Palestine (MNN) — At least 90 people have died in rocket fire between Israelis and Palestinians into and out of the Gaza Strip. Most casualties have been in Gaza, where some apartment buildings have completely collapsed.
Explosions in Gaza at night. (Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College on Facebook.)
The unrest began with the evictions of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem. Jack Sara, President of Bethlehem Bible College, says, “What happened recently was related to the confiscation of several houses and a major neighborhood in Jerusalem, called Sheikh Jarrah.”
Over the weekend, Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites. Sara says the violence isn’t limited to Gaza or Jerusalem. “Last night was one of the most horrific nights. The police started to control things and wanted to calm things. So they put a curfew on all the cities. But they found buses, a lot of buses, coming into those cities from all over the Israeli cities, carrying radical groups. These groups made the call for Israeli settlers to come and attack the cities. They started attacking Arab shops. And the Arabs they found in the street, they start kicking on them. There were even two or three lynchings of Palestinians who were caught in the middle of those groups.”
Pray for lasting peace
Pray for a lasting end to the violence and that the love of Palestinian Christians will point a way forward. Sara says, “Pray for protection for Christians. Christians are not in isolated places, they live in the midst of Palestinians. And they’re Arabs, which means they are targeted as well by radicals who want to target Arabs.”
The header photo shows destruction from the bombing in Gaza. (Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College on Facebook)
