The Gatestone Institute has published an essay by Jordanian-Palestinian writer and activist Mudar Zahran containing allegations about Hamas conduct so egregious, it is shocking even to someone who has closely followed the news this summer. Zahran claims to have used personal connections to obtain interviews with people who are too afraid to speak to western media.
In one interview, for example, Zahran quotes an anonymous medical worker he refers to as S.
“The Israeli army sends warnings to people [Gazans] to evacuate buildings before an attack. The Israelis either call or send a text message. Sometimes they call several times to make sure everyone has been evacuated. Hamas’s strict policy, though, was not to allow us to evacuate. Many people got killed, locked inside their homes by Hamas militants. Hamas’s official Al-Quds TV regularly issued warnings to Gazans not to evacuate their homes. Hamas militants would block the exits to the places residents were asked to evacuate. In the Shijaiya area, people received warnings from the Israelis and tried to evacuate the area, but Hamas militants blocked the exits and ordered people to return to their homes. Some of the people had no choice but to run towards the Israelis and ask for protection for their families. Hamas shot some of those people as they were running; the rest were forced to return to their homes and get bombed. This is how the Shijaiya massacre happened. More than 100 people were killed.”
Read the whole thing here.
Update: Varda has reminded me that the IDF made similar claims about Shuja’iya shortly after the incident there occurred. She wrote about it here.