For the first time in history, Iran launched a massive, direct attack on Israel. Over 300 Iranian cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones were launched at Israel overnight.

It took hours for the projectiles to make the long journey over, so the whole nation had the heads up to get our bomb shelters ready and bunker down with everything we might need. We were told the drones would take eight hours to make their way to Israel, but cruise missiles can reach us much faster in two hours, but the far more dangerous ballistic missiles can arrive in just twelve minutes.

IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, made this statement about the unprecedented attack :

“Last night, Iran initiated an attack against Israel, launching over 300 threats of various types. The Iranian threat met the aerial and technological superiority of the IDF, along with a strong fighting coalition – which together intercepted the overwhelming majority of the threats. 99% of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted – a very significant strategic achievement.”

We praise God, keeper of Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps, that NOT ONE Israeli was killed.

When we consider how serious the threat was, it’s extraordinary to see how the IDF dealt with the situation. We are very grateful for our armed forces, and also all the countries who helped us. Some of our natural allies, such as the US and the UK, came to Israel’s aid, but to the surprise of many, both Jordan and Saudi Arabia also helped to take down a large number of missiles as they were on their way to Israel. Airspace was even made available over Iraq to help the defensive measures. The ballistic missiles carried enough explosives to destroy an entire city block, but were detonated mid-air with powerful explosions that boomed into the night. Jordan took many of these missiles down before they even entered Israel. We shudder to think what might have happened if they had actually landed at their intended destination.

Thanking God for help from friends and neighbors

As well as gratitude to the IDF, our allies and our neighbors, we are also extremely grateful to all those around the world who have been interceding for Israel at this time.

We know that at the end of the day, it is the God of Israel who has kept us.

“Thank you for the many messages of comfort and reassurance during this crazy night. I wonder how many of us feel like zombies today…”

Someone in a Jerusalem social media group summed up how many of us feel the day after the attack. Someone else joked that we’ve just witnessed the first direct flights from Iran to Israel since 1979! Another put out the theory that the drones were filled with breadcrumbs, during the time of cleaning out all yeast in preparation for Passover—an Israeli nightmare. Israelis often use dark humor to cope with the extreme tension of hovering between life and death, and the fact that absolutely no one was killed makes the light relief a little lighter. A seven-year old Bedouin girl from near the Israeli city of Arad was wounded by some falling shrapnel after an interception, but she was the only casualty in the entire country.

What made the entire experience even more surreal was how normal everything was the day right after—everyone just went to work and carried on, even though we didn’t get much sleep. In the end, sleep is all we lost really, apart from several million dollars in firing up all those defense systems. It costs $40-45,000 for every single interception, and there were over 300 of them. The technology that goes to take down each missile is extremely expensive. There was a lot of money being blown up in the air that night, but life is so precious. It demonstrates the high value that Israel places on lives of its citizens.

It’s been a night of miracles.

All the help and cooperation from neighboring countries goes to show that despite much of the talk in the Arab world, there’s actually a lot of appreciation for Israel being at the front line. Israel is fighting against the threat from Iran and Iranian proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis on behalf of everyone. When push comes to shove, most of the Middle East would rather that Israel was still standing than the whole region implode into the kind of chaos driven by rebel violence, as happened in Syria.

More than that, it seems a majority of Iranian people are standing with Israel more than their own diabolical regime at this point. The hashtag #IraniansStandWithIsrael has been trending on X (formerly Twitter), with 10.5K posts yesterday, long before the attack. The hashtag trend is now reaching almost 40,000 posts. There has been great panic within Iran as the ordinary people have been preparing for the worst, stocking up and getting ready for trouble in preparation for a counterattack. There have been huge lines at gas stations and the currency is in freefall. Iranians need our prayers too.

Sheltering in safety

As we stumbled down to the bomb shelters in pajamas, the contrast between Israel and Gaza is stark. By and large, Israelis are well looked after by the government in times of crisis, with well coordinated emergency measures, clear instructions on apps and good information about how to stay safe. The population took cover underground while the battle raged above us in the skies. Sophisticated (albeit insanely expensive) defense strategies like the Iron Dome disarm the bombs before they come anywhere near the ground. Meanwhile, Gazans have had no such care or provision. The many billions sent in aid to help people in Gaza went to line the pockets of their leaders, or towards more rockets and tunnels. There is surely enough room for most of Gaza to shelter in the tunnels but instead the terrorists monopolize the safest places. The best instructions on how Gazans can stay safe ironically come from the IDF, the “enemy” army, via leaflets and phonecalls about where attacks will come and where to go instead. Similarly, the Iranians can’t count on their government to put the interests of their people first, but a crazed religious ideology has been driving them on a path of destruction. But even with all of our amazing technology and defense systems, Israelis need to put their hope in God. And it might just be happening. One of the most popular searches on Google in Israel in the hours after the attack was “Tehelim” – the Hebrew word for Psalms.

We are by no means out of the woods yet. Israel is already planning retaliation, and this will of course have its response from Iran. It’s hard to see how escalation could be avoided. God’s word tells us that violence and darkness will increase towards the end, but it’s important to keep praying for peace and pursuing it. That’s what sons and daughters of God do. We need to stay vigilant in prayer, and rest in God’s protection without capitulating to fear.

“Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ So he answered,

‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them'” (2 Kings 6:15-16).

How to pray

Please pray for Israel’s safety and protection as the retaliation is being planned

Pray for the seven year old Bedouin girl who is having an operation for her head wound

Pray for peace-loving Iranians, and for the nation of Iran

Pray that God opens the eyes of the nations to see the truth of what is happening here in the Middle East

Pray that many are saved and come to faith in these extreme circumstances, both in Israel and around the world