This has been another tumultuous week for Israelis throughout the nation. On Wednesday morning, the remains of Shiri Bibas and her two adorable sons, Ariel and Kfir (the two young red-head children) were laid to rest in a funeral procession that had tens of thousands lining the streets in Israel’s south. Then, late that night, Israel received four more slain Israeli hostages back from the Hamas terror group after 509 days in captivity. This last exchange cost Israel the release of more than six hundred terrorists, most who will return to Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

This is the last exchange of phase one of the hostage deal. Phase two of the ceasefire and hostage deal are stalled for now, making the current ceasefire very fragile. Israel is requesting for an extension of phase one until all the hostages are freed. Hamas is stating and demanding that for the rest of the hostages to be freed, there will need to be a complete withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza and a complete end to the war, thus leaving Hamas as the ruling power in Gaza.

The entire war until now has had a massive impact on Israeli society. Israel is not the same country as before October 7, it will never be again. Before October 7, many Israelis were conservative in their political views, but Israelis have changed, the Right has changed, the Left has changed. The center has shifted to the Right, while the Right has moved even further Right, the left is decreasing. Israelis are shifting to the Right because we have no choice. We are under an attack by monsters who celebrate massacres and educate their children to kill Jews just because they are Jews.

This shift has come about by the huge support for President Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans to other countries, so Gaza can be rebuilt. For us here in Israel, it is a reality about our survival as a people that more people realize now after the high price that Israel has paid. The enemy’s strategy and goal is to wipe Israel off the map because with no Israel, there is no Jewish nation to cry out “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39). However, the return of Messiah Yeshua is dependent on Israel being here, and Jews in Jerusalem crying out those words from Matthew's gosepel.

Therefore there cannot be a full IDF military withdrawal from Gaza while Hamas are still in power, and there cannot be a two State Solution. Israel cannot live next to a terror state bent on it's destruction. It is time for Israel to take sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria to quell the significant terror uprising that is occurring throughout that region and which poses an even greater threat to Israel’s residents.

Israel is now at another crossroad of where we will go from here. Standing strong and not bowing anymore to the enemy’s unreasonable demands, to fight for sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and Israel’s survival, and to ensure that the massacre of October 7 will not repeat itself. We need to be relentless in intercession for this and Israel must be unapologetic in its demands, not matter the reactions or criticism.

Immediate prayer points:

# Please pray for the preservation and sanity of the remaining hostages.

Ex. 6:6 "Therefore say to the children of Israel – I am the Lord, I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage."

# Please pray divine direction, decision making and wisdom by our Prime Minister, military leaders, and other government ministers, in conjunction with President Trump to make decisions that will have a long term effect.

1 Chr. 12:32 "From the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do."

There was an article recently in the Jerusalem Post written by an Arab journalist who wrote about the recent foiled terror attack, where bombs were planted on 5 Israeli buses in the Tel Aviv area. Three of the bombs prematurely exploded, as the timers were set for 9 p.m instead of 9 a.m the next day, which would have been rush hour. The other 2 bombs were discovered after the first 3 exploded inside the buses, which were empty.

The heading of his article said this “God changed a.m to p.m - terrorists can’t account for divine intervention.” The article also mentioned and reminded us what our enemies acknowledged and said in 2014 saying “their God changes the path of our rockets in mid-air.”

We need more divine interventions by the God of Israel, in the days ahead. It is very biblical and indicative of the God of Israel to intervene divinely on behalf of His people.

# Pray for more divine interventions, to thwart and change the plans of terror against His people and nation.

# Pray Israel will remain strong and determined to pursue the goal of no two State Solution and no full withdrawal of IDF from Gaza, until Hamas is removed from power.

Num. 23:24 "Look! A people rises like a lioness and lifts itself up like a lion, it shall not lie down, until it devours its prey."

Earlier this week I sent out my monthly Intercessors for the Restoration of Israel prayer bulletin. You can access it in the link below. In the bulletin you’ll find more current information and scriptures to declare concerning the situation. I also wrote a word I believe I received last week for intercession.

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