Day 21 — Israel in Crisis
We decided to head north today to Tel Aviv to get away from the bombing and spend some time with our daughters. It looks like the bombs followed us. As soon as we sat down to eat, we had to run downstairs to the bottom of the restaurant and take cover. Interestingly enough, with us in the bomb shelter was an Israeli model who has been very vocal on her Instagram feed regarding what we have been going through here. We were able to thank her.
We got back to where we were staying and had to run downstairs because of more rockets. So much for a little rest in Tel Aviv.
Tonight, we will have a family dinner, and hopefully, it will be a quiet one. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Both are so important during this time.
We are continuing to resist embracing a spirit of hate and revenge and asking God to pour out his spirit on this region. The Bible prophesies that, eventually, all Israel will be saved. We pray that, along with Israel, many Arabs will come to faith.
NEWS
Israel continues battle at the UN
On Thursday, facing an uphill battle to stop the United Nations General Assembly from voting for a ceasefire that doesn’t even mention Hamas, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, played a graphic video of a Hamas terrorist trying to decapitate a Thai man using a garden hoe. The UNGA passed the resolution—which is mostly symbolic—on Friday, with the US, Israel, Canada, and six other nations voting no, 46 abstaining/didn’t vote, and 138 countries approving the resolution.
Israel and the United Nations chief, Antonio Gutierrez, remain at a standoff after Gutierrez seemed to give cover for Hamas when he said October 7 didn’t happen in a vacuum. Israel has called on him to resign. He also said that nothing justifies what Hamas did, but that was only after he justified what Hamas did. He can’t have it both ways.
Russia’s “friends”
This week, Russia’s deputy foreign minister sat down for talks in Moscow with a few “friends”—a delegation of leaders of Hamas and the Foreign Minister of Iran.
Their topic? The ongoing war with Israel and thinking up ways to stop “Zionist crimes supported by the United States and the West.”
You can tell a lot about someone—or a nation—by the company they keep. Just look at who is supporting Hamas and who is supporting Israel. The people expressing concern for Hamas or Gaza are Russia, China, and the Muslim nations. The countries expressing support for Israel include America, virtually all of Europe, and even Ukraine. It looks like a line in the sand is being drawn between dictatorships and fanatic regimes, and pro-freedom countries.
Hamas blocking civilians from route to safety
In advance of an expected ground incursion into Gaza, Israel has been warning Gazans to flee from the northern area of the Gaza Strip and head south. But it appears that Hamas has other plans for the people of Gaza—remain at home or else. Israel released an audio of a conversation between an IDF officer and a Gazan man this week, where the officer urges the man to head south, and the man replies that Hamas has set up roadblocks using cars and is “just sending people back home.” It is estimated that 350,000 people are still in northern Gaza.
Again, thank you for your prayers and support for Israel during this crisis.
Shabbat Shalom
