Every week, we post seven to ten news stories from Israel with a suggested prayer focus and scripture for each one, guiding readers how to pray for Israel’s most urgent needs. This Prayer Update is also sent to over 18,000 subscribers every Friday by e-mail. Sign up HERE if you would like to receive this Prayer Update by e-mail.
Israel Open to Renewing Ceasefire Deal, Won’t ‘Wait Forever’
by JNS
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Sa’ar, speaks to reporters at the ministry in Jerusalem, January 13, 2025.
Thursday, 27 March 2025 | Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Wednesday that while it is still seeking to renew the hostages and ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror group in Gaza, the Jewish state won’t “wait forever.”
“Hamas, which insists on continuing to hold hostages and refuses to demilitarize the Gaza Strip, is pushing for the renewal of war in Gaza,” Sa’ar said, alongside his Swedish counterpart, Maria Malmer Stenergard, at a press conference after their meeting in Jerusalem.
“Israel will no longer tolerate the ongoing threat to its security and civilians from Gaza,” Sa’ar said, per an Israeli readout.
In addition to renewing military operations in the Gaza Strip, which Sa’ar described as “limited for now,” Israel is still conducting talks “aimed at reaching an agreement to extend the ceasefire and release the hostages,” the top diplomat said.
“But we will not wait forever,” he said.
In his remarks, Sa’ar emphasized the need for an Israel Defense Forces victory over the terror group, quoting the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who once said that if the Arabs lay down their weapons, there will be no more war but if Israel lays down its weapons, there will be no more Jewish state.
In a private meeting with Stenergard, Sa’ar said that he discussed “regional developments and bilateral relations.” The Israeli minister also provided an overview of the situation in the region and addressed the multi-front war, per his office.
The two diplomats also held an extended meeting with their staffs.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government remains “determined to achieve all the war goals.” The objectives include Hamas’s destruction, the return of the remaining 59 hostages and assurance that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.
As long as Hamas refuses to release the captives, “the pressure we apply will become stronger and stronger,” Netanyahu told the Knesset [Israeli parliament]. “This includes capturing territories and other moves I will not elaborate on here.”
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff sought to extend the ceasefire in Gaza through the Passover and Ramadan [one of the Five Pillars of Islam when stringent disciplines are observed] periods, during which time Hamas would release 11 living hostages and half of the bodies it still holds. Israel endorsed Witkoff’s proposed outline, but Hamas did not.
In response, the IDF resumed military activity against Hamas on March 18. The renewed Israeli military campaign has been officially named “Operation Strength and Sword.”
Photo Credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Pray for Israel’s leaders, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Sa’ar, Defense Minister Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Zamir, asking that they will be given wisdom from the Lord and will remain unified in their approach and strategy to deal with the situation in Gaza. Pray for the hostages who remain in Gaza and their loved ones, asking the Lord to strengthen them and sustain them with hope.
Scripture
Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out. And to man He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.”
Judea and Samaria Terror Cells Dismantled as IDF Raises Alert for End of Ramadan
by Yoav Zitun ~ Ynetnews
The IDF has been operating in Judea and Samaria to dismantle terror cells and uncover weapons caches.
Tuesday, 25 March 2025 | The IDF’s ongoing operations in the northern West Bank [Judea and Samaria] remain unchanged for now, but forces are increasing their readiness in the sector due to the heightened volatility of the final stretch of Ramadan (one of the Five Pillars of Islam when stringent disciplines are observed).
For nearly two months, the refugee camps in Jenin and Nur al-Shams in Tulkarm have been deserted. The IDF has barred thousands of Palestinian residents, including hundreds of terrorists who fled, from returning to their homes.
In some cases, troops have moved into the abandoned houses, maintaining a continuous presence to secure control over the densely populated camps. However, as time passes, friction with hostile elements has diminished to nearly zero.
Troops stationed inside the camps have not encountered resistance, clashes or even riots. In the nearby cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, daily life has returned to normal and residents appear indifferent to the new reality.
“The soldiers leave the refugee camps for raids in surrounding villages and neighborhoods in Jenin and Tulkarm, though they’ve carried out such operations before from their regular outposts,” the IDF said in a statement.
According to the military, these raids, aimed at seizing weapons such as firearms and rifles and arresting wanted individuals, can last from a few hours to half a day.
“Holding these terror strongholds for such an extended period has made it significantly harder for the enemy to regroup and rebuild their armed cells—the so-called ‘katibat’—that once operated in the refugee camps and have now been dismantled,” an IDF source said.
“We’ve taken away their base of operations, reshaped the area and they can no longer plant explosives along the routes leading into the camps.”
Since the start of Ramadan, IDF Central Command data shows that Israeli forces have eliminated 13 terrorists in the West Bank, seized over 85 weapons, arrested approximately 170 wanted individuals and demolished four homes belonging to terrorists.
