Yosee Gamzoo Letova
A still image from a video appears to show Palestinians being held by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a stadium in northern Gaza.
CNN –
An edited video circulating on social media appears to show Palestinian men and at least two children being detained and stripped by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at a stadium in northern Gaza.
Clips in the video show in one image what appear to be two young boys stripped down to their underwear and walking with their hands raised as the IDF directs them into the stadium.
In another clip, two figures who appear to be the same young boys without clothing are seen holding their hands above their heads as they are lined up in a row with other men who appear to be teenagers and adults .
CNN cannot verify when the video was recorded. A CNN geolocation of the video shows it was filmed at Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City, where the NGO Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor says it has received reports of detentions.
CNN reached out to the IDF late Tuesday evening seeking comment on the video and the detained children, but has not yet received a response.
Hundreds of Palestinian men and boys have been arrested by Israeli forces in recent weeks. In the past, the IDF has said it stripped detainees to ensure they were not carrying explosives.
Throughout the video, men can be seen stripped down to their underwear. In some clips, prisoners sit on the floor with their hands tied behind their backs and blindfolded, standing in rows as soldiers watch and inspect them.
Excerpts from the video also show imprisoned women and other children. In one shot, three fully clothed women are seen sitting on the grass in front of a soccer goal in the stadium, blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs. An Israeli flag hangs on the soccer goal.
Sitting next to the women are blindfolded, naked Palestinian men with their hands also tied behind their backs.
Military vehicles and bulldozers can also be seen throughout the stadium in the video.
The original video was uploaded to YouTube on December 24 by Yosee Gamzoo Letova, a photographer and artist, according to his Facebook profile.
Yosee Gamzoo Letova
A still image from a video appears to show Palestinian men and at least two children being detained and stripped by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at a stadium in northern Gaza.
Yosee Gamzoo Letova
A still from a video appears to show Palestinian women and men blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs, sitting on the grass in front of a soccer goal at the stadium.
The nonprofit Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor says it has received information that the Israeli army is detaining hundreds of Palestinians from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, including dozens of women who were taken to Yarmouk Stadium.
“Palestinian men, including children as young as 10 and elderly people over 70, were forced to remove all their clothing except their underwear and line up in a humiliating manner in front of women detained at the same stadium,” the human rights organization said in a statement. The organization calls on the international community to investigate images of detention.
At least 20,915 people have died in Gaza since the war with Israel began on October 7, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. The ministry said almost 55,000 other people were injured. CNN cannot independently verify the figures released by the ministry in Gaza because access to the enclave is limited and reliable figures are difficult to confirm amid the fighting.
According to Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of the militant group's political office, Hamas will not resume negotiations with Israel “without a comprehensive cessation of aggression.”
“The Hamas leadership seeks a permanent cessation of aggression and massacres against our people. Our people want this aggression to be stopped completely and do not want to wait for a temporary or partial ceasefire for a short period of time, after which the aggression and terrorism could continue deadly,” Al-Rishq's statement said.
Israel has since vowed to continue its siege – which has included intense airstrikes and a sustained ground invasion – until Hamas is destroyed. Herzi Halevi, the IDF chief of staff, said on Tuesday that the campaign would continue for “many more months.”
“It takes place in a complex area. Therefore, the war will continue for many more months and we will act in different ways – so that the achievement is preserved over time,” Halevi said at a press conference.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.