Syria: More than 150 dead from chemical weapons attack

April 8, 2018 — Israel National News reports: “At least 150 people were killed in the city of Douma, east of Damascus, after the Assad army’s air force bombed the area.

According to reports, there is a suspicion that chemical weapons, including the sarin nerve agent, were used in the bombing. Opposition sources report that airplanes dropped barrels of chemical materials on the city and its residents.

More than 1,000 civilians have been affected by inhalation of the chemical substance and are suffering from severe suffocation. On Syrian television, a thick cloud of smoke could be seen rising from Douma.

The State Department responded last night to the reports and said it was checking them. A statement from Washington said that if Assad was found to have used chemical weapons, Russia would be held accountable and the matter would be accompanied by a response from the international community…”  (According to the web page: I Am Syria: http://www.iamsyria.org/death-tolls.html there have been over 500,000 deaths in Syria since 2011.  The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the total at 511,000.  There were 10,204 civilians killed in Syria in 2017 – including 2,298 children and 1,536 women.  There have been 3,404 civilian deaths so far in 2018 – more than 1,000 of them have been children according to the UN.  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has carried out numerous inhumane tactics such as chemical weapons, and barrel bombs, both classified as weapons of terror.  President al-Assad had better beware – there is a prophecy in Isaiah that has yet to be fulfilled: “The burden of Damascus.  Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap” – Isaiah 17:1.  Damascus is widely believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, but God’s Word declares that will end.  See the next two reports.)

Trump Blames Putin, Iran for Syrian Chemical Attack, Vowing ‘Big Price to Pay’

April 8, 2018 — Voice of America News reports: “U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran on Sunday for a ‘mindless chemical attack’ in Syria that killed at least 40 people, vowing there would be a ‘big price to pay.’

In a rare direct condemnation of the Russian leader, Trump declared, ‘President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible’ for their support of ‘Animal Assad,’ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

‘Big price to pay,’ Trump said in one of a string of Twitter comments. ‘Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!’

Trump did not say how the U.S. might respond, but Homeland Security and counterterrorism adviser Thomas Bossert told ABC News, ‘I wouldn’t take anything off the table.’…”

Syria ‘chemical attack’: France’s President Macron says he has proof

April 12, 2018 — BBC News reports: “France’s President Emmanuel Macron says he has ‘proof’ that the Syrian government attacked the town of Douma with chemical weapons last weekend.

He said he would decide ‘in due course’ whether to strike Syria.

Western states are thought to be preparing for missile strikes in response to the alleged attack.

In Russia, Syria’s main military ally, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged against ‘any steps which could lead to an escalation of tensions’.

US President Donald Trump, who said on Wednesday that missiles were ‘coming’, has now tweeted that he ‘never said when’…”

Pentagon: U.S., allies launched 105 missiles in Syria, ‘successfully’ hit all three targets

April 14, 2018 — FoxNews.com reports: “The Pentagon said Saturday that the U.S.-led allied missile strikes in Syria successfully hit all three targets and have ‘significantly crippled’ Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ability to make more chemical weapons.

‘I think we dealt them a severe blow,’ Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Pentagon after the overnight bombing. ‘We’ve attacked the heart of the Syrians’ chemical weapons program.’

McKenzie identified the targets as Barzah Research and Development, the Him Shinshar Chemical Weapons Storage Site and the Him Shinshar Bunker Facility. He also said a total 105 missiles were launched by air and sea, all hitting their targets within minutes.

The strikes, in Douma, near Damascus, were launched in response to evidence that the Assad regime killed civilians in an April 7 chemical attack, the latest in country’s years-long civil war…”  (Russia has been a vocal opponent of the missile strikes.  They threatened to shoot down any missiles fired at Syria, but they did not.  Russia is warming up for Armageddon. Soon a peace program will be contracted for the Middle East nations – Daniel 11: 21, 24. It will be a peace contract for seven years but broken after 42 months – Daniel 9:27. Russia is the nation that then says: “…I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations…” – Ezekiel 38:11, 12. See the next two reports.)

Haley warns US is ‘locked and loaded’ if Syria uses chemical weapons again

April 14, 2018 — FoxNews.com reports: “U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Saturday that the United States is ‘locked and loaded’ if Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime uses chemical gas again in the country.

Haley made the remarks at a fiery meeting of the U.N. Security Council, in which Russia and the U.S. traded barbs over the decision of the U.S., France and the United Kingdom to launch strikes in Syria on Friday in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons last week in Douma. A draft resolution from Russia condemning the strike failed in a vote, with only Bolivia and China voting alongside Russia.

While the Trump administration has said the strikes are now over, with Trump declaring: ‘Mission Accomplished!’ on Saturday morning, Haley warned in her remarks that should the Assad regime use such weapons again, strikes could resume…”

Israel Admits to Striking Syria: ‘It Was the First Time We Attacked Live Iranian Targets’

April 16, 2018 — Haaretz reports: “A senior Israeli military official admitted to The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman that Israel targeted the Iranian drone command center at the T4 air base in Syria last week. ‘It was the first time we attacked live Iranian targets — both facilities and people,’ said the Israeli military source.

The official noted that the armed Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace ‘opened a new period,’ saying that ‘this is the first time we saw Iran do something against Israel — not by proxy.’…”