War With Hamas – Day Three

by Avner Boskey This is a report of details of today's fighting, followed by a brief analysis of the war, and then specific prayer requests. Monday has been another day of air attacks against the infrastructure, military leadership and weaponry of the Islamist group Hamas ('The Islamic Resistance Movement'; for deeper background see newsletters February 2006, June 2007 at www.davidstent.org, under "words"). This group is linked with the Muslim Brotherhood, a world jihadi group ideologically connected to Osama Bin Laden. It has also been another day of rocket fire against Israeli cities, towns and farms. Air attacks IAF planes targeted weapons caches, some of which were hidden inside mosques. Video footage from Israeli UAVs (drones or unmanned aerial vehicles) show Hamas pickup trucks being loaded with long-range Grad missiles and then heading to the northern Gaza Strip to be relocated or fired against Israeli cities. The truck was taken out by air-to-ground Israeli rockets, causing a huge explosion of ordnance. In one case, a mosque was hit and its ammunition dump destroyed. As the mosque toppled over, it crushed an adjoining house, causing five fatalities. For these reasons the Israeli Military Intelligence has been telephoning civilian house in Gaza prior to the air raids, and warning civilians to immediately vacate the premises and to stay away from weapons caches. Today government building associated with Hamas and symbolizing their rule over the Palestinian populace were targeted, including the Ministries of Culture and the Interior. Though the buildings were empty, they have enormous symbolic value for Gazans. A concerted effort is also being made to target military leaders of Hamas, most of whom are underground in deep bunkers – similar to Viet Cong strategies in the late 1960's. On Monday Maher Zakut (age 30) the commander of Hamas's rocket-firing forces, was successfully targeted, as well as Ziyad Abu-Tir, 36, a senior activist in the Islamic Jihad terror group. Two research-and-development laboratories located on the Islamic University campus in Gaza City were destroyed. These labs were involved in weapons development, as well as in work to increase the range of the Qassam and Grad rockets. A total of 350 Arab fatalities to date have been tabulated by Hamas. Although Hamas insists that they are 99% civilian deaths, according to yesterday's UN figures, only 51 of these were civilians. Again of these 51, approximately 30 were women or children. This relatively low figure shows how strenuously the IAF is trying to avoid civilian fatalities, even though Hamas deliberately sets up its command and control (CC) centers and ammo dumps in the heart of civilian areas. Pray for the Israeli pilots who need to make split second decisions where many lives could hang in the balance. Pray that God would give them the necessary accuracy, wisdom and discernment. Pray for the salvation of many Gazans (physically and spiritually) during this time of trail. Hamas rocket fire On Monday over 73 rockets have been targeted against the cities of Sderot and Ashkelon, as well as against kibbutzim in the area. At 9:29 am a Grad rocket fired by Hamas struck a construction site in Ashkelon, killing an Israeli Bedouin Arab worker, Hani al-Mahdi (27) from the Negev village of Aro'er, and injuring 30 others. On Monday over 30 Israelis have been hospitalized, either from wounds or from shock. As I write, three attacks happened in short succession: a Hamas Grad rocket hit a moving civilian car in Ashdod (seriously wounding 2 women) and a Qassam fired by the PRC (Popular Resistance Committee, a PLO break-off group financed by Hizbollah in Lebanon) seriously wounded two Israeli men near the Gaza Strip. As well, a mortar shell killed an Israeli soldier and seriously wounded three others near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, bordering the Gaza Strip. Much has been made in the world media of the fact that many Hamas terrorists have died but only a few Jewish people so far. The logic of these statements is obscene, because it infers that warfare should involve and equal number of fatalities on both sides for it to be a fair fight. Allow me to paraphrase a famous American Army General, George S. Patton, "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other b----- die for his." Pray for Gaza's leadership – that God would frustrate their plans, operations and strategies (Psalm 83:4, 9-15) We thank God for the protection He has granted so far to Israelis, and we strongly encourage you to keep praying for continued safety! Pray for Yeshua to reveal Himself to many through these trials. Possible developments The prima facie cause of Operation Cast Lead is the continuing rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza's Hamas against Israeli civilian cities, towns and farms. Over 10,000 of these have been fired at Israel over the past three years. Israel has stated that Hamas' ability and will to fire these missiles and rockets must be degraded and absolutely stopped. Even though the air attacks have been quite powerful and accurate, Hamas is continuing to fire rockets and cause Israeli fatalities and casualties. On Monday Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced, "Unless the criminal fire at Israeli citizens stops immediately, Israel will utilize all the legal means at its disposal in order to halt the enemy's aggression". These words convey a meaning that all Israelis understand. A ground operation is only a short matter of time. Over the past few days a total of 6,500 Israeli reservist have been called up, while tanks, APCs, artillery batteries, Paratroops and Golani Brigade infantry have been taking up holding positions facing the Gaza Strip. Monday morning all access roads leading to the Gaza Strip have been closed to civilian traffic. Pray for the leadership of Israel who are even now making monumental decisions regarding the upcoming ground operation – that God will grant them His strategies, wisdom, courage and discernment (2 Kings 6:8-12) Other prayer requests Ø Pray for the Israeli special forces, infantry, tanks and artillery who will be involved in the fighting. Ask God to send angelic warriors to stand with them, to protect them and to grant them victory (Judges 5:20) Ø Pray especially for the believing soldiers who will be participating in these battles (Galatians 6:16) Ø Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of the Jewish people (Psalm 122:6; Romans 10:1) Ø Pray for the struggling tiny community of believers in Gaza, some who have been tortured or martyred by Islamists in recent days Ø Pray for the Jewish believers in the Negev area bordering on Gaza, some who contend with daily rocket attacks In Messiah Yeshua, Avner Boskey http://www.davidstent.org

