Interrogation of militants in the Israel–Hamas war

The 2023 Israel–Hamas war led to an intensive interrogation program by Israeli intelligence agencies, particularly Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet and IDF's Unit 504, targeting captured Hamas militants. Following the surprise Hamas attack on October 7, which resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli casualties, mostly civilian, more than 600 militants were captured in Israel. Israel has claimed that the interrogation of the suspects revealed significant insights into the group's strategies, ideologies, and operational methods that played a crucial role in Israel's military response and in shaping the global understanding of the conflict.

Many news sources, which have analyzed the videos, have questioned whether the confessions were extracted under duress, while individuals and human rights organizations have raised significant alarm regarding allegations of torture and severe abuse during interrogations.

According to Israel, interrogations have revealed that Hamas commanders sanctioned attacks targeting civilians, including children, women, and the elderly, suggesting a deliberate plan to maximize civilian harm. The IDF's capture of hundreds of suspected militants in Gaza led to the establishment of an interrogation facility within the Gaza Strip.

Interrogation methods utilized by the Shin Bet and the IDF, included, based on Israeli sources, psychological engagement in adherence to Israeli law prohibiting physical coercion. Public release of interrogation videos aimed to validate Israeli military actions and counter Hamas narratives. NBC News cautioned that it is not possible to ascertain whether the statements were made under duress, while the detained suspects are waiting trial in Israel.

Background
Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group that has governed the Gaza Strip since 2006, has been engaged in a prolonged conflict with Israel. Israel, the United States, and the European Union, among others, regard Hamas as a terrorist organization. On October 7, 2023, a significant surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel marked a major escalation in the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict. According to Israel Defense Forces (IDF), an estimated 3,000 Hamas-led gunmen entered Israel during the invasion. The attack was characterized by its scale and intensity, as the militants allegedly targeted both Israeli civilians and military bases, resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people in Israel (according to Israel, mostly non-combatants), and the capture of approximately 245 military captives and civilian hostages of varying ages, who were transported into the Gaza Strip. The IDF reportedly detained 600 militants in Israel following the Hamas attack.

Interrogation of detainees captured in Israel
Interrogations of detainees captured in Israel following the October 7 attack, revealed, according to the IDF, that Hamas commanders, who also held religious authority, had sanctioned targeting civilians, including children, women, and the elderly. The IDF characterized these statements as evidence pointing to a premeditated and organized plan by Hamas to inflict maximum civilian casualties.

Account of the events and the mindset of attackers
Interrogations of the detainees, conducted primarily by Shin Bet and IDF’s Unit 504, have provided, according to Israeli defense sources, a detailed account of the events and the mindset of the attackers. One of the captured attackers, a member of Hamas's elite Nukhba commando unit, provided a description of the Kfar Aza massacre, saying that the primary mission of his group was to kill civilians rather than taking hostages. The interrogation sessions were held over four weeks, mainly in a southern Israeli prison, and concluded in early November.

During the interrogation, according to the videos released by the IDF Spokesperson unit, the detainee recounted how his group entered Kfar Aza in a jeep, blew up the gate with an explosive device, and then proceeded to attack the residents with firearms and grenades. He described entering homes and shooting at a safe room where children were crying, until no more noise was heard. The detainee acknowledged that such actions were not permitted by Muslim teachings, which do not allow the deliberate killing of children. When asked about the difference between Hamas and the Islamic State terror group, he said that in the videos he had been shown by interrogators, the actions of Hamas were comparable to those of ISIS.

In another video released by the IDF, a detainee said that a reward of $10,000 and an apartment would be given as a reward for bringing hostages back to Gaza.

Alleged military use of tunnels and medical facilities
In additional interrogation footage released by the Israeli military, another detainee, who also identified as a member of the Nukhba, explained that the military tunnels used by Hamas pass under neighborhoods and are hidden under hospitals, including al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. He stated that these sites are exploited because of the knowledge that Israel would avoid targeting them, making them safe locations for storing explosives, weapons, and other materials. Moreover, the militant claimed, in the video, that Hamas was hoarding fuel supplies, prioritizing their machinery and vehicles over distributing them to the Gazan population. Another revelation was the admission by a captured militant that Hamas uses ambulances to transport weapons and operatives across the Gaza Strip. This tactic exploits the ambulances' civilian appearance to avoid detection and bombing by Israel. Furthermore it was disclosed that Hamas's senior political and military figures were using hospitals, particularly the Shifa Hospital, as hiding spots and operational bases, exploiting the hospitals' civilian status to avoid airstrikes.

