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Every week, we post seven to ten news stories from Israel with a suggested prayer focus and scripture for each one, guiding readers how to pray for Israel’s most urgent needs. This Prayer Update is also sent to over 18,000 subscribers every Friday by e-mail. Please contact us at intl.office@bridgesforpeace.com if you would like to receive this Prayer Update by e-mail.
Israel Moving to ‘Full Offense’ Gaza will ‘Change 180 Degrees’
by JNS
Israel Defense Forces soldiers take up positions in the southern Israeli city of Sderot to defend Israelis against Hamas terrorists.
Wednesday, 11 October 2023 | Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday night that the military is moving to “full offense” in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“We have released all restraints, regained control of the [border] area, and are moving to full offense,” Gallant told troops during a visit to the south.
“You will have the ability to change reality here. You have seen the prices paid. Hamas wanted a change in Gaza. It will change 180 degrees from what it thought,” the minister said. “They will regret this moment. Gaza will never return to what it was. Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors—we will eliminate them with all our might and without compromise.”
The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] continued to pound Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as the war sparked by the Palestinian terrorist group’s brutal October 7 attack on the Jewish state entered its fourth day.
The military said it struck the shaft of an underground tunnel and other assets used by Hamas to penetrate Israeli territory on Saturday and indiscriminately butcher at least 1,200 Israeli men, women, and children.
Israel Air Force fighter jets also struck a mosque containing a Hamas operations-and-command center used to coordinate this weekend’s Iranian-backed attack, in addition to “widespread” strikes against weapons depots and other terror infrastructure.
The military struck more than 200 sites in Gaza overnight on Monday, including at least one Palestinian Islamic Jihad asset, the IDF stated.
The IDF on Tuesday released the names of an additional 38 soldiers killed fighting Hamas, bringing the confirmed military death toll to 123.
Meanwhile, Hamas on Tuesday continued to bombard Israeli population centers with rockets after at least seven Israelis sustained injuries the previous afternoon amid a barrage of projectiles fired across the south and center of the country, including the Jerusalem area.
Israeli Army Radio reported on Tuesday that the IDF is set to inform more than 100 Israeli families that their loved ones are being held hostage in Gaza.
Hamas has claimed to have captured 163 Israelis and taken them back to the Strip during the October 7 terror raid.
An Israeli official denied on Monday that Jerusalem was negotiating, via Qatar, for the release of the hostages. A senior official later confirmed to JNS that Israel is not involved in any talks related to the release of captives.
‘A complete situational picture’
IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, tapped by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as coordinator for captives and the missing, told Israelis on Monday that he will do everything to return their loved ones to them.
“During these hours, we are engaged in the formation of a complete situational picture,” he said. He added that his team is working as quickly as possible to address families’ concerns.
US President Joe Biden on Monday night confirmed that at least 11 Americans were killed during the Hamas attack, with others still unaccounted for and possibly being held in Gaza.
Israeli forces on Monday regained control of all the communities near the Gaza Strip after two days of fighting.
“We are in control of the ‘Gaza envelope’ communities,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. He warned, however, that there were still terrorists in the area, and Israel remains concerned over possible infiltration attempts via tunnels emanating from Gaza.
Hagari added that the military had called up 300,000 reservists during the past 48 hours.
On Tuesday, Hagari said the military regained control of the Gaza border after Palestinian terrorists blew up sections of the security fence during the invasion Saturday morning.
“In the last day, not a single terrorist entered via the fence,” he said.
Gallant on Monday ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza, as the IDF ramped up its offensive.
“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel; everything is closed,” Gallant stated, following a situation assessment at the IDF Southern Command in Beersheva.
“We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly,” the defense minister added.
‘Support Israel in words and deeds’
Also on Monday, six Israelis were wounded fending off an infiltration along the northern border with Lebanon, amid fears Hezbollah could enter the war.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for the cross-border attack in a statement posted on Telegram.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday evening published a message to the international community, urging countries to support the Jewish state as it moves to eliminate Palestinian terror threats.
“As president of the State of Israel, I speak to you now from our capital city, Jerusalem, under the dark shadow of war, as my nation continues to endure a savage attack from a cruel and inhumane enemy,” said Herzog.
“To my mind, not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day. And not since the Holocaust have we witnessed scenes of Jewish women and children, grandparents—even Holocaust survivors—being herded into trucks and taken into captivity,” he said.
