Despite a barrage of missiles fired at Israel by Hamas, there have been remarkably few Israeli civilian casualties, partly due to Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. But the small casualty numbers may also be due to an unseen Defender who controls the wind and the waves.

The Iron Dome system is effective 90 percent of the time. The 10 percent of missiles that get through might be expected to do some significant damage, but they haven’t so far.  In one remarkable case, an Israeli Iron Dome operator/commander says that during the week of July 27, he witnessed “the hand of God” divert an incoming Hamas rocket into the sea.

According to Israel Today, the commander said, “A missile was fired from Gaza. Iron Dome precisely calculated [its trajectory]. We know where these missiles are going to land, down to a radius of 200 meters. This particular missile was going to hit either the Azrieli Towers, the Kirya (Israel’s equivalent of the Pentagon) or [a central Tel Aviv railway station]. Hundreds could have died.”

The commander took the appropriate action to stop the missile. “We fired the first [interceptor]. It missed.”

Then a second interceptor was fired and it missed.

“This is very rare. I was in shock,” the commander reported.

“At this point we had just four seconds until the missile lands. We had already notified emergency services to converge on the target location and had warned of a mass-casualty incident,” the commander said.

“Suddenly, Iron Dome (which calculates wind speeds, among other things) shows a major wind coming from the east, a strong wind that . . . sends the missile into the sea. We were all stunned.”

With only four seconds to stop it, a mighty wind came from nowhere and diverted the missile. The commander stood up and shouted, “There is a God!”

“I witnessed this miracle with my own eyes,” the commander said. “It was not told or reported to me. I saw the hand of God send that missile into the sea.”

During the same week, according to Israel Today, Col. Ofer Winter, commander of the Givati Infantry Brigade, described a mysterious fog that enveloped him and his troops as they advanced on an enemy position in the early morning.

The Givati Infantry Brigade had planned a nighttime raid, but it was postponed. So Col. Winter was concerned about whether his troops would be spotted without the cover of darkness. Instead, the thick fog provided the covering they needed to complete their operation successfully. Col. Winter labeled the covering as “clouds of glory.”

Earlier in the Gaza war, Col. Winter sparked some debate when he told his troops to lead the charge against an enemy that “curses, defames, and abuses the God of Israel.”

Col. Winter also told his troops he was praying that the “Lord your God go with you, to fight for you against your enemies and to save you.”

Even the leaders of Hamas noticed the unusual help that Israel seemed to be receiving from above. “We do aim [our rockets], but their God changes their path in mid-air,” an unnamed Hamas commander reportedly said.

MARK ELLIS is a senior correspondent for Assist News Service.

From Prayer Connect magazine, Issue 18, (C) 2014. To Subscribe.