Hamas, Hezbollah coordinating attacks with Iran as IDF warns of rebuilt ‘axis of evil’

Hamas, Hezbollah coordinating attacks with Iran as IDF warns of rebuilt ‘axis of evil’

AMIR BOHBOT

Hamas and Hezbollah have begun coordinating their increased activity with Iranian assistance in recent weeks, the IDF has assessed, as the military has identified increased friction between Israeli forces and terrorists on both the northern and southern fronts.

The IDF has expressed that the coordination is likely an effort to rebuild its axis of evil that would increase pressure on Israel.

According to a military source, a ‘battle of wits’ is taking place around the Ali Taher ridge between the Northern Command and Hezbollah. 

The terrorist organization is trying to determine where IDF troops are positioned, and when it detects movement, it attempts to attack in a "gray area," as it did early Saturday morning with a fiber-optic drone. Three soldiers from the IDF's Yahalom special engineering unit, operating under the Commando Brigade combat team, were wounded as a result.

At the same time, according to reports, Hezbollah is attempting to resupply its operatives who are trapped in underground infrastructure. The IDF, meanwhile, is trying to locate Hezbollah infrastructure and terrorists on the Ali Taher ridge and destroy them.

"Whoever comes out of the underground and surrenders will be taken for questioning in Israel, and whoever remains underground will either die, or we will kill him," a senior military source said.

The Northern Command is also conducting a complex intelligence effort to locate all hidden supply routes and drone activity intended to resupply Hezbollah operatives in the area.

"We are blocking access to the area where they are located. They will not be able to hold out forever," a senior military source familiar with the details said.

According to reports, the operatives have been emerging from underground to search for food.

"What happened on Saturday was that they exposed us with a drone. Whoever is more determined will win. A lot of patience is needed," the source added.

In response, the IDF struck in the Nabatieh area and within territory under the IDF's operational control. Beirut and senior officials from the Shi'ite organization who are hiding there have remained off-limits due to a US demand.

Terry James: God Restrains while Punditry Complains

God Restrains while Punditry Complains

Terry James

President Trump showed beyond any question that he would use the American military to, as he put it, “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear development facility. Operation Midnight Hammer did just that apparently, despite pundits and news sources on the left offering their doubts about the destruction Trump proclaimed.

Therefore, knowing this president’s proclivity to deliver on what he promises—he has proved this many times—the question arises: Why does he keep holding off finishing the job of destroying Iran’s war-making ability? Why does he keep going back to the negotiation table time after time when the Iranian regime reneges on agreements about giving up their nuclear program and continue to assault shipping in the Strait of Hormuz?

It could be conjectured that this incongruity is because Mr. Trump is a master negotiator; after all, he wrote and has lived his book, The Art of the Deal. He likely believes he can work around the Iranian regime negotiators’ lies and deception. He thinks, I imagine, that he can thereby peaceably resolve impending war.

From the biblical prophecy perspective, it seems that he couldn’t be less understanding of what’s ahead for that region of the world and for all of humanity. No matter the results of the endless negotiations or the eventual military action by this president to end Iran’s nuclear ambition and open the Strait of Hormuz, Bible prophecy will prevail. God cannot lie, and His Word on things to come says that Persia will bring a force against Israel. A Persian (Iranian) regime of some sort, hate-filled against Israel, along with the Gog-Magog coalition members, will storm toward Jerusalem. The prophet Ezekiel, in chapters 38–39 of the book by his name, lays out the prophecy.

I will let you look it up.

As of this writing, the situation is that President Trump has decided, despite attacks by Iran on ships passing through the Strait, thus again breaking all negotiation promises, to again refrain from completely destroying Iran’s war-making ability. Here is a report:

President Donald Trump says he has reached the “parameters” of a deal with Middle East allies aimed at ending the Iran war—while for now, holding off on fresh U.S. strikes that could further inflame an already dangerous conflict.

In a Saturday evening post on social media, Trump said that the emerging agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Strait of Hormuz, alongside an end to what he described as Iran’s nuclear threat. He said he agreed to cancel attacks “for the future benefit of the WORLD” and “likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran,” adding that the pause would last only so long as Washington could rapidly make a deal.

Trump’s message also indicated Israel would join the U.S. in pushing to finalize the understanding. Iran, meanwhile, offered no immediate public response.

