Hamas Ends Ceasefire with Rocket Strikes

Dear readers, with Hanukkah beginning on Thursday at sundown, we would like to wish all of you a safe and peaceful Hanukkah. May the Lord send all His blessings to you and your family and may His light never leave your home. We pray that all of our brothers and sisters in Israel will be safe and that this season of miracles will bring about the end of the war. May you all hear the answer to your prayers and rejoice in a safe environment, surrounded by your loved ones.

Since Friday, December 1, the IDF struck over 400 terror targets throughout Gaza. On Friday night, IAF fighter jets struck over 50 targets in the area of Khan Yunis. In addition, IDF troops struck terrorists and Hamas infrastructure in the area of Beit Lahia using tank fire and directing aerial strikes.

The troops carried out artillery fire and directed aerial strikes in the northern Gaza Strip. These strikes included a strike by an aircraft on a terrorist cell that was ambushing IDF troops and a strike by a fighter jet on a mosque used by the Islamic Jihad as an operational command center.

Among IDF’s other targets were a weapons storage compound and terror infrastructure used for the renewal of Hamas’ terror capabilities.

Moreover, Israeli Navy troops carried out a targeted operational activity in the Khan Yunis marina and Deir al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip, during which they struck Hamas military targets using precise munitions, as well as striking infrastructure and equipment used by the Hamas Naval Forces.

Meanwhile, the IDF announced on Sunday that since the beginning of the war, approximately 10,000 airstrikes have been carried out under the guidance of IDF soldiers on the ground in short time frames. Air Force Commanding Officer Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar stated that “the ability to utilize the area dimension during the ground operation is something formidable that we’ve dreamt of for years.” (INN / VFI News)

“God, we thank You for granting us a strong military and tireless and efficient defense personnel. We are grateful that they can act quickly and work diligently towards the elimination of terrorism in our country. May You bless them and the work of their hands while protecting the defenseless and putting an end to the suffering in Israel.”

The articles included in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Vision for Israel. We try to provide accurate reporting on news pertinent to Israel, the Middle East, the diaspora, and Jewish issues around the world—and we hope that you find it both informative and useful for intercessory prayer.

The IDF eliminated a Hamas commander who was responsible for the attack on IDF soldiers in Operation “Protective Edge” in 2014 during which Oron Shaul was kidnapped, and for directing the attack on Nahal Oz on October 7, the IDF Spokesperson said on Saturday, December 2.

The commander was identified as Wissam Farhat, head of Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion. In 2014, Farhat commanded Hamas terrorists in an attack on an armored personnel carrier in the Shejaiya neighborhood, killing seven soldiers, including Oron Shaul, whose body was taken by Hamas and has been held in Gaza since.

Farhat also helped plan the Hamas massacre on October 7, sending the Nukhba terrorists who targeted Kibbutz Nahal Oz and the Nahal Oz outpost. The Hamas commander was also one of the terrorists who planned a deadly attack against a pre-military school in Atsmona in Gush Katif in 2002 and an anti-tank fire that targeted a bus in 2011 and killed an Israeli child.

Furthermore, the IDF announced on Sunday that following IDF and ISA intelligence, an IDF fighter jet struck and killed Haitham Khuwajari, the Commander of Hamas’s Shati Battalion. Under his command, Hamas terrorists carried out raids into Israeli territory on October 7.

Khuwajari also secured Hamas terrorist activity in the Shifa Hospital and was in command of Hamas’s forces fighting against IDF soldiers in the Shati area. In addition, he was responsible for carrying out numerous acts of terror against Israelis. (JPost / VFI News)

“When the people saw him, they praised their God, saying, ‘Our God has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.’” - Judges 16:24

The Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7 did not kill only Jews. The terrorists also murdered and kidnapped scores of Muslim Israelis, including members of the Bedouin community.

The first wave of Hamas’s attack hit a music festival at Kibbutz Re’im which had an estimated 3,500 young people in attendance. The medical staff was ordered to flee along with everyone else. Awad Darwashe, 23, an Arab-Israeli paramedic, remained behind, refusing to abandon the wounded. “I speak Arabic. I think I can manage,” he said.

