Important Takeaways:
- FBI director says terror threats elevated to all-time high since Oct. 7: ‘Blinking lights everywhere’
- FBI Director Christopher Wray testified Tuesday that the terror threat facing the United States has reached unprecedented levels since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
- Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Wray to describe the current “threat matrix” facing the United States at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
- “What I would say that is unique about the environment that we’re in right now in my career is that while there may have been times over the years where individual threats could have been higher here or there than where they may be right now, I’ve never seen a time where all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated, all at exactly the same time,” the FBI director replied.
- “So, blinking red lights analogy about 9/11 — all the lights were blinking red before 9/11, apparently,” Graham continued. “Obviously, all of us missed it. Would you say there’s multiple blinking red lights out there?” he asked.
- “I see blinking red lights everywhere,” Wray answered.
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Important Takeaways:
- A US Navy warship had to gun down more threats as American forces get pulled deeper into fights being fueled by Israel’s war with Hamas
- In the most recent episode on Sunday, a US Navy warship shot down three drones over a period that lasted more than four hours as it responded to missile attacks against internationally flagged commercial vessels in the Red Sea. US Central Command (CENTCOM) pinned the blame on the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen that’s armed and supported by Iran.
- All three drones were headed toward the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, when it shot them down. But it’s unclear if the warship or any of the commercial vessels that came under the attack were the actual targets in all three cases.
- “These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security,” CENTCOM said in a statement that provided details on the incidents. “They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world.”
- “We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran,” the US military said, adding that it will consider “all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners.”
- After a 2016 incident, the US Navy retaliated against Houthi aggression by launching strikes on coastal radar sites in Yemen, but so far, the US military has yet to respond to the latest aggressive acts with force as it did in the past. Actions so far have been defensive.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel-Hamas War Day 56: Rockets rain down on Israel’s South
- Hamas in Gaza began firing rockets at Israel in the early hours of Friday morning, marking an end to the week-long ceasefire.
- Over an hour before the ceasefire was set to end at 7 a.m., a rocket was fired from Gaza toward southern Israel, with a second round of rocket fire reported a few minutes before the end of the ceasefire. The rocket fire continued throughout the day, with over 45 rockets fired into Israel as of Thursday afternoon.
- Three IDF soldiers were moderately wounded and two others were lightly wounded after a mortar fell near them near Nirim on Friday morning as the ceasefire ended
- After the ceasefire ended, intense clashes were reported in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City in northern Gaza, with Palestinian media reporting Israeli airstrikes throughout Gaza as well. The clashes expanded to additional areas in northern and central Gaza and Israeli airstrikes continued throughout the Strip.
- On Friday afternoon, the IDF stated that, in the wake of the Hamas initiated resumption of fighting, the IDF hit over 200 targets in Gaza since 7:00 a.m. that morning
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Important Takeaways:
- Amir Tsarfati: The Tide Is Once Again Turning Strongly Against The World’s Only Jewish State
- Global Attitude Toward Israel
- For the most part, the sympathy other nations felt for Israel as a result of the October 7 attack has run its course
- The United Nations General Assembly took time away from saving the world through peace and humanity to hold another vote to demand that Israel withdraws from all “occupied” territories and returns to its pre-1967 borders. Not only did it pass, it did so overwhelmingly. Only Australia, Canada, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, the UK, and the US voted against the ridiculous referendum. All others either voted yes or abstained.
- As the hostages have been released, stories have come out including one from a man who said that he was held in an attic for nearly fifty days by a teacher from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). How are we ever supposed to trust an agency whose own workers hold our people hostage?
- Throughout social media, cable and network news channels, the entertainment world, and academia, the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas sentiment is reaching hysterical levels. Marches, riots, and physical attacks stain almost every major city in the West. Last night, mobs of antisemitic Hamas supporters ran wild at the annual Christmas tree lighting in Manhattan. European governments, in particular, are going to have to make some very hard choices very soon as the militant element of the hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants is becoming more emboldened to express its hatred for western values and its desire to usher in Sharia law.
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Important Takeaways;
- We’re in a countdown to the close of the Church Age.
- The world decided that Israel became the international burdensome stone (Zech. 12:3).
- Whoever expected this new malady, Israel Derangement Syndrome, in their lifetime? We know that “the Time of Jacob’s Trouble” will be a time of Jew-hatred, but in the Church Age? And this is a hatred of a people based only on identity. A people group that has been a blessing to the world!
- Israel now longs for peace like never before.
- She will fall for Mr. Fix-Its peace plan of Daniel 9:27. She just wants to get along with her neighbors, the Arab world, the Muslim world, and all her enemies. She has had 75 years of conflict, preceded by the Holocaust. But with centuries of demonic hatred thrown at her, the Antichrist will be stunning in his deceit of a nation longing for peace and security. He will overwhelm them in his efforts.
- For a segment of society, love has grown cold.
- This is a Tribulation reference in Matthew 24, but we’re in a run-up to that. We’re watching large segments of society favor barbarians. Millions have sided with the butchers of Hamas! There are Facebook groups praising Hamas. College campuses know no shame. Jewish students are hiding in secluded areas. And much of the world, and parts of the church, shrug in indifference and seem to enjoy cursing Israel.
- Gog & Magog further align as they unite against Israel.
- One periodical reports that “Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan wants to lead the Muslim world against Israel so his country can become a great power.” Russia has pledged to come to Iran’s rescue if Israel attacks. The three power players of Ezekiel 38-39 are Russia, Turkey, and Iran. They are aligning more every day and particularly in 2023.
- The church is slipping further into apostasy.
