Dozens of Hamas terrorists surrender to Israeli soldiers
Dozens of Hamas terrorists surrendered to Israeli forces Thursday in northern Gaza where IDF soldiers made the militants disrobe their uniforms and strip down to their underwear, according to reports.
The group of terrorists was “arrested and interrogated” after they turned themselves in after being pushed back by the advancing Israel Defense Forces amid intense fighting near Jabaliya, the Times of Israel reports.
It was estimated that more than a hundred Hamas fighters turned themselves in, the largest group to surrender to the IDF since Israel began its incursion into the Palestinian enclave.
Images of the surrender featured dozens of men sitting in rows with their hands over their heads. Many of the men were without their battle fatigues as the IDF troops lined up others to proceed farther down the closed-off road.
In one clip, the Hamas members could be seen in the back of an Israeli military vehicle.
Israel’s Kan News, however, reported that the group of men were detained before the IDF could verify whether they were all in fact members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed the arrests on Thursday and said the men were taken into custody in “centers of gravity” for the terrorist group.
“Whoever is left in those areas, they come out from tunnel shafts, and some from buildings, and we investigate who is linked to Hamas, and who isn’t. We arrest them all and interrogate them,” Hagari said during a news conference.