Hamas Torturing Militants In Crackdown On “Unauthorized” Rocket Attacks Against Israel
The Palestinian militant group Hamas which governs the Gaza Strip has reportedly initiated a crackdown on Salafist fighters within its ranks who are responsible for instances of unauthorized rocket fire into Israel, which has been sporadic in the last two weeks since President Trump’s contentious recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital on December 6th.
The Times of Israel cites Hamas media statements as well as unnamed intelligence sources to report that the group has arrested a growing number of Islamist militants in recent days amidst the crackdown and further that some among them were likely tortured in an effort to clamp down on the attacks, which have invited devastating air and tank counter assaults by Israeli forces on Hamas locations.
“According to Hamas, among those arrested were operatives responsible for the recent rocket launches. It’s likely that some of these men were tortured by Hamas’ security people,” the report states. Hamas is further signaling to Egyptian intelligence and other regional Arab governments that it wishes to avoid escalation with Israel according to the report.