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US REACHES DEAL WITH TALIBAN FOR CEASEFIRE, WITHDRAWAL

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US Army personnel prepare to evacuate a wounded service member in Afghanistan (Credit: Scott Olson, via DailyBeast.com)

US negotiators have reportedly reached a tentative ceasefire agreement with the Afghan government and the Islamist Taliban group in Afghanistan to begin political negotiations and the draw-down of international forces in the war-torn nation. The news comes after several failed efforts during both the Obama and Trump administrations to reach an agreement, which were often scuttled as a result of attacks by Taliban factions meant to disrupt the peace effort and prolong the conflict. Details of the negotiations were released to the press yesterday by anonymous sources involved in the process and are expected to be formally announced within the coming days.

The latest ceasefire deal calls for an immediate reduction in violence, including bombings and rocket attacks, to be sustained until political negotiations begin between the Afghani government and the Taliban in early March. The Taliban have reportedly already agreed to the conditions of deescalation. The deal represents the strict Islamist organization’s first opportunity to gain international legitimacy after seizing power in Afghanistan 25 years ago. If implemented, the plan would begin a process of withdrawing the majority of the almost 13,000 US troops currenty stationed in Afghanistan over the course of 18 months.

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Author, teacher and FAI board member Joel Richardson recently interviewed a leader in the Afghan underground church on his show, The Underground, to discuss the reasons behind the rapid multiplication of disciples in her home nation.

Almost 2,400 US service members have been killed either fighting or supporting the Afghanistan War since the US invasion in October, 2001, and more than 20,000 have been wounded. Almost 160,000 Afghans have died violently in the war, including 115,000 combatants and over 43,000 civilians. Poverty, hunger and the illicit drug trade have ravaged the country in the intervening years, making a negotiated end to the war a top priority for the United States, NATO and the Afghan government.

At the same time, the re-entrance of the Taliban into Afghan politics raises uncertainties, especially for women and minority populations in Afghanistan who have made significant gains in the past two decades after being brutally repressed and persecuted under Taliban rule in the late 1990’s. Although the Taliban is not a jihadist organization and has only local aspirations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it nonetheless acted as a safe haven and a conduit for al-Qaeda in the years running up to 9/11. We would ask our global partners to pray for our political leaders during this critical time, that they would be granted divine wisdom in negotiating and implementing a peace plan that both ends the war and secures the hard-fought advances made for Afghan civilians over the last two decades. We also intercede for the burgeoning underground church in Afghanistan; for a divine hedge of protection around them and for seasons of continued fruitfulness as the gospel continues to make inroads among the poor and desperate in that unreached nation.

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12 IDF WOUNDED IN JERUSALEM ATTACK, 2 OTHERS WOUNDED ELSEWHERE

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IDF soldiers of the Golani brigade attend their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem, Feb 6, 2019 (via Steve Carpenter on Facebook).

A car ramming attack near the First Train Station in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening wounded at least 12 members of the IDF’s Golani Brigade. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reported on Thursday afternoon that the attacker has been safely apprehended. The Golani troops were in Jerusalem for their swearing in ceremony at the Kotel (Western Wall) on Thursday. The wounded soldiers still managed to attend the event.

The Jerusalem attack is the most severe so far in a string of terrorist attacks across Israel in the last 24 hours after the Hamas terrorist organization called for an escalation in “confrontation with the occupation and their settlers.”

  • An attempted stabbing attack against an Israeli police officer on the Temple Mount resulted in light wounds to the officer and the neutralization of the attacker.

  • Another attacker shot at IDF troops in the West Bank border town of Qalqilya, also wounding one soldier, before they returned fire.

  • Israeli residents in the West Bank settlements of Neria, Talmon, Dolev, Zeit Ra'anan and Harsha were ordered to stay indoors after a drive-by shooting attack. No confirmation of casualties at this time. .

  • Three balloons with improvised explosive devices (IED’s) attached exploded near Sderot, next to the Gaza Strip.

  • A stabbing attack is under investigation in Ashkelon, near the Gaza Strip.

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Watch FAI’s groundbreaking film Covenant and Controversy III: The Great Trouble to learn more about where where this conflict is headed.

The attacks come as the IDF announced that additional troop reinforcements are headed into the West Bank amid ongoing riots and attacks in the disputed region, including ongoing confrontations in Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem and East Jerusalem. Palestinian militant groups have vowed conflict with the Israeli military and settler populations on multiple fronts after a Palestinian teenager was killed in Hebron yesterday while lobbing a Molotov Cocktail at an IDF soldier.

