Hamas militants and police units in Gaza beat, maimed and publicly executed dozens of Palestinians during the war with Israel in acts that may amount to war crimes, according to a United Nations report.The report documented cases of alleged collaborators being shot dead, victims being kneecapped, and others having their bones broken with metal pipes and concrete bricks in attacks intended to instil fear across the territory. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment, many of which were publicised by the perpetrators during and after the attacks.'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 offences or affiliations with internal rivals,' the report, released on Tuesday, said.The commission found that Hamas-affiliated militants and police forces were involved in nearly a quarter 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. A horrifying video on social media appears to show several men being executed by Hamas In the video, a crowd can be seen cheering as the men are slaughtered. There are chants of 'Allah Akbar,' or God is Great. The men are also called 'collaborators' Footage posted on Hamas-linked Telegram account showed multiple armed and masked gunmen standing over three blindfolded PalestiniansHamas has run Gaza for nearly two decades since seizing control of the territory from the internationally recognised 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.According to Tuesday's report, rather than being imposed through courts or judges, the punishments were carried out by Hamas's military wing and police units.Srinivasan Muralidhar, the UN commission's chairman, said the abuses documented in Gaza were occurring in an 'environment engineered by Israel', where 'Hamas-affiliated forces have exploited the vacuum created by relentless Israeli attacks and widespread destruction'.Those targeted included anti-Hamas activists and members of Israel-backed clans and armed groups that emerged in areas where Hamas's grip weakened during the war, which has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry.The UN report cites executions recorded on video, including one of three blindfolded men who were shot by masked men outside Shifa Hospital in September 2025 before a crowd.It describes another public execution a month later, when eight men were dragged into a public square in Gaza City and shot. Both groups were accused of being spies, traitors and collaborators, according to the report.The instances, the commission said, 'amount to the war crime of murder and to a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security and the right to a fair trial'. Speaking to the spectators, one of the gunmen describes the blindfolded men as 'collaborators who betrayed their homeland and extended a hand to the occupation to kill their people' A crowd can be heard chanting 'Allahu Akbar' as hundreds gathered to witness and film the public execution in a town squareOthers, including children, targeted with beatings and forms of public shaming were accused of theft, drug trafficking or illegally selling tobacco.Witnesses also told the commission that the punishments were carried out in hospital compounds, including the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.However, it concluded that activities documented - which do not target Israel - do not forfeit hospitals' protection under international law. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using schools, hospitals and mosques to stage operations.The report is the latest from the world body, which last year accused Israel of committing genocide, using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza and of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, allegations that Israel strenuously denies.Israel has repeatedly accused the UN rights office of anti-Israel bias.The UN report also criticised a growing wave of violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, saying it 'functions as a means of implementing Israeli state policy, with both the state and violent settler groups working toward the same strategic objectives: entrenchment of Israeli settlements, annexation of Palestinian territory and displacement of Palestinians from their land'.Israel's Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions about the allegations.Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, 1,098 Palestinians - including at least 240 children - have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to UN figures.Amid the violence, Bedouin communities in rural areas have been driven from their land as new Israeli outposts have sprung up and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pro-settler government has moved to legalise others.