Zack Beauchamp is a name we haven't heard in a long time, but the Vox writer will be forever known as the one who claimed there was a bridge connecting the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. Twitter had a good laugh over that, and now it's time to point and laugh at Beauchamp again, as he claims that more of the hostages that Hamas took would be alive today if only Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel had laid off the military campaign and worked toward a peace deal earlier.
Amit Segal is the chief political correspondent for N12 News in Israel:
This deal proves that military pressure brings hostages home. In the end, hundreds of IDF soldiers fell during this ground operation. They fell while initially defeating Hamas as a military force, then eliminating Hamas as an army, and finally creating conditions for this deal.… pic.twitter.com/n8NaOvqV4S
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) October 9, 2025
The post continues:
The problem with the question of whether military pressure brings hostages home is that people tend to imagine soldiers breaking into tunnels to rescue hostages, which is not what happened here.
The question we need to ask is what made Hamas cave? There were two key factors. One is the existential threat it now faces. Secondly, and ironically, the push into Gaza City, despite opposition from the IDF chief and much of the public, alongside warnings that hostages would be killed in the operation, made Hamas realize the hostages weren’t as valuable as it thought.
Until today, Hamas thought it could play the hostage card and Israel would freeze. But the moment Hamas realized its view of the hostages was likely mistaken, and that the hostages might disappear, preventing Hamas from using them as a weapon, the terror group decided to end this now to avoid its total destruction.
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That's a solid analysis, but Beauchamp has a different take on the situation:
Another (more plausible) read is that the military campaign got a lot of hostages killed. If Netanyahu had made a peace deal sooner, many more hostages would have come back alive rather than in body bags https://t.co/Y44UjrRAPG
— Zack Beauchamp ([email protected]) (@zackbeauchamp) October 9, 2025
Ha ha. You did the meme! pic.twitter.com/saGFczxTZn
— Dram Man (@Dram_man) October 9, 2025
That gets cut off, but it reads, "Why would Netanyahu do this???" And yes, he did the meme. Another (more plausible read) is this: Maybe if Hamas hadn't KILLED THEM, many more hostages would have come back alive.
They could have used the bridge to bring them home too
— Miami Slice (@MidwitMilhouse) October 9, 2025
Do you have a bridge in Gaza that you can sell us?
— SwampFox (@SwampFox8) October 9, 2025
Zip it, Gaza Bridge. You wrote this: https://t.co/GgzSX48Lh5 pic.twitter.com/pMj5DvLiEb
— NeverTweet (@LOLNeverTweet) October 9, 2025
That's gonna follow him forever.
Zach, taking hostages is bad, mkay.
— Unplugged (@BeardBourbonBbq) October 9, 2025
Everything after that is on the takers.
Which peace deal? Which deal would have released all the hostages at once? Maybe the correct thing would have been not to take hostages at all and use your own people as cannon fodder?
— SpirituallyPalestinian 🟣 (@BigJewbovski) October 9, 2025
Hamas kidnapped these people and you’re blaming Israel. Something is seriously broken in you.
— Rebecca Tucker (@RebeccaTucker85) October 9, 2025
Hostages can't get killed if hostages aren't taken hostage
— Blue Collar Executive (@A_Sober_Drunk) October 9, 2025
I think the kidnappings had more to do with the killings than anything else.
— Garrick I - Rex Britannia - Imperator Americæ (@Boydesian) October 9, 2025
Hamas started the war and could have ended it at any point. Hamas is responsible for every single death on both sides.
— Anmarie (@AnmarieInMn) October 9, 2025
Reframe, please. I’d posit that Hamas could have released the hostages at any point. And that Hamas used Palestinians as human shields in a deliberate, cynical and horrifying strategy for the last two years.
— Reva Feinstein (@helicopterina) October 9, 2025
Odd way of saying Israel wasn't going to get too many hostages back anyway, so they should have killed many more terrorists. On that, I agree
— Dan Dan Fielding (@Okarun207965) October 9, 2025
You what else might have resulted in far fewer people dying?
— Yer buddy Don (@prayerborne) October 9, 2025
Hamas not starting a fucking war, you snivelling little piece of trash.
A peace deal would hinge on Hamas surrendering and returning the hostages, which it refused to do for two years.
Remember when Hamas strangled the Bibas children and tried to blame it on an Israeli airstrikes?
— Extremely Careless (@Shanghaibeast) October 9, 2025
And then Hamas held a parade to show off the coffins before returning the bodies.
Literally go fuck your own face, Zack. pic.twitter.com/280IiTmEuj
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