Hamas steps up psychological terror campaign with new propaganda video

The video blames Israel for hostage deaths and claims they are being killed by airstrikes.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hamas is continuing its campaign of psychological terror against Israelis with the release of a new video blaming the Israeli government for hostage deaths.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military arm, released video clips of statements about the importance of releasing the hostages made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister without portfolio Benny Gantz, and IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari.

This introduction is followed by a message to hostage families.

“Yes, Netanyahu, his military, and the War Cabinet are killing all of your citizens who are held captive.”

The video shows images of hostages Hamas claims were killed in airstrikes.

“Ask Netanyahu and his government for their identities and names. They will tell you, because they know them well. This is how they bring them back,” the video ends.

In addition to releasing propaganda videos featuring hostages, some categorized Hamas’s conduct during hostage negotiations as another form of psychological terrorism.

After some Hamas leaders were apparently ready to agree to various versions of hostage release deals, consistently, the terror group doubled down. It refused to release a single hostage without Israel’s commitment to an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

In early May, Hamas chief-in-exile Ismail Haniyeh informed mediators from Qatar and Egypt that Hamas had agreed on a ceasefire proposal.

Crowds gathered in Gaza to celebrate Hamas’ declared support for the ceasefire agreement, with revelers chanting “Allahu Akbar” and shooting in the air.

However, at the time, several Israeli officials warned that Hamas added a number of additional clauses into the prior draft of the deal, fundamentally changing the proposal agreed upon by the Israeli and Egyptian delegates.

“This is not the same proposal,” one official told Channel 12, noting that “All kinds of clauses” have been inserted into the ceasefire deal.

Several days later, it was confirmed that Hamas rejected the deal without a full ceasefire and blamed Israel for causing an impasse in hostage negotiations.

According to some reports, Qatar-based Hamas leader Haniyeh was amenable to certain versions of a hostage agreement, but October 7th mastermind Yahya Sinwar, who is thought to be hiding in Gaza tunnels, has rejected each proposal without Israel completely halting all military operations.