A glorious end to the last living hostages’ brutal confinement. Is there a glorious future?
Words cannot capture the relief, the joy, the gratitude, the disbelief in the release of the final 20 living hostages from Gaza. A moment not to think ahead, but just to rejoice in the hostages’ redemption is fully deserved. The end of two years of evil, involuntary, cruel incarceration is a once-in-a-lifetime echo of eternity.
The pain has been incalculable for the entire Jewish people, and incomparably more so for the hostage families, and incomparably more so for the hostages themselves.
The steadfast voice, raised loud, of the hostage families is a testament to hope and faith on a biblical scale. We bow our heads in gratitude and amazement.
Part of the hope and faith has been the indomitable spirit of Run for Their Lives, who also stood steadfast, sometimes in anonymity, sometimes in lethal danger, as in Boulder last June 1, and always in peace.
Accompanying all this pain and fortitude have been two diametrically opposite responses.
First is the response of people of goodwill everywhere, who saw no merit in the kidnapping of innocents, in torturing some and murdering the others. People of goodwill saw the inhumanity for what it was.
Yes, for the hostages’ freedom, and for all who stood by them, their release is a fully deserved moment to bask in the glorious end to a nightmare.
The second response to the Hamas kidnappings is that of people of inhumanity who defend the actions of Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, including Hamas’ murders, atrocities and kidnappings. To witness this radical distortion has been a very different source of pain and puzzlement.
And so, as the days pass, and as the ugly fate of the other, murdered hostages sinks in — as the funerals begin — we have no choice but to look ahead and ask: Is the hostage release only a glorious end, to be followed by more violence and hatred from Hamas; or is the hostage release a glorious beginning?
Virtually all of the 20 points in the agreed upon peace plan proposed by President Trump, fully accepted by Israel but only partially accepted by Hamas, depends on the disarmament and banishment of Hamas from the Gaza Strip. It is clear: Hamas will not disarm voluntarily.
Hamas has already exhibited its signature modus operandi by executing opponents — not Israeli opponents, but Gazan opponents. Palestinian opponents. There is finally a Gazan voice for sanity, deeply resentful of all the suffering in Gaza that Hamas triggered by its vicious acts on Oct. 7, 2023.
Time will tell whether the Gazan voice for sanity will rule in Gaza; and if not, whether the Arab backers of the peace plan for Gaza will step up and fight Hamas to the point it is no longer a military or political factor in Gaza — or whether Israel alone will do so.
Indeed, how Hamas’ disarmament and banishment can be achieved without further war against Hamas is unclear. That Hamas’ expulsion from Gaza can be achieved simply by preachments from President Trump and the leaders of Arab countries is impossible. One thing is perfectly clear: Without a concrete plan to remove Hamas, we will have a glorious end, but not a glorious beginning.
The key to a glorious beginning is the immediate formulation and implementation of a plan to disarm Hamas. Otherwise, Hamas, though severely weakened, will nonetheless simply take up where it left off before Oct. 7: brutalizing Gazans who do not bend to its will. Broken bones, public executions, dead bodies dumped outside family front doors, “disappearances” and similar atrocities await Gazans if Hamas is not extirpated.
Perhaps emblematic of both the difficulty and the vagueness in the peace plan’s reference to Hamas’ fate is one glaring omission. Missing from the long 20-points peace plan, filled with provisions for rebuilding Gaza and reforming Gaza, is one key point: the methodological destruction of all the remaining terror tunnels in Gaza.
They beckon to Hamas.
They invite terror.
They symbolize the endurance of Hamas, despite the loss of its leadership, its battalions and thousands of its fighters.
Since it is not known exactly how many tunnels there are and how long they are, it is not known how many Israel managed to destroy. One estimate is 20%. It’s a long process. Whatever the precise percentage, Gaza remains riddled with tunnels, fuel for terrorism.
Add this to the unanticipated challenges in making Gaza a rebuilt, livable, free, democratic zone.
It is clear. Prayer and persistence— military, diplomatic and grass roots — yielded the last living hostages’ freedom.
Our hope is that prayer, diplomacy and boots on the ground in Gaza will carry us forward to a safer Israel, free from the threat of barbarians, and to a peaceful region, where all live together in peace.
© IJN 2025
