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Home > Prophecies > Middle East > Palestinian Territories
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Palestinian Territories
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Children of Hamas
Hamas violates the rights of Palestinian children, abusing them, brainwashing them and inciting them to hate and kill |
GAZA STRIP
Population: 1,816,379 (July 2014 est.) Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab Religions: Muslim (predominantly Sunni), Jewish, Christian WEST BANK
Population: 2,731,052 (July 2014 est.) Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab & other 83%, Jewish 17% Religions: Muslim (predominantly Sunni), Jewish, Christian and other |
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Palestine in Bible Prophecy:
Psalm 83:1-18: "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." Isaiah 14:29-32: "Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it." Jeremiah 47:1-5: "The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands; Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?" Amos 1:8: "And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD." Zephaniah 2:4: "For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up." Zechariah 9:5-6: "Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines." History of Palestine: The name Palestine actually means Philistine. The Philistines were ancient enemies of Israel known as the "Sea peoples" who arrived from the land of Crete to populate the coastal area of Palestine (Genesis 10:14, Jeremiah 47:4). They were a constant threat and enemy to Israel occupying the area known as Gaza (Judges 16:21). The Hebrews were subject to the Philistines until an independent Hebrew kingdom was established under Saul, who was succeeded by David and then Solomon. In 539 B.C. the Persians conquered the Babylonians. The Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians, was rebuilt. Palestine enjoyed considerable autonomy under Persian rule. Alexander the Great conquered Palestine in 333 B.C. His successors, the Ptolemies and Seleucids, contested for the region. The attempt of the Seleucid Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes) to impose Hellenism brought a Jewish revolt under the Maccabees, who set up a new Jewish state in 142 B.C. The state lasted until 63 B.C., when Pompey conquered Palestine for Rome. At the time of Jesus, Palestine was ruled by the Herods, puppet kings of the Romans. Palestine became a center of Christian pilgrimage when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 A.D. Many Jews left the region. Palestine was conquered in 614 by the Persians. It was recovered briefly by the Byzantine Romans, but fell to Muslim Arabs under caliph Umar by 640. During the Umayyad rule, the importance of Palestine as a holy place for Muslims was emphasized. In 691, the Dome of the Rock was erected on the site of the Temple of Solomon, which is claimed by Muslims to have been the halting station of Muhammad on his journey to heaven. The Aqsa mosque was built close to the Dome. In 750, Palestine passed to the Abbasid caliphate, and the period was marked by unrest between factions that favored the Umayyads and those who preferred the Abbasid. In the 9th century, Palestine was conquered by the Fatimid dynasty, which rose to power in North Africa. The Fatimids had many enemies and Palestine became a battlefield. Under the caliph al Hakim (996-1021), Christians and Jews were harshly suppressed, and many churches were destroyed. In 1099, Palestine was captured by the Crusaders, who established the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Crusaders were defeated by Saladin at the battle of Hittin in 1187. The Crusaders were driven out of Palestine by the Mamluks in 1291. In 1516 the Mamluks were defeated by the Ottoman Turks. The first three centuries of Ottoman rule isolated Palestine from outside influence. In 1831, Muhammad Ali, the Egyptian viceroy nominally subject to the Ottoman sultan, occupied Palestine. Under Ali and his son, the region was opened to European influence. Ottoman control was reasserted in 1840, but Western influence continued. Among the European settlements established, the most significant were Russian Jews first arriving in 1882. The Sykes-Picot Agreement was negotiated in November 1915 by French diplomat François Georges-Picot and Briton Mark Sykes. It was a secret understanding between the governments of Britain and France defining their spheres of influence after World War I and control in the Middle East. The area which came to be called Palestine was for international administration pending consultations with Russia and other powers. The British issued the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, in the form of a letter to a British Zionist leader from foreign secretary Arthur J. Balfour, which expressed the British government's view in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Jews began to migreat to Palestine after World War I ended in 1918. In 1919, the Palestinians held their first National Conference expressing their opposition to the Balfour Declaration. In 1922, the United Kingdom was granted control of Palestine by the Versailles Peace Conference and appointed Herbert Samuel as High Commissioner in Palestine. In June 1922, the League of Nations passed the Palestine Mandate, which regarded Britain's powers of administration in Palestine