GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 65

Damascus Attacked

Hamas Issues Demands For Hostages

In a report from i24news.tv we see that Hamas won’t release anymore hostages without meeting their demands:

Hamas warned on Sunday that none of the hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack still being held in the Gaza Strip would leave "alive" without negotiation and without "responding to the demands" of Hamas.

“Neither the fascist enemy and its arrogant leadership, nor its supporters, will be able to recover their prisoners alive without an exchange and negotiation, and without responding to the demands of the resistance,” the spokesperson for the armed wing of the terrorist group, Abou Obeida, said in a video.

Also seen in the article is news that negotiations haven’t stopped:

Qatar, which had mediated between Hamas and Israel, indicated that efforts remained underway to conclude a new truce and release new hostages, while stressing that the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip “narrowed the prospect” of success.

If we read them correctly, Hamas won’t entertain anymore hostages being released until Israel stops decimating them. It appears that getting the hostages will have to be done by finding them and either killing their captors or convincing the terrorists to surrender.

Now the United States Has No Timetable For Israel

It’s hard to know what is really the truth on this topic anymore. It’s almost like a child pulling leaves off a dandelion saying, “she loves me, she loves me not.” On a Sunday morning news show, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a reporter this as reported by The Times Of Israel:

Israel, not the US, will be the one to decide when to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, in the wake of reports that Washington has been exerting pressure on Israel to wrap up operations by the end of the year.

Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper about the war, which has entered its third month, Blinken said that the US has been conducting discussions with Israel about its “duration” as well as “how it’s prosecuting this campaign against Hamas.”

“These are decisions for Israel to make,” he added.

This public statement by Blinken doesn’t match what inside sources are saying, though. At least the reasoning for ending the war has been consistent as we read further in the report:

Addressing the civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip, Blinken said that while he believes that Israel has the right “intent” when it comes to minimizing civilian casualties, “the results are not always manifesting themselves, and we see that both in terms of civilian protection and humanitarian assistance.”

If the State Department is believing the Hamas numbers on civilian casualties, they might want to include how unreliable and inflated the numbers given are. We must recall how off the reports were on a hospital strike at the beginning of the war.

Netanyahu Urges Hamas Surrender

In a report from The Times Of Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu urges Hamas operatives to not die for their cause:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on Hamas terrorists to surrender to Israeli troops, urging them not to sacrifice their lives for the terror group’s chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

The comments followed remarks by Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi that there were signs that Hamas was collapsing, and as several images and videos circulated over the past week of dozens of men, some of them apparently Hamas operatives, surrendering and being detained by Israeli troops inside Gaza.

“In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered before our forces. They put down their weapons and turn themselves over to our brave fighters,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

“It will take more time, the war is still in full force, but this is the beginning of the end of Hamas,” he added. “I say to the terrorists of Hamas: It’s over. Don’t die for Sinwar. Surrender now.”

With clear signs of Hamas breaking apart, the IDF is encouraging as many of the terrorists to surrender as they point out their continued successes:

A senior IDF officer also said Sunday that in recent days the military has identified “signs of Hamas breaking” in the Gaza Strip, as it continued its offensive against the terror group.

“The extent of the destruction and damage creates command and control problems [for Hamas]. There are areas in the Gaza Strip that Hamas no longer controls militarily,” the officer said.

Hezbollah Is Next

I’ve been saying this for some time, but Hamas is not the last terrorists the IDF will eliminate as we read in an article from The Times Of Israel:

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi indicated on Saturday night that once Hamas is defeated in Gaza, Israel may have to go to war against Hezbollah across the northern border in Lebanon.

While the Jewish state has long been worried by the threat posed to Israel by Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, its prime concern in the wake of the slaughter of 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas on October 7, said Hanegbi, is that Hezbollah’s Radwan force could attempt a similar murderous invasion from the north, targeting civilians in communities near the border.

Israel, he acknowledged, was tackling Hamas “17 years too late,” and it could no longer dare to tolerate the danger of the prevailing situation in the north, with Hezbollah’s forces at the border.

He goes on to say that killing the leader of Hamas may be what it takes to cause Hamas to surrender:

Hanegbi said he believes Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar will want Hamas to fight to the end, “but if we kill him, and that’s the plan, it is possible that the leadership that succeeds him may understand that to avoid his fate, it will need to leave Gaza, defeated.”

He indicated that killing Sinwar, therefore, may be a key step toward achieving both war aims — destroying Hamas in Gaza and returning the hostages.

And Maybe Damascus Is Next, Too

According to a news article from The Times Of Israel Syria’s newspaper reports that the IDF hit a site near Damascus:

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, citing a military source, says the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes in the Damascus area, causing damage.

It says the IAF fighter jets launched their missiles from over the Golan Heights, targeting sites near the capital.

The source claims Syrian air defenses intercepted some of the Israeli missiles.

It adds that the strikes resulted in “material losses,” without elaborating.

This is important to note because at some point Damascus will be destroyed, never to be seen again according to Isaiah 17:1-3:

The special word about Damascus: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city. It will be destroyed and laid waste. (NLV)

Since Israel is attacking it, the city is still around, contrary to some who said the destruction mentioned in Isaiah 17 occurred already in history. And in the minds of some theologians who specialize in prophecy, now could be that time. The question is if it will happen to start the Psalm 83 war or be destroyed as part of it. In any event, Bible prophecy is being fulfilled left and right now if we’re open to seeing it.