Israel/Gaza (MNN) — Today, on the one-month anniversary of Hamas terrorists’ attack on Israel, the IDF has surrounded Gaza City, cutting off northern Gaza from the south. Israeli troops will likely enter the city soon – a move that could bring significant casualties on all sides, given that it’s heavy Hamas territory. Hamas knows the streets of Gaza City well and can coordinate attacks from its network of tunnels.
Beyond the military movements, Pastor Israel Pochtar of Beit Hallel Congregation in Ashdod says this is a spiritual war.
Photo taken after the Hamas attack on Israel, October 7, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Kobi Gideon, GPO/Wikimedia Commons)
“People who attack Israel, they’ve been proclaiming the name of their god. They’ve been screaming and shouting, ‘Our god is greater than the God of Israel. So we let’s do violence and let’s kill and destroy in the name of our god.’ That shows you right away that it is spiritual warfare.”
Pochtar says from the attacks on October 7th, “I’ve seen all sorts of footage. It’s been posted by Hamas [and] by just civilian people…. It’s heavily spiritual. I really feel like lots of demonic powers were released…because normal people, sober [people] cannot do that. We heard about some of the evil events in Ukraine, but those people had been drugged and drunk and they did crazy stuff. Not on the same scale, but they did.”
As more information is verified from the Hamas terror attacks one month ago, the world has learned horrifying accounts of Israeli babies beheaded, parents and children burned together, women raped, and bodies showing signs of torture.
“With Hamas, we’re talking about sober people, religious people who will do that — for the sake of their god. It’s a war between Allah [and] the God of Israel who is also the God of Christians, our God.”
Steeple in Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo courtesy of Jonny Gios/Unsplash)
The Church across Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza is the spiritual frontline because the only thing that will change hearts and save souls in both the Muslim and Jewish worlds is Jesus Christ.
Pochtar says Christians are showing profound unity. “When this disaster happened on October 7, first of all, I received phone calls from Arab pastors. I have a number of Arab pastors who are my friends…. They called me and said, ‘Israel, we are crying with you. We are crying for your nation, for our nation. So we are with you. Let us know if we can help you in any possible way. We can host people.’ That was amazing.
“So to see the support of Arab Christians, they’re not blind. They don’t just think of ethnicity. They really understand the Bible. They know what happens in their hearts for their own people. Yet, they also support Israel and they value friendship with Jewish families because we are brothers. We are family in Christ, and this is very, very precious.
“Together, we really make a difference. Together, we are a powerful testimony of what Jesus can do when we both serve Him and focus on the Kingdom of God and His principles.”
Please continue to pray! Jehovah Sabaoth — the Lord of Heaven’s Armies — is at work, as people across Israel and Gaza are seeing angels and meeting Jesus.
“We hear stories of Israelis who’ve been encountering Jesus in that way; some Muslims have been encountering Jesus in that way,” says Pochtar. “So many spiritual things can happen.”
Click here to learn more about Beit Hallel Congregation’s ministry.
Header photo shows a column of smoke resulting from the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, March 5, 2023. (Photo, caption courtesy of Mohammed Ibrahim/Unsplash)
