GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 147

Fighting Against God

Truce Hold Up

It’s no secret that any hostage deal that depends upon a release of Hamas convicts for a certain amount of hostages also depends on the number of those still alive. To date, Hamas isn’t willing to provide proof that as we read in an article from The Times Of Israel:

Israel will not participate in further talks aimed at achieving a temporary ceasefire and prisoner swap until it receives a list of living hostages still held by Hamas, the Axios news site reported Friday, as Hebrew-language media indicated that the Palestinian terror group had adopted an increasingly intransigent stance in the negotiations.

According to the Axios report, Qatar and Egypt, who mediate between Israel and Hamas, had coaxed Israel to take part in talks over the past week in Doha by guaranteeing that if an Israeli delegation were sent, Egypt and Qatar would secure a list of living hostages, and pressure Hamas to come down from its demands regarding the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in return for each Israeli hostage.

So far, Hamas isn’t cooperating:

But after three days of talks in Doha, the Israeli delegation returned home without any answers on either issue. “The mediators promised that Hamas would give numbers and that didn’t happen,” Axios quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying.

If more talks are held and that appears to be the goal, Israel sees no point in it:

On Thursday, Qatari and Egyptian officials proposed another round of talks in Cairo to take place over the coming week, but Israel refused the offer due to the mediators’ failure to receive from Hamas the promised list of hostages.

“There is no point in starting another round of talks until we receive the lists of which of the hostages are alive and until Hamas gives its answer regarding the ‘ratio’ that defines how many prisoners will be released for each hostage,” the official said.

Prime Minister Benhamin Netanyahu agrees:

In a televised press conference Thursday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that he is “demanding to know in advance the names” of all the hostages Israel is supposed to see released within the current proposed framework, and added that it is “too early” to know if the planned deal will come to fruition in the coming days.

In any case, “we won’t capitulate to Hamas’s delusional demands,” Netanyahu said, noting that “if we capitulate, we simply won’t be here.”

“We are determined” to return all the hostages, “with or without a framework,” the premier added.

Holocaust Was Necessary

In a televised interview a member of Fatah said that Hitler had to kill the Jews to save Germany as we read in an article in The Jerusalem Post:

Fatah Official Yasser Aby Sido appeared on Egypt’s Sada Al-Balad TV on February 23, where he claimed that the Holocaust was a necessary action because the “Jews planned to control Germany," according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Sido began the interview by commenting on international condemnations of a potential IDF military operation in Rafah, comparing it to the Holocaust.

Sido went on to give a very different view of history that fits his example:

“I would like to ask: Why did the Holocaust happen? I am not a fan of Hitler,” Sido affirmed, but added, “but when Hitler perpetrated the Holocaust, he had obvious reasons.

“The Jews and the Zionists were offered various places in the world - in Argentina, in Uganda, in the north of Sinai, in the south of Iraq- but they chose Palestine for other reasons we may mention later.

“They planned to take over Germany. They started to bring down Germany in terms of the economy and moral values. Hitler reacted by making the Jews go on the streets and lick the sidewalks. They know this very well. Kristallnacht [the night of broken glass] is well known in Jewish history, but so is the Night of the Long Knives, when Jews were ordered to put Stars of Davids on their breasts, and they were called ‘filthy Jews.’

“Let me say this loud and clear - the Jews distorted many verses in the Torah in order to make them more agreeable for them. I do not want to cite examples because some might consider me an antisemite, although it is us Arabs who are Semites - not them.”

The article rightly pointed the obvious:

The Fatah official failed to mention that Nazi forces had attempted to genocide Jews across the entire European continent and offered a revised account of the Holocaust which promotes the idea that Hitler had attempted to relocate Jewish populations.

Is it just me or is there a rampant cry for Israel to not carry out operations in Rafah from everywhere? This is strange and there must be a reason I’m missing. Is there something in the area that will expose these countries to embarrassment? Why was it alright to take down Hamas all over Gaza but not in this final area? If the hostages are in Rafah and everyone wants them to be released why fight against it? If things continue as they are the IDF is going in on March 10th if not earlier.

International Criticism Increases

In a report from The Times Of Israel leaders from around the world are laying the blame for the deaths of Palestinians on the IDF and even saying it will endanger hostage negotiations:

International calls intensified Friday for a probe into the deaths of dozens of Palestinians clamoring around an aid convoy in northern Gaza a day earlier, with many countries accusing Israel of responsibility for the disaster and threatening diplomatic steps.

The calls came as officials involved in talks for a temporary ceasefire and prisoner swap expressed cautious optimism that such a deal could be struck before the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, on March 10.

“We are hopeful that we can reach a cessation of hostilities and exchange of hostages. Everyone recognizes that we have a time limit to be successful before the start of Ramadan,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Friday.

The start of Ramadan, a Muslim holy month is like a line in the sand for the war with both sides using it as a bargaining point. Israel says that if Hamas doesn’t agree to a deal to release the hostages by the start of the holy month they will proceed with their march into Rafah. If no deal is reached it is also likely that all sides will point to the other for not making it happen:

Negotiations could be complicated by Thursday’s mass-casualty incident, in which Hamas claimed over 100 people were killed.

Hamas blamed the IDF for the deaths, calling it a massacre, but the military has said most of the casualties were caused by a stampede and people being run over by the supply vehicles. Gunmen also opened fire in the area as they looted the supplies. The IDF said its fire was responsible for no more than 10 casualties.

Hamas warned in a statement that the incident could lead to the failure of talks aimed at a deal on a truce and hostage release.

“The negotiations conducted by the movement’s leadership are not an open process at the expense of the blood of our people,” it said, referring to Thursday’s deaths and saying Israel would be responsible for any failure of the talks.

France, Germany, The United States, Columbia, South Africa, and Brazil all raised concerns with some making comparisons to the Holocaust, a tactic that is becoming all too familiar now.

A Point Of No Return

Moreover, in that day I will make Jerusalem a massive stone for all the people. All who try to lift it will be cut to pieces. Nevertheless, all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against her” (Zechariah 12:3, TLV).

As we can see, all of this ganging up on Israel, while disappointing was predicted by Jesus when talking about what would happen in the time leading up to His Second Coming. Jews would be seen as the villains and hated by the world and they would even have to flee to avoid the worst persecution in their history at the hands of the Antichrist. No, this isn’t a sign that we are living in the Tribulation. It is a sign that we are getting very close and can be considered another of the birth pangs referenced in the Bible. In an article from the Jerusalem Voice we see why:

Yet, the campaign of hatred marches on because the great redemption story is not over. Because the Jewish people and Israel play a major role in Last Days prophecy, Satan is still hard at work opposing God’s plan. The impetus he is using to rally hatred against the Jewish people today is a powerful anti-Israel (and pro-Palestinian) deception, wrapped in false humanitarian claims and causes. Understand: Deception is a hallmark of the Last Days (Matthew 24:11). For the minuscule size of the country, the lack of natural resources, or strategic seaport, one has to question why Israel is always at the center of world controversy—her existence continually hanging in the balance. We see Israel at the epicenter of a boiling cauldron of increasingly violent factions rising up within the vast Arab lands surrounding her. The world has been told, and has almost mindlessly accepted, claims that all unrest in the Middle East is Israel’s fault—that if the Jews would give the Land “back to the Palestinians,” there would be peace in the world, and terrorism would end. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is really God they are hating:

The stage is set to draw all nations into a final cataclysmic showdown in the Middle East; the nations may think it is against Israel, but they will find out it is against her God!