The Israel-Hamas war has entered its third month, and the fighting shows no sign of easing. Images and videos from Gaza are flooding social media daily, giving users insight to what is happening and also raising questions.
As news of what is claimed to be a mass surrender by Hamas soldiers began to spread across the internet on the first day of Hanukkah, some in the Jewish community celebrated the images as a victory for Israel. However, human rights groups are scrutinizing the images, which show dozens of surrendering men, restrained and wearing nothing but underwear.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that more than 150 Hamas terrorists surrendered on Thursday, Dec. 7.
“IDF forces and combatants of the general security agencies have interrogated and arrested dozens of terrorists, information that is being used by us for the rest of the fighting,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson.
But CNN and others said their sources are reporting some of the men seen in the photos are civilians, with no known affiliation to any militant groups.
The report went on to say that the men in the images were allegedly forced to strip down at gunpoint and beaten. CNN reported that the IDF has not responded to requests for comment on the images.
Instead of a mass surrender, the human rights group Euro-Med Monitor called it an arbitrary arrest campaign by the IDF.
“Euro-Med Monitor received reports that Israeli forces launched random and arbitrary arrest campaigns against displaced people, including doctors, academics, journalists, and elderly men, in the Khalifa Bin Zayed and New Aleppo schools, both of which are affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA),” the Euro-Med statement read.
Euro-Med is calling for an urgent investigation, alleging the IDF campaign didn’t stop at arrests. The human rights group said a witness saw IDF soldiers shoot and kill seven or more young men who would not comply with the“humiliating orders of the army.”
“Euro-Med Monitor has documented incidents of sniping and direct killing carried out by the Israeli army against displaced people in the vicinity of the two aforementioned schools,” The statement said. “The Geneva-based human rights organization stated that members of Israel’s army targeted everyone who tried to leave, even though they were raising white flags.”
The IDF said Hamas is still holding more than 130 hostages that were taken during the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people.
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