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All Things Israel

Terrorism

Special Report: ISRAEL IS UNDER ATTACK!

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This weekend Hamas will be marking the one year anniversary of the start of The March of Return demonstrations that led to weekly tensions on the border fence with Israel. At first, their grandiose goal was to actually return to what they call “their” land of Palestine, encouraging the masses to force themselves through the fence into Israel. Loyal Hamas supporters have demonstrated tirelessly week after week over the past year along the security fence but were stopped each time by Israeli fire.

Their next goal was to lift the blockade on Gaza; they did not succeed in that either.

Now, a year later Hamas has not accomplished either goal. They succeeded, however, in sending incendiary kites and balloons tied with explosives to nearby Israeli fields and residential areas causing a lot of fires and devastation to Israeli crops and livestock along the border.

The blockade, combined with sanctions by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas using donations to build up their military capabilities and tunnels, has caused an economic crisis in Gaza with an unemployment rate above 50 percent.

Are the masses of Gaza’s poor citizens willing to be dragged into yet another year of those kinds of demonstrations?

Hamas can’t take this chance. Now their leaders have to make desperate moves to survive politically by dragging Israel into another round of fighting. As a notable accomplishment to show off their military capability, they fired two rockets to the Tel Aviv area on March 14th. Hamas announced it was “accidental”, but Israeli aircraft bombed 100 targets in Gaza in retaliation.

On the same day, hundreds of Gazans protested against Hamas and their dire conditions, to which Hamas responded with a violent crackdown, beating and arresting dozens of demonstrators.

Meanwhile, Israelis demanded from its leaders an end to the impossible situation of being constantly under threat from Hamas.
Netanyahu’s main election rival and former army chief, Benny Gantz, urged a “strict, stern and continuous policy against Hamas”. However, Hamas and the Israeli government are trying to avoid all-out war at all cost.

The latest round of violence began this week early Monday when seven Israelis, including a small child and an infant, were wounded as their house in a village northeast of Tel Aviv was completely demolished by a long-range rocket 120 kilometers (75 miles) fired by Hamas from Gaza, making it one of the deepest strikes ever carried out by Hamas. The family members said it was a miracle their lives were spared.

The Israeli military mobilized into the Gazan border two armor and infantry brigades and drafted some reserve forces before striking back at militant sites in Gaza. Israeli attacks caused panic to the Gazans. They stayed inside their homes since bomb shelters are only available to Hamas officials. (Before bombing, Israel warns Gazas citizens to stay away from Hamas buildings and facilities.) Hamas leaders went down to hide in bunkers.

Israeli air force bombings included a Hamas military intelligence headquarters building and the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israeli naval ships targeted the Gaza seaport, while Israeli warplanes struck an underground facility east of Gaza City near the security fence. Gaza’s Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were wounded in the airstrikes. In retaliation, beginning at around 11:20pm Monday, a barrage of rockets was fired at the southern cities and villages through the night. “If (Israel’s) aggression continues, the resistance (Hamas) will not hesitate for a moment to fulfill its role,” the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

The back and forth attacks between Israel and Hamas, which resumed late Tuesday evening, continued into early Wednesday, with Israeli military striking several Hamas military positions in Gaza, while air-raid sirens sounded in southern Israeli communities, forcing Israelis to run into sheltered areas. Israeli Air Force retaliated shortly after with air strikes on Hamas facilities. Rockets fired early Wednesday morning at the southern city of Ashkelon were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.

Israel has already been in this situation.

There have been many rockets and the IDF (the Israeli army Israeli Defense Force) was engaged in many rounds of fighting — but the situation has remained the same. The results of yet another war, in the same format, will be the same.

The blockade of Gaza that was supposed to bring Hamas to its knees, did not happen. Meanwhile the humanitarian conditions of the Gazan citizens have dramatically worsened, Hamas has been strengthened and has become even more sophisticated. Their rockets can now reach anywhere in central Israel and will probably soon be able to reach anywhere in Israel. Because of the humanitarian situation, Israel is allowing millions of dollars to pour into Gaza while Hamas is using the money and building materials to build up their military capabilities and building tunnels. Knowing Israel will avoid at all cost killing citizens and children, Hamas is hiding behind them in every war, making it impossible for Israel to destroy them.

