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Meet the May 11, 2024, 15th Annual Pastors and Leaders Prayer Symposium Speaker: Rev. Dr. Charles Galbreath

Rev. Dr. Charles GalbreathRev. Dr. Charles GalbreathThe Rev. Dr. Charles O. Galbreath is the Senior Pastor of Alliance Tabernacle Church in Brooklyn, New York, and Assistant Professor of Ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Before his current role, Dr. Galbreath was the Associate Dean, Director of Field Education, and Partnering Professor at Alliance Theological Seminary in New York City. He was elected to the Board of Directors for the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination in 2017.

Dr. Galbreath is an active member of several organizations, including Brooklyn Community Board 17, the SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s Community Advisory Board, the Clergy Advisory Council of the Fire Department of the City of New York, The Center for Community Alternatives, and the 67th Precinct Clergy Council (The Godsquad), where he serves as treasurer. In 2022, Dr. Galbreath was recognized by the magazine “City and State” as one of the Faith Power 100, New York’s most influential religious leaders. He has also served as a member of the New York City Mayor’s Sector Advisory Council for COVID-19, the District Executive Committee for the Metropolitan District of the C&MA, Co-Chair of the 45th Council District Committee in Brooklyn, NY, and as Vice President of the Association of African American Churches of the C&MA.

Dr. Galbreath graduated magna cum laude from Nyack College with an undergraduate degree. He holds an M.Div. from Alliance Theological Seminary and a Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2020, he earned his Ph.D. from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education. Dr. Galbreath has also received several awards throughout his career, including the Young Alumnus of the Year Award at Nyack College in 2011, induction into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at Fordham University in 2017, and the Alumnus of the Year Award from Alliance Theological Seminary in 2020.

Dr. Galbreath's journey has led him through various church experiences, from Baptist and Pentecostal traditions to mainline and Evangelical churches. He has served in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Harlem, Queens, and Brooklyn, New York ministries.

Dr. Galbreath is married to Flobien Vidal Galbreath, his college sweetheart. They have three children together: Charles Oliver Galbreath, Jr. (C.J.), Malia Marie Galbreath, and Grayson Alexander Galbreath, and they are proud parents.

The 15th Annual Pastors and Leaders Prayer Symposium will be hosted on Saturday, May 11th, 2024, from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm EDT, at the LaGuardia Plaza Hotel, 104-04 Ditmars Blvd., East Elmhurst, NY 11369. Dr. Galbreath will speak on Serving in  Truth, Justice, and IntegrityHow do we proclaim and model these spiritual values in our ministries?

Participants can attend the Symposium in person or online. Register now. You cannot afford to miss this significant leadership event. 

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Register Now to join us in person for the 15th Annual Pastors and Leaders Prayer Symposium 

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Chinese Pastor Released After 7 Years in Prison, Unable to Get ID

Unable to buy a train ticket, or even see a doctor at a hospital, a Chinese pastor found that his even after release from prison, he is not quite free.

The Rev. John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in Myanmar. Now back in his hometown of Changsha in southern Hunan province, he is without any legal documentation in his country, unable to access even the most basic services without Chinese identification.

"I told them I'm a second-(class) Chinese citizen, I cannot do this, I cannot do that," Cao in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm released, I'm a free citizen, why should there be so many restrictions upon me?"

Cao, who was born and raised in Changsha, had dedicated his life to spreading Christianity in China, where the religion is strictly regulated. He had studied in the U.S., married an American woman and started a family, but said he felt a calling to go back to his home country and spread the faith.

It's a risky mission. Christianity in China is allowed only in state-sponsored churches, where the ruling Communist Party decides how Scripture should be interpreted. Anything else, including clandestine "house" churches and unofficial Bible schools, is considered illegal, though it was once tolerated by local officials.

Cao was undeterred, citing the courage of Chinese Christians he had met who spent time in prison for their faith. During his years in China, he said he had set up some 50 Bible study schools across the country.

In the years leading up to his arrest, he had started bringing Chinese missionaries to parts of northern Myanmar that had been impacted by the country's civil war. They focused on relief work, campaigning against drug use, and setting up schools in areas bordering China.

It was in coming back from one of these crossings that he was detained in 2017. He was sentenced to seven years on a charge of "organizing others to illegally cross the border," which is usually reserved for human traffickers.

His family and supporters advocated for Cao's sentence to be reduced, but to no avail. Cao was a prisoner of conscience, according to the federal U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which also called for his freedom.

After completing his sentence, Cao is no longer behind bars. But he is facing another major obstacle.

He said that police who came to his mother's house in 2006 took away her "hukou" registration book, which had also included Cao.

