January 25, 2025: HOSTAGE DEAL & MAJOR COUNTERTERRORISM IN ISRAEL - Key Prayer Points!!
After 477 days in the hands of Hamas, another four Israeli women, Karina Arif, Daniel Gilboa, Naama Levi and Liri Elbag were finally released back to Israel. Let that sink in for a moment; That's 477 days. That's 15 months. That's 68 weeks. That's over 40,000 hours.
For every one of those moments, these women were in darkness held by terrorists in underground tunnels. Unsure if they would see the light of day again! But now, praise ADONAI, they're breathing the free air of Israel!
Hamas accelerated procedures and decided to release 4 female observers kidnapped from the Nahal Oz outpost, instead of 3, while at this stage Agam Berger, the fifth female observer kidnapped, will remain captive. Arbel Yehud will also remain captive at this stage.
Under the agreement, Israel pledged to allow the return of Gazans to the northern Gaza Strip only when ALL civilian women are released from captivity.
The Prime Minister's Office made a dramatic announcement today:
"Israel will not allow Gazans to cross into northern Gaza - until the release of civilian Arbel Yehud is arranged."
Israel waited to receive the girls and then announced something that had already been decided yesterday.
Another violation of the agreement: Hamas did not provide a list detailing the condition of the hostages set to be released as part of the deal.
Hamas was supposed to deliver to the mediators by midnight the number of hostages, both alive and deceased, included in the deal, but they have not followed through with this.
As the list of surviving hostages narrows, Hamas is trying to mix the living with the dead so the deal will be completed - convinced that the Israeli nation will pressure the Government of Israel for the deal, if the hostages are alive.
Hence the reason why Hamas wants the exchanges during the Shabbat day. This way half of the nation does not witness the cruelty of Hamas turning the hostages into a mockery!
Hamas at the present time is trying to avoid releasing the list of hostages and their conditions for fear Israel will pause on the deal.
Let's continue to pray that Hamas will follow through in returning these precious hostages back to safety in Israel, as Hamas is giving excuses about the organization's military wing, claiming that there is "technical difficulty" in reaching the abductee Arbel Yehud.
The Bibas family is also being used as psychological warfare against Israel. Awareness and grounding is crucial in making sure the enemy does not hurt us more than they already have on the backs of this precious family!
On October 7th we were all horrified by the images of Shiri Bibas being taken hostage with her two babies, Kfir and Ariel, in her arms.
We all identified with the look of terror in her eyes. With the responsibility of a mother trying to defend her babies.
Her husband, Yarden was taken hostage separately. An entire family, captured by monsters!
What happened to them after they exited the frame? There was no information after that, leaving the entire nation to worry and wonder.
We don’t know if Hamas was telling the truth or lying simply for the sake of being cruel. As far as we know, no proof was provided of their deaths.
Many are feeling anxious about the final outcome of the Bibas family, in fact IDF spokesman Hagari said in a video statement today: "We are very concerned about the fate of the Bibas family."
Yarden, Shiri, Ariel, and baby Kfir, who celebrated his first birthday on planet earth as a hostage, are still in captivity for over 477 days. Please pray for their family.
Ultimately, we need to remember Whose hands holds ALL things - including the Bibas family: YESHUA reigns! He has never stopped being in control!
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:333
We value every life unlike our enemies. We believe every soul matters. That doesn't make it easy, and it certainly doesn't make it fair, but it does make it right.
A nation that values life will always prevail over a culture of death. This is what separates Israel from Hamas. They celebrate martyrdom and death. We fight for life. They see their children as weapons. While we see our children as the future. They kidnapped our citizens to use them as bargaining chips. We bring them home at any cost!
"4Behold, the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand." Psalm 121:4-5
Now, Hamas is celebrating this ceasefire as if they won the World Cup! As soon as the ceasefire took place, scores of armed Hamas fighters appeared from their hiding places and quickly took control again in the streets of Gaza, they're declaring they've won a mighty victory over Israel.
Videos coming out of Gaza showing Hamas members escorting the three women hostages out of the vehicles, pretending to be the good guys. Yet, Until the last moment in Gaza,
the three women who were released, were terrorized with Hamas gunman and a mob of Gazan civilians surrounding their convoy and screaming at them.
Hamas gave them gift bags with certificates of release, a map of Gaza and photos of their time in captivity. Then the women were handed over to the Red Cross, which transported them into the hands of Israeli forces.