So when Israel gets dragged into another round of fighting, Hamas survives but the people of Gaza suffer the consequences; homes are destroyed and women and children injured. Hamas is using it cynically to cause world opinion to turn against Israel.
The world may at first justify Israeli actions as a right to defend itself. But as more women and children are being killed, (if they don’t respond to Israel’s warning to evacuate) and when Israeli citizens are being saved by the Iron Dome protection, there will be an outcry that Israel is using unbalanced power against the poor Palestinians.

If the current round of hostilities ends up as an air and ground war, the results are predictable. At first, Western leaders may support Israel. However, after a few days, the television channels will be broadcasting images of the devastation in Gaza. Protesters against Israeli “war crimes” will flood the streets of major world cities. Anti-Israel organizations will use the opportunity to bash Israel. Leading world newspapers will print harsh condemnations of Israel. The leaders who supported Israel initially will give in to pressure and the UN Security Council will convene, there will be another ceasefire. After a short time, the violent protests will resume, incendiary balloons will be launched into Israel from Gaza and eventually, rockets will again be fired. A few months will pass, and an inquiry commission will publish its conclusions blaming Israel.

So what is the solution?

We need a miracle from God. We need wisdom for our leaders. We need a lot of prayers.

The test will be this weekend. The escalation can reach its peak on Saturday, as Gazan leaders announced the anniversary demonstration will take place on Saturday, and not on Friday as is customary. It will be combined with the reminder of Land Day which they mark every year on March 30, commemorating that day in 1976 that Israeli Arabs and Palestinians staged violent protests against the Israeli army and police over claims of Israeli appropriation of territory in which six unarmed Arabs were killed and around one hundred others were wounded.

Hamas is hoping 50,000 demonstrators will storm to the border fence, violence can flare up.

          Pray that God gives Israel’s leaders wisdom and strategy to win this ongoing battle that seeks to destroy Israel and take over the land the God of Israel has given to His people. With elections coming up on April 9th more terror attacks are predicted both from Gaza and also from our northern border. Pray for the salvation of Israel – spiritually and also physically.

Hezbollah

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A Brief Background

After the British mandate left Palestina in 1947, (a name given to the land of Israel by the conquering Romans), the Arabs refused to divide the land and attacked the Jews in the land from all sides. Against all odds, Israel won the war of Independence and became a nation in 1948. The name of the land was changed back to the land of Israel and Jewish citizens to Israelis instead of Palestinians (all people living in the land before 48 were called Palestinians, Jews and Arabs.) Many Arabs fled in the war to neighboring countries, mainly Jordan and Egypt.

Lebanon was at that time multi-sectarian, with Sunni Muslims and Christians being the majorities in the coastal cities, Shia Muslims in the south and east, and Druze and Christian in the mountains. The Lebanese government operated under the influence of the elites Maronite Christians and the western world. However, the Muslims opposed the western influence of the government.

The Palestinian Arabs formed the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and Fatah brigade to fight Israel.

After the six-day war with Israel, Jordan lost the West Bank and allowed Fatah under the PLO and their leader, Yasser Arafat, into the country from where they stepped up their guerrilla attacks against Israel. However, after many fights with the PLO who turned against the Jordanian leadership, they were expelled to southern Lebanon along with Yasser Arafat, where they regrouped.

The enlarged PLO presence in Lebanon and the intensification of fighting on the Israeli–Lebanese border stirred up internal unrest in Lebanon. The PLO recruited militants from among the families of Arab Palestinians who had fled to Lebanon during the Israeli independence war.

Demographic tensions over the Lebanese National Pact led to the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) where militia clashed with Palestinian factions over their terror attacks against Israel from Lebanese territory.

A PLO terror attack on March 11, 1978, was the last straw for Israel. An Israeli bus was seized by terrorists, and 38 Israeli civilians including 13 children were killed, with 76 wounded. The Israeli air force, navy, and land units entered south Lebanon with the aim of capturing the strongholds of the terrorist groups. Heavy face-to-face fighting resulted in Israel taking over the south Lebanon region, 300 terrorists were dead and many civilians fled to northern Lebanon, among them many terrorists. Israel suffered 18 dead soldiers.