Every child born in China is registered in the hukou, which is an identification system through which social benefits are allocated by geography. Later in life, the hukou is needed to apply for a national ID card, which is used in everything from getting a phone number to public health insurance.

According to Cao, police said they would help his mother update the hukou. It was only later that he found out in updating her registration that they removed his name.

Cao never took American citizenship because of his calling, spending his time between the two countries. He had kept his U.S. permanent residency throughout this time, though he says that's not accepted as an ID in China.

He was traveling on his Chinese passport. Though he noted that he no longer had the hukou registration, he did not realize how serious the problem was until much later.

In prison, his Chinese passport had expired, he said, and he could not renew it.

Cao said he has been to the police station many times since his release and had even hired a lawyer. So far, he said police had not given him a satisfactory answer as to why his records no longer exist.

A police officer at the Dingwangtai police station in Changsha, where Cao's hukou registration is supposed to be, said he did not know how to address Cao's claims. "Even if he went to prison, he should still have a hukou," he told the AP. The officer refused to give his name because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media.

Cao's two adult sons were able to visit him this month, spending two weeks with their father. Cao said he wants to join them and his wife in the U.S., though it's unclear how he can do that.

"I moved from a smaller prison ... to come to a bigger prison," he said.

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Intercession and Family Dynamics The Judah Perspective

The popular perception of intercession as an overly spiritual activity, restricted to incessant and rigorous prayer with bouts of fasting, by fiery and pious Christian types is rather overwrought and limited. To be sure, the prayer and fasting avails much, and the dedicated and wonderful people who excel therein are critical to the advancement of the kingdom. However, the scope and ambit of intercession is larger and more dynamic, as we shall soon see, than the popular or traditional perception of it. Moreover, this dimension of intercession is a much needed help and companion to its more acknowledged forms. The discussion presented below is drawn from the authoritative account in Genesis chapters twenty-nine and thirty, and thirty-seven to forty-five.

The Judah narrative reveals certain practical dynamics of the deployment of intercession that are as accessible as they are instructive. The dysfunctional family dynamics upon which the matter is resolved makes it even more relatable. The dimension of intercession at play here is rooted in human relations with its passions, errors, feuds, greed, resentment, deceit, and wickedness. There is also a greater expression of courage, sacrifice, forgiveness and redemption. This is intercession at the grassroots and family level. I believe that there is a revival of intercession at the level of interpersonal and family relations in order for prophetic destinies to be secured and fulfilled. The thoughts advanced here, is a contribution to that.

Notably, there were a clutch of serious and weighty issues preceding the seminal exercise of intercession under consideration, that were at least potentially disqualifying and most certainly constraining. The history and circumstances preceding Judah’s finest hour made him an unlikely source of such grace and skill. His personal history should have put him down for the count, and invalidated any credibility, standing, or stature on his part. And yet, he transcended all that to be highly effective and compelling. It suggests that perhaps the best intercessors are those who have overcome significant obstacles and limitations. People with a past and a story to tell. Persons who understand from a personal, subjective and intimate viewpoint; the feeling and depredations attaching to situations of loss and disadvantage.         

 

Family

 

At the center of the constraining factors earlier alluded to was the peculiar disposition of the Jacob family. The family orientation was defined by several strong and torrential currents that crisscrossed and interacted with each other to produce a tangled brew of friction, animosity and faction. These cross currents had complex generational and intergenerational layers. At the top and origin of this dysfunction was Jacob’s marriage to two sisters and his pronounced and abiding preferential love for the younger Rachel, over her older sister, Leah. To be fair to Jacob, the situation was not entirely of his own making. The deceit sponsored by Laban, his father-in-law was a fundamental and contributory factor.

However, Jacob’s unconstrained and enduring partiality created a ferocious rivalry between his two wives particularly in the area of child bearing, with dire consequences. As this rivalry intensified, Rachel and Leah involved their respective maids, Bilhah and Zilpah as childbearing surrogates and allies in their sibling dispute. By the time the women began to name their sons triumphalist appellations, often referencing the dispute, the dysfunction entered the succeeding generation. Rachel’s obsession with childbearing, a matter for which she reproached her beloved husband and envied her sister, may have contributed to her death in childbearing, even though the narrative does not clearly state this.   

Jacob intensified matters by transferring the love he bore Rachel to her sons Joseph and Benjamin, in the same preferential and exclusionary proportion, relative to his other ten sons. The open favouritism traversing two generations poisoned the atmosphere and stifled any notion of brotherliness. Arguably, the possibility of normal family relations was effectively marginalized by Jacob’s deficient fatherly disposition and preferences. As if this was not enough, Joseph, the foremost and most celebrated object and beneficiary of this preferential and unearned love extinguished any possibility of goodwill his brothers might have had toward him by bringing a bad report of his brothers to his father.

