The last remaining living hostages held by the barbarians of Hamas and other Jihadist groups in the terror statelet of Gaza are now back home in Israel. They are back with their families and friends where they should be and from whence they should never have been taken. There are still dozens of dead bodies of Israelis and others captured during the 7/10 attack, who were more than likely murdered by Hamas and similar Islamic savage groups, still in Gaza, still awaiting return and still awaiting a decent burial.
Like many others from across the world, I have joy at the return of the Hostages to their families but I also know that I must grieve for the dozens upon dozens more families who are not being reunited with their loved ones, because they were murdered by Hamas in Gaza. For every good news story of a living hostage coming back to Eretz Israel, there will be many more stories of families who will be coming to terms with the fact that there is no hope that their sons or daughters or fathers or mothers or grandparents or other relatives will return alive.
This is not going to be a long form article on the release of the hostages, there are others out there, many of them Israelis, who are doing a better job than I could with such pieces. They have more knowledge and more of a direct connection to this avoidable horror story than I have.
The last two years have been ones of monstrous horror for the families of those whom Hamas captured and for those held hostage themselves, following the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. I cannot even begin to imagine how it would feel if it was my son or my wife held captive by some of the worst Islamic savages on the planet. Such a situation is difficult to even begin to contemplate.
The fight against Hamas has been difficult and costly for Israelis. Hundreds of Israelis have died fighting Hamas and to get back those who Hamas had captured. The peace plan, which I’ve little doubt Hamas will break in the not too distant future, has seen Israel release from prison some of the worst of the worst of the terrorist savages that Israel had kept safely locked up. I’ve little doubt that at least some of those savages released by Israel as part of this peace deal will go on to commit or encourage yet more Islamic terrorist savagery.
The war that Hamas and the Gazans started has had lots of casualties, both corporeal and political. Too many people both from Gaza and from Israel have lost their lives in a war that could and should have been avoided. Gaza could have been, from 2005 when Israel pulled out of Gaza, a sort of Singapore on the Med, but instead the Gazans chose Hamas and destruction. The Israelis didn’t want this war but they got it because Hamas wanted it. There have also been massive political casualties as well. One of the chief of these political casualties is the delusion of a ‘two state solution’. Despite much frothing in the international community about how this agreement will create a viable two state solution, it remains to be seen whether the good words about coexistence will be accompanied by good deeds and whether those representing the ‘Palestinians’ are peacemakers in good faith. However after 7/10 I doubt that there are many sensibly cynical and realistic people whether inside Israel or outside, who believe that the ‘Palestinians’ of whatever political stripe can be trusted to live in peace with their Israeli neighbours. There might be individual ‘Palestinians’ who might be willing to do that and I know that as I’ve met a few in the UK, but there is no credible or broadly supported political movement among the ‘Palestinians’ that desire peaceful coexistence. It might take the coming of the Moshiach (Messiah) to bring such a peace but I doubt that peace of this nature will come from the actions of the ‘Palestinians’.
This is the end of a battle, to recover the living hostages and the bodies of those who Hamas has slain but it is not the end of the war. Hamas have not sued for a genuine peace after recognising that all hope of survival is lost, as was the case with the Germans after World War II in Europe. What many in the West see as peace is merely a ‘hudna’ or a temporary pause in fighting so that the Islamic forces can recover and regroup. These savages will not cease to be savages merely because of a peace deal. Israel still faces multiple threats from multiple directions from Islamic savagery which still has to be guarded against and fought. The best that civilised people can hope for with Gaza is that the Gazans and their deep seated hatreds for Jews are contained to Gaza, with a buffer ‘kill zone’ set up in Gaza by Israel to prevent Gazans from ever again posing the sort of threat that resulted in the 7/10 Pogrom.
It’s interesting to compare what external forces such as President Trump have achieved in bringing this phase of the conflict to an end and the very minor and maybe counterproductive inputs by the likes of the UK Government. President Donald Trump managed to help secure a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, which is a magnificent achievement. The British Labour government on the other hand decided to recognise the terror state of ‘Palestine’ in order to keep Britain’s own increasingly restive Moslems on the Labour Party’s side. How the USA reacted to the Gaza Crisis and how Britain reacted is the difference between chalk and cheese. Although this peace agreement is in its very early stages and may fall apart rapidly due to the actions of the jihadists, we can see that in Trump we have a strong and determined leader willing to do what it takes to solve what looked to be an intractable situation. When we look at someone like the UK PM Keir Starmer we see the exact opposite. We see a man who can see no way through but the way of appeasement of the Moslems, who his party rely on now as a core vote and who have made up large numbers of those who have taken to British streets to call for the destruction of Jews. Americans should be proud of Mr Trump, whereas we in the UK look upon our Prime Minister and feel little apart from shame.
That’s enough from me on this subject for today. I’ll leave further commentary on the hostage releases to those who can add more than I can, although I’m almost certain to be writing about this subject at a later date.
We should celebrate the release of those who were so unjustly captured and abused and grieve for those who didn’t come home. This Simchat Torah, some Israelis at least can and will dance again.