The rescue of Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv in an operation on Saturday in central Gaza is the good news that many people have been waiting to hear for eight months now. Over the months, many have had a hard time holding on to hope. However, the rescue not only warms our hearts, but is also a reminder of the righteousness of the cause of returning the hostages and defeating Hamas.
It was eight months ago on a Saturday that the enemy cruelly attacked along the length of the Gaza border, overrunning IDF posts and massacring soldiers and civilians.
Hamas slaughtered more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Since that day, Israel has been trapped in a state of collective trauma.
For many people, that day never ends; it just goes on and on. For others, this means eight months of fighting on the front lines either as part of regular army units or reserve units. Some have been away from their families for most of this period.
The war has been difficult. There are concerns about where it is leading and whether there is a strategy. Hamas still controls a swath of Gaza. Israel’s enemies have been exploiting October 7 to try to isolate and harm Israel. Iran’s proxies, such as Hezbollah, have rained down rockets and missiles on northern Israel, forcing 80,000 people out of their homes. On the border of Gaza, many residents are fearful of returning to their homes. A recent attempted attack by Hamas near the community of Holit and Sufa shows that it still has tunnels near the border.
Israel’s enemies are also massing at the United Nations. They are employing all their tools. For many years, parts of the international community have collaborated with Hamas. The fact that the terrorist group has been able to operate from hospitals and schools in Gaza with no pushback by the international organizations in the Strip illustrates how Hamas has hijacked the international community.
We see evidence of this every day in Gaza. Hamas has placed weapons in almost every building: That is what many of the soldiers who operated in Gaza say. They find tunnel shafts, munitions, AK-47s, RPGs, and booby traps everywhere.
Further, the enemy has tunneled under Gaza for hundreds of miles, endangering the civilians above. Most cynically, it has infiltrated areas where children are sheltering, sending in a bunch of grown Hamas men to hide among kids.
International inaction on Hamas condemnation
The international community has done little to confront, let alone condemn Hamas, allowing it to hide behind the term “armed group.” They never condemn it. The global community did not help the hostages. Organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross did not visit them. All of the international organizations that are supposed to help civilians, like those in Israel, did not help. They failed to fulfill their mandates or their duties to help the hostages.
Worse, self-defined progressives and the extreme Left in the West have refused to admit that Hamas has committed crimes. They have minimized or openly rejected the fact that the brutal terrorist group has carried out acts of sexual violence.
What is more, they try to define all Israelis as legitimate targets and have betrayed humanity in their excuses. We saw that on display this week when the sister of a hostage went on a media show in the US only to be openly mocked by its eye-rolling host. I am purposely not mentioning her name because she does not deserve more attention to grift off the suffering here.
Today is a win for the side of good in this awful conflict. October 7 should have been prevented. Hamas leaders have lived in Qatar since 2012, when the US apparently asked its ally Doha to host them.
Why are the leading terrorists who massacred people being hosted by a Western ally?
Why weren’t the West or the countries in the region able to pick up on the plans for October 7, thereby preventing them from happening in the first place?
What did Egypt know? What did Russia know? What did China know?
Beijing is seeking to host talks between Hamas and other Palestinian groups that apparently may be aimed at giving Hamas a role in the West Bank.
Iran is exploiting this war to unify its proxies in the region to attack Israel and the US and also bully countries in the Gulf.
The rescue operation in Nuseirat refugee camp shows that Israel is capable of rescuing the hostages. Days before the operation, Jerusalem was being pressured into accepting a ceasefire deal. It has been accepting such deals for months while Hamas keeps rejecting agreement proposals.
Yet, Israel has been slammed and critiqued. France, for instance, Israeli companies were banned from a defense expo called Eurosatory in France, basically punishing Israel for defending itself. Why didn’t France pressure Hamas or the countries that back and host Hamas? Instead, many countries tried to pressure Israel to accept a ceasefire that would have left the hostages in Gaza for months or even years. We know this because no one has helped free Avera Mengistu or Hisham al-Sayed, two hostages being held by Hamas since 2014.
June 8, 2024 – exactly eight months and a day after October 7 – was a win for the side of good. May we see more such wins – and soon.