U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is worried that World War III could break out in the next four months due to the policies of the Democrats leading the US government.

“I actually worry about the next three months. I really do. I worry about the next three and a half four months will end up in a world war because of this, the people that we have [in government],” he said at a rally in the state of California.

The Biden administration has been making colossal mistake after colossal mistake in the Middle East.

Now the time for talk is over and Israeli tanks have entered southern Lebanon…

Israeli tanks have burst through the gates of a United Nations peacekeeper base in southern Lebanon, the UN confirmed today.

It comes after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the UNIFL withdraw from combat zones and Hezbollah strongholds — and accused the UN of inadvertently ‘providing terrorists with human shields’.

In a statement addressed to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu said: ‘The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.

Of course Hezbollah has been quite busy as well. On Saturday, Hezbollah fired missiles at four different Israeli military bases…

Hezbollah claimed it had destroyed four military bases in Israel today as it launched a blistering rocket attack across the southern border.

The Iranian-proxy group said it had hit bases in Al-Jarrah, Za’rit and bases in the Golan Heights after claiming to have pushed back advancing forces late Friday.

Its fighters were ‘targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of… missiles’, the group said in a statement this morning.

Then on Sunday, a massive Hezbollah drone attack injured more than 60 people in northern Israel…

More than 60 people have been injured, several of them critically, in a drone attack in northern Israel, according to first responders.

There were no immediate official reports of deaths from the attack, but the high number of injuries reported makes the attack one of the bloodiest since the war started last October.

The news comes after Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired a swarm of attack drones on an Israeli “Golani” infantry training camp in Binyamina, south of Haifa. The Lebanon-based militant group said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Thursday that killed 22 people and injured 117, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Most Americans are not really paying much attention to this war yet.

And most Americans don’t seem to realize that we will be directly involved.

In fact, it is being reported that approximately 100 U.S. troops will be operating the THAAD air defense systems that are about to be sent to Israel…

On Saturday we were among the first outlets to report that the United States is preparing to deploy THAAD anti-ballistic missile systems in Israel, a major development which will put American troops directly in harm’s way (or… boots on the ground) amid the tense showdown with Iran.

The Pentagon in follow-up statements to the NY Times has confirmed the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) systems will be sent to Israel, and that about 100 American troops will operate them.

If Iran and Israel start lobbing thousands of missiles at one another, those troops will be very heavily involved in what is happening.

Israel has promised to respond to Iran’s recent missile attack, and that could unleash a chain of events that nobody will be able to control.

According to the Daily Mail, the Iranians are making some very alarming threats…

Iran has threatened to recalculate its nuclear weapons programme if Israel launches a revenge strike as Biden has insisted Tehran is not building nukes. Since Hamas’s October 7 attack last year on Israel triggered a wave of regional hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants, officials in Tehran have warned the Islamic republic could change its nuclear doctrine if it faced an existential threat. But they have been deliberately vague about what that might entail.

Pretty soon, both sides will be forced to reveal all of their cards. And once that happens, everything will change.

Meanwhile, the Russians continue to gobble up more territory in eastern Ukraine…

Russian forces have seized control of another eastern Ukrainian settlement, Moscow said on Sunday, in what would be the latest in a string of gains in the Donetsk region if confirmed.

The Kremlin said on Sunday that its Center group of forces had captured the Donetsk village of Mykhailivka.

Several settlements in Ukraine bear the same name, and Russia’s Defense Ministry statement is likely referring to the village immediately east of Selydove, southeast of the strategic Ukrainian-held hub of Pokrovsk where Moscow has been concentrating its efforts.

The Russians clearly have the upper hand at this stage.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky desperately wants NATO to give him permission to use western missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia, and he is also accusing the Russians of using North Korean troops against him…

Zelensky’s comments came days after visiting several European capitals to press his case for more military and financial help in the war against invading Russian forces.

“We see an increasing alliance between Russia and regimes like in North Korea,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

“It is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about the transfer of people from North Korea to the occupier’s military forces.

“Obviously, in such circumstances, our relations with our partners need to be developed. The frontline needs more support,” he said.

Both sides just continue to escalate matters, and I am entirely convinced that it is just a matter of time before the U.S. and Russia are directly fighting one another.

If our leaders had any sense, they would sit down at the negotiating table before things ever have a chance to reach that point.

Before I end this article, there is one more thing that I wanted to mention.

According to the Wall Street Journal, fleets of unidentified drones have been flying over U.S. military bases on the east coast…

U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn’t sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline.

Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors.

For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.

The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.

I would very much encourage you to read that entire article, because it is absolutely stunning.

Our military has no idea where the drones are coming from, and they are not being allowed to shoot them down…

Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces.

Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat. Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.

If a fleet of unidentified aircraft is flying over highly sensitive military bases, you shoot them down.

I don’t even understand why there would be any debate.

My guess is that the drones are probably from either Russia or China. But if they are not from either Russia or China, that is probably an even more troubling scenario.

In any event, it has become clear that we are living at a time of wars and rumors of wars.

This war in the Middle East has escalated to an extremely dangerous level, the war in Ukraine is reaching a critical stage, and I believe that it won’t be too long before a conflict between the U.S. and China erupts.

