In interrogation, former Hamas operative says group uses Gaza civilians as human shields

The IDF releases new interrogation videos of Palestinians who were captured by troops in the Gaza Strip, detailing Hamas’s use of civilians as cover for terror.

Zahdy Ali Zahdy Shahin, identified by the IDF as a former Hamas operative, tells interrogators of the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 that “he felt we were being used as human shields.”

Shahin says he was heading from northern Gaza to the Strip’s south in a humanitarian corridor when apparent Hamas gunmen pulled him and other civilians aside and brought them to Shifa Hospital.

He says he and other civilians were on the ground floor of the hospital, and once IDF forces reached the medical center, Hamas operatives came out from tunnels and hid among the sheltering civilians.

Shahin says he even argued with one of the Hamas operatives. “I told him ‘Your place isn’t up here with the civilians, but below. Why did you come up?'”

“He started to threaten me, said when the war ends he would settle the score,” he tells the interrogator.

Another detainee, Muhammad Darwish Amara, who is identified by the IDF as a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, says Hamas fighters took over his home.

Amara says he was sheltering in a school in northern Gaza, and told his son to check their home every couple of days to ensure nobody was breaking in to steal their belongings.

Muhammad Darwish Amara, identified by the IDF as a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is seen in an interrogation video published January 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

“He entered the apartment, opened the door, and there was a mess. He looks and sees young men sleeping in my apartment,” Amara tells the Unit 504 interrogator, claiming that they were Hamas fighters.

Amara says he did not give approval for Hamas to use his home to fight against the IDF.

“We left the apartment and they took control of it. On the upper floor where my son lives… a sniper was sitting by the window, and in the other room, there were several [operatives]. He said there were more than 20 people [in the apartment], their weapons thrown on the floor,” he says.

Recalling an incident he was told, Amara tells the interrogator that a Hamas operative tried to place an explosive device a few meters away from the home of an acquaintance.

He says the homeowner saw the operative placing the bomb, “and went down and told him, how are you placing an explosive by the door.”

Amara claims the Hamas operative responded to the man saying “If this doesn’t suit you, leave, this is none of your business.”

“He told [the Hamas operative] ‘how is this not my business, these are my children, this is not OK.’ And the [Hamas operative] responded saying ‘I’ll place the explosive even if it doesn’t suit you, I’ll even place it between you and your wife,'” Amara claims, adding that the Hamas operative then shot the homeowner in the leg.