A special unit of the Israeli Defense Force, specializing in hostage-rescue missions, burst into a second-floor apartment in the center of the border town of Rafah, in southern Gaza on Sunday.
It was 1:49 a.m. Israel time, when this secret counter-terrorism unit successfully secured the freedom of two Israeli men, Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70. Both had been taken hostage from their homes at Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct. 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel.
Both men were among the more than 135 innocent hostages who were still being held captive by Hamas terrorists since the horrendous massacres in the small Israeli border communities and a music festival. The two former hostages were taken to Sheba Hospital, outside Tel Aviv, and were reuniting with their grateful families. Hamas is reporting over 100 Palestinian deaths from this rescue operation. They don’t distinguish between terrorists and civilians. These added deaths — if accurate — could have been prevented by Hamas returning the other 134 hostages, which now cruelly include more than 30 corpses.
Many see it ironic that those demanding a cease-fire are speaking only to Israel, rather than calling for Hamas to surrender! That is the most effective and efficient way to save Palestinian and Israeli lives.
Why aren’t Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib calling on Hamas to free their hostages? If their chief concern is really Palestinian lives, and not just hatred of Israel, then they should be taking steps for peace and influencing Hamas to surrender and release all Israeli and American hostages.
But, Hamas is a terrorist organization that doesn’t want peace with Israel nor a “two-state solution” to this human tragedy. Rather, they want to eradicate all Jews, “from the river to the sea.” This entrenched insistence has brought untold agony to both the “Palestinian” and Israeli peoples.
Gary Curtis
Santa Clarita