World War I and World World War II both killed millions of people. World War III will kill billions of people, and it is right at the door.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Lebanese security sources have reported their inability to establish contact with this prominent figure, Hashem Safieddine, after Israel allegedly targeted him during airstrikes in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh.

Subsequent strikes have hampered rescue efforts, leaving uncertainty regarding Safieddine’s fate, as separate sources have indicated.

When queried during a Friday evening briefing about the possibility of Safieddine’s death in the strike, Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani stated that the military was still investigating the outcome of the raid.

“Around midnight, we struck the Central Intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Dahieh,” Nadav Shoshani said. “When we have more information to share about who was there and what the result of the strike was, we will share it.”

The recent death of former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah during Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese capital last weekend has sent shockwaves through the organization. His deputy, addressing the situation shortly thereafter, asserted that a new leader would soon be elected.

Israel has proclaimed that the elimination of Nasrallah marks merely the initial phase of their broader campaign against the group.

An updated assessment suggested that as many as 400 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed by IDF troops in recent days.

During one clash on Thursday, Israeli forces eliminated 15 Hezbollah terrorists, while one IDF soldier was wounded in the battle. Overall, nine Israeli soldiers have been killed since the fighting began with Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon. Like the Hamas terrorist organization, Hezbollah has deliberately embedded itself in civilian structures, including schools, mosques, hospitals and residential buildings, which constitutes a war crime under international law.

The IDF’s 98th and 36th Divisions are currently engaging Hezbollah terrorists in numerous villages and towns in southern Lebanon. In addition, troops have uncovered large caches of weapons left behind by Hezbollah forces.

The IDF announced it is conducting “limited, localized, and targeted raids.” The overall goal of the IDF ground offensive is to neutralize the Hezbollah threat close to the Israeli border and enable the return of some 60,000 evacuated Israelis to their homes in northern Israel after one year.

On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Israel has “more surprises in store” and stressed that the IDF had already delivered severe blows to Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah is receiving very severe blows, one after the other. We eliminated [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah and we have more surprises in store, some of which have already been carried out and some of which will be carried out,” Gallant stated during his visit to the 36th Division headquarters in northern Israel.

“[Hezbollah’s] missile and rocket division suffered a very heavy blow. A significant part was destroyed as a result of a high-quality and precise operation. Command and control headquarters, communications, the entire leadership of [the elite Radwan Force], and in fact, the entire second and third tiers of command below Nasrallah were eliminated,” the defense minister added.

Gallant also said the Israeli military was currently “carrying out an operation today in several villages, and this process will continue wherever necessary to destroy all the infrastructure from which Hezbollah planned to carry out attacks.”

Since launching an unprovoked attack on Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon have fired over 9,000 rockets, missiles and exploding drones into the Jewish state.

Dozens of Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers have been killed and Israel has responded by stepping up its attacks on Hezbollah forces assets across Lebanon and in neighboring Syria since last week.

In recent weeks, the IDF has eliminated most of Hezbollah’s top leadership, including Sec.-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed last Friday in a massive Israeli aerial strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

The Israeli military has stressed that the current ground offensive in southern Lebanon is limited in scope, and it seeks to wrap up the intensive phase of the operation within a few weeks.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced on Friday that it had eliminated Muhammad Rashid Sakafi, a senior Hezbollah operatively, in an aerial strike in Beirut. Sakafi was the head of the terror group’s communications division.

“Sakafi invested significant efforts to develop communication capabilities between all of Hezbollah’s units in all periods of operation, to maintain the flow of information throughout the terrorist organization,” the IDF stated.

Iran launched hundreds of missiles into Israeli territory — most, but not all, of which were intercepted — in retaliation for Israel’s attacks against Tehran and Hezbollah in recent weeks and months. With the war against Hamas in Gaza largely coming to a close, Israel’s primary focus is now on combating Iran and Hezbollah, two much larger adversaries that threaten to throw the already chaotic Middle East region further into turmoil, national security experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Hamas is a shadow of its former self. Israel is going to continue to try to eradicate them, but it’s sort of a guerilla campaign. Hamas is being starved and smoked out. I suspect that you’re going to see Hamas go underground somewhat — more figuratively than literally at this point,” former State Department official Gabriel Noronha told the DCNF.

The Iranian strike is one of the latest developments in the ongoing regional conflict, though it is undoubtedly not the last. Israel has yet to respond to the attack but, military spokesman Daniel Hagari promised on Tuesday there would be “consequences” for Iran.

“Iran made a big mistake – and it will pay for it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin said during a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

It’s not clear what route of retaliation Israel may choose to take, although it reportedly had warned Tehran on Monday — ahead of the missile salvo — that it would go after Iranian nuclear and oil facilities if it were attacked. Former Israeli intelligence official Avi Melamed told the DCNF he didn’t anticipate Israel would strike nuclear or oil sites, but that other major infrastructure — such as military or logistics sites — would be targets.

“Non-kinetic” methods could also be employed by Israel against Iran, Melamed said.

“That’s my estimation for the features of the expected Israeli response,” Melamed told the DCNF, noting that the timing of such a response would likely be sooner than later.

