Displaying items by tag: israel

The worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years intensified this week, as Israeli airstrikes began targeting Hamas offices in Gaza City and militants in Gaza fired rockets at the metropolis of Tel Aviv, the southern city of Ashkelon and Israel’s main airport.

In Gaza, at least 67 Palestinians, including 15 children, had been killed by Tuesday night, and 203 others were wounded, according to health officials. In Israel, five people were killed in strikes on Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Lod, and at least 100 were wounded, according to medical officials.

Away from the military conflict, a wave of civil unrest spread across Arab neighbourhoods as Palestinian citizens of Israel expressed fury at the killings in Gaza and longstanding complaints of discrimination inside Israel itself.

Towns with mixed Jewish and Arab populations have been struck by some of the worst communal violence that Israel has seen in years. Live footage was broadcast of far-right Israelis dragging a man they thought was an Arab from his car and beating him until he lay on the ground motionless and bloodied. Footage of the attack in Bat Yam, a Tel Aviv suburb, was broadcast live on TV.  Those in the crowd justified the attack by saying the man was an Arab who had tried to ram the far-right nationalists, but the footage showed a motorist trying to avoid the demonstration.

At the same time, Arab protesters also took to the streets, triggering confrontations with Jews. They burnt cars and assaulted Jewish residents of mixed cities, according to police.

This all comes at a time when cities with mixed populations have been positive examples of co-existence but are now being destabilised by a small but destructive minority.  As trust is damaged and moderate voices increasingly lost the fear is that violence will only continue to escalate.

The mayor of Lod, a city with both Jewish and Arab residents, warned that “civil war” was breaking out after Arab mourners clashed with police. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called on both Jews and Arabs to cease attacks on each other: “It doesn’t matter to me that your blood is boiling. You can’t take the law in your hands,” he said.

The fighting between Israel and Hamas was triggered by days of escalating clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at a holy hilltop compound in East Jerusalem.

The site is revered by both Muslims, who call it the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), and Jews, for whom it is known as the Temple Mount. Hamas demanded Israel remove police from there and the nearby predominantly Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction by Jewish settlers. Hamas launched rockets when its ultimatum went unheeded.

Palestinian anger had already been stoked by weeks of rising tension in East Jerusalem, inflamed by a series of confrontations with police since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in mid-April.

It was further fuelled by the threatened eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers and Israel's annual celebration of its capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, known as Jerusalem Day.

The UN have stepped in amid concerns that the region is heading towards a full-scale war.  The UN envoy Tor Wennesland said leaders on all sides “have to take the responsibility of de-escalation” after a day of ferocious confrontations and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promising to intensify attacks on Gaza. “The cost of war in Gaza is devastating and is being paid by ordinary people,” said Wennesland. “Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full-scale war,” he warned.

Sources / More info: New York Times  |  BBC News

Read more insight into the situation surrounding Israel from Well Versed World.

Let’s Pray:

Pray for peace and that the moderate voices calling for it will be heard above the explosions and gunfire.
Pray for the victims and their families that they may be comforted in their loss.
Pray for the political leaders in the region, that they will show wisdom in seeking an end to the violence and not seek political gain out of the situation.
Pray for all those living in fear that they may know the peace of God in these difficult times.
Pray for restoration of communities being torn apart by civil unrest and communal violence.

45 people were crushed to death and over 150 sustained injuries in Israel’s deadliest civilian disaster when a stampede broke out at a densely-attended celebration. Search and rescue authorities struggled to evacuate trapped people after some revellers slipped on steps, causing dozens more to fall over and be crushed. The police commissioner said the handling of the site was deeply flawed. On 3 May the Knesset held a memorial for the 45 victims of the Meron disaster. Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the special session. He was moved by his hospital visit to the injured, saying that Israelis, Jews and Arabs alike, have shown mutual responsibility and a huge heart in their response to the tragedy. ‘The families are not alone, and this is the most important thing.’ He vowed that the government would help them. and the incident would be investigated from every angle.

Iran's foreign minister, blaming Israel for what Tehran called a 'terrorist attack' on its Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, has vowed to take revenge: 'The Zionists did this because of our progress in the way to lift sanctions; they have publicly said that they will not allow that. But we will take our revenge upon them'. Natanz was hit by a cyber-attack just a day after Tehran unveiled new uranium enrichment centrifuges there. Centrifuges are used in the process to create enriched uranium, which is used to make reactor fuel but can also be used to create nuclear weapons. Israeli media said its Mossad spy agency was responsible for the attack.

