Roughly eight months ago, Israel was brutally attacked by the terrorist organization Hamas. More than 1,200 were murdered — predominantly civilians — while countless others suffered from various degrees of torture and trauma. Two hundred fifty hostages were also taken, some of whom were released or rescued in the first few months of response. Since then, though, the fate of the remaining 120 hostages has been deeply uncertain. But on Saturday, four more hostages were successfully rescued from Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The rescued hostages, all of whom have been reported to be in “good medical condition,” are Noa Argamani (who was kidnapped by Palestinian civilians), Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv. As IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “They are back home in Israel. They are alive; they are well.” And while these four individuals are set to undergo further medical examinations, Hagari noted they “will soon be reunited with their families in the hospital.”

As details about the mission emerge, it is already being considered the “most successful” IDF operation since October 7. The mission involved hundreds of troops and heavy air support, which resulted in the death of over 200 Palestinians. In response, some have described the incident as a “massacre,” ridiculing the effort as “a heinous and terrorist crime that targeted defenseless innocents with brutality.” Some outlets, such as BBC News, have even suggested “the Israeli military should have warned Palestinians before conducting Saturday’s daring surprise raid.”

Despite the media’s negative response, many view the mission as “a point of celebration” now that more Israeli hostages are finally home after being held captive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear from the beginning that one of Israel’s top priorities has always been to retrieve the hostages. Following the rescue, the IDF posted on X, “We will continue to make every effort to bring the hostages home.”

Given the controversy surrounding the rescue, Israeli experts are trying to bring reason clarity to the debate. While 274 Palestinian deaths is a large number, Senior Contributing Editor at the Jewish News Syndicate Caroline Glick insists there’s a lot more to consider.

On Monday’s episode of “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” Glick shared the sobering reality of what Israel continues to face. She noted, out of the 120 remaining hostages, “we know … 79 of them are presumed to be alive, and the rest of them are presumed to be dead.” She emphasized that the recently freed hostages were able to expose the truth about the “physical and psychological torture” they experienced while in captivity. “Their lives were in danger every minute,” Glick said.

Perkins, president of Family Research Council, highlighted the irrationality of the Biden administration’s constant push for a permanent ceasefire. He asked, “[H]ow could Israel possibly accept any deal that leaves Hamas in power and in control of Gaza?” Glick agreed the ceasefire would have a devastating impact, especially given that 85% of Palestinians supported the October 7 attack. As Glick explained, ideally, there would be “a lower intensity conflict in Gaza.” Israel wants that, she urged. “[B]ut we’re not going to get it from a ceasefire.”

She explained that, outside of Hamas, even “these are civilians carrying out war crimes.” According to Glick, for “all intents and purposes,” engaging in these threats and hostage-holding makes civilians essentially “Hamas terrorists without uniforms.” Israel is not “wantonly killing women and children,” Glick stated. “Hamas is the one that has been targeting innocent civilians since it was established in 1987.”

And it would seem, Perkins added, “if every terrorist is a civilian, based on what we’re seeing here, many civilians are terrorists in terms of their cooperation with Hamas.” Glick agreed, “I mean, … there were more civilians, that is uniformed women, children, men, who invaded Israel on October 7th than there were uniformed Hamas terrorists. And these people, these innocent civilians, they took hostages, they raped women, they murdered children. They burned families alive.” Ultimately, Glick said, “this was a murderous assault not only by Hamas, but by Palestinian society as a whole.”

So then, “what are the next steps,” Perkins asked, when dealing with a society that overwhelmingly supports the terrorists that currently runs it? At least for now, Glick replied, “most of the armed conflict that we’re going to be seeing in Gaza is going to look more like counter guerrilla warfare between IDF forces and Hamas terror cells.” However, she added, “we’re already moving forces up to the north, where we expect to have a much larger war starting soon” involving Lebanon, which is overrun with Hezbollah terrorists.

Glick continued, “[R]ight now, the assessment in Israel … by the public and by the leadership together, is that we have to steel ourselves for a much bigger war and a much more difficult war in Lebanon, because the Hezbollah forces are much more powerful than the Hamas forces that we fought at such cost until now.”

In other words, the road ahead is a long one for Israel. “And unfortunately,” Glick sighed, the Biden administration is moving forward with their agenda to promote a ceasefire, which is only further “placing Israel in great peril.” However, Glick suspects this is an intentional move “because, from Biden’s perspective, the longer that the war in Gaza goes on, the more difficult his election situation becomes. And so, they want to end it as quickly as possible, even if that means Israeli defeat.”

Israel faces the reality that Hamas, the “genocidal jihadist terrorist organization army that invaded Israel … slaughtered 1,200 and took 250 hostages … is actually the side that the elites in the Western world support.” But in a sense, Glick said that the more opponents push against Israel, the stronger they come together as a country. “I mean, October 7th convinced the vast majority of Israelis that we’re in a war for our national survival and that we can’t accept anything less than absolute victory.”

Because, Glick concluded, anything less than absolute victory means “more and more October 7” attacks in their future.