Israel/Gaza (MNN) – An Israeli military spokesman warns that Hamas leaders are “dead men walking” as ground troops advance to the “heart” of Gaza City.

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern Gaza, the United Nations reports, as Israeli ground and air campaigns intensify.

Uncharted Ministries’ Tom Doyle says, “Our hearts go out to the Palestinians; they have no place to go. Their own people (Muslims) would not accept them in Egypt and other countries. They’ve refused; they’ve all said, ‘No Palestinian refugees.’”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah warns of regional war, and world leaders push for a “pause” in fighting.

Uncharted partners with and supports both Jewish and Palestinian Christian leaders. More about that here.

On both sides of this war, “there’s a lot of ministry happening [to alleviate] human needs and suffering,” Doyle says.

“People on both sides of the fence want no harm to each other. They both want to see the terrorist groups pulled out of Gaza so that people can have a normal life.”

Muslim-background believers in Gaza say, “Palestinians [have] hunkered down. They are trying to help feed people [and] minister to them. Everybody’s afraid,” Doyle says.

“On the Israel side, there’s a lot of things happening with food and relocation. Six of the Holocaust survivors we’re privileged to work with and serve in southern Israel were killed.”

Pray that people in the region will turn to Jesus for lasting hope instead of a political solution.

“Many people in the world think if we just get more money, a better location, or better schooling for the kids … the hatred they have for the people around them will evaporate. But we’re seeing that isn’t true,” Doyle says.

“What we’re seeing has been shocking to the world. But I think we have a different worldview as the Church. [We believe] there’s a deeper problem: the sin problem. Until people are pulled out of that and transformed by Christ, there’s not going to be the change we’re hoping for.”

 

Header image depicts an IDF tank in the Gaza Strip. (Wikimedia Commons)