U.S. military assets positioned in the region provided defense to Israel during the Iranian strikes on Tuesday. U.S. officials have thus far declined to comment on what Israel’s next move might be, although they have similarly warned of “consequences.”

It’s unlikely that the U.S. would participate in a joint attack against Iran, but officials have vowed that more defenses will be provided to Israel if need be, and Melamed told the DCNF that an Israeli response is at the very least likely being coordinated with U.S. officials.

Israel is also facing a challenge in Hezbollah, Iran’s largest and most capable terrorist proxy network. Hezbollah began firing at Israel over the Lebanon border last October, out of support for Hamas’ invasion of Israel at the time, which ended in the murder of approximately 1,200 people and lit the fuse for a broader regional war.

“It’s clear that Israel is determined to rid Lebanon of Hezbollah,” senior fellow at the Strauss Center and former Pentagon official Simone Ledeen told the DCNF. “Do the Israelis need to get every single one of those Hezbollah fighters? No, of course not. They need Hezbollah to lay down their arms and surrender… the Israelis [are] really focused on getting to that objective.”

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has heated up rapidly in recent weeks. Israel has carried out sweeping airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and remotely detonated thousands of the terrorist group’s personal communication devices in September, sending explosions sweeping throughout the country.

Israel killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike in Beirut on Friday, creating further chaos for the group and raising alarm in Iran. Now Israeli forces are conducting a series of ground raids over the border in southern Lebanon, in what could be the prelude to a larger ground invasion.

“From all accounts that I’m seeing, the next phase is, you have to launch a ground invasion and take out as many Hezbollah operatives as possible,” Noronha told the DCNF. “Hezbollah will bite back hard, and it’ll get pretty ugly, but it’s not entirely clear where this goes from there.”

As things stand, Israel is essentially in a multi-front conflict with Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other Iranian-backed terror groups scattered throughout the Middle East. Arguably the least threatening actor right now is Hamas, which has been thoroughly weakened since last year. Israeli forces have killed nearly 18,000 Hamas fighters since last year, according to the most recent estimates, which is about half the manpower the group started with when it invaded Israel in late 2023.

Several Hamas leaders have also been killed or assassinated since last year. The group’s prime leader, Yahya Sinwar, has been in hiding from Israeli forces in tunnels underground Gaza, which Hamas often utilizes for operations. Many sections of those tunnels have been destroyed by Israeli forces, however.

“They’re going to be the resistance force for what they will label the Israeli occupation of Gaza, probably for a long time,” Noronha told the DCNF. “But it won’t be warfare. It’ll be an insurgency.”

Israeli forces have wrapped some of their operations in Gaza, although the prospects of a full ceasefire with Hamas anytime soon remain low. Though questions remain about Gaza — such as who will rebuild or govern over the region when the war ends — the conversation is shifting to Iran, Hezbollah and other Western adversaries, especially in light of recent developments, experts told the DCNF.

“You see the shift right now,” Melamed told the DCNF, pointing to Iran’s strike against Israel on Tuesday and the risk of an even bigger Israel-Iran standoff. “Those ramifications are much bigger than the ramifications of the story of Israel and Hamas. At the end of the day, they’re all part of the same story. But the significance of the ramifications of an Israel-Hezbollah collision, and an Israel-Iran collision are far bigger than they are in comparison to Hamas.”

As for the U.S. role in the current state of affairs, the Biden-Harris administration has been working for months in trying to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and more recently between Israel and Hezbollah; those efforts have largely failed. Biden-Harris officials have often urged Israel to refrain from military operations and instead sought diplomatic off-ramps to resolve the multiple conflicts, though the U.S. continues to provide defensive assets for Israel and has not spoken out against a possible response from Israel against Iran.

The Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy in dealing with Iran and the Middle East more broadly has been criticized by some as misguided or incompetent. Iran has raked in hundreds of billions of dollars in recent years from oil revenues made under the eased sanctions of the Biden-Harris administration, and additional billions from sanctions waivers. Iran uses its funds to back various terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

On Hezbollah, former Pentagon official Simone Ledeen told the DCNF that the Biden-Harris administration should provide its support behind Israel’s efforts to defeat the terrorist group, but didn’t have high hopes that would be the case.

“What should we do? We should be voicing our full-throated support for Israel and providing them everything that they asked for in order to achieve a total victory in this war, full stop,” Ledeen told the DCNF. “What will we do? Nothing, practically nothing.”

The IDF and White House did not respond to a request for comment.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Israel targeted Nasrallah in a significant airstrike against his bunker on Friday, marking the latest blow to an increasingly weakening Hezbollah, which has been attacking Israel since last year. Khamenei had reportedly warned Nasrallah that Israel was going to try to kill him and urged him to flee Lebanon in the days prior to his assassination, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iran had already been concerned for years that Mossad, an Israeli intelligence agency, had infiltrated Tehran’s ranks, the outlet reported. Following Nasrallah’s death, that concern has grown larger — and Iranian officials have become worried about Khamenei’s safety, officials and sources close to the matter told Reuters.

“The trust that held everything together has disappeared,” an Iranian official told Reuters.