War With Hamas – The First 40 Hours

DECEMBER 28, 2008

This is a brief analysis of the war, followed by a report of details of today's fighting, and then specific prayer requests.

The war with Hamas began at 11:30 am Israel time on Shabbat (Saturday) December 27 – the sixth day of Hanukkah (the Feast of Dedication). The Operation was given the military name 'Cast Lead' or Opheret yetzuka in Hebrew, referring to the leaden dreidels (sevivon or spinning tops) played with on Hanukkah. These festive tops were once made of molten lead poured into a metal mold, and a popular Hanukkah children's song refers to a dreidl made of "cast lead". As God would have it, this war will be identified in the annals of Israeli history as the Hanukkah war.

Israelis have a lot of experience with war, and many significant wars are connected with certain Jewish holidays. The Yom Kippur War of October 1973 began on the Day of Atonement. The First Gulf War ended in 1991 on the first day of Purim, the Feast of Esther. The Second Intifada broke out on The Feast of Trumpets in 2000. On the Ninth of Av (Tisha b'Av) in 586 BC and 70 AD, both Jewish Temples were destroyed in Jerusalem. God is still speaking to Israel and the nations by using His prophetic calendar and His feast days (see Leviticus 23:2, 4), and this includes minor feasts like Hanukkah (see Daniel 11:29-35 and Hebrews 11:34-38).

Background to this war

After Israel withdrew or retreated from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, that region was taken over by the Islamist group Hamas ('The Islamic Resistance Movement'; for deeper background see newsletters February 2006, June 2007 at www.davidstent.org). This group is linked with the Muslim Brotherhood, a world jihadi group ideologically connected to Osama Bin Laden.

Hamas refuses to recognize the state of Israel. Hamas calls and plans for Israel's military destruction. Over the past three years it has fired more than 10,000 Qassam or Grad rockets and mortars against civilians only – towns, farms and cities within Israel. And over the past week it fired between 36 and 80 rockets per day into kibbutzim, small villages and large towns. Last Saturday I went to visit some believers on a kibbutz bordering on Gaza, and during my 30 minute visit five rockets fell close by.

The government of Israel has strangely tolerated a buildup of these rocket attacks over the past three years. Though originally then-Prime-Minister Ariel Sharon soothingly promised Israelis that the disengagement from Gaza would bring peace, and if even "one rocket were fired" Israel would reconquer the Gaza Strip, the 10,000 rockets fired starkly contradict the soundness and wisdom of his policies. Part of the recent tolerance is due to the fact that the Kadima party Sharon founded is still in office, and these officials owe their political positions to these failed policies.

Over the past few weeks Israel has repeatedly warned Hamas and surrounding countries that if the rocket attacks continue, it will decisively and powerfully respond. These Israeli warnings have gone unnoticed by the world's media, as have the rocket attacks. No country that is worthy of the name would allow terrorists to rocket their civilian populations for so long without an overwhelming response. For both Israel and Hamas, that day of response has come.

