The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Israel in the Crosshairs

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The war that broke out in July between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip was a war perpetrated by Hamas when it started launching missile attacks into Israel. The Israelis responded in self-defense.

Yet, the world condemned Israel for a “disproportionate response” because hundreds of civilians have been killed.

Who is Hamas, and what are its objectives? Hamas is the Arabic word for zeal. It is also the acronym for the name of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Arabic. The group was established by the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood at the outset of the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising) that began in December of 1987 and continued until October of 1991.

Hamas has two goals. Its first goal is to take over the leadership of the Palestinian people from Fatah (formerly the PLO). Hamas is a fundamentalist, radical Islamic terrorist group that desires to create a Palestinian state under Sharia Law. Fatah, in stark contrast, is a secular, nationalist political organization.

The second goal of Hamas is to eradicate the state of Israel. Whereas Fatah has at least indicated that it might accept the two-state solution proposed by the Western world, with Jewish and Palestinian states existing side-byside, Hamas is adamant about the annihilation of Israel.

In 2006 Hamas won the elections in the Gaza Strip and began killing off its Fatah opponents who control the larger Palestinian area called The West Bank. Recently, Hamas fell on hard times when it lost its financial support from both Egypt and Syria due to the Syrian civil war and the takeover of Egypt by the military. This forced Hamas into the formation of a unity government with Fatah in April of this year.

Today Hamas is funded primarily by Iran. And now that they have formed a unity government with Fatah, they are receiving funds from the United States! That’s because we give the Palestinian Authority a total of almost 500 million dollars per year.

That means the Obama Administration is violating U.S. law because the 2006 Palestinian Anti-Terror Act bans our nation from giving aid to any Palestinian government in which Hamas has “undue influence.”

Hamas is a ruthless terrorist organization that deals recklessly with the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians. In violation of international law and the rules of war, Hamas shoots unguided missiles into Israel — a total of 450 since the first of the year, before Israel decided to respond.

But what most people are unaware of, and what the international media fail to report, is that the leaders of Hamas are equally reckless with the lives of their own people. Part of their strategy is to maximize the casualties among the Palestinians in order to rally world public opinion against “the evil Israelis who kill innocent civilians.”

How do they do this? In various diabolical ways. They launch their missiles from schools, hospitals, private homes and mosques with the hope that any Israeli response will result in a maximum of civilian injuries and deaths. Normally, before the Israelis attack a target, they will warn in advance by dropping leaflets or calling the target by phone. They do this to give civilians sufficient time to flee. But Hamas will call upon civilians to occupy the targeted buildings as “human shields,” and if their appeal fails, they will often force them by gunpoint to occupy the buildings — while the Hamas leaders hide in their underground bunkers.

The Hamas Interior Ministry issued instructions on how to respond to war casualties. The guidelines stated that “anyone killed is to be called an ‘innocent civilian’ regardless of whether or not the person might be a combatant.”

The hypocrisy of the world toward Israel is galling. There is not a single nation on planet earth that would sit idly by and tolerate someone shooting missiles at its people. Yet, Israel is always told “to be patient” and “to exercise restraint.” And when Israel does respond, it is always accused of taking “disproportionate action.”

Winning a war requires disproportionate action. Did we practice restraint in World War II when we demanded “unconditional surrender,” when we fire-bombed Dresden and Tokyo, and when we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Why is it that every nation in the world is entitled to exercise self-defense except Israel? Why are other nations allowed to fight to victory whereas Israel must stop short?

Of course, the answer to these questions is very simple. It is summed up in one word: anti-Semitism. The bottom line is that the world hates the Jews, and the world will condemn them regardless of what they do.

Thus, in 2005 the international community, led by the United States, demanded that Israel abandon the Gaza Strip as part of the “land for peace” strategy that was launched in 1991 by President George H. W. Bush. Israel complied and pulled out. Terrorist groups, like Hamas, immediately rushed to fill the vacuum, and they turned Gaza into a rat’s nest of terrorism and a launching pad for missiles. And when Israel responded in 2012, whom did the world condemn?

The whole world, blinded by vehement anti-Semitism, is coming together against Israel, just as prophesied in Zechariah 12:1-3. But “He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

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Dr. David Reagan

Dr. David Reagan is the Founder and Evangelist Emeritus of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher and he led over 45 pilgrimages to Israel. Dr. Reagan was the host of the radio then television program Christ in Prophecy for nearly 40 years.

1 CommentLeave a Comment

  • Hamas are a bunch of cowardly, gutless, lady-boys who use their own kids, women and elderly as their shields. After lighting the blue touch-paper to their aimlessly wandering bang bangs, they scuttle, squeaking and squealing back into the dark of their rat holes for fear of putting a run in their hose, or snapping a heel off their stilettos.

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