“[Khamenei] no longer trusts anyone,” another source close to the Iranian regime told Reuters.

Authorities have opened investigations to see whether some Iranian officials or members of Iran’s military are compromised, another Iranian official told Reuters. The investigations are particularly centered around officials who travel or have family outside the country.

Authorities are reportedly suspicious of Iranian military members who have recently been in Lebanon, one of the officials told Reuters. One of the military members had recently been asking about Nasrallah’s location, raising eyebrows among other officials. That individual was arrested, along with several others, the official told Reuters.

Khamenei’s warning to Nasrallah — which was made through an Iranian military messenger who was with Nasrallah at the time of his death — followed a sweeping, targeted attack by Israel against Hezbollah, the official told Reuters. Thousands of Hezbollah operatives’ pagers and walkie-talkies randomly exploded in late September, which was likely an orchestrated remote detonation by Israel, although the country hasn’t claimed responsibility.

But Nasrallah — who often operated in bunkers underground in Lebanon — felt at the time that he was safe and trusted his security officials to protect him, even as Iranian officials relayed their concerns about his wellbeing, the official told Reuters. Khamenei made a second offer via his military messenger for Nasrallah to relocate to Iran, but Nasrallah expressed that he wanted to stay in Lebanon.

Following Nasrallah’s assassination and the devastating blows Hezbollah has recently suffered, the security situation with the terrorist group is now so fraught that they can’t even hold a public funeral for Nasrallah, according to four sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters.

“No one can authorize a funeral in these circumstances,” one Hezbollah source bemoaned to Reuters.

Israel is expected to retaliate against Iran following a sweeping missile attack launched by Tehran on Tuesday, which largely failed due to interceptions from Israeli and U.S. forces. Though the timing and nature of a retaliatory strike isn’t clear, Israel has promised that there will be “consequences” for Iran.

“Iran made a big mistake – and it will pay for it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

I COULD make the leap because I do believe in signs in the heavens as the Bible describes. I’m just not ready to accept the comet as one of them. It just doesn’t seem big enough, but I’m open to being proven wrong. I do find the correlation to the Jewish holidays intriguing… just not intriguing enough. Not yet. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting topic so we’re posting. It. Here’s Michael…

(End of the American Dream)—All of a sudden, everything has changed.  Israeli troops have entered southern Lebanon, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles into the land of Israel, and it appears that all-out war has arrived.  This war doesn’t seem to have a commonly accepted name yet, and so I am just going to start calling it “the Biggest Middle East War” until somebody out there comes up with something better.  Is it just a coincidence that this war has suddenly exploded as the “Comet of the Century” is flying past our planet?

I went through the details of Iran’s attack on Israel in an article that I posted earlier, and so I will not repeat all of that information here.  Since I posted that article, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly stated that Iran has “made a big mistake” and that the Iranians “will pay” for what they have done…

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it. The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies,” he said.

That sounds rather ominous. So what should we expect?

Well, one Israeli news source is reporting that the IDF intends to conduct “powerful airstrikes throughout the Middle East”…

Following Iran’s missile barrage, which saw more than 180 rockets launched across Israel, the IDF vowed Tuesday night to carry out “powerful airstrikes throughout the Middle East.”

The military confirmed that the Air Force remains fully operational. Additionally, Israeli and U.S. defense systems effectively intercepted many of the incoming missiles, with the IDF reporting close cooperation in detection and interception efforts.

Senior Israeli officials vowed Tuesday evening that Jerusalem will not remain silent following Iran’s large-scale missile attack. A defense official promised a “severe response,” while another Israeli official warned, “What Iran has suffered so far is only a fraction of what it will face now.”

Of course the IDF has already been bombing pro-Iranian targets all over the Middle East.

Ultimately, I expect something even more dramatic.

Could Israel strike Iran itself? That is certainly possible.

Naftali Bennett is even suggesting that this is a perfect time to “destroy Iran’s nuclear program”…

With emphasis added, former prime minister Naftali Bennett calls for Israel to act “now” against Iran’s nuclear program, saying the Islamic Republic “made a terrible mistake” with its major missile attack this evening.

“Israel has now its greatest opportunity in 50 years, to change the face of the Middle East,” Bennett writes in an English-language post on X. “We must act *now* to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime.”

Such an attack would definitely trigger an unstoppable chain of events.

Iran has warned that there will be a “crushing attack” if Israel responds, and the Iranians also seem to be threatening the United States…

Iran’s armed forces warn against any direct military intervention in support of Israel in response to Iran’s missile attack.

“In the event of direct intervention by countries supporting the regime [Israel]… their centers and interests in the region will also face a powerful attack by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the armed forces says in a statement quoted by Fars news agency.

The Biden administration promised Iran that there would be “severe consequences” if the Iranians launched missiles at Israel. It is put up or shut up time for the Biden administration.

As all of this has been going on, the “Comet of the Century” has been putting on a spectacular show in the heavens…

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is putting on a delightful early-morning display for those fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the spectacle before it’s lost in the glare of the rising sun. But it’s not just the early birds with good seats to the show: astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are also enjoying the spectacle.

