Israel escalated its war with Hezbollah terrorists with a new ground incursion into Lebanon starting Sunday. The invasion encompasses a broad area and is combined with continued air strikes on Beirut and other Lebanese targets—all aimed at routing Iran-sponsored Hezbollah.

• The scale of the conflict is huge. One fifth of Lebanon’s population—a million people—are estimated to have been displaced.
• Several European countries have peacekeepers in Lebanon. French President Emmanuel Macron has offered to mediate between Israel and Lebanon.
• Today, the Lebanese military confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed in an Israeli air strike. The Lebanese government is not an active party in the conflict and has blamed Hezbollah more than Israel for the current escalation. Israel says it is looking into the situation.

“Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now.”
—Isaac Herzog, Israeli president (Agence France Presse, March 16)

Based on prophecies in Daniel 11 and Psalm 83, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has predicted that Hezbollah (and by extension Iran) would lose its hold on Lebanon and the country would align itself more closely with Europe. This was partly fulfilled through events over the past two years, but watch for the current conflict to contribute to a more pronounced shift in allegiance.