Hamas scores major victory in Gaza war: Israeli think tank

“Hamas has once again succeeded in mocking Israel, racking its nerves, and reaping gains in the cognitive realm,” the so-called Institute for National Security Studies said on Monday.

The research institute said Hamas’ “superiority in the cognitive war” allows it to “consolidate its expanding support” among the Palestinian people, referring to celebrations held in the occupied West Bank and east al-Quds following the release of Palestinian hostages from Israeli prisons as part of the underway temporary ceasefire agreement reached between the resistance movement and Tel Aviv.

“Their release was interpreted as yet another Hamas victory and achievement. Their release deepens Hamas’s grip on the West Bank and public support for the organization.”

“At the end of the day, Hamas won another battle in the ongoing cognitive campaign. The move sends an important signal to its people and supporters regarding its steadfastness and adherence to the continuation of the struggle,” the report reads.

Noting that Israel was forced to reach a deal with Hamas to free Israeli captives held in Gaza, the research institute added “It is unfathomable that Hamas sets the terms, decide when they have been violated, and act as if in a position of power.”

Hamas “has succeeded, from the depths of its plight, in manipulating an entire country”, the group announced in reference to the Israeli entity.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Tel Aviv also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.

More than 15,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in the Israeli strikes.