Hamas seeks to 'rehumanise itself' with hostage release propaganda videos
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00:00 In this video provided by Hamas, we see a mother and her daughter smiling as they are
00:05 transferred to the Red Cross, while their captors adopt a benevolent attitude.
00:11 They even say goodbye in English.
00:14 "Goodbye, welcome."
00:18 Clear instructions are also given to the hostages to wave goodbye.
00:22 Since the first hostages were released, Hamas has continued to share propaganda videos of
00:28 the releases.
00:30 They appear deliberately staged and each time the Hamas fighters adopt an almost protective
00:35 attitude.
00:36 Here, one of them assists a grandmother down from a high step to prevent her from being
00:41 hurt.
00:42 In this case, another fighter appears to reassure a child before carrying them and helping them
00:48 into the car of the Red Cross.
00:50 According to experts, this strategy is to provide a more humane face to Hamas.
00:56 "Hamas needs to try and re-humanize itself in some way if it wants to rebuild the Gaza
01:03 Strip and resist the Israeli army's attacks.
01:06 We're really in a propaganda campaign that's mainly for internal use, but also with support
01:11 of the traditional donors of Hamas, notably Qatar, and diplomatic support of the Kremlin."
01:18 These images are intended for the world, but also for the Palestinian population.
01:23 Here we see them celebrating the triumphant return of a Palestinian prisoner surrounded
01:28 by the Palestinian and Hamas' green flags.
01:31 The images seem intentional to portray a victorious group after the attack of October 7, a group
01:37 that has the support of the Palestinian people.