Hamas released more hostages over the weekend, reuniting families after weeks of captivity. However, releasing hostages may be part of their strategy to continue the fight, as Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL) argued during a recent appearance on Fox Business's Varney & Co. Moreover, he warned that Hamas could very well be winning the information and propaganda war against Israel in the wider world.
"Hamas is presenting themselves as some type of humanitarian for releasing hostages that they brutally took in the first place," said Rep. Waltz, adding that they are the ones dictating the terms of release in order to "reposition, rearm, resupply, and get ready for the next round of fighting."
Moreover, Rep. Waltz said if Hamas intends to "turn global opinion against Israel, I think they have the upper hand here," referencing the United Nations' treatment of the Jewish State in the wake of the October 7th attack, the various displays of support for Palestine and Hamas in the US and abroad, and the lack of proof President Biden has regarding the condition of American hostages.
"Hamas is winning the global propaganda war here, and we need to retake the initiative and retake the upper hand," Waltz continued.
Host Stuart Varney asked if Waltz at least agreed that Israel was winning the war militarily, to which he said yes. However, "in the long run, as long as Iran is flush with cash, they will come. It will be like mowing the grass, and we have to reverse our Iran policy and dry up their coffers. Otherwise, they are going to continue to rearm and resupply."
In October, both Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) condemned the American press for uncritically reporting an explosion at a Gaza hospital as being from an Israeli air strike, only for the truth to come out that it was from a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfiring.
"Thanks to their eagerness to blame Israel, the news media is now busy walking back its original claims," said Rep. Mast in a blog post.
Senator Rubio added, "There is, side by side with the actual kinetic battle that you are seeing, you have an informational war going on."