“First, most importantly, make clear and loud condemnations of Hamas’s actions, just as you condemned the abhorrent and unspeakable actions of ISIS,” Herzog said. “Because today, they are one and the same.”
Secondly, “those nations that have yet to do so: Designate Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist body,” Herzog said. “Third, make clear that Hamas carries full responsibility and accountability for the well-being of the hostages it has taken and demand their immediate return to Israel. And fourth, support Israel—in words and in deeds.”
Netanyahu: Five immediate goals
On Tuesday, Netanyahu convened a high-level security assessment, with the participation of Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the heads of the Mossad and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), among others.
In an address to the nation on Monday night, Netanyahu laid out five immediate goals for the campaign against Hamas:
1. To purge the enemy from Israeli towns and communities and prevent the entry of additional enemy combatants, a battle he said was still being waged;
2. To carry out an attack on Hamas of “unprecedented intensity”;
3. To fortify the other fronts, including the northern border, along with Judea and Samaria and the rest of Israel;
4. To continue to strengthen international support “in order to preserve our field of action against our enemies”;
5. To foster unity among the Israeli people.
Netanyahu described Israel’s war with Hamas as “a war for the home, a war to secure our existence.”
“This war was forced upon us by a despicable enemy, human animals celebrating the murder of women, children and the elderly,” the prime minister said, speaking in Hebrew. “We have not seen the atrocities that Hamas committed since the horrors of ISIS.”
“Handcuffed children who were executed along with the rest of their families, young men and women shot in the back. They were executed,” he said.
Netanyahu promised Hamas would suffer the same fate as ISIS. “The enemy wanted war, he will get war.”
Photo Credit: Yossi Zamir/Flash90/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Pray, pray, pray for Israel as she faces one of her darkest hours. Pray for the IDF as they go on the offensive in Gaza. Ask the Lord to provide Israel’s military and political leaders with wisdom and discernment as they fight against the enemy. Pray that Israel will be able to achieve each of the five goals for the campaign against Hamas that Netanyahu laid out. Ask God to protect the people of Israel and to bless the IDF as they work to secure Israel’s borders.
Scripture
“Yet, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Action
Psalm 23:4–6
Netanyahu Introduces Unity Government: ‘The Nation’s Fate Is at Stake’
by David Isaac ~ JNS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the nation on October 11, 2023.
Thursday, 12 October 2023 | “Citizens of Israel, this evening we established an emergency unity government,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a national address in the presence of National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday night.
“The people of Israel are united, and today, its leadership is united. We have put aside all other considerations because the fate of our country hangs in the balance,” said the prime minister.
“We saw the animals of prey. We saw the barbarians we are dealing with. We are fighting an enemy, and that enemy is worse than ISIS,” he added.
Netanyahu detailed the monstrosities that were carried out against innocent civilians—how children were bound and shot in the head, men and women were burned, young girls were raped and slaughtered, and a group was burned alive using spare tires as fuel for the fire.
Everyone in Israel knows someone who was killed in the inferno, the prime minister said.
“But as the magnitude of the horror, such is the magnitude of the heroism: Men and women, fathers and mothers, citizen warriors who showed courage and supreme heroism,” he said.
Netanyahu said he had spoken to US President Joe Biden for the fourth time since the war began five days ago and that there is “unprecedented international support for Israel.” He called it an “essential ingredient” in the war Israel is waging.
“We are fighting with all our strength on all fronts. We have gone on the offensive,” Netanyahu said. “Every member of Hamas is a dead man. Hamas is ISIS, and we will crush and eliminate it just as the world crushed and eliminated ISIS.”
Gallant, who spoke after Netanyahu, said the attack was the most serious act of terror the world had ever seen.
“I have served the State of Israel as a soldier and a fighter for 47 years. I have seen many difficult events. I have never seen such an event,” he said. “Barbaric acts that the Jews have not experienced since 1945.”
Gallant said that the only thing that stopped the barbarism was the heroism of Israel’s soldiers.
Describing some of those acts of heroism, he told of a battalion commander who ran out of ammunition and crawled to the body of a terrorist to take his grenade and throw it at more terrorists, killing them. He also said he met a general who single handedly killed 14 terrorists.
