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** 2 May 2024
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Hatred of Israel and the Jews has exploded across the world since Hamas invaded Israel last October.

Universities and colleges across the United States have in recent weeks been the scene of anti-Israel protests and violence. After weeks of pro-Hamas demonstrations on Columbia University featuring calls for genocide against Jews and the taking of two university employees as hostages, university president Minouche Shafik sent a letter on Tuesday to the New York Police Department requesting their help in restoring order.

The war against Hamas in Gaza enters its seventh month. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday as part of his Middle East tour to Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, his seventh trip to the Jewish state since the current Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.

Blinken met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, where they “discussed ongoing efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal and emphasized that it is Hamas that is standing in the way of a ceasefire,” according to an official statement from the U.S. State Department.

Israel insists it must attack Rafah in south of Gaza to eliminate the remaining Hamas battalions. Jerusalem says that conquering the city on the Egyptian border is essential to winning the war.

There is intense international opposition to a full-scale offensive, including from the United States, with Blinken saying in Riyadh on Monday that “we have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected.” - notwithstanding the fact the Israel Defense Forces plans to establish a humanitarian safe zone in the central Gaza Strip as part of preparations for the evacuation of noncombatants from the southernmost city of Rafah.

Israel Defense Forces troops in the north are actively preparing for a more extensive campaign against the Hezbollah terror organization in Southern Lebanon, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday. Hezbollah has carried out near-daily attacks on northern Israel from Southern Lebanon since joining the war against the Jewish state in support of Hamas a day after the latter’s Oct. 7 massacre.

Finally, it has been reported that the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is poised to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defense minister Yoav Gallant and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.
The Editorial Team - Israel & Christians Today
Blinken to Netanyahu: Israel must ‘avoid further expansion’ of war
The prime minister reiterates that a "permanent ceasefire" will not happen before Hamas is destroyed in Gaza.
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Iran Mullahs Speeding Up Nuclear Weapons Program: Anyone Interested?
By backing, arming and training Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, Iran launched a proxy war against Israel, leveraging the conflict in part to divert attention from its nuclear ambitions.
The calculated move not only serves Iran's immediate interests in destabilizing its adversaries – the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and most of all the United States, which it would like to see out of the region, so Iran could presumably have the Middle East all to itself. The diversion of the Gaza war also aligns with its goal of eradicating Israel.
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An arresting story
Is the International Criminal Court about to destroy what's left of its reputation?
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Update Ukraine: A conversation with Koen Carlier



The war in Ukraine has been raging for two years. How does this affect the work of Christians for Israel in Ukraine. We discuss the uncertainties that the raging war brings with Koen Carlier, Aliyah Field Worker of Christians for Israel. Our mission in Ukraine goes beyond providing comfort to the Jewish people; we assist them in a practical way. This includes supporting soup kitchens, distributing food parcels to Jewish elderly and Holocaust survivors, and facilitating Aliyah (the immigration of people to Israel).

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The Messiah on the Horizon? | The Book of RUTH with Johannes Gerloff #33

Boaz’s behavior towards Ruth has a prophetic dimension. You don’t have to be a devout Christian to recognize this. On the contrary, what many Christians overlook was clear to the rabbinic interpreters of the Scroll of Ruth.


** SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
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** 1 Chronicles 17:20-24
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20 “There is no one like you, Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. 21 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? 22 You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

23 “And now, Lord, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, 24 so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you.

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Israel & Christians Today
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The goal of Israel & Christians Today is to help Christians to take God’s Word seriously, and study current events in the world in the context of the Bible.

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Our mission is to bring Biblical understanding in the Church and among the nations concerning God’s purposes for Israel and to promote comfort of Israel through prayer and action.

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