Last weekend, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) liberated four hostages from captivity in Gaza in a high-risk daytime mission. Ahead of the raid, the IDF gathered intelligence on the hostages’ locations—Hamas had strategically placed them in two residential buildings surrounded by Gazan civilians.
Israeli forces practiced their raid on models of the two apartment buildings. Then they went into Gaza. They returned home after successfully freeing 25-year-old Noa Argamani, 22-year-old Almog Meir Jan, 41-year-old Shlomi Ziv, and 27-year-old Andrey Kozlov.
The Israeli troops who entered Gaza risked their lives to free those being tortured and abused by terrorists. One of the soldiers, Arnon Zamora, was killed. These individuals deserve only praise.
A rescue mission that liberates hostages from their terrorist captors is a fundamentally noble operation. There are few things more morally clear than this. But radical pro-Hamas activists have turned the truth upside down by painting this mission as a reckless attack.
Left-wing media outlets are headlining the operation as a raid that killed civilians rather than a tragically necessary rescue. They unquestioningly accept flawed casualty numbers published by the Gaza Ministry of Health, failing to understand that Hamas controls the government of Gaza. Activists insist that capturing and abusing hostages is “resistance,” but that rescuing them is a war crime.
The truth of this situation is not complicated. Any civilian death in Gaza is tragic, and any civilian death in Gaza is entirely the fault of Hamas. These terrorists embed themselves and their hostages in populated places to encourage civilian casualties—casualties they then use to smear Israel. Gazan civilians themselves told reporters they were angry with Hamas for endangering residential areas. If Hamas wanted to keep Gazans safe, they would release the hostages.
After Israel’s latest rescue, 116 hostages are still in Hamas’s captivity, 41 of whom are confirmed dead. Eight Americans are still being held, three of whom are confirmed dead.
How should Israel respond to terrorists’ keeping their citizens in captivity? By waiting 250 more days for a release that shows no signs of happening?
No. Israel is right to defend itself and rescue its people. Until Hamas releases the hostages, Israel must strive to free them and to eliminate the terrorists holding them.
As I’ve said repeatedly since Hamas’s attack on October 7th, Israel has a right as a sovereign nation to determine how it will defend itself and free its citizens. We must have the moral clarity to stand with Israel. If American radicals regret a rescue mission that liberates Israeli hostages, how will they respond to a mission that liberates American hostages? Equivocating on Israel’s right to self-defense only leads to equivocating on America’s right to self-defense, for we share the same enemies.
I stand with our ally Israel as it rescues those in captivity. So should all Americans.
Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.
(June 14, 2024)