We are being told that there will be two windows for those of us in the northern hemisphere to view this comet…

Weather permitting, everyone in the Northern Hemisphere should be able to see Comet A3 in October.

There are two windows to catch it, one from now through October 2 and another from October 12 to 30, according to a press release from Massey.

Interestingly, the first window ends as the festival of Rosh Hashanah is beginning, and the second window starts on Yom Kippur.

And it is now being projected that Yom Kippur will be the time when this comet is the closest to our planet and when it will also be the brightest…

If the comet survives perihelion, it will make its way back to Earth. According to StarWalk.space, the comet will be brightest on October 12 when it makes its closest approach to our plant. During this time, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be located relatively high above the horizon in the evening sky.

That is some “coincidence”, eh? On top of everything else, a “ring of fire” solar eclipse will occur on Wednesday…

For the first time since April’s solar eclipse—during which eleven contiguous states in the U.S. were in the path of totality—some will be able to see another eclipse this coming week.

This noteworthy event, called an annular eclipse, or a “ring of fire” eclipse, will be visible over parts of South America on Wednesday, Oct. 2. A partial eclipse will also be visible in parts of the world.

At the time of this eclipse, the sun will already be down in Israel and the festival of Rosh Hashanah will have commenced.

Amazingly, the first solar eclipse that occurred in 2024 happened on the first day of the first month on the Biblical calendar, and the second solar eclipse that will occur in 2024 will happen on the first day of the seventh month on the Biblical calendar.

These two solar eclipses will be exactly six months apart on the Biblical calendar, and they both fall on very important dates.

The fall festivals begin on the first day of the seventh month, and throughout the fall festivals the “Comet of the Century” will be making history in the skies above our heads.

Meanwhile, here on Earth everyone is bracing for what comes next in the Middle East.

I do not believe that it is a coincidence that all-out war, the “Comet of the Century”, a “ring of fire” solar eclipse and the fall festivals are all happening at the same time.

As I detail in my brand new book entitled “Why”, God has been directing the course of human history for thousands of years, and He continues to do so today.

What we are witnessing right now should be a major league wake up call for all of us, but for the moment most of the population still appears to be in a very deep state of sleep.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Now a great end times war is playing out in the Middle East right in front of our eyes, but a lot of people out there still don’t seem to get it.  This isn’t just another war in the Middle East.  What we are witnessing is the final showdown between Israel and Iran.

On Tuesday, Iran shocked the entire world when it fired large numbers of missiles into Israel.  The following comes from CNN…

Missiles have been launched from Iran toward Israel and sirens are sounding across the country, according to a statement from Israel’s military.

CNN teams on the ground in multiple locations across Israel have observed dozens of missiles flying above them. Some have been intercepted by Israel’s air defenses, although it is not clear how many.

There are conflicting reports about the exact number of missiles that were fired at Israel.

But everyone seems to agree that “hundreds” of missiles were in the air, and videos posted on social media appear to show many of them making impact.

Iran is claiming that 80 percent of their missiles made it through, and the IDF is admitting that at least some of the missiles were not intercepted…

Iran’s state TV claimed that 80 percent of their missiles launched at Israel hit their target. It’s unclear exactly what the targets were.

Israeli army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the country’s air defense system was fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats.

‘However, the defense is not hermetic,’ he noted.

Just prior to Iran’s attack, the White House warned that there would be “severe consequences” if Iran launched missiles at Israel…

White House and Defense Department had warned earlier that Iran was preparing to launch ballistic missiles at Israel.

“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack. A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” a senior White House official told NBC News.

So what will those “severe consequences” look like?

Is the Biden administration about to fire missiles at Iran?

The Israelis are also promising to respond “in the place and the time we determine”, but we don’t know any specifics at this stage.

If the Israelis strike back at Iran, and I am entirely convinced that they will, the Iranians are warning that they will launch a “crushing attack”…

“Should the Zionist regime respond to Iran’s operation, it will face crushing attack,” said the IRGC, Iran’s paramilitary organization.

This is not going to end well, but most of you already knew that.

Just before Iranian missiles were launched on Tuesday, there was a horrifying terror attack in Jaffa that resulted in the deaths of eight people…

Eight people were killed and at least seven wounded, as well as a dog, in a shooting terror attack in Jaffa, in central Israel, on Tuesday evening, Magen David Adom reported.

At least four people were reported critically wounded. Magen David Adom announced that the incident involved multiple causalities.

The shooting occurred near a light rail station in the central Israeli city. Two terrorists who were observed exiting the train were shot dead by security forces.

We should expect to see a lot more terror attacks in the days ahead.

Now that IDF forces have entered southern Lebanon, there is no turning back.  Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari is characterizing the incursions into southern Lebanon as “localized raids”, but everyone realizes that this is just the beginning.

So far, it is unclear how much success Israeli troops are having in southern Lebanon.

There were reports that Israeli forces successfully entered a number of villages in southern Lebanon, but Al Jazeera insists that the IDF is encountering “fierce resistance” from Hezbollah militants…

Ali Rizk, a security and political affairs analyst based in Beirut, says Israeli troops attempted to “overwhelm” Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon late last night but were repelled and forced to withdraw.

