GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 121

All Options On The Table

Resolving the Northern Crisis

Israel is fully ready to resolve the Hezbollah problem in any way it can as we see in an article from i24news.com:

Speaking with the special U.S. envoy to the region Amos Hochstein, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant asserted on Sunday that Israel's commitment to the security of its citizens trumps all obligations. "We are ready to resolve the crisis politically, but are prepared for any other possibility," Gallant said, referring to the pressing need to restore security on Israel's northern border, where hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes due to persistent rocket fire from the Lebanon-based jihadists of Hezbollah.

The United States is hoping that the tensions can be eased with diplomacy:

Hochstein was dispatched to the region by U.S. President Joe Biden in order to deescalate the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah through shuttle diplomacy. between Israel and Lebanon, in an effort to prevent an escalation of the conflict.

The meetings brought up the need for change since residents aren’t going back if they know rockets will be flying over their heads again:

At the meeting, which took place at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, the two discussed the need to resolve the hostile stalemate on the northern border, and the ways to return the residents of the north to their homes only after the security situation in the region has changed.

I don’t see how diplomacy will help when these attacks are inspired by supporting Hamas in its fight against Israel, but politically the US administration doesn’t want the war in the Middle East to expand in an election year. They’ve stated as much.

Training Ground Site Found

The IDF found the main command center for Hamas in Khan Younis and it showed just how planned the October 7th attack was as see in a report from The Times Of Israel:

Givati Brigade troops raided the main headquarters of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, used by the terror group for training ahead of its brutal October 7 onslaught, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday, as the war in the Gaza Strip neared its fourth month.

The Khan Younis complex, known as the al-Qadsia outpost, also housed the office of Muhammad Sinwar, a senior Hamas military commander and the brother of the terror group’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, according to the IDF.

They found a mock layout of where they would eventually attack there:

The military said al-Qadsia included a training ground with mock entrances to Israeli communities, IDF bases, and military vehicles, for Hamas to simulate and prepare for the October 7 attacks, during which thousands of terrorists burst across the border into Israel, killed some 1,200 people and seized over 250 hostages, mostly civilians.

Weapons were made there as well:

Another part of the complex included a Hamas command center and offices belonging to the Khan Younis Brigade’s senior commanders, as well as a rocket depot and tunnel leading to a vast underground network, the IDF said. Troops also found a weapons manufacturing site nearby.

The outpost was heavily boobytrapped but the IDF was ready for it and quickly neutralized both the traps and those shooting at them. In another development, the IDF singled out Hamas terrorists among those leaving the area ahead of more fighting:

In recent days, some 120,000 Palestinians were evacuated from the Khan Younis camp via a humanitarian corridor established by the IDF. Among those moving through the corridor, Givati Brigade troops nabbed some 500 terror suspects and handed them over to be questioned in Israel.

Hamas is pretty sneaky, aren’t they?

Special Powers?

While talking to troops, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hinted that the IDF isn’t using all the ability it has as we read in an article from i24news.tv:

Each attack in Gaza brings Israel closer to dismantling Hamas and rescuing the hostages, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday, speaking to soldiers in the Tel Nof air base.

"Each attack in Lebanon advances us in changing the security situation on the northern border."

"We still haven't used all our special capabilities," he added, warning Hezbollah. "The noses of our planes are pointed north."

Gallant's statement comes shortly after the IDF released footage of its elite paratroopers unit making significant inroads into a Hamas stronghold in Khan Yunis.

I heard one person say that the IDF is only using about 10% of it’s military capacity and Gallant is suggesting that may actually be a true statement. One can only imagine what military options their air force has and if they have to engage Hezbollah, those options may be needed. According to an annual power index of world powers, Israel is ranked 17th. However, that’s based on what is known about their military capabilities. If Gallant is doing more than teasing us, Israel could be more powerful than anyone really knows.

Prayer Keys

If you get our daily email with these notes, also in the email is a web site giving you prayer keys to pray for Israel. From that list, I take excerpts and give them to us as we lift of Israel to the Lord:

Let prophetic voices cry out in America, warning both the Church and the nation's leaders, that President Biden's push to create a Palestinian State after the war in Gaza will drive that nation deeper into God's Valley of judgment because it will divide His land and scatter His people (Joel 3:1-2).

Lord, prepare Israel for the results of this year's US elections by looking more to You and less to America – or to any other nation (Psa. 118:8-9; Isa. 31:1).

Expose to the world how the UN's agency for Palestinians refugees [UNRWA] is under the thumb of Hamas and is a channel which feeds the Palestinian hatred for Jews and Israel (Prov. 10:18; 26:26).

Protect Israelis' minds and hearts against unbiblical "suggestions" from Western nations who appear to no longer be able – or willing – to discern good from evil (Psa. 2:1-3; Prov. 17:15; 24:24).

Lord, judge those nations and NGOs which make ridiculous demands on Israel yet have not insisted that Hamas surrender and release all of the hostages (Psa. 9:19-20; 80:8).

Protect IDF soldiers physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, while providing for all of their needs so that they can fight as Your "exceedingly great army" (Ezek. 37:10).

God, in mercy, miraculously set free all remaining living hostages (Isa. 49:24-26; Jer. 31:15-17).

Move on the people in Israel's intelligence services to ask You for discernment in deciphering what is crucial and what is not in all of the data they are gathering (Deut. 29:29; Job 42:2; Psa. 50:15).

God Almighty, thank You for never falling asleep on the job of guarding over Israel (Psa. 121:4).

And continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 122:6).