Following the Israel-Palestine war, which is now in its third month, fresh images from Gaza showed that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) abducted and stripped dozens of Palestinian men in Gaza City. The disappointing event has triggered strong global reactions.
The images were published on Thursday, December 7, showing hundreds of Palestinian men at an undisclosed location, blindfolded, kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs and their heads bowed, while IDF soldiers watched.
Israeli media published the images displaying the IDF rounding up men and transporting them using trucks. These were people who allegedly surrendered in the Jabaliya refugee camp and other areas in Gaza’s northern region, according to Israeli media.
During a press conference, Israeli army spokesperson Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “We are investigating who is associated with Hamas and who isn’t.” When he was asked about the disturbing pictures of stripped men, he said there were “terrorists who surrendered.”
“They hide underground and come out, and we fight them. We investigate and check who is associated with Hamas and who is not,” he added, without giving any further detail about the pictures.
Meanwhile, one of the men in the images was identified by his colleagues as Diaa Al-Kahlout, a journalist for a London-based Arabic news media outlet, Al Araby Al Jadeed. Diaa has been reportedly detained along with his family.
Furthermore, there are reports suggesting many of the abductees were unarmed Palestinian civilians.
“Tell Everyone”
Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian American and the director of philanthropy at UNRWA, recognized his brother, Mahmoud, who worked as a shopkeeper, among the besieged men.
He wrote on social media, “My brother Mahmoud can be seen in the IDF-released footage. He is a shopkeeper and a dad and has a seizure, and it’s blistering cold.” Requesting the netizens for support, “Tell everyone,” he added.
In another post, he shared a picture of abductees in an IDF truck. Tagging: “This is the part of Gaza where my family has been sheltering. My brother Mahmoud, my nephew Abood, and my nephew Omar (12), have all been abducted. They have been taken hostages by the Israeli military to an unknown location.”
Rubble-Strewn Wasteland
Under the guise of wiping out Hamas, Israel’s defense forces have killed over 17,000 Palestinians. Among them are mostly women and children. In the last 62 days over 2 million civilians in Palestine were displaced.
After Hamas conducted an invasive raid on October 7, which killed 1200 people in Israel. In response, Israel launched aerial bombardment along with ground assaults in the territory. A blockade on fuel, food, water, and medical facilities was imposed in Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that the war has reduced vast areas to a “rubble-strewn wasteland” of bombed and “bullet-scarred” buildings.