No party leader has enough support to form a governing majority, so Israel’s president has handed the job to Benjamin Netanyahu amid his corruption trial. If there is another election, a definite possibility, we are looking at another five to six months in which the current government is still running the nation. Lord, do not allow this government to miss anything it needs to do during this time: yet do not allow them to touch anything that is to be reserved for the next government. We remember Your promise, ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will advise you with My eye upon you.’ (Psalm 32:8). Thank You that Mr Netanyahu is still Israel's prime minister in all the world's chaos at this time. Strengthen him for as long as You have ordained him to lead Your nation. Psalm 75:7 says that You are the Judge; You put down one and exalt another.

The 23 March election will be unique in Israel's modern history. One of the most important variables is the number of people in isolation or tested sick with Covid, who will forgo their right to vote at the last minute, in spite of stringent measures to protect their health. Also, an outbreak of infection in specific areas (Arab or Haredi communities) could sharply reduce turnout and affect votes for specific parties. Three of the top four parties are right-wing. Many are concerned about Israel's lack of progress toward peace with the Palestinians. They blame it on Israel's right-wing leaders and the Israelis who have shifted rightward because of the persistent ‘Palestinian failure to accept Israel's overtures for peace’, which has led to increased terrorism. Today most Israelis do not see the Palestinians as truly wanting peace. See

Ahead of the March elections, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is repeating promises he made nine years ago to control crime rates in Arab towns and villages. A recent firefight broke out on 1 February, when the police tried to stop men from shooting at a house. The Arab gang started shooting at the police with automatic weapons. When it was over, two young people were dead. One was suspected of firing at the house, but the other, Ahmed Hijazi, was a nursing student who happened to be in the vicinity but was not involved in the incident. The next day, thousands from local Arab towns and villages took to the street to protest Hijazi’s death and the police's inability to rein in crime in Arab society. Over the weekend, thousands more marched against escalating crime rates. Netanyahu has spent the last few weeks visiting Arab towns and villages and holding Zoom meetings with Arab mayors to discuss crime and violence in their towns.

One For Israel (OFI), the world’s only Hebrew Bible college, is challenging the rabbis, in a way they cannot limit,v by posting a series of videos backing Yeshua’s messianic claims on the internet. OFI’s president said, ‘We have seen how ready many hearts are to receive Him, once they hear in a relevant and understandable way. This awakening has largely been brought about by Covid. People forced to stay home are bored and are confronted with a dangerous disease that makes them think about eternity. Revival has started among the Jews in Israel. This is only the tip of the iceberg.’ OFI are also hosting discipleship videos for those still too shy to join a local congregation as Messianic Jews.

The Gaza Strip recently took advantage of the latest technologies used to produce drinkable distilled water, thanks to Israeli cooperation. Damour for Community Development, a nongovernmental organisation based in Ramallah in the West Bank, brought into the besieged enclave two atmospheric water generators that turn air into water using solar power. The machines are produced by an Israeli branch of a US company that obtained the patent for this device. Arava Institute for Environmental Research in Israel also donated a third generator for drinking water at a specialised hospital for children in the Gaza Strip. The generators are three months into a six-month trial phase to assess their operation and quality. They will not solve Gaza’s water crisis but will raise residents’ awareness of this technology, which can be the solution to clean water. The suppliers of the generators managed to work without dealing with the Hamas-controlled government institutions which do not coordinate with the Israeli side.

On 2 December. the 23rd Knesset came one key step closer to being dispersed, but it must still pass three more readings before a new national vote is called. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said, ‘I call upon the Knesset to vote in favour of this bill, to disperse and let the people of Israel choose a government that genuinely cares about them.’ Lapid said his bill was not intended to be ‘just another round of 'anyone but Bibi,’ aimed at defeating Netanyahu. He said the bill was being presented ‘because it's time to end that focus and ‘the anger and the hatred and the terrible mismanagement and the politics that are destroying our country and won't end as long as he's there’. Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz said that Netanyahu needed to leave office due to his criminal cases, and he would have already left had Blue and White listened to his office and not joined the government.

The kings of Jordan and Bahrain flew to Abu Dhabi for an important meeting with crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as Bahrain’s foreign minister Abdullatif al-Zayani was in Israel meeting his Israeli and American counterparts. These important and unprecedented meetings illustrate the tectonic changes emerging in the Middle East. The tone was different in Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi. A Gulf Air flight which arrived in Tel Aviv, with Zayani and US envoy Avi Berkowitz on board, was the first of its kind; very likely Gulf Air will soon join Flydubai and Etihad, which have announced regular flights to Israel. Meetings about peace and the brave new world illustrates how Israel and the Gulf States are moving toward. This area improvement has been midwifed by the USA.