Two years have now passed since October 7, 2023, the day Hamas terrorists stormed across the border and carried out the deadliest massacre in Israel’s history.
In a single morning, more than 1,200 men, women, and children were murdered. Families were slaughtered inside their homes, women were raped, and entire communities were burned to the ground.
Hundreds of civilians were dragged into Gaza as hostages—many never to return.
For a nation the size of Israel, the attack was the proportional equivalent of forty 9/11s.
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The Jewish people had not endured such loss in a single day since the Holocaust. That reality continues to define Israeli life two years later.
Now, on this second anniversary, Israel faces a new agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, though only with strict conditions.
Hamas has also announced its acceptance.
The deal is built around four central provisions: the release of all remaining hostages, phased Israeli withdrawals from Gaza, prisoner exchanges, and international oversight to prevent Hamas from ever ruling Gaza again.
I do not view this as a peace deal. At its core, it is a hostage deal—an arrangement driven by the urgency of freeing captives rather than establishing permanent security.
The hostages have always been the emotional and political center of this war.
On October 7, 251 people were taken into Gaza. Since then, 148 have been released alive, 58 bodies have been returned, and 48 remain unaccounted for.
Israeli intelligence believes only about 20 are still alive.
I have seen how deeply this issue weighs on both Israeli and American society. In Tel Aviv, tens of thousands have marched week after week demanding the hostages’ release.
In the United States, even as criticism of Israel has grown louder, the hostages remain a moral marker.
At the Democrat National Convention last year, Senator Bernie Sanders—normally one of Israel’s harshest critics—wore a hostage pin on stage.
For Hamas, the hostages were once its most powerful leverage. Today, they are a liability.
Qatar, Egypt, and even Mahmoud Abbas have pressured Hamas to release them. Western governments have warned that holding captives only destroys Hamas’s international standing.
By agreeing to this deal, Hamas is attempting to rebrand itself as a legitimate negotiating partner, hoping to gain credibility with Western governments such as France and Canada—both of which have already pledged to recognize a Palestinian state.
But Hamas has not changed. Its charter still calls for Israel’s destruction, and its leaders continue to promise more massacres.
No terrorist organization has ever dismantled itself willingly, and Hamas will not be the first.
President Trump has been clear: if Hamas breaks the deal, “all hell will break out.”
Netanyahu has tied Israel’s compliance directly to results—no withdrawal until hostages are physically released.
That is why I believe this agreement may end the hostage crisis, but it will not bring an end to the war.
Hamas signed because it wants to survive long enough to fight again. Peace cannot exist with a movement that livestreams massacres and glorifies murder.
Two years after October 7, Israel stands at a crossroads. The families of the hostages deserve closure. The people of Gaza deserve freedom from Hamas’s tyranny. And the Jewish people deserve safety in their homeland.
A deal may return the hostages—but only the complete defeat of Hamas can ensure that another October 7 never happens again.
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