Mixed feelings in Gaza over Al-Qassam Bridges' Israeli prisoner footage

Palestinians in Gaza expressed mixed feelings over the release of a short video of an Israeli captive by Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Gaza-run Islamic Hamas movement.

Speaking to The New Arab, several Palestinian residents criticised the move, while others supported Al-Qassam's position.

Hamed al-Ajrami, a Gaza-based man, believes that the short video is a hoax and that the Israeli captive was not ill.

"It seems that the captured soldier is performing a scene that is not more than (...) If we look at his eyes, his movements, and also the way he breathes, we will know very well that he is not sick. He was forced to act in front of the cameras," the 39-year-old father of two said.

"Al-Qassam Brigades want to achieve a goal by publishing this video, which is to stir the stagnant waters regarding the prisoner exchange deal with Israel," he added.

Nevertheless, he feared that Israel would exploit this video and use it as a pretext to launch a new military attack on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Akif Yassin, another resident in Gaza, thinks the contrary. He argues that "the resistance factions cannot publish a fabricated video to provoke Israel or urge it to complete the prisoner exchange deal."

"The captured soldiers of the resistance are human beings and it is natural that they get sick (...) because the resistance follows the laws of humanity in dealing with its hostages. It wanted to convey a clear message to the families of the captured soldier that their son is sick and needs treatment," he told The New Arab.

Yassin adds, "He [the Israeli soldier] will not be released until after a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinians is completed."

Yassin also notes that Israel deals with Palestinian prisoners in an inhumane manner, violating all international laws and human rights.

On Tuesday, Al-Qassam Brigades published a brief video showing an Israeli soldier in captivity in dire health conditions. The man, who has been held captive in Hamas-ruled Gaza since 2015, is seen lying in bed wearing an oxygen mask.

There is a close-up of his ID card at the end of the video, which has no audio. The video is titled "Footage of soldier in the occupation army, Hisham al-Sayed, detained by the Al-Qassam Brigades" in Arabic.

Al-Sayed, from Palestine's Bedouin community, was snatched by Hamas as he wandered into the besieged Gaza Strip territory in 2015.

Al-Qassam Brigades had announced on Monday that the health of an Israeli captive in Gaza is deteriorating in a short tweet, Abu Obaida, the spokesman of the armed group. 

For his part, Mustafa Ibrahim, a political analyst from Gaza, praised the timing of the video's publication, especially as it coincides with a foggy political situation ahead of the Israeli elections.

"This is a real opportunity to achieve political gains for Hamas and Israel (...) Hamas is well aware that Israeli leaders must present political achievements to their people in order to ensure their victory in the elections," Ibrahim told The New Arab.

"For years," he elaborates, "we used to be the scapegoat that Israeli officials offer to their people to gain their votes by launching wars on Gaza."

"It seems that Hamas preceded them by a step and turned the criteria of winning and losing among the Israelis by highlighting the situation of the Israeli prisoners in it," the political analyst explained.

The file of the detained soldiers is considered a very sensitive topic in Israeli society and media, he added, and Hamas seeks to move the prisoner exchange file after being frozen for eight years.