Since launching the operation in January to combat terrorism in the region, around 90 terrorists have been killed and more than 300 weapons have been confiscated. Currently, two battalions from the Kfir Brigade are securing the two refugee camps but they may soon be redeployed to support the major ground operation the IDF is preparing in Gaza.
In such a scenario, the military is weighing whether to replace them with two other battalions inside the Palestinian territory or temporarily abandon the concept of maintaining a continuous presence in the camps, opting instead to conduct raids from IDF outposts.
The ongoing shortage of combat soldiers and the strain on reservists will also play a role in this decision. For now, a lone armored platoon remains stationed near Jenin at the request of Israel’s political leadership, but it may soon be reassigned to its parent regular-duty brigade, which is preparing to resume combat operations in Gaza.
Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit/Wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
Give thanks for the soldiers of the IDF who have been dismantling terror cells and discovering weapons caches in the biblical heartland over the past few months. Pray for wisdom as the military determines its strategy in response to increased demands for combat troops in Gaza. Pray for the Israelis who have chosen to live in Judea and Samaria, even with the potential of deadly terror attacks on the roads, at the checkpoints or by infiltration into their communities.
Scripture
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Inside Israel’s most Secure Prison Hospital
by Liran Tamari ~ Ynetnews
Israel’s prison system cares for inmates, including Nukba terrorists, from October 7 (illustrative).
Monday, 24 March 2025 | Deep inside Ayalon Prison, behind high walls and heavy iron gates, lies one of Israel’s most hidden and unusual medical facilities—the Israel Prison Service hospital.
The entrance resembles that of any maximum-security wing: thick metal doors, barred windows and prison guards stationed along the corridor. But once the door shuts behind you, a very different reality comes into view. Large rooms lined with orderly hospital beds, medical monitors beeping in the background and carts of equipment scattered through the hallways.
Ninety-eight patients—both sick and wounded—are currently hospitalized here. Despite the steady hum of the machines, this is no ordinary hospital. No one here is being discharged home.
On the upper floor are dangerous terrorists, including members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force involved in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel. Below them is the nursing ward, where the most severely ill criminal inmates are housed—prisoners whose conditions cannot be managed in the standard clinics within the prisons where they are serving their sentences.
“The law on medical release is extremely strict and requires proof that the inmate is in his final moments,” explains Deputy Commissioner Dr. Dmitry Klutzky, the hospital’s director, addressing why these inmates are not released rather than establishing a dedicated facility for them.
“I have a cancer patient in grave condition, but since he might live another six months, I can’t release him. Sometimes, even the inmates themselves don’t want to be released—because they have no family support system waiting for them.”
Treating a Nukhba Terrorist
In recent months, Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi has directed efforts to position the prison hospital as a leading and advanced facility—aimed in part at minimizing the need to transfer security prisoners beyond the prison walls.
“We’re launching several new initiatives,” says Dr. Klutzky. “Instead of sending security inmates to outside medical appointments, the prison is developing the capacity to treat them internally. We’ve built a comprehensive medical system here, including the ability to administer blood transfusions, to prevent terrorists from being moved outside. With the help of a major hospital, we receive blood units directly at our facility.”
According to Dr. Klutzky, “There are also quite a few security inmates who need orthopedic surgery. Per the current policy, they undergo procedures in public hospitals, but after a short recovery period, they return to our inpatient ward and are not kept outside the prison. We’re doing everything we can to protect public safety while still remaining human.”
That final remark reflects the deeply complex situation faced by the staff since October 7, 2023. “The nurses here treated terrorists who carried out the massacre in the south,” Dr. Klutzky says. “There were sessions with psychologists to process it—because it breaks you from within. And still, we’re doctors. Despite how difficult it is, we save lives.”
The hospital director, who joined the Prison Service 21 years ago and calls the facility “home,” is aware of public sentiment: “When people ask me how I can save the life of a Nukhba terrorist, I answer that we are not judges and we do not carry out sentences—we are physicians. Even when it’s hard to accept, the medical duty takes precedence above all. My job is to save lives, regardless of who is lying in the bed.”
Defense officials say this life-saving work also has security value: a living, functioning terrorist can be interrogated and may provide valuable intelligence—such as the location of hostages or the plans of terror groups and other operatives.
“In the first days of the war, we had a lot of moral questions—how do we treat them? Is it right to treat them?” says Yulia. “We cried, we were in pain, but in the end, we told ourselves this is the mission the system gave us, and this is what we must do. We serve in a hierarchical organization, and we do our jobs just like we did before. My professional duty won out.”
Yulia and her team are among those caring for Nukhba terrorists, some of whom suffer from severe orthopedic injuries, with shattered limbs stabilized by metal rods. They require full-time nursing care—from changing bandages and assisting with basic needs to monitoring vital signs. “I know that the hand whose blood pressure I’m checking, whose pulse I’m measuring—committed atrocities,” she says.
