RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Hamas militants and police units in Gaza beat, maimed and publicly executed dozens of Palestinians during its war with Israel in acts amounting to war crimes, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday.The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment in the war-ravaged territory, which it said were often publicized during and afterward to instill fear in the populace.“These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings and were framed by the perpetrators as punishments for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug-related offenses or affiliations with internal rivals,” it said.The commission found that Hamas-affiliated militants and police forces were involved in nearly one-fourth of the 249 documented cases — including 108 deaths — from August 2024 to January 2026. The commission specifically investigated cases involving Hamas-affiliated forces but also counted ones attributed to other armed groups.
Representatives for Hamas did not respond to questions about the report’s allegations.
Hamas has run Gaza for nearly two decades since seizing control of the territory from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. Since an October ceasefire halted more than two years of full-scale war with Israel, Hamas has steadily reconsolidated its control over the areas of Gaza that it still governs.
