Dear friends, when I sent out the prayer requests last night, the rockets attacks from Gaza had not yet started. But it was not surprising that they started launching rockets a minutes after my email was sent.
I want to give a little background, but before I do, I think it is important to start with the most urgent prayer requests. There are many believing soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces, both active and reservists. They are now asking for our prayers for their protection and for them and their fellow soldiers... especially those in combat units. Please pray for God's protection also over the Israeli communities that are being attacked by rocket fire. As we write this update, three rocket attacks were just aimed at Tel Aviv about twenty minutes ago. Were Janice and I live with the boys in Petach Tikvah, we haven't heard any warnings to run to our safe room, but our friends closer to Tel Aviv have. Lastly, please pray for the millions of people being brainwashed, held hostage and used by these terror groups in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. So many truly believe that violence is justified because of their terrible living situation, without realizing that the cause of their terrible living situation is actually the actions of the terror groups.
The background for the current conflict, according to the Israeli press, is that the Islamic Jihad was in the process of planning and carrying out a major offensive against Israeli civilians near the border with the Gaza Strip. Most likely, they were planning to fire anti-tank weapons on communities within firing range. It was these weapons that were effective in killing Israeli civilians in the last round of fighting. The IDF, had tried to deescalate through negotiations, but they explained that the Islamic Jihad was not interested in deescalating. As a result, Israel arrested the head of the organization in the West Bank. At this point the terrorist organization began making specific threats against Israeli civilians and mentioned attacking Tel Aviv directly several times. After three or four days of direct threats, the IDF Air Force assassinated the head of the militant group's armed wing in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, they also attacked the unit that was planning to use the anti-tank weapons along with the commander of those units. Following these preemptive attacks, the Islamic Jihad followed through with their threats and have so far fired over 200 rockets at Israeli communities, including Tel Aviv.
This terrorist group might not be familiar to you. Normally, people know about Hamas which is a Sunni Islamic Terrorist group. The main difference between the two groups is that Hamas is Sunni and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is Shiite. Like the Shiite muslims in Iran, they are radical shiites. Their leadership is based primarily in Syria where they have long been supported by both Iran and Syrian groups. They have a lot in common with Hezbollah, which is also supported by Iran, is Shiite but located in Lebanon with its leadership also based in Syria - the government of Syria has protected the leaders of these terror groups.
Depending upon which news source you listen to, you will hear all kinds of stories and justifications for why these groups condone or justify attacking civilians. The bottom line, however, is really quite simple. They deny that Israel as a nation has a right to exist and their goals is to make living in Israel uncomfortable and unpleasant for Israelis in the hope that Israelis will just decide to leave. Obviously, they have plans if Israelis choose to stay. The goal of these groups is the annihilation of the state of Israel and its people. In recent years, the power of the Islamic Jihad has grown due to the financial support they receive from Iran.
If you have specific prayer requests for us, or would like to send a word of encouragement, you are welcome to contact us by email at: jrose@chosenpeople.com, janicerose@chosenpeople.com or you can contact us via WhatsApp at: phone number +972(54)4703690
