Biden-Harris Admin. Keeps Pressure on Israel after Hamas Executes 6 More Hostages

As Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers closed in for an attempted rescue of six Israeli hostages held in a tunnel underneath Rafah, Hamas terrorists executed them on Saturday, according to reports. Experts say the Biden-Harris administration’s continued pressure on Israeli leadership to reach a deal with the terrorist group has shifted pressure away from Hamas and only further incentivizes future hostage-taking.

The hostages, who were among the 250 captured during the October 7 surprise attack on the Jewish state carried out by Hamas that left 1,200 Israelis dead, had been in captivity for 329 days. Among the six slain hostages was one Israeli-American, 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

On Sunday, President Biden released a statement claiming that he “worked tirelessly to bring Hersh home” and that his administration “will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.” When asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a deal for the release of the remaining 60 living hostages still in Gaza, Biden replied, “No.”

In response, Netanyahu stated that “those who murder hostages do not want a deal.” He added, “Three months ago, on May 27, Israel agreed to a hostage release deal with the full backing of the United States. Hamas refused. Even after the United States updated the outline of the deal on August 16 — we agreed, and Hamas again refused.”

Netanyahu further argued that making continued concessions would only encourage more murder. “[W]e’re asked to show seriousness? We’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send Hamas? It says, kill more hostages, murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions. The pressure, internationally, must be directed at these killers — at Hamas, not at Israel. … Hamas has to make the concessions.”

Observers also say that the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to enact a serious response to the killing of 32 U.S. citizens during the October 7 massacre, along with its consistent hands-off approach to a series of terrorist attacks against American interests in the following months, has further emboldened Hamas to continue killing hostages.

“The Biden administration’s principals talk a good game about the need for a robust response to the October 7 massacre,” National Review Senior Writer Noah Rothman observed Tuesday. “… But when the IDF acts on this imperative, it is subject to endless carping from the administration. Its hands are tied and much-needed weapons are withheld with the aim of putting an end to the war that leaves Israel short of its stated objective. The result of this schizophrenic policy has been to prolong the war and provide Hamas ample evidence that, if it just holds out long enough, it can survive to massacre even more Israelis and Americans.”

Rothman continued, “America’s enemies do not fear this president. … The terrorists take solace in the Democratic Party’s attachment to shibboleths — the desirability of a ‘cease-fire’ that puts an end to ‘the suffering in Gaza’ and the necessity of a ‘two-state solution.’ Hamas does not share these objectives. It will not be transformed into a responsible sovereign of the territory it seized in a coup. It is a collection of murderous thugs who speak only the language of strength. And in the Biden administration, they see only weakness.”

Caroline Glick, a senior contributing editor at the Jewish News Syndicate, concurred, noting that Hamas has remained unmoved by ongoing hostage negotiations. 

“[H]ow do we know that Hamas isn’t being pressured? Because it hasn’t actually changed its negotiating position since October 8,” she pointed out during Tuesday’s edition of “Washington Watch.” “[W]hat they want is a complete Israeli capitulation to all of their demands. They want a total withdrawal of Israeli forces from all of Gaza, from the international border, from the perimeter zone that we set up to protect the cities that Hamas conquered and slaughtered the residents of on October 7.”

“[W]hy would Hamas agree to any deal … when all of the pressure is on Israel?” Glick concluded. “If they’re not feeling any pressure, they’re not going to make any changes in their positions.”