History Speaks
Hamas clearly released Edan Alexander in order to get aid into Gaza. This fact is overwhelmingly corroborated. Was this because they were worried their men - young men with tunnel rations - were going to be killed by starvation? Come on. It was because they didn't want to see mass civilian death by starvation, which was (still is, if we don't prevent it) imminent. This isn't to say that Hamas is motivated by humanitarian concern for Palestinians. Of course it is not. However, Hamas's inability to protect Palestinian civilians has damaged its standing gravely in Gaza (hence the recent protests). Thus Hamas has a powerful political incentive to stop the slaughter and starvation of Palestinian civilians. Why does this matter? It puts lie to the appalling "hasbara" conspiracy theory (promoted by propagandists like @havivrettiggur, @TheOmniLiberal, and the usual gang ) that Hamas is trying to kill as many of its civilians as possible. I call this conspiracy theory appalling because it intends to exonerate the mass murderers of Gaza of their crimes and strip them of their agency.