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.

“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.

(End of the American Dream)—Events in the Middle East and in Ukraine are bringing us dangerously close to the unthinkable, but meanwhile most people in the western world are paying very little attention to what is going on.  We literally have not been this close to an apocalyptic global war since the end of World War 2, and yet most of the population is partying.  Unfortunately, it won’t be too long before they are shaken out of their slumber.

On Sunday, it was being reported that a Ukrainian drone has hit a facility in Russia that houses one of the highly sophisticated nuclear missiles that Russia has started to produce…

A Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike reportedly struck Vladimir Putin’s Satan-2 nuclear missile, prompting an apocalyptic explosion yesterday morning.

A secret ammunition silo facility at Toropets in Tver region that housed one of the Russian President’s nuke missiles was hit by Ukrainian drone, it was claimed yesterday.

It allegedly happened just ten miles from an ‘indestructible’ 30,000 ton munitions storage site that had been obliterated on Wednesday.

It is literally insane to use kamikaze drones to attack nuclear missiles. But that is the entire point.

The Ukrainians are losing the war, and so they are desperately trying to provoke an “over the top” reaction from the Russians that will force NATO to get directly involved in the fighting.

And they need to do it before the U.S. presidential election in November, because if Trump wins he fully intends to try to end the war.

So that is why the Ukrainians just attacked a nuclear missile.  They are in a race against time. Of course Ukraine does not have the ability to identify strategic targets deep inside Russia.

As far as these long-range drone attacks are concerned, we frequently pick the targets, and in many cases we actually guide weapons to their targets. But we aren’t really supposed to talk about that.

Now Ukraine wants permission to use long-range missiles provided by us to strike targets all over Russia…

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes inside Russia with US-supplied weapons, and to earn “a place in history” by “strengthening Ukraine” before he leaves office.

Speaking before a crucial trip next week to Washington, where he will meet Biden and the US vice-president and presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, and address the UN, Zelenskyy said he would present a “victory plan” to end the war.

This could easily spark World War 3, because it would cross very important “red lines” that the Russians have established.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has once again stressed the importance of not crossing those “red lines”…

“We talk about red lines, expecting that our assessments, statements will be heard by intelligent, decision-making people. It is not serious to say that if tomorrow you do not do what I demand of you, we will press the ‘red button,’” the Russian foreign minister said. “I am convinced that in such situations, decision makers have an idea of what we are talking about. Nobody wants a nuclear war.”

When the Russians speak of “nuclear war”, they are being deadly serious.

Why can’t our leaders seem to understand this?

Meanwhile, the war in the Middle East appears to have reached a critical turning point.

On Sunday, Hezbollah continued to pummel northern Israel with rockets.  In fact, we are being told that some even landed near the city of Haifa…

Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade hundreds of strikes on Sunday as the sides appear to be spiraling toward an all-out war following months of escalating tensions.

The Iran-backed militant group launched more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa. The barrage overnight set off air raid sirens across northern Israel, sending thousands of people scrambling into shelters.

Israel’s military said the rockets were fired “toward civilian areas,” pointing to a possible escalation after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.

One of the areas that has been getting hit the hardest is the little town of Nazareth.

Needless to say, Nazareth is a town that has a tremendous amount of significance to Christians all over the globe…

“Another barrage of Hezbollah rockets at Nazareth. The hometown of Jesus, a town which is 70% Muslim & 30% Christian and almost entirely Arab,” noted American Evangelical leader Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, on social media.

“For months Hezbollah has been targeting the Galilee, the geographic heart of Jesus’ ministry.”

The IDF has been attempting to minimize the damage by taking out as many rocket launchers as it can.

In fact, it was being reported on Sunday that Israeli aircraft hit about “400 militant sites” over a 24 hour period…

The Israeli military said that it carried out a wave of strikes across southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, hitting about 400 militant sites, including rocket launchers. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said those strikes had thwarted an even larger attack.