Yulia recalls that “one of the first Nukhba terrorists brought to our hospital was bedridden, unable to lift his head. I had to hold his water cup so he could swallow a pill and help him sip—and it broke me. To show compassion to someone like that, knowing what he did, was unimaginable. He’s a rapist and a murderer—and still, we treated him. That’s a moment I haven’t recovered from. I remember walking out of the room after caring for him and just breaking down in tears.”
Since learning the fate of Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir—murdered in captivity—Yulia says the emotional burden has only deepened. “After all our hopes that maybe the family would make it out alive—something in me broke,” she says. “I walk into the ward now, and it’s even harder. If there was a purpose—where is it now? These are questions no one can answer.”
‘This Is My Last Time in Prison’
On the lower floor of the hospital inside Ayalon Prison sits its criminal ward. Here, among the beds, it’s not only medical staff who move about—but also other inmates, including those serving long sentences, who choose to spend their time providing close care to severely ill prisoners. They feed them, bathe them and assist with daily needs. Known as “support inmates,” their presence serves as a reminder that prison is not only a place of punishment—it also has a rehabilitative role, meant to prevent inmates from returning once released.
“It’s hard to find people willing to take on this role,” says Dr. Klutzky, “but there are inmates who feel it gives their time meaning. They’re certainly not doing it for the money.”
Y., a criminal inmate from East Jerusalem serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for weapons trafficking, is one of these support inmates. This is his third time behind bars, but he claims the role has changed him.
“On the outside, I used to hassle people, but something happened to me here,” he tells Dr. Klutzky. “I sat alone at night thinking about what I’ve been through, and I realized—why cause harm, when I could help instead?”
“You need incredible mental strength to change a diaper or care for someone helpless,” he says. “But then I realize—not only am I doing it, I actually enjoy it.”
Dr. Klutzky listens as the inmate continues: “I have four kids, and I’ve never changed a single diaper for any of them. And here I am, caring for elderly and bedridden detainees, doing everything for them from A to Z. One is 70 years old, another is disabled and can’t move—I’m the one taking care of him. People have told me I could be a caregiver on the outside, and it no longer sounds far-fetched.”
“Maybe when I get out, I’ll go back to school and become a nurse,” he says. “I hope this is it, my last time in prison. Something in me changed. Even my family is surprised by the way I talk now. I feel like someone took everything that used to be in my head and threw it in the trash. I recommend other inmates join this program, but it’s not for everyone. It’s a heavy responsibility. It changes you.”
Photo Credit: Michael Coghlan from Adelaide, Australia/Wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
Pray for the doctors and nurses who are working in Israel’s prisons as they lay aside their personal feelings towards their patients who have committed unspeakable crimes and instead fulfill the oath of their calling—to save lives. Give thanks for the opportunity that prisoners have to volunteer as caregivers to the prisoner–patients. Pray for many inmates to become like “Y” who has found a change in his heart attitude as a result of caring for patients.
Scripture
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:… a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up…
Prime Minister Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Rubio Discuss Gaza War
by JNS
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 25, 2024
Monday, 24 March 2025 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Sunday.
The call was focused on “regional developments, including releasing the hostages and the resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” according to a brief readout published by Netanyahu’s office on Sunday evening.
Washington’s top diplomat was said to have expressed to Netanyahu the Trump administration’s “unwavering support for Israel and its policy.”
On March 15, Rubio slammed as “nuts” the terms being demanded by Hamas in hostage-ceasefire negotiations with Israel, while insisting the Trump administration remains committed to freeing the remaining 59 captives still held by the Palestinian terrorist organization in Gaza.
“We care about all the hostages. We want all the hostages released…But we’re also talking about bodies. And these trades that are being made, they’re ridiculous trades—400 people for three. These are nuts,” Rubio said at a press conference following the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting.
“The whole world should continue to say that what Hamas has done is outrageous, it’s ridiculous, it’s sick, it’s disgusting…We’re just dealing with some savages. That’s it. These are bad people, terrible people, and we need to treat them as such,” added Rubio.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff sought to extend the Gaza ceasefire through the Passover and Ramadan periods, during which time Hamas would release 11 living hostages and half of the bodies it still holds. Jerusalem endorsed Witkoff’s proposed outline; Hamas did not.
Early on March 18, the IDF launched fresh “extensive” strikes against Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. The renewed Israeli military campaign has been officially named “Operation Strength and Sword.”
Washington “fully supports” Israel’s decision to resume its war against Hamas, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sen. Rubio's Office/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Give thanks for the messages of “unwavering support” members of the Trump administration, as well as President Trump himself, have expressed for Israel. Give thanks also for the US recognition that the demands of Hamas are “outrageous” and therefore will not pressure Israel to make concessions to them.
Scripture
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
‘Hamas Must Go’: Gazans Demand an End to War in Protest
by Einav Halabi ~ Ynetnews
Palestinians actively called for the removal of Hamas in a protest in northern Gaza (illustrative).
Wednesday, 26 March 2025 | Hundreds of Palestinian residents of northern Gaza protested on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war. This was the first time that civilians came out in an organized demonstration against the Hamas narrative. Hamas has called for resilience and for Gazans to cling to their land.
