The Evil of Palestinian Terrorism Reaches New Depths

National Review Online

Monday, February 24, 2025

 

Hamas and its terrorist compatriots continue to add to what Winston Churchill once described as the “dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.”

 

Among the gruesome images of the terrorists’ romp through southern Israel on October 7 — the piles of bodies at the Nova music festival, the bloodstained walls and cribs, the charred human remains — one of the most haunting was that of Shiri Bibas clutching her two boys in a desperate attempt to protect them. She was taken hostage by a Palestinian terrorist group (the Mujahideen Brigades) along with her sons Kfir, who was nine months old, and Ariel, who was four. Yarden, her husband, was taken hostage separately by Hamas on that day. Her parents were murdered.

 

Yarden was released several weeks ago as part of the current cease-fire deal, and while everybody anticipated the worst for Shiri and the boys, nothing could quite prepare anybody for the depths of the evil that was revealed. Hamas paraded the coffins of the Bibases before a cheering crowd in Gaza. Though Hamas had long claimed that Shiri and the children died in an Israeli air strike, an Israeli forensic examination showed that the children were murdered with the bare hands of their captors and then mutilated in an attempt to blame Israelis for their deaths. It’s difficult to conceive of the evil required to brutally murder an infant.

 

In another shock, Israeli forensics also determined that the body that Hamas claimed to be Shiri wasn’t her at all but in fact a random corpse. Only after being called out did Hamas later provide the correct body. The attempt to pass off an anonymous dead body as Shiri’s was a grave violation of the cease-fire deal that is currently in place.

 

President Trump has repeatedly indicated that he has lost patience with the pace of the hostage releases, with only a few sent back to Israel a week while Israel has to return hundreds of Palestinian-terrorist prisoners. Previously, Trump issued an ultimatum saying that he supported unleashing “hell” if Hamas did not release all of the hostages by February 15.

 

Trump left the decision up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, while keeping options open, continued implementing the current cease-fire deal past Trump’s deadline, allowing Israel to receive additional hostages. Six more living hostages returned this past Saturday, but with further outrages by Hamas. Not only did Hamas stage another ceremony, but the terrorist group had two hostages who were not slated for release watch in a car, recording a video in which they begged Netanyahu to secure their release.

 

In response, Israel has delayed the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, demanding an end to the humiliating parades. The White House backed the decision, saying Trump supported “whatever course of action it chooses regarding Hamas.”

 

No matter what happens this week, the first six-week phase of the cease-fire deal is scheduled to expire on March 1. At that point, it is believed Hamas will still have about 60 hostages, roughly half of whom are still alive.

 

Netanyahu and his government, thus, are facing a major decision. There is heavy pressure coming from families of those held captive to strike a deal that would bring every last hostage home, especially as recent hostage releases have brought evidence and testimony of starvation and torture. But the twisted games that Hamas has played with the turnover of hostages has to give Israeli leaders pause about extending the cease-fire. More significantly, a final deal to end the war while Hamas still remains in control of Gaza is a nonstarter.

 

As the Gaza issues are playing out, Israel dodged what could have been a major terrorist attack last week when several buses filled with explosives blew up overnight — prematurely, when they were empty — renewing focus on the West Bank where security officials believe the devices originated.

 

Whatever the ultimate decision, it has to be a relief for Netanyahu to know that were Israel to have to resume hostilities, it will now be able to fight with the unequivocal backing of the United States.