GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 26
Who Controls Gaza?

Controlling The North

(show pic 1 here)

As the fighting inside Gaza continues, the strategy is coming into focus. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) is taking a divide and conqueror approach as they now control the north of area. But the process is costly as they lost fifteen of their soldiers. Israel prepared us for this, but it still stings as we see in this article from The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-9-soldiers-killed-battling-hamas-deep-inside-gaza-as-military-toll-mounts/) :

Fifteen soldiers were killed in fighting deep inside the Gaza Strip in the course of Tuesday, Israeli authorities announced Wednesday, and another was killed by mortar fire on the border on Wednesday, the IDF said, as leaders warned of the “heavy toll” being paid by troops to eliminate the Hamas terror group.

Israeli forces continued to attack targets overnight and through Wednesday from the ground and air, killing dozens of members of the terror group, the Israel Defense Forces said. Activity appeared to be focused in Jabaliya, a Hamas stronghold on the outskirts of Gaza City pounded by airstrikes overnight and again during the day Wednesday.

Eleven soldiers from the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion were killed when a Namer armored personnel carrier they were in was hit by an anti-tank guided missile fired by Hamas, the IDF said. Another four soldiers were wounded in the same incident, including one seriously.

As the IDF moves into urban areas it will get harder and harder to avoid direct and in some cases fatal engagements with the terrorists. This was to be expected, but losing any soldier brings home the cost of winning the war. Here is another quote from the same article:

The casualty toll underlined the threats soldiers are facing as the army shifts to fraught urban combat in Gaza’s crowded streets after weeks of a punishing air campaign. The urban combat zone is thought to be awash in bombs and booby traps and undercut by a vast network of tunnels used by terrorists to ambush or surprise troops.

Painful Losses

Both Defense Minister Gallant and Prime Minister Netanyahu told of affected them and Israel as a whole as seen in these quotes from The Times Of Israel article already cited:

The loss of IDF soldiers in battles with Hamas terrorists in Gaza is a severe and painful blow,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday morning, sending his condolences to the families of the fallen.

“Our significant achievements in the powerful fighting deep in the Strip are taking, to our sorrow, a heavy toll,” he said. But he vowed that Israel was ready for a long and complex operation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel’s war on Hamas despite the deaths.

“We have so many important achievements, but also painful losses. We know that every soldier of ours is an entire world,” Netanyahu said.

The loss of more of IDF troops will happen as the tight quarters of the cities is not conducive to an easy win.

More Psalm 83 War Pieces Falling Into Place

(show pic of map here)

Many felt that the current war wasn’t an indication of the Psalm 83 war because of peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt would keep them out of the current war in Israel. But now we see at least Jordan showing tangible signs of souring on what was a fragile agreement in this article from The times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-recalls-ambassador-from-israel-to-protest-carnage-in-war-with-hamas/) :

Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday in protest of the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip and the mounting civilian death toll in Israel’s war against Hamas.

Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi told envoy Rasan al-Majali to return to Amman “as an expression of Jordan’s position of rejection and condemnation of the raging Israeli war on Gaza, which is killing innocent people and causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to a statement released by Jordan’s Foreign Ministry.

Jordan also asked Israel’s Foreign Ministry to tell Ambassador Rogel Rachman, who was temporarily called back to Israel because of security threats in Jordan, not to return to Amman.

(show pic 2 here)

Protests are already growing in Jordan as it’s people are wanting the peace treaty ended as seen in this quote from 124news.tv (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy/1698855484-jordanian-foreign-ministry-summons-its-ambassador-from-israel) :

The last time Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel was in 2019. Foreign Minister Safadi expressed grave concerns about the situation, warning that the Israeli military operations could lead to "a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions for years to come."

These actions have sparked widespread protests in Jordan in support of Gaza, with demonstrators demanding the annulment of the peace treaty with Israel and the closure of the Israeli embassy.

Our eyes must now turn to Egypt and even Saudi Arabia to see if they fall in line with the prophecies about the Psalm 83 war.

Problems On The Home Front?

(show pic 3 here)

FBI director Christopher Wray testified to the Senate that the United States is at a high state of alert about possible terrorist agents in our country as seen in this quote from CBN.com (see https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/time-vigilance-fbi-director-warns-increased-risk-terror-threats-us) :

There is a heightened sense of threats against the United States, and a sense of urgency to address them. That was the message from experts testifying Tuesday on Capitol Hill regarding threats to the homeland.

Both the heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged that given worldwide uncertainty combined with the war between Israel and Hamas, it is a time to be concerned about terrorist threats to the homeland. They added no threats we face are getting any easier and the chance of an incident on U.S. soil has increased.

Wray admitted the gaps in U.S. intelligence are real.

One senator wanted to know how different the threats are now as opposed to before the October 7th attacks in Israel. Here is how that exchange went from the same article:

"What would you tell Americans right now about the threat today as compared to before?" asked Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

"This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance," responded Wray. "We shouldn't stop conducting our daily lives, going to schools, houses of worship, and so forth, but we should be vigilant."

Jewish Community Is Also At Risk

FBI director Wray went on to talk about the Jews living in America, also from the CBN.news article:

Wray also acknowledged threats to the Jewish community are at historic levels.

"The Jewish community is uniquely, uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across, and when you look at a group that makes up 2.4%, roughly, of the American population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes," he said.

As we’ve seen in a previous podcast when we played a short clip from Jewish college students holed up in a library while pro-Hamas protestors pounded on the door, it’s getting less and less safe for anyone professing to be a Jew to feel safe these days.

Have We Let Terrorists In Already?

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas was asked by another senator about keeping track of possible terrorists coming into America. Here is his response, again citing from the CBN.com report:

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas fielded questions on his agency's attempts to keep track of known terrorists crossing the U.S. southern border.

"Individuals imposing risk to national security are of the highest importance," Mayorkas said.

Mayorkas was also questioned on the impact of the millions of people who have illegally crossed into the U.S. under President Biden's watch.

"Where did these 6 million people go?" asked Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). "Are you keeping track of them? To what extent do we have a handle on where these 6 million people are in America?"

"Senator, as you well know, when an individual is indeed released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings and are subject to removal if they do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States," Mayorkas responded.

One of Wray's major concerns was the number of terrorist organizations explicitly calling for attacks in the U.S., which bumps the current threat risk to a whole new level.

"Lone actors, homegrown violent extremists inspired by foreign terrorist organizations are in many ways the biggest threat we face here in the homeland," testified FBI Director Christopher Wray.

We also know that Hezbollah has a strong presence in Mexico and they are calling for such actions, something neither administration official would talk about.

Don’t Live In Fear

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Tim 1:7, NKJV)

While talk of terrorist actions either from Americans or foreign actors, it is important that we don’t find ourselves living in fear. Those living in Biblical times could easily relate to what we are seeing now. They, too, faced aggressors who wanted to completely destroy them. King David had a current king hunting him down for years before he took the throne. Paul had Jewish leaders sending people to kill him as well. And Paul told Timothy to not let a spirit of fear dominate him so the Apostle knew what he was talking about. This advice is pertinent and relevant to us today as we face real reasons to live in fear. Not just simple fears, but heightened ones as we heard about in testimonies from the government. In short, realize that this fear is a spirit and should be rebuked as one. And just rebuking it is not enough. We must not continue to live like it still is there which we can do. And then we need to let Holy Spirit fill us with power, love, and a sound mind. It’s the power of knowing He is in control and then living in a balanced way, not living in extremes. While we may habitually want to default to being fearful, we need Holy Spirit to keep us from doing that. If we ask Him, He will help.