By David Parsons, ICEJ Senior Vice President & Spokesman

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem has just completed a very successful Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Jerusalem right as Israel welcomed home the last 20 living hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza. The timing seemed to be orchestrated from heaven, as so many of our Feast pilgrims have been faithfully praying with us online for two whole years for the release of the remaining hostages, and they were actually here to witness and experience their joyous return alongside the people of Israel.

At the very start of the Feast last Monday evening, as the full moon rose over the desert oasis at Kfar HaNokdim, we already declared from the stage our faith that the last group of live Israeli hostages would arrive safely home before the end of Sukkot. Expectations continued to rise all week, as reports soon emerged of a breakthrough in negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza.

By Thursday, our Jerusalem March ended with a prayer vigil in the Rose Garden, where over 2,000 Christians from 75 nations zealously interceded for the hostages only a few hundred meters away from where the Israeli cabinet was convening in the Prime Minister’s Office to consider and approve the first phase of the Trump peace plan for Gaza.

Within a few short days, US President Donald Trump was jetting to Israel to address the Knesset, where he affirmed Israel’s victory in the two-year war and assured the Jewish nation that the last living captives in Gaza were all coming home that very day. Indeed, they were all freed by sunset on Monday just as the week of Sukkot ended and the holiday of Simchat Torah began – exactly two years on the Hebrew calendar since the horrific terror invasion of October 7, 2023.

A large delegation of Feast pilgrims visited Hostage Square in Tel Aviv that day to join the celebrations, while others still in the Land went to the Western Wall in Jerusalem to thank the Lord for answering our prayers to bring them home.

“After 738 days of war and so much pain and uncertainty, Monday was a truly historic moment for Israel and all who love this nation,” said ICEJ President Dr Jürgen Bühler. “With the safe return of all the remaining live hostages to Israel, and the visit of US President Donald Trump to Jerusalem, we witnessed what hopefully will be the end of the war in Gaza! This is a significant occasion, and we approach it with deep gratitude, relief and rejoicing before the Lord.”

This does not mean that the enemies of Israel have given up the fight, and thus Christians will need to remain on the walls of her defense in unceasing support and prayer. We also have serious concerns about the upcoming phases of Trump’s comprehensive plan for rebuilding Gaza, which no doubt will be fraught with many twists and turns. But for this moment, there is great cause for rejoicing in the camp of the righteous, as God has answered our prayers for the last Israeli hostages to come home.

Please watch this special message by ICEJ President Dr. Jürgen Bühler

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