Week of August 12, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two rare press conferences on Sunday—one for foreign media, and the other for Israeli media—to address facts and misconceptions about Israel’s actions in and plans for Gaza.

For the first time since October 7, he laid out a clear five-point vision for Gaza:

• All hostages will be freed.
• Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized.
• Israel will have overriding security responsibility.
• A security zone will be established on Gaza’s border with Israel to prevent future terrorist incursions.
• A civilian administration will be established in Gaza which will seek to live in peace with Israel.

His press conference also addressed allegations that the IDF has enforced a starvation policy in Gaza, pointing out how Israel has facilitated the delivery of close to two million tons of aid since the beginning of the war.

“If we had a starvation policy, no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war. But our policy has been the exact opposite.” He noted Hamas has “violently looted the aid trucks,” disrupted the flow of aid, and deliberately created shortages. He also discussed how the United Nations has failed to properly distribute all the aid brought in by the IDF, allowing many tons of humanitarian aid to rot or go to waste on the Gaza side of the border.

Regarding the worldwide media frenzy featuring images of Gazan children who are supposedly victims of Israeli-imposed starvation, he called them a “global campaign of lies,” highlighting each of the three cases of allegedly malnourished children which went viral worldwide and pointing out that all three suffered from preexisting medical conditions and diseases unrelated to the war that caused their emaciated appearances.

“Our policy throughout the war has been to prevent a humanitarian crisis, while Hamas’s policy has been to create it,” Netanyahu said. “Our goal is not to occupy Gaza. Our goal is to free Gaza, free it from Hamas terrorists. The war can end tomorrow if Hamas lays down its arms and releases all the remaining hostages.”

Pray for Gaza to be freed from the grip of Hamas. Pray for divine help upon the IDF soldiers serving in Gaza—for strength, wisdom, favor, and victory in rescuing hostages, evacuating and protecting civilians, distributing aid, and facilitating a civilian administration there. Pray for the truth to overcome the lies and propaganda that Hamas and the media perpetrate.

Security is always an issue at crowded public areas, especially in places like airport terminals, sports stadiums, and more. Traditional checkpoint approaches for screening create long lines, delays, and generally poor experiences for people passing through such venues.

An Israeli startup seeks to relieve both the experiential and practical issues associated with mass human security screening. Last week, the Tel Aviv-based Scanary unveiled a groundbreaking patented technology combining radar and AI to process up to 25,000 people per hour with zero physical contact or bottlenecks.

Scanary is the brainchild of Dr. Gideon Levita, a former chief radar engineer who helped develop Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.

“By combining AI, advanced imaging, augmented reality and computer vision, we enable threat detection from a distance—without stopping people, without creating lines, and without compromising privacy,” emphasized Ronen Yashvitz, who is the Scanary CEO and co-founder as well as a former IDF Unit 8200 intelligence officer. “The idea is that people won’t need to go through any gated checkpoints in the future when entering crowded public venues.”

Scanary’s system is engineered to detect concealed firearms, knives or other weapons, and any non-metallic threats including fireworks, improvised explosive devices, or pyrotechnics. Once a person enters the scanning zone, the radar is triggered, and even while moving within a crowd, the scanners generate ten electromagnetic 3D images per second, per person, at different angles, and finish each individual scan within two seconds. The algorithms distinguish and identify shapes and items such as cell phones, keys, hazards, and weapons. The Scanary system will begin pilot deployments in Israel, has been granted certifications in Europe, and is pursuing regulatory approval in the United States.

Praise God for the ingenuity of those who have created Scanary to streamline security and improve experiences for those in crowded places. Pray for the Lord to guide security technology like Scanary to help the innocent and to stop those who would cause chaos and destruction, especially in busy places. Pray for continued resourcefulness and creativity in Israel for new and beneficial inventions.

In what appears to be a divine act of protection for Israel, a Jerusalem terror cell planning multiple attacks was recently discovered by Israeli security forces and halted from executing their plans.

During targeted raids, various kinds of ammunition were seized, as well as a bomb-making lab with dozens of ready-made pipe bombs, other explosive devices, chemical materials for building more bombs, and electric and SIM card-trigger detonators. The Shin Bet and Jerusalem District Police also arrested three suspects who remain in custody while the formal indictments are prepared.

Plans were uncovered to bomb a nightclub in central Israel, assassinate an air force pilot, and plant bombs at a northern Jerusalem checkpoint targeting soldiers and police. Any one of these attacks would have been tragic and fatal. All three would have been catastrophic.