He also told them, perhaps rather pompously and derogatorily, of his dreams of preeminence and exalted destiny. Admittedly, Joseph’s dreams had genuine prophetic and strategic import. However, the effect of his dismissive and free expression on his bitter and disgruntled brothers made things distinctly worse. It would appear that Joseph was at the very least insensitive to and perhaps, worse, oblivious of the malign state of mind of his brothers. He failed to read the room. It is possible that Joseph could have chosen to moderate and balance his father’s weaknesses, but for reasons of youth and inexperience, was unable or not inclined to. Not needing any further cause to hate him, Joseph's dreams catalyzed and hardened his brothers' loathing of him. If the mood was fraught and chippy hitherto, it was murderous now.

In the most injurious act of hatred and calumny, Joseph’s brothers laid hands on him to kill him. However, they belatedly agreed to sell him into slavery instead, on the canny advice of Judah. Interestingly, Judah counseled his brothers against bloodguilt, and they heeded him. Importantly, at this time, his moral compass and brotherly feeling did not extend to saving Joseph. He shared the loathing and animosity of his brethren. When Joseph’s brothers sold him off, they stripped him of his rightful birthright as a son of his father and of fellowship with them as brothers. Granted, Joseph’s relationship with his brothers was as tenuous as his relationship with his father was tender. Not only that, the tale they told their father to cover up the deed, depicted Joseph as dead. And for all practical purposes Joseph was dead to his brothers by their own act and dead to his father by their report.

 

History

 

It may be that many intercessors have pristine and regular personal antecedents. Judah most certainly did not. His past included what may be referred to as an extended period of backsliding that had deleterious and generational consequences. In the very first verse of Genesis chapter thirty-eight, sometime after Joseph was sold into slavery, we are told that Judah made a fateful detour. It was to be a life-defining decision. He left the company and abode of his brothers and moved in with a Canaanite friend, by the name of Hirah, the Adullamite.

It is unclear if the family dysfunction in his primary homestead contributed to his decision to leave. If it did, his decision would be understandable, even if proved to be unwise. Whatever his reasons, they are not disclosed in the narrative. However, the fact that he stepped out alone was a highlight and emphasis of the narrative. In any case, the ancestral thread of family dysfunction followed him to his new locale. In his own case, the phenomenon intensified and proliferated. It is pertinent to pause here to remark that the treatment and solution to ancestral patterns of this sort is possible through deliverance, another dimension of intercession.

In this state of error and compromise, Judah met and married a Canaanite woman and proceeded to have three sons. Judah deepened his Canaanite affiliations by taking a wife for his first son, the famously notorious Tamar, and perhaps the single most controversial character in the lineage of Jesus. In the course of time, Judah’s first and second sons Er, and Onan died by acts of divine judgment. Judah’s fear for the mortality of his third and only surviving son drove him to undertake a policy of deceit and preservation that precipitated Tamar’s spectacular gambit. Judah’s carnal proclivities ensnared him in an incestuous rendezvous that profoundly embarrassed and defined him.  

It should be emphasized here that the catastrophic losses Judah suffered, his plaintive attempt to shield his son Shelah from the same fate, as well as the embarrassment arising out his dealings with Tamar had a profound and sobering effect on him. And, as future events would reveal, it contributed to making him an effective and impactful intercessor. His history and life story gave him a level of authenticity and gravitas that matched the occasion and the peculiar circumstances to come.      

 

A rational mind and many of a charitable orientation would readily conclude that there is very little chance of recovery from this sort of sordid history and antecedents. Too many strikes. It would seem that the prospect of restoration or normalcy was just too much to hope for, such was the water under the bridge as the saying goes. But something uniquely and profoundly redemptive was afoot here. Joseph’s brothers would eventually have to revisit, confront, and reckon with their wickedness, under the stern gaze of the Joseph they did not know. And, Judah would play a leading and starring role in it.

 

Redemption

 

The turning point came when the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. His senior brothers had a decision to make. Joseph’s steward had been clear and categorical about the fact that the penalty for the crime would affect only the singular perpetrator and that the others not tainted by guilt were free to go. Furthermore, with the evidence now facing them, the matter of Benjamin’s guilt or innocence was an open question. At the very least, it would appear that Benjamin had complicated matters by reason of what was discovered in his sack. With this complication came other rather unhelpful possibilities, including the disruption of their trip and the threatened welfare of their families in Canaan, who were waiting on the grain. There certainly were pragmatic reasons that could legitimize continuing the trip without Benjamin.

