Among the many striking images of the three Israelites the hostages were released on Sundaya video of dozens of armed Hamas fighters in full war gear at the handover site in Gaza City stands out.
The men, who surrounded the women as they were handed over to the Red Cross, wore almost new combat uniforms and the same black balaclavas, with green scarves with the Hamas logo tied around their heads.
They also arrived in a convoy of several white vehicles that looked clean and barely damaged, standing out from the mass destruction of the buildings around them.
Although it was impossible to count the exact number, it appeared that dozens of armed men surrounded the convoy, and many more were scattered among the chaotic crowd that had come to watch.
It was the first major public appearance in months for the militant group responsible for the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel that killed around 1,200 people.
The attack launched 15 months of war and a devastating Israeli bombing campaign that killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children.
Hamas choreography
The choreography at the handover site appears to have been well thought out and designed to send messages to Hamas’ opponents as well as the Palestinians, say those who have studied Israel’s closest adversary.
“They are trying to show control,” said Irwin Mansdorf of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
“It’s their great achievement that even after all their losses and casualties, they still maintain control of Gaza. That’s no small thing,” he told CBC News in Jerusalem.
Despite the fact that the names of Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Dorona Steinbrecher were handed over to Israel late, which led to a delay in the implementation of the ceasefire, the group appeared to be well prepared for their handover.
Each of the women – who were held against their will for 470 days – received what Israeli media called a “gift bag” with the logo of Hamas’s militant wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Inside were allegedly photographs of women in captivity, a small map of Gaza and a pendant. A Hamas cameraman filmed them holding the bags before they sped off and later posted them on social media.
While Hamas, during its only other hostage release in November 2023, took pains to portray the Israelis as guests rather than prisoners, this event was considerably more elaborate.
“It’s obviously not intended for Israeli consumption,” Mansdorf said, suggesting that Hamas is trying to show Palestinians and others sympathetic to the group that the militants are compassionate actors, behaving in a legitimate manner.
Hamas also gave the women printed certificates of discharge, as if confirming their detention in Gaza.
Mansdorf says when faced with the near-collapse of basic services for hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza, the fact that Hamas managed to organize the event at all is remarkable.
“Where did they get the printing press for printing?” [the certificates] up? Where did they go to the store for [stationery] to put those certificates, where can they find cleaners to clean their laundry?”
Power unclear
The exact strength of the militant group is uncertain.
A year ago, Israeli officials he said approximately 18,000 Hamas militants were killed in its attacks, out of a possible 25,000 that it had at the beginning of the war. The death toll is now estimated to be closer to 20,000, but Hamas says Israel has greatly exaggerated the numbers.
Haaretz, a left-wing Israeli publication that is often highly critical of the government, accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza, and then the claim that the victims belonged to Hamas.
Recently, American officials from the former Biden administration they also indicated they believe that while Hamas has lost thousands of fighters, the group has also managed to replace those losses with new recruits, fueled by resentment over Israel’s occupation of the territory.
Officials in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government acknowledge that the militant group remains a powerful military force.
“We have not eliminated Hamas, but we have definitely turned Hamas from a full-fledged army with many capabilities into a guerrilla army,” said Sharren Haskel, a Canadian-born member of the Israeli Knesset who currently serves as the country’s deputy foreign minister. .
She said the demonstrations surrounding the hostage exchange were a propaganda effort by Hamas and that, because of the ceasefire, members of the group apparently now feel confident they can “dare to come out of their underground holes”.
Whether the cessation of fighting represents a temporary truce or a more permanent ceasefire, Hamas appears to be moving quickly to reassert its presence in Gaza and thwart any efforts by other groups to seize power.
In addition to the hostage exchange, police officers in Hamas uniforms were also seen again on the streets of Gaza, albeit in small numbers.
They are trying to show power, Haskel said.
Post-war plan
Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that his goal is to drive Hamas out of Gaza, but has also refused to say who should govern the territory.
Hamas’ rival, the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by the Fatah party, controls the occupied West Bank and is based in Ramallah.
The PA has said it is ready and willing to take full responsibility for Gaza, but both Netanyahu and Hamas have rejected that option.
Namely, the just signed ceasefire between Hamas and Israel does not contain an official role for the PA.
The two rivals who met at the end of 2024 are trying to find a common way forward, but the process seems to be at a standstill now.
Along with its military wing, Hamas also controls Gaza’s civilian government, whose officials run key services from the health department to garbage collection to the police.
And while many in Gaza hold Hamas responsible for the destruction Israel has inflicted on the territory, public criticism of the regime is rare.
Nevertheless, Hamas’s renewed public appearance on the first day of the ceasefire was widely discussed in the territory.
“We didn’t expect this,” said Gaza resident Alaa Awda in Khan Younis. “[They had] new vehicles and new clothes, as if they were in hotels and not in tunnels.”
“It is something shocking for our people – not only for Israelis – and for Palestinians.”
Mohamed Abdou, who also lives in Khan Younis, said after Hamas militants had virtually disappeared from the streets of Gaza for months, everyone was surprised to see them suddenly back.
“We never thought that Hamas would come back with this image and this strength,” he said. “After what we’ve seen [Sunday]we realized that Hamas is still here and still strong.”
And maybe not only in Gaza.
After the release of 90 Palestinian detainees by Israel early Monday morning, there was a huge celebration in the communities in the occupied West Bank where the buses brought them.
Conspicuous among the cheering fans were people waving the Hamas flag and expressing support for the militants – events that will no doubt alarm the PA, which is concerned about growing support for Hamas in the West Bank.
Mansdorf says Hamas is using the moment to try to portray the ceasefire as a victory, despite the huge cost in Palestinian lives and the massive destruction in the territory.
“Is that a win? They act like it is.”
