Chaim starts by saying that the sun is setting but his day is just getting started as a military drone can be heard overhead. He says one seldom gets a good night’s sleep in the IDF as one must stay up at night and keep watch to make sure the terrorists don’t strike the civilians as they like to do.
He goes on to say that the Ministry of Defense reported that 9250 Israelis have been wounded since the war began and they expect that number to be up over 14,000 by the end of the year.
He says that the battle against Hezbollah in Israel’s north continues at high intensity, with rocket barrages continuing and many attacks coming on a daily basis. At the same time, there is talk about a cease-fire in Gaza which Hezbollah says would prompt them to stop firing into Israel. However, this doesn’t address the threats they’ve made to physically invade the Galilee as Hamas invaded the Negev on October 7th, so there’s still a problem there.
But getting back to the cease-fire negotiations, there would be a three phase approach whereby in the first phase 33 Israeli hostages would be released including the remaining female hostages and men over 50. This would be accompanied by Israel releasing hundreds of Hamas terrorists from prison. Then in the second phase, an interim government would begin to administer the Strip, with forces from moderate Arab governments in the region possibly including Saudi Arabia. This interim government would begin to rebuild infrastructure like hospitals and so forth. In phase three, the remaining IDF soldiers being held hostage would be released.
Chaim says that Hamas is growing weaker and more disorganized. He and his comrades have found and destroyed many terrorist tunnels and this whole “deal” is touted as a way to finally (amongst other things) “normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia”, but we can’t forget that in Joel chapter 3 God warns us against making deals with His enemies, especially where giving up ANY of His Promised Land is concerned;
“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my Land.”