The most distressing aspect of Israel’s prolonged defensive war against the barbaric Hamas terrorists is the plight of the remaining 100 hostages in Gaza. Recent testimonies from released hostages provide an insight into the dreadful conditions which hostages endured. There is evidence of beatings, starvation, sexual abuse and confinement in underground tunnels with minimal light and poor air quality.

No one knows how many remain alive with current estimates ranging from 20 to 75.

The youngest hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October were the Bibas children – baby Kfir was just 9 months old and Ariel aged 4 years. Video of the abduction showing the anguished face of their mother Shiri was proudly broadcast by the terrorists.

Taking children as hostages in conflict is a clear crime against humanity as defined in various international instruments including the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute.

There’s a very troubling question which has not received anywhere near enough attention: Where are the righteous in Gaza?

Not one Gazan has stepped forward with information to assist the freeing of any hostages.

To understand this phenomenon, one must shift thinking out of a Western democratic mindset. The ideologies and values held by many Middle Eastern cultures are antithetical to those in the West and nowhere more so than in Gaza.

Israel conquered the area of Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War and gradually established 21 Jewish communities with about 9000 Israelis living there and a thriving greenhouse-based agricultural industry. One of my Israeli cousins, although not residing in Gaza, established an industrial sewing factory, employed 50 to 70 Arabs and paid Israeli wages.

However, in 2005, as a unilateral gesture for peace and in what has proven to be a disaster, Israel withdrew and handed everything to the local Arab Palestinians. The Jewish residents who objected were forcibly dragged out by the Israel Defense Forces.

But it was not just Jewish residents who were removed. Those who, like my cousin, had businesses had to rapidly relocate their operations. Even the Jews in the cemeteries were removed. Yes, the remains of dead Jews were exhumed and reburied in Israel.

Think about that. Israel had assessed that the brainwashing and antisemitic hatred was so pervasive, that not even the Jewish graves could be left. Respect for human remains is important in Judaism and experience elsewhere, such as the ancient graves on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, had demonstrated the Jewish remains would be desecrated.

By 2006, Hamas had been elected to govern Gaza. Rapidly, everything linked to Israel was destroyed. The greenhouses were smashed and Hamas dug up the irrigation pipes to use as casings for rockets to be launched into Israel.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) which was already running an  anti-Israel school system became even more radical under the  influence of Hamas. Two generations of Gazan children have been totally indoctrinated using propaganda that glorifies jihadi terrorists whose goal is to eliminate Israel.

During the Holocaust, even in areas where Nazi propaganda was dominant, there emerged righteous individuals who saved Jewish lives. Israel’s major Holocaust museum and education centre is Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. It records and honours 28,217 individuals with the title of Righteous Amongst the Nations. So where are the righteous in Gaza?

There have been reports of hostages being moved through various facilities and held by different militia groups and Gazan civilians. Freed hostages report being held in the homes of a doctor and a teacher employed by Unrwa. On three occasions Israel has conducted hostage rescue raids on residential premises.

There could be many hundreds or possibly thousands of Gazans who have some knowledge of the whereabouts of hostages.

To incentivise people in Gaza to assist, Israel has offered US$5 million per hostage and safe passage for resettlement. As hostages have been held in small groups, a successful release might mean multiple rewards. To most in Gaza this would be a truly massive fortune. But there have been no takers, none.

Perhaps the reaction to the conflict by nearby Arab Muslim countries assists in understanding what’s going on. Egypt, like Israel, has a border with Gaza. It is usual practice that a neighbouring country will take refugees during times of conflict. Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine , has over 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees. But Egypt has reinforced its border with Gaza and refuses to accept refugees.

Indeed, no other Arab Muslim country in the Middle East will accept their brethren in Gaza as refugees. There is no shortage of space and some are very wealthy but no refugee program for Gazans is entertained. Saudi Arabia has facilities to accommodate over 2 million for the annual Hajj pilgrimage but is assisting no one from Gaza.

There is an interesting biblical story which occurred not far away, namely the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God told Abraham of the forthcoming destruction and that his nephew Lot who lived in Sodom would be saved. Abraham bargained with God for the cities to be saved if righteous men could be found. The bargaining began at 50 and cascaded down to 10. Alas, righteous men could not be found.

Israel has said the war could end with the release of the hostages and the surrender of Hamas.  If there were righteous in Gaza to facilitate the release of the hostages, that would be enormously positive not only from a humanitarian perspective but in neutralising Hamas’ only major strategic lever.

The Australian Labor government takes a different view to the Arab Muslim world and thinks it is a good idea to bring in thousands from Gaza with minimal screening and to actively support the creation of a state of Palestine.

Gaza has been a de facto Palestinian state since 2005 and has proved to be a massively destructive failure. Historically, there has never been a sovereign state of Palestine. Never was, and post 7 October 2023, never will be.