Violations and crimes by Hamas against Palestinians
Hamas, the terrorist organization, has a dark history and a record filled with heinous crimes carried out under its false slogan of ‘resistance against the occupation.’ In reality, they haven’t fired a single bullet at the occupation, but rather, they arrest and imprison anyone who attempts to fire upon the occupying forces.
Hamas Movement
Hamas is an Islamic extremist movement and one of the largest political parties in the Palestinian territories. It governs over two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but the movement is primarily known for its armed activities against Israel.
In October 2023, Hamas launched a sudden massive attack on southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and soldiers, as well as the hostage-taking of dozens. In response, Israel declared war against the movement and indicated that its military forces were planning a prolonged campaign to defeat it.
Crimes of Hamas
One of the most famous crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist movement was the assassination of Eyad al-Madhoun, who was found dead in the northern Gaza Strip in 2013. His wife accused members of the movement of eliminating him for working against their interests in Gaza.
This wasn’t the first assassination carried out by members of Hamas. Assassinations were carried out under the guise of ethics and religion even before their military takeover, as occurred on April 8, 2005. This was when the assassination of the young woman Yusra al-Azzam took place. She was a devout veiled student studying Arabic at the Islamic University and was in a car with her fiancé, brother, and his fiancée during the horrific assassination.
Assassination of Secretary of the Bible Society
At the time, Tawfiq Abu Khousa, the spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, officially stated that the killers confessed to belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades, a part of the Hamas movement, and that they received orders to carry out the assassination from their leader within the movement.
Hamas‘ crimes also included the assassination of Rami Ayad (31 years old), the secretary of the Bible Society in Gaza City. He was abducted, tortured, and his body was found in a forest near Gaza City in October 2007. This happened after they had taken his mobile phone and his wife’s credit card.
Prior to that, in April 2007, they detonated a library affiliated with the Bible Society, vandalized the Christian Light School, and seized some of its contents. It was said at that time that these killers belonged to a group called the ‘Army of Islam.’
Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque Bombing
One of the worst crimes also involved Hamas’ bombing of the Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque in Rafah, where they destroyed the mosque using rocket launchers on its worshippers who supported Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa. This occurred in August 2009 after Hamas had gained control of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas did not only commit killings, kidnappings, and torture underground but its members also executed numerous crimes by leaking poisonous gas into the cells of prisoners and detainees. Later, the movement falsely claimed that Israel had bombed the tunnel, attempting to capture soldiers or launch attacks against Israel to appear as the resistant party. In reality, they were the ones committing the crimes.
Media outlets also uncovered a serious incident, pointing out a former leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades, named Mohammed al-Kahlout, who sold drugs to members of the Al-Qassam Brigades and the police, including well-known figures in the region, such as Eyad al-Rawashdeh, Bilal Shaaban, Mohammed al-Masri, Raed al-Banna, and Abdul Kareem Baloushi.
Exposing the Terrorism of the Movement
As soon as the al-Kahlout case was exposed, he was killed in 2010. Hamas then claimed that he had been martyred in a suicide mission to cover up the scandal.
Furthermore, Hamas assassinated the leader Ayman Taha after he contemplated exposing the movement’s crimes against the Palestinian people, especially their assassination of Palestinian figures. They later claimed that he had been martyred during resistance operations.
In 2015, the international organization Amnesty International accused the movement of conducting a “brutal campaign” against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. According to the organization, they documented 20 cases of “extrajudicial executions.” The report also indicated that the campaign included “arrest, torture, and killing” of Palestinian civilians.
Among the other crimes documented by the organization against Hamas was settling scores with its opponents. The report stated that those who were tortured were “members of Fatah,” which Hamas considered its political rivals. The report noted that it was distressing that, at a time when Israel was killing many civilians, Hamas took the opportunity to settle its scores with its opponents.