Thank the Lord for exposing this terror cell and saving the lives of countless Israelis who could have been killed or injured. Thank Him also for the police and Shin Bet who serve tirelessly to protect the people of Israel and prevent terror attacks. Pray for protection, wisdom, and favor upon all Israeli security and intelligence operatives, to be able to gather, understand, and utilize information wherever they operate, and to save many more people from harm. Pray for would-be terrorists to make foolish mistakes that will get them discovered and thwarted before they carry out their desires. Pray for seasoned terrorists even within Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian Guard, and elsewhere to also misstep and expose their plans to Israel without realizing it until they are caught and their plans are undone.

Our ministry staff are constantly serving whoever needs help, sharing encouragement with young and old, and sowing gospel seeds with those they meet and those they already know. Here are some of their recent stories. 

One Dad to Another:

Our car broke down and was in the shop, so we had to take a taxi. The taxi driver had his son with him, so my husband started to joke around. His sense of humor opened the way for a relationship.

Later in the day, he had to pick up the car. Amazingly, the same taxi driver took him to the shop! They started to talk, and he said his wife had died and he was bringing up his sons by himself.

My husband also shared a story with him and mentioned about how we give help to the soldiers. The driver was really interested. My husband then told him who he is (a believer in Jesus the Jewish Messiah) and shared how the donations for the soldiers come from evangelical believers. This opened the door to tell him the gospel. It truly was a divine appointment!

Older to Younger:

I had always thought of myself as primarily a Bible teacher who made jewelry on the side to support the ladies’ home I helped with for so many years, but this evolved into me teaching jewelry-making to ladies in the Messianic congregation.

At the same time, I was finishing up my many years working with the kids’ club and youth. And then the kids and youth I knew grew old enough to go in the army. But now there were enough helpers for adults, so I thought my involvement with kids would shift.

Yet I still felt the Lord had more for me. I had begun painting watercolors and really enjoyed it. My older prayer partner suggested I teach a kids’ Bible painting class. I loved it! Now I also teach private classes, and both the kids and adults get birthday paintings. With all the kids and adults in the congregation, my hands are quite full!

Children to Parents:

In early July, after the bombings from Iran ended, we held a children’s camp, which the great-granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor attended. Her grandma participates in our clubs for Holocaust survivors, and one year ago, her heart opened to the Lord. Afterwards, she wanted her granddaughter to join our kids’ camp several times, but the girl’s parents were initially against it. This time, however, they agreed she could go. The girl loved the camp so much that when her parents came to pick her up, she didn’t want to leave.

A few days later, we received this message from her mom: “Good afternoon. This is Lior.* Please tell me, do you have any meetings, lectures, or seminars? I would be interested in coming to listen and learn more about your faith. Adara* returned from the camp a different person and keeps talking about what you taught. Thank you!”

I am grateful to the Lord for opening the hearts of parents through their children!

Women to Women:

As a mom of a young woman myself, I am burdened for so many young women in Israel who are at home alone with their little ones while their soldier-husbands are gone. Every week, I provide what we jokingly call the “Great Pizza Outreach” to bless these young mommas. Pizzas and drinks for five different families cost around $350 per week. We get to encourage and pray for them, and the women are so thankful. Recently, one grateful husband wrote, “My wife was alone with our three small children this year for over 200 days. This meal really encouraged us!”

Servant to Soldier:

Reserve troops in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are not guaranteed non-combat supplies such as blankets, boots, flashlights, hot food, and so much more. These reservists are in harm’s way and not fully supplied by the military; so my heart is to help them.

On one such trip, I brought supplies to a base command post in the Gaza envelope. To say the reservists were grateful is an understatement. And then, the most unexpected thing happened. One of the officers had led a search and rescue mission in Gaza a few weeks ago, and he found and rescued his own brother’s body from Gaza.

He invited us to go with him to nearby Kibbutz Nir Oz to take a private and solemn walk with him through the community. He spoke to us about all that happened there on October 7, 2023. My heart stopped when I stood in front of the house of the Bibas family—whose young children and mother were abducted and murdered, and the father abducted and returned to Israel in a hostage deal after 484 days in captivity.

This is the level of pain the soldiers endure. This is the heartbreak they feel. These are people whom Jesus died for.

Pray for the taxi driver and his sons. Pray for the women and kids in our Messianic congregations and clubs. Pray for the kids who attended our various camps this summer and their families, including Adara and Lior. Pray for the soldiers’ wives and children who need so much encouragement. Pray for the soldiers who face more trauma than most of us can imagine. Pray for new life through Jesus in mind, body, heart, and soul.

*Names changed for privacy

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