It also appears that Israel has started to use bigger bombs than we have seen in the past…

BREAKING: Lebanon hit with massive bomb, one of the largest Israel has ever sent.

Developing.

Shockwave felt many many miles away..

Both sides just continue to escalate matters, and it is just a matter of time before an all-out war erupts.

When an all-out war erupts, Hezbollah will be able to count on assistance from allies all over the region.

Could this also include Turkey?  This weekend, the president of Turkey once again had some very threatening words for Israel…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes that Israel acts as a terrorist organization, its target being not only the Gaza Strip but the whole region.

“I have been saying all along that Israel targets not only the Gaza Strip. The recent attacks on Lebanon have confirmed our suspicion that the Israeli leadership’s plan is to spread the war to the entire region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his gang have been staging all kinds of provocations to implement their radical Zionist ideology. The pressure on Israel must be intensified further to prevent the region from being dragged into an even greater disaster,” Erdogan told the media before flying to the United States for the UN General Assembly session.

He said he would address the UNGA on the first day to ask the participants to remember “the need for taking action against genocide in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s aggressive policies.”

The Biden administration seems to think that a major regional war could be coming too.

On Saturday, the U.S. State Department warned all Americans living in Lebanon that they should leave while they still can…

The US State Department on Saturday urged Americans in Lebanon to leave the country while commercial options remain available, as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah flares.

“Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the State Department said in an updated advisory.

“At this time, commercial flights are available, but at reduced capacity. If the security situation worsens, commercial options to depart may become unavailable,” it added.

Personally, I think that this warning is not nearly strong enough.

Once all-out war erupts, you will not want to be anywhere in the entire region.

As I have repeatedly warned, my personal opinion is that this is going to be an “apocalyptic” war that far surpasses anything that we have ever witnessed in the Middle East before.

Events have pushed both sides to the brink of a precipice, and what is going to happen over the next few months will change our world forever.

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.

Hezbollah’s leader has condemned Israel after thousands of pagers and walkie talkies exploded over two days, saying ‘all red lines have been crossed by the enemy’ and that the deadly attacks ‘deserve a response’.

Nasrallah also said that what we witnessed this week was a “declaration of war” by Israel…

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared Israel’s surprise pager and handheld radio attacks a “declaration of war” and dared the Jewish state to invade Lebanon. As he spoke, Israeli forces carpet bombed the terror group’s strongholds.

In a televised address Thursday, Nasrallah acknowledged that Hezbollah “received a heavy, painful blow,” saying that Israel’s decision to detonate scores of pagers and other electronic devices earlier this week amounted to “a major aggression” that will not go unanswered.

“These massacres amount to war crimes or a declaration of war,” Nasrallah said, promising “a crushing response from the axis of resistance.”

It sounds like he is saying that Israel and Hezbollah are now officially at war.

And of course that would be an accurate assessment of the current state of affairs.

As Nasrallah was delivering his speech, Israeli forces were conducting airstrikes in southern Lebanon, and fighter jets were setting off sonic booms over Beirut…

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, moments before the militant group’s leader said two days of debilitating attacks on its members amounted to a declaration of war.

The strikes Thursday were more extensive than in previous days and were timed to coincide with a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was addressing a wave of device explosions before cadres who were shocked by the scale of the attack. Israeli jets flew over Beirut, setting off sonic booms as they have done repeatedly in recent months in an effort to intimidate the group.

Does Nasrallah actually believe that Hezbollah can win the coming war?

He must realize that Israel has capabilities that his side does not.

Once Israeli forces enter southern Lebanon, there will be no turning back and vast numbers of people will die.

At this moment, additional Israeli units are on their way to the northern border…

In a statement Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the “center of gravity” in the Israel-Hamas war was moving north to Lebanon. He said more military units and resources were being sent to the border.

“This is not Hamas − we’re dealing with something different, and we need to prepare accordingly,” he said.

I know that the Biden administration is still pushing for peace, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his minions are extremely incompetent.

