A Miraculous Escape, and Monday’s 11 Hostages Released

Hostage Eitan Yahalomi, 12, one of nine children and two mothers released by Hamas on Monday, was abducted from his home in Nir Oz together with his family on October 7. As the attack on their kibbutz began, Eitan hid with his mother and two sisters in a sealed room. But because the door didn’t lock properly, Eitan’s father Ohad sat outside with his handgun. When the terrorists broke into their home, Ohad was shot in a gun battle and the family was carried off to Gaza. Eitan’s mother Batsheva, was placed on a moped with her two daughters—Yael, 10, and an almost two-year-old. But the terrorists placed Eitan on a second moped with a foreign worker at the kibbutz who was also taken hostage.

On their way to Gaza, two Israeli tanks appeared ahead of the mopeds, causing them to veer off in different directions. Eitan was taken into Gaza, but Batsheva and her daughters were able to escape somehow and hide. Two unarmed terrorists soon discovered them and tried to convince them to go on into Gaza, but amazingly did not harm them. The three ran away and eventually made it back to Nir Oz. (TOI, October 16)

In the video footage of Monday’s handover of Eitan and the other ten hostages, Carina Engel-Bart appears to be in a wheelchair with a cast on one leg. A recent cancer survivor who holds Argentine citizenship, Carina was released together with her daughters Mika, 18, and Yuval, 11. Their father, Ronen, remains a hostage. In fact, the fathers of all five of the families represented in this latest group of released hostages are still in Gaza.

In exchange for the 11 hostages freed on Monday, Israel released 33 Palestinian women and young men from prison.

For more information on all the freed hostages, including the 12 released on Tuesday (See tomorrow’s post) and to pray by name for each of them and for the others still held by Hamas, refer to our Israel-Gaza page:

https://prayerwallforthenationandtheworld.wordpress.com/israel-gaza/

Lord, we praise You for these answers to prayer and ask for ALL of the hostages to be freed and safely returned to their homes. You are the God of Miracles, as You have proven over and over again. We ask You now to show Yourself strong in the face of such terrible evil. Surround the remaining hostages with Your angels and make the way for their escape, rescue or release. Protect them from illness and harm. Provide for all their needs and block any evil attacks leveled against them. More than the hostages’ need for safety, O Desire of Nations, is their need for You. Please meet them in powerful ways. As those who are free recover from the trauma of all they experienced, speak to them tenderly, Prince of Peace, and point them to Yourself. Bring Christians to them to minister to their needs, counsel them and share Your love in such a way that they realize You are the One they have longed for, the One who created them to know Your everlasting love and grace. Give them a hunger for You so strong they will seek Truth with all their hearts and find You. Meet them in their dreams. Speak to them throughout the day. Put Bibles in their hands. Heal their wounds, and especially their hearts and minds. For the hostages still held in Gaza, invade their space with Your felt presence, and show them Jesus. Speak to them like only You can and save them before it’s too late. We ask the same for every Hamas terrorist and every Palestinian. Knock the plaster from their eyes so they can see You as You truly are. Show up in their dreams, in the tunnels, in the camps, in the midst of conversations and in love shown to those who are suffering. Show them Jesus. Convict them that He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And save them, Lord. Even in the midst of so much death, violence, brokenness and sin. Make these dark days of death and violence a doorway for to LIFE. Burn a hunger for Truth within every Muslim and Jew, a hunger that will lead them to You, Jesus. Bring thousands to faith in the next few months. Yes, truly set the captives free. Gentle Shepherd, seek out every last one of these who are lost and bring them into Your fold. Awaken Israel, awaken Gaza, awaken all of Palestine and the Middle East to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Read the miracle story of how 200 Palestinians met Jesus in their dreams on the same night and chose to follow Him.

https://prayerwallforthenationandtheworld.wordpress.com/2023/11/26/miracle-in-gaza-hundreds-meet-jesus-in-dreams/

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Mikaela Vincent, and her husband are missionaries who have served nearly three decades in one of the most dangerous countries in the world (See the map at our Persecuted Church page). If you would like to help their ministry at the Prayer Wall and around the world, please consider giving a donation or shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore this Christmas.

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