Latest / The Daily Article / Will Israel seek to occupy all of the Gaza Strip? Four options and a providential alternative

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Will Israel seek to occupy all of the Gaza Strip? Four options and a providential alternative · The Daily Article

• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Greetings on this Wednesday, August the Sixth, twenty twenty five.
• 0:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're glad you've joined us for Denison forums, daily article podcast.
• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Chris Elkins, narrator, giving voice to today's daily article written by our CEO, Dr. Jim Denison.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering ordering the complete reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.
• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Israel's security cabinet is due to meat tomorrow and would need to approve any such action.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, senior officials have warned that the plan could endanger the remaining hostages risk further international isolation of Israel and require the IDF to administer a population in which Hamas fighters would still be present.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: The IDF says it already controls more than seventy-five percent of Gaza.
• 0:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: According to the UN, only twelve percent of the enclave is outside the Israeli military zone, or areas not affected by IDF evacuation orders.
• 1:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: The majority of the population now lives in tent encampments in the southern part of the strip.
• 1:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: The idea of Israel occupying all of Gaza raises several questions, chief among them, what about the hostages?
• 1:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hamas abducted two hundred and fifty one hostages in the October seventh attack of whom two hundred and two have been recovered.
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Twenty are presumed to be still alive while twenty nine are thought to be dead.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Video released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week showed two hostages in a visibly fragile state.
• 1:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: The international red cross said it was appalled by the videos and urged that the dire situation must come to an end.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal have been stalled for some time.
• 1:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: As a result, President Trump has reportedly given Mr. Netanyahu a green light to launch a more aggressive military operation against Hamas.
• 2:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: while making plans to significantly increase the U.S.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: role in providing humanitarian aid in the on-clave.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Israel has insisted since October the seventh, twenty twenty three that Hamas must be disarmed and dismantled and that all hostages must be returned.
• 2:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: They are now considering four options.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: One, they could continue negotiations to secure the release of the hostages.
• 2:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some speculate that reported plans to occupy all of Gaza are, in fact, a pressure tactic to force Hamas into a new deal.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, the terrorists have said they will not relinquish the hostages apart from guarantees of Hamas's survival, which Israel sees as tantamount to permitting another October seventh in the future.
• 2:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Two, the IDF could stage hostage rescue operations.
• 2:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, the hostages are believed to be hidden deep underground in Hamas' extensive tunnel network, and hostages freed from captivity have said their captors were under orders to kill them if they thought Israeli troops were approaching.
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: A third option is real could clear the seventy-five percent of Gaza's yitt controls and attack Hamas in the remaining twenty-five percent until submission.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, this will require operations in areas where hostages are currently being held.
• 3:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: And forth, the IDF could seek to control all of Gaza, including areas heavily fortified by Hamas.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, this increases the possibility of a rise in military casualties and puts the hostages at risk.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: What Israel cannot do is continue the present stalemate.
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: The hostages are getting weaker and public sentiment is rising for their return.
• 3:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Shay Hartzvi, former acting director of Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry warns
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: If nothing is done, it will only get worse for Israel and for the hostages."
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: As you can see, each of these options is fraught with potential danger.
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: As a result, let's consider an option I haven't seen reported by the secular media, but one with abundant biblical precedent.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: When Samson was imprisoned in Gaza, he prayed for divine assistant in Judges XVI versus XIIIII through XIII and was then empowered to destroy the temple of their god dog on and kill many Philistines.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Similarly, according to Second King's eighteen verses three and eight, when King Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, God empowered him and he struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory from Watchtower to fortified city.
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: We can therefore pray for miraculous intervention by which the terrorists are defeated, the hostages liberated, and the Palestinian and Israeli people freed from Hamas's despotic threat.
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: God could do this through military means, as with Samson and Hizakaya, or he could use political and cultural avenues.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: For example, the leader of an independent Palestinian group in Gaza recently published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal stating that his movement opposes Hamas and seeks a peaceful future for their people.
• 5:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Top Palestinian officials in the West Bank similarly want to establish their own Emirate, join the Abraham Accords, recognize the state of Israel, and secure peace for their people.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps God will use such leaders in Gaza to overthrow Hamas from within.
• 5:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps he will intervene miraculously to defeat them without further bloodshed.
• 5:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps the terrorists will experience eight Damascus road-type spiritual awakening, turn to Christ, and repent of their atrocities.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps God will acting yet another way to bring this crisis to a peaceful end.
• 6:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how God might answer our prayers for Gaza.
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I do know is that if we don't pray, Scripture says in James four verse two, you do not have because you do not ask.
• 6:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: With the human options so limited, perhaps our Lord will redeem this horrible conflict by acting in ways that demonstrate His omnipotent providence.
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: The eleventh centuries, St.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Anselom of Canterbury noted, God does not delay to hear our prayers because He has no mind to give, but that, by enlarging our desire, He may give us the more largely.
• 6:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: As a result, the greater our prayers, the greater God's answers.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Will you pray for great answers from God today?