Hamas back on Gaza streets after war with Israel

After more than a year hiding in tunnels and dodging air strikes, uniformed Hamas fighters returned to the ruined streets of Gaza hours into a ceasefire, defying Israel's vow to crush them.

With the world watching on Sunday as Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, dozens of balaclava-wearing fighters in the group's signature green headbands were seen at the packed Gaza City square marshalling the chaotic events.

The day after, Hamas's deputy interior minister for the territory was out and about in Gaza City, declaring that Gazans were "living in a moment of victory".

While Hamas was back on the streets, Israeli forces were withdrawing from the territory's densely populated areas.

The destruction they left behind was staggering, yet Hamas appears to have survived, in spite of Israel's stated objective from the outset of the war of eradicating the group once and for all.

"When you set yourself complete elimination (as a goal), if there is one man standing it can be regarded as failure," said Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at Chatham House. This could prove a problem for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who pledged in the aftermath of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel to destroy the group.

"They were under the fiercest bombardment that such an organisation could ever sustain and they are still there and they are still recruiting," Mekelberg said.

Israel decimated Hamas's ranks and killed many of its top leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh and his successor Yahya Sinwar.