This article was originally published at JNS.org on February 10, 2025.
In late February 1945, among the first reports on the horrors of Auschwitz was one by a Polish officer, Lt. Wacław Lipiński, who wrote in the Polpress Bulletin, “Those who have survived don’t look like human beings, they are mere shadows.”
Decades later, those words find a chilling echo in the images of three Israeli hostages—Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy—freed on Feb. 8 from Hamas captivity. Emaciated, pale and visibly broken, they emerged as specters of their former selves as they were forced onto a stage in Deir al-Balah, one of Gaza’s less war-torn areas. There, Hamas paraded them before the cameras, presenting their suffering as a statement of defiance. Behind them, a banner read: “We are the Nakba,” a chilling promise of continued destruction.
The event was a grotesque spectacle. The hostages, under the gaze of masked Hamas militants and Al Jazeera’s cameras, were made to listen to a speech before being forced to speak themselves. Sharabi learned from his captors that his older brother, Yossi, also a hostage, had been murdered in captivity. Upon his return to Israel, he learned that his wife and two daughters were murdered in their home in Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023. Ohad Ben Ami, whose mother lamented that he now looked like an 80-year-old man, was reunited with his wife, Raz, who had been kidnapped alongside him and was released in November 2023. Or Levy, who had been covered in his wife’s blood at the Nova music festival, where she was murdered—returned to his 3-year-old son, the only surviving member of his immediate family.
The display of these survivors is a stark reminder that Hamas continues its brutality despite its military defeats. Their tunnels and hideouts in Gaza still bear witness to the inhumanity they perpetrate. The images of these men before their abduction—healthy, strong, posing with their families—fuel anger and despair. Some of the first hostages released, possibly strengthened with vitamins in the final weeks, gave the illusion of a hopeful recovery. But this latest group underscores a grim truth: Hamas is not just a terrorist organization; it is an embodiment of cruelty at its most extreme. Hamas has been accused of beheading children, raping and mutilating women, and burning entire families alive—acts of unspeakable horror.
President Donald Trump, who has framed Hamas as an unrelenting terrorist threat, has advocated for the complete eradication of its presence in Gaza and beyond. He said that he had seen images of Oct. 7 and understood the horror that Hamas had committed. In contrast, international bodies such as the United Nations have often failed to grasp the gravity of the situation.
For Israel, the urgency to eliminate Hamas has only intensified, alongside a broader strategic focus on its main backer—Iran.
The latest round of negotiations focuses on a second phase of the hostage deal, potentially allowing the release of even more Palestinian prisoners, including those serving multiple life sentences. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled that Israel will not let the horrors of these past months go unanswered. Gal Hirsch, the Israeli official responsible for hostage affairs, has warned Hamas to cease its mistreatment of captives. Yet such warnings may ultimately prove meaningless in the face of an adversary that thrives on terror.
Hamas envisions Auschwitz, but Israel stands as its historical antithesis. The nation has already demonstrated its resilience and military prowess—crushing Hamas, confronting Hezbollah, neutralizing Syrian military sites and pushing Iran into a defensive stance. But Netanyahu faces a critical paradox: Hamas, by showcasing its atrocities, aims to pressure Israel into a ceasefire that would guarantee its survival. For Israel, the challenge is to rescue its hostages while ensuring Hamas’s complete destruction—a process that cannot be accomplished overnight and requires a long-term strategic plan.
As rage and sorrow simmer, patience emerges as Israel’s primary weapon, followed by decisive, uncompromising action. Trump’s vision—a radical and clear-cut approach—suggests that new, determined forces must enter the equation. Meanwhile, mediators like Qatar, widely seen as complicit in Hamas’s activities, must be sidelined. This is the first major shift that must take place. Trump may already understand this. Whether the rest of the world will follow suit remains uncertain.