The announcement marks another sudden turn in a war now about five months old—one that has repeatedly shifted in purpose, timing, and intensity. When the United States and Israel began strikes on Feb. 28, the stated objectives included destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and ending support for allied armed groups across the region. But the administration’s timeline and operational targets have come under strain, as the conflict has swung between negotiations and escalation. (“Trump Says Mideast Allies Have Reached Outlines of Deal to End Iran War, Says US to Stop New Strikes,” SRN News (AP) August 3, 2026)

Many pundits on the political left, and even those on the right who agree with most of the Trump administration policies, have accused that Mr. Trump is falling prey to Iran’s (Persia’s) legendary ability to outwit those with whom they deal. Others express that the Trump brain trust is just making sure all-out war doesn’t break out just before mid-term elections. This might greatly sway voters to vote against such a war-making president, thus against his party’s candidates for Congress.

My own thinking on this is quite different. I’m of the conviction that at the center of all of this are considerations found within the pre-Trib view of God’s prophetic Word (the view that, incidentally, makes the most sense in the overall prophetic truth I find in the Bible).

In this regard, I have no doubt it is God Himself who is holding things up at this point, in the matter of Trump considering whether to negotiate with or destroy militarily what’s left of Iran’s war-making capability. God, the Holy Spirit, is the Restrainer, God’s Word informs. He—the Restrainer—is holding back the complete destruction of this evil regime. He is doing so for the fulfillment of the entirety of Bible prophecy.

This might seem confusing until one knows and accepts that the God of all Creation is outside time that governs this earthly sphere. He knows the end from the beginning and has, to a large degree, said what will come to pass in the near and distant future.

God has said the Persians (Iranians) will attack His chosen people, Israel. He Himself will destroy all but one-sixth of the Iranian (Persian) force as it comes with the Gog-Magog coalition in that future assault described in the prophetic Word. So, whether those of the current evil regime are in control or a future such regime is formed, an army of Iranians (Persians) will come down over the mountains of Israel from the north They will be, as Mr. Trump would say, “obliterated”—all but totally destroyed by the very hand of Almighty God.

I strongly suspect that this—the restraining hand of God—is at the heart of the incongruency apparent in the Trump-Iranian negotiation/military action matter. Thus so that there will be at least a nucleus of that wicked regime to gather forces when the prophetic timing is in place for the Gog-Magog attack.

This will not be God being complicit in the evil intended by those forces that will come against Israel; rather, it will be proof of His omniscience and His omnipotent control in bringing this world that opposes Him to judgment. The Ezekiel prophecy says that through this God will reveal to the world Who He is:

Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 39:5–6)

King Jesus is the ultimate proof of God’s staying hand of restraint and judgment. Christ will, one millennial day, sit on the throne ruling and reigning for a thousand years. Present-day arrangements are being orchestrated by that restraining hand in preparation for Heaven’s promise as follows:

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalms 2: 6-12)

Ukraine Fails to Shoot Down Single Ballistic, Hypersonic Missile Last Night

Ukraine Fails to Shoot Down Single Ballistic, Hypersonic Missile Last Night - Reports

Sputnik

Ukraine did not shoot down a single ballistic or hypersonic missile last night, the Ukrainian news outlet reported on Sunday, citing the Ukrainian air force. 

According to the news outlet, the main areas of the strike were the Kiev, Poltava, and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

Earlier, Russian forces also struck Ukrainian military airfield infrastructure, fuel, energy and transport facilities, as well as sites used to assemble and store long-range drones and unmanned boats. Temporary deployment sites for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries were also hit in 159 areas.

In early August, Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine lacked enough Patriot missiles to intercept incoming strikes, while a senior Ukrainian lawmaker described the country’s air-defense situation as the worst since 2022.

Ukraine Begs Citizens to Stock Up on Food as Corruption Turns It Into Black Hole For Western Aid

Exhausted health workers in Congo struggle to keep up as Ebola outpaces contact tracing

Exhausted health workers in Congo struggle to keep up as Ebola outpaces contact tracing

CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA

MARK BANCHEREAU

Every day, community health worker Gédéon Banga Ngbape and his team fan out across communities in eastern Congo looking for people who may have crossed paths with the country’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.

The workers investigate dozens of alerts, search for those exposed to suspected or confirmed cases and try to get anyone showing symptoms into care before the virus spreads further.

