Shall we know peace on this earth in this century? Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019, the earth has not known rest and peace. Between 2020 and 2022, there were brutal lockdowns in most parts of the earth, forcing many companies to lay off workers. Even in this year (2025), many companies and the US government are laying off workers. This caused and is causing unprecedented hardship, shortage of goods, and inflation. While the earth was still going through the ramifications of the coronavirus, Russia launched an invasion on Ukraine, pushing the earth towards a nuclear catastrophe.
Since February 2022, millions of people have been dislodged from their homes in Ukraine and thousands have died. The war in Ukraine led to several governments putting an embargo on Russian oil, which sent oil prices skyrocketing, leading to very high prices for fertilizers, food, and everything that humans need. This high inflation (prices) of goods and services have made many people poorer, leading them into debts and despair. Many countries in Eastern Africa, who depend on Russia and Ukraine for wheat and oil, were severely affected by the war, leading to starvation in some regions.
Millions of African living in the Sahel region (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Sudan) are living in great fear and uncertainty as they suffer from both militants who are terrorizing them with death and coup d’états. Hundreds of people have been killed this year alone within this region by these terrorists while millions have been displaced. Owing to this insecurity, military leaders are toppling governments in these countries. This year alone, governments in Burkina, Mali, and Niger have been overthrown and replaced by military juntas. Yet, these military governments have been unable to quell the terrorists’ activities in these Sahelian areas, causing a refugee crisis among the affected population.
In February 2023, the world woke up to horrifying news of a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The earthquake was so devastating that it destroyed many buildings in both countries, throwing thousands of people into the streets and destroying the property and livelihoods of millions. This was followed immediately with several thousand aftershocks in the subsequent days, which also destroyed many more houses. The earthquake was so devastating that it killed more than 55,000 people and injured nearly 130,000 people. The magnitude (7.8 on the Richter scale) of the earthquake was one of the highest the world has ever known.
In early August 2023, series of wildfires broke out in the US State of Hawaii, particularly in Maui, killing at least 98 people and displacing thousand from their homes. It is estimated that 2200 buildings were destroyed by this fire. Just recently, Los Angeles was on fire, destroying thousands of home and displacing millions of people who are still suffering from their loss.
Almost a month later (after the Maui fires) on 8th September 2023, another great earthquake (magnitude 6.8–6.9) struck Morocco’s Marrakesh–Safi region, at around 11.11pm Morocco time. More than 2,900 people were killed and 5,500 people injured. The earthquake was felt as far away as Casablanca, Algeria, and Portugal. Exactly two days after the earthquake in Morocco, within the same North African and Mediterranean region, on 10th September 2023, heavy rains caused by Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding across eastern Libya. “The floods overwhelmed two dams, sending a wall of water several meters high through the center of Derna, destroying entire neighborhoods and sweeping people out to sea.” So far, 11,300 people have died with more than 10,000 missing. A lot of dead bodies were found on the seashore and thousands of homes were destroyed by the catastrophic floods.
Another month later, on Saturday October 7, 2023, an earthquake with a similar strength (magnitude 6.3) as that of Morocco struck again in Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. On the 11th of October, another earthquake of the same strength struck again and on the 13th of October, a third earthquake struck again, also of the same strength and within the same region as the first two earthquakes. These three earthquakes have produced several aftereffects, leading to several houses being destroyed. Between 1,000 and 1,384 people died, although the exact figure is unknown; at least 1,853 others were injured and 485 remain missing days afterwards. Of these four countries, Afghanistan was the most affected.
Within the same region in the Middle East and prior to the Afghanistan earthquake, Azerbaijan launched a surprise attack on Armenians living in a contested region called Nagorno-Karabakh between 19th and 20th September 2023. This led to terror and a mass exodus of almost all the ethnic Armenians living in this region into Armenia. The Armenian government said the number of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh had reached 100,617 on 3 October, nearly the entire current population of Nagorno-Karabakh. While Azerbaijan is backed by Russia and Turkey, Armenia is backed by Europe and the United States. Iran has also warned Azerbaijan to stay off that piece of land. Azerbaijan has threatened to seize parts of Armenian territory and there are fears that they will attack Armenia anytime soon. This has created a heightened tension between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Iran, and there are fears that another war will easily erupt between these countries to engulf the whole region.
On the same day that the first earthquake struck in Afghanistan, Hamas, a militant terrorist organization that rules the Gaza strip launched a three-pronged operation into Southern Israel via sea, land, and air. They broke down the security wall separating Israel and Gaza, walked into towns and villages surrounding Gaza and started killing, raping, burning, and abducting innocent citizens including children, old people, and holocaust survivors. More than 1300 Israelites, including 258 soldiers, were killed and more than 150 have been abducted and sent to Gaza. More than 3000 people, including foreigners in Israel, were wounded. Israel has retaliated by declaring war on Hamas and starting an unprecedented bombing of the Gaza strip, placing it under a siege, and cutting off all water, electricity, and food supplies to the region.
Israel has asked more than 1 million inhabitants of northern Gaza to evacuate to the South and vice versa. This created a humanitarian crisis that is unprecedented since Gaza was founded. The war between Hamas and Israel led to more than 48,833 deaths in Gaza and countless injuries. When the way abated in Gaza, Israel launched a blitzkrieg attack on Hezbollah, another terrorist organization in Lebanon, starting with pagers and walkie talkies blasting off throughout Lebanon. They later killed most of their leaders and their commander, Hassan Nasrallah in a devastating bomb attack. Hezbollah is currently a pale shadow of itself.
The leader of Hamas was also killed while on a visit to Iran by Israel. These combined attacks led to exchange of ballistic missiles and drone attacks between Israel and Iran. The Houthis of Yemen also joined the fray, bombing and seizing ships, and sending ballistic missiles to Israel. It is obvious that the Middle East and Mediterranean regions are in dangerous times, both from wars and natural catastrophes. In all these situations, hundreds of thousands of lives are being destroyed.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is being pounded daily with Russian weapons and losing ground in the East. They are looking desperately for a means to end the war and regain their lost territories back from Russia. Yet, the new administration in Washington seems to be on the side of Russia and only want to obtain a minerals deal from Ukraine that will give Americans some rights and ownership of the rare earth minerals in Ukraine.
Will the earth know peace again? We pray it does. Happy Sabbath.
