Am Israel Chai.
Two years after the worst massacre in Jewish history since the Holocaust, 20 Israelis held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip have returned home, alive.
October 7 could have destroyed Israel, but it did not. Two years of war have changed the country and the Middle East. They brought people together, and on October 13, one massive heart that was broken started to heal as the hostages, now former, crossed into Israeli territory.
Thousands of Israelis, from Eilat in the South to Metulla in the North, gathered to watch the historic moments of the longest war in the country’s history.
Am Israel survived. Am Israel Chai.
Thank you IDF
Some would say that this day would not have been possible without the intervention of US President Donald Trump and his team, which is indeed true. But in all fairness, this day would not have been possible without the almost 1,000 IDF soldiers and security forces who made the ultimate sacrifice to bring the hostages back.
A total of 915 people have given their lives since October 7, falling in the Gaza border communities, the Gaza Strip, and Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of others and their families gave their all in the fight.
And for that, we must be eternally grateful. We must put aside our differences, stop the politicking, and heal our society. Let us pause for a moment, stop our jumping for joy for a second, and let us support the broken hearts of the families who have lost their sons and daughters.
WE MUST also be aware of the harsh reality on the ground. Hamas was not destroyed. It is on the streets of the Gaza Strip, still armed. The terrorists are now hunting down any Gazan who may have helped IDF troops during the war.
Hamas is more than the ruling power of the Gaza Strip. It is an ideology that is ingrained in a segment of the population.
Like wars against al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups, one cannot destroy an ideology. One can harm perpetrators and degrade their military capabilities, but an ideology will always find a way to grow. And the devastating war in the coastal enclave is, unfortunately, fertile ground for Hamas’s ideology of hate, allowing it to fester and grow into the next generation (or two) of Hamas terrorists.
The war in Gaza will not end with Trump’s plan. Like many other wars, it will likely lead to generations of radicalized youth.
Though Israel’s war was justified, and it was one of precision airstrikes against a terrorist organization deeply embedded in civilian areas, we cannot ignore that every airstrike, civilian death, and destroyed neighborhood becomes part of a lived experience that fuels resentment, grief, and a desire for revenge.
Moreover, these emotions are not fleeting – they embed themselves in the psyche of children who grow up amid rubble and loss.
Military pressure alone cannot dismantle this ecosystem of hate. Terror groups like Hamas persist because they are deeply entrenched in the social and ideological fabric of their communities.
They do not rely solely on weapons; they rely on stories, grievances, and the absence of alternatives. And when alternatives are given, if a child’s parents and grandparents continue to feed their children hate, it is hard to see beyond.
Even if their leadership is decapitated or their infrastructure destroyed, the ideas Hamas propagates remain alive in mosques, schools, and homes. These ideas are passed down, not eradicated. When suffering is widespread, the narrative of victimhood and resistance becomes more compelling around the world. Hamas then uses this to recruit, indoctrinate, and justify its existence.
History shows that terrorist groups rarely die from military defeat alone. These groups adapt, splinter, and evolve. They thrive in chaos, and every war zone becomes a potential incubator.
AL-QAEDA survived the fall of its Afghan sanctuary, and the Islamic State reemerged after losing its caliphate. In Gaza, the destruction of infrastructure and the collapse of civil society create precisely the conditions in which militant ideologies flourish.
Without a real political solution that does not include Hamas or any other hatred-filled political group, without hope, without a future, young people will continue to turn to Hamas – not because they are born extremists, but because extremism offers them a sense of purpose.
This war, like those before it, will not end Hamas. It will likely ensure its survival, and perhaps even its expansion.
The next generation of terrorists is already being shaped – not in training camps, but in the trauma of daily life.
Unless the root causes are addressed, military pressure will remain a blunt instrument against a movement that draws its strength from the very suffering that war produces.
But for now, we can still celebrate. Our living hostages are home.
Am Israel Chai!