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Terror Strikes Israel

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“I will say of the Lord He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust… You shall not be afraid
of the terror by night,  Nor the arrow that flies by day,” Psalms 91:2, 5

Direct Gaza rocket hit into an Ashkelon apartment.
Direct Gaza rocket hit into an Ashkelon apartment.

We experienced sitting in the sheltered room in the summer of 2014, waiting to hear the explosion while Ashdod was under missile attack from nearby Gaza. We thanked God for His protection and for the Iron Dome that shot down most of the missiles and kept us safe. It happened again this month…*Photo is a direct rocket hit into an Ashkelon apartment from Gaza.
The bomb-shelter diary of 8-year-old Israeli Renana, broadcast on a morning talk show on November 12, raised some painful emotions, while a series of interviews with tiny, scared children from the villages close to the Gazan border did the same.
In 2005, Israel withdrew from the coastal strip, thus allowing the Palestinians to set up a terror base. Since March of this year, Hamas has initiated violent events on the Gazan border, while Israel has shown restraint, seeking a diplomatic solution for the sake of the residents of the south who want to live in peace and quiet.

However, the basic problems, which are worsening with time, remain.

Why does it seem impossible for Israel, a country with such sophisticated weapons, missile defense systems and intelligence systems – to conquer a small, fanatical terror organization which hides behind its citizens, women and children included, and uses them as a front in their fight against Israel?
The Hamas leaders make no secret of their aim. They are out to destroy Israel. Since suicide bombers, rockets, and tunnels have failed, Hamas leaders have encouraged mass marches over the last eight months, to violently storm the border fence. One of their leaders stated: “We shall come and take down that (border) fence. With blood, with martyrs, with women, and with children, the Palestinian people shall liberate its land.”
Since the last war with Israel in 2014, Hamas has rearmed itself with an arsenal of some 10,000 rockets and mortar shells. Learning from the last operation that most missiles, even the long-range ones, were effectively shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome, Hamas leaders have invented new ways of achieving their goal. They have moved their operations underground, including launching missiles by remote control. Consequently, It is much harder now for the Israeli army to detect their launching sites. Hamas has also connected their launching system to the electricity of hospitals and mosques, so Israeli attacks on their military targets will kill civilians in those facilities. This will benefit the terror organization’s propaganda.

Iron Dome batteries protecting the city of Ashkelon.

These new Hamas tactics require more precise Israeli intelligence gathering. Hence, a special Israeli army unit has been active undercover, doing this in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, two weeks ago, when the special undercover unit entered 3 kilometers into the Gaza Strip, apparently to plant listening devices, they were discovered by Hamas officers and fierce gunfight erupted. One Israeli special forces officer was killed and another wounded. Seven Hamas members were killed in the incident.

The trapped Israeli troops radioed for aerial assistance which arrived within minutes and rescued them out of Gaza.
In retaliation, Hamas, and some of the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, launched some 500 rockets and mortar shells within a period of about 24 hours at Israel’s southern towns, mostly the city of Ashkelon, killing one person and injuring dozens more (they figured that by concentrating their barrage of missiles on one city, the Iron Dome would be overwhelmed.)

Palestinian terrorists fire rocket barrages from Gaza.

After warning Gazan civilians to evacuate the facilities, the Israeli military launched strikes against some 160 targets connected to the two terror groups in the Gaza Strip, killing seven people, most of whom were later identified as members of terrorist organizations, including some who were in the process of launching projectiles at Israel at the time they were killed. Israeli residents near the Gaza border were instructed to remain close to their shelters.
The battle ended with Hamas asking for a ceasefire through an Egyptian brokerage, which has largely held since November 13. However, considerable criticism has arisen in Israel among those who wanted to continue fighting to finally topple Hamas. Among them was Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who resigned in protest of the ceasefire, calling it “capitulation to terror.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu temporarily took over the position of Defense Minister.
All of this has left residents of Israel’s south traumatized and many in Israel protested as they were seeking a once and for all destruction of Hamas and other Gaza terror groups, such as Islamic Jihad.
PM Netanyahu addressed the issue: “Sometimes being a leader means withstanding criticism when you know classified and sensitive things,” (in the era of open communication, everything we hear in the news falls on the enemy’s ears too.)
“I hear the voices of Israeli citizens and the residents of the communities around the Gaza area. They are dear to me, and their words touch my heart.” the Prime Minister continued, “and I can’t share [the information] with the public. I wish I could tell citizens everything I know.” He added: “Leadership means not doing what’s easy, but rather doing what’s right and what must be done, even if it’s difficult. When it comes to Israel’s security, there’s more than meets the eye…In times of crisis, when making critical security decisions, the public often can’t be involved in the deciding considerations, which must be concealed from the enemy at all costs,” Netanyahu added.