“These are the heroes that stopped the murder,” he stressed. “And I tell you all, we will erase this thing called Hamas.”
Gantz, who spoke last, said that the leadership is standing “shoulder to shoulder” to send a clear message to Israel’s enemies, and, even more so, to Israel’s citizens that the country is united.
The opposition leader said he understood that some citizens may have lost their sense of security and that he understands the feeling. Still, Israel remains the most powerful country in the region with the most powerful army in the Middle East.
“This power Gaza has already felt, and if necessary, Lebanon will feel it, and the whole world will see that the share of our enemies will be blood and fire,” Gantz said.
“We will win and change the security and strategic reality in this arena,” he said.
“Our partnership is not a political partnership, it is a partnership of destiny. All citizens of Israel share the same fate, and together, we will shape our destiny and reality.”
“I would like to emphasize that all the members of the National Unity camp and I stand by the campaign led by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense and simply lend a shoulder,” Gantz said.
“We are enlisting, like all of our children have enlisted. Because Israeli society as a whole is under Order 8,” he said, referring to the order number for immediate call-up of IDF reservists.
“At this time, we are all soldiers of the State of Israel.”
‘A Huge Terror Base, the New Caliphate’
Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu and Gantz reached a deal to establish a unity government to better fight the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
According to the agreement, a war cabinet will be formed to include Netanyahu, Gantz and Gallant. At the same time, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Knesset [parliament] member Gadi
Eizenkot, a member of Gantz’s party, will serve as observers.
Gantz, Eizenkot and Knesset member Gideon Sa’ar will be sworn in as ministers without portfolio.
Gantz’s party will have a total of five ministers in the emergency government—Gantz, Eizenkot, Sa’ar and two others yet to be named.
The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] offensive, “Operation Swords of Iron,” will leave Hamas bereft for decades of military capabilities, a Netanyahu spokesperson told journalists on Wednesday.
As part of “Operation Swords of Iron,” the IDF is conducting wide-scale airstrikes on several strategic centers belonging to Hamas. The army has not yet begun a ground invasion, which is expected.
“We regard Gaza as a huge terror base, the new caliphate…This is ISIS on steroids because it has a state behind it: Iran,” she said. “We are a country at war, but not only we are at war: This is a war of the entire civilized world against savagery.”
On Saturday, Hamas terrorists infiltrated several Israeli communities, killing at least 1,200 people and taking at least 100 hostages back to Gaza. Some 3,000 people were wounded in shooting and rocket attacks over the weekend, and the toll continues to climb.
Photo Credit: Youtube/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Lift up this unity government in prayer, asking the Lord to bless them with wisdom, discernment and strength as they set aside their differences and join together to lead the nation of Israel during this difficult time.
Scripture
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion…Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Hezbollah Claims Responsibility for Anti-tank Missile as Northern Front Risks Exploding
by JNS
Israeli soldiers near the country’s border with Lebanon.
Wednesday, 11 October 2023 | The Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon took responsibility on Tuesday evening for firing anti-tank missiles across the border with Israel, raising fears of the war with Hamas broadening to the northern front, Arab media reported.
An IDF [Israel Defense Forces] combat helicopter responded by attacking a Hezbollah post.
“The IDF is prepared for all scenarios in all arenas and will continue to operate in order to protect Israeli civilians,” stated the military.
Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF attacked two Hezbollah observation posts in Southern Lebanon with artillery fire after terrorists there fired rockets at the Jewish state.
“Around 15 launches were detected from Lebanese territory, air-defense fighters successfully intercepted four launches, and ten launches fell in Lebanese territory,” the IDF tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.
Reuters cited a Lebanese security source as saying that Palestinian terror groups were responsible for the rocket attacks.
The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said it did not receive calls about casualties.
The incidents came as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment at the Northern Command with the commanders of the forces deployed in the area.
Hezbollah: In solidarity with ‘Palestinian resistance’
On Monday, a senior IDF officer and two soldiers were killed during a firefight with terrorists who infiltrated Israel from Southern Lebanon.
Five additional Israeli troops were wounded in the attack, according to the IDF.
The officer was identified as Lt. Col. Alim Abdullah, deputy commander of the 300th “Bar’am” (Territorial) Infantry Brigade, part of the Galilee Division. Abdullah, 40, hailed from the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat in the Western Galilee.
