Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon made plain what every decent person already knows: reconstruction in Gaza cannot proceed while Hamas retains the guns and the leverage of kidnapping human beings. On Fox News’ The Story, Danon insisted that rebuilding must be tied directly to the disarming of Hamas and the immediate return of every hostage — a simple, non-negotiable demand rooted in justice and national security.
Americans who care about human dignity should be unambiguous: we MUST bring back all of the hostages, alive or dead, and give families the closure they deserve. The outpouring from Israeli citizens and leaders underscores that mission — every Israeli official from the president on down has made the return of captives their red line, and rightly so.
Reconstruction without security is a blueprint for repeating the worst mistakes of the past. Danon’s warning that Gaza must be rebuilt only after the removal of Hamas’s military capability is not callousness, it is realism — and any aid or rebuilding plan that fails to include disarmament is a recipe for future terror.
Let’s be clear: hard truths are necessary. Danon has even said that a two-state solution is not on the table after the horrors of October 7, and that the Palestinians must first prove they reject incitement and terror before any political resurrection is considered. Conservatives who prize national sovereignty and the protection of innocent lives should applaud this sober, security-first stance.
The United Nations’ reflexive moralizing must be met with rigorous accountability when its platforms are used to excuse or minimize terror. Danon’s rebuke of the UN for inflammatory rhetoric and bias is a needed reminder that institutions must earn our trust, not squander it while Israelis bleed and hostages languish. The world should demand facts, not grandstanding.
Washington cannot sit on the sidelines or fall sway to sentimentalism that ignores security realities. U.S. leaders should back Israel’s demand for every hostage returned, insist on Hamas’s complete demilitarization, and make clear that American taxpayer-funded aid or reconstruction efforts will never shore up terror infrastructure. Now is the time for principled strength, not appeasement.
Americans who love freedom know what side we must stand on: with victims over perpetrators, with law and order over chaos, and with allies who fight to stop barbarism. If we mean to protect our own country and the values that built it, we must support decisive, intelligent actions that bring the hostages home and ensure Hamas is never able to strike again.
