Finally willing to speak out against Hamas after crossing the line into depravity

Most everyone is familiar with the iconic 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, whose villain was the Wicked Witch of the West. Her loyal subjects were creatures that did whatever she commanded – until she melted away. Once that happened, they immediately turned their allegiances to Dorothy, thrilled that they’d been set free from the evil one who controlled and dominated them.

The similarity is not much different when it comes to Gaza and Hamas. Having been under the spell of the terror group since 2007, when Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in that region, some Gazans now realize how they were used, manipulated and controlled in every aspect of their personal and business lives, doing whatever they were commanded to do.

One particular example involved Gaza hospitals, which were long suspected of being used as a place to hide weapons, conduct every manner of strategic planning and even act as a shield for the underground headquarters of Hamas. All of that has now gone from speculation to fact after hearing from the horse’s mouth.

Ahmed Kahlot, who was arrested by Israeli Shin Bet security forces, served as the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, located in Jabaliya. During his interrogation, he disclosed that “his northern Gaza hospital was turned into a military facility under Hamas’ control and that, at one point, it had housed a kidnapped soldier.”

As he began to unburden himself during a filmed interview, he confirmed the existence of Hamas offices within the confines of the hospital that was being used as their operational base. What became clear fro his testimony, is that he had been recruited with 16 other staff members to not only permit terrorists to conduct their business at his medical facility but also to join forces with their organization. 

In Kahlot’s case, he became a lieutenant colonel, while other hospital workers served as various operatives in the al-Qassam Brigade military wing of Hamas. He also was responsible for approving medically unqualified terrorists to appear as if they, too, were employed there.

It wasn’t until Dec. 12 that the IDF raided the hospital, detaining at least 90 individuals who worked there, while also confiscating the weapons they found. The harrowing disclosure that among those so-called “hospital workers,” a number of them had taken part in the Oct. 7 massacres, is still a shocking revelation, as it paints a truly depraved picture that defies all human understanding.

Here is a classic case of crossing the line from being victimized to facilitating an evil that ended in the brutal slaughter of 1,200 innocents who never saw what was coming.

In Gil Troy’s article entitled, “Where are the righteous Palestinians?” he outlines how “doctors and UNRWA teachers, held innocent Israeli hostages,” as well as citing a poll which revealed some “75% of Palestinians support Hamas and especially the October 7th massacre which Gazans facilitated.”

It is one thing to be exploited by terrorists who try to take over assets, venues and whatever else is available to them while they seek to pull off their destructive goals and aspirations, but it is entirely another thing to agree to become a willing participant in the planning of a full-scale barbaric massacre of families, young people, children, the elderly and newborns. That is where the soul is corrupted in a manner that transcends the fear of one’s personal safety, opting instead to harm others just to save your own skin.

And that is what happened to Ahmed Kahlot, as well as the other hospital staff workers who willingly allowed themselves to be used for a depraved evil just as horrendous as the worst atrocities humanity has ever witnessed since the beginning of time.

All the comforts of home were provided to Hamas terrorists, including personal offices within the hospital grounds, as well as private telephone lines and the use of hospital ambulances. What more could they have wanted? Kahlot provided shelter and showed them how to do all they did. Rather than appearing to be an unfortunate victim, he comes off as someone who was all too happy to help the effort and do his bit for the cause.

The irony is that, today, as he spills his guts, he is now ready to “tell it like it is,” perhaps in an attempt to reclaim the place of an unwilling martyr who was forced into submission by those he now calls “cowards who destroyed all of us.”

But it’s too late to express regret and remorse for unspeakable acts which, had it not been for his enabling, might not have occurred. Even if they had, they would have been executed without his helpful assistance. How does Kahlot look at himself in the mirror and not see that he is just as cowardly as those he now accuses? On the one hand, he cries that Hamas “sacrificed us and that they left them out in the open while they have gone into hiding,” but for all of his lamenting, he fails to ever take personal responsibility for his willingness to be recruited into their military ranks, as well as allowing his medical facility to become their safe haven.

Each one of us has the ability to turn down evil, and though such a refusal could likely result in being injured, it is, nonetheless, a choice no one can take from us. In this case, Kahlot survived, but it was at the expense of 1,200 others who didn’t.

“While the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry is publishing the massive numbers of their dead citizens, which they claim now total more than 19,600 who have been killed, (but which no one can substantiate with certainty) Israeli soldiers, going house to house, are discovering caches of weapons, intelligence materials and pictures of children in Hamas uniforms, posing with weapons.”

What can you say? These are the tragic outcomes of joining forces with the devil. When confronted with the possibility of turning on your fellow man, assisting murder and abandoning decency and morality, there will be devastating consequences. Because once the forces of light enter the darkest hell, it will then suddenly become clear that locking arms with evil was not worth it. 

Now, the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Red Cross are being recruited by the Hamas-run Health Ministry to immediately release Kahlot from his detainment. We can only hope Kahlot gets to experience the full weight of his transgressions in what he willingly and knowingly did.

This is the all-too-familiar story of a weak and spineless man who got caught and is now willing to denounce the monsters with whom he joined forces. I say, “Lock him up and throw away the key.”