“What the Israeli side might be doing is a propaganda war when they speak about successfully entering Lebanese territory.  So this might be part of an Israeli psychological war, which wouldn’t be the first time they resort to such tactics,” Rizk told Al Jazeera.

“We’ll have to see how the ground invasion unfolds. But – according to a source with ties to Hezbollah –  the Israelis did meet fierce resistance in the late hours of last night. It does appear this is not going to be an easy battle for Israel, even if Hezbollah has lost its leader and senior military commanders. That still leaves Hezbollah to be a formidable foe to inflict heavy costs on the Israelis in their ground invasion.”

Right now we are in the early hours of fighting, and so we may not get a fully accurate picture of what is transpiring on the ground for a while.

But without a doubt this is going to be far different from what we witnessed in Gaza.

Hezbollah is far more powerful than Hamas was, and Hezbollah has much more powerful allies.

Following the overnight raids into southern Lebanon, Israeli officials “called on residents in more than 20 areas in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes”…

Following the overnight raids, IDF officials this morning called on residents in more than 20 areas in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes, signalling more ground operations were imminent.

‘The IDF (Israeli military) does not want to harm you, and for your own safety you must evacuate your homes immediately.

‘Anyone who is near Hezbollah members, installations and combat equipment is putting his life in danger,’ army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

This seems to indicate that Israeli forces will soon be attempting to move into those areas.

Of course Hezbollah sees this as an “invasion”, and Hezbollah officials have warned over and over again that an “invasion” of southern Lebanon will mean all-out war.

And now that hundreds of missiles have been fired into Israel, it appears that the Iranians and the Israelis are on the verge of all-out war too.

We have been warned that this was coming for decades, and now it is here.

A great end times war in the Middle East has begun, and it isn’t going to be pretty.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

A lot of people in the western world seem to think that Nasrallah is just another terrorist that died and that he will soon be forgotten.

That isn’t how it works in Shia Islam.

As the Jerusalem Post has accurately observed, the death of Nasrallah is “nothing short of a seismic event in the Middle East”…

The strike on the bunker of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is nothing short of a seismic event in the Middle East. With Israel having shifted the rules of the game, what comes next? The risk of a broader conflict has risen, but there are also opportunities for a comprehensive settlement—everything now hinges on Hezbollah’s response.

The central headquarters for Hezbollah was way underground, and so the IDF had to use more than 80 one-ton bombs to destroy it…

According to Israeli media, over 80 one-ton bombs were used to “dig” deep into the ground and reached Hezbollah’s high command bunker, located under six apartment buildings that were completely flattened.

If you are convinced that Hezbollah will back down after this, you don’t understand how they think.

Nasrallah was greatly loved by his people because they believed that he was a direct descendant of Muhammad.  The following comes from Wikipedia…

Nasrallah was often referred to as “al-Sayyid Hassan” (السيد حسن), the honorific “Sayyid” denoting a claim of descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandson Husayn ibn Ali.

To those that believe in Shia Islam, Nasrallah was a living, breathing link to the founder of their faith.

Nasrallah had three sons, and he actually named two of them after his very famous ancestor…

Nasrallah is survived by his wife, Fatima Yassin. He also has three sons Jawad, Mohammed-Mahdi and Mohammed Ali, and a daughter Zeinab, as well as several grandchildren.

In Shia Islam, there is a widespread belief that an apocalyptic figure known as “the Mahdi” will appear in our day and time.

It is also believed that the name of “the Mahdi” will be “Muhammed”, and so that is why so many Islamic parents give that name to their male children.

Following the death of Nasrallah, Joe Biden used the term “justice” to describe what just happened…

The White House has finally put out a statement by early Saturday afternoon. President Biden has called Nasrallah’s death ‘justice’ for the hundreds of Americans who perished over what the US called a ‘four-decade reign of terror’.

“Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror.  His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians,” Biden said. The White House says the Pentagon has been ordered to enhance America’s defense posture and readiness in the Middle East.

There are thousands of Shia Muslims in the swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that will never vote for Kamala Harris after reading that.

Joe Biden doesn’t seem to understand that this wasn’t just the death of yet another terrorist leader.

The death of Nasrallah changes everything. Hezbollah isn’t going to back down after this.

Instead, they are going to go completely nuts.

On Saturday, Hezbollah caused “the broadest rocket alerts Israel has seen during the war so far”…

Large parts of the nation were targeted by Hezbollah rocket fire on Saturday, causing the broadest rocket alerts Israel has seen during the war so far, following the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon on Friday evening.

Starting hours after the strike on Nasrallah Hezbollah began firing small rocket barrages at northern Israel. On Saturday morning, they sharply intensified their attacks by launching two ballistic missiles and multiple rocket salvos.

Of course it isn’t just Hezbollah that is steaming mad.

On Sunday, thousands of Iraqi protesters tried to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad…

Thousands of Iraqi protesters attempted to storm the US Embassy in Baghdad’s highly secure Green Zone on Saturday, soon after Hezbollah confirmed the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in Friday’s major Israeli airstrike in Beirut.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called strike on Nasrallah “a crime that shows the Zionist entity has crossed all the red lines.”

