Beyond Israel’s Tears and Outrage Over the Release of Its Prisoners

Watan-Since the launch of the fifth batch of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal in Gaza, a widespread outcry has emerged in Israel, lamenting the deteriorating health condition of the three released Israeli hostages. Accusations against Hamas of starving and mistreating them have intensified, with extreme descriptions reaching the level of calling the situation a “Holocaust” or a new “Jewish catastrophe.”

This ongoing official and unofficial Israeli campaign, reflected in the headlines of Hebrew newspapers on Sunday, originates from two main sources: the families of the Israeli hostages and prisoners, and factions advocating for the immediate completion of the deal. These groups are exerting pressure on Netanyahu and his government, highlighting the frail and emaciated appearance of the released hostages to emphasize the urgency of retrieving the remaining captives.

The uproar and tearful reactions in Israel are growing amid increasing suspicions that Netanyahu is not genuinely interested in progressing to the second phase of negotiations. This phase involves political dimensions, including discussions on ending the war and rebuilding Gaza—issues that threaten Netanyahu’s political standing and the stability of his government. Notably, Ben Gvir is hesitating to rejoin the coalition, waiting for “actions, not words” from Trump and Netanyahu, while Smotrich has reiterated his threats to dismantle the government if Israel does not resume its war on Gaza.

The opposition camp, families of the detainees, and a broad segment of Israeli society—most of whom strongly support completing the deal—have intensified their pressure since yesterday, calling for an immediate transition to the second phase amid fears that the Israeli government and its leadership are not genuinely committed.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday, citing sources within the negotiation team, that Netanyahu is reluctant to proceed to the second phase, fearing it could lead to the collapse of his ruling coalition.

Since Saturday, the Hebrew media has mobilized to pressure the Israeli government into advancing the second phase and retrieving the hostages after nearly 500 days of captivity under harsh conditions. This is reflected in the headline of Yedioth Ahronoth, which reads “Survivors from Hell” above images of the three frail hostages, and Haaretz, which published their photos with the caption: “Emaciated, their faces hollow, pale, and lifeless.”

Meanwhile, Maariv published an image of the release scene in Deir al-Balah, showing the freed captives in front of a large banner reading, “We are the flood, we are the next day,” with the headline: “Release and Concern.”

The Second Source of the Israeli Campaign

In addition to the natural emotional response from Israelis witnessing the return of fellow citizens from captivity in Gaza, there is another driving force behind this wave of outrage—Netanyahu and the far-right Zionist camp. They have seized upon the frail and shocked appearance of the three released hostages to further demonize not only Hamas but Palestinians and Gazans as a whole, distorting reality and omitting crucial context.

The far-right, still eager for revenge, expansion, and settlement, has been provoked by Hamas’ resilience and continued presence on the battlefield. They are using the released hostages’ frailty to justify calls for resuming the war on Gaza instead of advancing to the next phase of the prisoner exchange.

Netanyahu himself joined this campaign from Washington via a video statement, claiming that Israel had once again protested to mediators and insisting that he and the U.S. president were in agreement that Hamas must not remain in power and that all hostages must be retrieved.

This orchestrated campaign—driven by both official and unofficial sources—has escalated to the point of branding Hamas as a “Nazi movement.” In an op-ed for Yedioth Ahronoth, political commentator Ben-Dror Yemini not only drew parallels to the Holocaust and the suffering of Jewish survivors but also implicitly extended his accusations to the Palestinian people as a whole, referencing the 1929 Buraq uprising.

Hamas, for its part, has consistently maintained that it treated the prisoners in accordance with ethical and religious principles. It has repeatedly conveyed messages to both Palestinians and Israelis, as well as to Trump and the international community, projecting an image of discipline, strength, and calculated strategy. In November 2023, released Israeli hostage Yehudit Lifshitz confirmed that her fellow detainees were treated respectfully, given the same food as Hamas fighters, and provided shelter similar to their captors in Gaza.

It is highly likely that the frailty of the three released hostages is a direct consequence of the widespread starvation affecting all of Gaza’s population since the war began. The sight of armed, masked Hamas fighters standing next to the visibly weakened Israeli captives on stage has been exploited by Israeli media to further demonize all Palestinians—just as it did in its exaggerated portrayal of the October 7 events.

While there are countless justifications for the hostages’ physical condition, the optics of the staged release event present a more difficult challenge. In the ongoing battle over narrative and public perception, every image carries weight, and the struggle to control the narrative remains fierce on both sides.

Gaza’s Destruction and the Displacement Agenda

The three freed Israelis have indeed lost significant weight and appear in poor health, but the Israeli outcry over their condition is rife with hypocrisy. How can Israel lament the frailty of three individuals when it has systematically starved hundreds of thousands in Gaza, leading to the deaths of dozens from hunger and cold? Calls to suffocate Gaza have been relentless, with no distinction between civilians and fighters—because, as former Israeli National Security Advisor Giora Eiland reiterated in a Hebrew radio interview on Sunday, “they are all terrorists.”

Without a shred of remorse, dozens of Israeli officials and commentators have accused Hamas and the Palestinians of brutality, as if their own hands are not stained with blood. They speak with shameless hypocrisy, ignoring the massacre of tens of thousands of civilians, including women and children, the displacement of millions, and the destruction of 80% of Gaza’s homes—all in retaliation for “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.”

Figures like Ben-Dror Yemini act as if the released Palestinian prisoners were obese and well-fed, conveniently ignoring the well-documented torture, deprivation, and abuse they endured—something confirmed by Khalida Jarrar following her recent release.

While Israeli officials weep over the emaciation of three hostages, they conveniently forget that Israel itself is on trial at the International Criminal Court and that its National Security Minister, Yisrael Katz, openly admitted to ordering the army to prepare an ethnic cleansing plan. They lament while ignoring the fact that 73% of Israelis support the mass displacement of Gaza’s population, as shown in multiple polls.

This selective outrage also seeks to divert attention from reports by Israeli and international human rights organizations detailing the torture and killing of Palestinian prisoners. Haaretz has published multiple reports on the execution of dozens of detainees from Gaza inside the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev, as well as the targeted attacks on medical teams since the start of the war—findings corroborated by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

It is understandable that the families of the hostages would highlight—perhaps even exaggerate—the suffering of their loved ones to pressure the Israeli government into securing their release. However, no amount of propaganda can conceal the truth. The attempt to paint Palestinians as the sole aggressors while portraying Israel as pure and innocent is absurd.

The history of this century-long conflict is filled with Zionist crimes—from Deir Yassin to Safsaf, from Kafr Qasim to Jabalia. Even former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy recently acknowledged this, arguing that Israel should release Marwan Barghouti to lead future peace negotiations, remarking: “There are prisoners in Israel convicted of terrorism who later became prime ministers—like Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin.”

In the battle over historical truth, the accounts of Israeli “new historians” and reports from human rights organizations—including Amnesty International, B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, and Physicians for Human Rights—stand as powerful counterweights to the narrative of Israeli victimhood. These groups have consistently documented the killings, abuse, and violations of international law, exposing the deep contradictions in Israel’s self-portrayal as both victim and oppressor.