[Read More].

 

We know our Lord is sovereign. Please pray for this sensitive situation, the enemy of Israel is the enemy of God. Pray for the Israeli government to make the right decision. and for Israel’s citizens support the government’s decisions and to have faith in God for their protection.

Israel: The State of the Jewish People

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“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation (Yeshua) as a torch that burns.” Isaiah 62:1

       God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham – to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan for an EVERLASTING possession and make them into a great nation. Of course Abraham had many descendants, starting with his two sons: Ishmael and Isaac, but God chose the “Son of Promise” through which to pass on His covenant with Abraham.  The promise went through Isaac and then Jacob whose name God changed to Israel – thus Nation of Israel.

God chose the Land of Israel to be His land, and the city of Jerusalem to be be His dwelling place.

I will enter into judgment against them (the nations)…for they scattered My people among the nations and divided up MY LAND… Joel 3:1-2

“For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place” Psalm 132:13

“Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, Who dwells in Jerusalem!” Psalm 135: 21

Israel and its neighbors.

The League of Nations recognizes Israel is the historic Land of the Jewish people 

In 1920, after winning WWI, the allies met in San Remo, Italy to divide the land that had been occupied by the Turkish Ottoman Empire for 400 years. Until then there were no bordered countries or states. But as Britain and France were given Mandate over the Middle East nation states were created.
On July 24th, 1922, the League of Nations accepted the San Remo Treaty, thus recognizing “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine”* as “the grounds for reconstituting their national home in the country.” Britain was appointed as the Mandatory for Palestine, with the explicit goal of “placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home.”

When the United Nations succeeded the League of Nations, it likewise adopted the San Remo Treaty as binding international law.

In the changing world of the Middle East, and the rest of the world, the Israeli government found it necessary at this time to make it a law that would establish once and for all the fact that Israel is the eternal state of the Jewish people. So now, ninety-six years later, to avoid confusion in the future and to make sure that Israel never gives in to opposition or denial of this right by the Arab world or parts of the West, the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) passed the “Nation-State Law.

In line with the previously accepted League’s resolution, the “Nation-State Law” acknowledges the land of Israel as “the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.” Furthermore, it defines this state as “the national home of the Jewish people, in which it fulfills its natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination”.

The law states that Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, that the unified city of Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, that Hebrew is the official language of this state and that Hatikvah (the hope of 2000 years) is its national anthem.

Simply stated, the Nation-State Law legally defines Israel as the national state of the Jewish people in the land of Israel.

Not surprisingly, the law has triggered a wave of protest and opposition from the Israeli left and the Arab-Israeli community. As a democracy, the Knesset has representatives of all parties, including representatives of the Arab citizens. Some of the Arab representatives often express anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiments and announcements that in the name of democracy are allowed to be heard. They claim that Palestinian terrorists are “freedom fighters” against Israel’s “occupation”, and in that way justify their terror actions. They also talk openly about turning Israel from a Jewish state into a stated for all its citizens, where Palestinians also have the “right of return.”

Admittedly, the law is a Zionist legislation. Some may claim it is racist or discriminatory, but in actuality does not contradict any value of democracy and equality. This law is not against minority civil rights. It is for Jewish national right. It supports the Jewish people and the minorities living among them.

The law demonstrates its respect for “those who are not Jewish” and recognizes their right to “observe their days of rest on their Sabbath and their holidays.” It also recognizes the “special status of the Arabic language” and even stipulates that while Hebrew is the only official language of Israel, “this clause does not harm the status given to the Arabic language before this law came into effect.” The principle of equality already exists in the civil law.

Civil rights to all citizens of Israel

In response to Israel’s Nation-State law, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) named July 19th an official day of protest against “Israeli apartheid”. They protested that the bill is racist, discriminates against minorities. Besides the Arabs, Israelis that represent the far Left and their media join them, because they ideologically oppose the concept of a Zionist state which this law endorses.