However, in the silence that ensued, the brothers took their first three acts of redemption. They tore their clothes, loaded their donkeys and returned with the steward to Joseph’s house. It is important to contrast the action of the brothers here to the exchange that animated them during their first trip to Egypt, when they were under the pressure of Joseph’s hostile interrogation. At that time, an engaging introspective conversation was had and fingers were pointed. Not to put too much of a fine point on it, that represented real progress at the time. This time however, the first reaction of the brothers was silence. Silence to properly observe and internalize the gravity of the situation. This was the sort of situation in which silence is more eloquent than words. Noticeably, there was no chatter about Benjamin’s culpability, or not.

Second, they all separately and uniformly tore their clothes, an eloquent and unequivocal sign of grief and mourning. Even though only Benjamin was implicated, his brothers did not attempt to extricate or exculpate each other. It was a demonstration of a shared fate. They all in unison and without breaking ranks took responsibility for Benjamin. It was no more, nor had it ever been, a question of what Benjamin may or may not have done. Third, they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city. Nothing else mattered anymore. Whereas on the journey home just moments before, many among them would have been contemplating getting back to their families and the rhythm of the life they were accustomed to. Now, all such priorities were abandoned. All else was superseded and marginalized.

 

Intercession

 

Joseph was waiting in his house when they came back. When they saw him, they threw themselves on the ground before him abjectly. Joseph wasted no time in accusing them of the contrived perfidy. He strengthened his accusation by reference to his powers of divination, a tactic meant to discourage any attempt to get around the accusation or challenge it. Seizing the moment, Judah spoke up for his brethren. His submission was short and precise. He admitted that they could enter no defense for themselves nor prove their innocence. He then stated that all of them including Benjamin were now this Egyptian lord’s slaves. This was the first mention of Benjamin since the debacle started, and an instructive mention it was. Far from singling him out, Judah was letting Joseph know that all of Benjamin’s brothers were determined to share his fate and punishment.

The resolution that Judah averred notwithstanding, Joseph saw an opportunity to press home the attack and further test the mettle of their solidarity and concord. He declined to accept the proposal of mass punishment. Just like his steward had done, he offered to let the rest of the brothers loose and enslave Benjamin for his ostensible guilt. It was at this point that Judah approached Joseph and went into full intercessory mode. He begged Joseph’s pardon to listen to the presentation and plea he was about to make. Judah spoke in passionate terms of the special relationship between Benjamin and Jacob and of the loss of another son, from the same mother whom Jacob had lost. In this, notably, Judah had relevant and cognate experience having lost two sons himself. It was neither theoretical nor conjecture to him. Hitherto, in Joseph’s time, this special relationship was a red flag and lodestone of misgivings, acrimony, jealousy and attempted murder. This time Judah spoke with feeling and emphasis in an attempt to preserve and protect it.

Judah spoke knowingly and movingly of the reluctance of Jacob to allow Benjamin to embark on the trip with his brothers. There was no better person to relate that reluctance and its underlying reasons than Judah who had successfully navigated them in order for Benjamin to be allowed to make the trip. He communicated that it was the consideration of Joseph’s ultimatum regarding the production of Benjamin, and the depleted store of food that forced Jacob’s hands. In this narration Judah quoted with recall and mastery the statements made by each of the principals on the opposing sides of the issue to enhance his argument. In this part of the presentation also, Judah had first hand experience. His attempt to keep his last surviving son Shelah from the fate that befell his first two sons must have been an animating and inspiring consideration.

Notable in the manner of Judah’s intercession was the ready acceptance of responsibility, blame and punishment as a necessary precondition and basis for advocacy. It is an object lesson for how intercessory efforts ought to be structured. Where the matter of responsibility and punishment is an open question, or worse still a matter of debate, intercession would be at best of limited effect or most likely ineffective. Proper intercession is well sourced and articulated and for this reason would require some preparation and effort. Perhaps, most importantly, the object of intercession must have a place of prominence in the affection and priorities of the intercessor. Interceding for someone or something for which the intercessor is passive or ambivalent is ‘acting’, to put it mildly, with the attendant consequences for integrity.

 Judah summarized his intercession with effect and flourish. He noted without misgiving that his father’s life was bound up with the life of his brother Benjamin, and that a failure to restore him to Jacob would most likely kill him with grief. He informed Joseph that he stood surety for Benjamin and had guaranteed his safe return. Upon saying this Judah offered himself in place of Benjamin and respectfully requested that Benjamin and his other brothers be allowed to go free. Judah ended with an emotional appeal to Joseph, and with a plea that he could not bear to bring back to Jacob the bad tidings of the enslavement of Benjamin. This is the highest form of intercession, offering oneself in place of the object of intercession. By the time he ended his intercessory presentation, Judah had reached the zenith and apogee of the ministry.

