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A longtime Israeli friend’s perspective on the Gaza hostages

A longtime Israeli friend’s perspective on the Gaza hostages

Last updated on: February 12, 2025 at 6:20 am by Jim Denison

A longtime Israeli friend’s perspective on the Gaza hostages 2025-02-12T06:20:30-06:00 Jim Denison

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Hamas stated Monday that it would postpone the release of three hostages scheduled to be freed this weekend to protest delays in deliveries of humanitarian goods. President Trump then warned Hamas to release all its Gaza hostages by Saturday or “all hell is going to break out.”

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Mr. Trump’s demand: “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the cease-fire will end and the IDF will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”

Yesterday, I was privileged to meet one of my longtime Israeli friends for lunch. He and I have led more than thirty study tours in the Holy Land together over the years and have been together often in the States. He is currently in the US on a speaking tour. I asked him for his thoughts on the hostage crisis and, as usual, his perspective was both brilliant and enlightening.

What’s more, I found his thoughts relevant to an even larger context that touches us all. To make this point, let’s put my friend’s response into a larger cultural context.

How Hamas views the hostages

What we have learned about Hamas from the hostages that have been released thus far confirms US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assessment: “This is an evil organization. Hamas is evil. It’s pure evil. These are monsters. These are savages. That’s a group that needs to be eradicated.”

Making his point, last Saturday Hamas released what the Associated Press describes as “three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages.” Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, said they “look like Holocaust survivors.” A doctor reported that one was returned “in a severe nutritional state.”

A mother whose son is still being held by Hamas learned from military sources that he is receiving very little food and no medical care for multiple injuries, including an eye injury that has left him partially blinded. He has been bound for much of the time and tortured.

“It was not easy to hear,” she said. “I must say that I even fainted.”

How Hamas views the Palestinians

Twelve days after Hamas’ October 7 invasion, their leader Khaled Mashal suggested that to achieve the dream of Israel’s destruction, millions of Palestinians might have to die. They use their schools to radicalize the people, turning them into terrorists against the Jewish state. They steal humanitarian aid, sell it to the population, then use the money to finance terrorist recruitment.

According to NATO, Hamas has been using the Palestinians in Gaza as human shields since 2007. They fire rockets, artillery, and mortars from civilian areas, locate military infrastructures in schools, hospitals, and mosques, and use civilians and hostages to protect themselves. The terrorists have built hundreds of miles of tunnels under civilian structures to hide, transport, and shield their soldiers and munitions while refusing to allow civilians to use them for protection.

As I have written, Hamas exists not to serve Palestinians in Gaza but to eradicate Israel. In its view, the deaths of Palestinian civilians are a means to this end. They view Muslim casualties as “martyrs” who will be rewarded in heaven and use their plight to marshal Arab nations and the larger world against Israel.

How Israelis view the hostages

By contrast, as my friend explained yesterday, Israelis view the hostages as vital to their nation and its future for three reasons.

First, many of them know some of the hostages or someone in their extended families. Israel is a tiny country. In my many visits over the years, I have been consistently surprised at how interconnected their society is. For many, the hostages’ plight is deeply personal.

Second, some of the hostages are Israeli military personnel. For Israel to abandon them would say to the entire IDF, “If you fight for us and you are captured, we won’t come for you.” As my friend noted, this would undermine the viability of the army. For a small nation surrounded by enemies that seek its destruction, the IDF is vital to its survival and its future.

Third, many of the hostages are Israeli civilians. For Israel to abandon them would say to the rest of the population, “If terrorists take you hostage in the future, we won’t try to get you back.” Such a threat would understandably cause many to abandon the nation.

This is why Israel has historically been willing to trade huge numbers of Palestinian prisoners for a few hostages, and why they are doing the same again now. And it is why the IDF has been so careful to protect the hostages while trying to eradicate the terrorists who hide behind them.

Such an approach to the hostages severely restricts Israel’s military and its governmental leaders. But it is foundational to the nation’s ethos and future.

How God views you

Here’s why I found my friend’s explanation to be relevant even beyond Israel: Our Father loves us even more passionately than Israel loves its hostages (1 John 4:8). In fact, he loves us even though we treat Jesus as Hamas treats the Jews. Our sins tortured and murdered God’s Son (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 5:8). Even when we trust him as our Savior, our sins grieve his Spirit deeply (Ephesians 4:30).

And yet, as St. Augustine famously observed, God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

If you were the only person who had ever sinned, the only soul held hostage by Satan, Jesus would have died just to liberate you. His Father loves you right now as much as he loved you when he sent his Son to die in your place (John 17:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21). As Timothy Keller observed, “The gospel is that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we should have died.”

Henri Nouwen therefore claimed:

“Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.”

Do you agree?

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“Come and see the victories of the cross. Christ’s wounds are your healings, his agonies your repose, his conflicts your conquests, his groans your songs, his pains your ease, his shame your glory, his death your life, his sufferings your salvation.” —Matthew Henry

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