Why Did Dozens Of U.S. Military Aircraft Recently Fly To The Middle East? (Hint: It Had Nothing To Do With Hamas)

Now that it appears that the war in Gaza is ending, all eyes are on Iran. The Israeli government believes that lasting peace in the Middle East will not be possible until the threat that Iran poses is completely neutralized, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it exceedingly clear that the Iranians will not be permitted to rebuild their nuclear program. Unfortunately, that is precisely what the Iranians are attempting to do, and the Iranian government has indicated that there will be no negotiations with the United States as long as Trump’s campaign of “maximum pressure” remains in place. So the clock is ticking, and many expect Iran to get bombed again sooner rather than later. But once missiles start flying back and forth, events may unfold a lot differently than a lot of the experts were anticipating.

Before I get into all of that, let me start with the good news.

After being given a firm deadline of Sunday evening to decide one way or the other, Hamas has decided to accept President Trump’s 20 point peace plan…

US President Donald Trump demanded Israel stop bombing Gaza “immediately” after Hamas said on Friday night it is willing to release all hostages in an effort to re-enter negotiations over Trump’s deal to end the war in Gaza.

The terrorist organization said in a statement it would release all hostages, living and dead, “according to the exchange formula outlined in President Trump’s proposal, provided that field conditions necessary for the exchange are secured.” Hamas officials later told international media that it would likely take longer than the 72 hours outlined in the US proposal to release them.

This is a stunning development.

All of the hostages will be released, and Israel will begin to withdraw in phases…

The plan will require Hamas to hand over all of the hostages it holds within the first 72 hours of the ceasefire and eventually disarm, while allowing Israel to withdraw its military in phases, pending the fulfillment of certain criteria, such as the establishment of a multinational security force. Israel will maintain a security perimeter and overall security responsibility inside Gaza, Netanyahu said Monday.

President Trump is absolutely thrilled by what has transpired, and he just posted the following message on his Truth Social account…

Now that the war in Gaza has been brought to a conclusion, Iran is really the only major stumbling block standing in the way of a comprehensive peace agreement in the Middle East.

Israel is never going to feel secure as long as Iran’s nuclear program exists, and the Iranians are defiantly declaring that they will never give it up…

Iran will never bow to foreign pressure over its nuclear program, senior cleric Ahmad Khatami said Friday, warning that the country’s uranium enrichment is a nonnegotiable symbol of national sovereignty.

“Death yes, humiliation never,” he said, framing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions as a matter of pride and defiance.

Khatami emphasized that enrichment serves medical, agricultural, and environmental purposes, while rejecting U.S. demands to halt it entirely. He also issued stark threats toward Israel, signaling a bold, uncompromising posture.

I think that the Israelis wanted to achieve a resolution to the conflict in Gaza first, but now that it is over I believe that they will fully focus on Iran.

In fact, many expect something to happen very soon.

One of the reasons why there is so much speculation about military action is because the U.S. just sent dozens of military aircraft to Qatar…

The U.S. military has launched a major deployment of dozens of refueling aircraft to Qatar in recent days, positioning them at Al Udeid Air Force Base in the Gulf kingdom, as well as at other locations in the Middle East and Europe.

The buildup has sparked widespread speculation that Washington may be gearing up for a new round of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Dozens of American Air Force planes — including KC-135 and KC-46A refueling aircraft — were tracked making their way from U.S. air bases across the Atlantic.

The last time large numbers of refueling aircraft were sent to the Middle East, Iran got bombed.

Will it happen again?

Interestingly, President Trump has also issued an executive order which obligates the U.S. to defend Qatar if it is attacked…

US President Donald Trump has pledged to treat any armed attack on Qatar as a threat to the United States’ own security, according to a document published on Wednesday that says US forces could step in to defend the Middle Eastern nation.

The executive order – which appears to significantly deepen the US commitment to its Middle East ally – comes after Israel last month attempted to kill leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha.

That strike, launched with little advance notice to the Trump administration, caused consternation in Washington given the close US relationship with Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the region.

At the end of the “12 Day War” earlier this year, Iran launched missiles at the U.S. base in Qatar.

If that happens this time, that could be used as justification to declare war on Iran.

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, but some military experts are expecting Iran to get hit again very soon.

In fact, Col. Douglas Macgregor believes that it will happen “within the next few weeks at the outside”…

So I fully expect that there will be no warning per se to the American people or to anybody about what ensues. But we do see a decided buildup of aircraft and munitions and missiles being reallocated. Vessels at sea, as well as refueling assets are moving into the region.

