February 25, 2025
Sondra Oster Baras
Hostages! This is the discussion of the day. The issue that does not leave us for a moment. As we watched the return of what we thought were the bodies of four beautiful Israelis, we wept with the families and with all of Israel. Shiri Bibas and her two gorgeous red-headed children, Kfir and Ariel — their story and their pictures traveled the world and became the symbol of the evil and cruelty of the Hamas terrorists. And then we discovered that in a cruel act of mockery, the Arabs had sent the body of a random Arab woman instead of Shiri. On Friday, Shiri’s body was returned.
Shiri and Yarden raised their two children in a loving family, in the pioneering community of Nir Oz, located just a few hundred meters from the Gaza border. On October 7th, terrorists streamed into the community, entering every home except four, murdering anyone in their reach, capturing whomever they wanted.
As the bullets started to fly, Yarden left his family huddled in their safe room and went outside to protect his family and prevent terrorists from entering his home. That was the last time his family saw him. For days no one knew what had happened to Yarden until Hamas published a video showing him being kidnapped to Gaza. One of the first pictures released by Hamas was of Shiri, holding both children in her hands, terrified as she was dragged to Gaza.
Shiri Bibis was kidnapped to Gaza with her sons Kfir, 9 months and Ariel, 4.
Yarden was released just a few days ago and his family and the nation began to learn of the horrors of his long captivity in Gaza. He did not know until his release that his family was still in Hamas’ hands. A few days later, he received official word of the Job-like tragedy he had suffered. His family had been murdered by Hamas. He was the sole survivor of his family.
Oded Lifshitz was 83 years old when he was kidnapped from his Nir Oz home together with his wife Yocheved. Yocheved was released a few months later. Oded was returned to Israel in a coffin. Oded and Yocheved were amongst the founders of Nir Oz, working the land in the shadow of ongoing artillery and rocket fire from Gaza.
The Lifshitzs were Zionists but believed in the dream of Jews and Arabs living side by side in peace. Oded would drive Palestinians from Gaza to Israeli hospitals for treatment and he employed Palestinians, believing that his help brought us closer to peace. As she waited for her husband’s body to be released, Yocheved spoke of their betrayal by the very Arabs they had helped. Oded was naïve but he had pure intentions He never anticipated the depths of evil that would emerge from nearby Gaza.
On Saturday, the last six hostages included in the first stage of the hostage deal were released. They had been starved and tortured. Such suffering! So much pain!
We hope and pray daily that the remaining hostages, both alive and dead, will be returned to Israel. The price of this deal has been horrific and will become even steeper in the next stage. The released terrorists will join the growing number of terrorists in Judea and Samaria who are planning and at times succeeding in their attacks. Just last Thursday, terrorists from Samaria planted bombs on at least 5 busses in Bat Yam, a city near Tel-Aviv. Miraculously, they were mistakenly set to explode for 9 pm when those busses were already out of service instead of 9 am the next morning. Thanks to an alert passenger, additional bombs were discovered before they exploded.
There is consensus in Israel that the remaining hostages must be rescued. But there is an even greater consensus that Israel must do whatever is necessary to ensure that this sort of tragedy never happens again. That we utterly and totally destroy Hamas and similar terrorist groups.
Gaza must be totally demilitarized. Only the IDF should be allowed to patrol Gaza, carry weapons in Gaza and ensure that no terrorist activity of any kind exists in Gaza. Trump’s plan for a total evacuation of Gaza is fully supported in Israel, although it is not at all clear how this will play out practically. I believe this can happen.
If Israel agrees to end the war, then as soon as the hostages are back (or if Hamas breaches its agreement) the next war must begin — the war to destroy Gaza and eliminate the evil that has grown there, unfettered for years. Yes, the first war will end, but the next war is essential to ensure that the Israeli residents of the Gaza Envelope can return to their homes and live in peace and security.
The penny has dropped. Finally. On our Lebanese and Syrian border, on our border with Jordan and Egypt, and in Judea and Samaria, we can never again allow terrorists to raise their heads, to organize, spew hatred, or plan and execute attacks. In Judea and Samaria the war has been ongoing, under different names, for years. Recently, the IDF has upped its activities in Samaria, destroying terrorist networks, capturing or killing terrorists, working hard to achieve security. And the battle will continue. It may take years but we have no choice.
I first came to Samaria before there was a single Jew living here. I remember the first pioneers who established the first communities in Judea and Samaria. I was privileged to know these giants. At the time, I understood theirs was a holy mission — to settle the Biblical Heartland. Today, I understand more than ever before that our presence here has enormous security ramifications. If we were not here, the IDF would not be here and Judea and Samaria would have become another Hamas-controlled area — just like Gaza. But unlike Gaza, Judea and Samaria is in the center with easy access to the entire country. Imagine an October 7th in the main cities of Israel, in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and everywhere. God forbid!
Thank you, my dear Christian friends for your support for so many years. I know you cried with us as we saw the Bibas family return in coffins. Thanks to you, our communities are equipped with the security systems that protect us from attack. But our very presence here, the ongoing expansion of our communities sends a strong signal to all of our enemies. We are here to stay. Forever. We will never give in. We have suffered terribly, this past year and throughout our history. But we are strong and we will prevail. With God’s help.