GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 110

Judgment Coming

Friday Is The Day

While not the final decision, Friday may be the time when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will decide if they will agree to halt the war until they can decide if Israel is guilty of genocide as we read in this article from The Times Of Israel:

Judges at The Hague-based International Court of Justice will rule on Friday whether or not they will grant emergency measures against Israel following accusations by South Africa that the Israeli military operation in Gaza is a state-led “genocide.”

The United Nations’ top court issued a statement Wednesday saying the 17-judge panel will hand down its ruling in court on January 26 at 2 p.m. Israel time.

In the initial ruling, the ICJ will not deal with the main question of whether Israel is committing genocide. The court will just look at possible emergency measures, meant as a kind of restraining order while the court looks at the full case, which usually takes years.

The emergency measures are detailed this way:

Earlier this month, South Africa asked the ICJ to order an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip, accusing it of carrying out a state-led genocide.

Israel dismissed the genocide allegations as false and libelous and said it had a right to defend itself and was targeting Hamas, not Palestinian civilians.

The ICJ says they are looking at Hamas as well:

Israel is not a member of the ICJ and does not recognize its jurisdiction. But the prosecutor of the International Court of Justice (ICC) — a criminal tribunal that prosecutes individuals — has stressed his court has jurisdiction over potential war crimes carried out by Hamas terrorists in Israel and by Israelis in Gaza. The ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan made a first visit to Israel and the West Bank last month, and said a probe by the court into possible crimes by Hamas terrorists as well as the IDF “is a priority for my office.”

Will Israel abide by any ruling including an emergency halting of the war? We shall see, but I know what I think.

Destructive Criticism?

According to a report in The Times Of Israel the foreign minister of Qatar is not pleased with Prime Minister Netanyahu:

Qatar’s foreign ministry chastises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a report yesterday that said the premier had told families of hostages that Doha acting as the mediator between Israel and the Hamas terror group was “problematic.”

Netanyahu went on to explain himself on the point:

“Qatar, from my point of view, is no different in essence than the United Nations… and the Red Cross, [Qatar] is even more problematic,” Channel 12 aired a recording of the premier saying, appearing to express disappointment with Washington for not applying more pressure on the Gulf state, which hosts Hamas leaders.

“I have no illusions about them. They have leverage [over Hamas]… Because [Qatar] funds them.”

Netanyahu says he got “very angry recently with the Americans” for renewing a deal to extend US military presence at a base in Qatar for another 10 years.

We hear from a spokesperson for Qatar next:

Majed Al Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, tweets that Doha is “appalled” by the reported remarks, adding that if confirmed, they “are irresponsible and destructive to the efforts to save innocent lives, but are not surprising.”

“If the reported remarks are found to be true, the Israeli PM would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives, including Israeli hostages,” he writes.

“Instead of concerning himself with Qatar’s strategic relations with the United States, we hope Netanyahu decides to operate in good faith and concentrate on the release of the hostages.”

Qatar does need to explain why they allow Hamas leaders to live in their country and support them. Netanyahu’s comments were not addressed by the Qataris who only talked about the United States concern.

Hamas Suspends Negotiations

In a telling move, Hamas says they are not talking anymore about releasing hostages for the time being and they say why as we read in an article from i24news.tv:

Palestinian terror group Hamas has reportedly suspended talks on a proposed hostage release plan, delivering a setback to potential negotiations with Israel.

According to Israeli media, sources familiar with the details indicated that Qatar conveyed the suspension to Israel on Wednesday, highlighting a key demand from Hamas for a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip in the initial phase of any agreement, effectively signaling an end to the ongoing conflict.

Israel, for its part isn’t giving up on another deal:

Despite the rejection of a settlement proposal by Hamas, Israeli officials maintain that the chances of reaching an agreement have not been completely ruled out. Efforts are underway to devise additional proposals with broader outlines, although an imminent agreement seems elusive at this stage.

Earlier reports suggested that both Israel and Hamas had, in principle, agreed to a deal involving the release of hostages, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, and a temporary ceasefire lasting approximately one month.

Another part of the proposal probably got in the way and that is giving leaders of Hamas a chance to leave Gaza to live elsewhere in the world.

However, the implementation of the plan faced delays due to disagreements over subsequent steps and Hamas's insistence on securing an agreement to bring an end to the Gaza conflict.

One proposed formula presented to Hamas reportedly included Israel's request for the evacuation of six of its senior officials from Gaza.

Perhaps these Hamas leaders are not comfortable with exposing themselves to the light of day if they leave. A similar fear was given when talks of getting medicine to hostages as delivering them would let the IDF know where the hostages were being held.

Hostage Families Blocking Aid

In a report from i24news.tv we see more of the complexities of the war as humanitarian aid to Gaza is stopped by families of the remaining hostages and others who believe that such help should be tied to hostage release:

As part of a day of action, Israeli demonstrators demanded an immediate deal to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza for over 100 days since the Hamas-led October 7 attack. Several streets and junctions across the country were blocked.

At the same time, a demonstration was held at Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. Families of hostages, fallen soldiers, reservists, victims of October 7 and the evacuated citizens themselves in protest prevented aid trucks from entering the Strip.

"It is unacceptable that Israel should continue to provide aid to Hamas, which enables it to survive and thus endanger IDF soldiers fighting in Gaza", a representative of the Kerem Shalom protestors said. “All aid to Hamas should be conditional on the return of the abductees and the disarmament of Hamas.”

The Egyptian leadership responded pointing the finger at Israel’s government instead of the demonstrators saying this:

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi claimed the Israeli government was already using this tactic of delaying humanitarian aid, saying "This is part of the way they exert pressure on the release of the abductees."

And more protests are happening all over Israel:

Meanwhile in central Israel, particularly in Tel Aviv and its suburbs, hundreds of demonstrators held up placards "Their time is running out" and blocked traffic. The main demonstration will take place in the evening, among them women’s rights groups and families of the abducted, as well as the returned hostages themselves.

Members of hostages' families also demonstrated in the northern city of Haifa, calling for the agreement discussed with Hamas to be implemented. Karmith, a sister of Elad Katsir who was kidnapped to Gaza, said "My brother has been kidnapped in Gaza for 110 days. There is no other way but to reach an agreement to bring my brother and all the other hostages back alive.”

Pressure for a variety of causes and from a variety of places highlight how volatile the situation over this war is, but one thing that seems to be left out is the spiritual war going on. We, on that point know exactly how to “protest” and that is from intense intercession using violent prayers to bring down the plans of the enemy and release the plans of God in this conflict.