Hamas Executes Six Hostages Yet Anger Directed at Netanyahu

Hamas has executed six hostages. 

Let me repeat that.

Hamas has executed six hostages.

Five of the six hostages executed had been kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival including American born Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose parents spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month. The sixth hostage slaughtered, Carmel Gat, was kidnapped from her parents' home at Kibbutz Be'eri. 

Goldberg-Polin, Gat along with Eden Yerushalmi were due to be released as part of a framework agreed to by Israel and Hamas in July. However, an IDF spokesperson made a point of stating, "Our Prime Minister delayed it."

The news of the six dead hostages has prompted nationwide protests against the Netanyahu government with a planned general strike organized by Histadrut to take place tomorrow. 

While I believe Netanyahu bears responsibility for a lack of preparedness on October 7th, I'm not sure how the IDF's public admonitions and these protests are going to help matters.

They also miss the point - Hamas bears sole responsibility for the deaths of these six hostages. Indeed, if it were not for Hamas, there would be no hostages in the first place. 

In claiming that Netanyahu delayed the release of Goldberg-Polin, Gat and Yerushalmi, the IDF is assuming that Hamas is operating in good faith. Delay or no delay, who can say Hamas wasn't planning to kill these hostages all along? Or could the hostages have been executed in retaliation for last week's rescue of hostage Kaid Farhan Elkadi, an Arab Bedouin, by the IDF and Shin Bet? Indeed, the bodies of the six hostages were recovered only a kilometer from where Elkadi was found.

Whatever the circumstances which led to their executions, the IDF's criticism of Netanyahu and these demonstrations relieve pressure from Hamas which is precisely where it belongs in the first place.