‘Crumbling Israeli propaganda’: Arab social media sees hostage’s kiss as sign of Hamas benevolence

Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov kissing the head of a Hamas fighter in Nuseirat, central Gaza on 22 February 2025. Tov said after his release he had been forced to kiss the militants

Nagham Zbeedat writes in Haaretz on 24 February 2025:

When Omer Shem Tov was released after 505 days in Hamas captivity on Saturday, he stepped onto the stage making a victory sign, blowing kisses to the crowd and kissing the heads of two Hamas fighters beside him.

The footage sparked reactions across the Arab world that were very different from those of Israelis, who saw it as obvious Hamas propaganda, yet another sign that the hostage release ceremonies in Gaza are heavily choreographed, with captives forced to follow their captors’ orders.

Palestinians and others in the Arab world who shared the footage widely on social media viewed the gesture as a blow to Israeli propaganda and a symbolic victory for Hamas.

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, a Kuwaiti-Palestinian journalist and former senior correspondent for Al Jazeera’s digital media outlet AJ+, described the hostage release ceremony as an “unarmed act of war against the machine of dehumanization.”  To him, Shem Tov’s kiss represented “a moment of rupture” in Israel’s narrative, “an unbearable truth it could not contain.” He dismissed questions over whether the gesture was an act of coercion or gratitude as “convenient distractions.”

However, the Kan public broadcaster reported on Sunday that Shem Tov himself said when he came back that “the dogs [Hamas] made me do it – I had no choice,” in regard to the kiss.

While kissing others’ foreheads is uncommon in Israeli culture, Shihab-Eldin explained that in the Palestinian community, it signifies “reverence, apology, gratitude, a silent recognition of love or loss.”  Egyptian-Palestinian writer Yousef al-Domouky claimed that Shem Tov was “the first hostage to kiss his captor’s head in history.”

Khaled Safi, a Palestinian activist and digital media specialist, wrote that the gesture was a major blow to Israel. He argued that it had undone “77 years of systematic lies … and [Israel’s] efforts to portray itself as an invincible force. … All that remains in its hands is the ashes of its crumbling propaganda.”  The kiss sent a message to the Israeli public, claimed Jaber al-Harmi, editor-in-chief of the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq. To him, it reflected the hostages’ “appreciation and gratitude” toward Hamas fighters for “securing their lives throughout the war that their army waged.”

Dismissing criticism that the hostage release ceremonies have been humiliating, Qatari scholar Mourad Ali claimed that Hamas had “won the psychological warfare.” He added: “Now Israel is backing down from handing over the Palestinian prisoners as agreed upon.”  He was referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision overnight into Sunday to delay the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners “until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed, and without humiliating ceremonies.”

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned last Thursday’s parading of four coffins containing the remains of three dead Israeli hostages, describing the manner of the handover as “abhorrent and appalling.”

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