EDITORIAL: Oct. 7: ‘We knew they were coming for us’

Only days before the second commemoration of their barbaric Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Hamas terrorists on Friday said they have agreed to release all remaining hostages — living and dead — that they took on that dark day. The concession came as the group faced pressure from President Donald Trump to agree to a U.S. peace plan by Sunday evening or face “all hell.”

There were signs, however, that the glorifiers of death and destruction were still not willing to put down their weapons despite having largely been decimated on the battlefield. The BBC reported that Hamas was also seeking “further negotiations” on a number of points outlined in Mr. Trump’s peace initiative. History has been filled with fruitless starts and stops when it comes to Middle East peace. But the president deserves accolades for his devotion to stopping the bloodshed.

Only time will tell if the effort ultimately succeeds. But as the process moves forward, it’s vital that, as the two-year observation of the horrific events of Oct. 7 approaches, the world never forgets the evil deeds that led to the current conflagration.

The Oct. 7 attack was a deliberate provocation intended to trigger a wider war to further the Palestinian cause. That this might potentially bring misery to civilians governed by Hamas was seen as a selling point by the terror group, which shamelessly exploits civilian casualties to gain support from useful idiots in the international community and on American college campuses. “In the bloody arithmetic of Hamas’ leaders,” The New York Times reported in 2023, “the carnage is not the regrettable outcome of a big miscalculation. Quite the opposite, they say: It is the necessary cost of a great accomplishment — the shattering of the status quo and the opening of a new, more volatile chapter in their fight against Israel.”

This utter lack of concern for human life was a hallmark of Oct. 7. Over the past two years, the USC Shoah Foundation has recorded hundreds of interviews with survivors of the attack. The result (sfi.usc.edu/october7testimonies) is a disturbing and chilling archive documenting the horror of Israeli civilian victims as the terror campaign unfolded.

From Moran Frielbach, who was using an app to communicate with nearby families, listening as Hamas militants broke down their doors and executed them: “We knew they were coming for us. What actually happened was they went to Zohar family, which is the first house … They went into the house, broke in and just broke into the safe room and murdered the whole family there. … A father, a mother and two daughters.”

From Nitzan Ezra, who hid in a shelter with others as mayhem unfolded outside. After the gunfire stopped she resisted the urge to try to make it home: “A few minutes later we heard them coming back. Shooting outside like crazy. Arabic voices ‘Allah Akbar’ and screaming … Inside the shelter they came in … I just fell to the floor. Piles of bodies inside the shelter.” She reaches her brother via text and he tells her to “be strong,” hide behind the bodies and ”smear yourself with blood. Do everything you can to make them think you’re dead.” When the terrorists entered, she took his advice and, with her eyes closed, heard the attackers laughing and singing.

Mr. Frielbach and Ms. Ezra survived. At least 1,200 Israelis did not. Thousands more were injured. A Human Rights Watch report found that Hamas fighters “committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity” during their murderous spree, including “crimes involving sexual and gender based violence” and “mutilation.” Hamas has still not recanted its goal driving Israel into the sea.

The Israeli response to Oct. 7 was an act of survival and security in the face of terror and depravity that must never be forgotten. Hamas terrorists now face an important choice: Choose civilized peace and accept Israel’s existence or seal their own fate in devotion to murderous fanaticism.