The deeds of Hamas — rape, torture, murder, even beheading babies — are comparable to the worst of the Holocaust, and the perpetrators of these acts deserve to be executed just as much as the Nazis who were running extermination camps. This extends to all members of the terrorist organization. Every member of Hamas merits prompt execution, and only deliberate mercy or Israeli self-interest should spare them.
Only Hamas sympathizers could possibly dispute that the Israeli military has the moral right and duty to kill Hamas members on the battlefield. The more complex question is whether the guilt extends only to the personnel that actively participated in rape and baby murder or whether the entire terrorist organization is complicit in these evils.
Like the Nazis, all Hamas members are complicit and guilty. First, they cannot plead ignorance. Hamas has always proclaimed its murderous and genocidal intentions and has frequently acted upon them. Furthermore, any pretense that the terror organization has mellowed or moderated its ways has been abandoned. Hamas paraded the bodies of its victims through the streets and posted videos of its crimes for the world to see. It is now threatening to murder the civilian hostages it kidnapped, including women and children.
Every member of Hamas knew they were joining this genocidal, baby-murdering death cult — it says so right there in the group’s charter. They are not absolved of responsibility simply because they were doing the paperwork or maintenance of the organization. Many Nazis found guilty at Nuremberg never physically hurt anyone. But the goal was clear. No Hamas member was blind to the evil reality. They were providing material support for the goal of killing Jews.
Those members of Hamas who were perhaps forced to join now have a moral obligation to desert or surrender at the first opportunity and to prove their good faith by immediately sharing all the information they can with the Israeli forces. Anything less than this constitutes an endorsement of, and complicity in, the capital crimes of Hamas.
Furthermore, Hamas does not abide by the rules of war or international law, and its members are not soldiers protected by the rules of war. Rather, they and other terrorists are more like pirates or similar outlaws — enemies of all humanity who may be justly killed. They deserve nothing but the barest of military tribunals. If they are afforded more, it is only by the mercy and restraint of Israel.
Though there are reasons why it may be prudent for Israel to spare Hamas members (such as a desire to encourage Hamas surrenders in order to protect Israeli soldiers), there is no moral reason why they should not all be executed as accomplices to the atrocities committed by the group.
Israel is not going to execute every captured terrorist, but showing that it has a right to do so is not just an intellectual exercise. Acknowledging the guilt of every Hamas member is vital in stressing the group’s depraved deeds and the just punishment they deserve, which is necessary as we evaluate Israel’s response and that of our own government.
Seeing Hamas’ wickedness both justifies Israel’s response and illustrates Israel’s restraint. Israel must eliminate Hamas as a threat, but it is still merciful; Hamas cut the heads off of Israeli babies, while Israel lets captured Hamas terrorists live. However, this mercy is just that, mercy. It is optional, and it should not extend to the Hamas leaders who have taken shelter outside of Gaza; these terrorist overlords should be hunted down and eliminated.
As for our own nation, we must immediately cease all so-called humanitarian aid for Hamas and any territory under its control. Such assistance has routinely been stolen to fund Hamas’ genocidal campaign and to line the pockets of its leaders. There is no justification for continuing it. Furthermore, because Hamas murdered Americans in its rampage — 14 deaths have been confirmed thus far — and is holding others hostage, there is ample cause for the American military to provide limited military aid to Israel if needed to try to rescue these hostages and eliminate their captors. Additionally, American law enforcement should prosecute as accomplices to Hamas atrocities any American citizens or residents who have provided material aid to Hamas.
The realities of the world often preclude justice. Even in this case, there will be only partial justice. But it is important to remind ourselves of what justice demands so that we may attain as much of it as is practicable, and recognize mercy when it is given.
Every member of Hamas deserves swift execution. If they are spared, it is only because of the prudence and generosity of a civilized society.
Nathanael Blake is a senior contributor to The Federalist and a postdoctoral fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
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