GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 455

The Clock Is Ticking

As Soon As Possible

We read in a report from The Jerusalem Post that Hamas wants a hostage really quickly now:

Hamas said a new round of indirect talks on a Gaza ceasefire resumed in Qatar's Doha on Friday, stressing the group's seriousness in seeking to reach a deal as soon as possible, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said.

Hamas wants us to know what they want:

The new talks will focus on agreeing on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, he added.

In short, they want to survive and take over Gaza again, both things that they know Israel won’t agree to. Still the current administration thinks a deal can be done:

The White House on Friday said it "welcomes" Israel's decision to send another team of negotiators to Doha with National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby calling the move "a good step."

And we will end cancer and find a living unicorn before they leave office in the next 16 days:

Kirby, in his first call of the year with reporters, indicated the White House has no plans yet to send National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan or Middle East envoy Brett McGurk back to the region for this new round of talks, but that President Biden "has made clear his national security team will be a participant all the way to the very end."

"We're going to be doing everything we can to see if we can broker a new ceasefire deal again that will get the hostages home," Kirby said. "So I don't have any breakthroughs to speak to today or announcements to make about participation physically, but I can tell you that we're definitely going to stay focused on this."

Kirby was asked about the IDF supposed strikes on civilians, a liberal talking point if ever there was one. The question was loaded and he dodged it:

Kirby deflected a question to the IDF on why Israel hasn't decreased its strikes on civilians in Gaza if Hamas' capabilities have been downgraded and their allies defeated.

There's no question that Israel has caused significant damage to Hamas' military capabilities and abilities to resource and operate, he said, adding Hamas still exists as a viable threat with fighters and infrastructure.

"Hamas still has some abilities, and I'll let the Israelis speak to the actions they've taken to mitigate the threat that Hamas poses," Kirby said. "What I would prefer to talk about today is the opportunity that Hamas has right now to sign on to a new hostage deal."

In a statement that I only wish they would trumpet more, Kirby said this:

Kirby repeated the White House's position that Hamas started this war putting its own people in the current position, and could easily end the suffering by signing the deal.

Somehow I think Israel is content to run out the clock on this one and let Donald Trump’s warning become a reality. Hamas is stuck now and will most likely become martyrs. But I would love to be surprised with them releasing all the hostages, however I doubt they will.

There’s Still Time

We’re only 16 days away from Donald Trump becoming president again, but if Iran gets close to literally going nuclear between now and then, the outgoing administration has a plan as we see in an article from The Times Of Israel:

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan recently presented US President Joe Biden with options for potential American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites if Tehran decides to move toward a nuclear weapon before the inauguration of Donald Trump later this month, according to a report on Thursday.

The presentation was made in a secret briefing several weeks ago, the Axios news site reported, citing three officials.

Not so secret meeting now, but I digress. The plans weren’t in response to any new information:

One of the officials said the meeting was not sparked by new intelligence and that Biden did not make a final decision.

The source said the meeting was part of “prudent scenario planning.”

Biden was concerned about taking such a big action before a new president is sworn in:

Another source said Biden was focused on the question of whether Iran had taken nuclear steps that create an urgent situation that would justify such a dramatic military strike a few weeks before a new president takes office.

Sullivan has been bringing up the issue recently:

The news site highlighted comments Sullivan made at a conference last month on Iran’s nuclear program, in which he noted the “strategic blows” the Islamic Republic has suffered with the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Israeli attacks on its soil and the battering of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.

“You can look at the public statements of Iranian officials, which have changed in the last few months as they have been dealt these strategic blows, to raise the question: Do we have to change our doctrine at some point? The fact that that’s coming out publicly is something that has to be looked at extremely carefully,” he said at the time.

Trump’s Influence

In his first term, Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal:

The Axios report came weeks before Trump’s return to the White House, where during his first term in office he waged a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that included the withdrawal of the US from Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Tehran. Iran, in turn, violated the pact’s nuclear limits, with moves such as rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.

But now, Trump talked about getting a deal as he campaigned for president again:

Indirect talks between Biden’s administration and Tehran to try to revive the pact have failed, but Trump said during his election campaign in September: “We have to make a deal because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal.”

Iran seems to want a deal, too:

On Wednesday, the semi-official ISNA news agency cited Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as saying that the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and three European countries will take place on January 13 in Geneva.

Iran held talks about its disputed nuclear program in November 2024 with Britain, France and Germany.

Those discussions, the first since the US election, came after Tehran was angered by a European-backed resolution that accused Iran of poor cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

No one really believes them, though and their actions are speaking louder than any words:

Tehran reacted to the resolution by informing the IAEA watchdog that it plans to install more uranium-enriching centrifuges at its enrichment plants.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told Reuters in December that Iran is “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, closer to the roughly 90% level that is weapons-grade. While Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ostensibly opposes the manufacturing of a nuclear weapon, Iran is enriching uranium at levels that are only relevant for the assembly of such bombs. The Islamic Republic is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, with Jerusalem vowing not to allow the regime to build a bomb.

And this is yet another time to look at Bible prophecy where it talks about Israel taking out nuclear facilities which is in Jeremiah 49. Some say it doesn’t take out all of the Iran’s nuclear sites, but as we’ve heard today, the US may help out whether it is Biden or Trump. Still, Bible prophecy does point to these actions and we need to realize it.