Eventually, Israel withdrew back to the original border. UNIFIL units were stationed in the demilitarized zone. Another force, the Christian militia who were favorable to Israel and were supported by the Israeli army, formed the army of south Lebanon there.

However, terror attacks continued now from northern Lebanon which fired Katyusha rockets and missiles into northern Israel. Simultaneously, Israeli and Jewish targets were hit around the world. The situation became unbearable, forcing Israel to launch another large-scale military operation in 1982.

This new operation, called “Peace in Galilee” targeted the terror organizations who had returned to southern Lebanon. Heavy fighting broke out between the Israeli army and PLO terrorists who also had headquarters in Beirut. Many Katyusha rockets were fired into northern Israeli northern population. Israeli paratroopers fought terror pockets in villages along the road from the border to Beirut.

The Israeli army got tangled up in the Lebanese war against thousands of terrorists who were hiding in densely populated areas with the help of the Syrian army. The result was the defeat of the Syrian army, the death, and capture of many terrorists and much ammunition being taken by Israel. The PLO was expelled from Lebanon, including Arafat who fled to Tunisia.

Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1985 but kept control of a 12-mile security buffer zone, held with the aid of proxy militants of the South Lebanon Army (SLA). Israel suffered many losses, about 1200 soldiers died in the first Lebanon war between the years 1982-2000. The war also resulted in the surfacing in south Lebanon of another terror organization, Hezbollah.

Eventually, the Israeli army had to withdraw also from the militarized zone in southern Lebanon in 2000.

The Rise of Hezbollah

Hezbollah, which means in Arabic “Party of Allah”, is a Shi’a Islamist militant organization and political party based in Lebanon headed by Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah, along with its military wing is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the European Union.

Following the Islamic revolution in Shīʿite Iran in 1979 and the Israeli operation in Lebanon in 1982, a group of Lebanese Shīʿite clerics formed the Hezbollah organization, which holds to an extreme Shīʿite ideology with three main aims: Jihad (holy war) against all foreigners in Lebanon, the destruction and annihilation of Israel; and spreading the Islamic revolution and turning Lebanon into another Islamic republic like Iran. Since its beginning, Hezbollah organization considers Israel an enemy and never refers to it by its name but rather calls it “occupied Palestine,” or the “Zionist enemy.”

Hezbollah organization uses guerrilla and terror warfare in order to achieve its goals. It promotes suicide bombing, kidnappings, car bombings and grand terror attacks around the world and against foreigners in Lebanon, which gives other terror organizations inspiration to do the same. Hezbollah was based in the predominately Shīʿite areas in southern Lebanon, and southern Beirut. Throughout the 1980s, Hezbollah engaged in attacks against Israel and fought in Lebanon’s civil war (1975–90). It also worked at establishing a comprehensive social services network for its supporters.

Being a proxy of Iran and Syria, Hezbollah remained a militia organization after the end of the Lebanese civil war In May 1991, when the other militias were dissolved and continued to fight a sustained guerrilla campaign against Israel in southern Lebanon.

After the Israeli army withdrew from the militarized zone in southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah took control over the area, with the help of Syria and Iran. It built many headquarters and strongholds, built military infrastructures, and a massive missile and rocket arsenal. Hezbollah members were trained in progressive fighting techniques by Iranian military and intelligence personnel, who helped build bunkers across the Israeli border in South Lebanon, and assisted in forming command headquarters and control and surveillance systems within the organization’s headquarters in southern Beirut.

On July 12th, 2006, Hezbollah executed a preplanned artillery attack across the Israeli northern border. They ambushed two Israeli patrol vehicles, killing three Israeli soldiers, wounding two and kidnapping two.

IDF (Israeli Defense Force) began a war against Hezbollah with an aerial attack on thousands of targets within Lebanon: Hezbollah’s rocket system, Hezbollah posts, arms storages, training camps, command headquarters, Beirut Airport, and bridges. The Israeli Air Force dropped pamphlets calling Lebanese citizens of settlements in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes.

