Israeli Hostages’ Release and Their Relationship with Hamas: Public Controversy

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TEL AVIV — Israel was furious with the closeness shown by Israeli prisoners to Hamas when they were released from Gaza. In a video widely circulated on social media, the Israeli hostages left Gaza in good health and condition.

The captives waved to Gaza fighters as a sign of farewell. In fact, one prisoner wrote a letter thanking Hamas for taking such good care of his daughter while she was being held hostage.

The hostages were released as part of a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel amid a temporary humanitarian pause. Since the hostages were released from Gaza, Israeli authorities have kept them away from the media.

Israeli authorities only allow freed hostages to meet with relatives and friends. However, Israeli television broadcast a video recording of one of the families of the Israeli hostages saying that their relatives were treated well while they were held hostage.

This statement made Israeli analysts furious. Political analyst Yaniv Peleg said in an article for the right-wing newspaper Israel Hayom that broadcasting videos glorifying Hamas on television would be detrimental to Israel. He accused the footage of Hamas and the hostages getting intimate when they were released as just humanitarian propaganda.

“Hamas professionally produced the footage, shot using two or three cameras, incl drone with the right lighting and setting. “Every detail was captured to illustrate the humanity of the perpetrators of Hamas (crimes), to the world,” Peleg reportedly said Anadolu AgencyWednesday (29/11/2023).

Another Israeli political analyst, Maya Lecker, wrote on Sunday (26/11/2023) in the newspaper Haaretz. In his writing, he said that establishing friendship and praising Hamas is a very low bar for humanity.

“We must admit that praising Hamas gunmen for high-fiving their captives on camera, after killing their family members, in some cases before their eyes, is a very low bar for humanity,” he said.

Lots influencer pro-Palestinians and social media users, many of them from outside Israel and Palestine, found the hostages’ closeness to Hamas fighters particularly touching. This is actually a reflection of the humanity and morality of Hamas fighters.

Military correspondent for Channel 13 Israel, Alon Ben David, on Monday (27/11/2023) said he had spoken to several Israeli prisoners who were freed from Gaza. Everyone said that Hamas fighters had rallied members of every kibbutz, giving them a sense of comfort.

“They were not subjected to any violence or humiliation, and Hamas members tried to give them as much food, painkillers and routine medicines as possible. They sat and talked to each other, he added, carried out their usual activities, and used YouTube . This gives them encouragement to survive,” said Ben David.

This testimony is in line with the public statements of Yocheved Lifshitz (85 years old) who was released at the end of October. Lifshitz told reporters that Hamas fighters were taking good care of him and the other captives. Hamas fighters make sure to provide all the hostages’ needs, including medication, food, and hygiene.

“He (Lifshitz) told the truth exactly as (the prisoners) said it. I sat with them and heard the same story from them,” said Ben David.

Over the past five days, Israel took in 60 hostages, including women and children. In return, Israel released 180 Palestinians, including women and children, from Israeli prisons.

Israel launched a major military campaign in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7. These attacks have killed more than 15,000 people, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women. Meanwhile, according to official figures, the death toll in Israel reached 1,200 people.

2023-11-29 23:56:47
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