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** 22 November 2025
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Finally, after two agonizing years, almost all of the hostages taken on the terrible day of 7th October 2023 have been returned to their loved ones. These included the bodies of men, women and children who were killed and whose bodies were brutally taken into Gaza to serve as bargaining chips in Hamas’ cynical war of terror.

The bodies also included that of Hadar Goldin, a young Israeli soldier who was abducted and killed eleven years ago. For all those years, his family have pleaded with the world to force Hamas to release his body – without avail, until now.

On 18 November the UN Security Council adopted a resolution implementing the so-called Comprehensive Peace Plan that was brokered by the United States in the previous months, and which laid the foundation for the release of the hostages. This plan, and the resolution, envisage the demilitarization of Hamas, the establishment of a new government, and the gradual rebuilding of Gaza. While impressive on paper, the plan is already proving to be unrealistic.

President Trump’s vision of peace in the region through the Abraham Accords may potentially achieve a kind of ceasefire – a temporary cessation of hostilities. But it will not bring peace, because it fails to address the root cause of the conflict: Islamist rejection of the existence of a sovereign Jewish nation with Jerusalem as its capital. The conflict is an existential one, that cannot be resolved through clever agreements based on self-interest of the parties.
"The conflict is an existential one, that cannot be resolved through clever agreements based on self-interest of the parties."
The tragic fact is that Hamas has no intention to give up its weapons, to be demilitarized or to abandon its Islamist charter, which sees the Jewish people as pigs and requires the use of violence to destroy the Jewish nation. And of course, it is not only Hamas that shares these beliefs; Hamas is just part of a wide alliance of Islamist states and non-state actors whose raison d’être is the annihilation of the Jewish nation on territory that they believe belongs to the Islamic world.

Hamas’ real intentions are shown by the fact it has consistently violated the truce since it went into effect on Oct. 10, including several terrorists firing on Israeli troops ([link removed]) in the Khan Yunis area on Wednesday, prompting Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza. The IDF eliminated ([link removed]) two Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday after they breached the ceasefire line by attempting to cross into IDF-controlled territory in the Strip. The Israeli Air Force on Friday killed five Palestinian terrorists who emerged from underground infrastructure in Rafah, east of the Yellow Line.

There are many other second-order problems with the plan. The negotiations revealed that many Security Council members continue to insist on reaffirming the two-state solution as the guiding framework for any Gaza transition. The United States was prepared to make a fleeting reference to the UN declaration on the two states resulting from the recent French-Saudi initiative.
"The negotiations revealed that many Security Council members continue to insist on reaffirming the two-state solution as the guiding framework for any Gaza transition."
Russia issued a statement arguing that any new resolution must remain anchored in the existing UN legal framework on the Palestinian question. This means reliance on Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and relevant ICJ pronouncements—rather than creating an entirely new legal architecture detached from established UN existing parameters. The “existing UN framework on the Palestine question”, it will be recalled, is a framework that demands the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital – a state that will be an Islamic state in all likelihood controlled by the same anti-Israel forces described above. Therefore, the UN framework also envisages Israel’s destruction.

This deal places Israel in a very complex situation. Its sovereignty and security are potentially threatened, as much depends on which states and other entities will gain control of Gaza going forward. Israel is especially very concerned about Turkey’s desire to become a key player in the composition and command of the International Stabilization Force. President Erdogan makes no secret of his neo-Ottoman ambitions. Israel views with concern the increase in Turkish military forces in northern Syria in order to support the transitional government led by al Sharaa. Erdogan is known for his connections and covert support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the founder of Hamas.

Despite all of this, according to President Trump, “we have, together, just secured peace that has been sought for at least 3000 years”.

Oh, really?

God said through the prophet Jeremiah that “the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true” (Jeremiah 28:9). In Chapter 6:14, Jeremiah said: “They dress the wound of My people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”

The plain fact is that peace will only come when Jerusalem has been restored, the Messiah comes, and the word of the Lord will go forth from Zion. Then – and only then – will the nations train for war no more.

This week, pray for Israel and the Jewish people – for unity of hearts and minds.

Pray that the Lord will “destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations” (Isaiah 25:7).

Pray for the coming of the Prince of Peace, who alone can bring true shalom.

IAF kills five terrorists who emerged from underground in Rafah

JNS: The terrorist cell posed an “immediate threat” to troops.
Read more ([link removed])

Netanyahu: US assured F-35 sale to Riyadh won’t imperil military edge

JNS: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “didn't get everything he wanted” from President Trump, the prime minister said.
Read more ([link removed])

Palestinian Terrorists Threaten to Target International Stabilization Force

Khaled Abu Toameh (Gatestone): Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other Palestinian terror groups have rejected US-backed United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted on November 17, which welcomes the establishment of a "Board of Peace" and a temporary "International Stabilization Force" in the Gaza Strip.
Read more ([link removed])

Turkey Is Thwarting Trump's Attempts to Disarm Hamas, Achieve Peace in the Middle East

Con Coughlin (Gatestone): [W]ith both Turkey and Qatar, two countries that support Hamas's hardline Islamist agenda, seeking to play a more prominent role in Gaza's future development, the prospect of persuading Hamas to disarm and relinquish control appears even more remote.
Read more ([link removed])

[link removed]
How a small village in the Negev sets an example for all of Israel

In the middle of the Negev Desert lies Nitzana, a small village where Jews, Arabs, Bedouins, and Christians live together—also during the war in Gaza. This seemingly utopian community proves that coexistence, though challenging, is possible. Director Avi Cohen discusses the story of Nitzana and how it can serve as a model for peaceful coexistence in Israeli society.


** SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
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** Jeremiah 6:9-15
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^9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine; pass your hand over the branches again, like one gathering grapes.”

^10 To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed^ so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
^11 But I am full of the wrath of the Lord, and I cannot hold it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together; both husband and wife will be caught in it, and the old, those weighed down with years.
^12 Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,”
declares the Lord.
^13 “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
^14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.
^15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.

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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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