Palestinian militants stand guard on the day that hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, are handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as part of a ceasefire and hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

The last surviving Israeli hostages are finally home. A ceasefire — fragile though it is — has been reached. The world is once again speaking about “peace.”

But let’s tell the truth: this moment could have happened nearly two years ago.

The framework now being hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough is not new. It is the same basic deal that Israel put on the table in late 2023:

• Release all Israeli hostages
• End Hamas’ military capabilities
• End Hamas’ rule in Gaza

That was the offer then. It is the offer now. The only difference is the cost in lives paid for by the delay.

For nearly two years, Hamas rejected these terms and waged a war designed to maximize Palestinian suffering and weaponize it for propaganda. And as it did, Hamas was shielded — not just by Qatar and Iran — but by Western celebrities, activists, academics, NGOs, and politicians who demanded only one thing: that Israel stop fighting back.

Today, those same voices are silent — not only about the hostages Hamas murdered in captivity — but about something even more revealing:

Hamas is now executing Palestinians in the streets of Gaza — without trial, without due process — and the parts of the “ceasefire now” crowd that aren’t openly celebrating these murders has nothing to say.

Videos from the last week show Hamas gunmen dragging Palestinian civilians from their homes and shooting them in public squares — accusing them of “collaboration” without evidence. Palestinians are being murdered by Hamas today. Right now. Not one “human rights” organization that spent two years slandering Israel as “genocidal” has organized a march to protest this. Not one campus coalition has issued a statement condemning it. Not one Western activist demanding a ceasefire before October 2025 has demanded that Hamas stop killing Palestinians.

d now, even after agreeing to the current ceasefire framework, Hamas has once again proven it cannot be trusted: just this Sunday morning, Hamas terrorists launched coordinated attacks on IDF positions — across the “yellow line” of the ceasefire boundary — in a blatant, calculated breach of the agreement. Yet the same Western voices who cried “ceasefire now” cannot muster a whisper of outrage when Hamas violates it.

Silence is a choice. And in this case, it is a confession.

This “Deal” Isn’t New — And Hamas Hasn’t Accepted Peace

Some in the media are pretending Hamas has now become “pragmatic.” That is delusion. Hamas did not accept peace — it accepted pressure.

Let’s be precise: Hamas has not accepted disarmament or surrendered power. Those requirements are in later phases of the ceasefire deal and must still be enforced. Hamas agreed only to a process — a process it spent two years rejecting because it believed Western pressure would eventually break Israel.

It took:

• relentless military pressure,
• targeted operations against Hamas leadership in Iran, Qatar, and Lebanon,
• US diplomatic leverage, and
• the collapse of Hamas control in northern and central Gaza

for Hamas to finally accept a phased framework that it could have accepted in 2023.

Had it done so then:

• Thousands of Palestinians killed in the war Hamas started on Oct. 7 would still be alive;
• Gaza neighborhoods would still be standing; and
• Dozens of hostages would not have died in Hamas tunnels, torture rooms, and cages.

So why did this agreement not happen sooner?

Because Hamas got help and lots of encouragement to keep the war going.

Many in the West Fought to Protect Hamas from the Consequences of Its Action on Oct. 7

Israel fought to free hostages and remove a genocidal terror regime from its border.

Yet “activists” in the West made no demands of Hamas. None.

• Thousands marched for “ceasefire now” — but not one of these marches demanded Hamas release hostages or surrender.
• “Human rights” groups wrote 300-page reports about Israel — but barely mentioned Hamas’ war crimes for using ordinary Gazans as human shields.
• University encampments mobilized for Gaza — but not one condemned Hamas for stealing aid, hoarding fuel, or executing Palestinians.
• NGOs repeated Hamas casualty numbers as fact — then fell silent when Hamas shot Palestinians lined up for bread.

This wasn’t “humanitarian concern.” It was moral complicity. And it gave Hamas exactly what it wanted: time. Time to regroup. Time to rewrite the narrative. Time to believe the West would eventually pressure Israel to cede to its continued control of Gaza.

Hamas’ Greatest Victims Are Palestinians

The loudest “pro-Palestinian” voices in the West refuse to admit a basic truth: Hamas is not a liberation movement. It is a death cult and a dictatorship.

In Gaza, Hamas has:

• Executed Palestinian political rivals and journalists
• Tortured and murdered Palestinians it suspects of disloyalty
• Used hospitals, schools, and mosques as firing positions
• Turned al-Shifa Hospital into a military HQ
• Stolen billions from Gazan reconstruction
• Forced civilians at gunpoint to remain in combat zones
• Used children as shields for Hamas terrorists and military infrastructure
• And executed Palestinians in public without any trial or due process as “traitors”

Yet when Israel targeted Hamas, the “ceasefire now” movement libelously accused Israel of genocide — but never once demanded that Hamas stop committing the actual war crimes that kept Palestinians in danger.

Their message was clear:

They were never anti-war. They were just anti-Israel.

Pressure Works. Appeasement Kills.

This ceasefire did not come from protests. It did not come from activists chanting “From the River to the Sea” or celebrities posting misinformation. It came from force, consequences, and moral clarity.

The only reason Hamas agreed to a deal at all is because it was cornered. It is not reformed. It is not moderate. It is not interested in coexistence. And it is not done trying to mass-murder Jews.

Anyone who thinks Hamas will voluntarily disarm or surrender power has learned nothing. Peace will require sustained pressure, verification, and international enforcement — not naïve trust.

A Moral Reckoning Is Still Needed

We celebrate the return of the hostages. We honor the soldiers who gave their lives to bring this moment closer. We grieve for the Palestinians who suffered and died — most of them because Hamas chose death over compromise.

But now, before history is rewritten again, we must say clearly:

This war did not have to last this long.

This ceasefire could have happened nearly two years ago.

Hamas delayed it — and Western enablers helped.

Those who spent two years screaming “Ceasefire now!” were not peacemakers. They were Hamas’ propaganda arm.

Peace built on lies is just a pause before the next war. Peace built on truth can last. And the truth is simple: Hamas — not Israel — started and prolonged this war. And the people who helped them do it should never again be allowed to disguise themselves as voices for peace.

Micha Danzig is an attorney, former IDF soldier, and former NYPD officer. He writes widely on Israel, antisemitism, and Jewish history and serves on the board of Herut North America.