The protestors held up signs reading “End the war now,” and “Hamas, out, Hamas must go.” One protester said the residents of the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya were peaceful. We demand peace and security and not to be governed at gunpoint,” he said.
A local activist who opposes Hamas called on Gazans to leave their phones at home and come out to protest. “Show the real voice of Gaza,” he said in a Telegram post, adding he hoped people in other parts of the Strip would do the same and demand an end to the war.
Photo Credit: Jaber Jehad Badwan/Wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
Pray that the number of Gazans who are willing to stand up against Hamas will increase and that they will not allow themselves to fall back under the domination of a government which rules by forceful terror. Pray for a new system of governing that will promote peace and security, both for the residents of Gaza and for their Israeli neighbors.
Scripture
But He saves the needy from the sword, from the mouth of the mighty, and from their hand. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
‘October 8’ Is a Mirror of the Hate Festering Below the Surface
by Nurit Greenger ~ JNS
Anti-Israel protesters near the US Capitol while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress on July 24, 2024
Thursday, 27 March 2025 | On October 7, 2023, the world witnessed what Hamas terrorists are capable of, as armed Gazans gleefully bragged about their ability to torture, murder, mutilate, burn alive, rape and kidnap unarmed civilian children, women and men.
And the world saw the unthinkable murderous scenes and reacted. And the reaction was wicked.
On October 8, 2023, the truth began to come out loud and clear. The central truth was that anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, global antisemitism was lying so close to the surface, that it was ready to erupt if it had a reason.
The October 7 massacre of Jews in their homeland gave haters a reason, which led to the eruption of worldwide antisemitic protests. From the streets, protesters told us that Jewish life has no value and Jews must not defend themselves. They also told us, based on atrocious lies, that terrorism, what Hamas perpetrated in Israel, was justified.
The global antisemitism truth erupted into ferocious protests, in which the masses came out on the streets and on college grounds to justify the heinous murder of Jews by the Hamas brutes in the name of Allahu Akbar, “God is great” in Arabic. They came out to profess the “truth,” that to erase off the map the state of the Jewish people, Israel, is justified and to be anti-Israel and hate Jews is a good diversion from civility.
The mass protests on US college campuses, which we watched on TV screens and via social media, in which the participants expressed support for Hamas’s murderous activities, told us that the next generation of Americans—the future leaders of America—are being brought up to think erroneously and hate a particular group of people—the Jews, the Zionists. Their behavior and the slogans they yelled were guided by an indoctrination of lies in which they came to believe; lies that are unfamiliar to most Americans.
The West denies the fact it is facing the spread of Islamic holy war. Could it be due to the West’s fear it can’t win against the 1.8 billion Muslims who are at odds with its Judeo-Christian tenet and, therefore, choose not to even try to fight?
Instead, the West is shielding itself behind the comforting fiction that if Israel just puts its head under the Islamic butcher’s cleaver, the Hamas-style radical Islam will not be so bad to others.
Here is advice to the West: Remove the neckerchief keffiyeh symbol of terrorism, connect the dots, and fight like Israel to prevail.
Since October 8, 2023, the campaigners in US city squares and university campuses celebrated Hamas as freedom fighters rather than murderous terrorists. Their message was clear: Jews deserve the inhumanity they experienced at the hands of Hamas.
The lies written on the protesters’ placards made it clear that we are witnessing modern antisemitism. For instance, anti-Zionism is the modern antisemitism definition. Zionism is the Jews’ self-determination right in their homeland, Israel. Translated, if there is no Zionism, then Jews have no right to defend themselves and exist in their sovereign land. That transforms it into modern-day antisemitism.
The scope and magnitude of Islam’s threat to Western civilization are greatly embedded within the American college campus and the mainstream media. Islam is in a “Holy War” with Western culture reinforced by the mainstream and instigated by a failing education system.
Today, the Islamic war attacks the Jews, easily made into a convenient assault target group. Tomorrow they will attack the Christians and all other non-Islamic people, as they currently do throughout Africa and the Middle East. Radical Islam is not a peaceful political religion; it is dedicated to global domination and the destruction of all those they call infidels.
The documentary film “October 8” is not political. Rather an eye-opener of what we watched erupt following Hamas’s atrocities in Israel. And what erupted should scare us all. It is a reality we cannot live with if we wish to continue being a civilized society.
The documentary bears the question: How did we, in America, arrive at this moment where murderous Hamas [members] are celebrated as “freedom fighters” and not the savage terrorists they are? Don’t the protesters have enough moral attributes to perceive that this fight is about primitive darkness versus enlightened civility?
“October 8” has a broader scope than just the Jews and Israel. It is collectively about all of us, how so many people became blinded by their baffling hate for Israel that they can’t find empathy for the innocents who were murdered or kidnapped on October 7. Today, the hate is directed at Jews; tomorrow, the same hate will be directed at who? What does that mean for all Americans? For humanity?