“The IDF sends its heartfelt condolences to his family and will continue to support them,” the military said.
Israeli forces killed two of the terrorists. Local media initially reported that three were killed, but the IDF clarified on Tuesday that the third terrorist fled back into Lebanon.
Following the incident, Israeli helicopter gunships struck targets in Southern Lebanon as residents near the border fence were instructed to remain in their homes, with their doors locked and lights out.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades, in a statement posted on Telegram, claimed responsibility for the cross-border attack. It claimed seven “Zionist soldiers” had been wounded.
An official in the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group cited by Reuters had denied the organization’s involvement in the incident. A Lebanese security official told the wire service that the cell belonged to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Earlier on Monday, a mortar shell from Lebanon hit an open area, also in the Upper Galilee but further east, the IDF said.
Sirens sounded in Moshav Ramot Naftali and Kibbutz Yiftah, south of Kiryat Shmona and near Lebanon, the army said.
On Monday night, several additional rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel, causing no damage.
The IDF said that no one was injured in that attack.
On Sunday, IDF artillery hit targets in Southern Lebanon after Hezbollah terrorists there fired mortars at the Jewish state. The military confirmed that there were no Israeli casualties.
The enemy shells hit in the contested Mount Dov region close to the Blue Line, which demarcated the 120-kilometer (75-mi.) border and was created in the year 2000 by UN cartographers to verify Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for Sunday’s fire, saying it targeted three Israeli military sites in solidarity with the “Palestinian resistance.”
Photo Credit: David Cohen/Flash90/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Cover Israel’s northern borders in prayer, asking God to surround it with a shield of protection as Israel faces a multi-front war. Pray for the Israeli forces guarding the north and for safety for the civilians. Ask the Lord to thwart all the plans of the enemy—from whichever direction they are attacking.
Scripture
“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For look, they lie in wait for my life…They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine. Awake to help me, and behold! You therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations; do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors.”
Up Close and Personal: Meet the People of Sderot
by Meshi Ayed and Hagai Dekel ~ Ynetnews
Israelis hiding in a bomb shelter while an air siren sounds outside (illustrative).
Wednesday, 11 October 2023 | By the third day of the war that started with a horrific Hamas attack, the route leading to Sderot was nearly abandoned, with only law enforcement and military vehicles visible. The distant echoes of rocket blasts and gunfire create an unsettling atmosphere akin to a relentless downpour. The city streets remain deserted, all establishments closed, while IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers diligently conduct patrols, actively searching for any remaining terrorists still lurking around.
Mofida’s grocery store is the sole establishment open amid the desolation, drawing in those who seek essential provisions such as food, clothing, beverages, and cigarettes. In her distinct Arabic accent, she assures us, “I’m not afraid. I’ve lived in Sderot as an Arab for 26 years. My kids are here. I bought a house here. Everyone here is like family.”
Speaking of her vital role in the Sderot community in times of need, she says: “Everybody is calling me because they have no food, no water, no baby formula.”
Her son, Sultan, is scrolling on his smartphone screen, navigating between tasks he has to perform for this city’s residents, who are understandably terrified of leaving the house, as rocket sirens are nauseatingly frequent here. “I normally don’t do deliveries, but there’s no one else to do it,” he tells us.
At the city’s entrances, there are snipers on rooftops and soldiers on the ground with their guns pointed, all from the Paratroopers Brigade, ready for any potential terrorists who might still show up, as per the warnings. Menachem, a lifelong resident of Sderot who lives right by the entrance, is putting up more than 18 family members in his home.
The vivid images he witnessed on Saturday morning are etched in his memory. “A barrage of missiles began, so we went outside to see what was happening. Suddenly, I saw a group of heavily armed Hamas terrorists entering the city, dressed in black uniforms. They fired their weapons into the air and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar.’ We immediately ran back into the house. We’re not scared anymore of tear gas or the Code Red alert siren. I have faith in the IDF to handle the situation, and now it’s time to erase Gaza. Enough is enough!” according to Menachem.
Some of the kibbutzim and moshavim [Israeli communities] in the southern region have transformed into staging areas for the numerous reserve forces arriving in the area. In one of these groups, Brothers in Arms, mostly known to the Israeli public from the anti-judicial overhaul protests, have set up shop to facilitate moving supplies to all who require them., as well as physically extracting those who can’t help themselves from dangerous areas.
