GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 21
Anti-Semitism Grows

Hamas Offers Hostage Swap

As we should expect, Hamas is willing to exchange the hostages they have in exchange for the 6,000 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons now. The offer was made by Iran on behalf of Hamas at the United Nations by Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as detailed in this quote from i24news.tv (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1698343876-hamas-ready-to-swap-civilians-for-6-000-terrorists-locked-up-in-israel) :

Hamas has told Iran that it was ready to release civilian hostages, adding that the world should push for the release of 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Amir-Abdollahian said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran stands ready to play its part in this very important humanitarian endeavor, along with Qatar and Turkey. Naturally, the release of the 6,000 Palestinian prisoners is another necessity and responsibility of the global community," he said.

So they want 6,000 known terrorist released for 200+ innocent civilians? I highly doubt such a deal will be accepted by Israel, especially when it is also connected with a cease fire as some are reporting. In a recent speech, Prime Minister Netanyahu said every member of Hamas is a dead man walking so I fail to see where any ground for a cease fire exists.

America On Notice

Also in the same i24news.tv article Abdollahian said this concerning America’s involvement in the war:

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned at the United Nations on Thursday that if Israel's retaliation against Palestinian jihadists in the Gaza Strip doesn't end then the United States will "not be spared from this fire."

I say frankly to the American statesmen, who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome an expansion of the war in the region. But if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire," he told a meeting of the 193-member General Assembly on the Middle East.

The United States, for its part struck sites in Syria that are thought to be used by Iran after attacks on American troops. This time we read more about this from The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-strikes-syria-sites-used-by-iran-its-proxies-after-attacks-on-american-troops/?utm_source=article_hpsidebar&utm_medium=desktop_site&utm_campaign=liveblog_entry) :

The United States has carried out strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups in response to a recent series of attacks against American personnel based in Iraq and Syria by Tehran-backed militias, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday.

US bases and personnel in the Middle East have been targeted in a slew of drone and missile attacks since October 17.

Austin stressed that the US “does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against US forces are unacceptable and must stop.”

Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against US forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people,” the US defense chief said.

Anti-Semitism Grows In America

According to a CBN.com article (see https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/i-have-hide-usa-jewish-students-terrorized-locked-campus-library-nypd-didnt-help) Jewish students at a private college in New York City had to hide from pro-Palestinian demonstrators:

A group of Jewish students at Cooper Union, a private New York City college, were locked inside the campus library on Wednesday afternoon for their protection as pro-Palestine demonstrators went into the building, got past security, and banged on the library's locked double doors.

Jake Novak, the former media director for the Israeli Consulate in New York, posted on the social media platform X that several Jewish students at Cooper Union were locked inside the library around 5:00 p.m.

"My sources tell me several Jewish students @cooperunion are currently locked in the school library as a pro Hamas rally outside of the Cooper Union building learnt the Jews were afraid and sitting in the library, then brought the protest inside and are barricading all exits. Police have been called for 40 min and are afraid to get involved. Security locked the students in as they are worried they cannot protect the Jews {right now}," Novak wrote.

Politicians in New York City responded, one rather sarcastically about the situation:

New York Councilwoman Vickie Paladino shared Novak's video on X, giving her opinion about the incident.

"No big deal, just a few Jewish kids barricaded in a library while a mob tries to break the doors down to get them. At a prestigious university in New York City. In 2023," Paladino wrote.

"Things are going swimmingly in our progressive city. We are truly in the best of hands with the left completely in charge of every institution. We should definitely give the DSA even more power," she continued.

College officials along with the NYC police stated there was no danger to the students, but a 6 second clip on X/Twitter belied that point.

Ground War Expands

While not saying that this is not the full blown ground offensive, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) says they are expanding the incursion into Gaza. We read more about this in an article in The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-israeli-officials-tell-abc-tonights-operation-is-not-large-scale-offensive/) :

US and Israeli officials tell ABC News tonight’s ground incursion in Gaza is not a large-scale offensive.

An unnamed American source tells the network the operation is a limited one. And IDF spokesman Peter Lerner says the current action is not the major operation that is expected.

Eventually this offensive will need to get far enough into Gaza to take out Hamas’s key operation center which is located under the largest hospital in the area, confirming the terrorists tactics. We turn to an article in 124news.tv for more on this (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/special/israel-at-war) :

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday offered a presentation showing that Hamas' main operation center located underneath the Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip. The IDF stated that "Hamas routinely and in an emergency uses humanitarian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip for the benefit of its terrorist activities while utilizing the humanitarian shelter to protect its terrorists and the leaders of the terrorist organization."

Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesperson stated that Hamas had multiple underground complexes under Shifa, used by the terrorists to direct attacks against Israel. "We have concrete evidence that hundreds of terrorists flooded into the hospital to hide there after the massacres of October 7,” he added.

Hamas, for its part had this to say about the IDF’s assertions:

Shortly after Hagari's press conference, the terrorist group denied "the baseless allegations." Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, accused Israel of preparing an attack against civilians: “These lies represent a prelude to a new massacre against our people, greater than the one of the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.”

Egypt Attacked

Apparently the Houthi rebels in Yemen tried to send missiles at Israel which the IDF intercepted, but also unmanned aerial vehicle hit a hospital in Egypt. We read more on this in another article from The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-apparent-drone-strike-on-egypt-town-near-israel-launched-from-red-sea-area/?utm_source=article_hpsidebar&utm_medium=desktop_site&utm_campaign=liveblog_entry) :

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday said a fighter jet intercepted a target over the Red Sea — apparently a drone heading for Israel — hours after an unmanned aerial vehicle slammed into the Egyptian town of Taba, wounding six people.

In a statement, the IDF said fighter jets were scrambled after an “aerial threat” was identified over the Red Sea in the morning hours. The Israeli Air Force intercepted the “hostile targets” which did not enter Israeli airspace, the IDF said, publishing a video of the interception.

The incident occurred near the Red Sea town of Nuweiba, according to Egyptian media.

Earlier Friday, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that a strike in the Egyptian Red Sea town of Taba in the early hours of the morning originated from “the Red Sea area,” in an apparent reference to Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Taba sits on the border with Israel and is some 10 kilometers (six miles), from the southern city of Eilat.

It isn’t clear if the Egyptian incident was intentional, but if it was Egypt said it reserve the right to respond.

Hatred Is Prophesied

We know that Jesus Himself told His disciples who were Jewish that the world will hate them because they hated Him. In all three of the Olivet Discourses, an intense hatred of Jews will also be present. While it doesn’t make things any easier, knowing it is coming should help Israel prepare for this, and by extension Christians who also are aligned with Jesus. And we must note that this hatred is not just human in origin. Satan hates all of God’s people and hates the people God says are the apple of His eye. We saw it in Herod, we saw it in Hitler and now it is rearing it's ugly head in many part of our society. Quite simply put, as believers we need to support our Jewish friends in any way we can. Lest we think such prejudice is aimed at Jews, if we don’t fight back for them, this hatred will turn on us as well. I’m not advocating living in fear, but I am advocating for speaking out as Israel and Jews face yet another threat to their existence. Yes, God is on their side and will protect them, but He uses His people to be His hands and feet and His mouth. Add this to your prayer list and believe me, He will protect you as well.