Category: News

10 Oct 2023, Samaria: Amnon Ziv, an eyewitness in one of the kibbutzes near Gaza, Netiv ha-Asara, reported that at 6:35 am on Shabbat, the cell phones had no connection, phone lines broken, and no electricity. He thinks it was a cyber attack. Ziv was interviewed on Channel 12.

Pray for our work.

Pray for our work in troubled times.

8 Oct 2023, Samaria: 50 solar years to the day after the surprise attack of the Yom Kippur War, Arabs mounted a surprise attack on the last day of Succot, the Feast of Tabernacles.

Pray as we continue the work.

Pray as we continue the work.

6 Oct 2023, Samaria:  The IDF and the Border Police each give a different version of the story.  The Border Police used a grenade against the terrorists, one version said that the grenade bounced off a fence back towards the Police, the other version says that the terrorists acted quickly and threw it back.  The difference may be either a desire to avoid embarrassment, or a lack of accurate information in a high-speed event.  Either way, no testimony is made available from the officers involved.

While the main terrorist fled successfully thus far, another terrorist opened fire on the police and was then hit by return fire from the police.

Pray for our work in a challenging land.

Related:

Holiday efforts against terror attacks in Samaria and Judea

6 Oct, 2023, Samaria:  This week I was invited to direct a group visiting from overseas that wanted to visit Joseph’s Tomb and the ancient site of the Tabernacle at Shilo.

I cautioned them that because of the situation currently, we would not be able to visit the tomb where Joseph’s bones were laid after Israel brought the bones up from Egypt. We would however need to drive through the general area near the tomb.

We could visit Shilo but since it’s along Route 60 we need to do so with someone who knows the area well, to avoid the risks from amongst the Arab settlements along the route.

While we were in Shilo, they had red heifers on display!

>>> 16 Jan 2024 Update on Red Heifers – Hamas says they caused this war! <<<

Now we see that in two days since, there have been several attacks, both at Joseph’s Tomb, and also along Route 60. There was also attacks in Huwara, and as reported on page 1, a clash in Tulkarm where a handful of Border Police officers were harmed.

Pray for our work in a difficult situation.

2 Oct 2023, Samaria: Joining forces against the possibility of a nuclear-powered Iran, the Saudis and Israelis work towards a deal and are making progress.

To the surprise of no one, Iran responded by threatening to blow everyone up; thus legitimizing the need for a Saudi deal in the first place.  Also – Iran thus confirmed Netanyahu’s warnings about Iranian nukes over the years, while the world tried to believe Iran’s lies that it was only for civilian use.

Meanwhile, last night, a car bomb explosion in Re’em Junction was partially interrupted by secret police, and an Arab gun workshop near Ramallah was destroyed by the IDF.

Raisi is president in Iran; Gallant is Israel’s Minister of Defense:

This gun workshop with lathes and machinery for making guns, basically a gun factory, had its machinery destroyed and the IDF exploded bombs in the space.  Arabs tried to prevent this by attacking the soldiers beforehand:

It appears that Israeli Secret Police were following criminals on the way to a crime scene, when the criminals successfully exploded a car, killing two. The police apprehended the criminals and a gunfight ensued, injuring one criminal and killing the other.

PRAY for our work in a troubled land.

27 Sept 2023, Samaria:  Seculars protested against Security Minister’s religious stance with a provocative open-air mixed prayer on Yom Kippur; Ben-Gvir plans some sort of provocative counter prayer gathering in response.  I observed on TV that the secular argument was like, “You pray in the synagogues with your own traditions, why block us from praying outside, in our own way?” The religious argument was, “Seculars, reform, and orthodox prayed with us in my synagogue in Jerusalem and had no problem following our traditions. Why do you provoke us by doing that out in the open like that?”  Complicated.

“Ben-Gvir plans protest prayer after Kippur clashes; Herzog: Pouring oil on flames threatens unity; Coalition MKs oppose security minister’s move,” and “US furious over ‘premature’ announcement on visa waiver,” Jerusalem Post, 27 Sept 2023 pg 1.

Pray for our work in the Land.

26 Sept, 2023, Samaria: Fighting at the Gaza border, fighting among residents in Tel Aviv, and comic relief.

“After attacks on troops, IDF UAVs strike Hamas positions in Yom Kippur,” Jerusalem Post, 26 Sept 2023 pg 1.

During Yom Kippur, militant Arabs in Gaza did not break from their 11-day assault on Israeli soldiers at the border fence.  The IDF responded by attacking Hamas positions.  Hamas is the democratically elected political leading party in Gaza.

While the battle raged on the Gaza border, citizens fought against one another in Tel Aviv.

“Fights break out in TA over gender-segregated Yom Kippur prayers,” Jerusalem Post, 26 Sept 2023 pg 1.

In traditional Judaism, women and men are located in separated sections in the synagogue or during prayers.  Tel Aviv, being largely secular, has residents who oppose such traditional thoughts.

And then a funny social media photo showing the contrast between secular and religious in Israel:

A comical picture of a religious guy breaking the fast after Yom Kippur having just rollerbladed home as quickly as possible from the synagogue. This is so humorous, since only seculars would use rollerblades or bicycles during Yom Kippur, and seculars would not dress in white.  Religious would dress in white, but go only by foot. As for automobiles, driving is actually against the law during Yom Kippur.  Also, traditionally, the fast is broken with sugary drinks and cake.  Seculars rarely even fast during Yom Kippur.

Pray our work will continue among a complicated mix of people.

20 Sept, 2023, Samaria: A new tank, in development for 5 years, has artificial intelligence (AI) features to assist the 4-man crew inside.