Rockets Rain on Southern Israel // FAI ONLINE

UPDATED 8:15 PM Jerusalem Time - An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deadline came and went at 8:00 PM Jerusalem time Sunday as one of the most intense barrages of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip sent Israeli citizens scrambling into bomb shelters in southern Israel and Tel Aviv. In total, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has fired over 800 rockets and uncounted mortars towards Israel, with over 180 rockets landing inside the Gaza Strip, and about 300 interceptions by the Iron Dome system. The interception rate has been above 97%, the highest ever. At least 32 Gazan Palestinians have been killed so far, mostly militants, but also 10 civilians. At least 6 of those civilians were killed by an errant PIJ rocket. Several dozen Israelis have been hospitalized for minor, secondary injuries. Material damage to Israeli homes and infrastructure has been reported, caused by several rockets that have evaded Iron Dome, with no casualties. The IDF reports that the entire PIJ senior leadership has been killed or captured in Operation Breaking Dawn.

Israeli citizens in the nation’s south spent the night in bomb shelters on Friday as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Israeli military (IDF) traded rocket fire and airstrikes for hours. Israeli operation “Breaking Dawn” began Friday when the IDF assassinated PIJ commander Tayseer Jabari, a senior figure within the terrorist organization responsible for operational planning and execution of attacks on Israel. The IDF had arrested PIJ’s top commander in the West Bank earlier in the week, after which Jabari reportedly planned an “anti-tank” operation against the IDF near Gaza in retaliation. Breaking Dawn was announced by the IDF as a pre-emptive strike to prevent the planned PIJ attack.

Following Jabari’s death, PIJ began firing rockets into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, triggering Red Alert warnings and air raid sirens in cities such as Sderot, Ashkelon, Beersheva, and even Tel Aviv. As of late Saturday, over 400 rockets had been fired, with over 160 intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system as they approached urban areas. The IDF has retaliated with dozens of airstrikes against PIJ sites and personnel, including at least four residential buildings, several rocket launching sites, bases and military outposts inside the Gaza enclave. The head of the IDF’s operational directorate claimed Saturday that, according to “all available information,” the IDF has wiped out the entire PIJ senior leadership in the Gaza Strip. A separate IDF operation in the West Bank netted 19 members of the militant group there.

In total, at least 24 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed so far in the operation and over 200 injured. Several of those deaths have been caused by 94 errant rockets which were fired by PIJ but landed inside Gaza, including a tragic misfire which killed 7 civilians in the Gaza city of Jabaliya. On the Israeli side, although Iron Dome successfully intercepted over 95% of rockets approaching towns and cities, at least two eluded the defense system, impacting a residential home in Sderot and a public street in Ashkelon. No injuries were reported in either incident.

Meanwhile, the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad met with the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran on Saturday. IRGC Commander Hossein Salami vowed to continue Iran’s support for the PIJ “until the end” and promised that Israel “will pay another heavy price for the recent crime.” PIJ commander Ziyad al-Nakhalah praised the IRGC for its support of his organization. The Iranian regime is the largest patron of the Hamas and PIJ terrorist groups inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

As incidents of war, strife, earthquakes and famines continue to mount across the Middle East, we would ask the Maranatha global community to continue in prayer for unreached people groups across the region. We pray for the schemes of the enemy to be restrained, for divine wisdom to be granted to international leaders, and for each calamity and catastrophe to open “wide, effectual doors” for laborers of the Mideast harvest fields.

Maranatha!