“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at
the coming of the Son of Man.” Mt. 24:37
AIR STRIKE ON SYRIAN AIR BASE: Four Iranian military personnel were killed in an air strike on a Syrian air base on Sunday, 8 April 2018. Syria and its main allies Iran and Russia blamed Israel for carrying out the attack. Israel has not confirmed or denied mounting the raid, but Israeli officials said the Tiyas, or T-4, air base near Homs was being used by troops from Iran, and that Israel would not accept such a presence in Syria by its arch foe. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, said at least 14 people were killed in the Sunday’s raid, including some fighters of various nationalities. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi condemned the attack, calling it “an obvious breach of international laws that would make the Syrian crisis and regional equations more complicated”. The attack took place hours after USA President Donald Trump warned of a “big price to pay” following the reports of a poison gas attack on the rebel-held town of Douma which killed dozens of people, including children. (J.Post)

SYRIAN REGIME STRUCK REBEL-HELD TOWN WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS: The Syrian regime of Bashar Assad on Saturday 7 April 2018 again used chemical weapons against a rebel-held area. Syrian rebels and a medical organization both reported an assault on the town of Douma. They claimed the attack employed chlorine gas that killed 150 people and injured an estimated 1000 victims. The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) also stated that the chlorine attack was followed by the use of nerve gas against civilians. Assad’s regime has been accused of using chemical weapons several times. In 2013, following a chemical attack, Syria claimed to have handed its entire chemical arsenal over to Russia to be destroyed. However, in 2014, 2015, and 2017 Assad was accused of employing chemical weapons against rebel-held areas. One volunteer rescue force tweeted graphic images showing scores of bodies in a basement. It said the death toll is likely to rise. The attacks came as Syrian government forces have resumed deadly bombardments of the last opposition holdout in the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus. (Reuters/UK Daily Mail) Pray with mercy for those who have suffered such cruel injuries and loss in the latest Syrian chemical attack. “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Ps. 82:3-4

TRUMP THREATENS TO RETALIATE ON SYRIA FOR CHEMICAL ATTACK: President Donald Trump on Sunday 8 April 2018 condemned a “mindless CHEMICAL attack” in Syria that killed women and children. A top aide asked about the possibility of a USA missile strike in response, said, “I wouldn’t take anything off the table.” Trump, without elaboration, said there would be a “big price to pay” and he called Syrian President Bashar Assad an “animal.” Just over a year ago, Trump ordered dozens of cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base after declaring there was no doubt Assad had “choked out the lives of helpless” civilians in an attack that he said used banned gases. Saturday’s attack took place in a rebel-held town near Damascus, the capital, amid a resumed offensive by Syrian government forces after the collapse of a truce. Syrian activists, rescuers and medics said a poison gas attack killed dozens of people, with entire families found suffocated in their houses and shelters. Trump said in a tweet Sunday that the “area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world.” He said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran, influential Syrian backers, “are responsible for backing Animal Assad.” Trump called for the area to be opened “immediately” for medical aid and verification. Trump’s homeland security adviser, Thomas Bossert, noted the timing of the suspected chemical attack — almost a year to the day of the USA missile strikes.” (Ynet)

ISRAEL CONDEMNS SYRIA CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK: Israel strongly condemns the 8 April 2018 chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces on civilians in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said. “The Syrian regime continues to commit crimes against humanity. This last attack is only the most recent of dozens of instances of the use of chemical weapons by the regime since Assad committed to take abandon such weapons,” in 2013, the statement continued. “Syria blatantly violates its commitments and the decisions of the international community” The statement follows the 9 April 2018 airstrike, widely ascribed to Israel, on the Tiyas Military Airbase in Syria. (J.Post)

UK AND USA SAY SUSPECTED SYRIA GAS ATTACK BEARS HALLMARKS OF ASSAD GOV’T: Britain and the United States agreed on Monday 9 April 2018 that a poison gas attack in Syria bears the hallmarks of previous chemical weapons attacks carried out by Bashar Assad’s Syrian government. Following a telephone call between British foreign minister Boris Johnson and acting USA Secretary of State John Sullivan, a spokeswoman said: “The Foreign Secretary and Acting Secretary of State agreed that, based on current media reports and reports from those on the ground, this attack bore hallmarks of previous chemical weapons attacks by the Assad regime. They reiterated their commitment to standing up for the Chemical Weapons Convention and to ensuring that those responsible for this horrific attack are held to account.” (J.Post)

