Elisha Vision – Commentary

Hamas rockets from Gaza continue to fall on Israel for one week. This update features excerpts from last night’s Netanyahu speech, courtesy of allIsraelnews.com. Please refer to my last blog post for context. (This is the fourth Gaza war which fulfills Amos 1:6-7.)

Netanyahu vows Israel will respond “until the security of our people is restored” – It has been five days since Hamas brazenly fired rockets at Jerusalem and other Israeli cities in a totally unprovoked attack.

This past week, millions of Israelis were forced into bomb shelters as missiles rained down on our cities. Several Israelis have been killed. Many more have been wounded. You know and I know, no country would tolerate this. Israel will not tolerate this.

Israel has responded forcefully to these attacks and we will continue to respond forcefully until the security of our people is reinstated and restored. We’ve eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists and taken out hundreds of terrorist sites, including missile launchers and buildings that Hamas used to plan and perpetrate these attacks.

Two nights ago, Israel also seriously degraded the terror infrastructure of Hamas. We knocked out part of the vast subterranean tunnel network that Hamas uses to attack Israel. I want to remind the world that in firing on our cities, Hamas is committing a double war crime. They’re targeting our civilians and hiding behind Palestinian civilians, effectively using them as human shields.

As always, Israel is doing everything possible to protect our civilians and keep Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way. We demonstrated this yet again today when we warned civilians to vacate the building used by the Hamas terror intelligence. They vacated the premises before the target was destroyed and that’s why you don’t hear of casualties from these collapsing terror towers because we take special care to avoid these civilian casualties, exactly the opposite of Hamas. 

SOLIDARITY SUNDAY: As terrorists in Gaza fire 3,000 rockets, tens of millions of Evangelicals heed call to pray for Israelis and Palestinians – I’ve been so encouraged hearing from Christians around the world who are mobilizing others to pray for Jews and Arabs, and to focus on the promises of Psalm 91. As Israel heads into the biblical holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost) this evening, tens of millions of Evangelical Christians are gathering in churches today in the U.S. and around the globe to obey Psalm 122:6 which commands believers to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” and all the people of the Land. Shavuot (Pentecost), also known as the “Feast of Weeks” or “Holiday of First Fruits” commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

How Israel moves Gazan civilians out of the way of attacks on Hamas – Israel uses phone calls and roof-knock munitions to evacuate Gazans ahead of airstrikes. “We select warheads with the necessary lethality to hit those who need to be hit and to reduce the impact on others,” Israeli official explains.

Please read the entire article above (click the blue link) about how Israel systematically avoids civilians as much as possible. Hamas uses civilians as human shields and targets civilians indiscriminately in Israel. The media building also housed Hamas intelligence offices. Hamas uses homes, schools, mosques, and even media locations as human shields. They know that Israel intentionally avoids civilian targets. Pray especially for the poor Gazans who are the first victims of Hamas. This is not about Arabs and Jews. It is about jihad or peace.