“October 8” tells us that the world may have lost its mind. That it is regressing, not progressing, and sinking into a very dangerous territory. It is an eye-opener to a reality we either do not want to recognize exists or that we are indifferent to it. Either way, “October 8” tells us that too many Americans have lost their moral compass. More than that, we are in a fight for the soul of America, for humanity’s soul.
The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them.
Photo Credit: Andrew Bernard/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Pray that people will understand that to be anti-Israel is the same as being antisemitic and that this understanding will result in support for the nation and people of Israel in the midst of a very difficult fight for their survival. Remember that God has called the Jewish people His special treasure and has not revoked the eternal covenant He made with Abraham.
Scripture
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
After Year-and-a-half Claim of Gaza ‘Famine,’ UN Agencies Won’t Confirm One Occurred
by Mike Wagenheim ~ JNS
UN Secretary-General António Guterres briefs reporters following an informal meeting on Cyprus at the United Nations Office in Geneva, March 18, 2025.
Wednesday, 26 March 2025 | As Israel blocks entry of certain goods into Gaza to pressure Hamas to free the remaining hostages, some critics of the Jewish state are reviving the narrative that Jerusalem is deliberately starving Gazans to the point of famine.
Cindy McCain, the widow of former senator John McCain and executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, said in May 2024 that northern Gaza had entered “full-blown famine.” Two months prior, Matthew Hollingworth, the UN agency’s interim director for the Palestinian territories, proclaimed “famine is a reality” in the Strip.
Some two months before that, Martin Griffiths, then the UN emergency relief chief, said that the Israel–Hamas war brought famine to Gaza with “such incredible speed.” He added that the “great majority” of 400,000 Gazans deemed at the time by UN agencies to be at risk of starvation “are actually in famine, not just at risk of famine.”
JNS has sought comment repeatedly from UN agencies, after the announced January ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, about whether the global body has any evidence that famine occurred in Gaza.
The office of António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme declined multiple requests for comment on whether they could confirm that there was famine in Gaza.
“Hamas has a documented track record of looting humanitarian aid sent by Israel to Gaza, and using that aid to sustain its terror apparatus,” Jonathan Harounoff, international spokesperson for Israel’s UN mission, told JNS.
“The only famine in Gaza relates to the Israeli hostages, who have been—and are being—starved and tortured while in brutal captivity,” Harounoff told JNS.
Allegations of famine, coupled with accusations that Israel employed a policy of deliberate starvation, have had enormous diplomatic, legal and societal repercussions.
Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, listed “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” atop his charges when he filed for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, then the defense minister.
The UN-aligned Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC] analyses, through which the United Nations was attributing claims of famine, were repeatedly called into question, including by the IPC’s own Famine Review Committee. The latter issued a report assailing the IPC’s methodology and noting severe undercounting of food deliveries to Gaza.
The IPC doesn’t produce its own data but instead culls it from partner organizations on the ground, including UN agencies. The IPC routinely issued new famine warnings based on that data, which can include retroactively—and quietly—revising its previous projections of famine down to levels reflecting food insecurity that more typical in conflicts.
The chief economist at the World Food Programme told JNS in June 2024 that there was a lack of data indicating an ongoing famine, but “whether it is classified as a famine or not is not the point.”
JNS asked Guterres’s office earlier this month what evidence it had of famine in Gaza.
Stéphane Dujarric, Gutteres’s spokesman, told JNS in a March 10 press briefing that “we talked about the very severe risk of famine.”
“Those studies were done by the IPC, which is a group of UN agencies and also a group of non-UN agencies, American, German, Europeans and others, who’ve established a scientific method to talk about hunger, to classify hunger, and we stand by their findings,” he said.
Irrespective of whether Guterres and the global body as a whole stated that there was famine in Gaza, JNS asked Dujarric how his boss reconciles that stance with the many statements from UN officials alleging active famine in Gaza.
“We may have, at the United Nations, the world’s most recognizable logo, but there’s no brand management,” Dujarric told JNS. “There are a lot of people who can speak on, quote-unquote, behalf of the UN I’m speaking on behalf of the secretary-general, what we’ve said here, and what others have said.”
Dujarric referred JNS to the offices of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme. JNS sought comment repeatedly from World Food Programme offices in multiple cities, from the IPC and from OCHA.
“We are aware that people have starved in Gaza,” an OCHA spokeswoman told JNS.
JNS noted that starvation and famine are substantially different classifications of food insecurity, per the IPC scale upon which the United Nations relies, and asked the spokeswoman if OCHA would confirm Griffiths’s assertion of famine.
“I believe there may be an IPC assessment coming out shortly, and we look forward to seeing its findings,” the spokeswoman said.
Photo Credit: Violaine Martin/U.N. Photo/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Pray that the truth about the food supplies in Gaza and the lack of evidence that there has been starvation will be as widely proclaimed as the false claims of famine have been. Continue to pray that Hamas and its practice of stealing humanitarian aid will be completely stopped and that the food supplies will reach those for whom they are intended.