On the surface, it may look like a legitimate protest against discrimination, but most Israelis realize that it shows their unwillingness to accept the existence of a Jewish state. The Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah,” offends them; so various Israeli university departments do not observe it.

Despite all the challenges and threats, Israel is still the safest place to live in this entire region, for Druze, Arab and Circassian – Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Israel’s Arabs enjoy lives of freedom and democracy in the Jewish state. As a matter of fact, there is not even one clause that denies the rights of minorities which were initially incorporated in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. These rights were reaffirmed in the Basic Law of “Human Dignity and Liberty”, passed in 1992, whose stipulated purpose was “to protect human dignity and liberty, in order to establish in a Basic Law the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

Civil equality, yes – collective national rights for the Palestinians – no. They can go and seek that among their brothers in Arab countries that have an abundance of land and resources.

The Arab world refuses to accept the existence of a Jewish state, and the idea of Jewish nationality is unacceptable to most Arabs, including the leaders of the Israeli-Arab public, politicians and those in the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee in Israel.

Only Jews have the right to return to the Land of Israel

The only word that does not appear in the State Law, democratically passed in the Knesset majority, is national “equality”.

Only Jews have the privilege to the Law of Return because Israel is the state of the Jewish people, who were taken out of their homeland into exile, were persecuted by the nations and faced annihilation there.  Now they have the right to come back to their home: Israel.

That is what is really bothering the Supreme Arab Monitoring Committee and the Knesset members from the Joint Arab List. They are disappointed that the Arabs will not be able to use Demography as their last resort of eradicating Israel, after trying time and again to use military means.

The Law of Return does not apply to the Palestinians, who now are demanding their own version of it in the form of right of return for Palestinians and family reunification. They are the only refugees who kept refugee status by inheritance.

The Nation-State law is a legitimate method of self-defense for Israel against a demographic flood that might turn Israel into another Arab state. For more on this subject, please go to our blog.

Please stand with us at this time of spiritual warfare as Israel is facing international and domestic criticism over this new state law. Pray for our leadership to have Godly wisdom and strength in devising strategies against attacks. Please stand with us in faith on the promises and Word of God.

For the salvation of Israel and the nations,
In His love,
Simcha and Bella Davidov, Ashdod, Israel

*Palestine was the name given to the land of Judah by the conquering Romans after destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD and taking the majority of the Jews into exile. That name remained throughout subsequent occupations by different conquerors.

The Deal

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“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority”            I Tim. 2:1-2.

Posted: May 8, 2018

The Deal

“Iran lied” – announced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he presented material on Iranian nuclear weapons development. Netanyahu, who has repeatedly called for the deal between world powers and his country’s main enemy to either be altered or abolished, gave a PowerPoint presentation live on TV. He displayed maps, illustrations, and animations that he said provide proof that Iran pursued a nuclear program.
Netanyahu claimed that after signing the deal in 2015, Iran intensified its efforts to hide its nuclear files. In 2017, Iran moved its secret nuclear weapons files to a highly secret location in Teheran. From the outside, this was an innocent looking compound, but inside it contained Iran’s secret atomic archives locked in massive vaults. Very few Iranians knew of its location, and also a few Israelis.
          In a great intelligence achievement, the Israeli Mossad agents were able to get in and take out half a ton of the material inside the vaults where the files were kept. They were able to get them to Israel, 55,000 pages in big folders, and 55,000 files on 183 CDs. “We’ve known for years that Iran has had a secret nuclear weapons program,” he added, presenting slides of what he called Iran’s secret nuke files.
Netanyahu said Israel had obtained the documents in February and shared all of the information with the U.S. “I’m sure he’ll do the right thing for the United States, the right thing for Israel and the right thing for the peace of the word,” Netanyahu said of President Trump. “The Iran deal is based on Iranian lies and deception,” he added.The incredible Israeli intelligence operation of obtaining this huge treasure of information did several things:
First, it proved that Iran didn’t abandon its nuclear program and that Iran’s claim that the ballistic missile program was not intended to carry nuclear warheads is untrue.
The Iranians themselves admit they planned to build nuclear warheads and install them on missiles. Thanks to this new and powerful information, it is now crystal clear that the Iranians never stopped their uranium enrichment efforts and plans to build nuclear weapons, which Israel vehemently opposed and consistently fought against.
No one knew the archive existed before Israeli intelligence agents located it. Now the question prompted by the revelation of the archive is, what else is Iran hiding?
It is obvious now that Iran has safeguarded all its nuclear documents so that once the deal expires, it could pick up where it left off with research and production aimed at building nuclear weapons. The secret files also revealed that the Iranians lied about their nuclear weapons-building capability. There is a huge difference between what the Iranians say and what they actually do in reality.U.S. President Donald Trump has already spoken positively about Netanyahu’s unveiling, and European experts have traveled to Israel to study the findings. After this unveiling, it is no longer possible to ignore Israel’s warnings about Iran.
While all the other nations who signed the agreement with Iran, Britain, Germany, France, Russia, and China agree that Iran is a manipulative nation, they also agree that walking away from this imperfect deal would be far more dangerous than maintaining it. They claim that such a move would push Iran into a corner and that they would see developing nuclear weapons as their only way to break free of it. There is some logic to their position, but their interest is more economic and financial; European countries and Russian and Chinese companies desire to sign huge contracts with Iran.
The US and Israeli position is different. Israel and the U.S. hope to use the extremely narrow leeway, of at least three years until Iran will have the ability to develop nuclear weapons, to push Iran into potentially agreeing to a revised agreement that would include Tehran’s ballistic missile program and curb Iran’s regional interference, especially in Syria, where Israel determined not to let it happen.
“The argument that a bad agreement is preferable to no agreement is nonsense,” a senior US official said this week. “Without an agreement, Iran is exposed to an attack, to sanctions, and to diplomatic pressure.”  He believes the agreement frees Iran to continue lying and pursuing its goals.
Israeli officials said they believed even if the US was alone in re-imposing sanctions – while Russia, China, and European countries stayed in the deal – it would still put Tehran under major economic pressure.  Iran said about the huge amount of money they received from signing the deal that it was an “engine for empire” and allowed Tehran to bankroll proxy groups across the Middle East.   So, “The first thing sanctions would do is smash their “cash machine,” an Israeli official said.

