Hamas Seen Torturing Gazans in Footage Discovered by IDF

Photo Credit: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash 90

Hamas gunmen, members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 17, 2019.

Israeli military forces have discovered thousands of hours of surveillance footage showing Hamas terrorists torturing their fellow Gazans between 2018 and 2020.

The @IDF uncovered videos exposing severe abuse by Hamas against Gazan civilians.

The footage reveals brutal interrogations & systematic human rights violations targeting civilians suspected of opposing Hamas's rule at Outpost 17.

These materials reveal Hamas' methods of… pic.twitter.com/GVuDUp23yO

— COGAT (@cogatonline) November 10, 2024

The footage was found on computers seized by the IDF from a Hamas compound in the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya, according to a report published Sunday by The Daily Mail.

The videos showed male prisoners with sacks over their heads, chained to floors and upside down from ceilings in painful positions, with some terrorists beating them with canes on the soles of their feet.

“They would torture you until you broke and say whatever it is they wanted,” said Hamza Howidy, 27, who fled Gaza after being detained for protesting against Hamas. He described his experience to the news outlet, saying, “They would torture you until you broke and say whatever it is they wanted. I could hear my fellow protesters scream in the next room.”

Howidy eventually escaped through the Egyptian border in September last year. He said, however, that one detainee was tortured three times weekly for three years. “You would never get a lawyer and your family would have no idea what happened to you. I was lucky because my family paid a price for me,” he said.

Gay men and adulterers were also tortured by Hamas, along with political opponents and anyone accused of collaborating with Israel.

Hooded and chained prisoners are seen on the videos being subjected to various forms of torture by their indifferent captors who chatted easily with other terrorists during the sessions.

Guy C., a former Israeli intelligence officer, told the news outlet that Hamas terrorists were known to “melt plastic over skin, electric cables on their body. Some are electrocuted on electricity pylons or dragged on a chain from a vehicle until they die.”

Videos of such scenes have been seen in past years as well, uploaded to social media. Perhaps they were released as a form of deterrence against collaboration with Israel, and/or protest against the regime.

“The IDF found these CCTV images in March (2024),” a senior Israeli military source said. “It took months to go through them all.”