Friday, February 21, 2025

The Saddest Day in Israel Since October 7

by Einav Halabi ~ Ynetnews

Thursday, 20 February 2025 | Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffins of four deceased hostages, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed.

The coffins were handed over to the IDF and Shin Bet [Israeli internal security organization] forces, inside the Gaza Strip, from where they will be transferred to Israel to the Ministry of Health’s National Center for Forensic Medicine. At the end of the identification process, an official notification will be given to the families.  “The families of the kidnapped have been informed, and our hearts go out to them at this difficult time,” the statement said, adding: “The public is asked to respect the families’ privacy and refrain from spreading rumors and information that is not official and well-founded.”

The transfer comes as 503 days of hope for a different ending are shattered, and Israel is living through one of the most difficult days since October 7. Four killed hostages—who according to Hamas are Shiri Bibas, her young children Kfir and Ariel and Oded Lipshitz—were handed over to Israel Thursday morning, as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal. Israel confirmed the names of the hostages Wednesday evening.

As the handover was taking place, dozens of members of Kibbutz Nir Oz gathered in the Dove Square in Karmi Gat, where the evacuated community is based, waiting for the return of the four dead hostages, who are from their community.

At the request of the families, Ynetnews will not publish the harsh photos of the stage and the cynical “ceremony” that Hamas held in Bani Suheila, a suburb of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

This is a snapshot of what occured at the ceremony. On the stage at the ceremony, pictures of the four were displayed, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as a bloodthirsty vampire above them. The horrific caption alongside it, which also includes many errors in Hebrew, reads: “The war criminal murdered them, with the missiles of fighter jets.” Alongside it, against a background of pictures of coffins covered with Israeli flags: “Return to war—return of the hostages in coffins.”

One of the terrorists sitting in the front row at that “ceremony” was Muhammad Abu Warda, who was released in the third round of hostage releases under the current deal, three weeks ago.

Abu Warda was behind the attacks on Line 18 in Jerusalem in 1996, in which 44 people were murdered. In addition, he was behind an attack at a bus stop in Ashkelon in February 1996, in which a woman was murdered, and was sentenced to a total of 48 life sentences.

Hamas announced that the person who would hand over the dead to the Red Cross was the commander of the East Khan Younis Battalion—despite the fact that Israel previously had announced his elimination.

The Red Cross, to which the dead hostages will be transferred, were set to hand over the bodies to the IDF inside the Gaza Strip. Upon receiving the fallen hostages, they will be transferred to coffins covered with Israeli flags. At the handover ceremony, IDF Chief Rabbi, Brigadier General Eyal Karim, will read Psalms and and the El Moleh Rachamim prayer for the dead. From the Gaza Strip, the coffins will be transported in military vehicles directly to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir for identification.

An Israeli official referred to the intention to perform a “ceremony” and said that it would be a violation of the agreements between Israel and the mediators, under which Israel insisted that there would be no ceremonies and showpieces. “We talked about handing over the bodies in a dignified and appropriate manner. We made it clear that we do not agree to ceremonies and that the handover will be carried out in a dignified manner, and this is coordinated between us, the Red Cross and the mediators,” the official said.

The IDF spokesman will document the arrival status of the coffins, and the distribution of the photos will be the responsibility of the families of the fallen. As part of a secret annex to the agreement, the killed hostages will be transferred to Israel Thursday instead of on Saturday, the official day of the next round of returning hostages, because the process of identifying them can take up to 48 hours. This will ensure that Hamas complies with the agreement and handed over the dead Israelis. Only after there is official identification will Israel be able to confirm that the terrorist organization did indeed comply with the agreement, and only then will the security prisoners be released.

On Saturday, the last six living hostages set to be returned in Phase I will be released—Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed—and next week four additional hostages will be handed over. To meet the deadlines, the remaining hostages will also be handed over next week on Thursday, the 40th day of the deal.

The Palestinians announced that 602 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons this week. Some 445 of them are residents of the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7, and they will be released Thursday after the handover of the dead hostages. The others, who will be released on Saturday, are 50 sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 sentenced to long prison terms and 47 released in the Shalit deal. Some 108 prisoners will be deported to Egypt as a first stop, before being transferred to other countries, including 13 prisoners who suffer from serious medical problems.

