Crimes of Hamas against Palestinians: A history of bloodshed
“Privilege in Terrorism”… this is how the history of the Palestinian Hamas movement can be described, filled with assassinations and purges
The terrorist organization has a dark history and a record replete with heinous crimes committed under the false banner of “resistance to occupation.” In reality, not a single bullet has been fired at the occupiers, but instead, they arrest and imprison anyone attempting to fire upon the occupation forces.
One of the most notorious crimes of the Hamas terrorist movement was the assassination of Eyad al-Madhoun, who was found murdered in northern Gaza in 2013. His wife accused Hamas members of eliminating him for working against their interests in Gaza.
This is not the first assassination committed by Hamas members. These killings began under the guise of morals and religion before their military coup, as happened on April 8, 2005, with the assassination of the veiled, religious young woman, Yasra al-Azzam, who studied Arabic at the Islamic University. She was killed in a gruesome assassination in a car with her fiancé, brother, and his fiancée.
Assassination of the Secretary of the Holy Bible Association
At that time, Tawfiq Abu Khousa, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, officially stated that the killers confessed to their affiliation with the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a branch of Hamas, and that they carried out the assassination on the orders of their superiors in the organization.
Hamas‘s crimes also included the assassination of Rami Ayad, a 31-year-old secretary of the Holy Bible Association in Gaza City, after his abduction, torture, and disposal of his body in a forest near Gaza City in October 2007. This was after they had taken his mobile phone and his wife’s credit card.
In April 2007, they detonated a library affiliated with the Holy Bible Association, vandalized the Christian al-Nur School, and looted some of its contents. It was said that these killers belonged to a group called the “Army of Islam.”
Destruction of the Ibn Taymiyyah
Mosque One of the heinous crimes committed by Hamas was the destruction of the Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque in Rafah, where they destroyed the mosque with rocket launchers while worshippers inside were supporters of Sheikh Abdul-Latif Musa. This was in August 2009, after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas did not cease its crimes of murder, abduction, and torture. They also executed numerous crimes by leaking poisonous gas into the rooms of prisoners and detainees. Then, the organization falsely claimed that Israel had bombed the tunnel while attempting to capture soldiers or launch attacks against Israel to appear as if they were the resistance, when in fact they were the ones committing the crimes.
Media outlets also revealed a serious incident in which a former leader of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades named Mohammed al-Khalout was selling drugs to members of the Qassam Brigades and the police, including well-known names in the sector, such as Eyad al-Rawayshed, Bilal Sha’ban, Mohammed al-Masri, Raed al-Banna, and Abdul-Karim Baloushi.
Exposing the crimes of the Terrorist Movement
As soon as al-Khalout’s activities were exposed, he was killed in 2010. Then, Hamas claimed he had martyred himself in a suicide mission to cover up the scandal.
Hamas also assassinated the leader Ayman Taha after he contemplated exposing the movement’s crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly its assassinations of Palestinian figures. They then claimed he was martyred during resistance operations.
In 2015, the International Amnesty Organization accused Hamas of conducting a “brutal campaign” against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. According to the organization, it documented 20 cases of “extrajudicial executions,” including arrests, torture, and killing of Palestinian civilians.
Another crime that the organization documented was Hamas settling scores with its opponents. The report mentioned that the individuals who were tortured were “members of the Fatah movement,” which Hamas considers a political rival. The report indicated that it was tragic that while Israel was killing civilians in large numbers, Hamas seized the opportunity to settle scores with its opponents.