Oshrit, a Sderot resident, experienced her house being damaged and destroyed by a rocket on Saturday. Since then, she has been staying with her son, daughter-in-law, and their one-year-old baby because they had nowhere else to go. They reached out to the organization’s command center, and help arrived promptly. “Our home was completely destroyed, and we had no options or resources. Someone gave me a phone number, I made the call, and they immediately came to rescue us. We are fortunate to have kind-hearted people supporting us. Until that day, I only knew them from the protests,” Oshrit shared.
Continuing on, we head toward the main road that leads to Kfar Aza. The scenes we encounter are distressing – numerous vehicles, scorched and pierced by Hamas bullets. The individuals who were once here did not survive. It is a tragic massacre that spans kilometers. The magnitude of horror is indescribable. At a specific point, our progress is halted by IDF forces who alert us to the possibility of infiltration, prompting us to turn back.
Alongside the road, we spot multiple lifeless bodies of Hamas terrorists, eliminated by the IDF. They were clad in uniforms and armed from head to toe. As soon as we activated the camera, the blaring sirens filled the air, accompanied by a rapid barrage of dozens, or perhaps even more, rockets being launched.
We find ourselves lying on the road, just a few meters away from the terrorists’ bodies, who met their demise on this very route yesterday evening. While some of the missiles are intercepted by the Iron Dome, others impact open terrain several hundred meters away from our position. Faint echoes of weaponry can also be heard in the background. The conflict within Israeli territory persists, and it seems likely this is just the beginning.
Photo Credit: Dima Vazinovich /Wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
Ask for God’s comfort and consolation for the people of Israel who have seen and experienced unimaginable horrors over the past several days. Pray that God will heal their hearts and minds and restore their peace. Lift up those who have lost loved ones, who are mourning, who are worried about loved ones.
Scripture
“Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled…Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.”
What Starts in Gaza—and Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Venezuela—Starts in Iran
by Pete Hoekstra ~ Gatestone Institute
Hamas supporters in Gaza (illustrative)
Thursday, 12 October 2023 | There should be little doubt that the war that began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, actually originated in Iran. The multi-pronged, highly coordinated and murderous attacks could not have happened without Iranian government assistance and approval.
Leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the Wall Street Journal, have acknowledged that the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been working with Hamas since August in planning these attacks.
Hamas’s unprovoked aggression on October 7 follows a pattern of terrorist attacks aided by Iran around the world. In 1983, a suicide bombing at the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killed 241 American service members. In 1994, Iran was implicated in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 people were wounded.
In 2006, the US identified that Iran was arming opposition fighters in Afghanistan, going as far as offering a bounty of US $1,000 for every American killed. The Netherlands and Belgium have both arrested and expelled Iranian officials implicated in terrorist plots in their countries.
Iran has instigated scores of attacks on American assets in the Middle East, attempted to assassinate a Saudi diplomat on American soil, and may still be trying to murder Americans who served as officials in the Trump administration.
The pattern of actions is clear: the Iranian regime, now funded by the Biden administration—who carefully looked the other way while Iran acquired US $60 billion by evading US sanctions, then threw in an additional fungible US $6 billion on top of that—has been, and continues to be, a state actor sponsoring terrorists, terrorist organizations and terrorist attacks.
The Hamas attacks on Israel were sanctioned by Tehran to help fuel tension in the region, probably to disrupt the possibility of an Abraham Accords-style normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Such an agreement would have had a seismic positive impact on the geopolitics of the Middle East. It appears, at least for the moment, any agreement between Israel and the Saudis is tabled. Ironically, after seeing the Israeli Defense Force [IDF] in action, the Saudis might wish to have Israel as an ally more than ever.
The Hamas attack is consistent with Tehran’s most recent activity in Europe, where it has become the biggest military sponsor of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the last 18 months, Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of drones, including suicide, attack and surveillance drones. Iran also has provided hundreds of thousands of artillery shells and at least a million rounds of ammunition. The ties between Russia and Iran are so close that the US has sanctioned dozens of entities and individuals because of these relationships.
The question now is how the US and the West will respond to the attack, especially as Israel engages in a military response that might last longer than the unaffected international community thinks. The US has sent its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford and its strike group to the eastern Mediterranean along with other ships, aircraft and equipment.
