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Israeli Hostages Return From Hell, Proving Nazi Comparison to Hamas Is True
Released hostage Or Levy, Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, February 8, 2025. Photo: Haim Zach/GPO/Handout via REUTERS
Last Friday, I had a conversation with a friend about the comparison between Hamas and the Nazis. I explained that this similarity does not stem from an Israeli sense of victimhood, but from solid historical facts.
We talked about the Hamas charter, which mirrors Hitler’s Mein Kampf, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and Goebbels’ propaganda. In both cases, the goal is the same: the total demonization of the Jews, portraying them as the evil rulers of the world, justifying their persecution, and ultimately — clear calls for their destruction.
The Palestinians also embrace language blaming Jews for all the world’s wrongs throughout history — and many don’t know that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (the Palestinian Arabs’ leader prior to 1948) actually worked closely with Hitler to bring about the destruction of every Jew in the world.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, everything I tried to explain in words became a reality that needed no interpretation. Three Israeli hostages returned from hell — Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami — and their emaciated bodies told everything that is impossible to describe in words. It was an image that shocked every Jew, and every human being with a conscience. These living skeletons reminded us of the pictures we thought were left behind, in black and white, from 1940s Europe.
Ohad Ben Ami tried to introduce some humor when joking with his family: “I left you in size XL and came back in size Medium.” But behind the laughter was an unbearably harsh truth — his body, like that of his fellow captives, is a living testimony of abuse, starvation, and suffering with no end in sight. Skin stretched over protruding bones, lifeless eyes, physical weakness that turned their ability to walk into a struggle. These were not prisoners released — they were survivors.
Other Hamas survivors were not so lucky; Eli Sharabi found out after nearly 500 days in hell that his wife and three daughters were massacred by Hamas — just like what the Nazis did.
And if that’s not shocking enough, it turned out that in recent days, they had seen some improvement in their conditions — meaning, the images we saw were of hostages “in relatively good condition.” If this is the case, the question arises: what kind of hell did they endure before? What did they look like when they were even weaker? And what will the long term consequences of their torture be?
In recent days, the Red Cross has raised complaints about Israel releasing Palestinian murderers in shackles as part of the deal with Hamas — something that allegedly harms their dignity. What will the Red Cross say now? Will they claim another success story? Another successful operation for an organization that failed to convey even a small message of hope to those Israeli hostages — not to mention food and medicine. The same organization that failed in Theresienstadt in 1941, during the Ma’alot massacre in 1974, in the Gilad Shalit affair, and in many other incidents — failed once again now. But the main thing is that the dignity of Palestinian murderers should not be harmed.
The gap between this week’s colored pictures of Israeli hostages and the black-and-white images from the Holocaust is only technical. The essence remains the same. Empty eyes, bodies starved to the point of being mere shadows of themselves, relentless torture. History doesn’t repeat itself in the same way, but it echoes — and again, we are witnessing images we thought were relegated to the past.
There is not a single Jew, not a single human being, whose place is in the hands of these perpetrators of evil. The State of Israel is obligated to bring them all back. Every day they remain there is a moral stain, a silent cry that we, as Jews, cannot leave unanswered.
Itamar Tzur is an Israeli scholar and Middle East expert who holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Jewish History and a Master’s degree with honors in Middle Eastern Studies. As a senior member of the “Forum Kedem for Middle Eastern Studies and Public Diplomacy”. Tzur leverages his academic expertise to enhance understanding of regional dynamics and historical contexts within the Middle East.
The post Israeli Hostages Return From Hell, Proving Nazi Comparison to Hamas Is True first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.