It’s 2025, and the world just witnessed the mini-liberation of a concentration camp.
Three Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for almost 200 Palestinian criminals sitting in Israeli jails. The images of those who escaped Gaza are chilling beyond words.
The three hostages emerged emaciated, with sunken eyes and sallow skin. They required assistance walking and could be seen dragged from one location to another by the masked Hamas terrorists flanking them on either side.
Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy were civilians on Oct. 7 and were taken by Hamas during its attacks on Kibbutz Beeri and the Nova Festival. The brutality they experienced was beyond words.
Sharabi left behind his wife and daughters hiding in their family’s bomb shelter; they would be found dead inside, clutching each other in death.
Ben Ami was taken out of his home in his underwear along with his wife, who was returned in the first round of hostage releases in November of 2023.
Levy had arrived at the Nova Music Festival just minutes before the attack began with his wife, Einav. They hid in a roadside bomb shelter as Hamas terrorists threw munitions inside. One brave party-goer, Aner Shaprio, stood at the entrance and caught seven and threw them back before the eighth detonated and killed Shaprio.
Throughout their almost 500-day captivity inside the dark and dank tunnels under Gaza, Sharabi and Levy were unaware of the deaths of their loved ones.
During a ceremony that Hamas held before handing over the hostages to the International Red Cross, Sharabi spoke into the microphone and shared that he was looking forward to his reunion with his wife and children, unaware that they had been murdered 16 months ago.
Following the release, Israeli society was shaken. Despite the dire conditions relayed by released hostages, the emaciated appearance of these three men drove home just how serious the situation is for the dozens of remaining live hostages.
Even President Trump saw the Holocaust parallels. On Air Force One on Sunday night he said, “I watched the hostages come back. And they looked like Holocaust survivors, they were in horrible condition. They were emaciated . . . I don’t know how much longer we can take that.”
The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin recorded a video and addressed President Trump and his negotiator, Steve Witkoff, applauding their efforts.
Jon Polin said, “You have shown you are the only ones who are able to get this situation moving, moving forward.” He pled, “Now that you’ve done the hard part of getting movement and getting a deal started, let’s not think about a phase one and phase two and phase three, in many months. Let’s think bigger and faster. All 76 hostages out this week, end of war.”
One of the most controversial decisions that has been reflected upon since the end of World War II was the decision made by the Americans and the Allies not to bomb the tracks leading into Auschwitz. Those against the move argued that military assets would be better used elsewhere, that prisoners could be harmed, and the Germans would use the bombing the bombing against the Allies in their propaganda.
The Jewish community begged President Franklin Roosevelt to do anything in his power to save those inside the camps.
In 2025, we are facing another Holocaust against the Jewish people, this time inside Gaza. The condition of the hostages released has become increasingly more dire as the weeks go on. It is clear that for the dozens who remain alive, their time is running out.
The international community cannot pretend that these releases can be stretched out over weeks and months; time is of the essence to save those who remain inside.
Last week, President Trump proposed a radical solution to the situation in Gaza: the total US takeover of the strip.
We now know we need equally radical and rapidly imagined and implemented ideas to advance hostage negotiations now before it’s too late to save the remaining hostages, including two Americans still presumed to be alive inside.
This is a time in history when we know we can no longer pretend we don’t know what’s happening to innocent Jews being held prisoner. This is President Trump’s moment to act swiftly and boldly and do the modern equivalent of bombing the train tracks leading to Auschwitz.