Tensions have steadily escalated in the Palestinian territories after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas rejected US President Trump’s latest peace initiative, the so-called Deal of the Century, refusing to even take calls from Trump or to read the document. Egypt and the Gulf States have expressed optimism regarding the plan and have encouraged both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to carefully consider it.

We ask our global partners to join us in intercession for all of the people of Israel today. We pray for the full recovery of wounded IDF soldiers and a divine shield of protection around all IDF personnel, as well as innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and for the demonic designs of violent men to be exposed and thwarted. Please lift up the FAI teams in Israel as well, as we seek opportunities to bless and minister to all the people of Israel.

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Partner with FAI as we build on the edge of the growing eye of the storm in the Golan Heights. Our Legacy Center will stand as a bastion of solidarity with a Jewish Jerusalem as well as a beacon of refuge and hope for the surrounding nations.

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ISRAEL STRIKES THREATS ON TWO FRONTS

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Archival footage of an Israeli airstrike on Damascus (Uncredited, via Reuters)

At least four airstrikes rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus and its surrounding environs early Thursday morning. Several amateur videos posted online showed incoming missile fire over Damascus and outgoing surface-to-air retaliatory fire as Syrian state media reported it was engaging “enemy targets” in its airspace. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strikes, although Israel has admitted to conducting hundreds of strikes in Syria and Iraq over the past six years, mostly targeting weapons pipelines of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Lebanese Hezbollah and high-ranking members of Palestinian terrorist groups.

The targeted facilities in Damascus reportedly include a military airport, a research facility and a base that houses Syria’s 75th Brigade. There is no confirmation of damage or casualties at this time, nor has an objective been determined, although Syrian intelligence analysts generally agree that the IRGC and Lebanese Hezbollah are active in and around Damascus.

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Watch FAI’s groundbreaking film Covenant and Controversy III: The Great Trouble to learn more about where where this conflict is headed.

News of the airstrikes in Syria broke immediately following confirmation by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) that Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza strikes came after another day of explosive balloons and mortar attacks terrorized Israeli citizens in the so-called “Gaza Envelope”. The Israeli Army confirmed airstrikes on several positions belonging to Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the sequestered strip.

Hamas called for “escalating confrontations with the occupation and its settlers” today after three incidents involving Molotov Cocktails in the West Bank city of Hebron. Often a flash point of tension, Hebron has been seething since US President Trump’s joint news conference with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu last week, in which he announced his “Deal of the Century” Israeli-Palestinian peace accord - a plan which was roundly rejected across the board by Palestinian leadership. On Sunday, an IDF soldier was struck by a Molotov Cocktail while patrolling in Hebron, followed by a Border Patrol officer in the same city the next day. Monday’s attack resulted in light injuries to the officer, whose clothing was briefly ignited by the projectile. Then on Tuesday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian in the act of lobbing yet another Molotov Cocktail in their direction. The death of Palestinian youth engaged in “resistance” against Israel is often a lightning rod for Palestinian factions who propagandize the death of children as a pretext for bellicose rhetoric and increased violence.

CLICK TO BUILD

Partner with FAI as we build on the edge of the growing eye of the storm in the Golan Heights. Our Legacy Center will stand as a bastion of solidarity with a Jewish Jerusalem as well as a beacon of refuge and hope for the surrounding nations.

Sources:

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1225213839052038145

https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1225143061459566594

https://twitter.com/ignis_fatum/status/1225142384079638528

https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1225089499010564097

https://twitter.com/JudahAriGross/status/1225086344936009728

https://twitter.com/wakaltyaqein/status/1225071637269241857

https://twitter.com/Omar_Gaza/status/1225189861608562688

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1225208434267697153

https://twitter.com/Mulhak/status/1225207475097554949

https://twitter.com/Mulhak/status/1225206439721029633

https://twitter.com/MGhorab3/status/1225206402215489536

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1225202820942618629

https://twitter.com/HadiAlabdallah/status/1225199302479360000

https://twitter.com/m3nati/status/1225197562963144705

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1225217515011411969

https://twitter.com/Omar_Gaza/status/1225198321003831299

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRUTQgoynf0&feature=youtu.be

https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Border-Police-officer-IDF-soldier-hit-by-Molotov-cocktails-in-clashes-616365

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-calls-for-increased-confrontations-with-israel-and-settlers/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/molotov-cocktail-explodes-on-border-policeman-in-hebron/

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/syrian-air-defenses-intercept-israeli-missiles-over-damascus-state-media-says-1.8501073

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275639

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/world/middleeast/israel-iran-strike-syria-tunnels.html

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LINES DRAWN FOR AND AGAINST ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE

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LINES DRAWN FOR AND AGAINST ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE

The commander of IRGC made phone calls to the leaders of Hamas and Palestine to discuss united opposition to US President Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”