After almost 45 years of repeated Iranian acts of terrorism, the West hopefully will unite to finally address the danger posed by Iran and its support for terrorists and destabilization around the world. The decisions being made by Western leaders in the coming days will determine whether Iran is held accountable for its state sponsorship of terrorism or whether we risk increased Iranian-backed terror expanding in North America and Europe?
Will the Western alliance of freedom-loving countries stand firm against evil or will a lack of resolve and conviction embolden Iran, China, Russia and North Korea? The answer to these questions will determine the safety and security of the West and our allies worldwide in the coming years.
Photo Credit: Hadi Mohammad/wikimedia.com
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
Pray for the nations, that leaders and countries around the world will finally hold Iran accountable for its actions, its aggression, and its sponsorship of terror. Ask the Lord to thwart the plans of this evil regime who is so intent to wipe Israel off the map.
Scripture
“Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their hearts; they continually gather together for war. They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; the poison of asps is under their lips.”
Israelis Rush Back from US to Defend their Country
by Daniel Edelson ~ Ynetnews
A Delta Airlines plane docked at Ben Gurion International Airport (illustrative)
Monday, 9 October 2023 Israelis were rushing to find a way to fly from the US back home to join the fighting against Hamas despite airlines canceling their scheduled flights.
Noy Leyb opened a WhatsApp group to help IDF [Israel Defense Forces] reservists around the world find a way home. He himself managed to get on an El Al flight overnight, having paid US $2,500, an exceptionally high price. “My dad told me I was nuts to come but there is no question in my mind,” he said. “I am a Zionist and there is no way that my friends would be there and I would not, no matter the financial cost.”
Leyb is a Canadian-born reservist in the paratroopers and a tech entrepreneur who founded his own company in New York. He came to Israel on his own to serve in the military and his family followed and settled in the north. His brother, who lives in Tel Aviv, had already joined his unit.
“I’ve not slept,” he says. “I keep asking myself what I am doing here. I see pictures of friends gearing up and asking for a ride to their base and am going crazy. I made a million calls and purchased a ticket on United Airlines, but that flight was canceled. Then I found one on Delta and that flight was canceled as well.”
Leyb finally found a seat on the El Al flight to Tel Aviv. “I paid a crazy price but that is not the issue,” he says. “People are trying to find any way to get back.”
Yotam Avrahami, a businessman from New York said it took him all of 10 minutes to decide he must get back and join the fighting. “I grew up 50 minutes from Gaza. I have a wife, a seven-month-old baby girl [and] a full operation and customers, but I am setting all of them aside to get back,” he said.
Avrahami is a reservist in the Armored Corps and spent hours searching for a flight sooner than the one available later on Sunday. “That’s too late,” he says. “My crew is there, and I have friends who are officers and need people.
“The Israeli community in New York organized quickly, making arrangements to host Israelis stuck in the city because of flight cancellations. They organized a meeting to offer support in the Jewish center in Manhattan for people who want to be together and support each other.”
The Israeli consulate opened a war room to assist in the consular bureaucracy and organize volunteers to post on social media. Jewish organizations around the country were quick to condemn the Hamas attack and project a united front, which has become a rarity recently.
Eviatar Shamsayev, a 35-year-old teacher originally from Jerusalem says he has friends among the missing. He said he was inspired to return to Israel by other teachers at his Manhattan school. “It was reminiscent of how people reacted at the outbreak of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Then too, people did whatever they could to get back,” he says.
“We are a group of 50 people who have not been in the reserves for years because we’ve been living abroad, but now everyone will be volunteering for service. This is a fight to protect our home. My blood boils. My sister has been calling me from her shelter, crying.”
He says a WhatsApp group was opened for those who cannot leave but want to help by sending packages or money. “We’ve had a huge response. Everyone is united in support of Israel. The equation has changed,” he says.
Photo Credit: brewbooks (edited)/wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
God bless these beautiful people who are returning to defend their homeland. Lift up all the IDF soldiers, Border Police, reservists, security forces and emergency responders in prayer, asking God to bless them and place His hand of protection over them. Ask the Lord to bless them in this fight for Israel’s survival, using them to rid the Jewish state of her enemies.
