We all saw that stage decorated with graphic propaganda posters where coffins were displayed with October 7 listed as the “date of arrest”, while a crowd of onlookers, including families with young children, gathered to celebrate. Hamas violated the dignity and fundamental rights of all the hostages, and its decision to display caskets of deceased hostages is a calculated and provocative move that is rooted in its conflict with Israel. This terrorist group has a history of using high visibility actions to achieve multiple strategic objectives including propaganda, negotiation leverage, and internal political goals.
When it comes to shaping narratives in order to portray Israel as the aggressor, Hamas is using media and public displays while positioning itself as a huge defender of the “Palestinian cause”. Displaying the caskets aims at 1)highlighting the human cost because the visual of caskets emphasizes the loss of life; it the same tactic as the one Hamas used when releasing videos of deceased hostages a year ago to accuse Israel of their death due to bombings – and 2) a way to influence global opinion by shifting the blame on Israel that would be responsible for the hostages’ deaths.
Hostage situations, including the handling of deceased hostages, are tied to ceasefire agreements and exchanges, especially in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. When publicly displaying the caskets, Hamas is willing to pressure Israel and gain leverage for concessions such as speeding up the release of Palestinian prisoners, like in the Gilad Shalit deal when hostages were leveraged as bargaining chips. In addition, making the return of the deceased hostages a public spectacle empowers Hamas over the process and mirrors this terrorist group as the party dictating the terms of any release.
As far as Internal Palestinian politics, the display of caskets could help Hamas rally support among its members and allied groups, especially now that internal divisions and leadership challenges are coming out in broad daylight. This type of propaganda reinforces Hamas’ image as a steadfast opponent of Israel and pushes forward its legitimacy and relevance as a “resistance movement“. In addition to aiming at unifying factions and mobilizing public sentiment, displaying caskets of deceased hostages helps Hamas maintain grassroots support.
Of course, we all know that Hamas has a history of seeking global attention to keep the conflict in the spotlight, particularly when its narrative risks fading. This was one of the nexus factors that prompted October 7. So the display of of caskets is designated to generate media headlines, attract widespread media coverage, forcing the hostage crisis back into international focus while maintaining pressure on Israel and its allies at the same time. The huge graphic propaganda posters is a means to control the visual message around the hostages’ deaths and challenge Israel narrative.
Surprisingly, the International community failed to condemn this theatre of death immediately though this public spectacle of Jewish agony could alienate mediators like Qatar or Egypt, who facilitate ceasefire talks, potentially complicating future negotiations. Israel, on the other hand, has responded with stronger diplomatic measures, viewing the display not only as a provocation but also as a violation of International law because any handover of the remains of the deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.
This grotesque ceremony was not about returning remains to grieving families. It was a calculated, sadistic performance deliberately designed to inflict maximum pain and suffering on those who had spent over 500 days praying for the safe return of their loved ones. It was barbarism incarnate, a pageant of death, an orgy of evil, orchestrated by men who claim to represent G-d but whose actions reveal them as the ultimate desecrators of His name. In fact, Hamas made sure that every Israeli, every Jew, and every person with even a shred of humanity felt a knife twist in the open wound of their anguish. The intention was clear: to deepen the grief, to prolong the suffering, and to display their utter contempt for human life.
In Jewish tradition, ethical treatment of fellow human beings is not secondary to divine worship — it is its very manifestation. How we treat others is a direct reflection of our relationship with G-d. Even the remains of one’s enemies must be treated with dignity. The Torah commands that those executed for capital crimes must be buried immediately and respectfully — “For he that is hanged is a curse unto God.” If the Torah demands respect even for the worst criminals, how much more so for innocent civilians, for women, for children?
But Hamas, and by extension radical Islam, operates on an entirely different value system. To them, human life is expendable — both the lives of their enemies and their own. They strap suicide vests to teenagers, use hospitals as shields, and celebrate mass murder as divine service. Their god is not the Merciful One; it is a bloodthirsty idol that revels in human misery. And yet, they dare present themselves as a religious movement.
How can an organization that parades corpses and blasts triumphant music over coffins claim to be a messenger of God? How can a “resistance movement” hold hostages for political leverage, torture them, defile their bodies and then pretend it speaks in the language of faith? This is not religion but an abomination in the eyes of any true believer because in the face of this evil, there can be no moral equivocating when one side parades the corpses of murdered babies as trophies.
The return of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, of Oded Lifshitz should have been an occasion for solemnity and mourning; instead, Hamas turned it into a final act of cruelty inflicted upon those they had already murdered. This is radical Islam. This is the true face of Hamas, and the many in Gaza who love them and support their vile ideology.
By the way, those who stand by, those who refuse to call out this evil, those who continue to treat Hamas as anything other than the monstrous death cult that it is, those who keep marching in Western capitals to support that death cult — they are fully complicit and should be held accountable for their support of these war crimes and crimes against humanity.