Hezbollah began firing hundreds of rockets towards populated areas in Israel. The citizens of Haifa and northern Israel had to reside in shelters and protected areas. On July 14th, Hezbollah fired at an Israeli missile boat, in which four naval soldiers were killed. The war escalated into massive attacks and crackdowns on all terrorists who were hiding in civilian facilities.

In the 33 days of the war, there were 164 Israeli citizen casualties (119 soldiers and 45 civilians) and hundreds injured. Approximately 4,000 rockets hit the north of Israel and significant economic damages were incurred. Hezbollah had also lost hundreds of its members and the organization’s strategic fighting ability was hurt. Its headquarters in South Beirut were destroyed.

On August 11th, the United Nations’ Security Council issued a resolution calling for “a complete halt of acts of aggression, and especially those committed by Hezbollah and the military actions of Israel.”

The UN resolution called for the withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Force from Lebanon and for the South Lebanon Army and UNIFIL to take control over the south Lebanon area, prohibition of carrying arms without the consent of the Lebanese government; and the prohibition of the trade or transfer of arms to Hezbollah. Lebanon had to see to the disarmament of armed militias and the unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers imprisoned.

Somehow Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, emerged from the war with Israel as heroes throughout much of the Arab world. Hezbollah used its new position to attempt to topple Lebanon’s government after its demands for more cabinet seats were denied.

In May 2008, clashes between Hezbollah forces and government supporters in Beirut were sparked by government decisions that included plans to dismantle Hezbollah’s private telecommunications network. Nasrallah saw it as a declaration of war and mobilized Hezbollah forces, which quickly took control of parts of Beirut. In the following days the government reversed its decisions and granted the Hezbollah-led opposition the desired veto power.

A wave of popular uprisings in early 2011, known as the Arab Spring left Hezbollah in a difficult position. After applauding revolutionary movements in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Bahrain, the group found its interests threatened by a similar movement against its key ally, Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad. As protests spread throughout Syria and the civilian death toll mounted, Nasrallah spoke out in support of Assad, echoing Assad’s denunciations of the Syrian opposition as being agents of a foreign conspiracy. The conflict soon escalated into a full-blown civil war.

Since 2012, Hezbollah has helped the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a “Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy” to destroy its alliance with Assad. It had deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq. Nasrallah publicly confirmed Hezbollah’s involvement and vowed to fight until the rebels had been defeated.

On May 6, 2018, Lebanon held its first legislative election since 2009. Hezbollah got a politically dominant position in the government for the first time. Top-level positions in the parliament nonetheless remained the same, including Hariri as prime minister.

Hezbollah has been described as a “state within a state”, and its military strength has grown significantly with its military wing that is now considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army. The organization has seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon’s borders, Hezbollah receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran, and political support from Syria.

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.

Hamas

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“The Peaceful Demonstration”

The world is in an uproar over the sixty Palestinians from Gaza who died on the border of Israel. Most of them, however, were Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. The world protests the excessive use of force by Israel. “Hamas placed many women at the front in an effort to make it difficult for us to deal with terror targets. That’s the most significant level of violence we have seen since the start of the protests.” Said an Israeli army spokesman. Gaza’s terrorist rulers make no secret of their agenda. They are out to destroy Israel. Suicide bombers, rockets, and tunnels have failed. So now its mass marches on the border with their weapons of human shields.

Hamas Incitement
Hamas Incitement

One of their leaders said it very clearly: “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.”

”Hamas’ control of the events is evident in its ‎blatant incitement to violence, its calls on Gazans to arrive at the border, it has control over events taking place near the security fence. These acts prove that Hamas has abandoned all of its restraints and it is openly acting to intensify riots and violence on the border,” the Israeli army Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.

”The IDF is prepared for a variety of scenarios and is determined to defend Israel’s sovereignty and the Israeli public. We will not allow security infrastructure to be compromised and we will neutralize anyone seeking to undermine Israel’s security,” the statement said.

