This is a dangerous moment in Israel-Hamas war

Event

Sky News October 13

We might think we’ve seen it all before – airstrikes, flattened buildings, funerals, inflamed rhetoric on both sides. But make no mistake, this time is different. And what happens next is hugely important for the region and the world. It is a dangerous moment.

Black Saturday, as the Israelis call it, has changed everything – for now at least. Rightly or wrongly, Israeli officials believe the threat this time may become existential. That fear will determine what they do next. That may seem over the top. However horrendous and barbaric, the attacks were limited to one small area and Israel is a mighty country with powerful friends. But what happened that day has undermined the mystique of Israel’s military superiority. Its deterrence is hugely weakened and that could destabilise the region to the point of much wider conflict.

Since its inception, Israel has tried to project strength to survive among neighbours who want to destroy it. But on Saturday, Israeli soldiers were slaughtered in their beds. Videos filmed by Hamas seen across this region show Israelis in uniform begging for mercy, or lying dead.

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There is one overriding priority for Israel – to restore the power of its military deterrence. Everything else will be secondary. Its own rules of engagement have changed. It needed something this horrific to make this happen.

Zephaniah 2 might be being fulfilled in events we are watching. We read of the day of the Lord’s anger. And in that day Gaza is forsaken and Ashkelon a desolation. Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast – the land of the Philistines (Gaza Strip). They are all destroyed. Zechariah 12 speaks of Israel’s nearby enemies being burned up but Jerusalem remaining secure. We are looking for the inner ring war where all Israel’s nearby enemies are totally destroyed.

Bible Quote

On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place. (Zechariah 12:6 NIV)

Zechariah 12 speaks of ”surrounding” or “nearby” or “round about” peoples who are destroyed and Jerusalem remains intact…this is the inner ring war….

Weekly World Watch, Andy Walton

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