This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog under the title: Will The Assassination Of The Brother-In-Law Of The Leader Of Hezbollah Take Us Into The Next Chapter Of World War 3?

How is this cycle of escalation going to end?  Each day, either Hezbollah or Israel is escalating matters to a dangerous new level.  A war between the two parties has already begun, and at this point, I don’t see any way to avoid a full-blown regional war that will result in tremendous death and destruction.  Many had been hoping that cooler heads would prevail in 2024, but instead this new year has started with a series of very alarming escalations…

In the last week alone, an Israeli airstrike has killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, Hezbollah struck a sensitive Israeli base with rockets and Israel killed a senior Hamas militant with an airstrike in Beirut.

Each strike and counterstrike increases the risk of the catastrophic war in Gaza spilling across the region.

In the decades-old standoff pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and allied militant groups, there are fears that any party could trigger a wider war if only to avoid appearing weak. A U.S. airstrike killed an Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad last week, and the U.S. Navy recently traded fire with Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

We are so close to the edge now.

Is there still any hope that we could avoid the unthinkable?

It is being reported that the Biden administration is working very hard to prevent “a full-blown war from erupting”…

President Biden has dispatched his top aides to the Middle East with a critical objective: Prevent a full-blown war from erupting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Israel has made clear it views as untenable the regular exchange of fire between its forces and Hezbollah along the border and may soon launch a major military operation in Lebanon.

“We prefer the path of an agreed-upon diplomatic settlement,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday, “but we are getting close to the point where the hourglass will turn over.”

After everything that has happened, the Israeli government will not be satisfied until all Hezbollah forces are north of the Litani River.

And Hezbollah will never withdraw north of the Litani River willingly, and so the IDF will be used to drive them back.

Needless to say, once the IDF moves into southern Lebanon events will start to move very, very quickly.

On Monday, a senior Hezbollah commander who was reportedly the mastermind behind the missile attack on Meron Air Force Base in northern Israel was killed by an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon…

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon today killed a senior commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, escalating fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could spiral into a wider Middle East war.

Wissam Hassan Tawil, the deputy head of a unit within the Radwan force, died alongside another Hezbollah fighter when their car, a Honda SUV, was targeted in a strike on the Lebanese village of Majdal Selm.

He was the highest-ranking Hezbollah member to be killed since Israel and the Lebanese group began exchanging cross-border fire following Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

But this wasn’t just some random Hezbollah military leader.

It is being widely reported that he was actually the brother-in-law of Hassan Nasrallah…

The top Hezbollah commander Wissam Hassan Tawil was killed in a roadside bomb attack targeting his car in southern Lebanon today.

Tawil was the brother-in-law of the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

Up to this point, Nasrallah has been hesitant to pull the trigger on a full-blown war with Israel.

But now a member of his own family has been assassinated.

So what will he do now?

More Hezbollah fighters are dying with each passing day.  In fact, we are being told that a total of 130 Hezbollah fighters have died so far…

Since Hamas launched its unprecedented terror attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, there have been almost daily exchanges of fire along the Israel-Lebanon border between Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces.

At least 175 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 130 Hezbollah fighters, according to the AFP news agency. At least nine soldiers and four civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to officials in the country, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes in border communities due to the ongoing fighting.

Sadly, this is just the very beginning.

The war in the Middle East is still only in the very early chapters, and so much death and destruction are ahead.

Meanwhile, the situation on the border between North Korea and South Korea has gotten so tense that the South Koreans have actually ordered the evacuation of Yeonpyeong Island…

South Korea has ordered civilians on the western border island of Yeonpyeong Island to evacuate to shelters, officials said Friday, amid apparent signs of a military provocation by North Korea.

The emergency evacuation order was given at 12:02 p.m. and again at 12:30 p.m. on Friday at the request of the South Korean military, according to the local county office.

I don’t think that North Korea is on the verge of invading just yet, but if the U.S. is distracted by multiple conflicts elsewhere in the world the North Koreans may see an opportunity to make a move.

The war in Ukraine is also heating up, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly identified the U.S. and other Western powers as the real enemy of Russia…

Russian president Vladimir Putin has claimed the West is the real “enemy” as his invasion of Ukraine approaches its second anniversary.

The former KGB operative, who is seeking re-election in March, claimed forces in western countries including the US and Britain were working to destroy “Russian statehood” – and providing weapons to Ukraine to ensure the world’s largest country suffered a “strategic defeat” on the battlefield.

While speaking to a wounded soldier at a military hospital, Putin claimed that “Ukraine itself is not our enemy”.

He added: “The point is not that they (the West) are helping our enemy. They are our enemy.

We are living in a time of wars and rumors of wars, and the U.S. military may be required to fight more than one major war simultaneously.

Is our military prepared for that?

Of course not.

In fact, the size of the U.S. Army has fallen to the lowest level since 1940…

By the end of 2023, there will be only 452,000 active-duty soldiers in the US Army, the smallest force since 1940, Defense News recently reported.

In this vein, the international military news outlet pointed to recruiting shortfalls in the U.S. Army that could result in 3,000 Army Special Operations troops being cut before the end of this year.

Once upon a time, we had the greatest military machine on the entire planet.

But at this stage, the U.S. military has been transformed into a politically correct joke that is really good at conducting diversity seminars and pride marches.

Now World War 3 has begun, and I have a feeling that we are going to pay a very great price for allowing our military to decline so precipitously.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream, and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial, or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and anyway that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.