VFI News June 1, 2021

Gaza’s Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar claimed on Wednesday that Hamas has 500 km. of tunnels in the Gaza Strip and that only five percent of the tunnels had been damaged in recent clashes.

In his first speech since Operation Guardian of the Walls ended, Sinwar also warned that the Islamic terror group has 10,000 “martyrs” inside Israel who are “ready to respond” if Jerusalem is harmed.

“In the coming period, we will carry out an advanced popular resistance, whose back will be protected by military resistance,” he added. (JPost / VFI News)

"Lord, we ask that you will continue to protect Israel from the threat of terror. We ask that You would stop the terrorists in their tracks and prevent terror attacks before they happen."

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 international community must actively work to weaken Hamas while rebuilding Gaza, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has told his counterparts in the United States and in the region.

Ashkenazi spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of his arrival in Israel and the foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt.

The conversations held in the days preceding Thursday, May 20th's ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and afterward, set out four points on which Israel believes aid arrangements for Gaza must be based.

The efforts must include weakening Hamas and preventing the group from arming itself by smuggling in and making its own weapons. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you ensure that justice is done for the innocent people who have suffered in this war.”

The Irish parliament unanimously approved a resolution condemning Israeli “de facto annexation” in the West Bank with government support on Wednesday night. It rejected a motion to expel Israel’s ambassador.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the resolution made Ireland the first EU member state to officially accuse Israel of annexation.

“This is not something that I or, in my view, this house says lightly... But it reflects the huge concern we have about the intent of the actions and, of course, their impact,” he told the Irish parliament on Tuesday.

“The scale, pace, and strategic nature of Israel’s actions on settlement expansion and the intent behind it have brought us to a point where we need to be honest about what is actually happening on the ground,” Coveney said. “It is de facto annexation.”

Successive Irish governments have long been highly critical of Israel and have taken a leading role in the EU to press for harsher responses to what they claim are Israeli abuses. (JPost / VFI News)

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak - Matthew 12:36

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted 24-9 Thursday to launch an investigation against Israel for alleged war crimes, including during the recent war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and called for an arms embargo against the Jewish state.

An additional 14 countries out of the 47-member body abstained. None of the European Union countries supported the measure.

It marks the first time that the UNHRC created a permanent fact-finding mission with respect to any UN member state. Israel’s Foreign Ministry immediately stated that it had no intention of cooperating with the probe.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: “Today’s shameful decision is yet another example of the UN Human Rights Council’s blatant anti-Israel obsession. (JPost / VFI News)

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. - John 8:32

"Lord, we ask that you will open up the eyes of the nations to the fact that Israel was defending itself from terrorists who had the intention of harming Israelis. We pray that the lies being spoken against Israel will be silenced and the truth will shine forth."

Vision for Israel co-founders Barry & Batya Segal sit down to talk about their work of blessing and mercy in the land of Israel—thanks to the unshakeable support of all who believe in the restorative power of Yeshua’s love.

A relative of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh has been receiving medical treatment at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, part of the Sourasky Medical Center, for over a month.

According to reports, the hospitalized family member is his seventeen-year-old niece, who has received a bone marrow transplant.

The report noted that she was hospitalized during Operation Guardian of the Walls.

According to Maariv, the hospital's spokesperson said that "during the war, she was treated with dedication."

"It is a doctor's Hippocratic oath to treat every sick and injured person that comes their way," insisted Meretz MK Mossi Raz. "They must do so without any regard to religion, race, nationality, identity, or family relation." (JPost / VFI News)

Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” - Matthew 9:13

After a cabinet meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara late Monday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a media conference in which he called on the UN, UN Security Council, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and other international organizations to take action focusing on a shared ownership of Jerusalem.

“At this point, we believe there’s a need for a separate arrangement on Jerusalem. To achieve lasting peace and tranquility in Jerusalem, which contains the indispensable religious symbols of Muslims, Jews, and Christians, everyone must make sacrifices,” Erdogan said.

“In today’s circumstances, it would be the most correct and consistent course of action for Jerusalem to be administered by a commission of representatives from the three faiths. Otherwise, it doesn’t appear it will be easily possible to achieve lasting peace in this ancient city,” he added.

Erdogan has frequently made claims on Jerusalem as a Turkish birthright, perhaps based in the area once being part of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1917.

When all the nations of the earth gather against her. In that day, I will make Yerushalayim a stone for all the peoples to lift; all who lift it shall injure themselves. - Zechariah 12:3

Two refugees who entered Sweden in 2015 with claimed Afghani identities are believed to be agents for the Islamic Republic of Iran who sought to execute a terrorist plot against Iranian dissidents opposed to the theocracy in Tehran.

Bulletin, a Swedish online newspaper, reported last week Sweden’s security police arrested Salma K. and Fouad M. in April for planning an act of terrorism within the territory of Sweden, and it has turned out that they are not Afghani nationals.

Sweden’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor Hans Ihrman of the National Security Unit said the two suspects’ identities are fabricated. Ihrman said their ages are ten years older than they initially claimed and their names not authentic.

The Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) recently confirmed, according to a report in the online news publication IranWire, that the two people might have traveled to Europe as a terrorism “sleeper cell." (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you protect your people against all forms of terror.”

Countries all over the world are battling another major pandemic: red palm weevils. Originating from Asia, the insect soon made its way across the world and became a major invasive species, wreaking severe havoc on palm trees and other agriculture across the planet.

But now, scientists from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev may have found a way to automatically detect red palm weevil infestations.

The red palm weevils have only become more widespread in the last decade. Studies have shown that these weevils target 19 different types of palm trees, making them one of the worst palm tree pests worldwide.

After hatching, the larvae eat through the tree as they grow, creating tunnels inside the trees and weakening them, sometimes even causing them to break and completely collapse. (JPost / VFI News)

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

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