Project Spotlight: Securing Israelis as Rockets Threaten the Holy Land
The Fellowship | May 11, 2021
On May 10, the Israeli people were to celebrate Jerusalem Day, in honor of the Holy City’s reunification after the 1967 Six-Day War. But celebrations were halted as more than 400 rockets from Hamas have threatened Jerusalem, as well as areas near the Gaza border, killing two Israeli women in the southern city of Ashkelon. These attacks, which are continuing with rockets fired Tel Aviv, came amid ongoing tensions in Jerusalem’s Old City between Palestinian rioters and Israeli police.
Thousands are traumatized by these attacks – children and families, and our Fellowship staff in Israel – who are huddled in bomb shelters, hoping and praying for an end to hostilities.
Securing Israel’s Hospitals
In the midst of this terror, ongoing Fellowship security projects are working to keep Israelis safe from harm. Fellowship-supported Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon (located eight miles north of Gaza) admitted 84 patients.
Babies in the neo-natal care unit of Barzilai Medical Center have been transferred to the Fellowship-funded bombproof delivery room unit, ensuring they remain protected if any more rockets are fired.
Writers at the Jerusalem Post tell us more:
Some 21 babies were in the nursery as of Tuesday morning.
“We are working very hard,” Dr. Jonathan Rieck, the director of the Emergency Medicine Department at Barzilai, told The Jerusalem Post, as he left the hospital after a 24-hour shift. “We have been receiving casualties at various degrees, some serious and some very serious, as well as a lot of patients suffering from stress reactions and minor injuries as well. At the moment we are coping and we are continuing to do what we need to do.”
Now more than ever, Israel needs her friends to lift their voices in prayer. Please pray for protection for Israelis threatened by rocket fire.