Would BBC have wanted Churchill to warn Germany about Normandy? It's just hypocrisy

The heart stopping photograph of Noa Argamani being embraced by her father is one few expected ever to see.

Snatched from the Nova festival during the barbaric October 7 attack, footage of the 26-year-old woman begging for her life as she was carried into Gaza by Hamas monsters on the back of a motorcycle, her abduction became a global symbol of the heinous, merciless, and unprovoked attack on Israel`s innocent civilians.

When together with three other hostages she was finally freed on Saturday after a daring raid by the Israel defence the unimaginable became reality.

Yet despite this victory against Hamas, a brutal death cult, which mercilessly massacred men, women, children, and babies on October 7 and who have vowed to repeat their monstrous actions, the focus has been on the number of innocent Palestinians killed during Saturday`s daring rescue mission.

Many left-leaning commentators have raged against the price - although the figure is not corroborated - of a sovereign nation rescuing its citizens.

And whilst the loss of even a single innocent life is terrible, it's a move which once again demonstrates the breathtaking double standards which apply to Israel. It only takes reference to the moving ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings to understand the breadth of such hypocrisy.

On June 6, 1944, thanks to the outstanding courage and bravery of our armed forces, the war took a critical turn towards liberating Nazi occupied Europe.

Yet the civilian cost of Operation Overlord is often edited from the narrative of the Normandy invasion. Namely that 20,000 residents lost their lives during the allied campaign.

But what else to do? The loss of innocent civilian life is often explained as a tragic and unwanted consequence of war.

So, from a position of moral relativism, the cost is accepted. The liberation of France yielded unimaginable suffering to those caught in the crossfire. However, as witnessed by its footnote to the D-Day narrative, is swallowed as the necessary price for achieving the greater good.

So why, only a few days after this landmark anniversary, is Israel castigated for the human cost of its daring raid to liberate four of its hostages? Even though Hamas deliberately bases itself in concentrated civilian areas such as schools and hospitals (in this case the Nuseirat refugee camp).

Unfortunately, it appears that the mathematics of war don`t occur where Israel is concerned. That`s why, rather than praise Israel for rescuing citizens EU`s top diplomat Josep Borrell rebuked the country for the number of Palestinians killed in the raid. Rather than condemn Hamas for the kidnapping and for using its own civilians as human shields?

Why not acknowledge how Israel, has broadly attempted to minimise casualties - a move which has resulted in the lowest combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio in history (Indeed, Colonel Richard Kemp, commander of British forces in Afghanistan, considers the Israeli army the most moral in the world thanks to its forensic attempt to avoid civilian deaths).

However rather than hail the victory of the terrorist rescue as a sign that evil will be vanquished, the double standards prevail. And without offering any alternative to how civilian harm could be minimised any further if Israel is to achieve its objectives

Obviously in a surprise raid to free hostages there was on this occasion no scope for warnings. Had Hamas known of the IDF`s plan, they would have doubtless killed the hostages rather than take the chance that they might be liberated. Yet former Israel defence spokesman Jonathan Conricus was still obliged to explain this obvious point when interviewed on the BBC. Would we have expected the allies to warn Germany before launching their Normandy landings? Is Israel the only country in the world which is expected to defend its people without regrettable but inevitable civilian cost?

It’s hope that as Noa returns to her family, let`s hope this shock victory compels Hamas to lay down its arms, return the rest of the hostages and so bring an end to the conflict which has brought so much misery to the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Sadly, it is unlikely. Hamas celebrates death not life, Consequently Israel will continue to fight its genocidal neighbour – and like the brave souls who landed in Normandy – keep going until the world is purged of evil.