Independence from Hamas
Gaza was once a thriving city, complete with beautiful beaches, successful businesses, great educational institutions and the like. Today, after years of oppression from Hamas and misinformation from the regime that misleads residents into supporting the terrorist initiatives of the regime, Gaza is nothing but a shell of its former self. Israel recently presented a billion dollar plan at the gathering for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip that would involve provision of infrastructure in Gaza for desalination, electricity and natural gas, as well as addition upgrading of an especially important industrial zone in the strip. There's just one catch: such a plan is impossible to implement until Hamas has been taken out of power and replaced by a governing authority that will actually use the money to build the infrastructure proposed rather than redirecting the funds to terrorism as Hamas has done.

Pleading with the UNSC to acknowledge the truth
As Israel puts forth its proposal for restorative efforts in the Gaza Strip, both Nikki Haley (US Ambassador to the UN) and Danny Danon (Israeli Ambassador to the UN) are pressing for the UNSC to stop wasting its time condemning Israel for its response to complex terrorist threats and to focus effort rather on condemning the terrorist actions of Hamas for what they are. This plea really goes hand-in-hand with Israel's call for taking power out of the hands of Hamas so that humanitarian aid sent to the Gaza Strip can be used to rebuild the economy there rather than for terrorism as is now the case under the Hamas regime.

Israeli Resilience in the face of terrorism
In spite of all of the terror rained down by Hamas in southern Israel these past couple decades, border towns like Sderot continue to flourish and even to grow. Terrorism is a problem that must be addressed but Israelis understand that terrorism cannot be allowed to win the day. For this reason, Israelis who prefer the desert life continue to live in and operate businesses that are based in Israeli towns bordering Gaza. Many residents in the border towns recognize a need to be treated for shock at some point because of the terrorism, but by God's grace reports from local therapists indicate that people have learned to cope and practice especially effective calming techniques in order to reduce trauma from attacks. Instead of giving into fear, Israelis have learned to live with the constant threat of Hamas and to instill in their children a love for life in the face of death. Please especially pray for the children of the border towns since they are still learning to cope with the attacks as they grow and develop into mature adults. Please also pray for peace, especially for parents since residents in these towns have only 15 seconds to reach shelter after rocket sirens go off.