[Today's Prayer] Israel proposes new hostage negotiation and ceasefire to Hamas... "Ceasefire for 42 to 60 days"

It has been reported that Israel has proposed a new ceasefire and hostage negotiation plan to the Palestinian armed group Hamas.

The Jerusalem Post reported on the 5th (local time) citing two Israeli officials that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered the negotiation plan, which was decided through a meeting with senior ministers and security officials, to Hamas through Egypt.

The new negotiation plan calls for a ceasefire for 42 to 60 days, during which Hamas will release women, men over 50, and wounded people in critical condition.

In the originally discussed ceasefire plan, Israel suggested that Hamas release 33 hostages held by Hamas, including soldiers, women, the elderly, and wounded, and Israel would release 20 to 40 Palestinian prisoners for each hostage.

However, the media reported that Israel adjusted the number of hostages considering the low survival chances of the current hostages.

If Hamas responds positively, Israel plans to send a delegation to Cairo, Egypt, to finalize the ceasefire period, the number of Israeli hostages, and the number of Palestinian prisoners.

An Israeli official said, “We will know in a few days whether Hamas is willing to negotiate within the framework we have presented,” and “We are waiting for Egypt’s response.”

However, another Israeli official told the Times of Israel that the ceasefire and hostage negotiation proposal presented this time was not an Israeli proposal, but an Egyptian proposal that Israel could fully discuss.

He explained that the negotiation proposal was not intended to end the war, but to extend the ceasefire so that humanitarian hostages such as the elderly, children, women, and the wounded could be released.

While there are conflicting opinions about who proposed the negotiation proposal, there is an outlook that Hamas is likely to accept the negotiation proposal.

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Source: News1

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. (2 Chronicles 7:14-16)

We hear the good news that Israel has proposed a new ceasefire and hostage negotiation with Hamas through Egypt, and that Hamas is likely to accept this negotiation.

Although it is a short ceasefire of about 42 to 60 days, may this time be a time for Israeli and Palestinian prisoners who were held hostage to be freed, embraced by their families, and feel each other’s preciousness, and meet God who is with them in peace.

May Israel and Palestine, who have been at war for a long time and hated each other, leave their evil ways behind and pray to the Lord God first, and give their ear to the words of promise that will soon be fulfilled.

God, who forgives sins and heals the land, the restoration is desperately needed for Israel and Palestine. May they come to realize that the Lord our God has chosen them and purified them as your temple.

May the love and grace of God the Father, who sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to this land and granted eternal life as a sacrifice on the cross, fill the hearts of the Israel and Palestinian peoples so that they acknowledge each other’s weaknesses and forgive each other.

May they come to know that God’s eyes and heart are always turned toward Israel and Palestine, and may the path of peace be paved from this brief ceasefire to bring about true forgiveness and reconciliation.

For this work, may the Israeli and Palestinian churches first serve and forgive each other, and may they go forward with the gospel to rebuild the fallen places together and heal the wounded.

May you also allow the global church to work together to open up a channel for food to be supplied quickly to the Gaza Strip and for gospel to be preached to the poor in spirit.

May you grant speedy restoration to Israel and Palestine, that they may rise up as the last disciples to proclaim Yeshua and lead all nations to the Lord!