My Word: Biden’s speech, Hamas’s deeds

It was a politically extraordinary act in a time of turmoil. US President Joe Biden on Friday gave a speech outlining a three-phase deal intended to end the war in Gaza and attain the release of the hostages held there by Hamas.

It is unusual for a US president to decide to present the plan he says was drawn up and agreed to by the Israeli war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without the Israeli prime minister standing by his side. Even more markedly, the speech was given after the start of the Sabbath in Jerusalem, when the Israeli government could not respond and much of the Israeli public was unaware of the president’s declaration and plan.

This is unlikely a matter of chance. Altogether, it gave the impression that Biden was trying to pressure Israel to accept a deal, at any price. Clearly, it’s easier to press Israel into compliance than to force the Hamas terrorist organization to act.

Hamas and its Palestinian Islamic Jihad accomplices committed such a monstrous atrocity on October 7 that the date will go down in history in the same way that the date 9/11 encapsulates the mega-attack perpetrated by al-Qaeda on American soil. During the Hamas invasion of Israel’s South, some 1,200 were murdered and some 240 abducted to Gaza.

The aftermath of the October 7 massacre

This week, we received an excruciating reminder of the difficulty in knowing the exact figures. On Monday, it was announced that Dolev Yehud, a 35-year-old paramedic, had been killed on October 7 as he sought to save lives during the Hamas massacre.

His body was so badly burned that it took special forensic tests from the charred remains of his bones to determine his identity. Until this week, it was believed that he was among the captives held in Gaza.

Hamas has neither released a list of names nor permitted visits to the hostages by the International Red Cross Committee. It is problematic to agree to a hostage release deal – in exchange for the release of terrorist prisoners and a ceasefire – without knowing how many hostages there are, alive or dead. (Currently, 81 live hostages are believed to be held in Gaza, along with the bodies of 43.)

On the same day that Yehud’s fate was revealed, it was also announced that there was definitive evidence that four hostages – Chaim Peri, 80; Amiram Cooper, 84; Yoram Metzger, 80; and Nadav Popplewell, 51 – had been killed in captivity. All four had previously been seen in videos released by Hamas as part of its psychological warfare.

The three older men had appeared together, bearded, gaunt, and pale. In a separate video, Popplewell’s bruised face and black eye had a haunted look. Whether the men were murdered outright by their Hamas captors or killed during an Israeli airstrike, their deaths were caused by Hamas. Had the terrorist army not snatched the men from their homes and held them captive as human shields and bargaining chips, they would not have died.

In their videos, Hamas and PIJ force their captives to declare that Netanyahu alone is responsible for their fates and to call for more mass demonstrations against the government. Our enemies know us so well. Sowing dissent and widening the divisions in Israeli society is part of the strategic game plan by Iran and its terrorist proxies. 

For all the American talk of a ceasefire, Iran and the terrorists it supports continue to call for the elimination of the Jewish state, whatever it takes – more rockets, massacres, cyber attacks, and international isolation through lawfare and pressure. The end goal is to get Israelis to leave – between the river and the sea. Hamas does not have a peace plan. It does not want peace.

ADELE RAEMER, a member of Kibbutz Nirim who runs the Life on the Border with Gaza Facebook group, on Monday made an important point. Her friend Ada Sagi, 75, had been held captive in Gaza until her release in the November deal. Sagi told Channel 12 this week that her captors had been paid for keeping her a prisoner. 

The unemployed students who guarded her received NIS 70 a day, high by Gazan standards, and the family in whose home she was held was happy to receive another prisoner, as it meant more money.

They were saving up with the goal of leaving Gaza, Sagi and Raemer noted. “The father of the family who held Ada hostage for 54 days told her: ‘I am not complicit.’

“Ada responded: ‘How are you not complicit, if you took my freedom and I am held against my will, in your house? You are complicit. That is Hamas money.’”

The next time you hear about “the innocent Gazan civilians,” ask yourself, did they hold people captive? Do they know where hostages are being held, and are they protecting the captors? Did they participate in the invasion, massacres, rape, and pillaging that occurred on October 7, either directly along with the thousands who swarmed into Israel that day or indirectly, celebrating the bloodbath and abductions?

During Israel’s operation in Rafah, which brought about international wrath, more than 20 tunnels were discovered, crossing from the Hamas stronghold in Gaza into Egypt. Huge quantities of arms, rockets, fuel, and other products could be smuggled through these tunnels (as well as via the regular Rafah crossing when Egypt chooses to open it). All the while, Israel is being forced into supplying its attackers with “humanitarian aid.”

Biden’s plan seems to be to put pressure on Israel to comply with any deal and leave it to Egypt and Qatar to try to enforce Palestinian compliance. Excuse me for my skepticism. I have trust issues – especially after Oslo, the disengagement, and October 7. We are veterans of Hamas “ceasefires”: Israel ceases, Hamas fires.

Attention should be on Iran, the major sponsor of the terrorists; Qatar, which is still hosting Hamas leaders in luxury; and Turkey, where Erdogan’s regime is also fostering hatred. (A massive bomb intended for use in Israel was recently discovered in Nablus, reportedly the work of Hamas terrorists based in Turkey.) It is also wise not to lose sight of Putin’s Russia, and China.

Incidentally, while all eyes were on Gaza, last week US and UK forces struck Houthi targets in Yemen following increased attacks by the Iranian-backed proxy on international shipping. The Houthis alleged that all 16 people killed in the operation were civilians. The claim is as credible as Hamas Health Ministry statistics for civilian casualties in Gaza, but the Western powers will not face the same backlash as Israel contends with when tackling terror.

Hezbollah ramped up its rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel, while some 70,000 Israelis remain displaced from the region after eight months. Adding to what was already a difficult situation, massive fires swept through the North as a result of the rockets (and possibly arson) in the oppressive heatwave. Hezbollah’s attacks, in contravention of UN resolutions and agreements, underscore another reason Israel finds it hard to trust the word of terrorists.

Two soldiers were killed in a ramming attack near Nablus in Samaria on Friday – the terrorist gave himself up to the Palestinian Authority, so complicit in terror that it pays the perpetrators and their families. And there were ongoing shooting attacks from Tulkarm in PA-held territory (or the State of Palestine for the gullible). 

These were aimed at nearby Israeli communities, such as the pastoral Bat Hefer. Like the southern kibbutzim targeted on October 7, this is a Jewish community within sovereign Israel, not “a settlement” – as if that could be an excuse for terrorism. The terrorists, some wearing Hamas headbands, filmed themselves carrying out the shooting attacks – another element in both the physical war and psychological one.

It’s hard to keep count of the number of fronts from where Israel is coming under attack: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, PA-held territories in Judea and Samaria, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran.

Biden has a vision of a peaceful Middle East “the day after Gaza.” If only Israel’s enemies shared the same vision. The terrorists are more inspired by Hamas’s “victory” than by Biden’s nice words. If the Hamas leadership survives, Biden’s dream could prolong the nightmare instead of ending it.