Are the Israeli civilian hostages Hamas holding a boon or a bane for the movement? Even though a number of countries worked to postpone the Israeli ground attack out of concern for the security and release of foreign prisoners, this did not stop Israeli aircraft from bombing the Gaza Strip mercilessly, with no distinction made between Israeli prisoners, Palestinians, or foreigners. Additionally, one of the Israeli government’s weak spots and sources of division is the pressure exerted by the families of civilian hostages. The intermittent release of hostages is a bargaining chip to exchange civilian prisoners for even small amounts of humanitarian aid.
The killing and capture of civilians has severely damaged the reputation and image of the Palestinian resistance, which has been described as brutal and has been tainted with the charge of terrorism, which Israel and others have persisted in levelling against it for years. Hamas selectively releases hostages to prove its good faith and refute allegations of barbarism. Contrary to what the Israeli media promotes, the elderly Israeli prisoner who had been freed gave a speech to the media that left positive impressions about the resistance. What if every single civilian prisoner, both Israeli and foreign, came out and praised Hamas and the resistance movement? How might this alter the power dynamics and nature of the conflict?
The leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal, has stated on multiple occasions that his movement would prefer not to hold civilian prisoners and would be prepared to free them all if it were not for Israel’s ongoing bombing. According to Mashal’s speech, the civilian prisoners are a burden that the resistance would like to eliminate.
This begs a question, though: what if Hamas had never taken civilians, both Israeli and foreign, in the first place? What if the professional and well-planned resistance attack on 7 October concentrated its efforts on the military bases and Mossad stations surrounding Gaza, where the resistance was able to obtain priceless intelligence treasures, and avoided causing harm to civilians as much as possible? The resistance’s success in breaching the border security wall, entering Israel in large numbers, and attacking military bases, intelligence headquarters, and police stations without being monitored by intelligence services and high-tech sensor centers is a grave insult to Israel’s army and intelligence.
The Al-Aqsa Flood exposed the incompetence and decline in effectiveness of the Israeli intelligence, defense, and security services. This is sufficient to trigger a political uprising in Israel, placing the government, security, and defense institutions in the crosshairs of the populace and the opposition.
What if, in order to create a rift between the civilian population and the Israeli military and prevent their unification, the resistance was satisfied with any dead or captured Israeli soldiers it could find and avoided killing and capturing civilians as much as possible? Focusing on military objectives and avoiding attacks on cities and population centers would have altered and amplified the Al-Aqsa Flood’s political impact in favor of the resistance and Palestine.
What if, when Hamas fighters breached the separation wall and entered Israel and encountered civilians in homes, parties, and commercial centers, they released them all after distributing pamphlets outlining the Palestinian people’s ongoing suffering and their aspirations to end the occupation and siege, live in peace and dignity in their own state, and educate them about our religion and values that forbid us from attacking civilians, rather than murdering some and kidnapping others? In this scenario, the invasion’s military and psychological impact would have been realized, while its moral and political impact would have grown. If such were the case, then every Israeli whose life was spared and set free by the resistance would come back to tell their tale, and the Palestinian people would have seven hundred ambassadors to share their message with the world and the core of Israeli society, rather than prisoners and dead civilians becoming a cost borne by the resistance and civilians and utilized by Israel as an excuse for the killing and expulsion of Gaza’s population. Naturally, taking this action would not have resulted in the immediate liberation of Palestine or the creation of the Palestinian state, but it is a positive step on a long road, and it would have undoubtedly improved the situation for the Palestinians and the resistance in the ongoing conflict.
Things could have gone this way or any other similar way. Here, it is critical to stress how crucial it is for the resistance to have a media and propaganda strategy aimed at both the Israeli public and the larger world community. The Zionist movement and Israel have succeeded in stealing the homeland of another people by displacing and forcibly expelling the land’s original inhabitants, while the rest of the world watches and expresses admiration and appreciation for Israel’s achievement. Israel’s success in this was largely due to its potent propaganda apparatus, which entirely fabricated the facts, rather than just its well-trained army.
The message of Palestinian resistance must be communicated repeatedly before it begins to produce the desired results. Making an impression on public opinion in Israel and around the world requires acting quickly, creatively, and persistently. Propaganda and the media must be used to infiltrate Israeli society, and Israelis must hear the resistance’s message of coexistence and peace in order for them to stop viewing the resistance as a solely military movement with the goal of retaliation and murder. The current wave of right-wing extremism in Israel prevents Israelis from listening to opposing viewpoints, and it is crucial to break down this formidable barrier. Media and propaganda are the bridges across which armed conflict must pass in order to give the gun meaning, significance, and purpose. Combating the enemy alone is insufficient. It is imperative that the people we oppose comprehend the motivation behind our actions.
