According to the Daily Mail, the videos were recorded by CCTV cameras inside a Hamas military base located inside the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The footage was said to have been discovered on computers seized from the compound following a raid by the IDF earlier this year. It is unclear why the men were being held and tortured.
"The IDF found these CCTV [videos] in March. It took months to go through them all," a senior Israeli military source told the Mail on Sunday, Nov. 10. Based on a timestamp in the corner of the footage, the torture took place between 2018 and 2020.
Some of the clips show male prisoners with sacks over their heads, chained to floors and ceilings in painful positions. The prisoners are then beaten with sticks on the soles of their feet, making them writhe in agony.
"It has not been possible for the videos to be independently verified, but human rights groups have long warned of abuses by Hamas against civilians in Gaza. Amnesty International published a 44-page report detailing a brutal campaign of abduction, torture and killings by Hamas against its own people following the last Israel-Hamas war in 2014," the Mail continued.
Hamas often tortures gay men and suspected collaborators with Israel
According to the tabloid, Hamas often tortures Palestinians that fall under these categories: gay men, adulterers, political opponents and civilians suspected of collaborating with Israel. Because of this, hundreds of gay men risked their lives to cross the border to Israel or Egypt even before the recent conflict broke out.
One gay man named Abdul previously recounted his experience living in Gaza after Hamas discovered his homosexuality. He told Israeli outlet i24NEWS he was repeatedly tortured by the group before he fled to Egypt. Abdul's testimony matches with the torture footage retrieved by the IDF.
Abdul was put in a tiny room with no food, where he was prohibited from sleeping or using the bathroom. Hamas interrogators would often "tie [his] feet up and beat them with a stick," with the torture happening "every few years." He continued: "They made me swear on the Quran that I won't be gay again."
Twenty-seven-year-old Hamza Howidy, an accountant, also recounted his harrowing experience at the hands of Hamas. He was initially detained and tortured for protesting against Hamas' rule, before fleeing the Gaza Strip. While Howidy believes he was held in western Jabalia in 2019, it is unknown if he appears in the torture videos. (Related: Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas leaders in Jabalia refugee camp left at least 195 Palestinians dead.)
"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 told the Mail. According to the accountant, collaborating with Israel would warrant a severe punishment while homosexuality would result in a death sentence.
One man who was detained for three years faced torture thrice weekly, including "objects inserted into him." Another man "was given electric shocks for two years" before he was exonerated. The first thing the second man did was shoot dead the Hamas officer who reported him – his own uncle.
"You just cannot tell who is a Hamas snitch or not; Hamas controls everything. They confiscated my laptop and had issues with my conversations with my girlfriend. One friend of mine was forced to divorce his wife when he got caught for something," Howidy said. "People outside of Gaza call Hamas freedom fighters when they are killing innocent Palestinians for nothing. Hamas is holding the people of Gaza hostage."
Watch former U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Jack Keane warning that the death of Hamas' Yahya Sinwar won't end the war in the Middle East.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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TIMELINE: 75 Years of Israel's human rights abuses against Palestinians.
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