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on February 20, 2025. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Hanay/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia

Prayer Focus
There are no words. Weep with the nation of Israel as her heart is filled with grief.

Scripture

The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

- Psalm 147:2–3

Why the IDF Is Remaining in Five Key Posts in Southern Lebanon

by Yaakov Lappin ~ JNS

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 | The Israel Defense Forces is in the final stages of withdrawing from southern Lebanon as part of the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on November 27.

The withdrawal, scheduled to be complete by Tuesday, follows months of intense Israeli military operations aimed at neutralizing Hezbollah’s ability to launch deadly attacks against Israel, and a ceasefire trial period that has exposed the limitations of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to act as a counterweight to the Hezbollah terrorist militia.

As a result, the IDF announced on Monday that it will maintain a presence in five key strategic locations in Southern Lebanon. These positions, close to the Israeli border, are deemed essential for ensuring the security of northern Israeli communities until the LAF is fully able to assume control over Southern Lebanon under a US-monitored mechanism.

According to an Israeli security official, the five locations in which IDF troops will be temporarily deployed are the Hasullam mountain range in Southern Lebanon, overlooking Shlomi in northern Israel; the Hashaked mountain range in southern Lebanon, overlooking Avivim and Malkiya in northern Israel; the Hatzivoni mountain range in Southern Lebanon, overlooking Margaliot in northern Israel; Jabal Blat mountain, overlooking Zarit, Nurit and Shtula; and Hamamis hill, overlooking Har Dov, Metula and surrounding communities.

Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, Hezbollah in Lebanon initiated its own offensive against Israel’s northern communities and military bases on October 8.

Throughout the war, Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets, missiles, and drones at Israeli territory, leading to the evacuation of approximately 60,000 Israelis from northern border communities.

Israel’s response entered into a high-intensity phase beginning with the beeper attacks on September 17, 2024, and included massive Israeli Air Force strikes targeting Hezbollah’s command structure, the destruction of its key military infrastructure and some 80 percent of its rocket arsenal, and a ground maneuver pushing Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces away from the border.

The IDF ground offensive exposed a massive invasion infrastructure built by Hezbollah and its Radwan Force, which aimed at conducting an October 7-style attack on northern Israel, consisting of thousands of terrorists armed with anti-tank missiles and assault rifles, moving on vehicles and motorcycles.

The scale of the planned attack by Hezbollah’s death squads could have been larger than the October 7 Hamas onslaught had it been launched.

On Monday, the IDF announced that its ground units recently dismantled an underground terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon measuring dozens of meters, and which contained living quarters and combat equipment. Many such facilities have been found in Shi’ite villages bordering Israel, as well as tens of thousands of anti-tank missiles earmarked for use in the intended Hezbollah invasion plan.

Since the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah has systematically built military strongholds throughout southern Lebanon in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been powerless to stop these activities, and failed to even document them. These fortifications were positioned alarmingly close to Israeli communities and, in some cases, were within running distance from the border.

This was all part of Hezbollah’s “Conquer the Galilee” plan, aimed at conducting large-scale mass killings and kidnapping incursions into Israeli territory, the IDF’s spokesman to the international media, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, stated on Monday.

In response to the ongoing threat, Israel conducted a significant military campaign in Southern Lebanon to dismantle these positions. Following these operations, conditions were set for the ceasefire agreement, which led to the IDF’s gradual withdrawal under the supervision of the American-led mechanism.

However, the IDF has also made it clear that it will temporarily maintain its presence in a limited deployment in the five above-mentioned strategic locations along the border.

These locations have been selected based on their security significance and proximity to Israeli communities, said Shoshani, providing vantage points that allow Israeli forces to monitor and prevent Hezbollah attacks or new attempts to entrench near the Israeli border.

As such, the five locations represent critical defensive outposts to secure northern Israeli communities, some of which suffer from topographical inferiority due to being surrounded by higher Lebanese hills and mountains to their north.

The IDF has emphasized that its presence in these five locations is temporary, but did not give a time frame for further withdrawal.

“This is a temporary measure until the Lebanese Armed Forces are able to fully implement the understandings,” said Shoshani.

