Israel-Hamas Ceasefire
A deal to wind down the war in Gaza is reportedly close.
After a year of stop-and-start talks mediated by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt, representatives from Hamas accepted a draft agreement for a six-week ceasefire deal yesterday; Israel’s negotiators also said it’s ready to close the deal. Now, it’s up to leadership on both sides.
Under the plan, Hamas releases 33 “humanitarian” hostages (women, the ill, the elderly) while Israel partially withdraws from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Negotiations will then begin for the release of remaining hostages (about 60, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead) and a permanent ceasefire, with Israel’s military moving into “buffer zones” in Israeli border towns.
Negotiators hope they can wrap up before the inauguration of President-elect Trump, whose Mideast envoy has already joined talks.
ABOVE ALL, LOVE
The gospel is scandalous because God’s heart is for everyone—terrorists, prisoners, prime ministers and presidents, and those who passionately disagree with you about what justice looks like—to know him. He sacrificed his Son because he loves his enemies. Ask him to help you love yours.
“The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.”
1 John 4:8-11 (CSB) (read full passage)