GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 238

Many Different Responses

Take The Deal

As negotiators continue to try and get a deal that all sides can agree to, Joe Biden urges Hamas to agree to the deal Israel has on the table as we read in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

Israel has proposed a new three-phase ceasefire deal and plan for the day after the war, President Joe Biden said on Friday afternoon during a special address from the White House.

Biden laid out the terms for the agreement which would begin with six weeks of ceased hostilities in which women, children, elderly and injured hostages would be released.

The article goes on to describe the three phases. The first phase is explained like this:

In the first phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas in Gaza.

Some American hostages would be released in the first stage. At this time Palestinians would also return to their homes in all areas of Gaza, including the north. Humanitarian aid would surge to 600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza per day.

With a ceasefire that aid could be safely and effectively distributed, Biden said. Thousands of temporary shelters including housing units will be delivered by the international community.

"All that and more would begin immediately," Biden said.

During the first phase, the second phase would be hammered out:

During the six weeks Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent ceasefire.

Biden acknowledged there are "a number of details" that need to be negotiated to move from phase one to phase two as Israel will want to make sure its interests are protected.

The proposal says the ceasefire will continue as long as negotiations take should it take longer than six weeks with the US, Egypt and Qatar working to make sure negotiations keep going.

All of the hostages would be released during the second phase:

Phase two would include the release of all remaining hostages, including male soldiers.

During phase two Israel would withdraw all its forces from Gaza as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, according to Biden.

"A temporary ceasefire will become the cessation of hostilities permanently," Biden said, quoting directly from the agreement.

The third phase is all about rebuilding Gaza:

The final and third phase would include the reconstruction plan for Gaza and the release of any final remains of hostages.

"That's the offer that's now on the table," Biden said.

Netanyahu Responds

The PM released his view on Biden’s comments as we read in an article from The Times Of Israel:

In a statement issued immediately after US President Joe Biden’s speech calling on Hamas to accept the latest hostage deal proposal and Israel’s leaders to stand behind it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says, “The Israeli government is united in the desire to return our hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal.”

Biden along with many other world leaders seemed to leave out what Netanyahu reminds us of next:

“Therefore, the prime minister authorized the negotiating team to present an outline for achieving this goal, while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved, including the return of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities,” Netanyahu’s office says.

If the deal includes what the Prime Minister and his office are saying there is no way Hamas will agree to it. When asked to clarify the differences, Netanyahu’s office declined to do it:

“The exact outline proposed by Israel, including the conditional transition from stage to stage, allows Israel to maintain these principles,” the statement adds.

Netanyahu’s office doesn’t clarify whether its proposal is the same one described by Biden during his speech — and doesn’t refer directly to Biden’s speech at all.

Asked whether the deal described by Netanyahu’s office is the same one Biden laid out in his speech, a senior administration official briefing reporters avoids answering directly.

I trust the big picture laid out by Israel before I trust the United States leadership. Netanyahu’s office ended their comments this way:

“I have no doubt that the deal will be characterized by Israel and will be characterized by Hamas, but we know what’s in the deal. We know what the expectations are,” the official says.

“Often these deals are characterized by those who might not want to see the deal,” the official says earlier on in the briefing.

And Hamas Responds

And now we hear from the other side of this and they also don’t agree with Biden’s assessment of the deal on the table as we read in another article from The Times Of Israel:

Hamas has reportedly said that the hostage deal proposal presented by US President Joe Biden earlier this evening lacks the guarantees that the terror group requires regarding cessation of fighting and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.

“Biden’s proposal did not indicate guarantees for a complete cessation of the war nor guarantees for withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” a Hamas source tells the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat news outlet.

Hamas says they won’t even negotiate unless the fighting stops:

The unnamed source adds that Hamas is “open to all ideas and proposals… and its position is based on a complete cessation of the war and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas said yesterday that it would refuse to negotiate so long as fighting continues in Gaza.

The article sums up both sides succinctly:

Talks for a hostage deal have been stop-and-start for months — Hamas has said multiple times that it was not willing to make an agreement unless Israel stopped the fighting and pulled out of Gaza, while Israel has continued to maintain that the war will not end until the terrorist organization has been dismantled and the hostages released.

While I would welcome a peaceful end to this war I just don’t see it happening. If we listen to both sides they are showing us why that isn’t going to happen. And those who want the hostages released need to realize that Hamas has no real intentions of releasing all of them unless they are guaranteed to survive and rule in Gaza again. The reality of this war is quite clear and all of us, even those who pray need to see that now. Only God can get those captive home now.

And Now God Responds

As we hear about all these sides weighing in on ending this war, ultimately we need to hear about what God thinks and we’ll do this by listing verses from His word:

Abba, lead us in prayer for Israel, and help us to pray out of Your Word and not out of our anger or despair at the world's attitude towards Your nation (Psa. 42:5, 11; 43:5; Amos 3:7; John 15:15).

Lord, turn Israel's leaders to seek You for wisdom to lead their nation (Psa. 80:3, 7, 19; Prov. 1:1-7).

King of Zion, create more sons and daughters of Zion in Israel and give them the authority they need to guide Your nation in agreement with Your revealed will (Prov. 29:2; Isa. 32:1b; Zech. 9:13).

Lord, we are so grateful for how You remind us to not trust in Israel's government, but in You who has ordained Israel's current government for this time (Psa. 75:6-7; 99:1; Dan. 2:21).

Messiah of Israel, protect and anoint PM Bibi Netanyahu – for Your glory's sake (Psa. 115:1-3).

Support him in his very strong stance to resist anyone, whether from inside or outside of Israel, who demands that Israel capitulate to Islamic terrorism and intimidation (Psa. 20:1-2; 68:28; 119:28).

Make Israel's leaders very discerning about that which is good, and that which is evil (Isa. 5:20-21).Shield them from demonic distractions – regardless of what those distractions may be (Psa. 12:2-4).

You see how the media, both globally and in Israel, lies and distorts the narrative about Your nation, so arise and deal with this satanically-inspired anti-Zionist spirit (Job 12:17; Isa. 59:14-19; John 8:44).

God, baptize Israeli Jews, and also Jews in exile, in a biblically-correct mindset and wash away from them all politically-correct thinking (Psa. 119:138, 142, 148, 151; Isa. 40:7-8; Luke 16:17).

Precious God, enable the unity, courage and faith in the rightness of Israel's cause which permeates the soldiers fighting in Gaza, to infuse the rest of Israeli society as well (Deut. 31:6-7; Josh. 10:25).

Also expel the spirits of rebellion and arrogance out of Israeli society (Ezek. 20:38a; Mal. 3:3).

Release Your perfect shalom on Israelis whose loved ones have been murdered or sexually abused, are still held hostage, or whose fate is as yet unknown (Isa. 61:1-3; Matt. 5:4).

Protect Israel from the emotional blackmail Hamas uses because of the hostages (Psa. 107:14-16).

Lord, defend Your nation against its enemies – whether political, physical, through lawfare, or who continually condemn its leaders, its army, and Israelis/Jews in general (Psa. 35:1-3; Isa. 41:11).

Shield Netanyahu and other Israeli political and military leaders from the unrighteous lawfare being waged against them by the ICC, the ICJ and by the UN itself (Psa. 43:1; 119:126, 154).

Lord, You hear the false accusations that have been laid at Israel's feet by the ICC and the ICJ – so stir Yourself up and protect and justify Your nation and exalt the truth (Isa. 54:15-17; 59:14-18).

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 122:6, KJV)