In Pakistan’s largest city, police were desperately trying to keep a mob of crazed rioters from overrunning the U.S. consulate located there…

Clashes took place Sunday evening in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi as local police tried to disperse protesters who marched towards the city’s US Consulate to mourn the death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Video on social media showed police firing tear gas and warning shots, with protesters throwing stones and trying to cross barriers blocking access to the US Consulate.

The protests were led by the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, a Pakistani Shi’a Islamic political organization which told CNN that their nationwide protests were “peaceful.”

And the Iranian government is vowing that there will be revenge…

Iran’s supreme leader has said the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah “will not go unavenged”, a day after he was killed in an Israeli air strike in Lebanon.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced five days of mourning in Iran in response to what he called the “martyrdom of the great Nasrallah”, describing him as “a path and a school of thought” that would continue.

Iranian media reported that a Iranian Revolutionary Guards general was also killed in the Israeli strikes in Beirut on Friday.

Of course Israel is not going to back down either.

In fact, the IDF took out yet another “high-ranking Hezbollah official” on Sunday…

The Israeli military said Sunday it has killed another high-ranking Hezbollah official in an airstrike as the Lebanese militant group was reeling from a string of devastating blows and the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The military said Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council, was killed on Saturday. Hezbollah confirmed his death, making him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader slain in Israeli strikes in a little over a week. They include founding members who had evaded death or detention for decades.

And the Israelis also just hit the Houthis really, really hard…

Israel said it bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday, expanding its confrontation with Iran’s allies in the region two days after killing the Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an escalating conflict in Lebanon.

The airstrikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah were in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel in recent days, Israel said, amid fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and Israel’s main ally the United States.

There is no turning back now. All-out war is on the doorstep, and the U.S. State Department has just issued a very ominous order…

The US State Department on Saturday ordered the families of embassy personnel in Beirut to leave the country and authorized the departure of some staff, as the Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalates.

The department ordered the departure “due to the increased volatility following airstrikes within Beirut and the volatile and unpredictable security situation throughout Lebanon,” it said. All US citizens were urged to leave “while commercial options still remain available.”

They know what is coming.

This is the big Middle East war that I have been warning about, and only one side will be left standing when it is all over.

When there are two opponents that are willing to do whatever it takes to win no matter the cost, that creates a situation where events can spiral out of control very, very easily.

We should all be deeply saddened by what is about to happen, because very large numbers of people are about to die.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right, to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” Netanyahu told the General Assembly, adding, “And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

During his speech, Netanyahu showed world leaders two maps of the Middle East, pointing out the difference between a “blessing” and a “curse.”

“Now look at this second map,” he said, pointing out, “It’s a map of a curse. It’s a map of an arc of terror that Iran has created and imposed from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.”

Netanyahu added: “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach – that’s true for the whole of the Middle East.”

Even with broadening war risks in the Middle East, the geopolitical risk premium in Brent crude has all but evaporated – overshadowed by economic slowdown fear in China and the US. Not even the China stimulus story earlier this week could ignite crude prices.

On Thursday, we noted the usual anonymous sources reporting by corporate media were back, and pressured Brent crude prices lower. The first report was published by Reuters earlier this month. In that report, journos cited anonymous sources that said OPEC+ was set to proceed with a production hike in October. Then an FT report on Thursday joined the anonymous-source-citing oil manipulation game with the news that the Saudis were ready to ditch the unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude.

Also, recent headlines surrounding a possible ceasefire in the Middle East have pressured oil prices. We must ask what exactly ‘the powers that be’ are afraid of?

Maybe Goldman analyst Lindsay Matcham’s note to clients this morning shows precisely what ‘the powers that be’ are afraid of…

“We’re continuing to keep a close eye on the conflict in the Middle East amid intensifying tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.” 

Matcham added:

“We think further escalation in the conflict could have material market implications, especially if it involves a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which would likely lead to a spike in oil prices here.” 

Strait of Hormuz…

In a separate note, Goldman analyst Lina Thomas outlines four positive near-term drivers for crude markets:

• The easing in global policy.
• Inventories are still drawing.
• Positioning and valuation remain low.
• Oil markets are not pricing a significant risk of geopolitical disruptions.

Fast forward to noon today, Brent prices jumped to the mid-point of the $72 handle after IDF airstrikes targeted Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut.

Massive Israeli Airstrikes In Beirut Target Hezbollah HQ, Nasrallah https://t.co/uqp8T0VZyM

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 27, 2024

Broadening war risks come as speculators have placed record bearish bets in crude markets.

Brent prices hover around $72/bbl in late morning trading in the US.

The looming question for Brent traders is: When will the war risk premium return?

A potential IDF invasion of Lebanon could provoke Iran, although there are currently no signs of Tehran’s imminent closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Given the Israel-Hezbollah escalation in conflict to the end of the week, traders should monitor these events as traders hold record net-bearish bets on crude.

If the U.S. is forced to intervene in an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, there are thousands upon thousands of Muslims in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that will simply refuse to vote for Kamala Harris.  We already got a preview of this when large numbers of them cast protest votes against Joe Biden during the Democratic primaries.  Kamala Harris must win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania if she has any hope of emerging victorious in November, and so keeping Israel out of Lebanon is of paramount importance for the Democrats right now.

