“I will bless those who bless Israel.”
Genesis 12:3
Shalom, my friend!
Thank you for your love and compassion for the Jewish people – in Israel, Ukraine and around the world.
I’m so grateful that you are willing to stand with God’s Chosen People and their neighbors through your ongoing prayers and financial support. And I pray you’ll experience a special outpouring of God’s blessing on you for your faithfulness for His people.
Please join us in praying for God’s strength, protection, love and blessing to be upon His people, wherever they are around the world. And that He draws them to Himself through the Good News of Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah.
Thank you again for your special partnership.
GANTZ: PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INDICATES AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST WASN’T KILLED BY IDF FIRE
Late last week, Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while covering an Israeli counter-terror raid in Jenin. The Qatar-based news outlet attributed her killing to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
According to the Jewish News Syndicate, Israel’s Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, responded to the tragic death by saying that preliminary findings from the military’s investigation into the shooting indicates that Akleh was not killed by Israeli forces.
Addressing the Knesset, Defense Minister Gantz also said that “we have seen footage of indiscriminate shooting by Palestinian terrorists, which is likely to have hit the journalist.” However, he emphasized that the investigation into the tragic event was ongoing.
In an official statement, according to Jewish News Syndicate, Defense Minister Gantz said, “I would like to express my sorrow at the loss of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The State of Israel values the protection of human life above all, as well as freedom of press. IDF troops would never intentionally harm members of the press, and any attempt to imply otherwise is baseless.”
Gantz also expressed his support for “our defense forces and to all the units that work solely to maintain our security and to reflect the truth,” adding, “We will communicate our findings in a clear and transparent manner to our American friends, as well as to the Palestinian Authority.”
RUSSIAN-UKRAINE WAR: NEARLY 100 CHILDREN KILLED IN APRIL ALONE
The Jerusalem Post reports, quoting findings from international nonprofit UNICEF, that nearly 100 children were killed in Ukraine in April alone as a result of the Russian invasion of the country.
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi said, “We believe the actual figures to be considerably higher.”
The Ukrainian armed forces announced late last week that Russia has been shelling the northwestern Ukrainian district of Chernihiv. A Ukrainian media outlet reported that schools, office buildings and homes were damaged, and there are casualties. The extent of the death toll is still being determined by rescuers and medics currently on the scene.
Russian news agencies confirmed that its forces hit two ammunition depots in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution by a strong majority late last week that will set up an investigation into allegations of rights abuses by Russian troops in parts of Ukraine formerly under their control.
U.N. Human Rights Chief, Michelle Bachelet, said that a thousand bodies had been recovered in the area of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, in recent weeks, adding that many of the violations it is verifying since the Russian invasion may amount to war crimes.
“The scale of unlawful killings, including indicia of summary executions in areas to the north of Kiev, is shocking,” Bachelet told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. Bachelet also stated that casualties in the city of Mariupol are “in the thousands.”
HAMAS APPEALS TO RUSSIA FOR SUPPORT IN CONFRONTATION WITH ISRAEL
According to Al-Monitor, a Hamas delegation recently visited Moscow at a time when relations between Russia and Israel are taking a more tense turn due to Israel’s position in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Al-Monitor reports that relations between Moscow and Tel Aviv turned sour after the latter condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine and considered it a “flagrant violation of the international order.”
In addition, Al-Monitor reports that Israeli President Isaac Herzog demanded that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov apologize for statements he made regarding the Jewishness of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his connection to Nazism, and for Lavrov’s remarks that “Hitler had Jewish blood.”
A leading source in Hamas who was among the visiting delegation to Moscow told Al-Monitor, on condition of anonymity, that this visit was “unique and exceptional” in terms of the delegation’s members and the topics discussed with Russian officials.
The source explained that the delegation met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and others in the Russian Federation Council and Senate, with discussions touching on the Israeli attacks on Christian and Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
LET US PRAY TOGETHER
Please pray with me for:
- God to bring peace and safety to the situation in Ukraine, protecting the lives that could potentially be at risk
- God to move in the hearts of world leaders and give them the wisdom to address the global threat of a nuclear Iran
- God’s protection to be upon His people in Israel, who are constantly facing threats and violence from surrounding enemies
- Peace in the hearts and minds of the people of Israel and their enemies
- Jewish people to recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah
