Israel At War – Day 100

The 100 Day Mark

Reassessing Things

The 100 day mark of a lot of things is something to celebrate. However, when it comes to wars, fighting for 100 days isn’t really a good thing. And in the case of the Israel war against Hamas, and really all the surrounding terrorists means it could go on much longer. Here is a summary of the war in numbers found in an article from The Times Of Israel:

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday published a large data set with information on its operations in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon, from the number of terror operatives killed to the number of sites struck, as the country marked 100 days of war against Palestinian terror group Hamas.

According to the data, more than 9,000 Hamas operatives and members of other terror groups have been killed by the IDF in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7, when gunmen rampaged through southern communities massacring some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting over 240 to Gaza.

Hamas, for its part has their own stats:

The Hamas-run health ministry has said over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, though the figure cannot be independently verified and is believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.

The IDF added these stats as well:

The IDF’s data said the military has killed two Hamas brigade commanders as well as 19 battalion commanders and other senior officials with an equivalent rank. More than 50 Hamas company commanders and operatives with a similar rank have also been killed, according to the data.

In Lebanon, the IDF said it has killed more than 170 terror operatives, mostly members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Some 30,000 targets have been struck in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, including more than 3,400 that were discovered as Hamas sites during the fighting. In Lebanon, some 750 Hezbollah positions have been hit, according to the IDF’s data.

As we can see there are least two major war fronts noted with the West Bank being the third major front. The most important number though is how many more days will the war last.

“We Have To Stop Lying To Ourselves”

In a rather blunt address to the Israel war cabinet, a war cabinet observer told the current War cabinet they need face reality as we read in this report from The Times Of Israel:

War cabinet observer Minister Gadi Eisenkot says Israel’s leaders are “lying to themselves” and need to wise up before it is too late, according to several Hebrew media reports.

Eisenkot, whose son and nephew were both killed fighting in Gaza, reportedly told the other members of the cabinet that “we have to stop lying to ourselves, to show courage, and to lead to a large deal which will bring home the hostages. Your time is running out, and each day that passes endangers their lives.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant made it clear that continued attack is the best way to see the hostages released:

According to the reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reiterated their belief that only added military pressure will lead to such a deal.

No one knows for sure, but one thing is sure and that is after 100 days and with poor treatment, Eisenkot is right that these people are running out of time. One commenter said this:

These “deals” end up getting innocents killed by freed terrorists. See Sinwar, Yaya. It’s the equivalent of playing three card monte with other people’s lives. They don’t work and never have since Jibril in 1985.

The answer is to crush Hamas and Gaza until the price of holding hostages becomes too high. If 23,000 won’t do it, maybe 46,000 will.

Only Prayer Can Change Things

All of this speculating over how to both release the hostages and end the war doesn’t change things. Actions do and the only action Christians like you and I can take that will accomplish both goals is intense violent intercession. This fighting is a result of battles in the spiritual realm and we can affect that. Violent is mentioned in the sense that calling Heavenly powers to fight against the demonic protection and plans given to terrorists groups like Hamas and Hezbollah must be met with angelic forces who outnumber demons 2 to 1. We may not know what Heaven does to battle, but we can read about many times that God sent confusion in the enemies camp as well as fear and even blindness to neutralize soldiers intent on harming His children. In one case an angel went into an enemy camp and killed 185,000 in one night:

And it came to pass on a certain night that the [a]angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. (2 Kings 19:35, NKJV)

If you think God can’t do this again, you don’t know our God. These terrorists talk a good game, but messing with God’s children never ends well.