TO WAR OR NOT TO WAR?
The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5
The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
Psalm 11: 4-5
0n Wednesday this week I happened to be reading this Psalm and was interested to see that the word here translated as 'violence', is in Hebrew the word 'hamas'. Hamas is the name of the terror organization currently in power in Gaza. The name Hamas is, in Arabic, the acronym for the phrase Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya, meaning the "Islamic Resistance Movement". In Arabic 'hamas' means courage or zeal, and the Hamas organization interprets its name as meaning 'strength and bravery', according to its Covenant.
To me this summarizes the whole problem with Hamas. What we see as the negative value of violence and destruction, they see as the positive value of courage and bravery.
At 7:37 that same evening Hamas opened fire on our southern communities around the Gaza border. Seven rockets of the first barrage landed in the town of Sderot, striking two homes and injuring a number of people, including one seriously and another moderately. Others suffered minor injuries or shock and two women went into labor as a result of shock. You can see a video of the attack on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKjLmsIBNdg
Over the next 48 hours around 200 rockets and missiles were fired into Israel from Gaza. In total 7 civilians in Israel were hospitalized with injuries, including a 30-year-old Thai agricultural worker who suffered serious injuries as she was preparing breakfast for the other workers on a farm. Many others suffered minor injuries and shock. Homes, factories, agricultural buildings and equipment were damaged, while the whole population of the area was instructed to stay within 15 seconds of a bomb shelter. Children's summer camp activities were canceled, gatherings of over 300 people forbidden, roads closed and the rail service stopped between Sderot and Beersheva.
In response, the IDF attacked around 150 Hamas targets, including military installations, munitions factories and stores, and missile launching positions and terror cells. Most of these targets had been evacuated in anticipation of such an attack and the IDF also warned people to leave before they attacked so human casualties were few. Hamas claims that a man, a pregnant woman and her 2-year-old daughter were killed by the IDF. The photos they posted however reveal that this is nothing more than a lie. The photos of the toddler supposedly killed by the IDF is actually a photo of Elle McBroom on the occasion of her 2nd birthday and posted by her parents on Instagram. Elle is alive and well (1) . This is yet another 'blood libel' against Israel spread by the Palestinian propaganda
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| The Instagram posting http://www.israellycool.com/2018/08/09/palestinian-blood-libel-of-the-day-the-baby-and-her-pregnant-mother-edition/ |
On Thursday morning I went online to see if how the world's media were reporting the events of the previous night. I was astounded by the thundering silence. One commentator summed this up under the headline "Israel Under Attack While the World Yawns"(2). Is it a case of 'Israel fatigue' or plain antisemitism? The only major newspaper to report it at all was the BBC which did so under the inaccurate (not to mention plain incorrect) and biased headline " Israeli airstrikes kill pregnant woman and baby" (3). Israel's Foreign Ministry and the Board of Deputies of British Jews demanded that the headline be changed immediately (4). The BBC did change it to " Gaza air strikes 'kill woman and child' after rockets hit Israel". A little bit better but not much!!! This is by no means the first time the BBC has been called out on its biased and frankly antisemitic reporting of events in Israel.
The rocket attacks on Israel continued all through Thursday and at 15:07 a Grad missile was fired at the city of Beersheva, some 40km from Gaza. This was the first time the citizens of Beersheva had heard the Code Red Sirens blaring since the Gaza operation of 2014. The missile thankfully landed in an open space and no damage or injuries were reported. It could just as easily hit an apartment building or kindergarten or children's playground. Thank God it did not. With this attack, a red line was crossed and the IDF stepped up its operations in Gaza and bombed the Hamas intelligence headquarters totally destroying it.
During this period Hamas also activated a fraudulent App, called IsraelAlert that purports to warn of incoming missile attacks in Israel. This App deliberately copies the format of the official RedAlert App, but gives fake warnings and comes with a load of malware that is capable of taking control of phones, accessing the camera, messages, locations and more. Once downloaded this malware cannot be removed from the phone even if the app is deleted. Below is a photo of the official RedAlert App on the left and the fake Hamas app on the right (5).
The rocket attacks on Israel continued all through Thursday and at 15:07 a Grad missile was fired at the city of Beersheva, some 40km from Gaza. This was the first time the citizens of Beersheva had heard the Code Red Sirens blaring since the Gaza operation of 2014. The missile thankfully landed in an open space and no damage or injuries were reported. It could just as easily hit an apartment building or kindergarten or children's playground. Thank God it did not. With this attack, a red line was crossed and the IDF stepped up its operations in Gaza and bombed the Hamas intelligence headquarters totally destroying it.
During this period Hamas also activated a fraudulent App, called IsraelAlert that purports to warn of incoming missile attacks in Israel. This App deliberately copies the format of the official RedAlert App, but gives fake warnings and comes with a load of malware that is capable of taking control of phones, accessing the camera, messages, locations and more. Once downloaded this malware cannot be removed from the phone even if the app is deleted. Below is a photo of the official RedAlert App on the left and the fake Hamas app on the right (5).
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| https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5326309,00.html phony phone app |
While all this was going on the Israeli Military was preparing for a full-scale war with Israel and the question on everyone's lips was whether we were going to enter Gaza and deal with Hamas once and for all. Some soldiers were called up and equipment moved towards the border area so that they could respond immediately if necessary. No one, neither Hamas nor Israel, wants war but the public pressure to deal with the situation here in Israel is growing by the day as frustrations accumulate as a result of the ongoing, never-ending rounds of rocket attacks and fires.
On Thursday night Hamas claimed a Ceasefire agreement had been reached with Israel and they stopped firing rockets into Israel, for now at least. This was probably a result of the decisive attack on their Intelligence HQ and pressure from Egypt and the UN. Israel never made any agreement for a Ceasefire. The Hamas claim was probably an effort to save face but also designed to make Israel look like the villain should they carry out any further attacks in Gaza.
Although the rocket fire has stopped the incendiary devices are still coming from Gaza and a number of fires ignited. On Friday about 9000 Gazans rioted along the Gazan border burning tires, and hurling firebombs and explosives at IDF troops. The IDF responded with riot control measures and live fire and 3 Palestinian rioters were killed and around 300 injured. In addition Israeli tanks fired on two outposts from which grenades were thrown at Israeli soldiers (5).
In spite of the so-called Ceasefire, Hamas continues to call upon Gaza residents to continue the weekly "March of Return" protests. According to Arutz7 "The Supreme National Organization of the March of Return and Breaking the Siege is urging Palestinian Arabs in both “Palestine” and abroad to take part in large-scale demonstrations this coming Friday, August 17, under the title "The Friday of the Rebels for Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa"" (6). This is to commemorate the attempted burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. Today Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, ahead of a meeting of the Security Cabinet to discuss further steps in relation to Gaza, stated that
“Our demand is clear - a total cease-fire...
“So far, we have destroyed hundreds of Hamas military targets. With every round of attacks, the IDF exacts a heavy price from Hamas. I will not reveal our operational plans, but they are ready" (6).
What does all this mean? Will we go to war with Gaza again or not? I cannot say. But all I can do is echo the Psalmist:
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked advance against me
to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.
Psalm 27: 1-3
PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM AND ALL ISRAEL
References:
2. http://www.israellycool.com/2018/08/09/israel-under-attack-while-world-yawns/
3. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45124357
4. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180810-bbc-bows-to-pressure-from-israel-and-changes-gaza-headline/
5. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5326309,00.html phony phone app
6. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/250371
3. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45124357
4. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180810-bbc-bows-to-pressure-from-israel-and-changes-gaza-headline/
5. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5326309,00.html phony phone app
6. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/250371
