Quartet Special Envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair arrived in the region on Monday, as peace negotiations continue between Israel and the Palestinians. Blair met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah yesterday, and was scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak today. An aid to Tony Blair stated that he would be talking on some aspects of the upcoming international conference, to be held in Annapolis, Maryland at the end of next month. US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch is also scheduled to arrive in the region today, followed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday. And as diplomatic activity increases in anticipation of the conference, so do Abbas' demands. Today the Palestinian Authority President demanded nothing less than 6205km of land for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the combined land mass of Judea, Samaria, the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and smaller strips of no-man's land which run along the 1949 armistice lines. Abbas is reported to have agreed to a land transfer of roughly 2%, allowing Israel to keep some settlements in Judea in exchange for Israeli territory of equal size and quality. This territory exchange will allow the creation of a Palestinian land corridor linking Judea and the Gaza Strip, as far as I am aware, effectively dividing Israel into two parts.  

Quote: "In exchange for the West Bank land, Israel is reportedly considering transferring to the Palestinians a strip of area between the Gaza Strip and West Bank to allow for a connection between them.

Public pressure is also mounting on Israel to negotiate a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Over half a million Israelis and Palestinians have signed an online petition, calling for an Israeli withdrawal to the 1948 armistice lines and the establishment of a Palestinian state within a year. The OneVoice movement that organized the petition is planning to hold simultaneous rallies in Tel-Aviv and Jericho next week, which will be broadcast around the world. The founder of the movement, Daniel Lubetzky, warns that unless peace is established between Israel and the Palestinians soon, Islamic ideologies in Gaza will spill over into Judea and Samaria, and ultimately the entire world. 

Quote: ""Every minute delayed in ending the conflict is a minute gained by forces of militant absolutism committed to erase the possibility of a two-state solution," said Daniel Lubetzky, 38, the Mexican-born founder of the OneVoice Movement. "If the Israeli and Palestinian heads of state demonstrate progress over the coming months, they will be able to eventually reverse the debacle in Gaza, by pointing to a positive alternative that will undermine extremism," Lubetzky, a son of Holocaust survivor and a Texas resident, added. "But if they don't, the opposite will happen and fundamentalist extremist ideologies will spread to the West Bank...and the world."

As we can see from today's news, the pressure is on. The Bible states that the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem will be divided (Zechariah 14:2, Revelation 11:2). A plan will be drawn up which shall be agreed by many nations (Daniel 9:27), and strengthened by a European leader (Daniel 9:26) in the region. But the division of the land (Daniel 11:39) will not bring peace (1st Thessalonians 5:3). The extremist ideologies will persist, and will spill over into Judea (Zechariah 14:2, Mark 13:14) and the rest of the world (Revelation 6:4). We are witnessing Biblical prophecy beginning to come to pass before our very eyes. The time is short. Have you trusted Christ for salvation? Never mind preparing for the future, what about eternity?

Isaiah 21:11
The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

Source Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Jerusalem Post