"Please pray for the Peace of Israel"  Psalm 122  [Chapter-7] 

A Sderot family narrowly escaped being injured when they made it to their safe room just before their family home was hit by a Gaza missile.

Israel Warns Hamas to End Barrage of Rockets

"For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.  When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?"  (Psalm 11:2–3)

                 

Since the June 12 abduction of three Israeli teens, more than 150 Gazan rockets have been launched at Israel, resulting in damaged property and emotional suffering in Israel's south. In response to the escalation of rockets within a 24-hour period on Wednesday and Thursday, with about 40 rockets launched at southern Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have given Hamas a 48-hour ultimatum on Thursday night: stop shooting rockets into Israel or face an escalated Israeli attack on Gaza. "We are looking for calm, not escalation, but if Hamas chooses to act against us, we shall be ready," said Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz.  (IsraelNationalNews) Despite the warning, rockets continued to fall on Friday and over the weekend, andresidents of the south continue to remain in their safe rooms.  Several Israelis have been treated for shock and others are suffering from anxiety due to the constant rocket attacks.

 

Israeli President Peres met with Sderot residents who continue to endure the ongoing rocket barrages from neighbouring Gaza.

The damage included a summer day camp when a Kassam rocket fired by terrorists hit the building moments before children were set to arrive.

One family called it a miracle that they survived a direct hit to their home, which happened just after they emerged from their safe room to prepare breakfast. At 8:30 a.m., the Code Red siren went off as Tami Jorno was cooking, and she and her two children barely made it back to the safe room before the house was hit. She realized how narrowly they had missed perishing when she emerged from the shelter. “I burst into tears from the fear,” she said.  “If we hadn’t made it into the safe room, I don’t know what would have happened.”  (JPost) Also on Thursday night, a rapid grouping of more than 15 rockets sliced into targets in the Sderot industrial zone and next to a Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council kibbutz (communal farm).  (Times of Israel) "Four of the rockets landed in urban areas, causing damage to civilian infrastructure and houses," an Israel Defense Forces Spokesman said, adding that “an IDF soldier was lightly injured by shrapnel after a projectile landed in the Eshkol Regional Council.” Another rocket a few days earlier, on June 28, burned a Sderot paint factory to the ground at the cost of millions of shekels to the bereft owner.  Four residents were wounded.

 

A Sderot factory burns to the ground after taking a direct hit from a Gaza bomb.

Israel retaliated with surgical air strikes targeting weapons manufacturing, warehouses, and launchers throughout the week.

Some Israelis are calling for a large-scale operation in Gaza to end the bombardment. Hamas warned Israel against launching such an offensive, saying that Israel had not yet seen the kind of conflict that such a move would result in.  They also told Israel to stop their arrests in Judea and Samaria, which are related to the murder of three teenage boys by Hamas. "I promise you that one stupid move by your leaders will be enough to make us turn all of your communities, even those you might not expect, into targets and burning coals," a Hamas Kassam Brigades spokesperson told a Gaza press conference. Meanwhile, last Monday, just after a barrage of terrorist rockets hit southern Israel, damaging two homes, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal asked Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to find a way to prevent Israeli strikes on Gaza's rocket launchers.  (JP)

"At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still."  (Psalm 76:6)

 

Israel Defense Forces Gaza Rockets Graphic

Israeli Embassy in Cameroon Helps Vaccinate 10,000 Refugee Children 

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  (Genesis 12:3)

Using funds that were originally set aside for an Israeli Independence Day reception, the Israeli Embassy in Cameroon established a five-day vaccination program from June 8 to 12 that treated over 10,000 refugee children from the Central African Republic (CAR). The Embassy worked together with the Cameroon Pediatric Association to set up the health clinic in the Gado Refugee Camp, located near Garoua Boulai in eastern Cameroon. During the clinic, 5,000 were vaccinated against polio and 5,000 others against measles. The camp holds 19,000 people fleeing the violence in the neighboring CAR, most of them Muslims. Of the 19,000, 12,000 are children under 15, many of whom suffer from malnutrition that leaves them vulnerable to disease.

Refugees in Africa, such as this mother who lost the use of her legs due

to polio, depend on the goodwill and charity of others.

Local doctor, Tchakoute Collins said that malnutrition is a major problem both for children and adults.  (Jewish Press)“Even the parents are malnourished, including breastfeeding mothers.  It is a situation that demands the shedding of tears,” Collins said.  (All Africa) Doctors also provided both free medication and consultations, mostly to Arab youth under the age of 15.  The team of doctors included four pediatricians. Dr. Ehouzou Marcelle Nina, another doctor who participated in the program, emphasized the dire need for the project saying 5,000 refugees are arriving every day. “As a result of the conflict in CAR, vaccination campaigns have not been carried out regularly; thus the refugees are exposed to these health hazards.  There is therefore a high risk of contaminating people in host communities,” Dr Ehouzou warned.  (All Africa) “The Israeli program was well received by the local Cameroon health system as well as by the international aid agencies with which we worked.  The project had an educational and perceptual value as well as it showed the people [local doctors and other service professionals] that they can help themselves, and need not rely solely on international aid,” Israel’s ambassador to Cameroon, Nadav Cohen said.  (MFA) Cohen said he is exploring the possibility of raising funds for similar projects to assist the refugees and also expressed hope that other diplomatic missions and local pediatricians would take a cue from this to volunteer other services.

Please do pray for the peace of broken and scattered people!!!