Hamas is back. But in what form?

“Projected on mega screens and across social media, the long-awaited release of three female Israeli hostages, in captivity for 15 months, showed us the power of the image, a tool that is especially amplified during wartime,” said Dr Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “The visuality of armed Hamas fighters seemingly in charge of the handover operation was choreographed to send a message, ‘We are still in control of Gaza, we are undefeated.’”...Dr Ozcelik puts it in a broader context. “Israeli officials say that two of Hamas’s 24 battalions are operational,” she said. “Over the course of the war, senior Hamas commanders and trained rank and file fighters have been killed, and weapons arsenals and military capabilities degraded. While Hamas is reported to have recruited more men to join its fight against Israel, this draws upon an angry and motivated, but poorly trained and inexperienced, pool of recruits from Gaza.”