GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 199

Passover Starts

Hezbollah Is Getting More Aggressive

While we’ve been concentrating on Iran, one of its proxies is shooting more and more missiles at Israel as we’re told in a report from i24news.tv:

The Israeli army has conducted airstrikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, following a series of events that included a missile incursion into Israeli airspace near Tzfat.

According to statements from the Israeli army spokesman, approximately 35 missiles were detected crossing Israeli airspace in the Ein Zeitim area, north of Tzfat While no casualties were reported, Israeli forces swiftly responded to the source of the shooting.

Of course, the IDF hit back:

The airstrikes conducted by IDF Air Force fighter planes targeted Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon. Earlier attacks had struck military buildings in Arzoun and Al-Adiseh, where Hezbollah members were reportedly present.

Hezbollah continues to find ways to assault Israel:

On the ground, Hezbollah operatives are reportedly studying potential vulnerabilities in Israeli defenses to ensure successful incursions into Israeli airspace. Recent actions attributed to Hezbollah include four operations in Ruwaisat Al-Alam and Hanita, as well as the deployment of spy devices in Al-Wazzani.

It is entirely possible that the increased attacks are also meant to interrupt the celebration of Passover:

The latest round of violence comes amidst a backdrop of ongoing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Earlier on Monday, an Israeli raid targeted a house in the Srifa area, resulting in two minor injuries. Additional Israeli raids were reported in the Jezzine and Deir Mimas regions, coinciding with heightened Israeli alert levels during the Jewish Passover holiday.

It Must Be Addressed

The level of antisemitism on US colleges is rising yet again as we see in several articles from the Jerusalem Post:

All ten Republican congresspeople representing New York wrote to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik on Monday, charging that "anarchy has engulfed the campus of Columbia University" and calling on Shafik to resign.

The congresspeople referred to protesters gathered inside and outside the Columbia campus as an "unsanctioned mob of students and agitators being permitted to continue to target Jewish students," adding this "has led to several documented incidents of despicable antisemitic harassment and calls for violence and terrorism."

The letter went on to say this:

The letter cites several news reports from the protests, as well as the recommendation of Rabbi Elie Buechler, who serves Jewish students at Columbia, that Orthodox students return home until their safety can be guaranteed.

"The ongoing situation that has unfolded is a direct symptom of your continued lax enforcement of policy and clear double standards," the congresspeople wrote. "While the rot is systemic, the responsibility rests squarely on your shoulders.

"We, the undersigned members, urge you to step down immediately so that someone who will take action against this mob can step up to meet the moment this crisis demands," the Republicans added.

Democrats also weighed in:

"I’m deeply disturbed by the appalling antisemitism being displayed on Columbia University’s campus," wrote New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a post to X on Monday.

"Threats of violence against Jewish students are absolutely despicable, and this appalling rhetoric must end now. Our Jewish friends and neighbors deserve the right to live and worship in safety — here in New York, and all across America."

Gillibrand is one of two senators from New York, the other being Senator Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history.

The other US senator from New York also spoke up as did the NY governor and the White House:

In a statement released on Sunday, Senator Schumer said that "Every American has a right to protest, but when protests shift to antisemitism, verbal abuse, intimidation, or glorification of Oct. 7 violence against Jewish people, that crosses the line."

The White House also condemned expressions of support for Hamas at Columbia, as have New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Unfortunately the divide is perpetrated by leadership as well as the staff of professors who routinely teach such antisemitism and have done so for decades. Getting rid of the presidents of these institutions isn’t going to change anything.

More Work To Be Done

We read in an article from The Jerusalem Post that once fighting ends in Rafah, more terrorists will need to be rooted out in the north of Gaza:

Israeli officials told the New York Times on Monday that in the north of the Gaza Strip, where the IDF has waged intense and difficult fighting, there are still 4,000-5,000 armed Hamas terrorists left.

US officials have said that it is likely that Hamas will not be completely destroyed by military activity. Still, the pace of rebuilding its strength depends on the next steps that Israel will take after the fighting.

The liberal newspaper did let us know that Israel’s war is still a failure:

The Times report, however, states that most Hamas battalions have been "degraded and are scattered" with thousands of terrorists from the Islamist group having been killed, but notes that Israel has not achieved what it states are its two main objectives in the war: destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.

Even those in the US government are saying that annihilating Hamas is not even close to being done:

Current and former US officials told the Times that the terrorist organization's leadership remains "in place" and settled in an underground network of tunnels and operation centers. The officials also said that this allows Hamas leaders "to survive and reconstitute once the fighting stops."

Retired CIA officer Douglas London was quoted by the Times saying that Hamas "still has capability, resilience, funding and a long line of people most likely waiting to sign up and join after all the fighting and all the destruction and all the loss of life.”

US intelligence has also said that Hamas will likely remain a force in Gaza when the fighting is over, and that rebuilding its own combat power would take time.

What these pundits miss is the resilient and well-trained army of Israel and that they have an advantage that few armies in the world can boast: they have God on their side. Regardless of how wayward they are as a society now, God has not and will not abandon them and will even use this conflict to bring many of them back to Him. Let’s remember this when doubters and haters call for Israel to fall. In this time of celebrating the Passover, a good lesson of that is how God set His people free in the face of the most powerful leader in the world at the time.