More than a year into the Israel-Gaza war, the IDF released on Sunday harrowing footage alleged to show Hamas operatives interrogating and torturing Palestinian detainees.
The footage, captured by CCTV cameras inside a Hamas base known as Outpost 17 in the Jabaliya refugee camp and found on computers seized during an Israeli raid in March, reportedly includes thousands of hours of interrogation sessions.
The military has released a 46-minute clip, available here, showing some of the alleged abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.
The footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, depicts detainees in distressing conditions, including being chained to floors and ceilings with bags over their heads. In one video, a man is shown crying out in pain. Another segment reportedly shows a Hamas operative leisurely reclining in a chair with his hands behind his head as a prisoner is seen handcuffed and hanging from the ceiling beside him. A third clip shows a man brutally tied up with a red sack over his head. One of the guards is later seen strangling the man.
"The materials uncovered, expose Hamas's brutal methods for interrogating civilians, violating human rights, and systematically oppressing residents suspected of opposing the organization’s rule," the military said in a statement.
"These materials reveal the Hamas terrorist organization's methods of governing the Gaza Strip, enforcing terror, harming Gaza's vulnerable civilians and infringing on their freedom of expression."
The IDF’s discovery comes amid ongoing concerns for 101 hostages still held in Gaza, more than 400 days after the October 7 massacre. Human rights groups have previously highlighted instances of Palestinian citizens—allegedly including political dissidents, LGBTQ individuals, suspected adulterers and those accused of collaborating with Israel—who were reportedly detained and subjected to abuse by Hamas.
The Daily Mail first reported on the trove of disturbing footage on Saturday. A senior IDF official told the paper that the military "found these CCTV images in March. It took months to go through them all."
Hamas torture victim, Hamza Howidy, 27, told The Mail how he was detained for protesting against the regime in Gaza. "They would torture you until you broke and say whatever it is they wanted," he said. "I could hear my fellow protesters scream in the next room."
Howidy, an accountant who later fled Gaza, estimated that he was held somewhere in West Jabaliya in 2019, but it is not clear if he appears in the videos obtained by the IDF.
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Hamas operative tortures Palestinian detainee in footage discovered in Jabaliya refugee camp
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
"Hamas controls everything. They confiscated my laptop and had issues with my conversations with my girlfriend," he said.
He said that one of the men had been detained for three years and tortured three times a week. "He had objects inserted into him," Howidy added. "One man was given electric shocks for two years before his innocence was eventually discovered. The first thing he did was shoot dead the Hamas officer who reported him – his uncle.
"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. I managed to leave for Europe via the Egyptian border in September last year, which cost a fortune, but my family there were told that should I return I'd be a dead man walking. Luckily I got them safe passage too."
He added: "You just cannot tell who is a Hamas snitch or not."
"One friend of mine was forced to divorce his wife when he got caught for something. There is a growing hatred toward Hamas now, especially after the war, but because Hamas controls the media and people are afraid, we hardly hear of it," Howidy said.
IDF drone footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's last moments
(Video: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
"People outside of Gaza call Hamas freedom fighters when they are killing innocent Palestinians for nothing. Hamas is holding the people of Gaza hostage."
A former Israeli intelligence officer, known as Guy C, told the newspaper that Hamas' leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the IDF last month, was "obsessed with finding collaborators and held thousands against their will."
"Some are electrocuted on electricity pylons or dragged on a chain from a vehicle until they die," he said. "Even worse, they won't allow the families a proper burial, and the bodies have a sign on saying they were collaborating."
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