Something could happen at almost any time at this point. I would say certainly within the next few weeks at the outside. Because the other problem is you can’t keep armed forces, air, land, sea, in hyper readiness for long periods of time. So there’s a point at which you’ve got to either pull the trigger or get out.

That is rather ominous.

And Israeli politician Avigdor Liberman is warning Israelis to stay near protected spaces during Sukkot…

The festival of Sukkot ends in the middle of October this year.

Is he suggesting that something will occur this month?

The Iranians also seem to believe that something is up, because they have placed their forces on a high state of alert…

Parallel to political disputes, Iran regime’s military, paramilitary, and law enforcement forces have been placed on unprecedented alert. Since September 27, the army, Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Basij, and police have elevated readiness levels, particularly in urban centers. Army units are reportedly on full alert, while the IRGC and Basij, at 70 percent readiness, have suspended routine exercises for urban suppression drills. Law enforcement operates at a 50 percent alert level.

And Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Nejat is warning that if Israel strikes again “our offensive capability will be 10 times the capability we had at the beginning of the 12-day war”…

General Nejat went on to highlight that “increased capabilities is not limited to strengthening tools and systems, but updating operational plans, organized exercises, and coordination between units have also contributed to this improvement.”

He concluded by warning the enemy that, “Today, if the Zionist regime makes that mistake again, our offensive capability will be 10 times the capability we had at the beginning of the 12-day war.”

Everyone knows that “part two” is coming.

It is just a matter of time.

Meanwhile, there have been some very interesting developments on our own side of the world.

Do you remember the “war on drugs” from the 1980s?

Well, President Trump has declared war on drug cartels for real, and from this point forward those that attempt to smuggle drugs into the United States will be considered “unlawful combatants”…

President Trump has decided that the United States is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are “unlawful combatants,” the administration said in a confidential notice to Congress this week.

The notice was sent to several congressional committees and obtained by The New York Times. It adds new detail to the administration’s thinly articulated legal rationale for why three U.S. military strikes the president ordered on boats in the Caribbean Sea last month, killing all 17 people aboard them, should be seen as lawful rather than murder.

Since that New York Times article was published, the U.S. military conducted yet another strike on a boat that was carrying drugs.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says that these strikes will continue “until the attacks on the American people are over”…

If military strikes are limited to boats that are clearly trafficking drugs, it won’t be that big of a deal.

But Newsweek is reporting that there are signs that the U.S. military is preparing to attack Venezuela itself…

Venezuela has accused U.S. combat aircraft of operating just 46 miles off its northern coast, as American forces surge across the Caribbean in what many view as a direct show of military pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government.

Satellite imagery, Pentagon releases, and ship tracking reports reveal stealth jets, Marines, and naval vessels poised across Puerto Rico and the eastern Caribbean, raising the specter of escalating tensions that some say could be the opening moves of a broader confrontation.

Nobody can deny that there has been a significant accumulation of forces in the region.

According to the Washington Examiner, “military planners believe the assembled forces are now sufficient to seize and hold key strategic facilities such as ports and airfields on Venezuelan territory”…

Indeed, the Washington Examiner understands that military planners believe the assembled forces are now sufficient to seize and hold key strategic facilities such as ports and airfields on Venezuelan territory (the Washington Examiner is withholding some details for national security reasons). U.S. control over such locations would allow for the increased, sustained projection of U.S. military power into Venezuela from defensible positions.

The Pentagon hasn’t exactly hidden its preparations for these operations.

A Defense Department readout from late August notes how a training exercise off the U.S. Virgin Islands saw “six special tactics airmen parachuted into the Caribbean Sea with an inflatable boat, 3 miles off the shore. … Eleven more combat controllers and pararescuemen then jumped directly into [an airport] from the same aircraft, with both forces combining to take control of the airfield.”

Wow.

If the Trump administration actually pulls the trigger on this, we will be at war with Venezuela.

Once such a war starts, how will it end?

And is it really wise to begin such a war when we are also facing looming conflicts with Russia, China and Iran?

2025 has been a year of war, but I am convinced that things will go to the next level in 2026.

I hope that you understand what I am saying, and I hope that you are preparing accordingly.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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Michael Snyder is the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, The American Dream Blog and The Truth. You can follow him on Twitter right here.