Hi friends! There is often a gap in understanding what life is like in Gaza. Mainstream media and social media don’t help matters, as reports are often skewed based on leftist viewpoints.

However, the best view of what Gaza is like is to be there yourself. While I doubt most of us have or will enter Gaza anytime soon, it seems valuable to hear from someone who just finished his reserve service in Gaza.

Taken from Amir Tsarfati’s telegram platform, contemplate this account of what Gaza is like:

1. Gaza is seen as a backward area, the "most densely populated in the world" which has been under Israeli "siege" for years. There is no bigger lie than this. Gaza is a modern, beautiful and developed city - with large and well-equipped houses, wide boulevards, public spaces, a promenade by the sea and parks. Looks much better than any other Arab city from the Jordan to the sea, much more similar to Tel Aviv than Kfar Qasim or Umm Al Fahem. And of course it is very far from being "the densest in the world".


2. If it's a siege, let me live in a siege - the houses are bursting with goods and food from all the countries of the Middle East, the latest furniture, advanced electrical equipment and what not. There are also luxury estates that would not embarrass Savion and Kfar Shmariahu. There is absolutely no shortage of wealth in Gaza. In general, most of the houses I've been in were much bigger than the apartment I live in in Tel Aviv. The sentence "If only they had a chance for a good life, they wouldn't fight in Israel" is simply not relevant to Gaza.


3. The most common thing in the homes of the Gaza Strip: the map of Israel - under the heading "Map of Palestine". There is no mention of Israel or Israeli settlements in general.

And it is found in almost every home, in every school and in every public institution, the goal of erasing the State of Israel is neither hidden nor restrained, it is almost everywhere. The historical distortion of this map, which is taught from the age of 0 (mandatory borders of territories that were never all designated for an Arab state) is a topic for another discussion that only emphasizes the distorted perception of reality by the residents of Gaza.


4. In all the neighborhoods we were in, there are ready-made Hamas combat compounds - weapons, tunnels, charges, launching compounds, all inside residential houses, some of which are also prepared with openings in the walls for passing between buildings and what not. The residents of the Gaza Strip who live in the combat zones know this, they have received countless notices to evacuate. Long before the IDF entered. The Israel Defense Forces' announcements are still there everywhere. Those who decided to stay in the fighting areas are either Hamas members in various positions or people who consciously decided to stay in the areas used by Hamas for fighting, their consideration is with them.


5. Hamas members rarely go around armed. They are neither stupid nor suckers. They know they won't be shot if they go in "civilian" guise. They prepare for the IDF ahead of time at the entrances to the buildings and arm themselves just a moment before they attack. That is why the fighting is much more complex than any other arena and anyone who tries to judge from the outside why soldiers shot X or didn't shoot Y should go into Gaza for a week or two and come back with insights.


6. The circle that enables the activity of Hamas is much larger than its tens of thousands of terrorists. The ideology of Hamas is found in almost every home, in pictures, in propaganda materials. Hamas in Gaza is like Messi in Argentina.


7. The strengthening of Hamas at this level requires the active assistance of the population. There is no way that the residents of the compounds where we located rockets and weapons did not know that the place is used as a launching compound where they try to massacre Israelis every day. And I find it hard to believe that the parents in the kindergarten where there was a tunnel shaft in one of which we were in do not know this. Who chooses to send their children to a kindergarten that serves as a terrorist infrastructure?


8. Hamas's strongest weapon is lies and propaganda. It's his fuel. This is how you will maintain the "siege" lie for years, this is how they are doing now with the photos of the innocent victims and the killing of the "journalists" who turn out to be terrorist operatives.
~Roy Yanovski, following 100 days of reserve service.

For years, on tours to Israel, I was blessed with opportunities to meet Palestinians in various settings. I have met Palestinians who seem to be the most hospitable and welcoming people anywhere. Some were openly grateful they had jobs in Israel (outside the Gaza Strip). Many Palestinians I’ve met are believers in Jesus and some are far more zealous to spread the Word of God than those of us who live easier Christian lives in the west.

But I must admit, learning of the extreme support of Hamas by the vast majority of Palestinians causes me to wonder who is trustworthy and who isn’t. The “fruit on the tree” of Christian Palestinians I have met is obvious and the work they do is undeniably God-honoring. But, beyond those believers, it seems very difficult to place any degree of trust in those apart from the Lord.

Scripture seems to hint that a wedge will be driven between those committed to the Lord and those who deny Him and prefer evil over righteousness. Perhaps we’re seeing a magnification of that division in the Middle East.

Pray for Christian Palestinians. It is definitely a difficult world in which they live. Pray also for God to deal with those bent on spreading evil. Based on the testimony above, it seems there are plenty who fit that category.