Scripture
Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me.
Israeli Court Freezes Palestinian Authority Funds over Pay-for-Slay Program
by JNS
Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and two daughters were killed in a Palestinian terror attack, calls for the termination of all funding to the Palestinian Authority during a meeting of the Knesset’s Israel Victory Caucus.
Wednesday, 26 March 2025 | The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday issued an unprecedented order to temporarily freeze 50 million shekels (US $13.7 million) in funds allocated to the Palestinian Authority, according to Hebrew media reports.
The lawsuit was filed by Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and two daughters were killed in a terrorist attack in April 2023. Dee’s legal action challenges the PA’s “pay-for-slay” program, which provides financial support to prisoners and the families of attackers. The suit argues that these payments incentivize terrorism and calls for financial accountability.
The case seeks compensation for terror victims and aims to establish a legal precedent that could lead to more PA funds being frozen over ties to terrorist attacks. Supporters of the lawsuit also see it as a way to disrupt PA financial channels that are accused of supporting terrorism.
Following the ruling, Rabbi Dee urged other terror victims to take similar legal action, arguing that economic pressure on the PA could help deter future attacks.
Legal analysts highlight the far-reaching implications of the ruling, which could lead to greater scrutiny of PA financial transactions.
The PA has yet to issue an official response, but Ramallah has previously condemned such financial freezes as a violation of economic agreements.
Under the 1994 Paris Protocol, Israel collects tax revenues on behalf of the PA and transfers them monthly. However, Israeli authorities have the legal authority to withhold or freeze these funds in cases involving security concerns or legal claims.
Photo Credit: Michael Katz/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Pray that economic pressure, such as freezing PA funds which are used to pay salaries of imprisoned terrorists, will help deter future attacks. Pray also for the families of those who, like Rabbi Leo Dee, have lost loved ones in terror attacks and now face life without them. Pray that they will be comforted and strengthened.
Scripture
Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound.
Berlin Journalist Faces Threats for Defying Palestinian Narratives
by Zeev Avrahami ~ Ynetnews
Journalist Nicholas Potter exposes the dangerous links between the Berlin protest attended by activist Greta Thunberg and terror groups breeding anti-Israel propaganda (illustrative).
Friday, 21 March 2025 | British journalist Nicholas Potter, a writer for the German daily Die Tageszeitung, published an article on March 9 opposing the characterization of the war in Gaza as “genocide.” The piece incited outrage among the newspaper’s readership, most of whom align with the left-wing of German politics and harbor considerable hostility toward Israel alongside strong sympathy for Palestinians.
The article garnered so much hatred and vitriol, that it had its comment section closed shortly after publication. Two days later, the newspaper’s editors issued a statement condemning the violent harassment directed at Potter—both online and on the streets of Berlin—and expressing their support for him. Potter, who primarily writes about antisemitism, racism and the rise of the far-right, has faced escalating attacks.
In their statement, editors specifically referenced Israel’s war in Gaza and its coverage in the media. However, the seeds of the “intifada” against Potter—who has written for outlets such as the Guardian and Haaretz and co-authored a book with Stephan Laufer on antisemitism in countercultures—were sown months prior when he published an investigative piece on a different topic: portals disseminating anti-Western propaganda funded by Russia.
In mid-October, Potter published a report on a Berlin-based portal called Red, which has been rapidly gaining traction. The site, which identifies with resistance movements and aligns with the left, has been anti-Israel from its inception—a stance that intensified following the October 7 massacre. According to Potter, the site and its writers published materials from violent pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, often from locations inaccessible to other media outlets.
When Greta Thunberg arrived in Berlin on the anniversary of the terror attack to join protests under the slogan “Glory to Resistance,” she gave an interview to the portal, which garnered 360,000 views on the X platform. The portal also conducted interviews with Hezbollah and Houthi terrorists, some of whom marked the anniversary of the massacre by discussing “breaking out of the Gaza prison.”
Potter’s investigation revealed that “Red” is part of the Kremlin’s propaganda apparatus, a successor to “Redfish,” which was shut down after its ties to Moscow were uncovered. The portal’s aim, Potter noted, is to destabilize the West by spreading disinformation. He also found that the Berlin-based portal was registered under shell companies in Istanbul, likely to evade sanctions against Russia.
In response to the investigation, “Red” issued a statement, concluding with the declaration: “Palestine will be free—from the river to the sea.” In December, Potter published an article in the Jerusalem Post on “Red” and other far-left sites that benefit from Russian or Iranian support and frequently publish anti-Israel content, including antisemitic conspiracy theories.
“I’ve been a target of pro-Palestinian activists for years now, both online and in real life,” Potter told Ynet. “These attacks go far beyond legitimate criticism of a journalist. They include defamation, insults and threats. My book about antisemitism in progressive countercultures was published a month before October 7. Some of the readings and discussions about it, which I held alongside my co-author, were disrupted by protesters and required police protection.”
