens criminal appeals court upheld the ruling that far-right Golden Dawn is a criminal organization. The ruling also upheld the conviction of seven former legislators for running a criminal organization and of 11 current legislators for membership in a criminal enterprise. This neo-Nazi party used to have significant support in Greece, with every 10th voter supporting it. While the party has been banned, these sentiments continue to exist.

Toronto synagogue attacked: Shots were fired at a Toronto synagogue on Monday night, just before the Jewish festival of Purim, according to local police who are investigating the incident as a hate crime. No injuries resulted, but the attack, coinciding with a celebration of the Jewish people being saved from genocide 2,500 years ago, highlights the trend of increasingly violent anti-Semitism throughout the world.

Gen Z likelier to say wives should obey their husbands: More members of Generation Z (ages 14 to 29) believe that wives should obey their husbands than previous generations, a new global Ipsos poll states, including 31 percent of Gen Z men surveyed and 18 percent of Gen Z women. Only 13 percent of men and 6 percent of women in the baby boomer generation (ages 62 to 80) surveyed agreed. Feminists are aghast. “Not only are many Gen Z men putting limiting expectations on women, they are also trapping themselves within restrictive gender norms,” complained Julia Gillard, founder and chair of the Global Institute of Women’s Leadership. This and other trends reflect a growing realization that feminist experiments with new “gender norms” have produced millions of failed families. Many are recognizing reality, prescribed in the Bible in Ephesians 5, Colossians 3 and elsewhere. However, they have yet to realize “The Transcendent Meaning in Marriage.”