I was saddened by the scenes of the four bodies that Hamas handed over yesterday, along with pictures of the victims: the father, Yarden Bibas, the mother, Sheri, and their two children, Kfir and Ariel. In the background, there was a picture of Dracula, the bloodsucker and killer of children and women, as a reminder of the brutal criminal who did not care about the blood of the Israeli family, just as he committed murder and genocide against thousands of families in the Strip, many of whom were removed from the civil registry, in the incinerator of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

My grief over the killing of the two Israeli children and their parents was no less than my grief over the killing of Yousef, “Abu Shaar Curly,” Hind Rajab, Mohammed, George, and thousands of their peers, along with their families of mothers, fathers, grandfathers, and grandmothers, who shared American bombs with the Israeli captives in the homes targeted for genocide.

Humanity is indivisible. Your heart cannot grieve over the loss of your beloved child, nor feel the same way toward other children, even if they are the children of the occupier who is killing your children. We were raised on a tolerant belief that does not differentiate between people on the basis of color, race, or religion. The Holy Quran says: “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” The Master of Creation also urged us to have the values of compassion in wars, as he advised the armies: “Do not kill a woman, a child, an old man, or a worshipper in a monastery. And do not cut down a tree.” These are the values that explain the appearance of the Israeli detainees in full health and wellness, in contrast to the appearance of our liberated prisoners, whose faces have turned pale and their bodies have become emaciated from the extreme torture and starvation to which they were subjected.

We look forward to escalating protests by Israeli families, to block the path of the killer who is trying to evade the deal’s requirements, to return to completing the massacre, not caring about the detainees, possessed by a desire to kill more children in Gaza.

It must be remembered that it is necessary to release the bodies of hundreds of martyrs, who numbered 665 martyrs in the cemeteries of numbers, and to turn the page on the pain and waiting of the bereaved families, and to cool their sorrows by burying their sons.

Perhaps the lesson that rises from the ashes of the incense burner is that peace, ending the occupation, and granting the Palestinian people their right to freedom and independence is the shortest way to stop the bloodshed and draw beautiful dreams for our children and their children alike.