Tipping Point Quick Hits (11.30.23)

Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Elon in Israel, and Iran's new fighter jets

Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Continues

As of this morning, a last-minute deal resulted in at least one more day of ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Today is the seventh day of the ceasefire. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been meeting with leaders in the region and said the truce is “producing results…we hope it can continue.”

The temporary pause in fighting and prisoner deal between Israel and Hamas was also extended on Monday. Initially the ceasefire was touted as a humanitarian pause, mediated by Qatar and resulting from significant pressure by the Biden administration. This brief truce has been the longest break in hostilities since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

Since then, the air and ground assault by Israel Defense Forces has been devastating to Hamas in Gaza. The pause is allowing Palestinian civilians—many of whom are victims being used by Hamas as human shields—to find safe access to food, water, medical supplies and other necessities.

The break in fighting has also resulted in the release of 97 hostages since last Friday, including 70 Israeli women and children being held by Hamas. On the other side, Israel has also released Palestinian prisoners who had been detained before the attack and were being held in Israeli jails.

However, Hamas is still holding at least 100 hostages in Gaza. Given the number of Israeli hostages still in Gaza, I expect the ceasefire to continue for a few more days. Because of the public pressure—including from families of hostages—it will be difficult for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume his attack quickly, knowing that doing so would get in the way of additional hostages being released. But he continues to insist that the war will resume as soon as the ceasefire is over.

I also expect Hamas to use the hostages as leverage to extend the ceasefire as long as they can. I’m already hearing speculation that Egyptian and Qatari mediators want two more days of the ceasefire after today.

So far, Hamas has only agreed to release civilians, but Hamas is also holding Israeli men hostage and a number of Israeli soldiers. Negotiations for their release could soon be part of discussions about extending the pause.

But I don’t believe the pause will last forever.

A number of you have wondered what I think about this truce and its implications on the war and Bible prophecy. Here are a few thoughts: