Home » Hamas and the murder of hostages, Part I: the background

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Hamas and the murder of hostages, Part I: the background — 53 Comments

  1. It’s early days, but apparently questions are emerging concerning the relationship of Farhan al-Qadi to the murdered six. Was he with them at any point? Was he with them when they were killed, or just before that? And so on. Time will have to pass before answers will be forthcoming.

  2. I will leave a longer reaction to this post by Neo after I’ve had a while to digest it. Let me just say at the outset — this thing with Hamas sickens me. There is no solution that works. Hamas seems to have pulled off the perfect crime. My gut reaction is that someone needs to set Iran back on its heels. Big time. Kargh Island gone and offline for years. Total freeze on any payments. Total block on petroleum exports. Strong support for domestic critics. Get India on board to criticize and oppose Iran publicly. And so on.

    But what I wanted to bring to Neo’s readers right now is that I just saw Joe Biden at a rally for Harris. His eyes are spacey. He talks spaced out. Whoever is measuring out the meds to dope him with is gonna kill him if they don’t back off. He is a total basket case. Who TF is running the country? Why are we not invoking the 25th Amendment? We are in dire straits!

    But what I wanted to write about now

  3. The wages of not going to quick extreme violence and termination of barbarians is the death of hostages. Unexpectedly!!!!

  4. Just saw that Hamas is going to release a video of the murdered hostages. Depraved Animals. Rabid Dogs have to be put down. Same with Hamas

  5. demons exist in the world, ghuls or djinn in their vernacular, I could refer to the relevant passage in the Koran, but when they cite Khaybar you understand exactly what they mean,

    the problem is this regime is almost entirely compromised to qatar and iran, the twin heads of islamism sunni and shia, the malley spy ring is not talked about as if it didn’t happen,

  6. An excellent analysis of the issues as usual.

    It amazes me that so many people in Israel are demanding a cease fire at all costs. Or are they just enemies of the Netanyahu government?

    I understand the grief and anxiety of the families of the hostages. They want action of any kind, at any cost, to bring their loved ones home.

    But the greater Israeli population is under threat of eventual extermination buy Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian Mullahs.
    Many don’t seem to recognize that. Nor do they seem to recognize that Hamas cares nothing about the hostages- they are lives to be used as bargaining chips for advantage on the battlefield and in the court of international opinion.

    In dealing with such an enemy the leadership and their citizens have to harden their hearts and not be blackmailed by Hamas into actions that give Hamas any leg up. It’s an awful situation, but in the long run being steadfast against the blackmail is the proper, though difficult, course.

  7. yes that seems to be the case, but as ben david would point out, this largely a self selected group from the left, many of those at the nova festival where on that side of the fence, and yet they have not learned the painful lesson,

    when they speak of settlers, realize they mean all those places that were stained by blood and sinew,

    this was the place that norman podhoretz saw in lamentations nearly 40 years ago, this is why Oslo was a street without an end, to paraphrase Bernard Fall, about Dien ben Phu, many of those that put Israel in such a place, are dead or out of Office, those that persist in this delusion like Barak, Gantz Lapid, are awfully cynical, as they lend themselves to the eventual fall of Israel

  8. Just look what this dim-wit Kamala HaukTuah2024 has to say:

    Today, @POTUS and I met with the U.S. hostage deal negotiation team. The murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages was a brutal, barbaric act by Hamas terrorists. As @POTUS said, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.

    It is long past time for a ceasefire and hostage deal. We need to bring the hostages home and end the suffering in Gaza.

    https://x.com/VP/status/1830652137216373177

    “Ceasefire” and “hostage deal” with “end the suffering in Gaza” are all code phrases for “Victory for Hamas“. Such is the “payment” Sinwar can expect.

  9. Generally speaking, The Left in America views Trump, and Netanyahu, as a more diabolical threat to humanity than it does Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. The Left continues to bend over backwards not to offend the terrorists, and, their enablers in the press only embolden that pathetic stance. They keep pushing for a cease-fire as if Israel is the bad guy in this, are happy to spread propaganda for the terrorists, and are willing to ignore obvious anti Semitism percolating on College campuses.
    None of that is organic or grass roots, this is intentional.

  10. I think her judgment is failing her at points.
    ==
    Some of Netanyahu’s critics are being unpardonably refractory, however.

  11. I’m with Glick in regarding the Israeli left as unconscionable. Israelis must hang together or hang separately. May God support the remaining hostages. There are no options for them in this life, alas.

  12. J.J., it amazes me too. As best as I can tell, people are substituting feelings and desires for rational thought. They are unwilling to recognize the inevitable consequences of giving Hamas what they want.
    The flip side is the tremendous love, responsibility, and concern Israelis feel for the hostages, almost like family members. The neighborhood where the family lives emptied out today onto the sidewalks and street corners to pay respect to Hersh as his family rode to the funeral. Thousands and thousands of people lined the streets and waved Israeli flags. Many thousands more were at the funeral. And the scene was no doubt repeated in five other places in Israel.
    I discussed my perspective with a friend, A (who is probably center-left), a couple of months ago, that the fact is that giving Hamas what they want in exchange for the hostages puts a kidnapping target on the back of every one of us. Not long afterward, Hersh’s family sponsored an evening of singing together. Since it was promoted as non-political, with no speeches, just being together, I participated. Afterward I reported back to A how moving it was. She asked me if it changed my feelings about a hostage deal. I told her that whatever my *feelings* might be, the facts are unchanged. I have to admit I was surprised by the question, because to me facts are facts, and feelings don’t change those facts.
    People who would make policy decisions based on feelings and desires are just different from those who advocate for hard-nosed realism.

  13. Art Deco:

    One reason may be that blowing up tunnels would kill the hostages. They have to clear a tunnel before they destroy it, and it’s slow and dangerous work. Do you know how many miles of tunnels there are? It’s a huge underground city. I once read that if the IDF did nothing but blow up tunnels, it would take more than three years. Many tunnels have been destroyed, but many more are left.

  14. Ilana:

    I think your analysis is correct.

    Plus of course the left in Israel has Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome and finds it easy to blame him for everything. They think if only he were gone, there would be a solution. That’s easier than facing the terrible reality.

  15. Do you know how many miles of tunnels there are?
    ==
    About 330 miles. It’s not going to take three years to blow them up.

  16. Look. There are a billion or so Muslims. Not many Jews. Some Muslims are sitting on vast reserves of oil. Who really cares about the Jews?

    Wouldn’t it be a lot simpler if there were no Israel?

    Tongue. Cheek. But I really think that’s the way a lot of the world thinks.

  17. Art Deco:

    There are estimated to be more tunnels than that , and a great many are very heavily fortified. Here’s an article that explains why it is likely to take years.

    Also, here’s an article discussing only the cross-border Philadelphi tunnels and how very difficult they are to FIND, much less destroy

  18. huxley:

    I think you are right that vast numbers are indifferent and might just shrug. Many, however, are malevolent and would cheer.

  19. Many, however, are malevolent and would cheer.

    neo:

    I don’t deny that and all too many are here in the good ol’ USA.

    To my horror.

  20. Olympic Games Munich 1972…

    Moshe Weinberg…

    The hostage-takers threw the body of Weinberg out of the front door of the apartment building to demonstrate their resolve. Israel’s response was immediate and absolute: there would be no negotiation. Israel’s official policy at the time was to refuse to negotiate with terrorists under any circumstances, as according to the Israeli government such negotiations would give an incentive to future attacks.

    Munich massacre…

    The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, carried out by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September. The militants infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team, and took nine others hostage, who were later killed in a failed rescue attempt.

    US & Israel’s (Free Worlders) policy now is to wait and be hit before reacting, and has been for far too long…

  21. Karmi:

    Yes, that was the older Israeli policy. The way they get around it now is that they still don’t negotiate directly with terrorists, they negotiate with state governments who are surrogates. It has the effect of negotiating with terrorists, however.

  22. Hamas cruelly taunts slain hostages’ kin with haunting new video of captives before death, promises ‘last messages’

    A waste of time and breath to negotiate with these animals. Still believe this is a perfect time to move Palestinian civilians (both Gaza & West Bank) to safety in Lebanon & Syria during this war, and kill the remaining militants and their shields. Israel is too small to have terrorist murderers in their midst.

    Meanwhile, our leaders (including Trump) continue to ignore Iran’s war against us…what is that about!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? A policy of waiting to be hit before taking action is unbelievable…

  23. I have not followed the left in Israel. However, I can’t comprehend a group of people the wish the destruction of their nation. Does this particular set of Israelis think all they have to do is give HAMAS what they want and the war stops? Get rid of Netanyahu and it’s all sweetness and light? They just are cowards? Can’t wrap my head around it. Particularly when their enemy is so close and tries to kill them everyday.

  24. Richard Cook

    Two items. Prior to Oct 7, the Israeli left shared some characteristics with the US anti-Trump folks: A quivering, spitting, near homicidal rage based on…..what? I exaggerate only slightly regarding some of my acquaintances. This rage came before, which is both the key and the puzzle, the presumed offenses. Such offenses as having or not having an affair with Stormy Daniels, locker-room talk, so forth. This from the party which had no problem with Chappaquick. BTW, anybody heard from her family? Ever? Could be a threat instead of a payoff.

    Thus, nothing Bibi/Trump can do is right and everything up to and possibly including the law of gravity is malleable in making up one’s arguments.
    The likely results, destruction of the nation, cannot be discussed since….”HE SAID PUSSY!”.

    This is exaggerated in Israel by the small size of the population. You never argue with the bereaved, or in this case, the near-bereaved They’re in too much trouble already. But you don’t take them seriously in matters of policy. Being bereaved or near-bereaved doesn’t give extra clout to irrational ideas, requiring them to be taken seriously.

    Israel has about one-sixteenth the population of the US. This means that the bereaved and near-bereaved constitute sixteen times the proportion of the population a similar number of victims would carry in the US.

    The Israeli version of TDS, multiplied by the bereavement of so many of its people, make a heck of a lot of difference in that country, even compared to ours.

  25. choose wisely

    https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/the-anti-jewish-candidate

    of course Baat Yeor’s work about how Europe was compromised after the oil shock, is instructive, labeled as a conspiracy theory on wikipedia,

    this is why the likes of Carville, who pretended to have objections to her, ring hollow, but you know how I feel about snakes, like Henry Jones jr*

    *back in my youth, I was on a kick about zoology, who knews politics would have slithier toves,

    as to the other thing, why is not Matt Lauer, and or Les Moonves not in the docket because the plaintiffs were bought off, like Epstein’s enablers, like Reid Hoffman, or
    I don’t know the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency, what was he doing with this miscreant, when he deputy secretary of state and Ambassador, or as he currently enables Qatar, similarly with Barak, the ringleader of the get Bibi circle

    Among the crimes that mrs netanyahu, was charged with, was having a meal prepared in the residence, oh the horror

  26. Richard Aubrey

    I understand, but, from what I’ve seen in history the usual reaction to indiscriminate killing of your people is to kill the enemy to make it stop. The opposition in Israel is so mentally ill that they sacrifice their country to Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome.

    Thanks for the extended explanation.

  27. This latest atrocity does NOT incline me towards giving in to Hamas. On the contrary, I am more than ever in favor of annihilating every one of these savages.

  28. they aren’t in charge for now, maybe bibi will give more of an ear to gvir, and less to gallant, who has been behaving a little strangely,

    yes the cover story to Munich, is rather odd, at the time there were very few prisoners, the majority of the refugee camps, were in places like Jordan and Lebanon, which oddly they didn’t integrate their bedouin brothers

    in the movie version of Harris’s Black September which inspired the Sum of all Fears, there is a long passage by an Egyptian diplomat played by Walther Gotell, who is relating the sad history of the antagonist, a woman largely based on Leila Khaled the skyjackers, which is supposed to tug at the heartstrings, it left me cold, although i might have been more sympathetic when if first aired in the 70s on TV, not that I recall the film opens with a raid on the Fatah camp in Beirut, that Robert Shaw is leading,

  29. If we see leftist priorities as leftists see them, and I believe in both cases — American and Israeli, for they have this in common — what is prior, what is determinative in politics, is power; possessing it, holding or maintaining it, and wielding it. Everything else is to be subordinated to getting and keeping power. Hence, as Bibi and his coalition partners stand in the way of total leftist control, everything the Israeli left does today is with a view to removing this obstruction to their ends. The opposition of the people of Israel, insofar as those people put Netanyahu in the way, is merely an obstacle to be overcome, by any means necessary. The demands of those Israeli people are wrong, ill-founded, because those demands do not accord with the grant of final and total power to the Israeli political left. This ought to guide our understanding of the matter. Listen to the leftists. They are quite open in these ways today, partly on account of their own understanding that they are so close to their goals they need no longer obfuscate. They are supremely confident. Hence, lacking the circumspection and prudence they formerly were used to keeping.