 

Resolution

 

Judah’s sterling intercession drew an immediate and powerful reaction from Joseph. The stoicism and resolve that Joseph had deployed and labored under throughout his interaction with his brothers crumbled and gave way. The tenor and effectiveness of Judah’s words disarmed him and melted his heart. The bottled up offense and misgivings that had lingered and persisted in Joseph’s psyche for more than thirteen years sought urgent and immediate release. Joseph was quickly brought to the brink of a cathartic emotional breakdown. Unlike the two previous times when he was obliged to weep in private and subsequently compose himself, only to continue to maintain the status quo in a bid to test and draw out his brothers, this instance was entirely different. Judah had successfully breached the wall of Joseph’s hostility through intercession and opened the gate for reconciliation by the same token. 

Witness then, the potential and power of well-conceived and effective intercession. Given the exertions of Judah, one wonders how busy our Lord Jesus Christ must be seeing that He lives to make intercession for us in Heaven. Of course there can be no doubt of humanity’s dire need for it. One wonders still how much of the hostility and recriminations within families, between religious and ethnic groups, and among nations might succumb to the kind of intercession in contemplation here. Given the limited outcomes of most of the conflict resolution mechanisms in use contemporarily, the potential of intercession, as a full-fledged policy option should not be overlooked.

 

About The Author

Ebere Nwankpa is a pastor, administrator, and businessman with a concerted and abiding interest in God's prophetic counsel for Nigeria, Africa, and the nations of the world. He is a member of Intercessors for Nigeria (IFN) and Intercessors for Africa (IFA).

Email comments or feedback to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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US Military Airlifts Embassy Personnel From Haiti, Bolsters Security

The U.S. military said on Sunday it has carried out an operation in Haiti to airlift non-essential embassy personnel from the country and added U.S. forces bolster embassy security, as Caribbean nation reels under a state of emergency.

The operation was the latest sign of Haiti's troubles as gang violence threatens to bring down the government and has led thousands to flee their homes.

"This airlift of personnel into and out of the embassy is consistent with our standard practice for embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft," the U.S. military's Southern Command said in a statement.

Haiti entered a state of emergency last Sunday after fighting escalated while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Nairobi seeking a deal for the long-delayed U.N.-backed mission.

Kenya announced last year it would lead the force but months of domestic legal wrangling have effectively placed the mission on hold.

On Saturday, the U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto about the Haiti crisis and the two men underscored their commitment to a multinational security mission to restore order.

In Southern Command's statement, it said Washington remained committed to those goals.

"Our embassy remains focused on advancing U.S. government efforts to support the Haitian people, including mobilizing support for the Haitian National Police, expediting the deployment of the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission and accelerating a peaceful transition of power via free and fair elections," it said.

 

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A Tribute to Pastor David Hernquist, Servant Leader Extraordinaire

Rev David Hernquist Rev David Hernquist We are deeply saddened by the passing of Pastor David Hernquist, our dear friend and Ministry Colleague here at Intercessory Prayer Ministry International (PMI). He passed away on December 16 after battling pancreatic cancer. Pastor Hernquist was an ordained minister of the Assemblies of God denomination and served as the Senior Pastor of Van Nest Assembly of God Church in the Bronx for over 33 years. During his tenure, the church flourished into a multicultural, multi-generational evangelistic community with five services every Sunday and various ministry programs and activities throughout the week. In addition to serving as a Pastor, he also held different leadership positions in the denomination, including as a Presbyter for many years.

 

Pastor Hernquist was a veteran of the global prayer movement for several decades. He had a heart and a passion for the revival, healing, and transformation of nations, starting right here in New York City. Consequently, he was actively involved in various NYC prayer and evangelistic initiatives, such as March for Jesus, Bronx National Day of Prayer, Bronx Clergy Task Force, the Billy Graham Crusade, and the Annual Pastors Prayer Summit hosted by Concerts of Prayer Greater New York. He served as a board member of the organization for many years.

 

Since joining IPMI as an Advisory Board member in 2008, Pastor Hernquist has served the organization faithfully and exceptionally well at various times as an advisor, Conference Speaker, Planning Committee Chairman of the Annual Pastors and Leaders Prayer Symposium, and Facilitator of the First Friday Monthly Global Prayer Call (MGPT).

