Week of Inside Israel – October 29, 2024

Last week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed a mile-long Hezbollah tunnel in Lebanon. It took the terrorist group fifteen years to build this massive site. Two battalions of hundreds of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces could fit in its dozens of rooms with beds, food, and storage units. The tunnel’s armories contained rockets, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), mines, explosive devices, and anti-tank missiles. On Saturday, the IDF demolished this tunnel and bunker network with approximately 400 tons of explosives. The blast activated 4.5-magnitude earthquake alerts over almost all northern Israel.

Please pray Israel dismantles more tunnels and terrorist networks in southern Lebanon so that Hezbollah can never initiate a surprise attack again.

This past Saturday morning, the nation of Israel woke up to the news that more than 100 Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes, including F-35 fighter jets, had returned at daybreak from a successful mission to Iran. The pilots had flown about 1,250 miles through the night to carry out precision attacks against military targets in Iran. Israel launched a coordinated attack against defense systems in Syria and Iran, followed by attacks targeting Iran’s drone and missile production sites.

The attack, dubbed “The Days of Repentance,” significantly weakened Tehran’s ability to produce ballistic missiles. Israel also targeted crucial military bases and air defense systems in different parts of the country as well as near Tehran. After Iran’s massive attacks on Israel in April and October, Israel wanted to show Tehran and the ayatollahs they could fight back as a sovereign nation, and Iran would be defenseless against future Israeli airstrikes. No injuries were reported.

Praise God for the safety and success of the Israeli Air Force in this unprecedented mission.

On the twenty-fifth day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (which landed on October 27 on the Gregorian calendar this year), Israel held its second national memorial remembering the 1,200 civilians and soldiers whom Hamas brutally murdered, and the 251 people whom Hamas kidnapped into Gaza. The massacre happened on the sacred Simchat Torah (“Joy of the Torah”) holiday, the last of the Jewish fall holidays. It marks when the public reading in synagogues of the first five books of Moses is finished and a new reading cycle is started again. Simchat Torah is usually a joyful holiday to celebrate when God gave His Word to the Israelites. On this day, religious Jewish people dance around with the Torah scrolls.

The commemoration took place three days after Simchat Torah with flags flying half mast, schools holding ceremonies, and the country taking time to reflect and mourn. In the morning, a ceremony was held at Mount Hertzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem for fallen soldiers and members of the Israeli security forces. In the early afternoon, a second ceremony commemorated the civilian victims of Hamas’ attack. A government press release said the two ceremonies “will be attended by bereaved families, the four symbols of government—the president, the prime minister, the speaker of the Knesset [Israel’s parliamentary body] and the acting president of the Supreme Court, ministers, MKs [members of the Knesset], the heads of the security system and the heads of the rescue organizations.” Members of Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Be’eri—the two kibbutzim (collective farming communities) who bore the brunt of Hamas’ brutal killing machine—refused to take part in the state ceremonies.

Please pray for all who are mourning and those desperate to free their loved ones still held hostage in Gaza.

As the Jewish fall festivals came to an end, we know that our staff had many gospel conversations, and many people were able to hear the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. He came to dwell with us, as illustrated by the tabernacles (sukkot) that were placed throughout Jewish communities worldwide during the Feast of Tabernacles! We know that the Lord abundantly provides for us, as we remembered how the Israelites had enough food and water, and their clothes and tents did not fall apart while they spent many years in the desert. We pray over the hundreds of gospel-oriented conversations we had. His love for us, His abiding with us, and His knowledge of our needs and worries for us is shown through His sacrificial love for us. He has given us salvation!

As many of our staff sat in their sukkah, or their neighbors’ and friends’ sukkah, and presented this message, please join us as we pray that the words of truth would sink into people’s minds and hearts.