The Hamas horror continues

The bodies of six Israeli hostages were recovered on Saturday by Israel Defense Forces from tunnels under the Rafah area in southern Gaza. The Israeli Health Ministry determined the hostages died from multiple close-range gunshots, executed by Hamas shortly before the IDF reached them. The names of the dead are Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Eden Yerushalmi, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin. May their memories be a blessing.

Goldberg-Polin was an Israeli American taken at the Re’im music festival where so many of the Oct. 7, 2023, horrors occurred. Hiding in a bomb shelter with friends and strangers, he had a portion of his arm blown off as he tried to remove grenades that militants had tossed into the bunker. He and his bloodied stump were thrown into the bed of a pickup truck and taken into Gaza. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, became outspoken advocates for all those aching to see the hostages brought safely home. They were relentless. They had audiences with President Joe Biden and Pope Francis. They went to the Gazan border to scream their son’s name. Goldberg never had any illusions that her son might not survive. “I don’t think there’s been one hour that I haven’t thought he’s dead,” she acknowledged a year ago. “Hersh may have died 13 days ago, and I don’t know about it. He may have died an hour ago. He may have died five days ago. He may have died on my birthday last week. I don’t know.” Now, terribly, his parents do know.

Echoing their sorrow, Vice President Kamala Harris condemned Hamas as “an evil terrorist organization” that now has “even more American blood on its hands.” She’s right. Now is a good time to remember that 45 Americans died on Oct. 7, 2023, and another 12 were kidnapped. Some were released. But, following Goldberg-Polin’s murder, there are still seven Americans in captivity. Along with the Americans, Hamas is still holding approximately 90 other hostages, including two children under the age of 5 who have now spent north of 20 percent of their lives as prisoners. Thirty-three of these hostages have already been declared dead by Israeli authorities.

The continued catastrophe is fracturing Israel. Hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets on Sunday and have vowed to bring Israel to a halt until a resolution is found. Their anger is not directed at Hamas alone. The Hostages Family Forum, an information-sharing and coordination initiative set up to represent the families of captives, has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to reach a deal. “Hamas is not the only one responsible,” the forum insists. “We do not expect the terrorist [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar to want to return the hostages, we expect the prime minister of Israel to do everything, everything, everything in order to return the hostages home.”

Many in Israel have criticized Netanyahu for prioritizing his political survival over the survival of the hostages. Others—including from within his security Cabinet—accuse him of prioritizing victory over Hamas, and certain strategic decisions intended to achieve it, over protecting hostages.

This last criticism illustrates the difficulty facing Israeli leadership. The dilemma—whether to pursue Hamas’ defeat or the hostages’ safety—is a false one. Netanyahu is correct when he insists that “the fact that Hamas continues to commit atrocities … obliges us to do everything so that it cannot commit these atrocities again.”

The best achievable way to ensure Israeli security is to make clear to Israel’s enemies that the price of harming the nation is too high to pay. This, in turn, is best achieved, right now, by destroying Hamas’ ability to ever launch offensive operations against Israel again. And this is best achieved by destroying Hamas. It’s probably true that this strategy puts the present hostages in peril. But it’s probably also the best means of preventing future hostages.

Responding to Goldberg-Polin’s murder, Vice President Harris seems to suggest that she gets this. She insisted that “the threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel—and American citizens in Israel—must be eliminated. Hamas cannot control Gaza.” While she is correct, the Biden administration, despite the heated rhetoric, does not seem to be pressing for this. Instead, the United States, with nations such as Qatar and Egypt also acting as mediators, reproposed a three-phrased cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. The first phase involves a six-week cease-fire. The second includes the release of hostages—and some Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners—as well as a complete IDF withdrawal from Gaza. But by leaving Hamas in place, this plan is anathema.

Worse would be any plan that allows Hamas to remain a political or military power able to hold sway over Gaza. Such a plan is both a betrayal of the memory of the recently lost and a surefire way to guarantee that peace between those Palestinians and Israelis who want it will remain a distant dream.