Shocking photos from Gaza, Palestinian men forced to strip and kneel

2023-12-08 09:30:24Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Shocking photos from Gaza, Palestinian men forced to strip and kneel

Images from Gaza that circulated on social media on Thursday showed a mass detention by the Israeli army of Palestinian men, who were forced to strip to their underwear, kneel in the street, lower their eyes and get into a military vehicle. CNN reports that some of the men are civilians with no known ties to militant groups.

The exact circumstances and dates of the arrests are unclear, but the identities of some of the arrested have been confirmed by colleagues or family members.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor posted an image of one detainee and said in a statement on its website Thursday that "the Israeli army arrested and severely abused dozens of Palestinian civilians."

"Euro-Med Monitor received reports that Israeli forces launched random and arbitrary arrest campaigns against displaced people, including doctors, academics, journalists and elderly men," the statement said.

Israeli media have portrayed the footage as the surrender of Hamas members. A reporter asked IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari about the images during a press conference on Thursday, saying: "We have seen images of many captives, Hamas terrorists, that the IDF arrested during the ground maneuver." .

Hagari said that, by fighting Hamas, "those who are left in the area are gradually coming out."

"We investigate and check who is connected to Hamas and who is not," he said. "We arrest everyone and interrogate them. We will continue to dismantle each and every one of those strongholds until we are done.”

In a statement on Thursday, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said one of its correspondents and several members of his family were among those arrested as part of the incident shown in the images.

"Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupying army arrested the journalist and director of "The New Arab" office in Gaza, our colleague Diaa Al-Kahlot, from Market Street in Beit Lahia, together with a group of brothers, relatives and civilians of others", wrote Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

“The occupier deliberately forced Gazans to remove their clothes, searched and humiliated them when they were arrested before taking them to an unknown destination, according to what people there told us. The photos and video clips circulated show soldiers arresting dozens of Gazans using criminal and humiliating methods."

Hussam Kanafani, editor-in-chief of Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, said in the statement that Al-Kahlot and his family were still missing.

"We will make every possible effort, in cooperation with international institutions and organizations that deal with the rights and freedom of journalists in the world, to determine the location of our colleague Diaa and to release him as soon as possible" , said Kanafani.

CNN spoke with a relative of the other arrested men, Hani al-Madhoun, from his home in the United States.

"The Israeli forces reached the street and called all the men to come out and they obeyed," al-Madhoun told CNN. "This house was their place of refuge after our two houses were destroyed."

Al-Madhoun said he was in contact with his sister, who is in Gaza.

He said he recognized his cousin Aboud in one of the photographs and saw his brother Mahmood in a video. According to him, Mahmoud is a merchant and Aboud "is not involved in any activity; he helps his father in construction".



Video