Imagine that, the same men who butchered families in their sleep, now acting like they are doing some kind of humanitarian deed. It's disgusting. And the people of Gaza are cheering. They're cheering, they're waving Hamas flags and celebrating the release of terrorists from Israeli prisons.
These are the same people who celebrated the massacre on October 7th, handing out sweets as if murdering 1400 Israelis was some kind of victory. Let's stop pretending that the people of Gaza are innocent victims. They voted Hamas into power. They have supported this regime for years. Even now, they're celebrating Hamas as their savior.
Hamas is being well funded. part of that funding comes from the humanitarian aid that has been coming in on a daily basis into Gaza. Hamas steals up to 40%, or more of that humanitarian aid to fund what they're doing.
The photo above show that those were brand new uniforms. They had plenty of weapons. Nobody looked like they were starving. What about all these reports of the horrors in Gaza?
For the past 15 months, a lot of the traditional media have been reporting that there's a genocide, yet they're declaring victory. Which is it? Is it a genocide or victory?
And now Hamas is above ground, no longer in the tunnels and no longer without uniforms.
Shortly after Hamas freed the three women hostages, Israel began releasing 90 Palestinian prisoners, the first of more than a thousand to be released. Some of them terrorists who murdered Jews in well-known attacks, this is one of the most frightening aspects of this deal, for Israelis!
During the night, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released to Judea and Samaria, in East Jerusalem.
Celebrations were recorded mainly in the Ramallah area. The Red Cross bus was covered in Hamas flags. All this is took place in Ramallah - the de facto capital of Mahmoud Abbas, in the "West Bank".
With the release of these prisoners, Hamas received a significant boost in Judea and Samaria, the release strengthened its support and its status in the area.
As the deal goes forward, Hamas is supposed to release 30 more hostages in the coming weeks in exchange for hundreds more terrorists. Negotiations are supposed to continue until all hostages are released.
In the mean time, the head of Hamas' military wing put out a video calling for Palestinians in the "West Bank" to escalate their attacks on Israel!
So many Israelis are really reeling right now, they're conflicted about what's going on. The hostages for 15 months have been an open wound on Israeli society. Israel's a big family. They're euphoric about the release of Doron, Romy and Emily, and yet, on the other hand, there's a real concern about the released prisoners, and the real potential of rising attacks in Israel.
Needless to say, there's a big discussion in Israel right now about this hostage deal.
When is the price of one hostages more than you should pay? When does it cost even more lives? And when does it incentivize your enemy to kidnap more?
This is the anguish that Israelis are facing right now and have been facing for the past15 months. It's excruciating!
The problem is that this is not theoretical. It's been chronicled in 2011, when more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners were released for just one IDF soldier and those very terrorists ended up killing over 190 Israelis after their release! The worst part of it was that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, was one of those prisoners released in that deal in 2011, who eventually masterminded October 7th!
We must remember that in Israel, their view is that if you save one life, it's as if you've saved the entire world. They don't look at that one life, and that's it. No, they see the generations that would follow.
This makes it a very weighty topic that is now creating some political division within the current government! In fact, some factions are leaving. Will there be a mid-war election? Is Netanyahu's government at risk now?
Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the coalition members, resigned and left the coalition from his ministerial position in response to the approval and implementation of the three-phase Israel–Hamas war ceasefire deal. He resigned on January 19, 2025. He called this hostage deal a capitulation to terror. He does, however, support the government from the outside. That means that when legislation comes out, he'll vote with the coalition, but it really leaves Prime Minister Netanyahu with a very slim majority.
Bezalel Smotrich who is the finance minister from the religious Zionism party, has stated that he too is going to pull out of the government if, after phase one, they don't go back to fighting Hamas. If this happens, then Netanyahu would lose his majority, and this would cause the collapse of the government.
This means that right now, Netanyahu is currently balancing appeasing the Trump administration, satisfying those who want to release the hostages at any cost and also staying in power.
Therefore, Prime Minister Netanyahu really needs our prayers right now, along with all of the other leaders in his coalition. We need to pray for there to be unity in the government. Everyone on the same page, supporting one another in this very risky situation. We also pray for ADONAI to give them wisdom, discernment and divine strategies as to how to maneuver in such dire circumstances.
Now that these 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released into Judea and Samaria (with more coming, according to the hostage deal), this area will be the next big front that the IDF will be focusing on, for the coming months.
Why Judea and Samaria?
