“Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”  (Psalm 121:4)

Widespread terror continues to grip the Holy Land and many Israelis are living in their bomb shelters as Hamas bombing shows no signs of stopping.

An Israeli bride caught out in the open takes cover during Hamas rocket fire.

The situation is harrowing as Code Red sirens constantly blast their warnings across Israel, including in Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and Judea.  Many Israelis—mothers carrying infants, the elderly, people driving to work, children playing—simply do not have enough time to make it to the bomb shelters and safe rooms.

Israel accepted an Egyptian proposal to end the week-long conflict with Gaza, ceasing fire at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.  Despite the ceasefire on Israel’s part, Hamas rockets kept coming.

At 3 p.m., Israel resumed Operation Protective Edge, which was launched last Tuesday to end almost incessant rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas rockets are putting as many as five million of Israel’s eight million in danger.

Despite Israel’s efforts to end the rockets and growing pressure from the world community for a ceasefire, Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza are continuing to pound Israel.

And in defiance of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, Hamas’ Qassam Brigades has tried to create a nuclear holocaust by firing on the Dimona nuclear reactor in Israel’s Negev desert last Wednesday.

As well, Hamas is waging psychological warfare by threatening Israelis through Hebrew videos on their Al-Aqsa television station that state there will be a proliferation of suicide attacks within Israel proper.

“Zionists, wait and see stabbing attacks everywhere.  Wait for suicide attacks on every bus, café and street.  Wait for the rage and for revenge for Gaza, wait for the flames of the West Bank and inside you [Israel],” a broadcasted.  (JPost)

“Zionists, [we] can reach you above ground and below it.  So start counting the number of coffins you’ll need in these months,” a voice warns in Hebrew.

Hamas text messages and YouTube propaganda also threaten more powerful rockets.

“Zionists, the resistance has many goals.  It has the ability to reach places you thought were safe.  Look, they [the rockets] are on their way to you now and will reach you soon,” one YouTube video warns.

The Israeli-engineered Iron Dome, which was first deployed in March 2011, is a purely defensive system.  It was built to intercept and destroy rockets and artillery shells midair that are fired at Israel’s civilian areas.  Each missile the Iron Dome fires is reported to cost Israel $50,000.

Baruch HaShem (Praise the Name), Israel’s “Iron Dome” anti-missile defense system continues to bring down the most dangerous rockets.  Most have been falling harmlessly in unoccupied areas, although there has been damage to homes and businesses, with some people being injured.

Over 1,218 rockets have been fired at Israel since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, and the Iron Dome has intercepted 213.  (IDF)

Among the injured in Israel is a 17-year-old man who sustained critical injuries on Sunday from shrapnel during a rocket attack in the port city of Ashkelon north of the Gaza Strip.  Although he tried to protect himself, he found himself in open terrain and did not have enough time to reach a bomb shelter.

On Monday, an 8-year-old boy was injured by flying shrapnel when a missile exploded in a yard in Ashdod.  A nearby car was set ablaze by the same explosion.  As well, in Omer, in southern Israel, two sisters aged 11 and 13 were moderately and seriously injured respectively by shrapnel from a rocket fired toward Beersheba.

The Palestinians, however, have sustained many more injuries, with as many as 170 killed.  (Times of Israel)

When Hamas launches a bomb into Israel, Israelis have a very short amount of time to find a bomb shelter, depending upon where they are located.

On Thursday, Israeli President Shimon Peres stressed that Hamas is deliberately placing Palestinian civilians at risk by firing missiles from civilian areas.  He also emphasized that Israel has no interest in harming Palestinians civilians, but needs to protect Israelis from Hamas missiles.

“Israel underwent another night in which millions of our citizens were under the threat of rocket fire.  It is a few nights now that mothers, with children in their arms, can’t sleep because of the fear of another siren.  We will protect our children and will not allow anyone to harm them.  We must say clearly that the State of Israel won’t rely on luck; we are prepared and ready for any scenario in order to protect our civilians.  We are a united front in the face of this danger; we will not consent to being victims,” he stated.

“We do not wish to see innocent people killed or injured, but it is Hamas who endangers the citizens of Gaza by firing from deep within civilian areas.”  (mfa)

As Israel continues to take out houses being used by Hamas operatives as command and control centers for rocket attacks, launching sites, and weapons stockpiles, in Gaza, the IDF maintains its policy of minimizing the number of civilian casualties.

An IDF info graphic that illustrates Hamas’ complete disregard for civilians.  While Israel protects Israeli civilians and warns Gazans of incoming rockets, Hamas sends them directly into the line of fire as human shields.

To protect Palestinian civilians, the Israeli military routinely contacts the homes and buildings of terrorist targets by phone, warning the residents to leave.  Often the occupants are told to return to the homes or are replaced by neighbors who re-enter the building to form a human shield. 

This policy sanctioned by the Hamas Ministry of Interior is designed to position Israel as the aggressor on the international scene as the casualties rise among Palestinians.

The use of human shields, which is a war crime, underscores what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling the world that Israel honors life while the Palestinians honor death.

Israel not only warns the Palestinians before attacking, but as the fighting goes on, Israel continues to allow truckloads of necessary foodstuffs and other humanitarian products to enter the Strip, even supplying the Gaza population with fuel and electricity on a daily basis.

Furthermore, on Sunday, Hamas rockets left 70,000 Gazans from their south-central cities of Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah in the dark when one hit the Israeli power line that supplies them with electricity.  Hamas rockets have also struck the Palestinian controlled cities of Bethlehem and Hebron in the West Bank.

Five million of Israel’s eight million are at risk from Hamas rockets.

Elliot Abrams, a former top National Security Council officer in the Bush White House, speculated last week that Hamas began its attacks on Israel because it was losing credibility with its people and needed to start some form of military action to gain support.  (Council of Foreign Relations)

He said that the defeat of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has weakened Hamas’ relationships with that country.  As well, Iran’s decreased funding in Gaza and the world’s attention on ISIS in Iraq and Syria left Hamas feeling a little lonely.  Even with the recent unity agreement with the Palestinian Authority, Abrams says Palestinians were starting to believe that an election later this year would not happen after all.

Because of these circumstances, Abrams believes it was necessary for Hamas to strengthen the footprint of the terrorist organization with other Muslim nations and with its own people, while giving its men something to fight for.

Please continue to pray for the safety of those living in the areas that are under attack, that the unguided missiles will continue to land in open fields, and that all people will come to know the true Redeemer and Guardian of Israel.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure.'”  (Psalm 122:6)