Perhaps he thought the terrorists would not harm a fellow Muslim Arab. He was wrong. Hamas mercilessly beat, humiliated, abducted, and murdered their fellow Muslims, including Darawshe as he was bandaging the wounded. After Darwashe was murdered, his ambulance was stolen and driven into the Gaza Strip.

Abed al-Rahman Alnasasrah, 50, was also murdered by Hamas terrorists when he attempted to rescue people from the music festival. He was married and a father of six children.

Fatima Altallaqat, 35, from the Bedouin village of Ar’ara, was also murdered, while working with her husband near the city of Ofakim in southern Israel. She was a mother of nine children, the eldest nine years old and the youngest six months. Her brother said that Hamas terrorists shot 40 bullets into her.

Her husband, Hamid, recounted: “We’re a religious Muslim family and she wore the traditional headdress of a devout woman. It is inconceivable they [Hamas terrorists] could not see who was inside [the car]. They were five meters away from her as they passed.” (INN / VFI News)

“God, we pray for the Muslim families who lost their loved ones to Hamas terrorists. We are horrified by the crimes that were committed against them and we offer our sincerest condolences to the mourning families. May You bring them comfort and stop once and for all Hamas’ and other proxy organizations’ heinous killing sprees.”

Hamas terrorists forced the children held in captivity to watch videos of the atrocities they carried out in Israel on October 7, the aunt of Eitan Yahalomi, 12, told French media following his release on Monday night, November 27.

Deborah Cohen described the conditions that her nephew endured throughout his 52 days in Hamas captivity. “When he arrived in Gaza, all of the residents, all of them, beat him up. He’s a 12-year-old child,” Cohen said, and added that “every time one of the children there cried, they threatened them with rifles to shut them up.”

“I wanted to hope that he was treated well, but it turns out he wasn’t, they’re monsters. Now that I know this I’m worried. His father is still there, and there are 160 people who have not yet returned.”

Recounting what she had been told by her nephew, Cohen added that “Hamas forced him to watch horror videos” of the terror group’s onslaught in southern Israel on October 7, when they killed at least 1,200 people and took some 240 hostages.

The videos Yahalomi said he was forced to watch were filmed by Hamas terrorists who documented their crimes in real-time. Some of the footage was captured on body cameras while other parts of it were filmed on the cell phones of both the terrorists and their victims and then streamed on social media. (TOI / VFI News)

“God, we thank You from the bottom of our hearts for the hostages that were released so far. We continue to pray that You mediate in every relevant decision so that all remaining hostages will be freed. We hope they are all alive and pray for their healing after returning home to their loving families.”

This beautiful hymn is a prayer from Deuteronomy 26:15, expressing a great desire that God would look upon us with an eye of love, complacency, and delight—and to grant the promises that He has made to us for abundance and prosperity. Enjoy this warm, personal communication with God, set to serene scenes and timeless tones from the Land.

During the ceasefire, which went into effect Friday, November 24, for an initial four days and was then extended by three, Israelis were taken on a rollercoaster of emotions as they waited each day to learn who was on the daily list to be released and whether their loved ones were among them.

Altogether, during the cease-fire, 105 hostages were released from Hamas captivity, among them 81 Israeli women and children, one Russian-Israeli man (released in a special concession to Russian President Vladimir Putin), and 24 foreign nationals (23 Thais and one Filipino).

In the weeks before the cease-fire, four Israeli women were released and one was rescued by Israeli forces, making for a total of 86 freed Israeli hostages to date. In addition, the bodies of two female hostages were recovered from Gaza several weeks ago, and recently, the deaths of two men who had been presumed to be captives were confirmed.

It is believed that about 130 people are still in captivity in the Gaza Strip and former hostages are sounding the alarm about the importance of their release. The released hostages and their families staged a huge rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, December 2, in front of the Defense Ministry, featuring speeches by former hostages who have urgently requested a meeting with the war cabinet, to push for the release of all remaining hostages.