    Such is my belief, anyhow, for whatever it’s worth.

  30. sdferr, I think you are right; but in this case, the Israeli left is operating as a suicide pact. Giving in to Hamas means accepting eventual extinction. Power won’t help them much then.

  31. I believe the Israeli left would necessarily deny our (mutual) premise that their ceding ground to Hamas/Iran would result in the doom of Israel, Kate, surely. For we see the Israeli upper military echelons are chock-a-block with leftist politicos: it’s one of the bases of their social strength, after all, along with the media, judiciary and lawyerly class, the Universities, NGOs, and so on. That military does not believe they are on the wrong path strategically. They advocate today for withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor, for instance, confident that they can retake it without o’erweaning difficulty and do this at their pleasure. They’re wrong in this by Netanyahu’s lights, but then, he cannot be correct “by definition”! He is always wrong! So he must go.

    Addendum: Under the general head of POWER, see TJ’s post in the open thread on Robert Reich and Musk. This is but one instantiation of the phenomenon.

  32. “Meanwhile, our leaders (including Trump) continue to ignore Iran’s war against us”

    Complete dishonesty as usual from Karmi trying to equate Trump’s Iran policy to that of the Dems who are trying to give them billions of dollars to kill Jews. Trump was President for four years and O’Biden have been in office for 12 so we have a lot of real-world experience to know what the difference is.

  33. FOAF; Karmi:

    Plus, when Trump was president, his Iran policy was very different than that of Obama or the Biden administration. He imposed sanctions and stopped the Iran deal. The former appears to have hampered Iran monetarily enough that it wasn’t able to fund the kind of terrorism that it could fund under Biden. It’s interesting that, if you try to Google “Trump Iran policy,” all you get (at least, till I got tired of scrolling down) are articles on the left saying what a disaster Trump’s policy was because it didn’t fix everything (change the regime, etc).

  34. FOAF — Iran’s Army, Air Force, Navy, nuclear program, and terrorist funding were still intact when Trump left office, and they will still be intact when Biden leaves office.

    UPDATE: neo – your searches should also show that Trump has been lying about Iran being broke and unable to fund Hamas & Hezbollah during his term…

  35. I suppose the Israeli left is able to rationalize, in return for power, continued rocket attacks, isolated personal terror killings, and occasional mass barbarity as in October 7, 2023. It cannot, or will not, take Hamas and Iran at their word, which is, destruction of the state of Israel and elimination of all the Jews.

  36. Karmi, broke is a relative term. It was certainly broke enough during Trump’s first term.

    What would you suggest Trump should have done during his first term to eliminate Iran’s Army, Air Force, Navy, nuclear program? Bomb Tehran?

    Trump’s foreign policy was effective, unless you enjoy endless war.

  37. Karmi:

    Gee whiz, you mean Trump didn’t fix everything regarding Iran?

    Of course Iran was still able to do bad things. But it was able to do fewer of them because the country had fewer discretionary funds.

    And of course when you do a search, Google directs the searcher to sources on the left that criticize Trump for not ending the problems.

  38. Kate,

    I’ve never been to Israel, so all I can do is try to compare their left to ours, or at least some of ours.

    We’re going over the cliff! HE SAID PUSSY!
    Either they know better and need some kind of rationale, or they’re so far gone they actually believe in the gravity of the Israeli version of HE SAID PUSSY as opposed to all other issues.

    In the first case, there aren’t any realistically real rationales in sight. So something as lame as….whatever is imbued with the most horrifying weight and others are expected to buy in.
    Or those even further out actually believe it.

  39. Brian E: Yes, Trump hurt Iran’s cash flow, but he did not stop Iran from funding terrorist groups like Hamas & Hezbollah.

    Have said it many times here – we need a president who will destroy Iran’s Navy, Army, Air Force, and nuclear capabilities (no need for boots on the ground). Trump slapped Iran on the wrist…

    Trump’s foreign policy was effective, unless you enjoy endless war.

