IDF: Hamas Is Losing Control of Northern, Central Gaza Strip: Approximately 750,000 Gazan residents are moving to safer grounds in southern Gaza, amid indications that Hamas’s control over the northern and central regions of the territory is waning, according to Israeli media.
The IDF has been dropping leaflets advising residents not to get caught up in the conflict and to leave for safer areas. Human shields are a growing concern for Israel, with reports stating that Hamas plans to use the remaining 350,000 residents in the northern part of Gaza as shields, in a bid to forestall a ground invasion and offset ongoing air raids.
The number of Hamas rockets fired so far in the war is more than 7,000, and the IDF has targeted thousands of terror sites in Gaza and dozens in Lebanon. There have also been numerous incidents of anti-tank fire, rockets, mortars, and small arms fire from Lebanon.
Preparations for a potential ground invasion are underway, with IDF forces targeting strategic Hamas infrastructure. High-rises, suspected to house command centers, have been demolished, necessitating additional precautions against sniper threats from elevated positions.
In the past few days, Israel struck 320 Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip and also struck a terrorist cell in Lebanese territory, along with an anti-tank missile launch post overnight. (JPost / VFI News)
“God, we pray for an end to all hostilities occurring in Israel. We ask that You assist our defense forces in eliminating the terrorist organizations that have been wreaking havoc in our country. We pray that this will happen in the least compromising way and with minimal losses.”
The articles included in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Vision for Israel. We try to provide accurate reporting on news pertinent to Israel, the Middle East, the diaspora, and Jewish issues around the world—and we hope that you find it both informative and useful for intercessory prayer.
Israel Vows to Launch a Military Attack Against Iran If Hezbollah Joins the War with Hamas: Israel vowed to cut off “the head of the snake” and launch a military attack against Iran if Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah joins the war.
In an exclusive interview on Sunday, October 22, Nir Barkat, Israel’s Minister of Economy, warned that Iran’s Ayatollahs will be “wiped off the face of the earth” should Hezbollah, their proxy terror group in Lebanon, attack Israel.
In a direct threat to deter Tehran from intervening further, Mr Barkat warned that not only would Israel “eliminate Hezbollah”, if it believes the terror group is opening up a “northern front”, but “we will actually target Iran.”
“The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran. If our enemies attack, we will wipe them out.”
“The Ayatollahs in Iran are not going to sleep good at night, we are going to make sure they pay a heavy price if, God forbid, they open the northern front. Lebanon and Hezbollah are going to pay a heavy price, similar to what Hamas is going to pay.”
“The very clear message is that we are going to be going after the heads of Iran as well. When will we do that? When we decide.” Meanwhile, on the same day, Israel attacked two Syrian airports in Damascus and Aleppo amid real concern that forces and precision weaponry from Iran and Iraq were set to arrive and be deployed in Syria and Lebanon. (DM / VFI News)
“Lead me, Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies— make Your way straight before me.” – Psalm 5:8
IDF Stepping up Strikes to Create ‘Best Conditions’ for ‘Next Phase of War’ on Hamas: IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday night, October 21, that Israel was planning to enter “the next phase of the war in the best conditions [for us], not according to what anyone tells us. From today, we are increasing the strikes and minimizing the danger.”
Hagari added that Israel was “strong on defense and offense” on its northern borders but clarified that the “main mission is Gaza.” “That’s where Hamas is, and it’s where our abducted nationals are, and we are focused on Gaza,” he said.
The next day, defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a meeting at the Air Force operations headquarters with Air Force Chief Tomer Bar and high-ranking officers. Gallant was briefed on the Air Forces’ strikes in the Gaza Strip and on the northern border since the onset of the war and spoke about the offensive goals ahead of the expansion of the campaign in the Gaza Strip.
“In an operational aspect of the maneuver, in the end, nothing will stop the IDF. It is a combination of two things: one – the aerial capabilities, and the second – the ground maneuver. This has to be the last maneuver in Gaza, for the simple reason that after it, there will not be a Hamas,” Minister Gallant stated.
He added: “It’ll take a month, two months, three, but in the end, there will not be a Hamas.” (TOI / VFI News)
“And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” – Genesis 14:20
IDF Eliminates Senior Hamas Engineer: The IDF on Friday, October 20, eliminated Mahmud Sabih, a senior Hamas terrorist who served as a senior engineer and unit head in Hamas’ projects and development department, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
The department operated to increase Hamas’ weapons capabilities, exchanging knowledge with terrorist organizations across the Middle East, it added. Mahmud Sabih operated to facilitate the transfer of information for Hamas in the production of weapons and UAVs, said the IDF.
Earlier, overnight Thursday, the IDF struck over a hundred operational targets belonging to Hamas, including an underground tunnel, weapon warehouses, and dozens of operational command centers. During the strikes, Amjad Majed Muhammad Abu ‘Odeh, a Hamas naval operative who took part in the massacre of Israeli civilians in southern Israel, was also killed.
