Hamas says reports on Israel's secret detention centers ‘only scratch surface of atrocities’

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas asserted on Saturday that recent disclosures regarding Israel's secret detention facilities represent “just a fraction of the broader human rights violations Israel is perpetrating.”

In a statement, Hamas said that what CNN's report revealed “only scratches the surface of atrocities committed against Palestinian detainees."

“This investigation, in addition to the horrific testimonies narrated by recently liberated detainees from these covert holding sites, likened to human slaughterhouses exceeding the horrors of Nazism, underline the urgent need for international human rights bodies to meticulously record these atrocities,” Hamas added.

The resistance group viewed “committing such atrocities as more than just a failing of global institutions or a stain on humanity, rather it goes beyond threatening international peace by allowing these murderers and fascists to escape punishment."

Hamas stressed on its “right to hold this rogue entity accountable,” noting that “the day these criminals are held accountable for what they committed against our people and against humanity will come.”

On Friday, an investigative report by CNN revealed violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in a secret detention center in the Negev Desert.

In response, the Israeli army claimed that it “ensures appropriate behavior towards detainees.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

Nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have since been killed, and nearly 78,600 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the conflict, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi