Imagine waking up, stretching, and padding into the bathroom to brush away your morning breath before you dare say your first words to your spouse. As you put the toothpaste onto your toothbrush, you hear a voice from the bedroom, “Honey, quick, come here.” The tone rather than the words themselves cause you to drop the brush into the sink and rush back the way you came. On the television, you read the headline banner:

Southern California Under Attack from Mexico

The talking heads on the cable news station are announcing how just one hour ago, rockets began firing across the border and hitting targets all the way from San Diego to Calexico. Houses have been destroyed. People have been killed. The newsfeed cuts to live shots from the border showing trail after trail in the sky as hundreds of rockets fly overhead. What would your emotions be? What would you be saying—or shouting? Would you be demanding retaliation? Would you be screaming for blood?

As I write this, Israel is under attack. In the last 36 hours, more than 600 rockets have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip.[1] Israel’s anti-missile Iron Dome does a superior job intercepting the vast majority of the rockets, but it is still only 86% effective.[2] Missile after missile has dropped into towns in southern Israel. Four Israelis have been killed and many more have been wounded. Meanwhile, Israel has retaliated against Hamas and the Islamic Jihad flying more than 100 missions into Gaza hitting 320 targets. Twenty-three Palestinians have been killed.[3] One of these casualties was Hamed Ahmed Khudari, who was killed in a surgical strike as he was being driven through the streets of Gaza. Khudari was the go-between for the Iranian money used to buy the hundreds of rockets employed in this attack.[4]

It’s easy to write this off as “Oh, that’s just what happens over there. They’re used to it.” However, imagine if it was your son huddling in the corner of his school classroom as he listens to the booms of landing missiles. Imagine if it was your daughter having to lay flat on the soccer field, because it’s too dangerous to run all the way to safety indoors. Imagine if it was your parents who were looking out at the open air through the crumbled wall of their house. Now, imagine the incredible restraint it has taken for Israel to have only responded in the limited way they have.

Please pray. Pray for the wounded in Israel and in Gaza. Many have long-lasting and life-altering injuries from these outbreaks of violence. Pray that Egyptian intelligence is able to de-escalate the situation behind the scenes—something they have done very well in the past. Current reports are positive. Pray for an openness within the Palestinian leadership to a cross-border solution. And please pray for the peace of Jerusalem and of all Israel.

---

[1] Zitun, Yoav, et al. “Fourth Israeli Dies of Wounds Inflicted in Gaza Rocket Strike.” Ynetnews, 5 May 2019, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5504433,00.html.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Zikri, Almog Ben, et al. “Massive Gaza Rocket Barrage Launched Deeper into Israel.” Haaretz.com, 6 May 2019, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/430-gaza-rockets-fired-at-israel-one-israeli-dead-six-palestinians-said-killed-1.7199036.

[4] Israel Defense Forces. “PRECISION STRIKE: Earlier Today, We Targeted Hamed Ahmed Khudari in Gaza. He Was Responsible for Transferring Iranian Money to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Funds Were Used to Build the Hundreds of Rockets Recently Fired at Israel. Iran Will Need to Find a New Money Man in Gaza. Pic.twitter.com/2mv1oXLaB7.” Twitter, 5 May 2019, twitter.com/idf/status/1125081985578409989?s=21.