Israel At War Day 704

Hamas responds to the US hostage deal and of course they said no as we read in an article from The Jerusalem Post:

Hamas on Monday addressed the new US-backed hostage-ceasefire proposal conveyed through Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin and Dr. Bishara Bahbah, saying that there are several roadblocks that need to be addressed to reach a deal, sources from the terror group told Asharq al Awsat on Monday.

Roadblocks? How about concrete walls 10 feet thick. Bahbah is using diplomatic speak for Hamas isn’t budging from their demands. Qatar says they are putting pressure on Hamas to relent:

Qatari Prime Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani reportedly pressed Hamas leaders to "respond positively" to the latest US-proposed plan during talks in Doha on Monday, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

The terrorists are hesitant to release all the hostages all at once which they call a snare:

Hamas sources said that the proposal presented to them contains "many traps and pitfalls that need to be dismantled," adding that they are focused on a deal that would end the war.

Their reasoning actually puts the onus on Israel for not being able to get to the hostages of the bodies of those who are dead. And of course they can’t do anything until the IDF leaves those areas:

The terror group added that it would be difficult to release several hostages already on the first day of a deal, as some hostages were killed in locations where the IDF would need to halt fire in order to extract them from under the rubble in areas where they were killed, or from places where they were buried after Israeli forces entered, Asharq al Awsat reported.

And they want the areas where they get their weapons through to be reopened. Of course they also want the US to guarantee the war will end with them surviving:

According to the Hamas sources, the current discussions do not mention an Israeli withdrawal from critical corridors, such as the Philadelphi Corridor, or reopening the Rafah crossing. The terrorist group told Asharq al Awsat that they are seeking guarantees to reach the war's end, backed by guarantor countries such as the US.

So it’s actually a no to the deal on the table which US president Trump said was a take or leave it proposition. What’s next? Israel will just keep hammering Gaza City until there is nothing left of Hamas.

The Countdown Continues

As I talked about over the weekend, A South African minister is not backing down from the prediction that the Rapture of the Church will happen between September 23rd and the 24th. Joshua Mhlakela says that Jesus Himself told him the dates and went on to state this:

I give you a billion% that on the 23rd or 24th the rapture of the church will take place.

So by his count we have basically 16 or 15 days left before the Rapture which will accelerate the rise of the Antichrist and herald in the seven year Tribulation. I’m not saying the Rapture can’t happen then, but it could just as easily pass like predictions made in the past in 1844. 1988, and 1989 just mention a few. But for my purposes I will keep a countdown running every update just so we can know and hopefully ramp up our evangelistic push since the time is very short. And I will warn people to not act rashly or foolishly as I’m already hearing about people selling their homes, possessions and racking up charges on their credit cards since they don’t think they’ll be around much longer. If these people want to liquidate things they don’t need and donate the money to missions or evangelism ministries I can get behind that. Otherwise it will be a major headache when their October bills come due. And become yet another blemish on the reputations of those of us who do believe in the Rapture and have to explain what did and didn’t happen.