Dismantling a rocket piece that crashed in a home in Israel. “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord your God, He it is that goes with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6).
_
The new year brought a different Middle East, with some tyrants now vanquished, and a powerful president in Washington, one with many friends of Zion in his inner circle. Disorder and disinformation remain, however, be it in Gaza, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), or at the United Nations. But Israel will survive, as it has done for millennia.
An Israeli general asserted days ago that the risks and dangers in Judea and Samaria were greater than anything that happened with Hamas in Gaza. For months, Israel’s army has been facing terrorist attacks along its eastern border. Hundreds of terrorists have been arrested, and weapons and tunnels have been destroyed.
The uprising is due to terror-sponsoring Iran’s shifting focus as Hamas and Hizbullah have been reduced to more or less impotent brawlers. Humbled Iran’s “Ring of Fire” around Israel has fizzled. Even the Houthis in Yemen pose only a limited threat to Israel.
By the end of February, 33 hostages from the tunnels of Gaza, ages 19 to 80, will be free. Israelis, Americans, Thais and Europeans are among them, including women. Their crime: They are Jews or were living among Jews.
The stories of their abuse and torture, physical and emotional–sexual assaults, beatings and starvation, medical “procedures” without anesthesia, and withholding of medicine–receive scant mention outside Israel.
In exchange, Israel is releasing a thousand prisoners and detainees, 83 percent of them terrorists convicted of violent crimes, the remainder convicted of incitement or being members of a terrorist organization. Ninety-one percent are men, nine percent women and three percent teenagers.
Among them are murderers responsible for restaurant- and bus-bombings and home invasions that variously killed six, 21, 35 and 45 people, sometimes entire families.
Historically, eighty percent of the terrorists will return to terror. Even Hamas head Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7 massacre, had been part of a prisoner swap, along with 1,026 others, who were released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.
The current celebrations in Gaza show Hamas will not change at any price. Hamas has not disarmed or surrendered.
Israeli Muslim journalist Khaled Abu Toameh says: “It is only a matter of time before the terrorist group attempts to launch another October 7-style attack on Israel….Hamas must be totally defeated and eliminated, not rewarded for committing the biggest crime against Jews since the Holocaust….The only deal that will actually bring peace is a ceasefire where Hamas ceases to exist” (“A Deal That Keeps Hamas In Power Is Meaningless,” Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, January 19, 2025).
Former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz calls the hostage exchange extortion rather than a deal: “Would you call it a deal if somebody kidnapped your child and you ‘agreed’ to pay ransom to get her back? The kidnapping was a crime. And the extortionate demand was an additional crime,” he states (“It Wasn’t a Deal–It Was a Crime”, Alan M. Dershowitz, Gatestone Institute, January 17, 2025).
Hostage Gadi Mozes, 80, released after 482 days in Gazan captivity. President Trump wants all Palestinians out of Gaza.
“When a terrorist group ‘negotiates’ with a democracy, it always has the upper hand. The terrorists are not constrained by morality, law or truth. They can murder at will, rape at will, torture at will and threaten to do worse. The democracy, on the other hand, must comply with the rules of law and must listen to the pleas of the hostage families.”
Hamas is not alone in guilt, Dershowitz says: “Especially complicit, with blood on their hands, are supporters of Hamas on university campuses who chant for intifada and revolution. Also complicit are international organizations, such as the International Criminal Court, that treat Israel and Hamas as equals. These supporters of terrorism encouraged Hamas to hold out for many months in the belief that their support would pressure Israel into making more concessions.”
Caroline Glick, International Affairs Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, goes even further. She holds all Gazans responsible for the deaths and destruction: “Everyone participated. Roaring crowds handed torches to 10-year-olds, giving them the honor of lighting homes ablaze, burning entire families alive. The Palestinian-Arab hordes photographed, whooped and laughed in ecstasy as they raped, tortured and murdered their victims. And when they arrived home to Gaza with their hostages–dead and alive–they were greeted by crowds of thousands as conquering heroes. Yes, Hamas planned the sadistic genocide. Yes, Hamas led the charge. But it was a whole-of-society endeavor” (“Israel must win this war,” Caroline Glick, Israel National News, January 24, 2025).
Indeed, though known as a terrorist organization, Hamas was elected by the majority of Gazans in 2006.
She notes that in the second phase of the three-phase agreement, to receive the remaining live hostages back, Israel withdraws from Gaza, including from the border area with Egypt. “The implication of a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is that Hamas wins the war. It survives not only intact, but in full control of Gaza, respected worldwide as the jihadist force that committed genocide and survived to rebuild and do it again and again.”
The bodies of dead hostages will be kept by Hamas, while the creation of a Palestinian state is negotiated in a third phase.
And there’s more: “As for Iran, if Hamas survives and Hizbullah survives, then Iran will emerge as the victor in this war.”
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), hundreds of aid trucks are now entering Gaza. Prior to the January 19, 2025, ceasefire, however, it was the UN, not Israel, that was limiting aid delivery. Hundreds of trucks stood waiting on the Gazan side of the border. They had been released by Israel, but were held up by the UN, waiting for associates (i.e. Hamas) to pick them up. It was part of a scheme to blame Israel for “starvation” in Gaza (“UN Blocks Aid to Gaza to Fake a Famine,” danielgreenfield.org, January 10, 2025).
That is no surprise. UNRWA has hundreds of Hamas members. UNRWA facilities were even used to hold Israeli hostages.
One UN agency, Famine Early Warning System (FEWS), had declared months ago that the starvation numbers were inflated by hundreds of percent, yet the authoritative report was ignored. UNRWA claimed in December 2024 that 2,205 trucks had entered Gaza that month. The true number was over 5,000.
The contempt for Israel displayed by the UN does not occur in a vacuum. The Anti-Defamation League’s 10th annual survey on antisemitism worldwide was published on January 14. It revealed that 46 percent of the world’s adult population, 2.2 billion people, “harbor deeply entrenched antisemitic attitudes.” The highest rates are in the Middle East, the lowest in Canada, Holland, Norway and Sweden.
Only 48 percent of those questioned in the 100-nation survey recognize the historical accuracy of the Holocaust.
In the retelling of the Passover story each spring, Jews recount that in every generation there are those who seek to destroy us, but the Eternal One, blessed is He, is faithful. That great assurance has sustained the Jewish nation and encourages all who believe His Word.