In mid-December, “Red” launched a smear campaign against Potter, labeling him a “genocide supporter, Zionist, and part of the pro-Israel propaganda machine.” The portal also highlighted Potter’s participation in German journalist exchange program (Kremer-Kollek) hosted in Israel at the Jerusalem Post, framing it as proof that he was a “recruited” journalist. (Potter stayed in Israel from November to February and was part of the international journalist program in December and January.)
This campaign, coupled with the fact that Potter, a left-leaning journalist, criticized parts of the left and the antisemitism it masks, quickly turned him from an online target into a real-life one. Stickers featuring his image and the caption “German son of a bitch” were plastered across many public places in Berlin, and in extreme cases, even death threats were made against him.
“Since December, the attacks have become much more intense after I published the investigation into ‘Red,’ its support for Palestinian terror groups, its murky financial sources, and its ties to Russian propaganda,” Potter explained. “Many pro-Palestinian activists amplified the campaign, claiming that I’m so good at ‘genocide propaganda’ that even Israel hired me, when the truth is that I stayed there in January–February as part of an international journalist exchange program. Shortly afterward, the stickers started appearing.”
“I write very critically about Netanyahu, his attacks on the judiciary and the media, his right-wing coalition, and the heavy-handedness in Gaza,” he added, “but I oppose calling the war ‘genocide,’ as I believe such terminology stems from antisemitism. I also write extensively about the rise of antisemitism since October 7.”
According to the German Journalists’ Association, there were 118 recorded attacks on journalists at protests in the past year, 66 of them at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Germany. Reporters Without Borders states that such demonstrations have surpassed right-wing protests in terms of violent incidents and assaults against journalists. This month, two Jewish journalists and two others were attacked—one of them had hot tea poured on his head—during an anti-Israel protest in Berlin.
In January, a television reporter was assaulted at an anti-Israel protest in Leipzig, sustaining a head injury that required hospitalization. Earlier, in July, two pro-Palestinian protesters followed an Iranian journalist in Berlin to his home and threatened him with a knife. This is just a small sample of the violence from the radical pro-Palestinian left against anything perceived as pro-Israel or Jewish, regardless of reality. Berlin, supposedly a bastion of liberalism and diverse opinions, has become a hub for toxic incitement, hate campaigns and slander against journalists.
“This is shameful and unacceptable,” Potter stated. “This is an attack, mainly by anti-Israel campaigners, on press freedom and democracy itself. We must not allow radical activists to intimidate journalists through defamation, threats, and even physical violence. Until now, these were things I had only witnessed from the far-right or antisemitic conspiracy groups. The left is becoming increasingly authoritarian. They not only support Islamic terror groups like Hamas but also attack the pillars of democracy and are willing to collaborate with propaganda outlets funded by Russia, Qatar, or Turkey to achieve their goals.”
“The case of Nicholas Potter serves as a warning that radical groups are attempting to undermine the press,” the Central Council of Jews in Germany stated. “We know Nicholas Potter as a courageous journalist who is only interested in uncovering the truth. Anyone who threatens or slanders him cannot argue with him. As a society, we must not allow this.”
“I have no problem with objective criticism,” Potter said, “but this campaign deeply concerns me. It brands me as an enemy against whom all means are justified. When an incitement campaign starts, it only takes one person to decide to act on it. While many people support me in countering this campaign, there are quite a few activists, especially from the aggressive anti-Israel and anti-imperialism factions, who try to justify these attacks and make them seem legitimate.”
Many journalists in Germany have decided to stop covering pro-Palestinian demonstrations out of fear of retaliation and being labeled as enemies. Lists of “enemy” journalists are circulating in Berlin. This marks the beginning of an anti-democratic and antisemitic spiral disguised as liberal democracy.
On Tuesday, Potter published an article in Die Tageszeitung titled “Intifada Against the Media.” One of his critics was an Israeli affiliated with the German left. “I thought about taking a break from writing about antisemitism and Israel,” said Potter, “but I think that sends a dangerous message. I won’t let them threaten me or press freedom. But, of course, it affects my private life when you see colleagues attacked or hear that there’s a list with names and addresses of journalists the activists dislike.”
Photo Credit: Anders Hellberg/wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
Prayer Focus
Pray for Nicholas Potter, a brave journalist whose only interest is to uncover and report the truth, as he faces violent attacks from the radical left, both online and physical. Pray for all journalists who are attempting to write unbiased articles and taking stands to uphold the freedom of the press. Pray that underlying elements which are attempting to destabilize democratic governments will be exposed.
