Displaying items by tag: Middle East

Friday, 03 August 2018 09:40

Golan border: Syria pushes into strategic area

Under the terms of a 1974 UN armistice that demilitarised much of the Golan, Israel withdrew from the capital of Quneitra province which it had captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Now, backed by Russian aircraft, Syrian pro-Assad regime forces pushed into the Golan border area and raised the Syrian flag and President al-Assad’s Baath Party flag in Quneitra on the 26 July. They are tightening their hold on the strategic Syrian sector of the Golan Heights bordering Israel and Jordan, and have been pushing into Quneitra province since their May offensive that routed rebels in adjoining Deraa province (rebels once backed by Washington, Jordan and Gulf states). The Russians reached a deal with the remaining rebels, which effectively brings the whole of the border frontier under Syrian state control.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 19 July 2018 23:04

Ireland: proposed boycott of Israel goods

The Irish Senate has voted to approve a proposal to criminalise doing business with Jews in settlement areas, parts of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights - areas that came under Israel’s control after the 1967 Six-Day War. After the vote the Irish ambassador was summoned to a meeting at the Israeli foreign ministry’s office. If Eire officially approves the proposal, it will become the first country in the European Union to criminalise import of goods from Israel. The proposal’s initiator, Senator Frances Black, slammed Israeli settlements as ‘war crimes’ and compared her initiative to Ireland’s anti-apartheid actions against South Africa. Ireland’s government strongly opposes the initiative, which creates trade restrictions contrary to EU values and undermines Ireland’s influence in the region. EU law states that its members can only mark products coming from settlements - not boycott or impose sanctions on their imports.

Published in Europe
Thursday, 19 July 2018 22:48

Israel and Hamas

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) launched military exercises on 15 July, including one simulating conquering Gaza city. The IDF stressed that this exercise was part of its annual training programme and not connected to major exchanges of fire with Hamas two days earlier when 200 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel, threatening the lives of tens of thousands. Their defence system intercepted 20 rockets. Several Israelis were injured and many buildings were damaged, including a synagogue. While relative peace has returned, Israelis fear that soon civilians will again have to run for shelter from Hamas rockets. On 16 June 22 people, including 9 Iranians, were killed in an IDF attack on a Syrian base. On 18 July Gaza’s self-described ‘airborne firebomb squad’ accused Israel of spreading lies about a deal reached between Egypt and Hamas to phase out the launching of bomb-laden kites and balloons against Israel. See https://worldisraelnews.com/rebel-terror-group-in-gaza-rejects-egyptian-hamas-deal-to-stop-fire-kites/

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Thursday, 21 June 2018 22:25

Gaza: terrorists blow themselves up

In order to thwart attempts by terrorists to tunnel from Gaza into Israel, the Israeli government has an underground wall along the border. On 18 June, Gaza terrorists blew themselves up trying to destroy the underground barrier. The incident occurred after an escalation of rocket fire and firebomb-laden kites and balloons sent from Gaza into southern Israel. Defence minister Avigdor Lieberman warned that Israel would not allow Gazans to continue launching incendiary devices into Israeli territory, which have caused hundreds of brush fires and burned thousands of acres of land. ‘If anyone thinks it will be possible to continue with the daily kites and fires, they are wrong,’ Lieberman said. Meanwhile housing minister Yoav Galant said, ‘When an eight-year-old boy flies a kite strapped with a firebomb because someone told him to, it is problematic to send a drone to shoot him dead.’

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 24 May 2018 22:29

Israel: media encourage Hamas violence

Hamas said fifty of the people killed by Israeli forces on Gaza’s border recently were its fighters and named them online, including photographs and details of their ranks within the group. Yet the IDF’s response to the clashes was condemned worldwide. See If this was the first time the media caused Israel’s self-defence actions to kill civilians, they could be excused, but this is something that Hamas repeatedly does. Fathi Hamad of the Palestinian Legislative Council said, ‘For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry in which women stand out, and all the people who live in this land. Older people excel in this, as do mujahedeen and children. This is why we have made human shields for women, children, the elderly and mujahedeen, to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It's like telling the Zionist enemy, “We want death as much as you do life”.’

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The USA wasn’t the only country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this week. Just days after the historic - and contentious - opening in the holy city, Guatemala did the same. President Jimmy Morales, a strong evangelical, said, ‘We have had an excellent relationship with Israel since it was founded. I believe we will be receiving a blessing for both peoples by doing the right thing.’ Citing prayer and prophecy as their motivation, Morales and vice president Jafeth Cabrera officially recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last year and pledged to return their embassy there. ‘People in Guatemala pray for peace in this region, pray for Jerusalem, and they are excited’, said Sarah Solis, the country’s ambassador to Israel.

Published in Worldwide

Long ago, wise men in Eastern Arabia noticed a star burning brightly in the night sky and set out to see where it would lead them. At the end of their journey they found Jesus and presented him with costly gifts - one of which was frankincense. Frankincense trees still bloom today, particularly in the Arabian peninsula. At the centre of this region is a city that is home to six unreached people groups - each with their own specific language or dialect, with unique customs and traditions, divided into tribes and families. As different as each group is, they hold certain things in common: their unifying faith in Islam, their abiding love of camels, and the daily use of frankincense. Every day after evening prayers, the city is permeated by the sweet smell of frankincense as families heat it in burners and carry it throughout their homes. Wise men from Arabia once offered Jesus frankincense: today, He is offering the lasting healing, cleansing and deliverance they seek.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 11 May 2018 09:53

Israel attacks Iranian forces in Syria

On 10 May, Israel said it had struck almost all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria following an Iranian attack. After twenty rockets were fired at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, it responded by launching what a spokesman called ‘one of the broadest aerial operations in recent years’. There was no immediate comment from Iran, whose deployment of troops to Syria to back the government in the country's civil war has alarmed Israel. Iran has repeatedly called for an end to the existence of the Jewish state.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 19 April 2018 20:54

Gaza border: third Friday of protests

Please continue to pray over the Gaza border. In the third Friday of protests, 10,000-15,000 Palestinians took part in violent riots in different locations along the border, and again tried to cross the barrier; they intend to continue every Friday until 14 May. They threw Molotov cocktails and explosives at Israeli soldiers. Over 100 Palestinians were hurt and one man killed. They tried to use kites to fly Molotov cocktails toward Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops, and were photographed placing an explosive device on the fence. On one side of the border there are watchtowers and anti-terror barriers: on the other, a tent city of Palestinian protesters. Meanwhile the IDF exposed and neutralised a fifth underground Hamas tunnel running from northern Gaza into southern Israel. It was connected to an intricate network of tunnels running through Gaza. See

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 19 April 2018 20:48

Syria: praying for the future

There are signs that things can improve from now on, as chief participants in Syria’s war are keen to stabilise the conflict. The latest chemical attack and international accusations come in the midst of questions that we can pray into: How long will the US remain in Syria? -Will Turkey keep advancing its own territorial control? What happens in all the territory IS has lost, now a genuine ceasefire is in place? We can pray for a diplomatic and further ceasefire process by Russia, Iran and Turkey to achieve security in the region. In north-west Syria, Turkish forces and allies overran Afrin in March after Kurdish YPG unexpectedly withdrew and joined an exodus of 150,000 civilians. Please pray for the precarious situation of the 137,000 civilians who fled and are now in villages abandoned by IS. They face hunger, sickness, and mines left by the terrorists.

Published in Worldwide