In a daring daytime raid over the weekend, Israeli Defense Forces rescued four Israeli hostages who had been imprisoned by Hamas operators and Gaza citizens for 245 days.

“Everyone there [in Gaza] is a terrorist.”

Three of the hostages were rescued from the home of Gaza medical doctor Ahmed al-Jamal. Dr. al-Jamal’s wife, children, and grandchildren all lived there and took part in keeping the hostages imprisoned in a dark, locked room within the house.

Dr. al-Jamal’s 36-year-old son, Abdullah al-Jamal, also lived in the home and was an Al Jazeera journalist — that is, until he tried to stop the IDF from rescuing Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov. Now the Hamas mouthpiece is dead, along with his father, who used the house as a prison.

Mia Shem was a former Gaza hostage, released in the December prisoner exchange. In an interview after her release, Mia, a French Israeli with dual citizenship, spoke openly about the Palestinian “noncombatants” who imprisoned her and made her life hell.

“I went through a Shoah [Holocaust],” Mia told reporters. “Everyone there [in Gaza] is a terrorist.”

“Entire families are behind Hamas.” Mia continued. “I realized I was staying with a family. I started to ask myself, why am I in a family home? Why are there children here? Why is there a wife here?”

Multiple released hostages have revealed that Hamas is paying Palestinians to hold Israelis prisoner in their homes. Palestinians are paid up to 70 Israeli shekels per day for every hostage they hold prisoner. And every new Jewish hostage is considered a bounty worth celebrating.

And all too often, the funds Hamas uses to pay these Gazans-turned-prison-guards come out of the aid packages sent by U.S. and other global taxpayers!

Ada Sagi, who is 75, was kidnapped from her Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7 and was released just two days before Mia was. Ada once asked her captor why he was participating in the madness.

“He said: ‘I want a better future for my children and wife. I want to buy visas and not stay here; I want to go to Europe,” Ida says. “He said: ‘I am uninvolved.’ I said: ‘How do you mean uninvolved if you took my freedom and I’m sitting here [prisoner] in your apartment?’”

Drone, satellite, and IDF camera footage show that Dr. Al-Jamal and his family put up a fight and were shot for it. But the indisputable video also shows that once the 26-year-old woman Noa Argamani was rescued, scores of Palestinian residents flooded into the second rescue area (where the men were held) firing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in an attempt to prevent the IDF from rescuing the rest of the hostages who were earning such a nice Hamas bounty.

“It’s important to me to reveal the truth about the people who live in Gaza, about who they really are,” Mia says.

I wish someone would share the truth about Gazans with Joe Biden.

He refuses to send Israel the money and munitions Congress has approved for Israel. In doing so, Biden is further enabling Hamas and delaying the rescue of October 7 hostages who may still be alive.

It is time for Congress to respond to Biden’s attempts to cripple Israel. CIDI staff members in Washington, D.C., are working with select members of Congress to ensure the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) not only fully funds Israel, but also forces Joe Biden to deliver the much-needed funds and equipment Congress has ordered him to deliver.

We need your immediate help. The NDAA will undergo its first series of votes on Wednesday.

Our staff is ONLY able to engage in this level of congressional work defending Israel because of your direct financial support. We cannot do this work without you. Please help us continue defending Israel with your generous donation today.

Thank you for your friendship with Israel and for your support as a friend and partner of Christians in Defense of Israel!

There is one last thing I would like to share. When the IDF soldiers found the hostages, they radioed ahead to the helicopters waiting for them, “We have the diamonds. I repeat, we have the diamonds!”

The “diamonds” were the innocent hostages the soldiers had just rescued. In Judaism, as in Christianity, life is precious — as precious as diamonds.

Please pray for the 77 other innocent Israeli civilians being held prisoner by Hamas and the so-called “peaceful Palestinians” of Gaza.

Mat Staver

Chairman
Christians in Defense of Israel

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SOURCES:

“Former Captive: Hamas Paying Gazans to Imprison Israelis.” Jewish News Syndicate, June 3, 2024. Jns.org/former-captive-hamas-paying-gazans-up-to-19-a-day-to-imprison-israelis/.

“‘Here, here, they’re here’ — Dramatic footage of IDF hostage rescue.” Jewish News Syndicate, June 11, 2024. Jns.org/here-here-theyre-here-dramatic-footage-of-idf-hostage-rescue/.

Marks, Joshua. “Journalist, Doctor Held Israelis Hostage in Gaza.” Jewish News Syndicate, June 9, 2024. Jns.org/journalist-doctor-held-israelis-hostage-in-gaza/.