However, serious questions remain regarding the LAF’s ability to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its infrastructure in Southern Lebanon.

It seems clear that Hezbollah’s willingness to adhere to the agreement and refrain from rebuilding its military infrastructure near the border is nonexistent, and that it is primarily up to the IDF to continue to use force to prevent Hezbollah’s re-entrenchment.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned Israel on Sunday that if it does not withdraw its forces from Lebanon by February 18, “we will know how to deal with it.”

However, Hezbollah appears to prefer to take advantage of the current truce to focus on licking its wounds and to regroup.

In recent weeks, Hezbollah has already violated the agreement repeatedly by moving weapons and terror operatives into off-limit zones. The IDF has responded swiftly to these violations, mainly from the air.

The LAF, for its part, has historically failed to assert any control over Hezbollah-dominated Shi’ite regions. There are also concerns that Hezbollah’s influence within the LAF, through the Lebanese army’s Shi’ite officers and soldiers, could make the LAF irrelevant as a counterweight to Hezbollah, or worse—an active collaborator with the Iranian-backed terror organization.

The effectiveness of the US-led monitoring mechanism in dealing with these challenges remains to be seen.

Ultimately, Israel reserves its right to militarily intervene in southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from crawling back to the Israeli border, if it sees that the monitoring mechanism and the LAF are unable to uphold the truce understandings.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on February 18, 2025. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Give praise to the Lord that Hezbollah did not launch an October 7 style incursion into Israel, based on the weapons and infrastructure the IDF has identified and destroyed and continues to destroy in Lebanon. Pray that Israel will not be forced by global leaders to abandon these five posts that are so critical to the defense of her northern communities.

Scripture

Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.

- Psalm 61:1, 3

Iron Dome Developer Elected to National Academy of Engineering

by JNS

Friday, 14 February 2025 | The National Academy of Engineering, a private nonprofit that the US Congress charters, elected Israeli Brig. Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold as part of its 2025 class.

The more than 60-year-old, independent group, which is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, stated that election to the NAE “is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer” and that its “members are among the world’s most accomplished engineers from business, academia and government.”

Gold, who developed the Jewish state’s Iron Dome missile defense system, is head of Israel’s Defense Research and Development Directorate. The academy recognized him as one of 22 international members—alongside 128 new members stateside—“for contributions and leadership in the defense industry, especially the development and deployment of missile defense systems.”

The Israeli Defense Ministry called the recognition a “significant honor” for the Jewish state.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on February 13, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Ayal Margolin/Flash90/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Give thanks for the selection of Brig. Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold as the recipient of one of the highest professional distinctions given to engineers. Give thanks also that his award was for inventing the Iron Dome, a purely defensive weapon that has saved many lives and much property since its first successful interception of a missile from Gaza in April 2011.

Scripture

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day,

- Psalm 91:4–5

These Are the Six Living Hostages Set to be Freed on Saturday

by JNS

Wednesday, 19 February 2025 | The Hamas terrorist group has agreed to double to six the number of hostages scheduled to be freed on Saturday as part of the ceasefire with Israel, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced on Tuesday.

Below is a list of the those set to be released:

