“We are informed that most of these people have been released after being investigated by Unit 504”, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday, adding that most of the detainees are civilians who have no connection with what it called terrorism.
The newspaper also said that some of the Palestinians are still in detention.
The Israeli military detained some 200 Palestinians taking shelter at a school in the Jabalia refugee camp, alleging that they were Hamas members. The regime at the weekend also released photos and videos of those arrested being stripped and putting down their weapons as they surrendered to Israeli forces.
The photos and footage drew backlash from social media users refuting the Israeli allegations and ridiculing its account that the detainees were members of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.
One of the videos receiving those reactions, and also branded as fabricated, shows a detainee who had been handed an unloaded gun, coming from behind other detainees to hand over his weapon to Israeli forces while wearing only an underdress.
In the face of widespread criticism of the footage and photos, the Israeli military has tried to defend its move to detain the civilians, saying that its forces took off their clothes to make sure that they were not armed, then investigated them and allowed the detainees to wear their clothes again.
The Israeli military’s spokesman Daniel Hagari has also said that the photos and videos do not belong to the military. That’s while Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi has reacted and said publishing the photos of the Palestinian detainees being undressed was not good for Israel’s image.
On Sunday, Hamas also denied that its fighters had surrendered to the Israeli regime, noting that people in the photos “were defenseless civilians after they were detained and weapons were placed next to them.”
“Hamas heroes don’t surrender and the (Israeli) occupation lies will not deceive anyone,” Hamas member Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement, calling the photos “part of a ridiculous story, which the occupation has been fabricating for declaring an alleged victory over the resistance.”
The resistance movement launched an unprecedented operation, called Al-Aqsa Storm, against Israeli positions from the Gaza Strip on October 7. Since then, Israel has been attacking Gaza from air and sea, killing more than 17,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Hamas says the regime is killing civilians to compensate for its October 7 defeat.
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