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Hamas has called on Amnesty International to withdraw a report accusing the Palestinian resistance of committing war crimes during the 7 October 2023 operation against the Gaza Division of the Israeli army, describing the findings as misleading, biased and unprofessional.
In a statement published on its official Telegram channel on Thursday, the movement said the report contained “serious inaccuracies” and relied on claims that contradict evidence documented by Palestinian, international and even Israeli human rights organisations.
Hamas rejected Amnesty’s assertion that resistance fighters were responsible for the destruction of hundreds of homes and facilities, saying multiple investigations have shown that Israeli forces destroyed large areas using tanks and air strikes. It also disputed allegations of the killing of civilians, arguing that several reports indicate many civilians were killed by Israeli fire under the so-called “Hannibal Protocol”.
The movement further condemned “Amnesty’s repetition of Israeli government claims regarding rape, sexual violence and the mistreatment of prisoners”. Hamas said these allegations had been refuted by international investigations and accused the organisation of adopting what it called the “narrative of the occupying power”.
“The report repeats unfounded accusations aimed at inciting hostility against the Palestinian resistance and distorting its image, while ignoring the documented crimes of the occupation,” the statement said.
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Hamas urged Amnesty International to retract the report and to refrain from, in its words, “colluding with attempts to demonise the Palestinian people or obscure the crimes of the occupation”, which are currently under investigation by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court on charges including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The movement also stressed that Israel has prevented international organisations, UN agencies and independent investigation teams from entering Gaza since the early days of the genocide, arguing that this blockade has obstructed fact-finding efforts and undermined the credibility of reports produced without direct access to the territory.
“Any report produced away from the scene of events, without access to witnesses and evidence, is necessarily incomplete and lacks professional integrity,” Hamas added.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. See more news at Middle East Monitor.
