The people of Israel do not cling to the role of victim. It is Hamas that constantly complains, even as its ideology—the most ferocious in the world, rooted in Jihad—spreads terror.
Yet some still claim that Israel is the aggressor. As entertainer Enzo Iacchetti suggested, “There is no war here: it is the Israeli army fighting the Palestinians, a poor, innocent people.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Hamas is the aggressor. It planned and executed this massive war to kill Jews. Every Israeli family—mother, wife, friend, student, partner—now suffers the unbearable pain of losing loved ones or knowing they are in danger.
The daily fear is unimaginable: the dreaded knock on the door might announce the death of a child, a spouse, a best friend. Just last week, four young adults in their twenties were laid to rest. Two more soldiers, aged 20 and 68, were killed by a driver of a humanitarian aid truck. Israel has lost more than 900 soldiers in this conflict, while Hamas fields at least 20,000 active terrorists.
The scale of the terror is staggering. On Sept. 8, 2025, alone, six innocents were murdered on a bus. Since the beginning of the year, 1,000 attacks have been thwarted. Since its founding, Israel has lost more than 24,000 soldiers defending itself, while politicians pursued “two states for two peoples” with those who never intended to compromise.
Civilian victims of terrorism now number nearly 6,000. And Hamas’s cruelty is not theoretical: the organization has been seen seizing newborns in front of their mothers. In this war alone, thousands of Israeli soldiers have been wounded. Some have lost limbs, yet they return to fight with courage and resilience.
Hamas operates without uniforms, using human shields—including children—and emerging from underground tunnels to strike without warning. In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, young mothers have given birth after their husbands were killed in combat; on Oct. 7 alone, at least 30 births occurred under such circumstances. Over the years, Israel has counted 4,520 widows and 1,354 children orphaned by war.
For those willing to look beyond Hamas’s statistics and the selective images on Al Jazeera, the human toll is crystal clear. Mothers attend funerals recounting their children’s aspirations—a son volunteering with autistic children, a daughter painting like a young Raphael, a young couple whose love is now tragically interrupted.
These lives were devoted to preserving Israel, a small democratic country, the homeland of the Jewish people, surrounded by hatred: anti-gay, anti-women and anti-Western sentiment.
And yet, even amid this devastation, Israelis leave cemeteries with heads held high. They cry, but with pride, understanding that their struggle is not only for survival—it is for the survival of values, of civilization, of hope.
Hamas does not protect Gaza. Hamas exploits Gaza. Hamas enslaves Gaza. The world must finally see the truth: Israel is fighting for its life, its people and its future.
The victims of Hamas are not statistics—they are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and friends. And their courage, like that of all Israelis, deserves recognition, solidarity and unwavering support.