 

Those of us who knew Pastor Hernquist very well and benefited from his enormous love, wealth of experience, wisdom, profound humility, and exemplary prayer life demonstrated through his passionate prayer for the nations all shared our grief at the news of his passing. Pastor Hernquist has made an indelible mark on our lives here at IPMI and will long be remembered.

 

As we honor the life of this great servant leader at IPMI, let us cherish the remarkable legacy he has left behind, a legacy that was built and nurtured through prayer.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

On behalf of the entire leadership team at IPMI, I would like to express our sincere gratitude for your invaluable support. We wish you and your loved ones a joyful, Christ-filled Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2024. 

Rev. Newton Gabbidon

President & CEO

 

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Hunger Rampant in Gaza as Israel, Hamas Fighting Intensifies

Fighting intensified between Hamas and Israel on Thursday as a U.N.-backed body warned that the entire population of Gaza – more than 2 million people – is at crisis levels or worse of hunger and the potential for famine is on the horizon.

Heavy Israeli bombardments were reported in northern Gaza, and warplanes struck targets in central and southern parts of the enclave. Four people were reportedly killed in southern Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, according to Hamas. Israel's military appeared to deny involvement, saying it was not familiar with the incident.

Ten weeks into the war, Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization, showed it still has the ability to launch rockets at the Jewish state, as sirens sounded in central Israel. The Israel Defense Forces posted maps showing rocket alarms stretching from Ashkelon, just north of the Gaza Strip, up to the Tel Aviv area.

No casualties were reported as the country’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted the rockets.

Israel’s military also said Thursday that its forces had carried out attacks against 230 targets in Gaza during the past day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that his military would continue fighting until Hamas was eliminated and its remaining hostages were free.

The war, sparked by Hamas’ October 7 terror attack inside Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw some 240 others taken hostage, has led to a dire humanitarian situation unfolding in Gaza, where the Hamas-run health ministry says 20,000 Palestinians have been killed. Nearly 2 million others have been displaced.

Hunger rapidly rising

The U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative (IPC) said in a report Thursday that hostilities, “including bombardment, ground operations and besiegement of the entire population,” have caused “catastrophic levels” of acute food insecurity.

IPC said more than 1 in 4 households face extreme hunger, and there is a risk of famine unless access to adequate food, clean water, health and sanitation services are restored.

“WFP has warned of this coming catastrophe for weeks,” World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain said of the IPC’s findings. “Tragically, without the safe, consistent access we have been calling for, the situation is desperate, and no one in Gaza is safe from starvation.”

Israel says it is cooperating in allowing aid to enter Gaza. It opened the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday for aid convoys to transit, and the IDF is allowing tactical pauses in some areas of southern Gaza for civilians to get food and water. Kerem Shalom is located near the three borders of Israel, the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Diplomatic efforts

The U.N. Security Council has been negotiating a resolution that, if adopted, would help scale up aid access to Gaza. But a vote has been repeatedly delayed this week because of objections from the United States over some language in the draft text.

"Still working it. Still hoping to be able to support it. Not there yet." Robert Wood, the U.S. deputy U.N. ambassador, told reporters Thursday ahead of a planned vote that was ultimately delayed.

Diplomats said Washington and Israel did not want the U.N. to be in charge of a monitoring mechanism that would inspect aid entering Gaza to make sure it is humanitarian in nature.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the U.S. wanted to make sure that the resolution advances the delivery of assistance and does not impede it.

The United Nations has said that even if sufficient humanitarian supplies were permitted into Gaza, security, fuel and disrupted communications would still make it difficult to deliver the supplies. It has called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.

Some diplomats were still hopeful that a vote could take place Thursday.

New evacuation areas

On Wednesday, the Israeli military designated a new area covering about 20% of central and southern Khan Younis city for immediate evacuation and published it on social media.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs said more than 250,000 people – residents and displaced Gazans – were staying in the zone.

OCHA said residents might have difficulty accessing this information because of the electricity blackout and interruptions in telecommunications.

Telecommunications were down across most of Gaza for an eighth consecutive day.

VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Violence Escalates Between Israel, Lebanon's Hezbollah

Violence escalated at Lebanon's border with Israel on Sunday as Hezbollah launched explosive drones and powerful missiles at Israeli positions and Israeli airstrikes rocked several towns and villages in south Lebanon.

Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since the war in Gaza erupted two months ago, in their worst hostilities since a 2006 conflict. The violence has largely been contained in the border area.

An Israeli airstrike on the town of Aitaroun destroyed five homes and damaged many more, Ali Hijazi, a local official, said. "Divine intervention prevented anyone being martyred. Three women and two men were wounded," he told Reuters.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senior Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah, in a statement to Reuters, said Israeli airstrikes were a "new escalation" to which the group was responding with new types of attacks, be it "in the nature of the weapons (used) or the targeted sites."

