IDF investigation uncovers Hamas’s exploitation of civilians for terror

Interrogation of terrorists in an investigation by the IDF’s Unit 504 has exposed tactics used by Hamas to exploit Gazan civilians, a report by the IDF revealed.

Two terrorists from different factions within Gaza – Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad – have divulged details on Hamas threatened residents of Gaza to meet the needs of the terrorist organizations. 

Zohadi Ali Zahadi Shahin, a Hamas terrorist in their Shati Battalion, admitted during the investigation that Hamas not only stopped Gazans fleeing south towards Rafah and relocated them back north to Shifa Hospital. There, civilians were kept while Hamas terrorists waited in hiding under the hospital in tunnels.

Footage from the investigation of Zohadi Ali Zahadi Shahin. January 21, 2024. (Credit: IDF)

Shortly after realizing that the IDF would be on the hospital grounds, he said that the terrorists went to the ground floor where the civilians were being hosted. 

Entering homes without permission

Shahin spoke about Hamas terrorists would overtake civilian homes and make them their own, plant explosives next to doors in homes where small children were staying, and tell the residents that they could “leave if [you] have a problem with it.” 

Displaced Palestinians gather at Al Shifa hospital where they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, November 8, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/DOAA ROUQA)

He added that a Hamas operative threatened him and said, “If you don’t like it, I’ll put the bomb between you and your wife.”

Muhammad Darwish Amara, an Islamic Jihad operative from the group’s Gaza Brigade admitted that Hamas terrorists planted a bomb in his home, where his children were staying, to coerce him into participating in their terrorist actions. 

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Amara described the feeling of being used as human shields for Hamas’ gain.