Quote: ""We will present our plan to the Israelis. It clarifies how we intend to impose order and security in the towns that Israel would be willing to hand over to us," he said, "including what we plan to do regarding all the wanted people in these places." He refused to detail which cities were included in the request, but Ynet has found that Abbas and the delegation will initially ask for control over Ramallah, where the Muqata's and Abbas's offices are, and Bethlehem, which is regarded as a relatively peaceful town. Later on, the Palestinians will also ask for control over another town in the north of the West Bank: Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Nablus or Jenin.

While the mainstream media calls these lands by other names, it is important to remember they are mostly all Biblical places. Nablus is the modern name for the city of Shechem, where Jacob once pitched his tent. Bethlehem's name hasn't changed, and Ramallah is the modern name for Ramah where Samuel the prophet lived. The West Bank is of course modern Judea and Samaria. It's not the first time Israel has handed control of Samarian cities to the Palestinian Authority. Israel had planned to hand control of five cities to the Palestinian Authority in March 2005, but the agreement was postponed after a Palestinian suicide bomber took the lives of five Israelis on February 25th. They later handed control of Jericho and Tulkarem to the Palestinians, but delayed handing over Qalqiliya, Bethlehem and Ramallah due to security concerns. Meanwhile the king of the Ammonites, Abdullah II, has invited Israeli, US and Palestinian peace delegates to Amman in his attempt to push the peace process forward. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is also expected to meet with her Jordanian counterpart tomorrow...

Quote: "The king plans to discuss "means of reviving the peace process on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative" that was readopted in an Arab summit conference Riyadh at the end of March, a senior royal court official said. Abdullah urged Israelis earlier this week to respond to the Arab blueprint, which he said provided for a "rare opportunity" for achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

So an awful lot is going on in regards to the Middle East peace process. Solana had initially hoped that a breakthrough would have come last December, but the talks on the Palestinian unity government failed. Now it seems there is a greater opportunity that ever for a peace agreement to be brokered. WorldNetDaily reported in January that the EU was expecting a major change on the ground in a few months, and it seems that change may now be coming.

Why is it important to remember the ancient Biblical names and places? Because God hasn't changed, and neither has His plan for this world. News about the "West Bank", "Nablus" and "Ramallah" may seem like a very modern problem, but if we examine Scripture we know that we are now living in the last days before the return of Christ. For the Bible states that the world will be in siege against Judea - which of course is the modern West Bank, and that half of Jerusalem will go into captivity - which of course is East Jerusalem, now under Jewish control. The Gaza Strip has been given to the Palestinians, they are no longer "in siege" against it. All that remains is Judea and East Jerusalem. Men like Prime Minister Olmert only see the material, they don't see the spiritual. They don't realize they are dividing God's land, and that this problem will only grow worse until Christ returns to set up His Kingdom. 

This brings us to another problem. Perhaps you also only see the material, and not the spiritual. You see a modern-day conflict, but not the spiritual battle that's going on in the background. Perhaps you don't realize that Jesus Christ is soon coming back, and that those who haven't trusted in Him for salvation will be lost for eternity. Jesus Christ came to this earth 2000 years ago and died for you. He took your sins upon Himself, and took the punishment you deserved from God for them. He rose again from the dead proving God was satisfied with His sacrifice, and now sits at the right hand of His Father in Heaven. But only until the day when He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and brings real and lasting peace to this earth. Have you trusted in Him for salvation? If you are a Christian, are you ready to go to meet Him?

Zechariah 12:2 
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

Mark 13:14-18
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Source YNet News, China Daily, SMH, CBC, People's Daily, Haaretz