Palestinian ‘Civilians’: Complicit in Hamas Crimes

By Bassam Tawil, GATESTONE •  June 10, 2024

• If ruling regimes such as Hamas do not want their civilians killed during hostage rescue operations, they should not start unprovoked wars, then complain when they are hit back. They also should not take hostages, then hide them among the civilian population. It is not complicated.
• The Palestinian families can hold only themselves accountable for the scores of Gazans who died during the rescue operation. Those families were not coerced or threatened into keeping the hostages inside their homes. The exact opposite is true: They were delighted to help Hamas because they support the terrorist group.
• Unsurprisingly, Abdallah Al-Jamal [a Gazan journalist who imprisoned three hostages in his home] also worked for the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera network, which has long been serving as a de facto mouthpiece for Hamas and other Islamist terror groups.
• Al-Jamal’s most recent article, dated June 3, was headlined: “My House Will Always Be Open – Stories from the Gaza Siege.”
• Indeed, the Palestinian journalist’s house was open – but only for hostages kidnapped by Palestinian murderers, thugs and rapists from an Israeli music festival on October 7.
• The Biden administration and those in the West who have been crying about the “innocent” and “uninvolved” civilians killed and injured since the beginning of the war initiated by Hamas should direct their anger towards the Palestinians, not Israel, for aiding and abetting murderers, rapists and kidnappers.
• “Even if they were [coerced and threatened], what would it have taken to get into contact with anyone from the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and say, ‘I’m being forced to hold hostages in my house; please come get them out and take my family with them.’ These families made the same choice hundreds of thousands of Gazans made and continue to make daily. They choose to help Hamas, they choose to hate Jews, they choose to participate in the killing and torture of Israelis, and they continue to support a murderous terrorist organization even if it means the death of them and their entire families.” — Raylan Givens, X, June 9, 2024.
• We must also not forget the thousands of “ordinary” Palestinians, to many of whom Israel had given work permits, who crossed the border into Israel on October 7 and took part in the crimes against Israelis.
• The Israeli rescue operation serves as a reminder that Israel is continuing to do everything possible to save its citizens, while Hamas – with the help of many “ordinary” Palestinians — is doing its utmost to save itself, including sacrificing its own citizens.