Videos have gone viral of Hamas terrorists who have been arrested by the IDF in Gaza, surrendering and laying down their weapons in their underwear.
While it is simply essential operational practice to have terrorists strip to be sure they are not hiding weapons or wearing a bomb/suicide belt, multiple Israeli leaders have expressed regret for these images being circulated at all, committing that it will not happen again; they were not released from the IDF in an official capacity, and that it’s not appropriate to do so.
I’m not a soldier, not a general, and not a political leader. But if it were up to me, I’d go out of my way to show more pictures of naked terrorists. First of all, when fighting terrorists who wear civilian clothes and embed themselves among civilians, rules change.
If this is the worst thing Israel is actually guilty of, in a world that is conflating the evils of Hamas’ Islamic terror vs. Israel’s legitimate right and need for self-defense or comparing alleged civilian casualties comingled with the number of terrorists killed, that is not something that will keep me awake at night. If they are not terrorists and released following interrogation, I can live with them getting dressed and going home.
As for the terrorists, humiliating them in their underwear lays bare the emptiness of their theology. Rather than dying for the “resistance” as “martyrs,” they are stripping down after being captured or turning themselves in to save themselves, rather than the promised 72 virgins for their misogynist pleasures. Perhaps they realize that they worship a fake god, that there are no virgins for them in the hell where they will end up, and know that at least in an Israeli prison, they will be clothed, fed, and possibly sent home (to the rubble of Gaza) in a future exchange.
Not only would I not stop filming terrorists in their underwear, but I’d also publicize these widely. I’d put them out all over Arabic social media, showing that even the terrorists prefer to live in an Israeli jail rather than die for the “resistance.”
I would do this as part of an aggressive campaign of psychological warfare to demoralize all the Gazans and turn them and all Palestinian Arabs against Hamas. Certainly, this is a front in the war in which Hamas has been excelling. I say, bring the psychological warfare right back to them.
I’d flood the Arab world with videos of terrorists captured following the October 7 massacre, confirming that they used rape and all sorts of other inhuman violence as a deliberate “tactic” in their “resistance.” I’d target Lebanon, hoping that any rational Lebanese who don’t want to see their country turned into the next Gaza by Hezbollah would rise up and take their country back.
I’d hack every Arabic website with the “Top Ten” videos of (former) Hamas leaders saying that their own leaders have destroyed Gaza and any hope. Former Hamas communications minister, Yousef al-Mansi, has been recorded saying, “Nobody likes Sinwar. There are people who day and night pray that God will free us from him.” And “This is a group of lunatics Sinwar leads. They destroyed the Gaza Strip. They set it back 200 years.” Let Gazans and the Arab world see that, along with his saying that Hamas’ October 7 massacre is “the opposite of Islam.”
While at it, I’d drop millions of leaflets with documentation of the tremendous wealth that their leaders in Qatar, Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzouk, and Khaled Mashal, have “made” while living a lifestyle of 5-star luxury by raping their own people, documenting that rape is not just an evil tactic against Israeli women.
Haniyeh and Mashal have a net worth of $4 billion each. Poor Abu Marzouk is worth only $3 billion. Let the Gazans know that together they have pilfered $11 billion for the “resistance,” and remind them that $11 billion could provide every single Gazan an average monthly salary for almost a year and a half: money they will need badly when the war is over.
I’d drop millions of leaflets over Gaza showing receipts from the purchase of more than $25,000 in jewelry by Maaz Haniyeh, conveniently the son of Ismail Haniyeh, who obviously is doing well himself in the family business of pilfering billions of dollars by his father, billions that could have been invested in the well-being of Gazans, not on expensive Christmas gifts a year ago for his whores.
I’d drop millions of leaflets all over Gaza, directly challenging their genocidal theology, that even their Allah cannot save them from the God of Israel, and it’s only because the Jewish people are chosen by the actual Creator that we continue to defeat them and will continue to do so.
What will be in Gaza after Hamas is crushed is anyone’s guess. No Arab countries want to take responsibility for much less really help with rebuilding the lives of two million Gazans, a fact that should also be publicized. Let’s show Palestinian Arabs that this is the reality: the Arab world that has funded Hamas and other terrorists for decades is quick to blame Israel, but nobody really actually wants to take responsibility for help. The only future for Gaza is for Gazans to rebuild, live peacefully, and end incitement, terror, and fighting Israel once and for all. This needs to be their own responsibility, the same way they have responsibility for electing Hamas and allowing Hamas to rule them under their brutal heel for nearly two decades.
Sadly, while there are reports of more and more Arabs criticizing Hamas, it’s hard to imagine real, substantial change in their society without being pushed to the limits to undertake change themselves. An aggressive campaign of psychological warfare and demoralizing their population is a legitimate and non-lethal way to do so.
If it doesn’t work, if a campaign of psychological warfare backfires and hardens the Palestinian Arabs against Israel, let them all fight over the fake virgins in hell. After all, they’ll already be naked.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Ahmad Hasaballah / Stringer
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Christian Headlines.
Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes regularly for a variety of prominent Christian and conservative websites and is the host of Inspiration from Zion, a popular webinar series and podcast. He can be reached at [email protected]
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