    Are you suggesting that we are the ones who start these “endless wars”? That it is our fault that Iran is at war with us?! Or maybe we should just roll over and let our enemies have their way with us?

    Sure sounds like that is what you are inferring…

  40. Karmi:

    Your preferred candidate doesn’t exist.

    Hey, maybe you should run. In the meantime, Trump is obviously better on this topic than Kamala would be.

  41. I agree with Karmi insofar as which polity it was which went to war against whom. That, imho, was Iran, when they invaded our embassy in Tehran and took our diplomats hostage. They have been at war with us ever since, but we [the government anyway] refuse to notice. Both parties.

    If elected, Trump should ask Congress for a formal Declaration of War. That doesn’t mean we need to occupy Iran. It merely puts the cards on the table and allows us to take measures like blockades. Not to mention prosecuting people like Valerie Jarett who have aided our enemies.

  42. Richard Aubrey:

    The Israeli left isn’t just doing the equivalent of “he said pussy.” They hate Netanyahu, and it’s true that there was lawfare against him on ridiculous grounds. But their big beefs right now are that he fought the leftist-dominated judicial system and therefore threatened their own power, and he failed to prevent 10/7. The latter is somewhat of a big deal, in that there was warning that was not heeded. The left ignores the fact that the main people who didn’t heed it were on the left. But the already-hated Netanyau is a convenient target rather than admit the left is highly implicated in the failure, plus I suppose it’s a version of the buck stops here, because after all it did happen under Netanyahu’s watch.

  43. David Davies;

    Trump certainly noticed. He didn’t go to full war with them in the hot war sense, however, if that’s what you mean – although he did kill Soleimani, which is hardly ignoring things, in my book. And he waged economic war on them. Biden ended that almost as soon as he took office.

    It’s a false equivalence you are setting up. That neither approach has eradicated Iran doesn’t mean they are equivalent.

  44. I think Hamas has won the battle. They will murder any hostages that the IDF get close to releasing. Murdering an American hostage only helps them out — American’s are notorious squeaky wheels. Pressure will mount more and more on Bibi, and eventually, despite the fact that he knows giving into demands for “negotiating” will mean a Hamas victory, he will eventually be pressured into giving in. Israelis from the left of center, who were into “Hamas delenda est” back in October, are now “Bibi must give in or quit” now.

    I always though “Bring Them Home” was a stupid hashtag. It should’ve been “Let my people go!” The first makes the Israelis the agent, the second, Hamas.

    (As an aside, “bring” in Hebrew is the causative form of “come.”)

  45. Karmi, so how would the US destroy Iran’s Navy, Army, Air Force, and nuclear capabilities that would not be a violation of international law?

    Part of what we want in a President is the ability to prevent wars, where possible.

    While I hadn’t thought about it in the terms you are suggesting, it’s certainly plausible that some in the US government that were looking for a proxy war with Russia back in 2014.

    Obama didn’t take the bait and Trump did enough to stabilize the civil war in Ukraine.

    Then comes Biden, who enables Iran and promises aid to fund the proxy war with Russia, which has the effect of turning Iran from a client state with Russia to an ally.

    The real damage we’re seeing today is the enabling that began with Obama to make Iran the regional adversary to any Sunni/Israeli detent. As Iran gained influence we’re seeing the pent up hatred of Israel on full display. Trump’s policy of just enough toughness to constrain Iran while working to form a Sunni/Israeli defense alliance was working. Had Biden immediately worked to add the Saudis to the alliance, it would have changed the dynamic. Don’t forget the Hamas attack on Israel was designed to prevent the Saudis from joining the Accord.

  46. Iranians for Trump:

    Today, we announce the launch of Iranians for Trump: a dedicated movement to mobilize the Iranian-American community in support of President Donald J. Trump.

    Our mission is to advocate for strong American leadership that upholds justice and freedom.

    https://x.com/TrumpIranians/status/1831037766970532105

    Count Trump lucky that at least Iranian-Americans discern where their interests stand. See the link for their full statement of intent.

  47. Someone Else:

    Once Hamas took the hostages, they won that battle. Israel had nothing but terrible options.

  48. “Trump slapped Iran on the wrist”

    Haven’t seen Soleimani waving to any crowds lately, have we? In any case even doing nothing would be vastly better than the policy of the candidates Karmi wants elected.

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