The long standing hatred that Iran harbors against Israel revealed itself very recently as Iran’s puppet force in Syria; the Islamic Republic working in conjunction with the Iranian Al Quds Force, launched an unprovoked rocket attack against Israeli soldiers in the Golan Heights region of northern Israel. According to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in the early morning hours of Thursday May 10, 2018 at least 20 Fajr missiles were launched by the Iranian Quds Force at its positions in the Golan Heights border area, several of which were intercepted by Israel’s missile defense systems. This rocket attack naturally triggered a response from the Israeli military. The IDF deployed fighter jets and used missiles to strike various targets, including military compounds, intelligence operations and munitions warehouses inside Syria. The strikes were Israel's largest air operation in Syria since the 1973 war. According to Reuters, this was the first incident of Iranian forces attacking Israel from Syria. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an IDF spokesman, called the rocket attack “the most severe attempt” by Iran's Al Quds force to attack Israel.
Casualties Reported
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – based in England – said the Israeli strikes killed 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers. Syria’s military, however, said early Thursday the Israeli strikes killed three people, wounded two, and destroyed a radar station and an ammunition warehouse and damaged a number of air defense units. Syrian Brig. Gen. Ali Mayhoub said Syrian air defense systems had intercepted “the large part” of the incoming Israeli strikes. The White House condemned the Iranian assault. U.S. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement, “The United States condemns the Iranian regime's provocative rocket attack from Syria against Israeli citizens, and we strongly support Israel's right to act in self-defense. The Iranian regime's deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East.” The Iranian government has officially denied any connection to the attack.
Relevant Bible Passages
When we hear of such military engagements against Israel we cannot help but be reminded of the prophecy of Ezekiel who foresaw a time when a confederation of nations would align themselves against Israel and attack Israel from the north (Ezekiel 38-39). This prophecy is becoming more and more a reality as we see Iran aligning themselves with Syria to launch military attacks on Israel. The fact that Iran has repeatedly publicly avowed to wipe Israel off the map also lends itself to fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel. While we cannot be sure of all the details involved in fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy we do know that the Bible also predicts that the last war of human history will begin with a multi-nation attack on Israel (Revelation 20). With these prophecies in mind we can only watch and pray.