Scripture
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Will Biden Stand with Israel in the War’s Next Phase?
by Jonathan S. Tobin ~ JNS
US President Joe Biden
Thursday, 12 October 2023 | “Citizens of Israel, this evening we established an emergency unity government,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a national address in the presence of National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday night.
“The people of Israel are united, and today, its leadership is united. We have put aside all other considerations because the fate of our country hangs in the balance,” said the prime minister.
“We saw the animals of prey. We saw the barbarians we are dealing with. We are fighting an enemy, and that enemy is worse than ISIS,” he added.
Netanyahu detailed the monstrosities that were carried out against innocent civilians—how children were bound and shot in the head, men and women were burned, young girls were raped and slaughtered, and a group was burned alive using spare tires as fuel for the fire.
Everyone in Israel knows someone who was killed in the inferno, the prime minister said.
“But as the magnitude of the horror, such is the magnitude of the heroism: Men and women, fathers and mothers, citizen warriors who showed courage and supreme heroism,” he said.
Netanyahu said he had spoken to US President Joe Biden for the fourth time since the war began five days ago and that there is “unprecedented international support for Israel.” He called it an “essential ingredient” in the war Israel is waging.
“We are fighting with all our strength on all fronts. We have gone on the offensive,” Netanyahu said. “Every member of Hamas is a dead man. Hamas is ISIS, and we will crush and eliminate it just as the world crushed and eliminated ISIS.”
Gallant, who spoke after Netanyahu, said the attack was the most serious act of terror the world had ever seen.
“I have served the State of Israel as a soldier and a fighter for 47 years. I have seen many difficult events. I have never seen such an event,” he said. “Barbaric acts that the Jews have not experienced since 1945.”
Gallant said that the only thing that stopped the barbarism was the heroism of Israel’s soldiers.
Describing some of those acts of heroism, he told of a battalion commander who ran out of ammunition and crawled to the body of a terrorist to take his grenade and throw it at more terrorists, killing them. He also said he met a general who single handedly killed 14 terrorists.
“These are the heroes that stopped the murder,” he stressed. “And I tell you all, we will erase this thing called Hamas.”
Gantz, who spoke last, said that the leadership is standing “shoulder to shoulder” to send a clear message to Israel’s enemies, and, even more so, to Israel’s citizens that the country is united.
The opposition leader said he understood that some citizens may have lost their sense of security and that he understands the feeling. Still, Israel remains the most powerful country in the region with the most powerful army in the Middle East.
“This power Gaza has already felt, and if necessary, Lebanon will feel it, and the whole world will see that the share of our enemies will be blood and fire,” Gantz said.
“We will win and change the security and strategic reality in this arena,” he said.
“Our partnership is not a political partnership, it is a partnership of destiny. All citizens of Israel share the same fate, and together, we will shape our destiny and reality.”
“I would like to emphasize that all the members of the National Unity camp and I stand by the campaign led by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense and simply lend a shoulder,” Gantz said.
“We are enlisting, like all of our children have enlisted. Because Israeli society as a whole is under Order 8,” he said, referring to the order number for immediate call-up of IDF reservists.
“At this time, we are all soldiers of the State of Israel.”
‘A Huge Terror Base, the New Caliphate’
Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu and Gantz reached a deal to establish a unity government to better fight the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
According to the agreement, a war cabinet will be formed to include Netanyahu, Gantz and Gallant. At the same time, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Knesset [parliament] member Gadi Eizenkot, a member of Gantz’s party, will serve as observers.
Gantz, Eizenkot and Knesset member Gideon Sa’ar will be sworn in as ministers without portfolio.
Gantz’s party will have a total of five ministers in the emergency government—Gantz, Eizenkot, Sa’ar and two others yet to be named.
The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] offensive, “Operation Swords of Iron,” will leave Hamas bereft for decades of military capabilities, a Netanyahu spokesperson told journalists on Wednesday.
As part of “Operation Swords of Iron,” the IDF is conducting wide-scale airstrikes on several strategic centers belonging to Hamas. The army has not yet begun a ground invasion, which is expected.
“We regard Gaza as a huge terror base, the new caliphate…This is ISIS on steroids because it has a state behind it: Iran,” she said. “We are a country at war, but not only we are at war: This is a war of the entire civilized world against savagery.”