- Many churches revealed theology that has encouraged them to remain silent during Israel’s greatest crisis since the Holocaust. Many openly sided with the so-called Palestinians. The silence of the shepherds has been staggering and devastating to many church members. Too many won’t deal with prophecy, current events, or Israel and won’t take a stand. It’s time to call out evil and to love what and who God loves. Too many churches refuse and this year exposed them.
- The Jews are coming home in greater numbers and are more open to the gospel.
- Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, there has been a 149% increase in interest to return to Israel from Jewish French citizens and an 81% increase from North American Jews. The trauma of October 7 will leave deep scars on the nation and people forever. The crisis is driving the Jews to seek God like never before in history. Many are leaving secularism, mysticism, and more to call out to the God of the Bible.
- Strong delusion (II Thess. 2) intensifies and abounds!
- The Biden Administration continues to give Iran billions. The White House expresses deep concern about Islamophobia, not anti-Semitism! Biden gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to mosques. We have seen young people praise Osama bin Laden in spite of the reality of radical Islam. The solution in the Middle East is a Palestinian state! Everywhere, evil is called good (Is. 5:20) and facts are irrelevant due to the delusions of our day. Only the righteous can see straight!
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the four-day ceasefire two more days, in hopes that the pause will see the release of an additional 20 hostages.
- On Monday, 11 Israelis, including 2 mothers and 9 children, returned home after 52 days in captivity by Hamas.
- Among the reunions: 15-year-old Dafna and her 8-year-old sister Ela, who are now with their birth mother. Hamas murdered their father, step-father and step-brother in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
- The White House expects more reunions
- …the White House is skeptical concerning how Hamas may use the ceasefire.
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Important Takeaways:
- 11 Israeli hostages returned to Israel on Monday, bringing the total released to 76.
- Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday as efforts continued to extend the ongoing ceasefire, according to initial reports.
- Shortly after the reported incident the spokesperson for Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeidah claimed that Israeli forces had committed a “clear violation” of the ceasefire in the northern Gaza Strip and that Hamas had “dealt with this violation.”
- “We are committed to the truce as long as the enemy has committed to it, and we call on the mediators to pressure the occupation to adhere to all the terms of the truce on the ground and in the air,” said Abu Obeidah.
- Palestinian media claimed that shortly after the reported incident, Israeli fighter jets were scrambled over the Gaza Strip.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is refusing to release an infant Israeli hostage, Kfir Bibas, who was nine months old at the time of his abduction, among the 50-70 hostages it is letting go as part of a four-to-six-day “pause” in the fighting.
- The Times of Israel reported:
- The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee indicates to Sky News that the Bibas family — father Yarden, mother Shiri, 10-month-old baby Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel — will not be released today from Hamas captivity.
- Adraee explains that the family was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 massacre, and was then transferred to another Palestinian terror faction in Gaza. They are currently being held in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
- The Bibas family confirms that their loved ones will not be released today.
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Important Takeaways:
- The horrors endured by Hamas’s hostages: Barely any food, forced to sleep on plastic chairs, waiting to be executed… Israelis reveal the Hell they went through while held captive for seven weeks
- As of Monday morning, of the roughly 240 people dragged into Gaza by Hamas in its brutal October 7 attack, 62 hostages have been released (made up of Israelis and foreigners), one was freed by Israeli forces, and two were found dead inside Gaza.
- Their relatives have spoken of plastic chairs as beds, irregular meals of bread and rice, and hours spent waiting for the bathroom.
- In one 84-year-old woman’s case, it is reported that she was not given vital medication while in Gaza, and that she is currently in an ‘unstable’ condition.
- Another elderly woman said she feared she was on her way to be executed in the build up to her release, only to find that she was being freed.
- Of those released, 58 were freed under a cease-fire deal over the past three days. Four others were freed earlier in the conflict.
- A total of 14 hostages with Israel citizenship were returned to Israel on Sunday, the third day of a four-day truce deal with Hamas that will see a total of 50 Israeli captives freed in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.
- Under the terms of the agreement, one more group of captives is set to be handed over to Israel in exchange for Palestinian prisoners before the end of the truce.
- Those freed in recent days have largely stayed out of the public eye.
- Most are still in hospitals being treated as they start to process a seven-week ordeal that may have left many of them deeply traumatized.
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Important Takeaways:
- On Day 4 of Hostage Release, Families Await Word as Israel Mulls Ceasefire Extension
- Monday marks the fourth day of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and the ongoing release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th. Israeli sources now report the ceasefire may be extended much longer to release more hostages.
- For the past three days, heartwarming scenes have played out in Israel as families are being reunited for the first time after weeks of captivity, having been kidnapped by Hamas. Fourteen Israelis were released on Sunday, including four-year-old Avigail Edan, an Israeli-American. Hamas killed her parents in front of her during the massacre on October 7th.
- So far, 40 Israelis have been freed, with more expected on Monday for a total of fifty Israelis. In Jerusalem and the West Bank, Palestinians celebrated the return of dozens of prisoners. Many of them have committed attempted murder, stabbings, shootings, and have thrown Molotov cocktails. One woman called for more kidnappings so more prisoners could be freed.
- It’s likely more Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages will be released. Israel’s war cabinet is deciding whether or not to extend the ceasefire for ten days with ten hostages released for each day. This may prolong Israel’s military campaign for up to two weeks.
- “I think every day that goes on with the ceasefire, it’s going to be harder for them to restart the war machine, and that is exactly what Hamas intends,” CBN News Correspondent Chuck Holton explained. “They understand that the longer this ceasefire goes on, the more pressure will build on Israel to continue that ceasefire indefinitely, and if they continue it indefinitely, Hamas does not get wiped out, and Hamas survives. That’s their strategy here, I believe.”
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