Disrespectful Handover

As see in reports from The Times Of Israel Hamas turned what should have been a quiet release of four Israelis bodies into a macabre spectacle of their inhumanity:

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appears to criticize Hamas for the terror group’s much-slammed parading this morning of bodies of hostages, including a child and a baby.

In what some are calling a hypocritical criticism from the ICRC, the non-profit called out how Hamas is using the release of the hostages as a propaganda parade:

In a statement in Hebrew, the ICRC says the process of handing over slain captives “is meant to be held in privacy, out of respect to the dead and those mourning.

“We have unequivocally clarified that any release — of living hostages or ones that are no longer alive — must be carried out respectfully and privately,” it says.

And then the ICRC suddenly is pointing out that none of the hostages should have been killed in the first place:

The ICRC says the four abductees whose bodies were returned today “should have united with their loved ones while alive, not dead.”

The organization touts its role in today’s “vital humanitarian mission” to hand over the bodies, saying it is committed to its role laid out in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

When I said hypocritical I’m referring to the ICRC’s cooperation Hamas the whole time in the war. They were supposed to report on the health of the hostages the whole time and refused. And they allowed Hamas to use their facilities to fight Israel in Gaza. While I’ll take their statements now, they are too little and too late to change my mind on them.

Criticism And Outrage

And some are out with their usual misinformation about Israel as we see in this report from the same live blog:

Writing from South Africa, Ireland’s Tánaiste and Foreign Minister Simon Harris accuses Israel — without mentioning it by name — of “bombing innocent civilians” in his statement about the return of four slain Israeli hostages.

“The parading of caskets of young children by Hamas today was cruel, heartbreaking and utterly despicable,” writes Harris. “It is a stark reminder of the brutality of October 7.”

“We must see an enduring peace in the Middle East, where neither terrorism nor bombing of innocent civilians is tolerated,” he says.

Early on in this war the international community accused Israel of bombing of a hospital before learning it was actually an errant Hamas missile shot at Israel that hit the parking lot:

Israel has vehemently and consistently denied targeting Gazan civilians throughout the war, saying its war is against Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, and accusing them of using the population as human shields while hiding in a vast network of underground tunnels built under the Strip’s cities.

On the other end of the criticism Argentinians had harsh words for Hamas as well:

Officials in Argentina express grief and horror after the Hamas handover of what the terror group says were the bodies of Shiri Silberman Bibas and her two small kids Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who all held Argentine citizenship.

“We are all in mourning, we are overcome with deep pain,” Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri says on X.

The Argentine president hasn’t weighed in, but his support for Israel surely mirrors that his defense minister:

There is no immediate statement from libertarian President Javier Milei, who has reshaped his country’s foreign policy in line with Israel, expressed interest in converting to Judaism and designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in the wake of its October 7, 2023, onslaught.

The Jews in Argentina recognizes terrorism since they’ve faced it before:

Argentina’s main Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which was targeted in a notorious 1994 bombing that killed 85 people, says the return of the hostages’ bodies “confronts us, once again, with unimaginable cruelty and the darkest and most devastating facet of terrorism.”

Israel Responds As Well

And in another blog post the Foreign Minister for Israel labeled the terrorist celebration as “twisted”:

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says that the “horrific and repulsive spectacle of twisted and monstrous minds” that Hamas put on during the transfer of slain hostages in Gaza this morning is evidence that all of Palestinian society must be deradicalized from “a deep sickness.”

I think calling this a sickness is letting them get off softly. They have chosen to hate Jews and they’ve chosen to indoctrinate generation of their people to do the same thing:

“It is clear that the systematic poisoning of the younger generation in Palestinian society (in Gaza just as in Judea and Samaria) is eliminating any chance for peace,” he writes on X, using the West Bank’s biblical name. “A root canal treatment is required. The Palestinian terrorist armies must be eradicated and defeated. Gaza must be completely demilitarized.”

Sa’ar thinks that Gazans need to leave the area by their own free will and give the plan time to work:

Backing US President Donald Trump’s proposal, Sa’ar writes that “those who want to emigrate from the hell of Gaza must be allowed a free choice.”

“Every person in the country or in the world who wants a better future for our region must support these principles,” Sa’ar insists.

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the country this:

After Hamas returns what it says are four slain hostages to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offers a message of unity and victory over Hamas.

Netanyahu then promoted staying united against the terrorists who are going these things:

“On this day we are all united,” says Netanyahu in a video message. “We are all united in unbearable grief.”

“We all ache with pain that is mixed with rage. We are all furious at the monsters of Hamas,” he says, adding that Israel must “settle the score with the vile murderers — and we will settle the score.”

He then, like so many leaders in war do which is to let them know they are resolve to win:

He then quotes Psalm 94: “O God of vengeance, O Lord; O God show vengeance.”

Netanyahu promises to achieve the longstanding goals of the war.

“We will bring back all our hostages, destroy the murderers, eliminate Hamas, and together — with God’s help — we will secure our future,” he pledges.

We certainly say amen to that.