The heroic Israeli operation that led to the release of four hostages stirred much discourse online. While some Hamas supporters attempted to reduce the significance of the operation, accused Israel of using humanitarian apparatuses to infiltrate the area, or claimed that the world is ignoring the alleged death toll of Gazans, others denounced Hamas for the act of placing the hostages in crowded civilian areas and celebrated their rescue.
Tamer Almisshal is a correspondent for Al Jazeera, the mouthpiece of the Qatari government, which grants asylum to Hamas’s leaders. The four released “prisoners” were not among the list of soldiers held by Hamas, he wrote, adding: “The operation certainly came at a critical time and will have repercussions at various levels, especially since it was accompanied by a horrific massacre in which a large number of civilians were martyred.”
Almisshal reiterated that the spokesman for Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, the so-called military wing of Hamas, had said the price for any hostage deal would remain the same.
Fayez Al-Dwairi, an analyst for Al Jazeera known for his antisemitic comments and apologetics for Hamas, claimed to have information that Israel “could allegedly have carried out the operation with less casualties on the Gazan side but nevertheless decided to carry out a massacre.”
The US, Canada, and the UK had contributed to Israel’s gathering of intelligence, he wrote, adding: “Many of the Israeli forces were killed in the operation... what happened does not negate the Israeli military failure.”The IDF said one soldier was killed.
Mahmoud Alhassanat, a Palestinian preacher residing in Turkey, wrote: “I demand that the resistance attach explosive belts to the prisoners [i.e., hostages] and blow them up if they [the Israelis] try to free them, while leaving them without food. You must realize that you are fighting Nazi Israel, not the Quraysh [a group of Arab clans that controlled Mecca], and that the blood of a child in Gaza is more valuable and important than the blood of prisoners.”
Thaer Al-Sartawi, a Jordanian blogger, wrote: “The Army of the Scum of Nations, with the help of the criminal American Army, after more than 8 months, was able to free four prisoners held by the resistance! It would take them 20 years to free the remaining 120 prisoners! War is like a debate, you criminal killers, and it is a battle from which the Mujahideen [Islamic guerrilla fighters] have certainly learned a lesson and will benefit from it later and avoid it.”
Some users tried to imply that Israel and the US had exploited humanitarian means, such as the floating dock or aid trucks, for the benefit of the operation.
“China in Arabic,” a semi-formal account spreading messages aligned with the Chinese Communist Party in Arabic, wrote: “Israeli special forces used the American pier in Gaza to storm Nuseirat and free the prisoners [hostages], and it appears that there were American special forces.”
Other users cited the alleged death toll of Gazans from the operation, denouncing that international media outlets had focused on the hostages who were returned.
A Palestinian caricaturist published a caricature with the world looking at a TV screen, showing the release of the hostages while a Palestinian mother sits behind, weeping over dead bodies.
A Saudi user named Omar Bin Abdelaziz uploaded an old video of Qassam Brigades members threatening the world and wrote: “The world does not talk about the martyrs of Nuseirat. The world only talks about the 4 prisoners. This is a world that only knows the language of force.”
A user named Tamer wrote: “Everyone is concerned with the liberation of the prisoners [hostages] and their health condition, ignoring the scale of the disaster, the massacres, the destruction, and the remains of children as a result of this attack in the Nuseirat camp. We are the ones who gave value to the life of the Israelis and detracted from the value of our lives and the lives of our peoples. May they and their captives burn.”
Anti-Hamas users laud the operation
The alleged death toll was also used by anti-Hamas users to denounce Hamas for hiding the hostages in crowded areas.
Anonymous blogger Hoda Jannat, whose tweets went viral during the war for her exposures of Hamas’s bigotry and hypocrisy, focused on the civilian setting of where the hostages were found.
“The hostages were freed from within a refugee camp,” she wrote. “This means that Hamas hides the hostages in refugee camps. The hostages were located at a family’s home, meaning Hamas is using the people of Gaza to hide them there. The hostages were in a place near a popular market, meaning Hamas uses people as human shields. History has never known anyone more despicable and malicious than the Hamas terrorist organization.”
Saudi journalist Ibrahim Al-Malik wrote: “They [Hamas] cry and the media channels lament with them over the killing of 180 Palestinians in the Nuseirat camp incident, during which 50 ISIS terrorist Hamas members were killed and 4 hostages were freed. Question: Who placed these hostages among the refugees and planted terrorist elements among them?? Wasn’t it Hamas?? Because of which, until now, thousands of innocent people have died and are dying!”
Majda Al-Haddad, a Yemeni feminist activist based in the US, uploaded a video contrasting the celebrations in Israel when the hostages were released with the celebrations in Gaza when hostages were kidnapped.
“That joy of October 7th, and this joy of returning the hostages,” she wrote. “They are all human, but the difference is between those who glorify life and those who glorify death.”
Sufian Al-Samarrai, an Iraqi writer and chairman of the online newspaper the Baghdad Post who opposes the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, uploaded a video of released hostage Noa Argamani.
“This is the Jewish girl which made them [Hamas] praise the Lord and considered [her kidnapping] a victory from Allah,” he wrote. “She returned home to her family, and they lost the negotiations and blackmail over the hostage issue. Terrorist Islamism has not won any battle despite the hundreds of billions that Qatar and Iran have pumped into them to ignite the region. You will fall and we will not.”
Some users praised Israel and its efforts to save Israeli citizens.
Karim Gahin, head of an Austrian learning academy, lauded Israel for the operation and compared it to the situation in Arab countries.
“This country is fighting a war on several fronts,” he wrote. “It mobilized all its armies, military and security services. It mobilized all its material, political, military and economic power… All this for the sake of several citizens who were kidnapped and are currently being recovered... There are those who say that we only have dignity… and then they die at the doors of their country’s embassy… They die drowning in the seas, on the roads, and in foreign countries, their utmost wish is for someone to find their body before it is eaten by stray dogs... Instead of hating Israel... Learn from them the meaning of dignity and ask the governments of your countries for the same thing.”
Loay Alshareef, a pro-peace blogger originally from Saudi Arabia, congratulated the people of Israel, adding: “Israel is showing Hamas the true hand of God and the relentless power of King David. They’re coming home! Congrats to the citizens of Israel.”