Don't get me wrong, obviously the ideal situation would be no one being held hostage. Given the situation though, they really seem well taken care of. Almost as if taking hostages was specifically a tactic to demand change and harm was never the goal. I think from an optics perspective, it gives Hamas more credibility and stature. It could also help ease the tension and give those on the fence in Israel a reason to see them as human. It's got to be hard for some of them to break through that mental block after decades of propaganda.