• Eliya Cohen, 27, is a resident of Tzur Hadassah near Jerusalem and has three younger sisters. Known for his zest for life, love of travel, and fondness for people, he worked in marketing and real estate after a career as an event producer. On October 7, 2023, He attended the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel with his fiancée Ziv Abud, her nephew Amit and Amit’s girlfriend Karin. During the attack, while fleeing to a shelter, Amit and Karin were murdered. Ziv survived by hiding under their bodies, while Eliya was taken captive.
• Tal Shoham, 40, is a resident of Ma’ale Tzvia who previously lived in Kibbutz Be’eri, where he managed a team at the printing house. Known for his dedication to peace, family and community, he volunteers with Magen David Adom (MDA), trains dogs and develops economic forecasting software. On October 7, he was kidnapped alongside his wife, Adi, their children Nave (8) and Yahel (3), his mother-in-law Dr. Shoshan Haran, Adi’s aunt Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam (12). Three other family members were murdered. The women and children were released during the November 2023 ceasefire after 50 days in captivity.
• Omer Shem Tov, 22, is a resident of Herzliya who dreams of becoming an actor. Known for his talent in mimicry and humor, he is also passionate about music and has his own DJ equipment. Friends and family describe him as funny, popular and always working to make others happy. On October 7, he was kidnapped from the Nova festival along with siblings Itay and Maya Regev, who have since been released.
• Omer Wenkert, 23, is a resident of Gedera and manages a well-known chef’s restaurant. He is known for his charismatic personality, love of dancing and passion for sports. Friends describe him as joyful with a contagious energy, and he was about to begin a restaurant management course. On October 7, Omer attended the Nova festival, where he was taken captive.
• Hisham al-Sayed, 36, is an Israeli Bedouin from Hura. In early April 2015, he independently crossed the border into Gaza and was kidnapped by Hamas. In June 2022, Hamas released a video showing him lying in bed wearing an oxygen mask, conscious and alert. He is the son of Shaaban and Manal and has one brother.
• Avera Mengistu, 39, was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to Israel at the age of five. He enjoys traveling, going to the beach and sharing family meals, particularly traditional Ethiopian cuisine. He shares an extremely close bond with his parents. In September 2014, Avera crossed the border into Gaza through Zikim. For nine years, his family had no indication of his condition, until Hamas released a video of him in January 2023.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on February 19, 2025. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Give thanks that these six men will be returned from captivity on Saturday, February 22. Pray that the transfer will go smoothly and Hamas will not be successful in putting on a theatrical presentation aimed to show their power as has happened in previous releases. Pray and ask God to comfort the families of those who received the bodies of their loved ones on Thursday as well as those whose family members are still being held captive.

Scripture

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

- Psalm 23:4

Over 6,300 Terror Attacks against Jews in Judea and Samaria in 2024

by Lior Ben Ari ~ JNS

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 | Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 6,343 times in 2024, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO on Monday.

Twenty-seven Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2024, and more than 300 others were wounded, the group said in its annual report.

The figures, which were cross-checked against official data from Israel’s security services, included 3,668 instances of rock-throwing, 843 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 671 attempts to blind drivers with laser pointers, 526 explosive charges, 364 cases of arson and 179 terrorist shootings.

The NGO also recorded 37 attempted or successful stabbings, 36 bottles of paint being thrown at vehicles and 19 Arab car-ramming attacks, including 12 that caused injuries to Israeli victims.

The report noted that the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) last year foiled more than 1,000 major attacks in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

The majority of the 1,040 foiled terror attacks involved firearms (689) and explosive devices (326), with the others being stabbings, car-rammings, suicide bombings and abductions, according to the ISA.

Rescuers Without Borders was founded in 2000, at the beginning of the 2000-2005 Second Intifada, with the goal of establishing emergency response teams throughout Judea and Samaria. Eventually, the NGO expanded the scope of its operations to include the entire country.

The group’s figures do not include the hundreds of violent attacks on Israeli security personnel occurring during ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Arab towns under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

On January 21, Israeli forces launched “Operation Iron Wall,” which seeks to neutralize the threat posed by terrorist hotbeds like Jenin and Tulkarem in northern Samaria. The ongoing counter-terror raids mark a change in Jerusalem’s security strategy, Defense Minister Israel Katz has stressed.

“We will not allow the arms of the Iranian octopus and radical Sunni Islam to endanger the lives of the residents and establish an eastern terrorist front against the State of Israel,” Katz said on January 22, vowing, “We will strike hard at the arms of the octopus until they are severed.”

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on February 17, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Continue to pray for the protection and safety of the 500,000 Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland. Ask the Lord to comfort the families of the 27 who were murdered in 2024 and for complete healing for the 300+ who were injured in terror attacks. Give thanks for the diligence of Israel’s security forces who work day and night to prevent terrorists from turning Judea and Samaria into a lawless and uninhabitable place.

Scripture

…as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

- Joshua 1:5b–6

The Jews Are not Going Anywhere

by Phyllis Chesler ~ JNS

Thursday, 20 February 2025 | What kind of a liberation movement purposely, with malice aforethought, murders a 9-month-old infant, a 4-year-old toddler and their terrorized mother?

