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Under the term of the ceasefire deal, Hamas released all 20 Israeli captives it held in Gaza while Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian hostages. The Israeli captives were the last remaining life prisoners among the nearly 250 who were captured on October 7, 2023 whereas the freed Palestinians were among 12,000 held in Israel for years without charges or trial including 85 woman and 450 children. In other words, Israel continued to hold over 1,000 hostages without trial or charges.
The question is, how did the resistance in Gaza managed to keep the location of the captives secret for two years and two days without being detected by the Israeli military intelligence, spying satellites, and "unarmed" surveillance aircrafts from the US, UK, Germany, and France that flew spy missions from Cyprus over Gaza for two years in order to locate the location of the hostages as well as pinpoint Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders.
Israel's aerial bombardment of Gaza and subsequent ground offensive has killed more than 61,000 including 20,000 children and injured 40,000 more. The genocide in Gaza also left about 10,000 people buried under the rubble, 200 of the remains were retrieved two days after ceasefire deal was signed by Hamas and Israel. 85% of Gaza's homes were flattened and civilian infrastructures were totally wiped out.
Israel falsely claimed that Hamas has been destroyed as an organized fighting force, which is "wishful thinking," because Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian fighting groups fought like mongooses and inflicted heavy casualties among the Israeli Death Forces. It is the resistance that forced Crime Minister Netanyahu and "Babble mouth" Trump to stop the war and not the other way around. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.
Despite all of this, it seems that the captives taken by the Palestinian resistance have largely remain unharmed. Unlike Palestinian hostages released by Israel, Israeli soldiers released by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal all looked in good shape and health. Freed Palestinian hostages spoke about the horror in Israeli prisons, such as torture, lack of food, and sleep.
I should note here that at least 75 Palestinian hostages, including a 17-year-old, have died in Israeli detention since October 7, 2023, according to a report released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the occupied Palestinian territories as a result of torture and medical negligence.
The treatment of prisoners of war in Islam
One reason is the Israeli hostages represented valuable leverage. Secondly, the treatment of prisoners of war in Islam is guided by principles of compassion, justice, and respect. Islamic teachings emphasize that captives should be treated with kindness and mercy and not subjected to torture or harsh treatment and be offered the same food as their captors.
The untold story about the Israeli captives
Nidal Abu Zaid, a Palestinian military analyst, has stated for the first time on how Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fooled Israel last March and September by moving the hostages from Biet Lahya to Beit Hanoun and from Khan Younis to other safer locations when the IDF was closing in.
Abu Zaid revealed that "after the Israeli strikes on northern Gaza intensified and the northern population was forced to flee to the south, Hamas and Islamic Jihad wanted to transfer the Zionist prisoners in the northern Gaza Strip to the southern Gaza Strip. What did they do? The resistance, represented by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, organized 'fake demonstrations' by hundreds of the people of Gaza against the resistance. Demonstrators were cursing and chanting slogans attacking the resistance and the Zionist prisoners inside the demonstrations marched with their guards among the demonstrators under the noses of the IDF who gave them a 'VIP' treatment while the Israeli drones and other aircrafts monitoring the demonstration over the skies of Gaza, filled with joy at the demonstrations against the resistance."
Abu Zaid further stated that "the demonstrations even reached the south, carrying the IDF prisoners without anyone noticing their presence except for the shadow unit responsible for securing and dealing with the prisoners." This was stated by an Israeli soldier, one of the recently released prisoners, in a television interview on an Israeli TV channel. Interestingly, the Hebrew channels (Hebrew, Al-Hadath, and Sky) broadcasted the demonstrations with great joy and celebration.
The AP reported on April 2, 2025, "Thousands of Palestinians chanted against Hamas during anti-war protests in the Gaza Strip, the biggest show of anger at the militant group since its attack on Israel ignited the war." Those demonstrations even baffled and annoyed Palestinians worldwide.
Protesters said they were venting anger and desperation as they endure a new round of war and displacement after Israel ended a ceasefire. They leveled unusually direct criticism at Hamas even while remaining furious at Israel, the United States, and others for their plight, added the AP report.
Just for the record, all 20 released hostages released in the deal were either reservists or active-duty members of the Israeli Death Forces (IDF). Basically, all were fair targets and have Palestinian blood on their hands and they were not innocent civilians as Israel repeatedly claimed. Many IDF soldiers were captured while armed and in uniform.
Robert Inlakesh wrote in December 2023 in the Palestine Chronicle, "Palestinian armed groups are known to have trained their soldiers in a variety of martial arts in order to have them physically prepared to engage in hand-to-hand combat." He added, "When we look at the approach of a small guerrilla army, facing a fully-fledged military machine that is backed by billions of dollars in high-tech equipment and some 300,000 combat-ready soldiers, it is clear that there cannot be a conventional fight." Instead, tactics that are learned by Palestinian resistance fighters, who are trained in the art of judo, must be utilized on the battlefield.
Hamas' fighting skills are unequal and creative like no other resistance movement in the world. The Palestinian resistance was able to stun Israel and the rest of the world by their fighting skill and bravery. No surprise that the resistance was able to keep their captives in Gaza undetected for 738 days.
Mahmoud El-Youseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes on U.S. foreign policy, Middle East affairs, and justice. Email: elyousseph6@yahoo.com
1. A bus carrying Palestinian freed hostages flashing the victory sign arrive in Ramallah: AP Photo 2. Israelis celebrate Hamas' release of the Israeli captives in Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel. Photo by wsj.com