Yesterday, the deaths of Aviel Wiseman (20), Guy Karmiel (20), Yahav Hadar (20), Yoav Feffer (19), and Yair Yaakov Shushan (23) were announced. They have fallen in combat in Gaza.
Until the time of writing, there have been 840 fallen soldiers since October 7th. It’s heartbreaking to see their images and hear their families' stories. Without their unbelievable heroism, a far greater catastrophe would have unfolded on that black Saturday.
They were courageous young men who believed they were fighting for a great cause—to bring security to their homes, to bring justice to the Palestinian army of rapists and murderers, who committed the most horrifying horrors on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and to ensure that no Israeli child would ever be kidnapped from his bed ever again.
But it seems like their own country has betrayed them. If those who run Israel will initiate the following plan, their deaths would have been for nothing.
According to recent reports, Israel is about to sign a “deal” with the perpetrators of the October 7th massacre. This is what we know so far about the impending deal [1]:
Agreement Overview: Israel and Gaza are nearing a deal involving a ceasefire and the exchange of hostages and prisoners, to be implemented in three phases over 42 days.
First Phase:
Release of 33 hostages by Gaza, including women, children, men over 50, and the wounded.
In exchange, Israel will release "many hundreds" of Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted of killing Israelis.
The deal specifies a larger number of Palestinian prisoners for live hostages than for deceased hostages.
Military and Civilian Movements:
Israeli military to withdraw from Gaza's population centers but maintain positions along the Gaza-Egypt border (Philadelphi Corridor) and create a “buffer zone.”
Palestinian civilians will be allowed to return to northern Gaza under unspecified "security arrangements."
Further Hostage Details:
Hamas holds 94 hostages as of January 14, 2025, 34 of whom are confirmed dead (likely higher).
The deal includes the release of five female Israeli soldiers, each exchanged for 50 Palestinian prisoners.
Second and Third Phases:
Negotiations for these phases are set to begin on the 16th day of the deal.
Israel has not committed to ending the war but will negotiate in good faith toward a potential full withdrawal of troops.
I must stress that the Israelis taken by the Palestinians on October 7th absolutely should be released. Israel has criminally let their kidnapping happen by allowing the genocidal Palestinian entity to exist on its border for 20 years; Israel has let them develop their military, smuggle weapons, and prepare their plans. This is indeed Israel’s fault, primarily Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been Israel’s leader for most of that history.
I will celebrate the reunion of the hostages with their families. They need to be released, no question about it.
However.
What so many Israelis don’t realise is that by signing this deal, they might save 33 hostages, but they are sealing the fate of potentially thousands more in the future. And they have no right to do that. This “agreement” will bring back practically all the territory to the control of the Palestinians; it will bring them back hundreds of their fellow murderer friends so that they will be able to plot the next massacre.
This “agreement” will show them that taking Israeli kids from their beds is an effective strategy. It teaches Israel’s enemies that if they want to tear apart Israeli society and weaken Israel’s military response, they need to come up with a plan to take as many kids hostages as possible.
And they will, because that is the sole purpose of their existence.
October 7th gave Israel a historic opportunity to end the Palestinian entity once and for all. To bring about total victory for Israel and to safeguard the Israeli children of the future for those living in the present.
This “deal” is a treasonous betrayal of all those lost on October 7th. What Israel, led by Netanyahu, is “accomplishing” here is a rewind button hit to October 6th. It’s an enormous act of evasion and injustice.
Not a single Israeli soldier should have been sacrificed in the first place. Had Netanyahu a shred of moral backbone from October 7th, he would have initiated a complete blockage over Gaza. Offering to provide relief only in exchange for the hostages.
After a few weeks, the war would have been over.
But his criminal weakness and will to appeal to the international community had him send 20-year-old men to go into Gaza and clean the buildings manually, one after the other, to ensure no “innocents” were hurt. He urged the Israeli soldiers to treat the enemy with silk gloves. Feeding them with the so-called “Humanitarian aid.”
The IDF chief of staff had come up with his “Raids doctrine,” where the soldiers would raid a specific area inside Gaza, clean it, and then retreat from it. In some areas, they fought over the same territory five times. The town where the five soldiers from yesterday died, Beit Hanoun, was already raided previously; last year, it was "cleared.”
Indeed, the IDF has been systematically sacrificing its own soldiers to appeal to anti-Semitic organisations such as the UN and the ICC. Despite all these self-sabotages Israel has committed during this war, the ground was gained with much blood.
Now, they want to give it all away, retreat from Gaza, allow the population to return to the north, and stop the war. This is a complete submission to the Palestinians. This is surrender.
All those Israeli officials responsible for allowing October 7th to happen and then the criminally mismanaged war that followed should be charged and tried for treason.
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[1] - https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/14/middleeast/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostage-deal-explainer-intl/index.html
It is disheartening to watch former President Biden and President Trump attempt to take credit for this 'peace deal'. If either was serious about liberty and justice, they would never have advocated for it.
Yonatan, you’ve surely heard of Sophie’s Choice, the film in which a mother is forced by the Nazis to decide which of her children will live and which will die. That is Israel’s predicament now: every decision is a horror, each choice an abyss. You are right—making this deal greatly increases the probability of Hamas regrouping. But a question comes to mind, one I’d call a moral one, and one I’m sure both sides have weighed: what are the implications—geopolitical and otherwise—if, after securing the hostages, Israel violates the terms of the ceasefire? The moral question is this: is it unethical to break a deal made with an inherently immoral organization? And perhaps more importantly—does it matter?
Hamas is playing its last hand. We need not make this “our” last hand.
May all the hostages be released immediately, by natural or miraculous means — and may anyone and everyone associated with Hamas or the events of 10/7, “leave the stage…”