On Wednesday, ABC News was reporting that Israel “is preparing for a potential ground operation” in Lebanon…

Israel is preparing for a potential ground operation as its war with Hezbollah intensifies, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of the General Staff, said Wednesday. “The goal is very clear — to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.”

In addition to the forces that have already been deployed, the Israelis just called up two more reserve brigades…

The Israeli military announced Wednesday afternoon that two reserve brigades will be called up for deployment in Operation Northern Arrows.

“In accordance with the situational assessment, the IDF is calling up two reserve brigades for operational missions in the northern arena,” the IDF said.

Israel is quite serious about going in, but the Biden administration is trying really hard to find a diplomatic solution to this crisis…

The Biden administration is working on a new diplomatic initiative for a “pause” in the fighting in Lebanon and a resumption of negotiations on a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, according to two U.S. officials, one Israeli official and two sources with direct knowledge.

According to Axios, Benjamin Netanyahu is quite open to the idea of a peaceful way out of this mess…

• Over the last two days, the U.S. has been discussing the idea with France, Israel, Lebanon and several other Arab countries, a U.S. official and a European diplomat said.
• “We are working with several countries on a proposal for a diplomatic solution for the north,” a U.S. official confirmed.
• “Netanyahu gave a green light to discuss this initiative,” an Israeli official said.

If Hezbollah can be persuaded to withdraw north of the Litani River peacefully, Israeli forces would not need to enter southern Lebanon, and the Israeli government would be quite thrilled about that.

I am entirely convinced that this is not going to happen, but I think that all of this diplomatic posturing will delay an Israeli ground operation for a little while.

For now, Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange long-range strikes.  On Wednesday, Hezbollah even fired a missile at Tel Aviv…

Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the country’s commercial heartlands and marked a new escalatory step in the conflict between the two sides.

People in Tel Aviv and the central city of Netanya woke up to sirens on Wednesday as Israel said its air defenses intercepted a surface-to-surface missile – the first time ever a missile fired by Hezbollah has reached close to the city, the Israeli military said.

I really wish that Hezbollah would just stop.

If Hezbollah stopped hitting Israel and withdrew north of the Litani River, an all-out war could be avoided.

Unfortunately, that isn’t going to be the way that things play out.

As war approaches, more airlines are cancelling flights to and from Beirut…

Egyptair, Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Qatar Airways are among the airlines this week that have now suspended flights to and from Beirut due to the unstable security situation, according to Reuters and Al Arabiya.

Reuters also reports that Britain has advised U.K.-based airlines not to fly into Lebanese airspace until Nov. 4, citing a “potential risk to aviation from military activity”.

If you are currently visiting the Middle East, I would get out now while you still can.

Meanwhile, the Russians continue to gobble up more real estate in Ukraine.

In fact, we are being told that they have just entered Vuhledar…

As confirmed by both Russian and Ukrainian sources, the Russians have entered Vuhledar – a key Ukrainian stronghold at the junction of eastern and southern fronts. The potential effect of its capture is hard to overestimate.

They are also closing the lid on the near-encircled large chunk of land outside Krasnohorivka – mopping up Zhelanne 2.

The situation on the frontline couldn’t be worse for Zelensky-Biden summit.

The only way that Ukraine can win this war is if NATO forces get directly involved.

Ominously, it appears that NATO is making plans for just such a scenario…

NATO plans to coordinate the transport of a large number of wounded troops away from front lines in case of a war with Russia, potentially via hospital trains as air evacuations may not be feasible, according to a senior general.

The future scenario for medical evacuations will differ from allies’ experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank, the head of NATO’s logistics command, told Reuters in an interview.

We must avoid a direct war with Russia at all costs.

Because a direct war with Russia could easily go nuclear.

On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin discussed very alarming changes to Russia’s official nuclear doctrine…

“The updated version of the document proposes that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear-weapon state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear-weapon state, should be considered as a joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Putin told the council.

He said the conditions for the launch of Russia’s nuclear weapons would be “reliable information about a massive launch of aerospace attack means and their crossing of our state border.”

He added, “We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Russia and Belarus.”

So if Ukraine starts firing long-range missiles that were provided by us at Russian cities, the Russians would consider that to be a joint attack and would reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in such a scenario.

Please let the implications of that sink in.

Speaking of nuclear weapons, the Chinese just test-fired “an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean”…

China said Wednesday that it had successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, in a rare public test that may raise international concerns as the country builds up its nuclear arsenal at a time of tensions with the United States.

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force launched the ICBM carrying a simulated warhead at 8:44 a.m. local time (8:44 p.m. Tuesday ET), the Chinese defense ministry said in a statement, adding that it accurately landed in a predetermined area of the high seas. The path of the missile and the exact place it fell were unclear.

Why can’t humanity ever seem to learn?

War is not the answer.

Unfortunately, a really bad case of “war fever” seems to be sweeping the globe.

I believe that we are going to see so much death and destruction during the next couple of years, and it all could have been avoided if world leaders had made much different decisions.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.