Israel (MNN) — Top U.S. and Israeli officials remain divided after a week of intense ceasefire negotiations aimed at pausing the Gaza war.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls Hamas’s response to a ceasefire proposal “delusional” and says fighting will continue until Hamas is rooted out. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says he sees room for negotiation and is planning more talks.

“Most Israelis feel like the whole world is against them. Israel tends to unify in times of trouble, whereas the nation was very divided up until October 7,” says Brother Isaac*, who serves in the Holy Land with Global Catalytic Ministries.

Some question the capabilities of the Israeli Defense Force. Brother Isaac says, “There are questions of ‘Can we really trust our government? We had a massive intelligence failure [on October 7]’ and ‘There’s a regional war brewing, will we be able to handle it?’”

Others doubt the security of their secular worldview. Approximately “45 percent of Israel is secular [and]…it’s turning the hearts of the Jewish people to God; not necessarily to Yeshua yet, but to God,” Brother Isaac says.

“[The Gaza war is] definitely leading to a hunger for God and self-introspection that I’ve never seen in my entire 20 years living in Israel. I would say the same thing with the Palestinians as well.”

(Photo courtesy of Global Catalytic Ministries)

On the Israeli side, “The majority of people that were attacked on October 7 were from kibbutz’s, which are very secular,” Brother Isaac says, which has led them to seek the Lord. “A lot of them started praying the Psalms, and they started crying out to God for the first time in their lives. There’s definitely a hunger and an interest in who God is during this hard time.”

Palestinian hearts are changing, too. “Even though there is a radicalization happening in society, among everyday people who want to live, there’s this questioning like, ‘What has Islam done for us?’” Brother Isaac says.

“It’s creating deep-seated questions in people’s hearts, which is definitely opening up more room for sharing the Gospel.”

Pray people on both sides of the Gaza war will meet the one true God as they search for truth. Learn more about GCM’s approach to discipleship and church planting here.

 

*Pseudonym

 

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