The Hostage Deal through a Soldier’s Eyes

This week was a bittersweet week for Israelis and supporters around the world. Tears of relief and joy were shed for the return of the first three hostages, while simultaneously tears of anger and repulsion were shed at the sight of dozens of Palestinian prisoners being freed. Once again masked gun-toting terrorists in white pickups taunted Israel with pledges to finish the “unfinished work” from October 7. The tears of each emotion mingled together in this bitter-sweet moment. I saw the day unfold through my eyes, a soldier’s eyes.

As an IDF soldier who served for 14 months as part of a combat medical extraction unit on the Gaza front, I have witnessed unimaginable suffering of our men and women in olive green. Our troops have been ceaselessly working day and night in order to fulfil the stated two-pronged goals of this war: to completely uproot and eradicate the evil forces of the Hamas, and to release our hostages. Whilst we did manage to release a few hostages, destroy vast amounts of Hamas infrastructure, and avenge our slaughtered innocents by eradicating Hamas’ leadership and thousands of Hamas terrorists, we have not as yet achieved our stated goals.

I’ve witnessed first-hand the suffering and enormous price paid by our heroic soldiers. I’ve heard severely wounded soldiers screaming out in pain. I’ve treated terrible wounds, and tragically recited Kaddish on the fallen before their parents even know that their child was killed in action.  This tremendous sacrifice would be justified if our political and military leaders had been able to successfully achieve our war aims, but the sight of hundreds of terrorists being released is a painful reminder that we failed at achieving our stated goals.

I was asked what I think of the “peace deal”. This is no “peace deal”. It is an extortion forced upon Israel by a sadistic and manipulative terror organisation. 1,890 terrorists, including many mass murderers, are to be released in this “deal.” 290 of these evil beasts murdered IDF soldiers, old people, women and children in cold blood.  Some even murdered entire families and decapitated babies. Amongst the released security prisoners there are 1,000 convicted terrorists from Gaza.

Let’s not forget what price was paid for the capture of these monsters. Our soldiers buried hundreds of their brothers-in-arms to catch these evil psychopaths. Now they are free to return to committing future abominations and we are yet to see how many more Israeli soldiers will die pursuing and recapturing them.

It is beyond our imagination to begin to understand the suffering that the families of the terror victims are going through right now as they witness their children’s killers walking free.  840 holy soldiers, my fellow IDF brothers and sisters, the best of the best, have entered eternity and over 6,000 have been wounded, many with life-altering injuries.

Of course, as a father and as a human I was deeply moved by the reuniting of the first three of our beloved hostages. We in Israel are family and these were our collective daughters, and their freedom naturally brought overwhelming joy and relief. But simultaneously, I imagined the anguish the terror victim’s families must be going through, as they witnessed the release of their loved one’s murderers.   As Rabbi Doron Perez, father of the slain and kidnapped Captain Daniel Perez z”l stated:

This is a happy day, a day of “shehehiyanu”, but also a sad and painful day… one person’s simcha is another person’s pain.  It is bitter-sweet.