The Wednesday Plus Advocate

The Horrors of Hamas

WSJ-“TEL AVIV—Hamas displayed coffins that it said held the bodies of four Israeli hostages before a crowd of militants while handing them over to Israel on Thursday, in a spectacle that included taunts and anti-Israel slogans.”

“Each coffin had a photo of a hostage on it, including two young redheaded children, as well as a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over which was written “The Killer.”

The coffins were placed on a stage before cheering spectators and cameras that broadcast the scenes on Arab television channels.”

“Behind a stage set up in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, a banner showed Netanyahu likened to a vampire, with blood dripping down his chin, blaming him for their deaths.”

Released by Hamas was Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were just 4 years old and 9 months old when they were kidnapped on October 7, 2023.

What kind of human being kidnaps a child and infant along with their mother? What kind of human cheers when these dead bodies are paraded on a public stage draped with taunts and vile slogans?

As I have written here before, Hamas has raised the ante in uncivilized warfare that harkens the darkest days of humanity. Never mind that one of the cheering Palestinians was a released prisoner who had been sentenced for the 1996 bus bombing that killed more than forty Israelis.

The dizzying disparity in the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, both in quality and quantity, should send shock waves throughout the civilized world. I dare say that had Palestinian innocent civilians been taken hostage by Israel, Hamas would not be vulnerable to pressure to secure their release. Rather, Hamas would do nothing to impede its goal of “from the river to the sea”, its slogan for the obliteration of Israel.

So what does the world do when people like this, Hamas and their supporters, roam the planet? Is Israel’s acceding to this ill begotten cease fire merely a prelude to more barbarism by Hamas and others who may be inspired by this savage saga?

What will Israel do if and when the remaining hostages are released? That scenario is said to be dependent upon a permanent cease fire to the current war, but is there anything permanent in this generational struggle between Arab and Jew other than warfare and terrorism?

Once the Ukraine conflict is put to bed, Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu will be laser focused on Israeli security and the degrading of Iranian influence in the area. Hopefully, any peace deal Mr. Trump makes with Putin will include assurances that Russia does not come to Iran’s defense when its day of reckoning arrives.

That will be a hard sell, since Iran had aided Russia it its aggression against Ukraine. However, let’s see if the “master deal maker” can pull this rabbit out of a hat.