Scripture
Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart,
Palestinian School Curriculum Glorifies Violence, Violating Pledges to Reform
by Etgar Lefkovits ~ JNS
Palestinians at an UNRWA school in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip after an Israeli airstrike targeted terrorists
Tuesday, 25 March 2025 | An online school curriculum, produced by the Palestinian Authority [PA] for Gaza pupils amid the Israeli war against Hamas, continues to glorify violence and martyrdom and is rife with antisemitic stereotypes that are being taught in Hamas-run classrooms which praise the October 7, 2023 attackers, a British think tank said on Monday.
The findings, which come in the wake of the Hamas-led onslaught in southern Israel and the nearly year-and-a-half-long war it triggered in Gaza, violate Palestinian commitments made to donor countries for educational reform. They come at a time when Western countries that fund the Ramallah-based PA continue to favor it taking control of Gaza from Hamas.
The London-based NGO Impact-se (the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education) study finds that the textbooks being used this year for nearly 300,000 Palestinian schoolchildren in grades 1-12 in Gaza erase the State of Israel from the map and are replete with “graphic depictions of violence,” and antisemitism.
The report also notes that at least four newly reopened Gaza schools under Hamas control openly celebrate the single worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust using textbooks and teaching materials rife with incitement.
“If the international community wants to support peace and stability in the Middle East it will recognize the importance of an education system in Gaza that promotes peace—not hate,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told JNS. “Whilst Hamas remains in civilian control in Gaza the indoctrination of children into radical Islam through the education system will continue, this will only perpetuate future conflict,” she said.
She added that the European Union must use its leverage to force the PA to use a standard curriculum that encourages peace, coexistence and tolerance.
“Right now, the European Union is funding a radical Islamic curriculum,” she said. “Any curriculum that glorifies extreme violence and the October 7 massacre is an absolute disgrace which must not be supported by the international community.”
Antisemitism
The PA’s abridged online textbooks continue to use antisemitic narratives and imagery, despite earlier commitments to adhere to UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] standards of education, the study finds. For example, an 11th-grade history textbook peddles the ancient stereotype that Jews control the world through an image of a hand bearing a Star of David gripping a globe; an Islamic education textbook further reinforces antisemitic tropes, portraying “the Jews” as “deceitful, immoral and manipulators who are hostile to Islam,” according to the report.
Incitement to Violence
The concept of jihad [“struggle,” war with unbelievers (in Islam)] is exalted in the educational system, depicted as “the peak of Islam” and a direct path to “achieving martyrdom.” Graphic descriptions in poetic imagery portray martyrs as “climbing mountains of their gushing blood.” Accompanying exercises ask students “How did the martyrs face death?” and describe how “death charged them with its pickaxe.”
Starting in 1st grade, martyrs are glorified as having divine status. Children are taught literacy exercises for the Arabic letter H (hā) using the term “shahīd” (martyr); while jihad is explicitly described as one of the “gates to paradise,” the study said.
The new PA materials also teach science and mathematics through a lens fueling violence and hatred of Israel. A 3rd-grade math exercise asks students to write the number of martyrs killed during the violent First Intifada against Israel; a 9th-grade statistics lesson asks students to calculate the number of “martyrs” killed by Israel.
Hate at School
While the PA launched its remote-learning initiative for Gaza, indoctrination of hate and violence continues in newly reopened schools run by Hamas, the study finds.
For example, last month at Al-Nasr Elementary School in Gaza City, students recited a poem glorifying the October 7 Hamas-led massacre. A message on a classroom blackboard for pupils aged 7-8 read, “You are history, you are the toufan [flood],” exalting the Hamas onslaught and the name for the attacks (“Al-Aqsa Flood”).
At Muscat Girls’ High School in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, students learn from a textbook containing a violent poem by Egyptian poet Hashim Al-Rifa‘i, which explicitly says that “One day with the weapon in your hands” there will be a violent return to Israeli cities.
F in International Educational Standards
The study finds that the 2025 educational curriculum “fails to meet basic international educational standards” and flies in the face of commitments the PA made to the EU last year when it promised to reform its educational content in full adherence to UNESCO’s standards of peace and tolerance in education, in return for continued EU funding. A high-level EU–PA dialogue on “reform achievements” is scheduled to take place in Brussels next month.
The head of the organization that carried out the study said on Monday that the PA has failed the “acid test” after it signed an agreement with the EU committing to reform its curriculum.
“We see again that the PA continues to deeply embed hatred and violence in its curriculum and brazenly continues to teach antisemitism, the glorification of terrorism, and the dehumanization of Israelis, said IMPACT-se CEO, Marcus Sheff. “Palestinian classrooms remain a breeding ground for extremism, with new educational materials reinforcing the same old dangerous narratives.”
A previous study by the organization, released last year, found that Saudi Arabia has removed practically all antisemitic and anti-Israel material from its schoolbooks.
Photo Credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90/jns.org
Prayer Focus
Pray that donor nations will stop funding the Palestinian Authority (PA) until they undertake the educational reform they agreed to do—removing all incitement, anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism from their textbooks. Pray that the next generation of students in both Gaza and territory under the control of the PA will be given a clean slate when it comes to their education.
Scripture
The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
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