Since 7 October, while Israel has been dealing with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah has been simultaneously engaging in a relentless campaign of terror in Israel’s north. More than 1,000 rockets have been launched, claiming the lives of IDF soldiers, civilians and wounding many more. Hezbollah’s near-daily bombardment in the north has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis who haven’t been able to return home for months.
But the threat to Israel’s north didn’t start on or since 7 October. For many years, Israel has had to defend itself against Iranian-proxies in Lebanon and Syria as Iran gained strength under the watchful eye of the West. Now, it appears that we could be about to see the next stage in Israel’s fight against the threat from Iran. The commander of the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) military intelligence said this week, “We are not convinced that the worst is behind us. We are facing some very loaded and complicated days.”
On Monday, Israel struck a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing the top Iranian general responsible for Tehran’s terrorist activities in Lebanon and Syria, in addition to two other Brigadier Generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). Iran has stated that they consider this to be equivalent to an attack on Iranian soil and promised to “respond.” The terrorist group has at least 100,000 fighters on its rosters, many with battle experience from the Syrian Civil War, and is expected to fire up to 5000 rockets per day at Israel if it was to attack Israel.
Earlier this week, media outlets in Israel reported some of the country’s embassies had been placed on alert or evacuated over potential Iranian attacks. On Thursday, the IDF confirmed that the military has disrupted GPS signals in central Israel, in what he says is part of efforts to “neutralize some threats.” The GPS disruptions have previously been widely reported in northern Israel or areas close to Gaza, but have been less common in central Israel. They come a day after the IDF said that it bolstered its air defense array and had called up reservists. In recent months, Israel has been increasing its emergency stockpile of basic raw materials including food, medicine, and medical equipment on an unprecedented scale, amounting to over NIS 2 billion ($545 million). Meanwhile the Israeli government has warned citizens not to panic buy.
Israel has no choice but to respond to unprovoked attacks. Whether it is trying to remove Hamas or eliminating the terrorist proxies of Iran, Israel is doing the world a favour. Yet, Israel is being pressured to end fighting its enemies, when instead she should be given the assistance she needs to defeat this evil once and for all.
And while Israel does what is necessary to defend her people, so too must we. We must speak out for Zion’s sake in our churches, communities, online, and the corridors of Westminster. We must speak truth to both power and the masses.
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