Eleven times since the current Israeli-Gaza conflict started in mid-summer (2014), Hamas has violated or rejected a ceasefire.  Today, in the midst of truce negotiations going on in Cairo, rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel.  As a result, the Israeli Home Front ordered all public bomb shelters within 50 miles of the Gaza Strip opened up.

At least 8 rockets were fired at Tel Aviv, with one landing on a highway.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recalled the negotiation team from Cairo due to Hamas’s continued violation of ceasefire agreements.  Immediately following that announcement, a Hamas spokesperson stated, “If Netanyahu doesn’t understand…the language of politics in Cairo, we know how to make him understand.”  Meanwhile, talking out of both sides of the mouth, Hamas spokesman Sami abu Zuhri denied Hamas’s responsibility of the attacks stating that Hamas “has no knowledge of the rocket fire from the territory of the Gaza Strip. The attacks intended to topple the negotiations in Cairo and Israel is responsible.”  Minutes later, the Iron Dome intercepted rockets over Netivot.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett commented, “When you negotiate with terrorists, you get more terror.”  Indeed, that statement appears to be true.

Friends, in light of the great need for peace in the Middle East, I hope you will join Anne Graham Lotz in a new prayer initiative, 911: An Urgent Call to Prayer for Jerusalem.