15 seconds. That is the amount of time Israeli citizens living near the southern border have to take cover.
Beginning at 1:30 am on Saturday, over 174 rockets and mortar shells were fired by Palestinian terrorists at southern Israel from Gaza. Each time the sirens would blare out warning residents of imminent threat.
The majority of the rockets, well over 100, landed in open fields. Over 30 of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. A number landed within the fences of communities in southern Israel.
Three Israelis were wounded when rockets hit a home and a synagogue in the border town of Sderot.
Israel responded hitting dozens of Hamas targets including a five-story urban combat training facility atop a “massive” underground network. It also struck a battalion headquarters, two border-crossing attack tunnels, Hamas naval facilities and dozens of other military compounds.
The Palestinian narrative being conveyed to the media is that Hamas responded to strikes initiated by Israel earlier in the day. But the reality is that these earlier strikes were in fact in response to Hamas-initiated terror at the Gaza border, specifically an attack on which an IDF soldier was injured by a grenade.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has said, “If Hamas does not understand the message today, it will understand tomorrow,” suggesting that Israel is not going to allow Palestinian terror groups to continue its assault on Israel’s border and its residents.
It is not only Hamas and the other terror groups that needs to hear this message. Supporting Israel’s right to defend itself is a message that needs to be understood widely – from our news broadcasters to our Parliament.
A video you are sadly unlikely to see today in mainstream media is that of the explosion at a Synagogue yesterday – the Sabbath – when it was struck by a rocket. It is perhaps the most poignant reminder that this attack on Israel is warfare against the Jewish people – and a war that is waged against Jews having their own homeland in a state of their own. The image of the synagogue shrouded by smoke is a reminder to the world of what the Israeli army is defending. If they didn’t defend their borders then it would surely lead of the annihilation of the Jewish people in their historic homeland. Israel will not allow this to happen and neither will we.
Let us pray for Israel at this challenging time.
The following prayer points are to assist you as you pray. For the stories behind these prayer points, please view the CUFI Weekly News Round-up, by clicking here.
- Pray for Israel at this challenging time. As the IDF deals with a further barrage of rockets from Gaza, pray for the safety of all those living in southern Israel. Pray for the protection of the Israeli army and for wisdom for the military and political leadership at this time.
- Pray that Hamas and other terror groups will get the message that Israel will not tolerate such aggression and their terrorism also affects those living in Gaza.
- Praise the Lord that He watches over Israel; that he neither slumbers nor sleeps.
- Pray for the Republic of Ireland following the immoral vote by the Senate that supports the boycotting of goods made in Israeli “settlements”. As the bill now awaits approval, pray that the Irish parliament will recognise the error of this legislation.
- Pray for those affected by anti-Semitic attacks this week in mainland Europe: The Jewish professor in Bonn who was assaulted; for a Jewish Syrian who was beaten up by a group of ten, and the Jewish family chased by a knife-wielding man in Zurich.
- Please pray for the upcoming CUFI Summit in Washington DC, where Ambassador Nikki Haley will be speaking.
