Videos of Palestinian prisoners in Gaza in their underwear are going viral on social media

Israeli television channels on Thursday aired videos showing dozens of Palestinians in their underwear, blindfolded, being held by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, sparking heated controversy on social networks. Among those arrested, witnesses, journalists and relatives identified reporter Diaa Al-Kahlout, the media’s Gaza correspondent. New Arabic. This London-based news site reported “Israeli Occupy Arrests Dozens of Gazans, Including The New Arab Correspondent In Gaza Strip”, At X (formerly Twitter).

An article published in the English magazine New Arabic Their journalist mentions that part “Dozens of Gazans arrested by the Israeli army in Gaza and (they) were forced to strip.” And then they are “Searched and humiliated before being taken to an unknown destination”, according to eyewitnesses, the site adds. Rami Abdu, head of Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Watch, a Geneva-based NGO, said it recognized the journalist, the school’s director and a UN staff member.

Read moreIsrael’s willingness to ‘assume protection’ of the Gaza Strip once the war ends

“Terrorists”?

In videos and photos broadcast on prime time by Israeli television Thursday evening and going viral on social media, men line up in the center of a city, kneeling, heads bowed, all wearing underwear. Asked about the images, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Thursday evening“In Shujaya (Gaza City District, Editor’s Note) and Jabaliya (north of the Gaza Strip), Terrorists surrender and come out of tunnels and houses. “We are investigating and verifying who is associated with (Palestinian Islamic Movement) Hamas and who is not.”While the Israeli soldiers hunted “Terrorists still hide in tunnels like cowards”He further informed during the press conference.

An analysis of the footage by the AFP Factcheck team suggests it was filmed in the Beit Lahia area of ​​northern Gaza. In another scene, which AFP was unable to verify, a group of blindfolded men sit in the middle of a quarry with their hands tied behind their backs, watched by Israeli soldiers. Ground fighting and Israeli strikes flared up again on Thursday in and around major cities in the Gaza Strip, two months after the war began on October 7, sparked by a bloody Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people. Israeli, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. In Gaza, more than 17,000 people died in attacks and bombings by the Israeli army, 70% of whom were women, children and youth under the age of 18, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.