The brutal deaths this past week of six innocent civilian hostages who were taken captive by the Hamas terrorists on October 7 has shone a bright light on a simple reality: The hostages are nothing but pawns, if even that, in the ongoing conflict between the Hamas and Israeli governments.
The execution-style murders of the hostages, who reportedly were shot in the head at close range, is shocking but not surprising. Hamas terrorists have the full backing and funding of the Iranian government whose sole, stated goal is to wipe the State of Israel off the map and to kill every Jew they can lay their hands on.
But the barbarity of Hamas and its Iranian masters is nothing new. These are regimes that treat their own people, especially women, with cruelty and inhumanity. Any hint of dissent is crushed with torture, sham trials, and executions.
As for the Israeli leaders, the sad and tragic deaths of the hostages this past week have made it clear that they are not interested in securing the hostages’ release. The brutal war in Gaza, in which thousands of innocent civilians have been killed, has dragged on for 11 months with no end in sight. Negotiations to bring about a ceasefire in order for the remaining hostages to be freed have gone nowhere, with both Hamas and the Israeli government blaming the other for the lack of progress.
Whether one believes that the position being taken by the Israeli government is either morally or strategically defensible, the bottom line is that the Israeli government has not prioritized the plight of the hostages, which is painfully evident to the members of the hostages’ families, who said in a statement this week, “For 11 months the Israeli government led by Netanyahu failed to do what a government is expected to do—return its sons and daughters home. A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. If it weren’t for the thwarting of the deal, the excuses and the spins, the hostages whose deaths we learned of this morning would probably be alive.”
All of us join with the family members of the six deceased hostages in mourning the deaths of their loved ones and sharing in their grief. Hopefully, their loss will spur all parties to come to an agreement that will bring the remaining hostages home. But given the apparent intransigence and indifference of the Hamas and the Israeli leaders, we fear this will not be the last time that family members of the remaining hostages will endure further anguish.