For the second time over the course of the planned four-day truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the terrorist group, responsible for the abduction of an estimated 240 hostages into the Gaza Strip on October 7, released a small group of women and children into the custody of the Red Cross, in return for Israel's release of three times as many Palestinian prisoners arrested for security offenses.
The group disseminated a video of masked gunmen leading the hostages, six women and seven children ranging in age from 8-13, to the Red Cross vehicle that would take them out of the Strip. The video quickly circulated online, with some of those sympathetic to the terrorist group presenting it as a vindication of their behavior, on the basis that the kidnapped Israelis appeared grateful or warm toward their captors. Others presented it as further evidence of Hamas's cruelty.
Some expressed their opposition to sharing the video at all. Hen Mazzig, the pro-Israel activist, called it "gross" to share the clip.
In the video (which can be found here), the Israelis are seen smiling and waving to their captors as they are put in the white van that will return them home. "Goodbye Noam," one Hamas member says. The captive he is speaking to, 17-year-old Noam Or, was released with his sister Alma, 13. Hamas murdered their mother Yonat on October 7, and took their father Dror into Gaza, where the group continues to hold him captive.
It is not clear whether, or how, the hostages were coerced in the making of the video, but at one point a Hamas member audibly instructs two hostages, Sharon Avigdori, 52, and her daughter Noam, 12, to "keep waving," as they smile at the camera before the van departs for Egypt. At least seven relatives of the Avigdoris were also kidnapped to Gaza, where they remain in Hamas captivity.
Part of a larger propaganda campaign by Hamas
Hamas is known to consider public perception as a central component of its strategy. The terrorist group, which refuses to allow the Red Cross to visit any of the hostages not yet released, is at war with Israel, after thousands of the organization's members and others invaded the country's south on October 7, killing 1,200 people, of whom about 900 were civilians. Since the attack, forensic investigators have confirmed evidence of rape, decapitation, and burning of Israelis, including children and babies, by members of the brutal jihadist group.
Hamas had been running the de facto government of the Gaza Strip from 2006 until Israel's invasion following the October 7 attack.
As part of a deal between Israel and Hamas brokered by the Qatari government last week, Israel has released about 40 of 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women or teenage males, who are held in Israel for security offenses, such as stabbings, shootings, or the transfer of explosives. In return, Israel has agreed to a temporary truce in Gaza, and will receive 50 hostages, all women and children, over the course of four days.
Israel has said that its forces will remain in Gaza and continue to fight Hamas until all of its hostages are returned.