What kind of world praises Hamas’s atrocities? How “civilized” can people in the civilized West be if, in response to the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, they continue to support the rape, torture, murder and kidnapping of civilians from southern Israel? Or, just hours after Hamas announced that it would be returning the corpses of the Bibas children and their mother, respond by violently attacking Orthodox Jews in Borough Park, a heavily Jewish community in Brooklyn, NY, the very neighborhood in which I grew up?

No matter what our individual views may be, and whether or not we are religious, Jews are indigenous to the Holy Land. We were there long before anyone else ever visited or occupied us. There were always Jews there. Now, we are a sovereign nation in the Holy Land once again. Yet even throughout our many exiles, culture, prayers, rituals, ethics and memories were centered upon, or radiated out from, the Holy Land. The language of our prayers and holy books was first Aramaic, then Hebrew; these languages have existed and been utilized for nearly 6,000 years.

However, if you search online for “the indigenous nature of Jews,” you will read this: “The Jewish people have a very ancient history in the land known both as Palestine and the Land of Israel.” Known as Palestine? By whom? By those who wish to exterminate the Jewish presence in Israel, just as they have done in every single Arab and Muslim country in the world? By AI? Wikipedia? Or by the left-wing billionaires in the West who are joined by the deep pockets of Iran and Qatar, and, in the past, Egypt and Saudi Arabia?

What more can I say that hasn’t already been said many times over? I am weary of telling the truth only to be met with the most ferocious lies. I sent a fact-based study to a radical feminist in Australia about how Israel has not starved or genocidally exterminated civilians in Gaza, and she responded with a piece of Hamas propaganda to refute “my” truth.

Since October 7, a close friend of mine in London—a woman who is not Jewish but has been standing for both the truth and the Jews—has been suffering the loss of former colleagues. She tells me about Arab, Muslim and Southeast Asian women who have turned on her and now cut her off. I listen as patiently as I can to yet another astonished survivor of Jew-hatred and cancel culture.

Me? I’m long used to this. These cowards and conformists will never break my spirit. However, I have not yet met the challenge of how to deprogram those suffering from mass psychosis, hysterical paranoia or a belief in inverted truths.

All I can write, again and again, is this: Whenever Hamas and its supporters accuse Israel of some crime, it must be taken as Hamas’s own confession. The genocidal maniacs are the Islamist terrorists, not the Israel Defense Forces. The practicing of gender and religious apartheid is not characteristic of Israelis, but it does describe Arab and Muslim culture, both historically and in our times.

Many of us have said all this over and over again. Now, more people in the West are beginning to understand it as well.

I do not believe a word Hamas says. Maybe the corpses to be returned tomorrow are not those of the Bibas family, but I will only believe it after proper Israeli forensic examinations confirm it. One way or the other, as Seth Mandel has written in Commentary magazine, with this family’s murder, a line has been crossed that can never be uncrossed.

I would add that the world’s continued reaction to the murder of Jews can never be forgotten. We must draw all the necessary conclusions.

The Orthodox Jews in Borough Park fought back. The Israel Defense Forces fight back. We wordsmiths are fighting back.

None of the pogroms [form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious or other] we’re seeing against the Jews are spontaneous. Most are well-funded and well-organized uprisings meant to further terrorize grieving and vulnerable Jewish communities. The vicious verbal attacks, tearing down of hostage posters, smirks and curses of those who do so, jeering and menacing mobs, such as the masked and armed Hamas warriors who mocked and mobbed the three skeletal Israelis as they were being returned to Israel, and the encampments on college campuses—all are meant to traumatize and retraumatize our people in the hope that we will give up, quit, resign and disappear. Not just from the Holy Land but from life itself.

This has never happened before, and it will not happen now.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on February 19, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection and the Library of Congress/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Proclaim the truth from Scripture: the Land of Israel was given by a covenant promise from God Himself, for eternity, to the Jewish people, descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Pray that as the world’s hatred of the Jews and of God continues to grow, Bible believing Christians will stand steadfastly—even being willing to suffer—with them.

Scripture

And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

- Genesis 17:7–8

Israeli Ambassador Accuses Egypt of Violating Peace Treaty, Raising Concerns Over Military Buildup

by Yoav Zitun ~ Ynetnews

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 | Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter accused Egypt of a “very serious violation” of its peace treaty with Israel, stating that Jerusalem will soon raise concerns over Cairo’s military buildup.

