Moment shirtless ‘Hamas fighters lay down their guns & put their hands up as they surrender to Israeli forces in Gaza’
SHOCKING new video appears to show shirtless Hamas fighters surrendering to Israeli forces amid continued fighting in Gaza.
The clip shows a group of men stripped to their underwear, holding guns and ID cards above their heads before piling them together on the ground.
Fighting has intensified in Gaza over recent days as Israeli forces round up more terror suspects in the war-torn enclave.
The IDF have vowed to interrogate anyone who surrenders with links to Hamas, but have yet to reveal how many militants have been captured so far.
Th chilling video, released by Israeli media, shows dozens of captured, near-naked men next to a military tank.
As they wave what appears to be ID cards above their heads, a voice can be heard giving commands over a loudspeaker from behind the camera.
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One man holding a rifle above his head walks gingerly towards a pile of weapons and surrenders his own as the man, possibly an IDF soldier, shouts “Slowly, slowly.”
He has been described by the Times of Israel as an “apparent Hamas operative”.
Israel has not confirmed whether the men in the clip are Hamas terrorits, but government spokesperson Eylon Levy has said “increasing numbers” of Hamas fighters are surrendering.
It claims fighters have been turning themselves in close to the heavily bombed Shajaiya and Jabaliya neighbourhoods in northern Gaza.
And desperate Palestinian residents are reportedly turning on Hamas, slamming the leader dubbed “Gaza’s Bin Laden” as having “killed his own people”.
IDF forces have said they are closing in on the terror chief Yahya Sinwar, who they believe is holed up underground in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Sinwar, 61, is understood to be the “mastermind” behind the October 7 attacks, which saw the terror group slaughter 1,200 men, women, and children.
In a tell-all interview with The Sun, IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said he is “at the top” of their “kill list”.
Israeli PM Netanyahu said on Sunday that it is now the “beginning of the end” for Hamas.
He said: “I say to the Hamas terrorists – it’s over. Don’t die for [Yahya] Sinwar. Surrender now.
“In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces. They are laying down their weapons and handing themselves over to our heroic fighters.”
Just days ago further chilling footage appeared to show over 100 Hamas terror suspects forced to sit in the middle of the street, stripped, bound and blindfolded.
In the background of the video, Israeli officers can be seen holding large weapons and keeping a close eye on the men – believed to be mainly Palestinians.
Hamas claimed they were unarmed, innocent civilians but this has not been verified.
Israeli troops had rounded up the men to check if any of them had links to Hamas before taking them to an unknown location, according to The New Arab.
As campaigners and relatives of the trapped Israeli hostages beg for their release, Hamas has vowed that none will leave Gaza alive unless their demands are met.
And the terror group even vowed to carry out “additional terror attacks” against Israeli civilians according to the US Institute for the Study of War.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, said on Sunday: “Neither the fascist enemy and its arrogant leadership, nor its supporters can take their prisoners alive without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance.”
Palestinian civilians have been left fleeing for their lives as Israel continues its attempts to destroy Hamas after the terror group massacred 1,200 civilians on October 7.
Families living in Gaza are once again caught in the brutal crossfire following the temporary ceasefire, with regular accusations that the terrorists are attempting to use them as “human shields”.
Much of the northern part of the strip has been turned into a devastated war zone – with ruined buildings, dwindling supplies and horrific suffering for Gaza’s people.
The Red Cross estimates that over 1.5 million civilians have been forced to flee south amid the Israeli onslaught from land, air and sea.
Figures for the death toll remain unverified – but Hamas’ health officials claim more than 18,000 civilians, including more than 4,500 children have been killed.
Israel disputes these figures – and US President Joe Biden said he had “no confidence” in them.
But Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israel has “not been successful” in reducing civilian casualties.
He said the deaths must be blamed on Hamas – not Israel.
And as the horror continues there have been growing calls for a humanitarian ceasefire to stop the bloodshed.
International aid agency Oxfam has described the situation there as “apocalyptic” as half of the population starves.