How Israel and Hamas rely on psychological warfare

The Middle East war is being waged not only with bombs and missiles, but also with images. Israel wants to convey strength, Hamas relies on fear and terror.

An oversized Hanukkah menorah sits atop an army jeep. An Israeli army commander speaks into his field telephone. The candlestick is set up in a square in Gaza City and the candles are lit. This is exactly the square where Israeli hostages are said to have been paraded by Hamas in front of a cheering crowd during the ceasefire as they were handed over to the Red Cross. For Hamas, an image of victory over Israel.

“Here in this evil place, where terrorists have fired rockets and humiliated our hostages, we stand with our heads held high and light the first Hanukkah candle. Long live our nation of Israel!” said Commander Benny Aharon. It later turned out that it was the wrong place. The army admitted the mistake.

Even with pictures that are supposed to show terrorists kneeling in their underwear, it cannot be said with certainty whether they are really only terrorists. The sources remain unclear. These days Israel is relying on its own images of superiority and victory over the terrorist regime in Gaza.

Hamas also targets Israel’s will

This is in response to the flood of thousands of images and videos of Hamas atrocities, says Ron Schleifer, an expert in psychological warfare at Ariel University. He compares Hamas’ methods on October 7 to those of Mongolian leader Genghis Khan.

“Hamas relies on breaking the will of the enemy – that is, Israel – with the help of fear and terror,” said Schleifer.

Psychologist suspects collective trauma

Live streams and images on social media are tools of psychological warfare against the population, says Cathy Lawy. The psychologist runs the non-governmental organization Emotionaid and helps people in Israel deal with war trauma.

“The aim was to make us all feel unsafe, to think they can reach us not only in our country, but also at home, even in our bunkers. The images of atrocities against children and women, rape, have an impact on all women, on the entire population. We see signs of collective trauma in Israel,” says Lawy.

She describes the feeling that many patients come to her with as a deep feeling of insecurity, as if someone is not in their own skin. Most people did not experience the massacre themselves but followed it on social media. Images like those of young festival guests who were captured, humiliated and shot.

Images that Survival instinct address

A young man whom Lawy looks after had to watch such recordings again and again for his work. He is unable to work, cannot sleep and has depression – these are symptoms of secondary trauma.

“We’re talking about images that are quickly stored in our memory because they appeal to our survival instincts. These memories can be triggered and trigger trauma. So people who are not victims of the attacks can have post-traumatic symptoms, such as flashbacks of the scenes that occurred saw them, even if they weren’t there,” emphasizes Lawy.

International support should be undermined

But psychological warfare goes even further, says expert Schleifer. When an attempt is made to manipulate perception with images and even to create sympathy. In this context, Schleifer cites images in which hostages wave goodbye to their captor and shake hands. In a Hamas video, a terrorist can be heard asking the hostages to keep waving.

It is no different when images of total destruction are posted from the Gaza Strip. Hamas’s aim is to reduce support for Israel in the world. This can also convey a feeling of guilt, says Schleifer. “Guilt is a very effective means of persuasion. When one’s own weapons are not enough to defeat the enemy, they must convince the enemy not to pull the trigger.”

In the imagery of war, a sustained ceasefire would be a victory for Hamas, says Schleifer. For Israel, it would be a breach of its promise to the people to destroy Hamas and restore security. And so the war of images and the war in Gaza continues.