More than a decade after Hamas violently seized control over the Gaza Strip, leading to a split between their group and the Palestinian Authority, a recent Lebanese report suggests that Hamas is changing its mind and is willing to allow the Palestinian Authority to return to Gaza on the condition that elections be held within six months. According to the report, representatives from Hamas expressed this sentiment during the latest round of reconciliation talks in Cairo, Egypt. However, The Palestinian Authority may reject this condition out of fear that Hamas would win the election remaining in power in Gaza and perhaps weakening the Palestinian Authority’s control in the West Bank. Currently, the Palestinian Authority reigns over the West Bank, and Hamas has exclusive control of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 as a consequence of the 1993 Oslo Accords, to govern the Gaza Strip and portions of the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority and the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, have long been criticized as supporters of terrorism directed at Israel. In fact, Palestinian officials acknowledge making payments to the families of suicide bombers and people convicted of heinous attacks.
Palestinian Authority’s budget Includes Payments to Terrorists
This shocking acknowledgment can be found in the group’s itemized budget! The Palestinian Authority’s budget for 2018 openly states, for the first time, that the Palestinian Authority is directly paying salaries to imprisoned terrorists. By the U.S. government’s own definition, that makes the Palestinian Authority a terrorist organization and it should be recognized and treated as such. Similarly, the Palestinian Authority still pays the monthly salaries of some 70,000 civil servants in Gaza who are loyal to Abbas and left their posts after the Hamas takeover. This activity compounds the danger of the Palestinian Authority returning to a governing role in Gaza. While the Hamas terror group is bad enough, the Palestinian Authority have routinely engaged in beatings, firebombing of churches, kidnappings, torture, intimidation, forced marriages, denial of employment, land theft, and extortions of Christians and Jews living in Gaza and the West Bank. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority recently financed the printing of school books that fail to make a single reference to the historical connection of Jewish people to the land of Israel. Thus, the hatred toward Israel displayed by both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority will likely only increase as the two groups begin to reconcile their differences. Essentially this amounts to a new, more powerful, enemy amassing on the borders of Israel.
Relevant Scripture Passages
In fact, such a coalition of various enemies of Israel — each originating from a different geographic region such as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — has certain striking similarities to the end-times battle described in Ezekiel chapters 38-39. While there is a great deal of debate about the events of Ezekiel 38-39 it is clear that since Israel is the object of the attacks prophesied by Ezekiel, and will likely involve a much larger scope than Gaza and the West Bank, this prophecy could not have been fulfilled until Israel was regathered to her land which occurred May 14, 1948. Therefore, the potential merger of the nation of Iran and the terrorist organization Hamas – both of whom avow a deep hatred toward Israel – should cause great concern and drive us to prayer.