Shalom from the beautiful, summery Israel! It has been warm and dry, and it seems that all that’s fallen from the sky lately had its origins in Lebanon. Actually, they were just launched from Lebanon. We have Iran to thank for our nightly fireworks display. But more about that below.
As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t worry about Israel. God has us safely in His hand. He has mapped out our future and He will carry out His will. I am much more concerned with the United States, the United Kingdom, and the rest of Europe. I see them spiraling down as the result of terrible domestic and international decisions they have made over the recent years. I also worry as I see them separating themselves from Israel, some countries faster than others. The Scriptures make it clear that God watches these relationships, and He acts accordingly. In Israel, we recognize who our friends are and who are merely pretending to support us. We’ve been burned before, and we won’t allow ourselves to be burned again.
I don’t normally give you too much behind the scenes here at Behold Israel. However, we have been in a very difficult season physically. We don’t have a large staff, but of our small number we have had an unusually high rate of ailments. For those of you who follow Telegram, you know that I also have just dealt with a sickness. Thankfully, I’m back in the office today, but we’ve seen physical struggles affecting our ministry in various ways, delaying some activities and canceling others.
I tell you all of that so that you will know the background to the request that I now give to you. Please pray for the Behold Israel staff. We need strength, protection, and health. God has given us amazing opportunities, and we would be devastated if physical problems got in the way of us accomplishing His will. The enemy is attacking us hard. But he has yet to beat us. With God’s hand of protection, we know that we will always prevail.
Philippians 4:11-13
Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Middle East
What a week it has been with wars and rumors of wars – threats by Iran, airstrikes against Lebanon, a U.S. aircraft carrier group shifting to the Middle East. If you are sitting there thinking, “Wait, how did I miss all that?”, it’s because you’re not subscribed to my Telegram Channel. Sign up today, and you’ll be kept up to date with what is going on in Israel, the Middle East, and around the world. Remember, there are a lot of fake accounts using my name. Only sign up for the one that has over 550,000 subscribers.
The Offended Ayatollah Khamenei
There have been constant threats issuing from Iran ever since Hamas political bureau head, Ismail Haniyeh, was blown up while sleeping in Tehran. Hamas is just a pawn on Ayatollah Khamenei’s chessboard, so his heart is not broken over the loss of the terrorist. What he and all the other ayatollahs in the regime are upset about is the embarrassment of it happening on their soil – right in the heart of their capital city. Immediately after Haniyeh left this life, Iran promised revenge. In the past, that may not have meant much. But after Iran’s “Operation True Promise” back in April that saw more than 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles launched at Israel, people are taking this threat seriously.
Other countries have gotten involved to one extent or another. The Saudis have told Iran that they better not send anything over their airspace, while Jordan has said the same thing to both Tehran and Jerusalem. Just this past week, the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was ordered into the Gulf of Oman to relieve the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Tensions in Israel are very high as we wait for the Iranian response. Just two days ago, Tehran called a special meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take place yesterday. The anticipation has been that nothing will happen until after that meeting takes place. To satisfy their bloodlust as they wait, the regime has executed 36 people in the last 24 hours in two prisons outside of Tehran. Meanwhile, Hamas has replaced Ismail Haniyeh as head of the political bureau with tunnel rat Yahya Sinwar. Immediately following the announcement, Sinwar could be seen in the corner of his underground office scribbling out his last will and testament.
By the way, if you are intrigued by the possibility of a Mossad-led targeted killing in the middle of Iran, preorder a copy of my next thriller novel, The Sick Man’s Rage. I can promise you that not every Hamas leader makes it out of Tehran alive.
The Offended Hassan Nasrallah
As angry as Ayatollah Khamenei is about the Mossad killing someone he didn’t like, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, is even more furious about Israel killing someone he did like. On July 30, an Israeli airstrike in Beirut sent Fuad Shukr, a long-wanted Hezbollah terrorist and the man responsible for the killing of twelve children in Majdal Shams three days earlier, to his eternal destination. Nasrallah, as he is prone to do, vowed revenge.
Once again, people took the Hezbollah leader seriously. Many countries have pulled their officials out of Lebanon and are warning their citizens to get out fast. The UK even has forces on standby in case their civilians need their help. Many are concerned that whatever retaliation Nasrallah comes up with very well might kick off the war in the north.
But for now, no one knows what Nasrallah has planned. “We will respond to the assassination, but carefully,” he said. For now, he says that the fear Hezbollah’s retaliation is causing in Israel is part of the payback. In the meantime, the back and forth between the two sides continues. Israel is heavily striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Yesterday, senior military commander Amir Badreddine was killed in an IDF strike in Maifadoun, southern Lebanon. Badreddine was the son of key Hezbollah leader Mustafa Badreddine who had been in charge of the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005 and was himself killed near the Damascus Airport in 2016. Hezbollah also remains active sending on Tuesday its biggest rocket barrage since the beginning of the war at the Israeli cities of Metula, Kfar Giladi, and Kiryat Shmona.
Terrorist Attack in Israel
A senior couple were taking their morning walk when a 34-year-old Palestinian, in the country illegally, attacked them with a knife. Rina Daniv, 66, was killed and her husband Shimon, 68, was seriously wounded. The terrorist continued through a park entrance where he confronted a man in his 70s, mortally wounding him. Finally, he attacked 26-year-old Yakov Libertov, moderately wounding him, before a police officer put the man down. A statement from Hamas said that the attack was a “natural response” to Israeli attacks on Palestinians. And people wonder why there will never be peace.
United Nations Admits Terrorist UNRWA
Nobody who knows anything about UNRWA is shocked that at least nine of their employees took part in the October 7 massacre. What we’re all shocked about is that the United Nations actually admitted it. Maybe it’s time the UN starts thinking about disbanding this antisemitic, genocidal group.
Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz as Running Mate
Oy! Please, America, for the sake of Israel and for the sake of the world, please do the right thing come November.
Political Violence in Bangladesh
Protests had grown over the past couple months against Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina. When they began to get out of hand, she ordered her army chief to enforce a lockdown. He refused. That was when she realized that she no longer had the military behind her. She fled the country on Monday. Once she left, many in the Muslim majority began violently attacking the Hindu minority whom they perceived as supporters of Hasina. In some areas, the brutality has turned into a massacre with Hindu men, women, and children being slaughtered, with many being hung up for public display or dragged through the streets. But what have you heard about this brutality? Nothing, or at least very little. And what you may have heard has been a watered-down version. Once again: no Jews, no news.
Ukraine on Offensive Inside Russia
Yes, you heard it right. Ukraine has breached the Russian border and is now advancing on a nuclear power plant in Kursk oblast. They’ve already destroyed a gas pumping station that is the largest transferrer of natural gas to Europe. The area around the incursion is in a state of emergency and Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Ukraine’s move a “large-scale provocation”. From whom might Ukraine have learned about large-scale provocations?
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