On Saturday, Hamas terrorists infiltrated several Israeli communities, killing at least 1,200 people and taking at least 100 hostages back to Gaza. Some 3,000 people were wounded in shooting and rocket attacks over the weekend, and the toll continues to climb.
Photo Credit: Luca Perra/Shutterstock/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Lift up President Biden and the leadership in Washington in prayer, asking that God will bless Israel’s friendship and alliance with them and that Biden and other American leaders will follow through on their words of support for Israel. Pray also for the rest of the nations, that they will also support the Jewish state by standing with her in her hour of need.
Scripture
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he dwells by you for safety’s sake.”
Hitting Back on Gaza while Protecting Gazan Civilians
by Kate Norman
Retaliatory Israeli air strikes targeting terror sites in the Gaza Strip.
Wednesday, 11 October 2023 | Hamas on Saturday morning initiated a war with Israel by invading the Jewish state and indiscriminately murdering civilians. As of now, the tolls stand at over 1200 Israelis murdered, over 2,700 injured, an estimated 100 taken hostage in the terror enclave, and more than 4,500 rockets launched toward Israel.
Taken by surprise, the Israeli military’s first task was to stop the onslaught by neutralizing the terrorists roaming free through the Israeli streets as well as re-securing the breached boundary. But Israel’s leadership vowed that the terrorists would pay a heavy price for the Jewish blood they had spilled.
But here lies the difference between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas. The IDF targets terrorists and terror targets, whereas Hamas, in its rampage, targeted women, children, and the elderly.
Hamas fighters streamed into Israel, many live-streaming their heinous deeds, which included brutal murders, torture, rape and kidnapping.
Israel, on the other hand, does the exact opposite, going painstakingly out of its way to target terrorists and avoid harming civilians.
Yesterday afternoon, the IDF posted videos in Arabic warning residents in certain areas of Gaza to evacuate in order to avoid incoming Israeli strikes on terror targets.
The IDF posted a video to its Twitter channel with a warning for residents of a particular neighborhood to immediately relocate to Gaza City Center “for your safety and because your accommodation is being used by terrorist organizations.”
The video provided detailed instructions in Arabic for which Gaza residents needed to evacuate and to which area they should move in order to be safe.
The Israeli military also tweeted on Monday: “Israeli civilians are not Hamas’ only victim. Hamas intentionally positions itself deep among Gaza’s population.”
The IDF posted a photo of an aerial screenshot of a mosque, announcing that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) targeted a terror site situated near a mosque and a football field.
This is a Hamas tactic that the IDF knows all too well, as Hamas frequently positions itself near civilian sites, including mosques, schools, and residential areas, essentially using its own people as human shields, knowing that the Israeli military values human life and will hesitate to pull the trigger if there are innocent people involved.
But the IDF, over the past several years, has developed techniques to counteract Hamas’s human shield and minimize civilian casualties.
In July 2014, Israel was once again forced to act after enduring relentless strikes against Israeli civilian areas. In response, the IDF launched Operation Protective Edge, targeting Hamas terror sites, including facilities, tunnels and also Hamas terror chiefs.
Much like now, the terrorists were hiding behind their own people.
The IDF, on its website, published its methods of alerting civilians in Gaza to evacuate, including calling and sending text messages to civilians in certain buildings warning them to leave, dropping leaflets over certain areas warning civilians to move to safety, and using the roof-knocking method. This is when the IDF drops non-lethal bombs on the rooftops of buildings it is preparing to strike. Dropping the dud bomb makes a loud noise, alerting the residents of the incoming strike so that they can evacuate.
When all else fails, the IDF has called off strikes when civilians were discovered in the area, even when high-profile terror targets were at stake.
The Israeli military values human life, even the life of its enemies. As the Israel Defense Forces’ name implies, its purpose is to defend the people of Israel—and also the civilians of Gaza when their own leaders fail to do so.
Hamas, on the other hand, has displayed over the past few days that it places absolutely no value on human life, whether that of Israeli civilians or even its own people.
Source: (Bridges for Peace, October 11, 2023)
Photo Credit: Humberto Patrick/Wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
As you pray God’s blessing over the Israeli military as they strike terror targets in Gaza, lift up the innocents in Gaza in prayer, asking the Lord to shield those who had no part in the evil attack against Israel from any harm as the IDF works to cripple Hamas.
Scripture
“Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked. They do not know, nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness.”
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