The war in Syria that began in 2011 as a civil war between government forces and various factions seeking to overthrow the Assad regime, has now become a battleground for many opposing forces. The Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, previously revealed to the UN Security Council that Iran had amassed a surrogate army of 82,000 troops in Syria. The army consists of over 3,000 core military advisers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard combined with tens-of-thousands of fighters from the Iranian-supported militia group Hezbollah, as well as other smaller militia groups. Israel says that Iran is trying to establish their largest military base in the region to be in striking distance of Israeli cities. Iran has long supported Hezbollah with weapons and missiles, and now the Iranian military itself has moved into the area. This comes after Russia moved into western Syria to establish a major military base during the last years of the Obama administration.
The war in Syria has also attracted the attention of almost every surrounding country. Turkey has invaded northern Syria to fight against the Kurdish forces, which are allies of the U.S., but adversaries of Turkey. The Kurds have been fighting ISIS and desire to establish their own state, Kurdistan, within northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, northwestern Iran, and even into southern Turkey. That’s why Turkey feels threatened and is fighting the Kurds in Syria.
These developments over the last several months and years bring the total number of different military groups operating in the war in Syria to at least nine. This includes Syrian government forces led by President Bashar al-Assad, the Russian military operating out of bases in western Syria and supporting Assad, the remnants of the terrorist group ISIS scattered across the north and east, the terrorist militia group Hezbollah, the Iranian forces, the Kurdish forces, the military of Turkey in the north, and the US military. In addition, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also have been operating air missions into Syria to strike against the Iranian-backed militias.
Countries throughout the Middle East are very concerned about these developments, because a strong Iranian presence in Syria and Iraq could potentially solidify an ark of Shi’ite power extending from Iran through Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The Islamic Sunni majority nations throughout the Middle East are adamantly against this development, so much so that Saudi Arabia and Egypt are even growing closer to Israel to stem the tide of Shi’ite influence in the region.
In early February 2018, Israel shot down an Iranian drone, which flew into Israeli territory from Syria to the north of the Golan Heights. Subsequent to that infiltration, Israel launched a large-scale attack on over a dozen Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria. Since that time, Israel has launched repeated air attacks on selected Iranian and Syrian positions, especially ones that were close to the Syrian border with Israel. They also have repeatedly targeted and attacked weapons convoys that were believed to be supplying Hezbollah from Iran. In addition, on April 9, 2018, Israel executed a predawn airstrike against a military base near Palmyra, which is said to have commanded various Iranian-backed militia groups within Syria. Some have speculated that this shadow war between Israel and Iran going on within the war in Syria could lead to the next major war in the Middle East.
The war in Syria is further evidence that the alignment of nations in the Middle East is taking place to fulfill the Biblical prophecies of the End Times. The Bible predicts that in the Last Days Russia would be aligned with Syria, Iran, and Turkey as well as with other nations encircling Israel. For the first time in history, this alignment is now being established. These events all foreshadow the final wars of the End Times that will ultimately lead the world to Armageddon and the Return of Christ!
