The prisoner/hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas has inadvertently highlighted a harsh reality in the overall conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It’s an issue that is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving a peaceful solution between the two parties.

After some of the Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel, footage and images circulated on social media showing these individuals immediately celebrating Hamas, waving the terrorist group’s flags and even wearing its insignia.

The arrangement resulted in Israel releasing 150 convicted terrorists, while Hamas released 50 hostages. The scenes broadcast on social media, which include images of women and minor children, underscore the deep-rooted connection and influence the terrorist group has over the Palestinian community in Gaza.

Waiving Hamas flags, Palestinian civilians celebrated the release of convicted terrorists from jail as part of an agreement between Israel & Hamas to release some of the women & children that were taken hostage into Gaza on October 7 during the massacre.pic.twitter.com/9WinFwZaGK

— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) November 24, 2023

All these convicted terrorists, most of them convicted of attempted murder, have been released today as part of a humanitarian ceasefire deal.

See all the flags? Hamas flags are everywhere, welcoming these terrorists today in Ramallah.

Once again, they celebrate terror and… pic.twitter.com/xvkBnYpGlS

— Sacha Roytman (@SachaRoytman) November 24, 2023

The post continued: 

Once again, they celebrate terror and hatred. We saw how it ends on October 7. It all starts with a celebration of hatred.

Prisoners after being released by Israel...wearing Hamas symbol. pic.twitter.com/D8qfN9ed96

— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) November 24, 2023

These scenes might seem surprising to those unfamiliar with the history of the Israel/Palestinian conflict. However, there are several reasons why these people are celebrating Hamas. For starters, they likely believe that the terrorist group is responsible for their newfound freedom – and they are correct. Without Hamas starting the war on October 7 and kidnapping Israeli hostages, the prisoners would likely have remained in prison.

However, Hamas is also the entity that is responsible for these people being in prison in the first place. By waging a futile war against Israel, it's responsible for much of the damage caused to civilians living in Gaza. Moreover, the organization has committed some of the worst human rights abuses against the populace. Yet, Hamas still enjoys a significant level of support in the region, even with many Palestinians opposing the organization.

This is because Hamas has ruled the region since 2007 and has put much effort into indoctrinating Palestinian children into its jihadist ideology. Indeed, these kids have been brainwashed, even in United Nations camps, to despise the Jewish people and the state of Israel. In 2013, a video circulated on YouTube that provided an example.

The video, uploaded to Youtube in late July and screened in part on Channel 2 news on Tuesday night, was directed by journalist David Bedein, who has written extensively about United Nations activities for the Israel Resource News Agency in Jerusalem. Channel 2 said the UN had promised to look into the indications in the report that UNRWA-funded camps were inciting hostility to Israel among young Palestinians.

Entitled “Camp Jihad,” the report says it shows footage from UNRWA summer programs in the Balata refugee camp north of Nablus and in the Gaza Strip. The focus of the camps, according to campers and staff in the clip, is educating the young Palestinians about the “Nakba”, the Palestinian term for the consequences of the 1948 war in which Israel won its independence.

Other reports have shown how Hamas and other extremist elements have served to brainwash young children into anti-Israel ideology. Former Rep. Steve Israel, who represented Long Island, recounted his time studying the issue.

While serving in Congress between 2001 and 2017, I studied what goes on in Palestinian schools. I reviewed their textbooks, met with educators and diplomats, and introduced legislation and amendments compelling the Department of State to monitor antisemitism in foreign classrooms. I saw firsthand that a generation of Palestinian children were being taught at an early age to reject living peacefully with Israel. They read about it in their schoolbooks and heard about it from their teachers. They were raised on a steady curriculum of violent rejectionism. My colleagues and I in Congress were unable to change that reality.

Currently, about 47 percent of the population in Gaza is under 18. This creates a fertile field for radicalization. The New York Times published a report discussing the issue:

Among other points, the books, used by 55,000 children in the eighth, ninth and 10th grades as part of a required “national education” course of study in government schools, do not recognize modern Israel, or even mention the Oslo Peace Accords the country signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s.

Textbooks have long been a point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which dueling historical narratives and cultural clashes underpin a territorial fight. And they are central examples of what Israeli leaders call Palestinian “incitement” against Jews, held up as an obstacle to peace talks newly resumed under American pressure.

In fact, Hamas also added a military training elective in high schools focused on “resistance to Israel.” Palestinian children in Gaza also participate in militarized summer camps, where they are taught to fight against the Jewish state. Under the aegis of promoting jihad, Hamas indoctrinates these youth into extremist ideologies, which makes them even more dedicated to killing Israelis.

Taking all of this into account, it makes sense that the released prisoners would celebrate Hamas as its savior. Years of indoctrination and brainwashing have helped the terrorist organization turn a significant chunk of the younger generations into loyal soldiers that it can send to die in its war with Israel.