Hamas members executed and maimed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza, UN report says

Hamas terrorists and police units in Gaza engaged in beatings, maiming, and public executions of dozens of Palestinians during its war with Israel, acts that amount to war crimes, a United Nations report stated Tuesday.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' report documented hundreds of extrajudicial punishments in the war-ravaged territory. These were often publicized during and after the acts to instill fear in the population. The punishments included executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks, and beatings. Perpetrators framed these as penalties for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug offenses, or affiliations with internal rivals.

The commission found that Hamas-affiliated operatives and police forces were involved in nearly one-fourth of the 249 documented cases, which resulted in 108 deaths, between August 2024 and January 2026. While the commission specifically investigated Hamas-affiliated forces, it also included cases attributed to other armed groups.

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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.

Hamas has governed Gaza for nearly two decades. Since an October ceasefire halted more than two years of full-scale war with Israel, Hamas has worked to consolidate its control over the areas it governs. The report indicates that punishments were carried out by Hamas’s military wing and police units, rather than through courts or judges. The UN commission's chair noted that these abuses occurred in an "environment engineered by Israel," where Hamas-affiliated forces exploited the vacuum created by Israeli attacks and 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. The war, according to the territory’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians. Hamas's figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel initiated its war against Hamas following the October 7, 2023, attack that killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

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Hamas-affiliated forces have exploited the vacuum created by relentless Israeli attacks and widespread destruction.