“There are bases being built, and they can only be used for offensive operations and offensive weapons,” Leiter said. “This is a clear violation. For a long time, this issue has been shoved to the side, but it continues. This is an issue that we are going to put on the table—very soon and very emphatically.”

Leiter made the remarks late last month in a meeting with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, shortly before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump. A video of his comments was published last Friday but was later removed from online platforms.

This marks the first time an Israeli official has publicly accused Egypt of violating the peace agreement by expanding its military presence in the Sinai Peninsula.

In recent weeks, videos have circulated online showing Egyptian military vehicles deployed in northern Sinai near the border with Gaza. While the authenticity of some of these videos is unclear—some are reportedly old—their widespread dissemination has also drawn attention from Arab media.

Prominent Egyptian television host Amr Adib addressed the growing speculation on his Al-Hekaya program on MBC Egypt on Sunday, dismissing claims that Egypt is preparing for war with Israel. “No one wants to enter a war, but if we are forced to fight, we are ready,” he said.

Meanwhile, Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya recently published a report on the circulating videos, featuring comments from Egyptian military expert Mohammed Rifaat Jad. He stated that Egypt is reinforcing security along its borders in accordance with national security needs and existing threats.

According to Jad, Egyptian reinforcements have been deployed periodically since the start of the war in Gaza, adding that military movements in Sinai fall under Egypt’s sovereign right to maintain internal stability. While he acknowledged that any deviation from established agreements could raise concerns for Israel, he emphasized that Cairo remains committed to the peace treaty and does not seek escalation in the region.

Former Israeli minister Yuval Steinitz, now chairman of defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, warned last week about Egypt’s growing military capabilities, saying Israel should closely monitor the developments.

“There is definitely reason to view Egypt’s military buildup with concern,” Steinitz told Ynet. “Relations between Israel and Egypt are currently stable, but if one day we become weak, everyone in the region will seize the opportunity.”

David Govrin, Israel’s former ambassador to Egypt, has also previously raised alarms over Egypt’s expanding military infrastructure in Sinai. He detailed the expansion of military airfields east of Cairo, including in Sinai, Rafidim and El-Arish; the construction of new bunkers and ammunition depots; the doubling of fuel reserves; the building of seven tunnels under the Suez Canal—four near Ismailia and three near Port Said; and the widening of key roads in Sinai into highways, despite low civilian traffic in those areas.

The concerns come as tensions between Israel and Egypt have intensified since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, particularly regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, where Egypt has demanded Israel withdraw its forces. Additionally, US President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians to Egyptian territory has further strained relations between Jerusalem and Cairo.

This is not the first time Israel has accused Egypt of violating the 1979 peace treaty. In 2012, Egypt deployed fighter jets and tanks into Sinai for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a move that breached the Camp David Accords. At the time, Egypt denied violating the agreement, stating it remained committed to the peace treaty.

Meanwhile, Leiter, who was appointed by Netanyahu after Donald Trump’s election, has also been vocal about Egyptian military expansion. Leiter, a former chief of staff to Netanyahu during his tenure as finance minister, was widely regarded as a skilled English-language spokesperson.

Source: (Excerpt of an article originally published by Ynetnews on February 16, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Gigi Ibrahim/Flickr/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia

Prayer Focus
Pray that Israel’s military and political leaders will correctly interpret the evidence of the Egyptian army’s buildup in the Sinai Peninsula and will continue to warn the international community of Egypt’s blatant violations of the 1979 peace treaty. Pray that Israel will remain firm regarding Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor which has been used to smuggle arms to Hamas in the past.

Scripture

For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

- Psalm 18:29–30

US Heavy Bombs Biden Kept Back Arrive in Israel

by Yoav Zitun ~ Ynetnews

Monday, 17 February 2025 | The Defense Ministry announced Sunday morning that a shipment of heavy bombs released by the Trump administration has arrived in Israel. The shipment, which contained approximately 1,600 MK-84 heavy munitions, was transferred to air force bases throughout the country. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that this “represents a significant asset for the air force and the IDF,” and thanked US President Donald Trump and his administration for their “unwavering support of the State of Israel.”