But the surveillance system is increasingly failing to keep pace with the virus. Between 60% and 70% of new Ebola cases are being detected among people who were not already being monitored as contacts, meaning health workers may only discover infections after patients become sick and have had opportunities to expose others.

“If surveillance does not work well, the entire response suffers,” Ngbape said. “Surveillance is the engine of a response.”

The outbreak has killed over 2,200 people out of more than 4,700 cases, according to the latest government figures. This death toll has been reached almost three times faster than in the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa — the worst in history. That outbreak claimed over 11,000 lives.

“We are chasing the virus; the virus is ahead of us,” said WHO regional director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, this week.

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher on Friday announced an additional $30.5 million in emergency funding to help tackle the Ebola outbreak.

In Nizi, Ngbape’s surveillance teams say they receive an average of 60 to 70 alerts a day. They move through communities to investigate suspected infections, follow people who have been in contact with suspected or confirmed cases and direct those showing possible symptoms to health facilities.

The work can stretch deep into the night.

“I leave in the morning at 8 and return around 11 p.m., sometimes midnight,” Ngbape said. “I still have to follow up and plan the next activities. I feel really tired, but what matters to me is always being of service to the community.”

The current outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo Ebola virus, is unfolding in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus, though trials are underway. Strikes by some unpaid health workers, threats by rebel groups, anger from long-traumatized communities and misinformation asserting that Ebola isn’t real have significantly hindered the response.

The gaps are especially consequential in Nizi, one of the most affected health zones in Ituri province, which accounts for about 90% of Congo’s Ebola cases and 80% of its deaths. 

“We started surveillance with fewer workers,” Ngbape said. “The challenges are enormous,” he added.

On Thursday, health workers at the Nizi Treatment Center went on strike and the facility temporarily closed. Ngbape said the health workers have not been paid in over three months.

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2 powerful earthquakes hit Indonesia in one day, killing at least 47

2 powerful earthquakes hit Indonesia in one day, killing at least 47

CBS

A 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday killed at least 47 people, a disaster management official said, revising an earlier toll. A second, 6.4-magnitude quake struck the country's western Sumatra island later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Authorities said dozens more residents were injured and warned that the death toll would almost certainly rise.

Authorities issued a tsunami warning and urged coastal residents to move to higher ground, but later lifted the warning when Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said monitoring showed no significant sea-level changes that would pose a threat to coastal communities.

The U.S Geological Survey said the quake hit Indonesia's Flores region at 5:58 a.m. local time. Its epicenter was 42 miles north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The meteorological agency said the quake was followed by at least 235 aftershocks, with the largest recorded at magnitude 6.2.

The head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Suharyanto, said rescuers have recovered at least 47 bodies, mostly in Sikka, Manggarai and East Manggarai, and at least 50 people were taken to hospitals.

Suharyanto, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name, said the quake flattened at least 157 houses and damaged nearly 200 more, forcing about 2,000 villagers to abandon their homes and move to temporary shelters.

East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief Rudi Darmoko said the earthquake caused severe damage and collapsed buildings. He said power outages in cities and villages have hampered the flow of information and complicated search and rescue efforts.

"We are continuing to collect reports of damage and casualties, but there are communication disruptions," Darmoko said. He said that landslides in Ende regency triggered by the earthquake, also cut off the Trans-Flores highway, a roughly 435-mile paved mountain road spanning Flores Island, from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka.

The powerful tremor also destroyed more than 100 public facilities, including schools, medical centers and churches.

"I have never felt an earthquake this big," Yulian Juita Ekalia, who lives in Ruteng city more than 60 miles west of the epicentre, told AFP.

"It felt like we were on a trampoline; it was really scary," said the 37-year-old university lecturer. "As I rushed to get outside, everything in the house fell down: the television, my son's trophies, the dish racks, suitcases on top of the wardrobes. When I got outside, my son and neighbours were already there, screaming in fear."

The death toll could rise because landslides triggered by the earthquake buried or cut off many remote villages across six regencies on Flores Island, said Fathur Rahman, who heads the Search and Rescue Office in Maumere, the capital of Sikka.

The National Disaster Management Agency deployed a helicopter to assist with logistics and support emergency response operations, including possible evacuations if needed, the agency said in a statement.

The air support is considered crucial given East Nusa Tenggara's geography, which consists of numerous islands and presents significant transportation and access challenges.

It said that about 2,000 villagers in Nagekeo regency fled their homes to temporary shelters.