including securing the establishment of a Jewish national home and safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all inhabitants of Palestine. In August 1929, a large-scale attack on Jews by Arabs rocked Jerusalem sparked by a dispute over use of the Western Wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque. In April 1936, Arabs in Palestine, led by Hajj Amin al-Husayni, declared a general strike to protest against Jewish immigration to Palestine. The strike was called off in October 1936. The Peel Commission recommended a partition of Palestine. The proposal was rejected and violence resumed marked by the assassination of Commissioner Lewis Yelland Andrews in Nazareth on September 26, 1937. The British responded to the violence by expanding military forces. The main Arab leaders were arrested or expelled. Amin al-Husayni fled Palestine to escape arrest. In August 1947, the United Nations (UN) proposed dividing Palestine into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone. Arabs rejected the idea. On May 14, 1948, Jews proclaimed the independent State of Israel, and the British withdrew from Palestine. Neighboring Arab nations invaded Palestine and Israel. Israel emerged victorious, affirming its sovereignty. The remaining areas of Palestine were divided between Transjordan, which annexed the West Bank, and Egypt, which gained control of the Gaza Strip. Yasser Arafat, an Egyptian Palestinian who grew up in the Gaza strip and had been a member of the Ikhwan (Muslim Brothers) and the Futuwwah was recruited by Egyptian intelligence while studying in Cairo in 1955. Arafat founded the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS). In 1957, he moved to Kuwait and with Khalil Al Wazir (Abu Jihad) Farouq Qadumi, Khalid al Hassan, Mahmoud Abass, and others founded the Palestine Liberation Committee, later renamed the Fatah (reverse acronym for Harakat Tahrir Filastin - the Palestine Liberation Movement). Tension began developing between Israel and Arab countries in the 1960s. Israel began to implement its National Water Carrier plan, which pumps water from the Sea of Galilee to irrigate south and central Israel. In several summit conferences beginning in 1964, Arab leaders ratified the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), declared their resolve to destroy Israel, and decided to divert the sources of the Jordan river that feed the Sea of Galilee, to prevent Israel from implementing the water carrier plan. Prior to 1967, Israel received almost no military aid from the United States. Egypt and Syria were equipped with large quantities of Soviet military equipment. Israel's main arms supplier was France. Israel had almost as many aircraft as the Egyptians, but the Israeli aircraft were mostly antiquated. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) had a large number of tanks matching the arms of the Arab countries. However, while Syrians and Egyptians were equipped with late model Soviet heavy tanks, many of the Israeli tanks were tiny French AMX anti-tank vehicles, and the heavy tanks were refurbished World War II Sherman tanks fitted with diesel engines. The Israeli and Jewish public believed there was a mortal threat to Israel. Ten thousand graves were dug in Tel Aviv public parks in anticipation of heavy casualties. The Six-Day War in 1967 changed the balance of power in the Middle East. Israel acquired extensive territories - the Sinai desert, the Golan Heights and the West Bank, that were several times larger than the 1948 borders. The defeat brought about a million Palestinian Arabs under Israeli rule. Ahmad Shukairy, who headed the PLO, was replaced as chairman by Yasser Arafat who headed the Fatah. Since all parts of Palestine were under Israeli control, Fatah actions did not directly threaten Arab governments. In time, the Palestine Liberation Organization became recognized by all the Arab states, and eventually by the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people. PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat addressed a session of the UN General Assembly in 1974. Israel opposed the PLO because of its terrorist acts against Jews and because of its charter aims of destroying the state of Israel and expelling Jews. In 1993, secretive talks in Norway between the PLO and Israel resulted in the Oslo Accord, which stipulated a plan in which Palestinians would gradually become self-governing. On September 13, 1993, Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzak Rabin signed the historic "Declaration of Principles." Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip and Jericho in the West Bank in 1994. The Palestinian Authority took control of the non-Israeli occupied areas. Negotiations between Israel's prime minister Ehud Barak and Arafat in 2000 remained deadlocked over East Jerusalem, which Arafat insisted to be the capital of the Palestinian state. At the end of September, negotiations disintegrated into violence after Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. The violence, which included Palestinian suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, was dubbed the al-Aksa intifada. In 2002, Israeli troops surrounded Arafat at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah. Prime Minister Sharon blamed Arafat for inciting terror. The U.S. announced it would not recognize an independent Palestinian state until Arafat was replaced. Throughout the summer, Palestinian