Hamas murders 6 more hostages – including an American. Biden must do more to save them.

The 2023 film " Irena's Vow " tells the true story of Polish nurse Irena Gut Opdyke , who became the housekeeper for a German army major in World War II. She manages to hide 12 Jews in the Nazi officer's villa to save them from extermination in the death camps.

An innkeeper she meets encourages Irena to keep a low profile to survive. When he realizes she's hiding Jews, he feigns ignorance : "I don't want to know anything."

No one in America or anywhere else in 2024 can say they do not know about the rampant antisemitism percolating in elite American universities, around the globe and at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

But have times really changed? Have we learned anything from history about how antisemitism infects and spreads?

Israeli army recovers bodies of 6 hostages

On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of six hostages , including Hersh Goldberg-Polin , 23, an Israeli American, from a tunnel in Gaza, where they had been held captive by Hamas.

Hamas insinuated Monday that the captives were executed because Israeli forces were about to rescue them. The terrorist group also threatened to murder dozens of remaining hostages if Israel attempts to free them.

Hamas has released propaganda footage of the murdered hostages, including Eden Yerushalmi, 24. In the video, she said she missed her family, did not think she would make it out of Gaza alive and blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning her and other hostages.

Hamas also killed hostages Ori Danino, 25; Alex Lobanov, 32; Carmel Gat, 40; and Almog Sarusi, 27.

Fate of hostages changes each second: US and world leaders must help bring them home

The captives were among more than 200 hostages taken Oct. 7, when Hamas invaded Israel and murdered 1,189 innocent people , most of whom were civilians. Hamas continues to hold at least 101 hostages, including seven Americans .

The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began last fall.

Biden blames Netanyahu, but is US doing enough?

The murder of hostages has exacerbated a fraught political environment in Israel. As many as 500,000 people took to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to protest the hostages' deaths and the way Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has handled negotiations for a cease-fire and the release of hostages.

Even President Joe Biden agreed on Monday that Netanyahu has not done enough to aid the hostages' release.

Yet, it's not clear how Biden could pin any part of these murders on Netanyahu. After all, an American hostage was killed and more Americans remain in captivity. Is Biden also not doing enough to secure the hostages' release?

From the parents of a US hostage: For five months, we thought our son was alive. Release Hamas hostages and spare others our pain.

The fact is that Netanyahu and the Israeli government have tried to secure a cease-fire resolution, even though it was Israel that was forced to defend itself after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

In August, Israel agreed to the Biden-Harris administration’s cease-fire deal, but Hamas rejected it . And U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in June that Hamas had refused to accept an earlier U.S.-backed agreement to end the war.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department charged six leaders of Hamas with the Oct. 7 attack on Israel for charges that include conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, conspiracy to support a terrorist organization and conspiracy to use bombs and weapons of mass destruction.

Harris, Trump must vow to protect Jewish Americans

As the war in Gaza rages on, Jews in the United States and around the world continue to face blatant antisemitism. Whether on elite university campuses or on the streets of New York , antisemitism in any form must be rejected.

Both presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump must make clear that no matter the election outcome in November, the new administration will do everything in its power to protect Jewish people in America and elsewhere.

Opinion newsletter: Sign up for our newsletter on conservative values, family and religion from columnist Nicole Russell. Get it delievered to your inbox .

On Monday, the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin gathered for his funeral in Jerusalem. Only 23, he was kidnapped and held captive for nearly 11 months in Gaza, for no other reason than the fact that he was a Jewish man attending a music festival in Israel on the day that his murderers invaded.

We can never say we don't want to know what Hamas is doing to Jews. We cannot feign ignorance for the sake of peace.

" May his memory be a revolution ," Jon Polin said at his son's funeral.

A revolution is necessary. May it come now.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track , and get it delivered to your inbox .

You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page , on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hamas murders 6 more hostages – including an American. Biden must do more to save them.