Who is Hamas

Hamas is a violent Islamist anti-Semitic terror group that seeks to destroy Israel. 7 countries have classified Hamas as a terrorist organization. Israel and “The Quartet on the Middle East” (US, Russia, UN, EU) imposed economic sanctions on Hamas and Gaza, including the cessation of foreign aid to the Palestinian government, and restrictions on movement, imposed by Israel. In order to lift these economic sanctions and movement restrictions, Hamas must: renounce violence against Israel, recognize Israel, and honor all previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Following the Battle of Gaza in June 2007 in which Hamas violently took control of Gaza from Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah (and even killed some of them, driving the rest out of Gaza), two years after Israel withdrew its military and civilian presence from the Strip, both Israel and Egypt heavily tightened their respective border crossings, creating a “blockade”, including a naval blockade. So far Hamas has not abided by the conditions, and the blockade is still in place. Hamas declared continually that the land of Palestine (not recognizing Israel’s right to the land) is their land, and they will not stop fighting until they take the land back from “the occupiers” (the Jews).

Humanitarian Crisis

Although Israel has tolerated many months of rocket attacks from Gaza on its cities, the international outcry from the United Nations as well as worldwide media has focused almost entirely on the Palestinian plight in Gaza, which they assume to be a result of Israel’s actions. The international media portrays the residents of the Gaza strip as poverty-stricken, malnourished and scared. They claim that there is a humanitarian crisis going on in Gaza. All of these things are true, but they are the result of the actions of the Hamas leadership.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip to the pre-1967 lines in 2005. It uprooted thousands of Israeli settlers from their homes. It dismantled all military infrastructure in the Strip. Israel has no physical presence there. It makes no territorial claims there.

Despite the terror onslaught, Israel continues to supply electricity and water to the Palestinian people, and these plants are sometimes hit by the rockets fired by Hamas from within the Gaza Strip, cutting power to thousands. Since the beginning of 2013, over 20,000 truckloads of supplies from Israel have crossed into Gaza for consumption and use by the citizens. These supplies include meat, vegetables, canned foods, milk products, medical supplies, fuel, water, medical equipment, livestock and pet food, school supplies, and cosmetic products. The Palestinian Authority accused Hamas of stealing thousands of liters of fuel from local Gazan companies and then telling the media that there is a fuel shortage. Fatah members also claim that Hamas is lying about the fuel shortage “crisis” for propagandistic reasons.

Israel says the blockade is vital to prevent Hamas from importing weaponry and other means of materials for attacking Israel. Even so, Hamas was able to smuggle weapons into Gaza through tunnels.

Weapons and Rockets and Blockade

Having attempted to terrorize Israel into capitulation with its strategic onslaught of suicide bombers in the Second Intifada, Hamas has, since grabbing hold of Gaza, continued its efforts to terrorize Israel by firing thousands upon thousands of rockets indiscriminately across the border. Hamas has cynically and relentlessly exploited Gazans — a large number of whom have supported it in elections — by storing its rockets near or even inside mosques and schools, firing rockets from residential areas, and digging tunnels from beneath homes and civilian institutions. It has subverted all materials that can be utilized for the manufacture of weaponry, necessitating a stringent Israeli security blockade whose main victims are ordinary Gazans.

Human Shields

With the Iron Dome Israel invented, and high-tech capability to detect and destroy tunnels Hamas dug in order to infiltrate Israel to kill and kidnap soldiers, Hamas has no other means to attack but to use their people as human shields, willing to “pay any price” necessary to carry out their plans of destruction.

Hamas has gone to great lengths to bring more people to the “fence protests.” Israeli Defense officials said Hamas was offering Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip $100 if all family members took part in the protests. The terror group also offered Gazans transportation to the fence area and to the different points of friction.

Organizing and encouraging mass demonstrations at the border in the so-called “March of Return” to face off against Israeli troops, while branding the campaign non-violent, is merely the latest iteration of Hamas’s cynical use of Gazans as the human shields for its aggression.

Demographic Warfare

Palestinians are the only refugees who kept their status as such for generations. Their demand of a “right of return” to Israel for tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants is nothing less than a call for the destruction of Israel by demographic means. No Israeli government could accept this demand since it would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish-majority state.

On April 6, the Hamas political leader, Yahya Sinwar, stated: ‘We will take down the border [with Israel] and we will tear their hearts from their bodies.’ On Facebook, Hamas posted maps for their operatives showing the quickest routes from the border with Israel to Israelis’ homes, schools, and day-care centers near the border. Israel Defense Forces had precise intelligence that the violent riots were masking a plan of mass infiltration into Israel in order to carry out a massacre against Israeli civilians. Hamas called it a ‘peaceful protest,’ and much of the world simply fell for it.

