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Today, the third day of Operation Pillar of Cloud, we were under bombardment from Grad missiles and constant alarms that sent us to the sheltered room. Most of them were shut down by Iron Dome. Hamas today showed off their long range rockets capability by launching rockets to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. It seems like an all day non-stop sirens and rockets to many cities of the south and central Israel.
According to the IDF, 510 rockets were fired on Israel since Operation Pillar of Cloud began Wednesday, and only 26 of them exploded in southern urban areas. The Iron Dome intercepted more than 160 rockets.
Beyond the physical war, it's a spiritual war between God's people and the people of Allah.
Some of Hamas' spiritual leaders prayers to Allah:
"Our battle is with the Jewish enemy today. Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.' --Words of the Martyr Imam Hasan al-Bana, of blessed memory." [Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS
"Kill so many Jews that they will eventually abandon Palestine." --Ibrahim Sarbal, Leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine - Al-Aqsa Brigades
"Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e., Jews] now rule in all the nations of the world, but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one!" --Imam Sheik Ahmad Ibrahim, HAMAS leader, in a sermon at the Palestine Mosque in Gaza.
HAMAS and the Islamic Jihad Movement, both seek to undermine the Jewish State from within. HAMAS, the Arabic acronym of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine, was founded in 1988 as an alternative to the secular Palestine Liberation Organization PLO/Fatah, HAMAS' Charter (or Covenant), issued in 1988 calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine, in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel. (a reminder, Israel was called Palestine by the Romans after taking the Jewish people into captivity and destroying Jerusalem and the Holy Temple. It was changed back to Israel after it became a nation in 1948)
The acronym HAMAS, taken from the Arabic Harakat al-Muqawama al-lslamiya - Islamic Resistance Movement, literally denotes "zeal" or "enthusiasm." The HAMAS Covenant, however, interprets its name to mean "strength and bravery." (it is interesting that Hamas or Chamas is also a Hebrew word mentioned in the Bible which means, violence, injustice, oppression, cruelty) The charter claims that the Jews deserve Allah’s enmity and wrath because they received the Scriptures but violated its sacred texts, disbelieved the signs of Allah.
"The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews"(related by al-Bukhari and Muslim). The document also quotes Islamic religious texts to provide justification for fighting against and killing the Jews, without distinction whether they are in Israel or elsewhere. It presents the Arab-Israeli conflict as an inherently irreconcilable struggle between Jews and Muslims, and Judaism and Islam, adding that the only way to engage in this struggle between "truth and falsehood" is through Islam and by means of jihad (holy war) until victory or martyrdom.
Section 15 states: "It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Moslem generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis."
But our God is the Lord of Hosts, He is the God of Israel, He has not abandon His people, His word says: (Jer, 31:35,36) "Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and the starts for a light by night...if those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever."
Hamas responded when the Israeli army first started the "Pillar of Cloud" operation three days ago by announcing that "By this operation Israel opened the "Gates of Hell." Mat. 16:18: "...I will build My congregation and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." The Body of Messiah Yeshua is growing in Israel, there are Israeli believer soldiers in the Israeli army, even in commanding positions, The gates of hell will not prevail against His people in Israel.
We pray for God's protection over the Israeli army, the believers in the army, for courage, protection, ability to do a surgical work of destroying the terrorist's cells and ammunitions, for clear knowledge of each move, for cautious not to make mistakes.
We pray for the government and leaders for unity, wisdom in making decisions and direction, like David to know when to go up to battle. Above all we give God the glory, praise, faithfulness and protection. And we say: "Thank you Lord God. Praise You for your faithfulness forever fulfilling for Your promises in Your Word."
Again we want to thank you for your love and support for God's work in the Land. We love and appreciate you very much. Please pray with us according to the Holy Spirit's leading. THANK YOU, and the Lord bless you abundantly!!!