suicide bombings and Israeli reprisals continued. In 2003, attempting to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Israel and the United States resolved to circumvent Arafat. In April, under international pressure, Arafat appointed Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister to replace him in negotiating the peace process. On May 1, the "Quartet" (U.S., UN, EU, and Russia) unfurled the "road map" for peace, which envisioned the creation of a Palestinian state. On March 22, 2004, Israel assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. Yasser Arafat died November 11, 2004. Preparations for Palestinian elections began with Mahmoud Abbas as the leading candidate. Fatah el-Aqsa brigades leader Marwan Barghouthi, jailed by Israel for his involvement in multiple terror attacks, announced his candidacy, but later withdrew under pressure. During the campaign, Abbas promised repeatedly to continue to fight for a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem. Mahmoud Abbas was elected President of the Palestine National Authority on January 9, 2005. U.S. President George W. Bush invited Abbas to Washington, after several years during which Palestinian leaders had not been welcome in the White House. The withdrawal of Israeli settlers from Gaza began on August 15, 2005. A group of American philanthropists purchased 800 acres of greenhouses from the departing settlers and donated them to the Palestinians. In elections held January 26, 2006, the radical Hamas movement won. The Hamas-led government was sworn in on March 29, 2006. Fatah refused to join the coalition because Hamas would not recognize the PLO as the representatives of the Palestinian people, and would not agree to honor past agreements of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. Hamas formed a security militia headed by Jamil Abu Samhadana, leader of the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees. The security force was declared illegal by President Mahmoud Abbas. In June 2006, Samhadana was killed in an Israeli air strike. He was one of Israel's most wanted men in Gaza. In December 2006, fighting between Hamas and Fatah broke out, including killings and kidnappings of officials on both sides. Palestinian rights organizations documented a steady stream of violence and random killings. Samhadana was killed in an Israeli air-raid. Palestinians continue to rain Qassam rockets on Israeli towns, in particular, the little town of Sderot. In March 2007, the leaders of Hamas and Fatah agreed on a coalition government, but fighting intensified again in June, with Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip. Abbas dissolved the government, fired Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, and declared a state of emergency. Salam Fayyad took over as interim prime minister. At a Middle East peace conference in November 2007 hosted by the U.S. in Annapolis, MD, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Abbas agreed to work together to broker a peace treaty. In September 2008, Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist, released a UN-backed report on the conflict in Gaza. The report accused both the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters of war crimes, alleging that both targeted civilians. Goldstone reserved much of his criticism for Israel. Israel denounced the report as "deeply flawed, one-sided and prejudiced." The United States also said it was "unbalanced and biased," and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution that called the report "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy." In August 2009, Fatah held its first party congress in 20 years on the West Bank. More than 2,000 delegates attended from all over the world. Only four of the delegates on the committee were re-elected. New members included Marwan Barghouti. Former prime minister Ahmed Qurei was not re-elected. Abbas announced in November 2009 that he would not seek re-election, citing the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, and the U.S. failure to take steps toward negotiating a settlement. His poll numbers were on decline, with militants angered by his discussions with Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak and his reluctance to use force against Israel in the West Bank. In May 2011, Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation accord. The two factions cited the common cause of being against the Israeli occupation and disillusionment with American peace efforts as reasons for the reconciliation. On Friday, September 23, 2011, Mahmud Abbas officially requested a bid for statehood at the United Nations Security Council. Abbas followed up the request with a speech to the General Assembly in which he said, "I do not believe anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for full admission in the United Nations." On October 18, 2011, Gilad Shalit, a 25-year-old Israeli soldier, was released after being held for more than five years by Hamas. Shalit was exchanged for one thousand Palestinians who had spent years in Israeli jails. Some of the Palestinians released were convicted planners or perpetrators of terrorist attacks. While both sides celebrated the exchange, Israeli soldiers and Palestinians fought in the West Bank. In January 2012, Palestinians in the West Bank protested over rising prices and tax increases. The demonstrators