After rocket attacks and reprisals, Israelis seeking tentative calm
- TG
- Apr 1, 2019
- 3 min read
The day after a Hamas rocket hit a house near Tel Aviv, injuring seven people including two toddlers, a tentative calm settled over Israel on Tuesday.
Even with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in place, Hamas fired 60 rockets — one of which hit a house and injured a young boy — and the IDF spent the night bombing Hamas strongholds in Gaza.
First time in five years
The escalation began with a Hamas-made rocket which decimated a two-house structure in Moshav Mishmeret, triggering the first siren heard there since 2014. The alarm sounded at 5:20 a.m. sending residents from their beds scrambling to their safe rooms.
The rocket smashed through the roof and exploded, sending shrapnel throughout the house.
Miracles!
“It’s a miracle that nobody got killed,” first responder paramedic Assi Dvilanski said.
Daniel Wolf, the father who rushed his children and parents to safety, concurred.
“There were a lot of miracles that happened,” Wolf told Israeli news.
“We are in shock, but the most important thing is that we are all okay,” he told Channel 13. “It was traumatic. After the explosion, there was silence, dust, and screaming. Destruction everywhere.”
The large rocket represents the longest launch made from the Gaza Strip at more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) since the 2014 Gaza war.
“When I heard the siren, I ran and grabbed my oldest daughter and then I got my wife and my younger daughter and dashed them to the shelter,” he recalled. “My mother was in between the shelter and the kitchen when we heard an enormous explosion that was followed by silence… it was terrible.”
The Wolf’s home was destroyed and two family dogs died in the explosion.
A Prophetic Dream
Our friends at One for Israel, a powerful media ministry sharing the Gospel with Israelis, is located in the area. One of their team members had a prophetic dream hours before the rocket hit.
In his dream he ran into the house and shouted to all the family to run into the bomb shelter to find refuge. With his alert everyone ran to shelter and closed the door and then there was a sudden blast outside. In the dream the blast ruined the entire house. Because of this dream the family woke up before the attack and the sirens went off. It’s pretty amazing God had revealed this dream to a young boy moments before, waking the family up to hear the sirens and take shelter. —One for Israel email
Israel’s Response
The Israeli military called up reserves, sent troops to the border and deployed additional Iron Dome missile defense batteries throughout the country after Monday’s rocket took the country by surprise. The IDF also shut down roads around the Gaza border and school was cancelled in the area on Tuesday.
Why Now?
My dear friends and colleague, Asher Intrater asked an Arab friend why Hamas was doing this now.
“In recent weeks there have been many protests against Hamas among the people of Gaza, under the slogan, ‘We want to live.’ And Hamas has murdered some of the protesters, broke the bones of others, and others were put in jail. The situation is very painful. As we have seen in the past, when the spotlight gets turned on Hamas, they know how to deflect the spotlight toward Israel, and so they start shooting rockets at Israel.By shooting the rockets, they cause the attention of the greater Arab world to be taken off Gaza and directed to Israel. It is a diversionary tactic. This happens every time there is criticism against Hamas.It is so sad. We have many contacts in Gaza; the people have no food to eat. The average salary is about 100 USD per month for those who are blessed enough even get such work.”
Let’s pray for a reconcile godly leaders in Gaza and for the Gospel to infiltrate region.