To make a very long story short, the background is that Judea and Samaria is peppered with Jewish population, intermixed and intertwined within the Palestinian population, some of which is controlled by the Palestinian authority.
Eastern Jerusalem is partially controlled by the Palestinian authority, so the border is unclear, and the boundaries are not properly defined. It's important to contextualize this, to understand the complexity of the situation.
The Palestinian authority controls FATAH (a Palestinian political and military organization founded in 1958 by Yasser Arafat), which is a fraction of the land, that includes a few Palestinian families.
But there are several Palestinian groups inside Judea and Samaria that fight amongst each other. They have been in a civil war amongst themselves for nearly 20 years.
This means that even before October 7th, 2023, things in Judea and Samaria were already very tense.
Fast forward to today, the clashes between Israelis, Palestinians and the IDF against Hamas terrorists are really centralized in the city of Jenin, which is located in the northern part of Samaria.
Jenin is a stronghold city that is supportive of Hamas. And Hamas has operatives there.
Hamas' tictac has been to rally all of the young people who are extremists; young factionists, reaching them by simply posting on social media platforms with their propagandas that now is the time to uprise! Now is the time to carry out attacks against any kind of IDF presence in these areas! They're trying to create another Antifa!
But, praise the LORD, they have not succeeded in doing so, because the DF is very strong in these locations, sending in special forces, like the reconnaissance unit (which is a special unit that used to be part of the paratroopers), etc... to maintain proper control of these areas.
However, the level of terrorist attacks that they've been able to carry out in recent weeks against IDF forces within Judean and Samaria have increased both in quality and inefficiency. Their ability to accomplish terrorist attacks, either by direct operatives of those organizations, or by inspirational terrorist attacks, which are people that have been incited to violence within the boundaries of Israel, like in Tel Aviv, twice, in the last couple weeks. Violent terrorist attacks that have only been stopped by armed civilians!
Let's also remember where we are in the calendar; we're just over three weeks away, from the beginning of Ramadan!
Which sadly, in this month, they are known to ramp up terrorist activities and violent acts against Israel and against Israelis. There's more riots in this month, statistically speaking, than in any other month of the year!
The downside of the digital age that we live in, is that through Telegram and other encrypted communication methods, these terrorist organizations are now able to indoctrinate people without having to physically ever reach them!
We're seeing terrorist attacks that are being carried out by "lone wolf" terrorists. They're people that are not officially affiliated with any particular terrorist group. They've never been part of a terrorist cell, but they have the know-how of assembling explosives, explosive devices, and the methodology of how to attack soldiers or Israeli civilians! And the way they're learning and doing all of these things, are through Hamas or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard information channels!
According to the Israeli security establishments, the fear and the threat of this conflict in Judean Samaria are the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). And this is something that the American military faced in, Iraq, in Afghanistan and in other places. It's these bombs that you can make yourself with the right instructions by using agricultural fertilizers!
And now with the advancement of technology, you can share this knowledge of how to create these bombs easily. We see this happening in Palestinian villages, taking on the idea of being soldiers!
Therefore, we really need to pray against these social media channels, that are being operated by Hamas, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and other terrorist groups, who are inciting and indoctrinating young people to do these acts of terrorism, especially in the areas of Judea and Samaria! We tear down and uproot these strongholds and channels of communications of the enemy, right now, in YESHUA'S MIGHTY NAME! LORD, give wisdom to the IDF as to how to deal with these uprising challenges and how to uproot terrorism in Samaria and Judea, where there is a mixture of both Jews and Palestinians who are being incentivized to commit acts of terrorism in their own neighborhoods, in YESHUA'S NAME!
Dear friends, when you pray for Israel, also pray the Scriptures. Here are several Scriptures you can proclaim on behalf of Israel, at this time:
Psalm 125:3a "The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous. . ."
1 Samuel 12:22 "For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make Israel His people."
Psalm 33:8–12 "Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, And the people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance."
Psalm 17:7–9 "Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them. Keep Israel as the apple of Your eye; Hide them under the shadow of Your wings, From the wicked who oppress them, From their deadly enemies who surround them."
Psalm 124 “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say—“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; Then the swollen waters would have swept over our soul.” Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth."
Thank you for your commitment in keeping Israel in your prayers!
This promise, taken from this past Shabbat's Torah Portion: Va'era, is very appropriate for the situation in Israel today:
“But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see the salvation of Adonai, which He will perform for you today. You have seen the Egyptians today, but you will never see them again, ever!” Exodus 14:13
AMEN AND AMEN!!
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