The surprise attack

As Palestinian rocket attacks have increased, Israel has spent the past year culling intelligence in preparation for a decisive counter-attack. Hamas command and control (CC) centers, arms depots, senior residences, training camps, rocket launcher sites and Qassam factories – all were located and charted.

On Saturday at 11:30 am 64 Israeli fighter jets and attack helicopters attacked and destroyed 50 strategic Hamas sites in 3 minutes and 45 seconds. A half hour later, another sortie of 20 plans hit 50 more sites, including underground launchers and bunkers. 95% of the hits were 'alpha', meaning exact strikes with no collateral damage.

Strategic targets

Over 240 strategic sites have been hit in the past 40 hours. One site hit was the Hamas police compound, where 80 gunmen were gathered. At other ammo dumps and command centers at least another 50 terrorists were killed. At other smaller CCs a total of 92 terrorists were killed.

On Sunday Israeli jets struck and destroyed 40 underground tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle in significant amounts of weapons, explosives and anti-tank/anti-aircraft missiles in a 3 minute 20 second sortie. This area is called the Philadelphi Corridor, and was surrendered to Hamas by Israel due to significant U.S. State Department pressure in 2005. Over 700 tunnels have been dug, and most are still operative.

Up to this point Hamas rocket squads have managed to fire more than 70 rockets at Israel, and Israel's Military Intelligence believes that Hamas has the ability and reserves to fire up to 200 rockets daily for quite some time.

On Sunday one Hamas rocket traveled 37 kilometers, hitting Gan Yavne a bedroom community east of Ashdod. This means that other towns including Gedera and Beersheva (where we live) are in possible range of Hamas rockets. The Home Front Command has ordered public bomb shelters to be opened in these twons beginning Monday morning. Pray for the Israeli civilians in rocket range of Hamas mortars and rockets (Qassams and Grad rockets, capable of reaching Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiryat Gat and Beersheva).

The question of casulaties

The casualty rate in Gaza has now reached 300 (most of these terrorists), with over 1,000 wounded.

The IDF takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties, while Hamas deliberately locates its centers and fires its rockets from within civilian centers. Hamas rockets only target civilians, while the IDF tries very hard to only target terrorists. Due to the immediate proximity of civilians to rocket launchers and Hamas headquarters, there have certainly been some civilian casualties.

Israeli army intelligence has warned and even done mass telephoning of Gazan civilians, urging them to stay away from potential target areas. Though civilian casualties are deeply regretted, they are known in military parlance as collateral damage. General William Tecumseh Sherman once remarked (based on his American military experiences) that "war is hell". We agree, even though it is sometimes necessary.

The Palestinian terror groups unfortunately see these casualties in a positive light – as helpful grist in their propaganda mills. They immediately tell the world media that Israel is targeting civilians and causing massacres.

One prime example of this tactic was during Operation Defensive Shield (March 2002), triggered by Hamas terrorists who killed 30 Jews (including Holocaust survivors) and injured 140 at a public Passover meal in Netanya Israel. IDF troops retook control of major West Bank cities which had become suicide bomber havens. The army took great pains to avoid civilian casualties, suffering many fatalities in this process. Nevertheless, the Palestinian media accused Israel of a bloodthirsty massacre of over 500 civilians in Jenin. That number was eventually dropped to approximately 56 terrorists, most in uniform, and 7 or 8 civilians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Defensive_Shield).

One 58 year old Jewish man was killed this Saturday in his apartment by a Hamas rocket, and 10 Israelis have been wounded. We thank God for the protection He has granted so far to Israelis, and we strongly encourage you to pray for continued safety!

Prayer requests

Ø Pray for the leadership of Israel – that the God of Israel will give them clarity, strategy, courage and discernment (2 Kings 6:8-12)

Ø Pray for Gaza's leadership – that God would frustrate their plans, operations and strategies (Psalm 83:4, 9-15)

Ø Pray for the civilian population of Gaza, many who support the terror – that God in His mercy would reveal Himself to many as their Savior and Prince of peace (Jonah 3:8-9)

Ø Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of the Jewish people (Psalm 122:6; Romans 10:1)

Ø Pray for the struggling tiny community of believers in Gaza, some who have been tortured or martyred by Islamists in recent days

Ø Pray for the Jewish believers in the Negev area bordering on Gaza, some who contend with daily rocket attacks

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey



David's Tent