Hadas Calderon, whose children Sahar, 16, and Erez, 12, were recently released from captivity, said during the rally regarding their testimonies: “They likened it [captivity] to the Fortnite war game, a game that transformed into a shocking reality … Their first words to me were, ‘Mom, you’re alive, we didn’t realize you were alive.’”

“Their testimonies are heart-wrenching and terrifying, marking an unprecedented journey through hell. It’s an ordeal no child, man, woman, - [any] person - should ever endure.” (JPost / VFI News)

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” - Isaiah 42:6-7

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan arranged to hold an important and timely event at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, December 4, at 11:30 a.m. EST to expose the horrors and shocking acts of sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women in the October 7 massacre, and to demand the clear condemnation and recognition of these crimes by the UN and the international community.

The event will be held in partnership with the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), the World Zionist Organization, Shazur, WIZO, Hadassah, and the Shusterman Foundation. At the event, which is taking place against the backdrop of the shameful silence of the UN, findings will be presented that prove the sexual violence carried out by Hamas on October 7.

Ambassador Erdan and Sheryl Sandberg, the Founder of Lean In, will speak at the event. A recorded speech by the former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be shown. Also, members of medical teams, police, and lawyers will describe findings that prove the atrocities committed by Hamas against women.

Hundreds of ambassadors and diplomats, senior UN officials including under-secretary-generals, and representatives of UN agencies, Jewish organizations, and civil society organizations are expected to attend.

“Tomorrow at the UN, I will present the findings that prove the shocking crimes of sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7th and which the UN and its organizations ignore, neglecting the women in Israel. UN Women, two months late, condemned the ‘descriptions’ of these crimes but still did not acknowledge that they actually happened and that Hamas committed them,” said Erdan. (INN / VFI News)

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” - Isaiah 1:17

Iran is closer than ever before to obtaining nuclear bombs. After the Iran-backed Hamas terror group launched its genocidal war against Israel and Jews, the Iranian regime ratcheted up its enrichment of uranium.

The regime claims it now has enough enriched uranium to make three nuclear bombs, according to one of the two confidential reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seen by renowned British media.

On a recent press briefing, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi warned, “Iran has ceased to implement lots of aspects and nuclear-related obligations under the JCPOA [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] and it’s not implementing mutually agreed additional measures under the joint statement of March 4th.” The regime has also barred IAEA inspectors from entering Iran to monitor its nuclear activities.

Once the Iranian regime gets access to nuclear weapons, it will most likely provide some of them to its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran must not be underestimated. Iran’s regime has frequently threatened to wipe a whole country - Israel - off the map, and is also increasing military cooperation with Venezuela and Cuba to threaten the US. Europe, too, remains a rich target for nuclear blackmail.

Iran would not even have to use its nuclear bombs; the threat would be enough. General Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has made the regime’s plans vehemently clear: “Our strategy is to erase Israel from the global political map,” he announced on Iran’s state-controlled media in 2019. Further, Iran’s Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has published “Palestine, ’a 416-page’ guide to destroying Israel.” (GSI / VFI News)

“Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.” - Psalm 21:11

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday, December 2, that the US would “remain Israel’s closest friend in the world”. Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Austin said that six days after the Hamas attack on October 7, “I flew to Israel to underscore our solidarity and our resolve—and to make it crystal-clear that America’s commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad.”

“And so we have rushed US security assistance to Israel to help it defend its people and its territory—and to help ensure that Hamas can never again commit the atrocities that we saw on October 7th,” he added.

“US leadership has helped in the release of dozens of hostages. And we will continue to do everything that we can to help secure the release of every man, every woman, and every child seized by Hamas.”

He warned Iran in the wake of the repeated attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria, which the US has responded to by striking facilities in Iraq and eastern Syria used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and by Iran-affiliated militias.

Noting that “Israel is in a hard fight against a cruel enemy, in one of the most densely populated areas on Earth,” he added that the US “will continue to press Israel to protect civilians and to ensure the robust flow of humanitarian aid.” (INN / VFI News)

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” - Proverbs 17:17

The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.

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