Pictures that have gone viral on social media show the humiliating treatment of Palestinians by Israeli forces in Gaza. Israel’s military said it was checking “who is affiliated with Hamas and who is not.”

Images circulating on social networks and Israeli television since Thursday, December 7 show dozens of Palestinians in their underwear being arrested by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

Some kneel in the sand, handcuffed and blindfolded. Other Gazans are seen sitting on the street or loaded into the back of a military vehicle.

Many Israeli media outlets reported the images as the surrender of Hamas fighters CNN.

Civilians were “mistreated”, an NGO warns

“The Israeli army detained and severely tortured Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza for several days before surrounding two shelters in the city of Beit Lahiya, beating individuals and stripping them of their clothing,” the organization alleged on its website. Euro-Med Human Rights Watch.

According to the human rights NGO UNRWA, “Israeli forces launched a campaign of random and arbitrary arrests against displaced people, including doctors, educators, journalists and the elderly in Khalifa Bin Said schools and New Aleppo.” .

Many Palestinians claimed to recognize relatives in the images. In a press release issued on Thursday, London-based The New Arab Media It said its reporter and several members of his family were among those detained in connection with the incident depicted in the footage.

“We are investigating and verifying who is connected to Hamas and who is not, and we are arresting and interrogating them all,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari responded. Reuters.