GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 54
Prayers Needed

Last 10 Hostages Released

20 more hostages have been released after the extension of the ceasefire for 2 more days. Here is a brief account of the last release from The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-29-2023/?utm_source=article_hpsidebar&utm_medium=desktop_site&utm_campaign=liveblog-november-28-2023):

The Israel Defense Forces confirms Hamas has handed over 14 hostages — 10 Israelis and four Thai nationals — to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, ahead of their transfer to Israel.

Earlier, Hamas released two dual Russian-Israeli citizens, Yelena Trupanov, and her mother Irena Tati, as part of a gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin, unrelated to the deal with Israel. The two were brought to Sheba Medical Center following their return to Israel.

The 10 Israelis released this evening are Raz Ben Ami, Yarden Roman, Liat Atzili, Moran Stela Yanai, Liam Or, Itay Regev, Ofir Engel, Amit Shani, Gali Tarshansky and Raaya Rotem.

Israel for its part released 30 more Palestinian prisoners as see in another article from the liveblog:

In exchange for the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas, Israel will free 30 Palestinian prisoners this evening.

A spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry says the Palestinians include 16 minors and 14 women.

It must be noted that a separation of mother and daughter happened again. Hila Rotem was released yesterday, while her mother was released today. It may seem to be a small thing, but Hamas wants to inflict as much hurt and suffering as they can even it is for 24 hours.

Another Extension Could Happen

More hostages could be released if the Israel’s war cabinet votes to do so. They are meeting again as this article from the same liveblog cited above:

Israel’s war cabinet is set to meet shortly, Channel 12 reports, with ministers to discuss the issue of extending the current pause in fighting.

The current truce provides for 10 more Israeli hostages to be freed tonight. However, the release of the 10 has been delayed. Several Hebrew media outlets are citing unnamed Israeli sources saying that the delay is “technical,” but there is no official confirmation of this.

Fifty hostages were indeed released Friday-Monday, and 10 more were freed last night.

According to one Hamas leader, talks on this happening are not going well as we read in another post from the same liveblog:

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon, says no agreement has yet been reached to extend the temporary ceasefire in Gaza and that the terror group does not find Israel’s offer worth considering.

“Efforts to extend the truce have not yet matured, and as for the offer that has been made to us to extend the truce, we do not find it worthy to study,” Hamdan tells the Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet Al-Madayeen. The truce, which was initially slated to end Monday before a two-day extension, is due to expire tomorrow morning if no agreement is reached to further extend it.

More Details Of How The Hostages Were Treated

We read in a report from CBN.com how children were treated in captivity (see https://www2.cbn.com/news/israel/hamas-seeks-4-day-ceasefire-extension-hostages-tell-brutal-treatment-captivity):

The exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israel continues as a four-day ceasefire in Gaza now stretches into six days.

Hamas freed 12 more hostages, while Israel let 30 more Palestinian prisoners go free on the fifth day of the ceasefire. It is due to end on Wednesday, its sixth day, but negotiators are hoping for another extension.

Word is getting out about how hostage children were treated. The aunt of one child who has been freed says their captors forced them to watch videos of the October 7th massacres and ordered them to stop crying at gunpoint. She also says they also beat the children.

The father of nine-year-old freed hostage Emily Hand says she cries uncontrollably, and her captors made her stay so quiet she can now only whisper.

The same report also mentions how the women are holding up:

In Israel, a medical official overseeing freed hostages described the condition and the spirit of the adult females among them. Professor Itai Pessach, the director of Edmond & Lily Safra Children's Hospital, said they were "a group of extraordinary women that endured the hardships of their captivity in a remarkable fashion... some suffered injuries when they were abducted or during their time in captivity, but there's no immediate danger to any of them."

It is good to hear about these hostages doing well, but it would be naïve to believe that the emotional scars will heal as fast. They will last much longer if not for supernatural healing from God.

Pray For All That Are Hurt From This War

There are peaceful people from all sides in this conflict and we should pray for them to be comforted by God and also ask that many of them will turn to God during this turbulent time. But when praying for the peace of Jerusalem, we should go further and pray that they accept their Messiah, Jesus as well. In light of that, here are some prayer keys to that end:

Appear to all of Hamas' hostages – whether Jewish and gentile – and save them (Isa. 25:8-9; 61:1).

Save the hostages' families and friends who are now crying out to You (Psa. 86:7; Isa. 61:3).

Save many IDF soldiers, in particular those who may die in the war (Deut. 20:1-8; Zech. 12:4-10).

Save and heal the injured and the traumatized, both physically and mentally (Isa. 57:15; 61:1-3).

Reveal Messiah unto many Jews in exile who are suddenly very anxious for their safety (Isa. 35:4).

Fulfill Hosea 14:4 from the prophetic portion and pour out Your saving grace on Your people: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for My anger is turned away from him."

Thank You Lord for the report that hundreds of Gazan men recently came to You (John 4:35-36).

I would add a hearty Amen to these prayer points!