The Defense Ministry spokeswoman said that the shipment to Israel was carried out in a joint operation, led by the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) Mission to the United States and the International Transportation Authority Unit of the Ministry’s Defense Procurement Directorate.

The Israel Ministry of Defense continues to procure and transport munitions for the IDF,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. “To date, over 76,000 tons of military equipment have arrived in Israel via 678 airlifts and 129 sea shipments. This represents the largest air and sea bridge in Israel’s history…”

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “the munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump Administration, represents a significant asset for the air force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.”

Katz added that he recently spoke with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who “reaffirmed America’s commitment to continue providing Israel with all necessary tools to ensure its security.”

“I thank President Donald Trump and the US administration for their unwavering support of the State of Israel. We will continue working together to strengthen our security,” Katz also said.

Another shipment containing 132 D9 bulldozers, from which the embargo also has been lifted, is now on its way to Israel. Those bulldozers were purchased from Caterpillar Inc. and the Biden administration froze their transfer.

Last month, after Trump entered the White House, the embargo on the two shipments in question was lifted. Trump wrote on his Truth Social account that “many things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but not shipped by Biden, are now on their way.”

The bombs for the air force, which the defense establishment had already purchased from Boeing—in shekels and not in aid dollars—weighing close to a ton per bomb, were frozen by the Biden administration on the grounds that the IDF might harm the local civilian population with them. The decision to freeze them was made shortly before the start of the ground operation in Rafah, due to American concerns about the use of these bombs in such a densely populated area.

The use of the D9 bulldozers to flatten buildings in the Gaza Strip led to major internal criticism in the US, protests and tremendous pressure on the Biden administration, which then froze the move for months. The results on the ground were evident in both theaters of war: An investigation conducted by Ynetnews in November revealed that many dozens of existing D9 bulldozers, which were most active during the IDF’s operations in the Gaza Strip for months between November 2023 and the beginning and middle of last year, require maintenance. These bulldozers were also needed in southern Lebanon.

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on February 16, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: The US National Archives/NARA&DVIDS Public Domain Archive

Photo License: NARA&DVIDS Public Domain Archive

Prayer Focus
Pray that US President Trump and his administration would continue to demonstrate the unwavering support they showed in releasing both armaments and 139 D9 bulldozers which Israel had already purchased. Give thanks, especially, for the bulldozers which will be used to save the lives of soldiers by uncovering buried IEDs along roadsides.

Scripture

For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.

- Psalm 5:12

Saudi Arabia Wants to Mediate New US–Iran Nuclear Deal, Report

by Lital Dubrovitsky ~ Ynetnews

Monday, 17 February 2025 | Saudi [Arabia] wants to mediate between the United States and Iran in their efforts to reach a new nuclear deal, CNN reported on Sunday, claiming the Saudis are concerned that the severe blows to Iran’s proxies in the Middle East in the past year, could encourage the regime in Tehran to achieve nuclear capability. The US State Department did not comment on this report.

“Saudi officials see the current regional landscape as a historic opportunity to de-escalate tensions with Iran and improve ties, insisting that they want no part in any American or Israeli confrontation with the country,” CNN said.

US President Donald Trump has said he hoped that a deal could be made with Iran that would prevent further escalation. “It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step,” he said amid reports that Israel was planning to attack Iranian nuclear sites.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens,’ ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump posted on Truth Social last week.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed potential American backing for an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities with the president.

The discussions reportedly covered a range of US support options, from direct military assistance—including intelligence sharing and aerial refueling—to political backing for an Israeli ultimatum demanding Iran abandon its nuclear program.

The Post reported earlier that US intelligence assessments indicated Israel planned to strike Iran early in 2025, taking advantage of the compromised air defenses following the IDF strike last October and the changed balance of power in the Middle East after the blows to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and the fall of the Assad regime.

The Defense Ministry announced Sunday morning that a shipment of heavy bombs released by the Trump administration has arrived in Israel.

The shipment, which contained approximately 1,600 MK-84 heavy munitions was transferred to air force bases throughout the country. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that this “represents a significant asset for the air force and the IDF,” and thanked US President Donald Trump and his administration for their “unwavering support of the State of Israel.”