     President Donald Trump to announce his decision on the deal at 2:00pm
US President Donald Trump was expected to announce his decision on whether to uphold the 2015 nuclear deal, which he has long criticized, by his May 12 deadline. Trump has hinted that he will pull out of the agreement unless it is revised. However, he is facing opposition from the other nations that are signed on the deal.
Trump decided to announce his decision on the Iranian deal today from the White House at 2:00 pm, 9 pm Israel time.
If Trump does announce that he is re-imposing sanctions on Iran, the sanctions would not kick back into force straight away – creating a window of time where the US might try to force Iran and Europe to accept a renegotiation of the agreement. President Trump “would be negotiating from a position of extreme strength” in such a scenario, an Israeli official said.
In case of the possibility that Trump will announce today that the US is pulling out of the deal. Iran is signaling conflicting messages, whereas the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is hinting that the deal can be renegotiated, the foreign minister Muhamad Zarif warns the United States that Teheran will retaliate.
          Rouhani said yesterday that if the Americans will withdraw from the deal, Teheran’s condition to stay would be if the European Union will guarantee that his country will continue to benefit from it. “The United States would be then the main loser from the withdrawal.” He said. “Trump must know that our people are united, the Zionist regime (Israel) must know that our people are united.”
Iran has warned that if the US re-imposes sanctions it may resume enriching uranium, potentially putting it back on a path towards conflict with the US, Israel and its Arab rivals like Saudi Arabia.
          Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “They know if they enter a military conflict with Iran, they will be hit multiple times.”
Please pray, before 2:00 pm central time, for wisdom to President Trump, Iran’s leaders, world leaders and Israel. For God’s will to be done, He is sovereign.

We would love to hear from you – any comments, question and/or prayer requests. Thank you for your faithfulness in standing with us for the salvation of Israel, in prayer and financial support. We pray for you too from Zion, for God to supply all your needs and bless you greatly.

Purim 2018

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“Don’t think that you (Esther) alone will be saved out of all the Jews just because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time…relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another source… ‘Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.’”
The very famous verse from the book of Esther is a call also for us today. Are we going to be silent or rise up to the occasion to be used by God as an instrument for the salvation of Israel, both physically and spiritually, in prayer and supplication with faith and confidence in the God of Israel – who is Israel’s protector.

The beautiful Jewish virgin Hadassah, known by her Persian name Esther, was chosen by King Ahasuerus, out of all the beautiful virgins in the Persian Empire to be his queen. She obeyed her uncle Mordechai’s instruction not to reveal her Jewish heritage.

