America, where is your outrage? 

It has been more than 16 months since more than 1,400 victims were murdered, raped, tortured and kidnapped by Hamas, a group officially designated as a terrorist entity by the U.S. Department of State in 1997.

Thirty-nine countries, none more so than Israel, felt the agony of their innocent citizens falling victim to Hamas’ massacre on October 7, 2023. On that day, Hamas executed one of the most brutal terror attacks globally since September 11, 2001. America did not escape unscathed; dozens of American families were forever broken that day when they experienced the heartbreak of a death notification or news that their loved one was kidnapped by terrorists. On that mournful Saturday in 2023, 45 Americans were murdered, and 12 Americans were kidnapped.

As an active-duty FBI agent stationed in Israel from 2020 to 2024, I witnessed firsthand how the tragedy of October 7th impacted American families. U.S. law designates the FBI as the lead agency for investigations into Americans killed or injured in a terrorist attack anywhere in the world and a Presidential Policy Directive designates the FBI as lead agency for investigations dealing with kidnapped Americans anywhere in the world. 

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A woman holds a poster of Israeli hostage Omer Neutra during a memorial vigil for the Israeli people killed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack, in New York City on Nov. 1, 2023. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

My responsibility, from October 2023 until my tour concluded in mid-2024, focused fully on the hostage crisis. In this effort, my American colleagues and I worked with our Israeli counterparts to gather intelligence on the missing victims, seek justice against the Hamas perpetrators and provide comfort and answers to the victim’s families. We worked tirelessly on behalf of victims of all nationalities, but our special responsibility was to American citizens. My colleagues continue to work tirelessly on this mission to this day.

Since returning stateside, I have been shocked that most Americans do not realize the extent of the suffering our own citizens endured and continue to endure at the hands of Hamas. Few in this country realize that of the 12 Americans taken hostage by Hamas, four were murdered on October 7th, but their bodies were taken hostage anyway – and those bodies have yet to be returned to their families for a proper burial. Although it was in the news cycle for a short period, few fellow citizens realize that a 23-year-old American, who was kidnapped on October 7th shortly after part of his arm was blown off by a grenade, was brutally murdered six months ago in a Gaza tunnel with five other innocent victims. 

Surrounded by other family members of Americans who were taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was recently released, and Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, speak to reporters after a meeting with then-President Joe Biden at the White House on Dec. 13, 2023. (Julia Nikhinson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The average American does not remember that two female American hostages were released in late October 2023 or that two more females (including a child) were released in a November 2023 “hostage deal.” And despite it happening this February, there is relatively little general awareness that two American men were released in the latest “hostage deal.” Americans need to understand there are dozens of innocent hostages, many of them deceased, who remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza. One of those hostages is an American, and he is believed to be alive.

It is surprising the average American does not know about the large number of U.S. victims of Hamas’ October 7th massacre, but it is less surprising the average American does not realize Hamas, who has a charter calling for the destruction of a country and a people, has a presence in the U.S. and has been here for decades. Internal Hamas documents and FBI wiretaps, introduced as evidence in various federal criminal cases, demonstrate the existence of a nationwide Hamas network engaged in fundraising, lobbying, education and propaganda dissemination dating back to the 1980s.

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This image, made from undated bodycam video footage taken by a downed Hamas terrorist and released by the Israel Defense Forces, shows a Hamas terrorist walking around a residential neighborhood at an undisclosed location in southern Israel on Oct. 7. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)

Presently, pro-Hamas student and faculty organizations on American college campuses nationwide hold protests waving Hamas flags, expressing their support for Hamas and chanting for Palestinian liberation from “The River to the Sea.” This chant is not a peaceful call for liberation, rather it advocates for the destruction of Israel and is taken directly from Hamas. These student and faculty protesters, sometimes violently, repeat the mantra of Hamas and fundamentally spit in the face of our American victims. Americans have suffered and continue to suffer at the hands of Hamas, yet we tolerate the agenda of those in our own country who support these evildoers. What happens next? Will we begin tolerating openly antisemitic public figures in the U.S. who claim to be Hitler-loving Nazis?

Freedom of speech in America gives online influencers the right to be antisemitic. It also gives pro-Hamas protesters on college campuses the right to trample on the memory of the victims of October 7th in the name of a perceived injustice. But human decency should prevail in this country. 

For human decency to prevail, America needs to overwhelmingly understand that innocent American lives were forever shattered by the horrifying acts of terror committed by Hamas on October 7th. It is one thing to peacefully protest policies with which one disagrees, but it is something entirely different to celebrate the suffering of innocent victims of terror.

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Do not forget the 45 Americans murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Do not forget American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was murdered in the tunnels of Gaza six months ago. Do not forget we have the bodies of four deceased Americans – Itay Chen, Omer Neutra, Gad Haggai and Judi Weinstein – still being held in Hamas captivity in Gaza. And of urgent importance, do not forget we have one American who is believed to be alive – Edan Alexander – still being held in horrific conditions by Hamas in Gaza. We need every single one of the innocent hostages home now, including our Americans. America, I ask you again, where is your outrage?