Unfortunately, Hamas has a huge advantage in the propaganda war because today’s world is chock full of deranged Leftist idiots who will eagerly believe anything that Hamas claims, no matter how absurd. Israel should ignore all of that, and just press ahead full speed. If they instead feel they need to bow to public pressure on the hostage situation, then they should demand that Hamas bring ALL the hostages they still possess out into the open where they can be photographed by drone to prove how many are actually still alive and what their condition is. If they refuse, Israel should proceed on the assumption that all are now dead. If they accept, and actually produce them, the IDF should be prepared to storm the site at that exact moment and rescue as many as they can. Alive or dead, letting this drag on just lets Hamas keep their most powerful weapon.
They're a welfare state of the U.S.