The king raised Haman the Agagite (descendant of Amalek) to a powerful position above all the other princes and ordered all who were at the king’s court to bow down to him. Mordecai the Jew, who sat at the king’s gate was the only one who refused to bow down to Haman and aroused his anger. When Haman learned that Mordecai was Jewish, he manipulated King Ahasuerus into ordering the genocide of the all the Jewish people throughout the empire.
Haman said to King Ahasuerus: “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom, their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not worthy it for the king to let them remain…let a decree be written that they be destroyed…“(Esther 3:8-9)

The Pur (lot) was cast and fell on the thirteen of the month of Adar. In one day all the Jews were to be, according to the words of Haman’s decree, “killed, destroyed, and annihilated.” (Esther 3:13) It was done, a decree that could not be changed because “in the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.” (Esther 3:12c)

When Esther heard the terrible news of the decree to annihilate all the Jews in one day, Mordecai gave her two options; to remain silent and perish with the rest of the Jews, or to risk her life by going before the king, uninvited, to plead for her people’s deliverance.

Esther realized that the purpose she was chosen to be queen of Persia was for such a time as this, to be used by God for the salvation of His people. She decided to take a bold step of faith and go to the Higher Authority in prayer and fasting. She called for the entire Jewish community in the capital city of Shushan to stand with her in prayer and fasting for three days as she risked her life for the chance of saving her people. She was going to go unlawfully before the king, uninvited, and “if I perish, I perish.”

God always does what he said in His word He will do. Hundreds of years before the story of Esther, the Lord told Moses: “I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14.) King Saul disobeyed God and didn’t kill all the Amalekites, but spared the life of King Agag. Even though the prophet Samuel did kill him, apparently some of his family lived on. Haman was a descendant of Agag the Amalekite.

In a turn of events, the gallows Haman built in order to hang Mordecai was used to hang Haman after the king heard that he was the wicked one who ordered the killing of his beloved queen’s people. He promoted Mordecai to a high position and gave him the king’s signet ring to reverse the decree and save the lives of the Jews. God had turned the mourning of His people to ecstatic joy. Purim “should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.” (Esther 9:28)

At present, Israel is facing another Haman also from Persia, which is modern-day Iran. The Iranian regime has announced time and again that Israel will be wiped off the map of the Middle East. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned continually against the existential threat to Israel, posed by the possibility of a nuclear Iran.

The question today is the same one that Mordecai asked Esther. Will the believers choose to be silent while Israel is in danger? Or will they take a step of faith to come before the God of Israel in prayer and fasting for the salvation of Israel?

We know from the word of God that salvation will come to Israel. The question is what role will the body of Christ play? We ask you to stand with us in prayer and supplication, in the face of the evil and wickedness of Israel’s enemies once again. And “who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”

For a more complete story, go to: http://yeshuatami.com/the-story-of-purim/

The battle against anti-Semitism is fierce, the enemy is relentless, but victory belongs to the Lord. Please stand with us at this time of spiritual warfare as Israel is facing Iranian aggression. Pray for our leadership to have Godly wisdom and strength in facing of these attacks. Please stand with us in faith on the promises and word of God.

Special Report – Israel November 6, 2017

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“For I gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle…Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.” Zech. 14:2a, 3

Special Report – Israel November 6, 2017

Iran is closing in, pressing to get closer to Israel’s borders.  Recent developments on Israel’s northern and southern borders seem to indicate Iran’s involvement.  The stability of Israel is tenuous.

Site of the Israeli bombing in Syria

North of Israel

Syria/Israel Conflict

      According to the Syrian claims, the Israeli air force launched a strike from Lebanese airspace on Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center near Masyaf in Hama province in the early hours of Thursday, November 2. (The center is responsible for the research and development of nuclear, biological, chemical and missile technology and weapons.) The strike resulted in the deaths of two Syrian soldiers and material damage.
Israel, not admitting to launching the strike, announced that the Syrian military-scientific site produces precision missiles as well as chemical weapons and barrels of explosives that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians. However, Israeli officials have in the past admitted that Israel has repeatedly struck weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah, an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, without specifying which ones.
News expert, Ron Ben Yishai said that the site is using research and knowledge provided by North Korea and Iran. Ben Yishai and other Israeli news commentators warn that Iran is seeking to establish one of its planned weapons and precision missiles production factories to gain a foothold in Syria, and supplying Hezbollah with precision-guided missiles, in addition to the tens of thousands of ballistic missiles that Hezbollah already has. Only recently Israel warned that an expansion of the Iranian foothold on Syrian soil would not be tolerated by the Jewish state.
The Syrian army warned Israel of “serious consequences.” The Syrian army accused Israel of being in cahoots with ISIS. “The attack proves Israel is directly supporting ISIS and other terror organizations.” (How ridiculous!)