The Israeli army earlier said "suspicious aerial targets" had crossed from Lebanon and two were intercepted. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately wounded, and several others lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation, it said.

Israeli fighter jets carried out "an extensive series of strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanese territory," it said. Sirens sounded in Israel at several locations at the border.

In Beirut, residents saw what appeared to be two warplanes streaking across a clear blue sky, leaving vapor trails behind them.

Hezbollah statements say its attacks aim to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Beirut would be turned "into Gaza" if Hezbollah started an all-out war.

UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, said in a statement "the potential for a miscalculation that could trigger a wider conflict is increasing."

In one of several attacks announced by Hezbollah, the group said Sunday it had launched the explosive drones at an Israeli command position near Ya'ara. In another, Hezbollah said it had fired Burkan (Volcano) missiles, which carry hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

Israeli airstrikes were also reported on the outskirts of the Lebanese village of Yaroun, not far from the location of another of the Israeli positions Hezbollah said it had targeted Sunday.

Those airstrikes broke windows of houses, shops and a school in the nearby village of Rmeich, Toni Elias, a priest in Rmeich, told Reuters by phone.

Violence at the border has killed more than 120 people in Lebanon, including 85 Hezbollah fighters and 16 civilians. In Israel, the hostilities have killed seven soldiers and four civilians.

UNIFIL said shelling had damaged a watchtower at one of its positions Saturday. Nobody had been injured and the source of the fire was under investigation, it said.

The Israeli army said Hezbollah had on Saturday night launched several rockets at Israel, and that one of them was "launched from 20 meters away from a United Nations compound in southern Lebanon."

By continuing to fire at Israel from areas "located only a few meters away from a U.N. compound," Hezbollah "endangers the lives of UNIFIL soldiers," the Israeli army said.

There was no immediate Hezbollah response to the Israeli statement.

UNIFIL said targeting of its positions "and any use of the vicinity of our positions to launch attacks" is unacceptable.

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Israel, Hamas Engage in Fierce Battles in Gaza’s Biggest Cities

Israeli forces shot and killed six Palestinians on Friday in a refugee camp, near the town of Tubas on the occupied West Bank as the Israel-Hamas war in the southern Gaza Strip entered its third month.

Also Friday, Israel’s military responded to an investigation about the death of a Reuters journalist in southern Lebanon on October 13.

Reuters reports that the military said in a statement, without naming the journalist Issam Abdallah, that at the time of the incident Lebanese Hezbollah forces attacked across the border and Israeli forces opened fire to prevent Hezbollah from entering Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, according to Reuters, that it was “aware of the claim that journalists who were in the area were killed” in what was an active combat zone and the incident in under review.

Israel attacked Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip’s biggest cities on Thursday, leaving 350 people dead and thousands of Palestinian civilians searching for shelter to escape the ravages of the war.

Many displaced Gazans crammed into Rafah on the southern border with Egypt, where Israeli leaflets urged Palestinians to flee, saying they would be safe. But the Hamas-controlled health ministry reported at least 37 deaths in overnight Israeli air attacks.

The Israeli military Thursday accused militants of firing rockets from areas near Rafah near the humanitarian zone.

United Nations officials said there are no safe places in Gaza. More than 85% of the territory's population of more than 2 million people has already fled their homes or shelters, sometimes more than once.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending "humanitarian catastrophe" in the narrow enclave along the Mediterranean Sea and urged members to demand a cease-fire.

The United States, Israel's chief supporter, has repeatedly called on the Jewish state to limit civilian deaths, saying too many Palestinians were killed when it destroyed much of Gaza City and the north. But the U.S. has said a blanket cease-fire would benefit Hamas and is likely to block any U.N. effort to halt the fighting.

A week-long cease-fire that ended December 1 led to the release of nearly 100 hostages being held by Hamas, although the militants are believed to still hold about 140 more.

No negotiations are underway for another cessation in fighting.

'It is only a matter of time'

Battles took place in Gaza City, in the northern part of the enclave where Israel focused the initial stage of its air and ground campaign to eliminate Hamas, as well as in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the location of the latest expansion of the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces are closing in on the location of Hamas's Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar in Khan Younis, and that "it is only a matter of time until we find him."

The fighting has pushed civilians farther and farther south, disrupting U.N. humanitarian operations and prompting repeated warnings of increasingly dire circumstances.

The United Nations said tens of thousands of people have arrived in recent days in Rafah, the only section of Gaza that has received limited humanitarian aid distributions this week due to the escalating violence farther north, the U.N. said.

