(Day 731) Swords of Iron – “Where are the hostages?

Chaim starts by talking about how he’s been mobilized in this war for two years, which is 10% of his adult life, and he’s seen and participated in many of the war’s most well-known campaigns. However, now is a special time because it is the Feast of Tabernacles and it’s time for the people of Israel to build temporary, flimsy structures to remind ourselves of the Exodus from Egypt when God watched over us and protected and provided for us despite the desperately insecure situation we were in.

Chaim also mentions that the Feast of Tabernacles is also called the Feast of the Ingathering, and so he draws a connection between that and the need for all of Israel’s hostages to be freed so they can come home and be reunited with their families.

But in the meantime, he and many more IDF soldiers have to clear the tunnels in Gaza City, including many shafts that were dug underneath hospitals and other civilian infrastructure. He says that he is part of this effort and that Hamas makes it very obvious that their desire is just to steal, kill and destroy Israeli lives.

As proof of this, Chaim talks about a captured Nukba Force terrorist who was interogated and the interogator asked him a simple question about what he saw as the future of Gaza and the man had nothing to say except “as long as I’m alive, I’ll be killing Jews.” He had no vision for the futuere beyond that. Chaim says that President Trump has warned Iran also that they must make other plans, that if they resume their nuclear program, “massive bloodshed” will result.

President Trump has also warned Hamas that they must take the deal he’s offering to end this conflict, or the IDF will be unleashed to finally wipe them out.

However, there is a lot of pressure on them to release the hostages and end the war, including pressure coming from Turkey and Qatar and other Muslim countries in the region. In the meantime, the IDF is holding in defensive positions, waiting to see what happens next.

However, this war is not only being fought on a kinetic battlefield; there’s also a PR battlefield in cyberspace, in the media and elsewhere. Qatar has influencers it can pay to say things that support its narrative in almost every imaginable online space, and Hamas has many other tentacles and supporters in positions of influence all over the world.

In the midst of all this, Israel is keeping an eye on Iran, knowing that this front could erupt again at any moment. But Chaim reminds his viewers of the lesson of Tabernacles, that God is on the Throne and He has a plan, and that plan WILL come to fruition, so Chaim urges his viewers to stay strong, stay true to their calling and as Thanksgiving is coming up next month, they should remember to give thanks that they are part of this plan and part of this movement.