“In Germany, there were people who saw someone suffering and helped them on the side with a piece of bread. In Gaza, there wasn’t a single person who helped the hostages. It’s terrible.” President Donald Trump (7 April 2025)
The most distressing aspect of Israel’s prolonged defensive war against the barbaric Hamas terrorists has been the plight of the innocent hostages in Gaza.
Recent testimonies from released hostages provide an insight into the dreadful conditions which hostages endured. There is evidence of beatings, starvation, sexual abuse and confinement in underground tunnels with minimal light and poor air quality. Medicines and important medical treatment have been denied.
No one knows exactly how many of the 59 still in Gaza remain alive with current Israeli estimate being approximately 20.
The youngest hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October were the Bibas children—baby Kfir was just 9 months old and Ariel aged 4 years. Video of the abduction showing the pained anguished face of their mother Shiri was proudly broadcast by the terrorists.
Taking children as hostages in conflict is a clear crime against humanity as defined in various international instruments including the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute.
“…Where are the righteous in Gaza? Not one Gazan has stepped forward with information to assist the freeing of any hostages.”
We have also seen obscene public release ceremonies by Hamas for some hostages. These have included humiliation of the weak, distressed, confused hostages amongst hoards of armed terrorists and surrounded by happy, cheering, celebrating crowds. These events were widely broadcast across social media conveying the message that Hamas driven jihadist terrorism has delivered a sort of victory.
There’s a very troubling question which has not received anywhere near enough attention: Where are the righteous in Gaza?
Not one Gazan has stepped forward with information to assist the freeing of any hostages.
To understand this phenomenon, one must shift thinking out of a Western democratic mindset. The ideologies and values held by many Middle East cultures are antithetical to those in the West and no more so than in Gaza.
Israel conquered the area of Gaza in the 1967 Six Day War and gradually established 21 Jewish communities with about 9000 Israelis living there and a thriving greenhouse based agricultural industry. Haim, one of my Israeli cousins, although not residing in Gaza, established an industrial sewing factory and employed 50 to 70 Arabs and paid Israeli level wages. Haim told me how they would frequent cafes in Gaza and have the family cars serviced there by Arab mechanics. While not ‘best mates’ there was a civil constructive relationship.
However, that all ended in 2005 when as a unilateral gesture for peace and in what has proven to be a disaster, Israel withdrew and handed everything to the local Arab Palestinians. The Jewish residents who objected were forcibly dragged out by the Israel Defense Force.
But it was not just Jewish residents who were removed. Those who, like my cousin had businesses had to rapidly relocate their operations. Even the Jews in the cemeteries were removed. Yes, the remains of dead Jews were exhumed and reburied in Israel.
Think about that for a moment. Israel had assessed that the brainwashing and antisemitic hatred could become so pervasive, that not even the Jewish graves could be left. Respect for human remains is important in Judaism and experience elsewhere, such as the ancient graves on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, had demonstrated the Jewish remains would be desecrated.
By 2006 Hamas was elected to govern Gaza. Rapidly, everything linked to Israel was destroyed. The greenhouses were smashed and Hamas dug up the irrigation pipes to use as casings for rockets to be launched into Israel.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which was already running a fairly radical Islamic anti-Israel school system became even more radical and influenced by Hamas. UNRWA facilities were used to recruit youth into paramilitary training to serve Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Two generations have been totally indoctrinated with the glorification of terrorists and the goal of eliminating Israel with jihadist terrorism as their mission.
During the Holocaust, even in areas where Nazi propaganda was dominant, there emerged righteous individuals who saved Jewish lives. Israel’s major Holocaust museum and education centre is Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. It records and honours 28,217 individuals with the title of Righteous Amongst the Nations. But based on the Yad Vashem criteria, none would qualify in Gaza. So again, where are the righteous in Gaza?
There have been reports of hostages being moved through various facilities and held by different militia groups and Gazan civilians. Freed hostages report being held in the homes of a doctor and an UNRWA teacher. On three occasions Israel has conducted hostage rescue raids on residential premises.
There could be many hundreds or possibly thousands of Gazans who have had some knowledge of the whereabouts of hostages.
In order to incentivise people in Gaza to assist, Israel has offered US$5 million per hostage plus safe passage for resettlement. As hostages have been held in small groups, a successful release might mean multiple rewards. To most in Gaza this would be a truly massive fortune.
But there have been no takers, none. Perhaps the reaction to the conflict by nearby Arab Muslim countries assists in understanding what’s going on. Egypt like Israel has a border with Gaza. It is usual practice that a neighbouring country will take refugees during times of conflict. Poland which shares a border with Ukraine has over 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees. But Egypt has reinforced its border with Gaza and refuses to accept refugees.
Indeed, no other Arab Muslim country in the Middle East will accept their brethren in Gaza as refugees. The Trump administration is ramping up the pressure to do so but at the time of writing no breakthrough has been announced. There is no shortage of space and some are very wealthy but no refugee programme for Gazans has so far been entertained. Saudi Arabia has facilities to accommodate over 2 million for the annual Hajj pilgrimage but is assisting none from Gaza.
There is an interesting biblical story which occurred not far away, namely the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God told Abraham of the forthcoming destruction and that his nephew Lot who lived in Sodom would be saved. Abraham bargained with God for the cities to be saved if righteous men could be found. The bargaining began at 50 and cascaded down to 10. Alas, righteous men could not be found and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.
Israel has repeatedly said the war could end with the release of hostages and surrender of Hamas. If there were righteous in Gaza to facilitate release of the remaining hostages, that would be enormous positive progress not only from a humanitarian perspective but by neutralising Hamas’ only major strategic lever.
The Australian Labour government takes a different view to the Arab Muslim world and thinks it is a good idea to bring in thousands from Gaza with minimal security screening and to actively support creation of a state of Palestine.
Gaza since 2005 was a de facto state of Palestine and it has proved a massively destructive failure. There has never in history been a sovereign state of Palestine. Never was, and post 7 October 2023, never will be.
Footnote: Dr Adler had a cousin named Meah Biton who was murdered by Hamas on 7 October 2023 at the Nova music festival.
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