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on February 17, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: President Of Ukraine from Україна/Wikimedia.org

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Prayer Focus
Pray that Iran’s nuclear ambitions will be thwarted, whether through diplomatic means or by the destruction of their nuclear sites. Pray for God’s will to be done, whether through the mediation of Saudi Arabia direct negotiations between Iran and the United States.

Scripture

I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

- Job 42:2

BBC Airs Gaza ‘Documentary’ Featuring Hamas Officials’ Son

by JNS

Wednesday, 19 February 2025 | The BBC has been accused of turning itself into a Hamas propaganda platform by airing a documentary about the Gaza Strip on Monday narrated by the son of a Hamas minister.

The hour-long documentary, “Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone,” was broadcast on February 17. It followed the conflict through the eyes of three children.

It was narrated by Abdullah, 14, who is listed in the film’s credits as Abdullah al-Yazouri.

Abdullah’s father appears to be Ayman Alyazouri, deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run government. The child’s family ties were not revealed to viewers, the Telegraph reported.

Alyazouri’s social media feature several references to his son Abdullah or “Aboud,” the London-based paper said.

In January 2024, Alyazouri posted a photograph of a young boy who appears to be Abdullah with the words, “Aboud…May God protect him.”

Labour Against Antisemitism filed a formal complaint with the BBC, saying that it had neglected to check the background of the documentary’s participants.

“This documentary appears to have been a failure of due diligence by the BBC, with Hamas propaganda promoted as reliable fact at the taxpayers’ expense,” said Alex Hearn, director of Labour Against Antisemitism.

“Misinformation is the story of the Israel–Hamas conflict, and this is not an isolated case. There has been a failure of news platforms to adequately scrutinize sources and a willingness to regurgitate Hamas disinformation repeatedly,” Hearn continued. “There needs to be an urgent investigation into how this happened once again.”

Investigative journalist David Collier, who was the first to expose the controversial nature of the film, questioned how the filmmakers, and particularly the two local cameramen, could not have known of Abdullah’s family ties.

“The two photographers followed these children around for months. They absolutely knew who he was. Did either of the producers?” Collier asked. “How did the BBC let a son of a Hamas minister walk around looking for sympathy and demonizing Israel for an hour in a BBC documentary?”

A BBC spokesman defended the film, saying it “was produced in line with BBC editorial guidelines and the BBC had full editorial control,” and that “the children’s parents did not have any editorial input.”

Collier told JNS: “It is about time that the BBC understood that the only organization that has editorial control over what we see come out of Gaza is Hamas. This latest failing is perhaps the worst yet. There needs to be an urgent investigation into how the BBC are continually getting all this so badly wrong.”

Danny Cohen, a former BBC executive who has said that there is an “institutional crisis” at the national broadcaster and called for an independent inquiry into its Gaza war coverage, told the Telegraph that the latest revelations confirmed his fears that the broadcaster risks becoming a Hamas shill.

“This appears to be another appalling example of journalistic failure and anti-Israel bias,” he said. “Questions must be asked as to whether the BBC carried out the most basic journalistic checks.”

He added: “License fee payers across the UK are being repeatedly conned into paying for Hamas PR. There can be no doubt now that the BBC has a very serious problem with the quality of its journalism and anti-Israel bias.”

Abdullah, the child featured in the documentary, appeared in an earlier BBC report.

In November 2023, he can be seen talking about the destruction in Gaza while escorted by Khalil Abu Shamala, a man who was presented to viewers as his father, but who in reality appears to be his uncle.

It seems that Shamala is the former director of Al Dameer, an NGO which leads campaigns in support of Palestinian prisoners.

“Al Dameer is highly active in promoting BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] campaigns, lobbying international bodies, and utilizing highly inflammatory rhetoric,” Jerusalem-based watchdog group NGO-Monitor reports on its website.

Al Dameer has ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization in the United States, European Union, Canada and Israel.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on February 19, 2025. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: YouTube/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Pray this latest evidence that the BBC’s coverage of the Middle East is decidedly biased against Israel and supportive of the Hamas narrative would result in a formal investigation of their reporting practices. Pray that other news platforms who also display anti-Israel and antisemitic views will be challenged to present the facts when reporting about the Israel–Gaza war rather than skewed and biased information.

Scripture

For the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

- Psalm 33:4–5