GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 44
We Learned A Lot Today

Hostages Were At Al-Shifa Hospital

We were told that the IDF went into the Al-Shifa hospital primarily because they had intel that hostages were there. Evidence was found to support this intel although they don’t appear to be there now. We read more on this from an article in The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-19-2023/) :

The Israel Defense Forces releases surveillance camera footage from Shifa Hospital showing Hamas terrorists bringing a Nepali and Thai citizen who were abducted from Israel on October 7 to the medical center.

One of the hostages is visibly wounded in his arm and is brought on a hospital bed, while the second is forcefully dragged into the hospital.

“These findings prove that the Hamas terror organization used Shifa Hospital on the day of the massacre itself as terror infrastructure,” the IDF says.

In an evening press conference, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the two wounded hostages were later taken by Hamas to hideouts, and that the Red Cross was unable to visit them. He says their locations are currently unknown.

Even though the IDF continues to assure the country and even the world they are doing their best to find and release the hostages, protests also continue with relatives taking to social media to make their cases.

Huge Evidence Drop From IDF

In a report from i24news.tv (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1700418127-idf-publishes-trove-of-evidence-documenting-55-meter-hamas-tunnel-under-gaza-hospital) we see that the IDF dropped a ton of evidence that “Hamas makes 'cynical use of Gaza's hospitals to hide its terrorist infrastructure” :

The Israeli military on Sunday released a painstakingly detailed report documenting the uncovering of a tunnel under Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital that stretched 55-metres beneath the complex.

"IDF troops exposed a 55-meter-long terror tunnel 10 meters deep underneath the Shifa hospital complex," which ran under the hospital and ended at a blast door, an army statement said.

The tunnel entrance contains various defense mechanisms, such as a blast-proof door and a firing hole, in an attempt by Hamas to block Israeli forces from entering.

The IDF added that the tunnel shaft was discovered under a shed near the hospital, alongside a booby-trapped pickup truck loaded with weapons such as anti-tank missiles, explosives and AK-47 rifles.

X poster Eylon Levy commented this on his account @EylonALevy:

The people who called the Shifa Tunnels the “new Saddam WMDs” and the international officials who denied and covered up for this for years all look very, very, very, very silly now.

Houthis And The Cargo Ship

We learn about an Israeli cargo ship that was by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea in this report from The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/yemens-houthis-claim-to-hijack-israeli-ship-in-red-sea-jerusalem-it-isnt-israeli/) :

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed Sunday that they had hijacked an Israeli cargo ship traveling through the Red Sea, as the Jewish state blamed Iran for the incident and denied that the vessel was Israeli.

The Tehran-backed Houthis released a statement claiming responsibility, with Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree saying in a statement that the rebels “carried out a military operation in the Red Sea, the results of which were the seizure of an Israeli ship and taking it to the Yemeni coast.”

He said the Houthis were “dealing with the ship’s crew in accordance with the teachings and values ​​of our Islamic religion,” reiterating repeated threats to target any Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea due to Israel’s “brutal aggression” against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The reports came from NBC News and the IDF put out this response:

“This is not an Israeli ship,” the IDF asserted, while directly blaming the Houthis for the hijacking…The Prime Minister’s Office identified the vessel as a British ship being operated by a Japanese company that was “hijacked on an Iranian whim by the Houthi militia in Yemen.” It added there were 25 crew members on board from Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines and Mexico, but no Israelis on the ship.

“This is another act of Iranian terrorism which expresses a leap forward in Iranian aggression against citizens of the free world, and creates international implications when it comes to the security of global shipping routes,” the statement said.

Israel Approves Fuel Entry Into Gaza

In an article from i24news.tv we see that Israel will allow fuel to come into Gaza (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war) :

srael’s expanded State Security Cabinet (SSC) approved Sunday morning the smaller war cabinet's decision, which would comply with a request from the United States to allow a limited entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip.

The meeting lasted about six-and-a-half-hours. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Transport Minister Miri Regev voted against the measure. Minister Gideon Sa'ar, a recent addition to the cabinet, abstained.

he War Cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz, unanimously approved the measure that was jointly recommended by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet internal security agency.

The decision allows the entry of fuel into Gaza for humanitarian purposes, and would comply with the U.S. request for the entry of two diesel tankers a day for the needs of the UN to support water and sewer infrastructure, an Israeli political source revealed on Friday.

"This action is intended, among other things, to minimally support water, sewage and sanitation systems, in order to prevent the outbreak of epidemics that could spread throughout the entire area," the source explained at the time.

Prayer Points For Israel

We close by praying for Israel:

Operation Swords of Iron" is Israel's war against Hamas. It began after Hamas slaughtered more than 1200 Israelis on October 7th and took over 200 hostages (Psa. 79:9-13).

Lord, guide the war and enable Israel to win an obvious victory (Psa. 89:23; 144:10; Isa. 30:30-33).

Supply all of the IDF's needs to be able to win in a way that glorifies You (Psa. 44:4; 115:1-3). Protect IDF soldiers from friendly fire and other deadly accidents (Deut. 33:29; Psa. 89:18; 91:4).

Also guide them as they battle in an extremely dangerous urban warfare scenario (Psa. 2:4-5; 32:8).

Use the IDF to tread down the high places of Your enemies (Deut. 33:27-29).

Bless the soldiers with rest so that they can be adequately alert in battle (Psa. 3:5; 4:8).

Show Israel how to cut off every Hamas leader and leave Hamas headless (1 Sam. 17:45-451).

Release angelic hosts to support the IDF in this conflict (2 Kin. 6:16-17; Psa. 35:1-8).

Increase the IDF's effectiveness in destroying Hamas' huge underground tunnel system with any terrorists and hidden traps which are down there (Job 34:21-22; Psa. 95:3-4; 124:6-8; Amos 9:2-3).

Let October 7th convince Jews in Israel and in exile that dividing up Your land brings war, death and destruction – and to finally turn away from this ungodly policy for the Jewish State (Joel 3:1-2).

Along with that, destroy the "two-state solution" peace idol and aid Israel to resist the pressure from many world leaders who insist that that must be the final solution (Num. 23:23-24).

Anoint all people who are speaking truth and confronting the lies in the media (Prov. 17:15).

Amen, and Amen.