denounced Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. In February, Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshal announced they had formed an interim unity government. On February 29, 2012, Israeli troops along with officials from Israel's Communications Ministry raided two Palestinian television stations in the West Bank. The troops confiscated documents, hard drives and transmitters. Israel's Communications Ministry released a statement saying that the stations were using frequencies that blocked transmissions in Israel, a violation of Israeli-Palestinian agreements. Protests in Palestine turned violent in September 2012 over the increasing cost of living and fuel prices. The Palestinians returned to the U.N. General Assembly in late September 2012 to seek status as a non-member state. On November 14, 2012, Israel launched an attack on Gaza. One of the targets was Hamas military commander, Ahmed al-Jabari. He was killed while traveling through Gaza in a car. The airstrikes were in response to repeated rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel, killing three civilians. Israel's Iron Dome system intercepted several rockets from Gaza. On November 29, 2012, the United Nations General Assembly approved an upgrade from the Palestinian Authority's current observer status to that of a non-member state. Of the 193 nations in the General Assembly, 138 voted in favor of the upgrade in status. In response to the UN vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would not transfer $100 million in tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority and would resume plans to build a 3,000-unit settlement in an area that divides the north and the south parts of the West Bank. In late January 2013, Israel released the $100 million of frozen tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resigned in April 2013 amid infighting among the top echelon of the Palestinian Authority and popular discontent. On June 6, 2013, Rami Hamdallah, member of Fatah, was sworn in as prime minister. Hamas did not recognize his appointment. In July 2013, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agreed to begin peace talks. The initial meeting took place at the State Department in Washington D.C. and was attended by Israel's Justice Minister and chief negotiator Tzipi Livni and senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat. Livni and Erekat both met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, as well as Secretary of State John Kerry. On August 14, 2013, Israelis and Palestinians officially began peace talks in Jerusalem after Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners. On August 26, 2013, Palestinian officials called off peace talks after three protesters were killed by Israeli soldiers. The clash happened after Israeli forces entered the Qalandia refugee camp as part of an arrest raid. Hundreds of Palestinians rushed into the streets throwing rocks, concrete and firebombs at Israeli soldiers. On October 30, 2013, Israel freed another 26 Palestinian prisoners. The day before the prisoner release, militants fired rockets over the border into southern Israel. Israel responded by sending warplanes into the Gaza Strip. Soon after the prisoners were released, it was reported that the Israeli government planned to build 1,500 new homes in east Jerusalem. On November 6, 2013, a team of Swiss scientists released a forensics report supporting the theory that Yasir Arafat was poisoned. The report said that radioactive polonium-210 was found within Arafat's remains. On April 23, 2014, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the PLO's leading faction, Fatah, agreed to a unity pact with Hamas. In June 2014, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed while hiking in the West Bank. The day after their burial in early July, the burned body of a missing Palestinian teenager was found in a forest near Jerusalem. The incidents increased tension between Israelis and Palestinians, including riots and an exchange of rocket fire. Conflict escalated throughout July 2014. Hundreds of rockets were launched into Israel by militant groups in Gaza reaching areas that previous rocket attacks could not. Many of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome. On July 17, 2014, Israel launched a ground offensive into Gaza focusing on tunnels near Gaza's borders that were being used by Hamas to enter Israel. On July 24, an attack on an U.N. elementary school in Gaza killed at least 16 Palestinians and wounded more than 100. Israel denied launching the attack, saying Hamas militants were responsible, missing their target. On August 26, 2014, Israel and Hamas agreed to an open-ended cease-fire. The interim agreement left Hamas in control of Gaza while Israel and Egypt still controlled access to Gaza. In December 2014, the second highest court in the European Union (EU) annulled the bloc's decision to keep Hamas on a list of terrorist organizations. The court ruled the decision to include Hamas was based on reports not considered analysis of the group. The following are some Scriptures that deal with end-time events. All prophecies concerning the nations are leading up to fulfillment of end-time judgments (events).
Ezekiel chapters 38 & 39 Zechariah 13: 8-9 Zechariah 14: 1-16 Daniel chapters 2, 4, 7-12 Matthew 24: 1-51 Mark 13: 1-37 Luke 21: 6-38 The book of Revelation The book of Joel |
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