GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 337

God Can Free Them

Almost Done

I almost hate to bring this up, but a report from CBN.com says the hostage deal is very close:

The White House says a deal for a ceasefire and the release of some of the hostages is about 90 percent done. The sticking point remains the Philadelphi Corridor, the strategic piece of land along the Egypt-Gaza border.

The US sees Hamas as the problem and it’s refreshing to hear that more and more, the fingers are being pointed to the terrorists and their refusal to budge on one issue:

The White House claims an agreement is close, although it admits the Hamas terror tactic of threatening to kill more hostages after having just killed six last week is pressuring negotiators to seal a ceasefire deal.

And in a serious “duh” moment, a US representative pointed out the murdering hostages isn’t helping get a deal done:

National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby revealed the murders "absolutely created a sense of even greater urgency to get the deal." He added, "It also underscores how difficult it is to negotiate with a guy like Mr. Sinwar (the leader of Hamas)."

The hold up now is also pretty obvious. Prime Minister Netanyahu is pretty clear on that hold up:

The hostage deal in progress revolves around the fate of the Philadelphi Corridor. At a press conference this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated control of the corridor is crucial to achieving the goals of Israel's war to defeat Hamas.

“All three of those goals, all three of them, go through Israel’s control of the Philadelphi Corridor. And it’s obvious why. You want to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities; you can’t let Hamas rearm. It’s obvious. You have to control the Corridor," Netanyahu said.

Giving control of any of what the terrorists want should cause everyone to pause as the PM stated:

The prime minister warned that the threat of Hamas regaining control is an invitation to another October 7th.

“So people said, 'Yeah, but if you stay, this will kill the deal,' and I say, such a deal will kill us.”

I’d say the pretty much sums things up. Can they get a deal done? I’ll be surprised if it happens.

Changing Tactics

We’re told in an article from The Jerusalem Post that the IDF is doing things differently after six hostages being held in the tunnels were murdered:

The IDF will change its combat tactics in the Gaza tunnels following the murder of the six hostages, KAN News reported Friday, citing military sources.

The IDF has become more concerned that as troops enter and operate within the tunnels, any hostages held within will be killed.

They will stay out of the tunnels for now:

The IDF will assume that in any area where the IDF has not yet operated, there are hostages. “The murder of the hostages is a direct operational message from Hamas – 'stop operating underground,’” military officials told KAN.

The closer the IDF gets to totally eliminating Hamas, the harder it’s getting to rescue hostages:

KAN reported that according to the military sources, fighting has become more difficult and complex due to the message that was sent with the murder of the hostages that, if the IDF continues to operate underground, more hostages will be killed. “The IDF will continue to reach the hostages without endangering them,” the military source said.

That can be extremely hard now that the IDF freed four hostages recently:

After the rescue operation of Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40) in Operation Arnon, Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida said that Hamas ordered its hostage guards to kill the hostages as soon as they received reports that the IDF was getting close to them.

Hamas spies saw the IDF coming:

An initial IDF investigation revealed that the lookouts stationed outside the tunnel spotted IDF soldiers approaching them, which most likely prompted them to kill the hostages and leave the scene.

As we know now, the dead bodies of hostages not alive ones were recovered:

The IDF retrieved the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino on Sunday, later revealing that the bodies sustained gunshot wounds.

So now they are more careful about using intelligence passed on to them:

The IDF found signs that Hamas lookouts had been monitoring IDF soldiers after locating the bodies. The IDF attempted to make sure to avoid locations where there was intelligence about living hostages, which is information constantly provided to soldiers as they operate in Gaza.

We need divine intervention now if theses hostages are to be rescued. The good news is that God can still do that. All we need to do is look into the Bible and see examples of that occurring. Paul and Silas were held in a Philippian jail. They were held in a high security or as the narrative went, the inner dungeon. They were first stripped and then beaten with wooden rods. If this sounds like the current state of the remaining hostages I agree. But then the miracle happened:

Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! (Acts 16:25-26, NLT)

Now you know how to pray and now you know that the God who freed Paul and Silas can also supernaturally do the same for todays prisoners.