Israeli forces again ordered families in the Jabalia refugee camp, the largest in Palestinian territory, to evacuate their homes, but while fleeing, at least 200 men, ranging in age and health, were detained and forced to strip to their underwear, including a father holding his young daughter.
In a photo taken Friday and shared on an Israeli Telegram channel, 3-year-old Jouri Abu Ward was pictured in a sea of half-dressed men. She and her father were restrained while fleeing to Gaza City to meet the rest of their family, CNN reported.
One of the men in the photo, Muhannah Khalaf, 27, told CNN he was stopped by Israeli soldiers while escaping through a designated safe corridor with his wife and baby. He and his family were then forced to sit and wait for hours with no access to food or water.
"We were all gathered in one place–men, women, children, and the elderly. This was at 11 a.m. After five hours, at 4 p.m., they asked the women and children to move forward and carry all (of our) bags and belongings," Khalaf told CNN via telephone.
He recounted that once women and children left, the men complied with an order to remove their clothes and "stay in just their underwear."
"We sat in the cold for several more hours and the weather was frigid. They were insulting us during that time, calling us names, laughing and taking pictures," he added.
The men were eventually screened in groups of five by the Israel Defense Forces before they were released to walk 2.6 miles to Gaza City.
Khalaf called the ordeal "terrifying and deeply saddening as we witnessed elderly men and injured individuals in distress, with no one showing them compassion or mercy."
The IDF defended its actions, telling CNN they prompt "terror suspects" to remove their clothing "to ensure that they are not concealing explosive vests or other weaponry."
This practice, however, breaks the Geneva Conventions law prohibiting acts that "outrage upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment," CNN reported. And it has been condemned by human rights organizations, including the International Red Cross, United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
"Israeli authorities have for months turned a blind eye as members of their military published dehumanizing fully or seminude images and videos of Palestinians in their custody," Balkees Jarrah, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, told CNN.
Since the IDF launched its latest ground offense in Jabalia on Oct. 5, 2024, they have targeted hospitals, schools, and homes and cut off access to food, water and medicine, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced, more than 700 dead, and at least 1,000 wounded.
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