And Hezbollah has already stated that there will be no peace as long as the IDF is fighting in Gaza.  On Thursday, Hezbollah continued to fire at targets inside northern Israel…

The powerful Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continued to strike what it called military targets in northern Israel Thursday after thousands of its members were injured and several killed in an apparent Israeli operation using exploding pagers and other communication devices. The Israel Defense Forces said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon “to degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.”

“The Hezbollah terrorist organization has turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone. For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them, and used civilians as human shields,” the IDF said in a statement. “The IDF is operating to bring security to northern Israel in order to enable the return of residents to their homes, as well as to achieve of all of the war goals.”

In response, the IDF hit more than 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers.  The airstrikes that we witnessed on Thursday evening are being called “some of the most intense” that we have seen so far…

Israel carried out dozens of strikes on Thursday across southern Lebanon, in what Lebanese security sources said were some of the most intense bombings since Hezbollah began daily cross-border attacks on northern communities after the start of the Gaza war on October 7.

The military said fighter jets had struck over 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that were primed for immediate attacks on Israel. It said that in total, the launchers included around 1,000 launch barrels.

This is going to end very badly. But most you knew that already.

There are a couple of other things that I wanted to mention.

Firstly, it is being reported that the pagers and walkie-talkies that exploded this week were actually made by shell companies that had been set up by the Israelis…

The Israeli secret service didn’t just tamper with the deadly Hezbollah pagers — they made them from scratch, having set up a complex web of shell companies across Europe, it was claimed today.

Initially it was suspected that Mossad had managed to intercept and plant tiny bombs in a shipment of the pagers headed for the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon after thousands of people were injured and dozens killed.

But now it appears that the Israelis set up front companies across Europe to manufacture the pagers themselves, embedding small amounts of PETN explosive inside, ready to be detonated by a coded message.

In particular, the New York Times is telling us that the pagers that exploded came from a Hungarian company that had been purposely set up to sell electronic equipment to Hezbollah…

A report Thursday alleged that a Hungarian firm that apparently supplied pagers used by Hezbollah was secretly set up by Israeli spies as part of a widescale operation that appeared to culminate this week when the devices exploded, killing several and maiming thousands of Hezbollah operatives and others in Lebanon and Syria.

The New York Times claimed that rather than merely managing to tamper with the devices at some stage of their production or distribution, Israel actually “manufactured them as part of an elaborate ruse.”

On the other side, the Iranians have apparently been attempting to assassinate Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials…

Iran plotted to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet, in cooperation with the police, announced on Thursday.

Its efforts were particularly intense following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, which most of the world has attributed to Mossad. However, Israel has been careful not to take any credit for it.

In addition, the Islamic Republic, at a somewhat more vague level, explored assassinating former prime minister Naftali Bennett and other top Israeli defense officials.

The most alarming plot reportedly involved an Israeli businessman that was actually smuggled into Iran on multiple occasions…

An Israeli businessman was smuggled into Iran to plot the assassination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials, police and intelligence officials said Thursday, amid rising tensions over Trojan Horse attacks this week that killed dozens of Hezbollah fighters and civilians in Lebanon and wounded thousands more.

The Israeli businessman wanted a million dollars in advance to help kill Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, but he only received 5,000 euros before he was finally arrested…

The suspect was twice smuggled into Iran from Turkey to meet with Iranian intelligence officials, the Israeli statement said. He demanded $1 million in advance to help kill targets including Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar − but received a paltry 5,000 Euros for his trouble before Israeli police arrested him last month.

We are witnessing extreme chaos in the Middle East, but what we have seen so far is just the beginning.

Once Israeli forces enter southern Lebanon, events are going to move very rapidly.

Many will cheer the death and destruction, but the truth is that we should all grieve for every precious soul that passes into eternity.

Sadly, there is no way out now.

War is here, and it will soon escalate to a level that will shock the entire planet.

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.