GNITN – Special Edition One Hundred Nine

Israel At War – Day 9
The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth

The Way Is Being Prepared

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) continues to get Gaza ready for the expected ground troops to go in. In most cases the troops would be making sure that the area is cleared from above ground, but this is no ordinary take over. You see Hamas has stations above ground and an extensive underground network built that can’t be seen by the naked eye and that area needs to be taken out as well. The evacuation is necessary for both to be address and the IDF knows all too well why this will take longer than so called normal military actions. If Hamas it to be eradicated as we are told they will be, this could very well be a costly and bloody endeavor. Here is how an article from the BBC.com news site (see https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67097124) describes things:

Israel says it is striking parts of a secret labyrinth of tunnels built underneath the Gaza Strip by Hamas, as it continues to retaliate for the Palestinian Islamist militant group's unprecedented cross-border attack on Saturday.

"Think of the Gaza Strip as one layer for civilians and then another layer for Hamas. We are trying to get to that second layer that Hamas has built," an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said in a video on Thursday.

"These aren't bunkers for Gazan civilians. It's only for Hamas and other terrorists so that they can continue to fire rockets at Israel, to plan operations, to launch terrorists into Israel," they claimed.

The Size Is Unknown

The BBC.com we read this:

It is very difficult to assess the size of the network, which Israel has dubbed the "Gaza Metro" because it is believed to stretch beneath a territory that is only 41km (25 miles) long and 10km wide.

Following a conflict in 2021, the IDF said it had destroyed more than 100km of tunnels in air strikes. Hamas meanwhile claimed that its tunnels stretched 500km and that only 5% were hit. To put those figures into perspective, the London Underground is 400km long and is mostly above ground.

Tunnel construction began in Gaza before Israel withdrew its troops and settlers in 2005.

But it was ramped up after Hamas took control of the Strip two years later, which prompted Israel and Egypt to begin restricting the movement of goods and people in and out for security reasons.

At its peak, almost 2,500 tunnels running underneath the Egyptian border were used to smuggle in commercial goods, fuel and weapons by Hamas and other militant groups.

All of this underground infrastructure must be cleared and most likely destroyed if Hamas is to be destroyed as the IDF has stated is their goal.

And About That Intel

I reported that Egypt supposedly warned Israel about the plans to attack by Hamas, some saying at least 10 days before. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called such reports fake news, but other sources from the United States said they, too warned Israel of an attack brewing in Gaza. None of these allegations have been confirmed and it appears that any investigation will take place after, not during the war. One video I listened to actually suggested that Israel may have allowed the attacks to give them a reason to wipe out Hamas. This source was not from a journalist at all so we should take it with a grain of salt. Another source that I trust was upset that people were putting out these allegations and strongly condemned people for even giving it an air of trustworthiness. His name is Amir Tsarfati (see https://www.youtube.com/@beholdisrael) and he has connections inside the IDF and the Israeli government and has been accurate before. As for me, he strongly appears to know what he’s talking about.

America Is Involved In The Fighting?

According to Tsarfati, American forces are already in the area and are containing Hezbollah from doing more than launching random missiles from Syria. He says that as long as America is involved, no all-out assault will occur in the war. If true, this would change the game for now, but if America withdrawals, Tsarfati says all bets are off for how far Israel will go. He also said that there many surprises from both sides. Israel, he says was literally caught off guard. And Iran, who he posits is training and equipping Hamas and Hezbollah and sending in soldiers from all over the world was surprised that Israel if fighting back so aggressively. While the attacks were obviously planned in advance, the other surprise is that it worked so well. Lastly, Iran and its acolytes didn’t anticipate such wide support of Israel for a strong response to Hamas and all terrorists surrounding them.

So Who Is Telling The Truth?

If Tsarfati is correct in his information, this war could go very differently depending on how those on both sides decide to move forward. If America decides that they don’t want to be in the middle or our Congress won’t fund Israel if our troops are on the ground there, Israel could see increasing attacks from all fronts much like happened in the 1973 war. The major difference is that Israel has had a long time to fortify and strengthen its military abilities and if unleashed, can overwhelm all countries very quickly. But all of this is based on second hand intelligence if not third hand information. We simply don’t know. For now, the only confirmation we’ll most likely get is the actual military offensives as they move forward.

World War III?

For those outside Bible prophecy circles, an epic spreading of countries wanting to get into the fight against Israel, looms. Many have said for years that the next global war would start in and over the Middle East. And they may be right. I might add that there is no mention of a third world war in the pages of Scripture, at least not that I see, so if another world war happens it might not last long. For my money, Bible prophecy only mentions the next three wars, two of which are fought in Israel and for Israel with the third only fought in Israel but against God, Himself. It certainly will be an interesting next few weeks regardless if you are student of Bible prophecy or not. I continue to exhort you to pray for the peace of Israel and then Hamas and Hezbollah who have a clear choice of turning to Christ or facing extinction. May there be a low casualty rate overall, but also a decisive ending of the reign of terrorism in the Middle East.