'Potentially irreversible implications'

The U.N.'s Guterres said the worsening situation for civilians would have "potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region."

"Amid constant bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces, and without shelter or the essentials to survive, I expect public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible," Guterres said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen criticized the U.N. chief's move, saying a Guterres call for a cease-fire would support Hamas.

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters that Israel wants the war to end, but only "in a way that ensures that Hamas can never attack our people again."

Israel has accused Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, of embedding itself in and underneath hospitals and other civilian areas and of encouraging civilians to ignore Israeli warnings to evacuate ahead of airstrikes, in effect using them as human shields — an accusation Hamas has denied.

More than 17,000 Palestinians dead, says ministry

Israel began its military campaign to end Hamas' rule of Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking the hostages.

In its military offensive, Israel has killed more than 17,000 people in Gaza, 70% of them women and children, according to the health ministry.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Fighting Between Hamas and Israel Resumes in Gaza

Fighting between Hamas and Israel has resumed in Gaza after a seven-day cessation that facilitated the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the flow of humanitarian aid in the devastated enclave.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says 109 people died in the first hours of Friday’s attack.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday the resumption of fighting follows Hamas’ violation of a temporary truce and the militant group’s launching of a rocket attack on Israel.

The renewed violence comes amid a New York Times report that Israel had advance knowledge of a detailed Hamas plan to attack Israel, but that the plan was dismissed as “aspirational.”

The approximately 40-page translated document, codenamed “Jerico Wall” and reviewed by the Times, detailed how U.S.-designated terror group Hamas would execute a multi-pronged assault on Israeli defense positions and take over cities. It did not set a date for the attack.

The Times said Israeli military and intelligence officials had knowledge of the plan more than a year before the October 7 attack. It was not clear if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also had knowledge.

There was no immediate reaction by the Israeli government to the Times report.

Even as the sounds and smells of war return to Gaza, international mediators are continuing to negotiate to bring an end to the fighting.

The IDF said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that it had "successfully intercepted" the rocket launch from Gaza.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from Hamas for the rocket attack.

Leaflets dropped by Israel in Khan Younis in southern Gaza are advising people there to travel farther south for their safety.

New York Times report said Israel had advance knowledge that Hamas intended to carry out an attack on Israel, but Israel dismissed the plan as “aspirational.”

James Elder, a UNICEF spokesperson, said in a video posted on X, from Gaza’s "biggest, still functioning" hospital that "This hospital simply cannot take more children with the wounds of war." He said a bomb had fallen "literally 50 meters from here."

Elder said, "Inaction by those with influence is allowing the killing of children. This is a war on children."

The return to fighting comes after a seven-day truce that allowed for the exchange of Israeli hostages from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel for Palestinian prisoners.

On Thursday, two Palestinian gunmen attacked a Jerusalem bus stop, killing at least four people and injuring several others.

Leaflets dropped by Israel in Khan Younis in southern Gaza are advising people there to travel further south for their safety.

James Elder, a UNICEF spokesperson, said in a video posted on X, from Gaza’s “biggest, still functioning” hospital that “This hospital simply cannot take more children with the wounds of war.” He said a bomb had fallen “literally 50 meters from here.”

Elder said,” Inaction by those with influence is allowing the killing of children. This is a war on children.”

The return to fighting comes after a seven-day truce that allowed for the exchange of Israeli hostages from the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel for Palestinian prisoners.

Two women were released in the afternoon and six more were released shortly before midnight. It was the seventh group of hostages released under the temporary truce deal between Hamas and Israel.

Israel initially required the militant group to release at least 10 hostages daily for the truce to continue, but a Qatari Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said that no additional hostages would be released Thursday. Qatar helped broker the truce.

The Qatari spokesperson said Israel accepted the eight hostages because Hamas on Wednesday released an extra two hostages, who were Israeli-Russian women.

Hamas had indicated that it could free two more Israeli-Russian citizens, but the militant group ultimately did not do so. Hamas had also previously said it would release the bodies of three Israeli hostages Thursday, but it is unclear whether that occurred.

In turn, Israel released 30 Palestinians from prisons in Israel.

To date, Hamas has released 105 hostages and Israel has released 240 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Britain, the European Union and others.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Thursday. At the start of the meeting, Blinken told Herzog the United States believed the truce was producing results and should continue.

"We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families, and that should continue today," Blinken said. "It’s also enabled a significant increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza, who need it desperately."

Blinken is to end his Middle East trip with a Friday visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he is expected to discuss Gaza with Arab world leaders attending the U.N. Climate Conference in Dubai.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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