In addition, a terror squad belonging to the Hamas aerial array was neutralized in a targeted strike on Gaza City, after they attempted to fire rockets at a jet. The forces also destroyed terror assets and weapons located in a mosque in the Jabaliya neighborhood, which was used as an observation post and staging ground by Hamas terrorists. (INN / VFI News)
“God, we pray for a quick resolution of the dire situation in Israel. We ask that You bring justice to all Hamas members so that they can be punished for their heinous crimes. We pray that our defense forces will manage to fully eliminate this organization shortly, and all its proxies and re-establish peace and security in the Middle East.”
IDF Provides Proof of Hamas Rockets Launched Near Schools, Mosque: The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit unveiled aerial images on Sunday, October 22, captured during the Swords of Iron War, providing evidence of Hamas’s strategy of initiating rocket attacks in close proximity to civilian locales from within the Gaza Strip.
According to the IDF Spokesperson, these attacks are strategically launched near vulnerable public areas, including schools, kindergartens, and mosques, indicating a deliberate exploitation of these non-combatant populations. The rocket attacks are directed toward Israeli territory, underscoring Hamas’s intent to inflict damage and chaos on civilian lives in Israel.
Very recently, a failed rocket launch from within the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fell and damaged a hospital in Gaza.
The army spokesperson gave a press conference declaring that “an analysis of IDF operational systems indicates a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the hospital at the time it was hit. Intelligence from a few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible.” (JPost / VFI News)
“God, we ask that You shield innocent Israeli and Gazan civilians from the wrath of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. We pray that You spread Your protection over vulnerable populations and prevent them from being strategically exploited for malevolent purposes. We pray that there will be no more losses of innocent citizens’ lives and that the war in Israel will soon be over.”
Poll: Majority of Israelis Want Israel to Fight Until the Elimination of Hamas: A poll commissioned by the Israel Victory Project demonstrates overwhelming support among all sectors of the Israeli public for the primary objective of Operation Swords of Iron to be the elimination of Hamas.
When asked the question, “In the context of ‘Swords of Iron,’ what should be Israel’s primary objective?”, 70% of the public answered to “eliminate Hamas,” 15% answered to “secure the unconditional release of captives held by Hamas,” and 13% answered to “disarm Hamas completely.”
Interestingly, 54% of those who voted for an Arab party in the last election also replied: “eliminate Hamas” as their preferred objective of the operation. When poll respondents were given the option of launching a ground operation in Gaza to eradicate Hamas or avoiding a ground operation and finding another way to deal with Hamas, 68% chose the former and 25% the latter solution.
Since the beginning of the war, more than 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been murdered, over 5,300 people have been wounded, some 222 people were kidnapped and 2 American hostages were released on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Pediatric Association reports that almost 90% of Israeli children currently seeking treatment from their healthcare providers in pediatric hospitals report symptoms of anxiety. (INN / VFI News)
“God, we pray that You comfort every Israeli who has been afflicted by the devastating atrocities that have been committed in our country. We offer our deepest sympathy to everyone who has been personally affected and we ask for the immediate release of the 222 hostages. May they return safely to their families and may their wounds be healed.”
London Police Report 1,353% Rise in Antisemitic Hate Crimes Since Hamas Onslaught: Antisemitic hate crimes in London have soared amid the Israel-Hamas war, the British capital’s Metropolitan Police force said Friday, October 20.
The Met, the UK’s biggest police force, said there had been 218 antisemitic offenses in London between October 1 and 18, compared to 15 in the same period last year, a rise of 1,353 percent. The force added that Islamophobic crimes had also increased from 42 to 101 during the same period, up 140%.
Antisemitic crimes have also increased internationally; a hateful vandal scrawled the abhorrent message, “Kill the Jews” on the wall of a Manhattan subway station last week, alongside what appears to be a misshapen swastika.
Further, a Detroit synagogue president, Samantha Woll, was found stabbed to death outside her home in the downtown area of the city on Saturday morning.
Additionally, a document published Friday morning by the Palestinian Authority’s religious affairs department, and revealed by the research departments of Kol Yehudi and the Regavim movement, details a series of instructions and messages for Friday sermons, including sentences from the Sharia Law, among them the anti-Semitic hadith inciting the murder of Jews:
“The hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them, until the Jew hides behind the stones and trees and the stones or trees say, ‘O Muslim, O servant of Allah, this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” (TOI / VFI News)
“Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.” – Psalm 69:4
Hamas Blocking Americans from Leaving Gaza: Blinken: Hamas is preventing Americans and other foreign nationals from exiting the Gaza Strip, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday, October 22.
“The ball is in the Hamas’ court in terms of letting people who want to leave — civilians from third countries including Americans,” Blinken told American media.
When pressed about whether Hamas was preventing Americans from leaving Gaza, the US’s top diplomat responded, “That’s correct. We have US personnel on the other side of the border in Egypt, consular personnel,” he said, declining to outright specify whether any US personnel is presently in Gaza.
Later during the interview, Blinken stopped short of calling for that publicly but suggested Israel has a history of relenting on its military bombardment to make room for humanitarian assistance.
“We’ve seen first of all that in order to get assistance in, we’ve had that happen,” he said. “We want to make sure that we have sustained delivery of food, medicine, water, and things that people need.”
“At the same time … we have to remember Israel has to do everything it can to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said of the Hamas heinous assault earlier this month. “Freezing things in place where they are now would allow Hamas to remain where it is and to repeat what it’s done.” (NYP / VFI News)
The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.