Hamas’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar setting out the ultimate goal to Gazans at the border on Friday, “The March of Return will continue… until we remove this transient border.” The protests “mark the beginning of a new phase in the Palestinian national struggle on the road to liberation and ‘return’… Our people can’t give up one inch of the land of Palestine.”

The US Embassy

Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman posted on Twitter on Monday, June 14, “Few are the moments in a nation’s life like the one when the world’s greatest power recognizes our sovereignty on our capital, Jerusalem.
‎

”We are ready to counter Hamas’ threats to disrupt our celebrations. I advise the residents of Gaza: Do not be fooled by [Hamas military leader Yahya] Sinwar, who sends your children to sacrifice their lives for nothing. We will defend the [Israeli] people with all the means at our disposal. We will not allow anyone to breach the border.”

Since the day before, the IDF has been dropping warning leaflets into Gaza, urging residents to stay away from the security fence and stressing that any attempt to breach the border will be met with force.

“The Israel Defense Forces had precise intelligence that the violent riots were masking a plan of mass infiltration into Israel in order to carry out a massacre against Israeli civilians. Hamas called it a ‘peaceful protest,’ and much of the world simply fell for it,” Several dozens to several hundred, depending on the week, tried to damage and break through the security fence. A few succeeded, but were quickly turned back by Israeli troops. Some weeks have also seen direct armed clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians armed with guns or explosives.

In response, the Israeli military used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds, which the army says were fired in accordance with its rules of engagement and always with the approval of a commander. In the past eight weeks, thousands of Palestinians have been wounded by live ammunition and over 100 have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

International Outrage

The deaths of over 60 Palestinians during last week’s violent protests were met with international outrage and calls for an independent investigation of events. The UN’s Human Rights Council on Friday ordered a probe, and a resolution prepared by Kuwait for the UN Security Council urges the deployment of an international force to protect Gazans. Hamas has subsequently admitted that 50 of the dead were members of the terror group. Three others were Islamic Jihad members.

Former Grand Mufti of Lebanon Video
Former Grand Mufti of Lebanon – Watch Video

Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, former Grand Mufti of Lebanon, urged Muslims from the pulpit on May 16 to wage a jihad, to liberate Palestine from the foreign Israeli occupation. He decreed: “This is in accordance with the Islamic legal decree that Palestine and Jerusalem constitute Arab land throughout history, in the present, and in the future. The Al Aksa Mosque is the third holiest place, after Mecca and Medina. I reiterate therefore this religious legal law that Palestine is historical Islamic Arab land. It was occupied by the Zionist Jews of the Balfour Declaration, who immigrated to Israel from all countries of the world on May 14, 1948. The liberation of Palestine is an Islamic duty of the Palestinian people and the countries of the Arabs and the Muslims. They are forbidden to surrender, to reconcile, to make peace treaties, and to concede to a piece of Arab Palestinian land to the foreign Jewish occupation.

Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas - Video
Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, Turkey – Watch Video

On May 13, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, said in an interview with Al Jazeera: ‘When we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public”.

“A senior Hamas leader, Salah Bardawil, said in a May 16 interview with a Palestinian TV station: ‘In the last round of confrontations, if 62 people were martyred, 50 of them were Hamas,’” the general wrote.

There are daily attempts by Gaza to infiltrate to Israel, and shoot at Israeli border soldiers. IDF fighter jets and tanks attacked Hamas targets in a training camp in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, following earlier attempts to plant an explosive device on the fence and gunfire at soldiers. The IDF also killed the three terrorists who tried to plant the explosive in the Rafah area. Hamas placed many women at the front in an effort to make it difficult for us to deal with terror targets. That’s the most significant level of violence we have seen since the start of the protests.”

And that is what is happening on the ground in Gaza. …

As Bible believers, followers of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, we understand that the battle is not against flesh and blood but against powers of darkness (Eph 6:12). We are called to pray and intercede according to God’s will and share the truth. Remembering that Israel can be looked at as the prophetic clock showing us the times we are living at according to the Bible.

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.