The IDF has confirmed that major offensive operations have begun in Gaza City after weeks of preparation, The Times of Israel reports. After IDF reservists were called up and evacuation orders were issued, defense forces are targeting Hamas infrastructure in Gaza with the goals of freeing the hostages and disarming the terror group responsible for the October 7 attack and starting the ongoing war.
While the IDF estimates that at least 40% of Gaza’s population has heeded evacuation orders to southern humanitarian aid zones, with more leaving in recent days, a little less than half the population may remain. It is estimated that the rate of civilians leaving Gaza will increase as the offensive continues.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that troops were “fighting valiantly to create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
“From Hamas, we need only two things, and it will not give them voluntarily: to release all the hostages and to disarm. The great force of the attack here… is directly defeating Hamas, and it also creates a larger lever for the release of the hostages,” he said.
“We want to take control of Gaza City because today it is Hamas’s main governing symbol. Today, if Gaza falls… they will fall,” he continued, warning that just as “the murderous Sinwar brothers ruined Gaza,” Izz al-Din Haddad, Hamas’s new military leader in the Strip, would “destroy” it, if he continues as he is.
As residents of the Holy Land’s capital city of Jerusalem hear the explosions in Gaza 44 miles away, their hearts continue to be with the hostages still being held. Taking the fight directly to Hamas can mean they will be put in danger. However, the United States says there is still a window to a ceasefire deal.
The Fellowship prays for a swift end to this conflict, that is now about to stretch over two years, whether through dialogue or action –for the hostages and their families’ sake as well as for the future of the entire nation of Israel.
“For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4)