Interrogation of detainees captured in Gaza
During the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, the IDF has conducted extensive ground operations in the Gaza Strip, which they state have targeted strongholds of Hamas. During these operations, the military has reported the arrest of hundreds of additional individuals suspected of involvement with what they characterized as terrorism. These arrests have taken place across several areas described by Israeli authorities as Hamas strongholds, including Shejaiya and Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, as well as Khan Younis in the south.

The Israeli army intelligence unit has collaborated with Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, to arrest an additional 150 suspects, including known Hamas operatives from the Jabaliya area. Some suspects were interrogated in real-time by Unit 504 inside Gaza, with the IDF confirming the operation of an interrogation facility within the Gaza Strip.

Interrogation of alleged militants captured at al-Shifa Hospital
The IDF's penetration into the underground tunnel network surrounding al-Shifa hospital revealed a stockpile of weapons and led, according to Israel, to the interrogation of a captured and wounded Hamas militant on the hospital grounds by Unit 504 and Shin Bet interrogators. Orders had been given to keep some Hamas members alive for intelligence purposes, emphasizing the critical nature of the information they could provide.

The interrogation of two Hamas operatives, which was performed on the hospital grounds by Unit 504 and Shin Bet, provided further details about the Hamas operation. According to videos of the interrogation released by IDF, the operatives confessed to capturing foreign workers in Israel and using ambulances to transport them to Shifa Hospital. According to the Israeli military, their testimony, corroborated previous CCTV video evidence released by the Shin Bet, which showed hostages being brought into al-Shifa Hospital, some on foot and others with multiple wounds.

Forced confession and torture allegations
Numerous Palestinian detainees have reported torture during interrogations by Israeli forces, which has raised significant alarm among international human rights groups such as Amnesty International. One detainee told Amnesty that Israeli interrogators beat him severely, resulting in three broken ribs, and ordered Palestinian detainees to "praise Israel and curse Hamas". Dr. Shai Gortler, who studies incarceration and torture, stated that Shin Bet allows media exposure "to put forward its own narrative about its actions, torture included", among other reasons.

On October 25, the Associated Press analyzed six interrogation videos released by Israel and said the militants may have been speaking under duress. In the videos, the militants appear to be bloodied and wincing in pain. Likewise, on October 29, an article in Global News said some of the confession videos of Hamas militants could have been produced under duress. On November 14, AP News analyzed that a confession video Israel released showed the captured militant was speaking "clearly under duress".

On November 19, NBC News, which analyzed the alleged confessions of militants, stated "it is unclear whether they were speaking under duress". Shin Bet officials denied torturing militants, but Public Committee Against Torture in Israel contends the Shin Bet uses extreme heat and cold, sleep deprivation and stress positions during interrogations. NBC News noted that in one of the confession videos, the militant had blood on his shirt and bruises on his face, which Israel explained came from capture in combat.

On November 30, one Palestinian (accused by Israel to be a militant) was released as part of the prisoner exchange, said he was repeatedly asked by Israeli soldiers to make confessions with "a gun to his face".

On December 13, the New York Times reported that Israel had interrogated medical personnel in Gaza under duress. Gaza’s Ministry of Health similarly stated that Israeli interrogations of hospital staff were conducted "under duress".

The Shin Bet said they have conducted interrogations under strict legal frameworks, aiming to gather confessions and intelligence for immediate and future use. The interrogation settings, as reported, were intense, with the suspects often bound and held in improvised facilities. They cited a 1999 Israeli Supreme Court ruling that prohibited torture except for a “ticking bomb” scenario.

Public and media interaction
A significant aspect of these interrogations was the production and release of videos for public and media consumption. These videos were intended to showcase the "legitimacy" of Israeli military actions and to counter the narratives from Hamas. The materials released were truncated and did not show the complete interrogation process. However, they played a crucial role in the information war between Israel and Hamas, providing what Israel characterizes insights into the militant group's tactics and ideologies.

Shalom Ben Hanan, a veteran intelligence officer who participated in the interrogations, described the approach taken by Shin Bet. According to him, the agency's methods included both traditional interrogation techniques and efforts to psychologically engage with the suspects. The overarching goals of these interrogations were to extract confessions, gather future-use intelligence, and produce videos for international and domestic information dissemination. The interrogations involved a vetting process, selecting high-impact detainees from over 600 arrested individuals for more focused questioning.