ASSAD REGIME PLACES TANKS, ARTILLERY IN BUFFER ZONE WITH ISRAEL: The Bashar Assad regime in its preparations for an offensive to retake southern Syria and the Syrian Golan Heights from rebel groups, placed tanks and heavy artillery inside the demilitarized buffer zone on the country’s border with Israel. The step violates the Agreement on Disengagement signed in 1974 between Israel and Syria, which concluded the Yom Kippur War. Israel is expected to complain to the UN peacemaking force. The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force has patrolled the buffer zone between Syria and Israel since 1974, a year after the war ended. For nearly four decades, UNDOF helped enforce a stable truce between the two countries, but the Syrian civil war has now spilled into the area. Since most UN staff has been moved out of Syria due to the bloody war and are now watching at a safe distance from Israel, it is unclear if the international body can force the Assad regime to halt its military presence in the buffer zone. The six-year conflict has seen not only some intense fighting in the buffer zone but the abduction of peacekeepers by al-Qaeda-linked anti-Syrian government terrorists, and other attacks that prompted several countries to withdraw their soldiers. Israel has tried to stay out of the civil war in Syria and refrained from taking sides, but has responded to spillover fire on numerous occasions and warned the Assad regime against attack. (Times of Israel) Continue to intercede for the safety of Israel’s northern borders, her communities and those who are serving in the IDF.

HAMAS-LED GAZA MOBS FLY NAZI FLAG IN CONFRONTING ISRAEL: In most Western countries, a demonstration that utilizes Nazi imagery would never be characterized as “peaceful” in nature because the Nazi agenda is anything but peaceful. So, one must wonder why the international mainstream media is describing the Palestinian demonstrations along the Gaza security fence in such terms. Forget the thousands of burning tires, the hurling of stones and firebombs and the under-reported use of guns and makeshift explosives. The fact that those participating in Friday’s 6 April, 2018, Gaza riot flew a flag adorned with a swastika should tell one everything what they need to know about the nature of this “peaceful demonstration.” But, just in case the message was lost in translation, Israel PM Netanyahu clarified: “I salute the soldiers of the IDF who keep us safe from those who pretend to speak of human rights, while holding a Nazi flag. Here is the naked truth. They speak of human rights, but they really want to crush the Jewish state. We won’t let them. We’ll stand strong. We’ll keep our country safe.” The Nazi flag and the ideology behind it mean but one thing for both Israel and the Palestinian nationalist movement – the eradication of the Jewish people. (Israel Today) Intercede according to scripture: “The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” Isa 2:17

PALESTINIANS SAY UN NO LONGER CREDIBLE BECAUSE IT LETS AMERICA VETO STUFF: It’s not because it puts repressive regimes like Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran on the councils responsible for human and women’s rights. No, the UN has lost all credibility because it allows America to prevent the Palestinians from wasting the world’s time with pointless (and unsubstantiated) condemnations of Israel. That, of course, is according to the Palestinian Authority itself. On Saturday 7 April 2018 the Palestinian leadership demanded that the UN revoke America’s right to veto Security Council resolutions and statements. A day earlier, the USA had blocked a Security Council draft condemning Israel for the Palestinian deaths that occurred during the violent mass demonstrations along the Gaza security fence. Most of the Security Council wanted yet another “independent investigation” into what had happened. But it’s not rocket science. The facts seem pretty clear. Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, sent tens of thousands of Gazans in an admitted effort to breach sovereign Israeli territory. Israeli soldiers did their job in protecting the border, while taking unprecedented measures to avoid large-scale casualties. It’s no less than any other country would do to prevent a hostile mass infiltration. And the Palestinian Authority’s hopeless attempt to upend one of the main mechanisms of the UN (the veto power enjoyed by the world’s top powers) is evidence of just how desperate they’ve become as the international community grows increasingly weary of their charade. (Israel Today)

70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FOR ISRAEL IN LONDON: Vision for Israel is having a 70th birthday celebration for Israel in London on 12 May 2018. We request the pleasure of your company for the festivities. There will be prayer and intercession for the nation of Israel, special times of praise and worship, a great teaching on Israel and the fulfillment of prophecy. Speakers include Dennis Greenidge, David Hoff brand, Rev. Jones Boateng, Derek Walker, Simon Barrett, Barry Segal, Need Shahab and Alistair Scott. Location: Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 3DW Date: Saturday, May 12, 2018, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

For more information, you can go to our website, and click on events. To obtain your tickets now go to: https://celebratingisraels70th-london.eventbrite.com Or call the UK office on 01793 279 111. We hope to see you there!