The Hamas war on Israel is criminal and barbaric. It is genocidal in the the old-fashioned sense — the sense with which Final Solution familiarized us. The support for Hamas that has emerged in the Democratic Party, on campus, and elsewhere around the country is therefore appalling. The latest news on the fate of Israeli hostages provides a somewhat striking twist in this respect. Drawing on a New York Times story, the Times of Israel reports:
Thirty-two of the more than 130 hostages still held captive by Hamas are no longer alive, according to a report on the eve of the fourth month of the war between Israel and the Gaza terror group that provided an updated picture of the status of the hostages.
Citing a confidential assessment conducted by Israeli intelligence officials, The New York Times reported on Tuesday that more hostages have been killed than previously thought — until now, the IDF had only confirmed the deaths of 29 of the captives still in Gaza.
In addition to the 32 confirmed deaths, the IDF is assessing “unconfirmed intelligence” that at least 20 additional hostages may have also been killed, the report said, quoting four military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The IDF has notified the families of 31 hostages that their loved ones are confirmed to have been killed. They include 29 hostages kidnapped by terrorists on October 7 — all announced over the past months — and soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed and whose bodies were abducted by Hamas in 2014. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari essentially confirmed the New York Times story in Israel last night.
Hamas has reportedly now proposed a three-stage 135-day truce and hostage deal that would lead to the war’s end — until they choose to resume it.
UPDATE: More here in the adjacent post.
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