As Soldiers Stand Ready, Netanyahu Calls War on Hamas a ‘Test for All Humanity’

JERUSALEM, Israel – Nearly three weeks into the war between Hamas and Israel, the Israeli ground invasion is still on hold, and the fate of more than 200 hostages is still in the balance.

Overnight, the Israeli Defense Forces (I.D.F.) conducted a raid into the northern Gaza Strip. They struck a number of Hamas targets, they said, in order to prepare the battlefield for the next stage of combat.

On the ground, many soldiers are ready.

“As far as why we’re not operating, I don’t know why, exactly,” noted Master Sgt. Doron Keidar. “There’s rumors because of the cabinet, the Prime Minister. I don’t care. As far as the military’s concerned, we are ready. We are prepped. We’ve been training and we’ve been over training, and we have been honing in our tactics, in my unit, at least.  And I can tell you as far as we’re concerned, we’re more than ready to go in, to operate and get things done.” 

There are reports Israel is delaying the ground invasion while the U.S. moves more resources into the region to deter a widening war.

Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation. He said the time of the ground invasion will be determined by the war cabinet, and he added what’s at stake.  

“We are concerned by one thing – saving the country, achieving victory,” the prime minister stated. “Our war against Hamas is a test for all of humanity. It is a fight between the Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas axis of evil and the forces of freedom and progress. Light will defeat darkness.”

In Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah met with leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas – their first reported meeting since the start of the war. 

The Wall Street Journal also reported that as many as 500 Hamas terrorists trained inside Iran before the massacre on October 7th.

In the meantime, the I.D.F. continues to bomb Hamas targets in Gaza City. A Hamas spokesman said 6,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, a number President Joe Biden questions.

“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden said. “I’m sure innocents have been killed and it’s a price of waging a war. But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”

The president also believes the Hamas attack was designed to disrupt peace in the Middle East.

“I’m convinced one of the reasons Hamas attacked when they did – and I have no proof of this, just my instinct tells me – is because of the progress we were making towards regional integration for Israel and regional integration overall. And we can’t leave that work behind.”

On Wednesday night, the Global Day of Prayer for the Hostages and the Missing linked Jews around the world in prayer from Jerusalem.

Meirav Gonon is the mother of a girl who was kidnapped by Hamas. She told the gathering, “I was with her on the phone at 10:14, when she called me and said to me, ‘Mommy, I was shot.’ Just imagine how a mother will feel when she hears a daughter on the phone, far away from her, saying, ‘I was shot.’”

Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht from Aish Israel took part in the event as well. He told CBN News, “We feel the pain globally of the families that their kids were murdered, butchered, kidnapped. And we wanted to bring an evening of solidarity for Jews around the world, that they can tune in live – that they can hear the story and unite in prayer. That is why it is so important, because we’re one family and we care for one another.”

It is this reliance on prayer and God’s word that is a source of strength to many at this time.

At the end of his national address, Netanyahu quoted the Bible.

“With shared forces, with deep faith in the justice of our cause, and in the eternity of Israel, we will realize the prophecy of Isaiah 60:18 – ‘Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation nor destruction within your borders, but you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise.’”

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