For the second time in a week, Hamas has used the handing over of hostages to the Red Cross to project an image that it is still a powerful force in charge of the Gaza Strip, despite 15 months of a war that has killed thousands of its fighters and civilians and reduced cities to rubble.
The handover of four hostages on Saturday was even more elaborate than the one last Sunday, when three other female hostages were released.
On Saturday, Hamas set up a stage in Palestine Square in the center of Gaza City — an area devastated by Israel’s bombing campaign and ground incursion. The stage held a banner bearing a message in Hebrew: “Zionism will not win.” Hundreds of masked, uniformed fighters and civilians gathered nearby.
On the stage, Hamas held a signing ceremony between one of its members and a representative of the Red Cross, which later received the four hostages.
The hostages, all soldiers who were lookouts at a base on the Gaza border and abducted from there on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led attack on Israel, arrived to the square in a convoy of midsize sport utility vehicles. They were led onto the stage, clothed in military-style fatigues, which seemed intended to make a point that these hostages were soldiers, not civilians.
Militants holding expensive cameras followed the hostages, likely to make a video that will be published on social media.
Onstage, the hostages smiled and waved at the cheering and whistling onlookers as gun-toting Hamas militants stood beside them.
Israeli officials have said that Hamas has forced hostages to smile and wave as a part of a propaganda effort aimed at conveying the message that the group was treating its captives well. Former hostages, however, have reported being abused, including one who spoke publicly about being sexually assaulted and tortured.
Since the cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel came into effect last Sunday, Hamas has worked hard to show that it remains the dominant Palestinian party in Gaza, with militants parading through city centers and police officers deploying at intersections.
It is not clear how many fighters, police officers, bureaucrats and political leaders survived the war, but by showcasing the handovers in such a public way, Hamas made clear that it is still standing in parts of Gaza that were subjected to some of the most destructive bombing attacks of the war.
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