Lebanon

     November 5: The resignation of Lebanon PM, Saed Hariri, is the latest Iran-generated shaking in the Middle East. Hariri claims there was a recent attempt to assassinate him so he fled to Saudi Arabia. (His father, Rafiq Hariri was killed by Hezbollah in 2005.)

Why is it important?

     According to Hariri, Iran who is forcibly meddling in his country, has generated “disorder and destruction” in Lebanon and meddled in its internal affairs as well as in other Arab countries such as Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, and Yemen. Especially supporting and funding Hezbollah terror organization. Hariri claims that Iran’s arm is establishing a fact on the ground through the power of weapons. “They have built a state within a state,” he declared. Furthermore, Hariri states that Iran has been working to establish a military presence in Syria and now is trying to do the same in Lebanon.

Iran denied Hariri’s charges and said, “Hariri’s resignation was a US and Zionist plot against the Islamic Republic.”
Meanwhile, the future of Lebanon’s government remains cloudy.

South of Israel

     Hamas’ tunnel network is a vast underground city with dozens of access points located throughout Gaza. Hamas uses these tunnels as weapons caches, bunkers, command centers and a concealed transportation artery for terrorists and weapons, including rocket launchers.
Some of these tunnels lead directly from Gaza into Israeli communities near the border, for the purpose of infiltrating, kidnapping and attacking Israeli civilians and soldiers. The residents of southern Israel live in constant fear knowing that, at any time, a terrorist could emerge from a tunnel near their home.
In 2014 Israel engaged in Operation Protective Edge with Hamas. The fighting lasted 50 days. The Israeli army destroyed 32 terror tunnels, 14 of them crossed into Israel. Unfortunately 64 Israelis, soldiers and civilians lost their lives. Two soldiers’ bodies are still being held by Hamas.
Hamas has resumed the digging of the tunnels, ironically with the concrete materials Israel is supplying for rebuilding the houses that were destroyed in the war.
Since the end of Operation Protective Edge, Israel has invested billions of shekels in the research and development of ways to detect and destroy terror tunnels. Now, a simple Israeli-made smart-sensor system proves to be the most effective solution to the threat.
On Monday it detected the exact outline of a terror tunnel! The tunnel was destroyed by explosion killing 12 terrorists – two Hamas and ten Islamic Jihad terrorists (who dug the tunnel.)
The IDF is making efforts not to divulge the technology it used in the operation against the terror tunnels, thus the claim of IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, “Only conventional measures were used. The secondary damage underground resulted in fatalities. There was no intention to target any specific individual. The operation took place in our territory.” This is a battle of the minds with Hamas, who is also investing in research and development for improving the system of digging the tunnels in order to overcome the advantage of the Israeli technology.
A spokesman for the Palestinian terrorist group called the incident a “clear declaration of war by Israel. We are examining all the options so as not to squander the possibility of responding to this aggression.”
Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip called the Israeli bombing of the tunnel “a desperate attempt to sabotage efforts to restore Palestinian unity and maintain the state of division.” and that “the Zionist enemy will pay for its crimes. We will not sit idly by.”

Israel’s enemies from the north and from the south
are tightening their cooperation.

    With the excuse of being freedom fighters of the resistance against “the Zionist enemy” Israel, needing to liberate the entire “occupied Palestine” since 1948, both the terrorist organizations of Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, met together in Lebanon to join forces for this cause.
This meeting came a few months after Iran, Hezbollah’s main supporter, and Hamas agreed to restore diplomatic relations to the level at which they were before the Syrian civil war when the sides broke. In a recent phone call, Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, stressed that Hezbollah “stands by the resistance movements in Palestine.”

We know that God is sovereign over All of these events that involve the enemies of Israel on the northern and southern borders. Behind them is Iran who is closing in and pressing in to get closer to Israel’s borders. He is Israel’s protector.
Please pray and stand with Israel as these events continue to rock our region. Pray for wisdom for the leaders, and most of all – for Israel’s salvation.