Hamas terrorists and police units in Gaza beat, maimed, and publicly executed dozens of Palestinians during the war with Israel in acts amounting to war crimes, according to a new United Nations report.

The report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment in the territory, which it said were often publicized during and after the fact to instill fear in the population. The abuses included executions, kneecappings, the breaking of bones with metal pipes and cement bricks, and beatings. Perpetrators framed the punishments as penalties for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting of humanitarian aid, theft, drug offenses, or ties to internal rivals.

The report said it specifically investigated cases involving Hamas-affiliated forces but also counted ones attributed to other armed groups, and that the punishments were carried out by Hamas’s military wing and police units rather than through courts or judges.

The report cited specific public killings. In one case in September 2025, three blindfolded men were shot by masked gunmen outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital in front of a crowd, and about a month later eight men were dragged into a public square in Gaza City and shot, with both groups accused of being spies and collaborators.

Others, including children, were beaten or publicly shamed over accusations of theft, drug trafficking, or illegally selling tobacco, and some punishments were carried out in hospital compounds, including the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

The commission said the killings amount to the war crime of murder and violate international law, including the rights to life, to liberty and security, and to a fair trial.

Of course, the UN couldn’t help itself from pinning some of the blame on Israel. The commission’s chair, Srinivasan Muralidhar, said the incidents occurred in an “environment engineered by Israel,” where Hamas-affiliated forces exploited the vacuum created by relentless Israeli attacks and widespread destruction. Among those targeted were anti-Hamas activists and members of Israel-backed clans and armed groups that emerged in areas where the group’s control had weakened during the war.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)