Hamas’s Propaganda Strategy: Combining Terror with Global Sympathy

On August 19, Hamas claimed responsibility for an explosion in Tel Aviv that occurred the previous day. This suicide bombing, executed in collaboration with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was intended to be part of a series of attacks, but the operation failed when the bomb detonated prematurely, killing the attacker and injuring a bystander.

In response, Hamas rapidly released posters on social media showcasing images of destroyed buses in Tel Aviv, with captions in Arabic, Hebrew, and English proclaiming, "We are coming."

This messaging signalled Hamas's intent to launch a new wave of suicide bombings similar to the terror campaigns of the 1990s and early 2000s. The posters featured terrorists in Palestinian keffiyehs and explosive belts beside buses resembling those from earlier decades. One notable poster depicted Yahya Ayyash, known as “the Engineer,” a key figure behind numerous deadly bombings in the mid-1990s, with the caption, “Who will bring back the glory of Ayyash?”

Experts describe Hamas's propaganda efforts as a highly effective parallel battlefield to its physical attacks. Guy Aviad, a former IDF historian and author of *The Politics of Terror – An Essential Hamas Lexicon* (2014), highlights that Hamas views its media operations as a critical component of its strategy. The group employs skilled media professionals, many trained in the West, to produce high-quality content, similar to Hezbollah's media operations, such as their recent high-definition video of their tunnel systems.

Hamas’s propaganda serves dual purposes: instilling fear among Israelis and rallying support from Palestinian and international audiences.