In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a preemptive strike against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Intelligence reported Hezbollah rocket launchers were primed and ready to fire at both civilian and military targets in the north of Israel as well as central Israel, including Tel Aviv. At 5:00 am, hundreds of Israeli Air Force planes took out thousands of rocket-launching sites, thwarting a large-scale attack. Nevertheless, Hezbollah still claimed to have launched 320 rockets into northern Israel, including eleven military bases.
As a precautionary measure, Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed for a few hours, diverting arrivals to other airports and halting departures. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Israeli citizens to follow Home Front Command instructions. Yesterday, these guidelines tightened, limiting public gatherings and education events from Tel Aviv northward. He also said, “We are determined to do everything to protect our country, return the residents of the north safely to their homes, and continue to uphold a simple rule: whoever harms us—we will harm them.” Later in the day, the restrictions were eased. This is a developing situation as Hezbollah claims they will launch more rockets and drones in the coming days.
Please pray for safety and security for Israel’s civilians and military forces. Pray for a de-escalation of this tense situation.
Through new intelligence, the IDF recently found and returned home six bodies of Israeli hostages Hamas took alive into Gaza on October 7. They found the bodies in a tunnel in Khan Younis, and all had bullet wounds, though the cause of death has not been officially determined yet as the IDF continues to investigate. Families were able to mourn and grieve at their funerals, held in Israel. The dead are Avraham Munder, Yagev Buchshtab, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, and Alex Dancyg. The IDF has brought home eighteen bodies of hostages since October 7. Before the IDF found Munder’s body, he was thought to be alive.
Please pray those who are mourning and grieving will be comforted.
The IDF recently recalled 15,000 reserve soldiers who had previously been released from serving. Severe manpower shortages as a result of a prolonged two-front war and hostilities in the West Bank has spread the numbers of trained soldiers thin. Some reserve soldiers have been called up for months now or continually return home to normal life and work only to be called up again. The disjointedness disrupts the economy and homelife, but these shortages are a serious liability for the IDF. Those whom the IDF will recall are those previously released from service when the army closed units or reduced manpower in certain units. To prevent further shortages, the government has considered raising the age for exemption from reserve duty. The age would increase from forty to forty-one years for soldiers and from forty-five to forty-six years for officers.
Please pray for these reserve duty soldiers who try to balance the mission in their units even when their minds and hearts are on their homes, work, and school.
Through all these hardships and uncertainties, the book of Psalms has been a source of hope and comfort for many Israelis. It is full of examples of rejoicing, praising God, and seeing His beauty, as well as lamenting, crying out to the Lord, and relying on His anchor in times of trouble. In one extreme example, a terrorist was on his way to detonate a bomb in Tel Aviv, but it malfunctioned and went off early. The blast tore through a neighborhood where a small synagogue was meeting for nightly prayers. Once police arrived, the congregants went back into the synagogue and opened the Psalms to read out loud how good and merciful is the Lord![1]
Our team in Israel has just launched an online campaign for people to download the Psalms and read in modern Hebrew on their phones and tablets at their convenience. From the email and name they provide for the download, we can follow up with them, pray with them, and let them know they can order a New Testament when they wish.
We are amazed by the response so far and will continue to pray for people to click, download, and respond when our staff reach out to them. Will you pray with us too? We know how comforting His Word is in times of trouble!
[1] Etgar Lefkovits, “Tel Aviv Synagogue’s ‘Holiness’ Saved It from Bomb, Congregants Say,” JNS, August 21, 2024, https://www.jns.org/tel-aviv-synagogues-holiness-saved-it-from-bomb-congregants-say/.
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Inside Israel September 4 2024