Rights Group: Israeli Forces Using Armed Militias to Abduct and Terrorize Displaced Palestinians in Gaza

The Gaza Centre for Human Rights has expressed deep concern over the escalation of attacks by armed militias formed by the Israeli occupation, which provides them with protection and allows them to position themselves in areas it controls east of the Gaza Strip, where they have begun carrying out raids and abductions against civilians and displaced persons.

In a statement on Monday, the centre said that gunmen from these militias stormed a camp for displaced people near the Abu Hamid roundabout in central Khan Younis at dawn today, Monday, 2 November 2026, and abducted a number of civilians under the cover of occupation forces’ fire, in tandem with Israeli “Quadcopter” drones dropping bombs and opening fire on the area around the camp — a scene reflecting the level of coordination and support these groups receive from the occupation forces.

It explained that this attack comes within a series of similar assaults witnessed in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, characterized by infiltration into areas where residents and displaced people gather, opening fire on them, and attempting to abduct civilians, before occupation forces intervene to provide covering fire and secure the movement or withdrawal of these groups.

It noted that the most recent of these attacks was at dawn on Monday, 26 October, when a group from these militias infiltrated southern Khan Younis before being detected, and occupation aircraft intervened to strike the tents of displaced people in the regional park and the Beer 19 area of the Mawasi Khan Younis with more than one missile, in tandem with those militias and occupation forces stationed in the yellow zones southwest of the city opening fire with their weapons toward the tents.

That attack resulted in the killing of three civilians: the child Jouri Islam Mohammed al-Soufi (7 years old), Hussam Fakhri Mohammed al-Zamli (21), and Tamer Seif al-Din Mohammed Abu Snima (24). A number of other civilians were injured, including a child whose wounds were described as critical.

The centre stressed that targeting camps for displaced people, which house civilians forced to leave their homes under the weight of bombardment and destruction, constitutes a grave violation of the obligations to protect civilians under international humanitarian law and multiplies the risks they face amid the absence of safe shelter.

It expressed deep concern over the fate of the abducted civilians and the torture or cruel, humiliating or degrading treatment they may be subjected to, in the absence of any legal guarantees or independent oversight of their places of detention.

It noted that it has documented in previous testimonies brutal patterns of torture and abuse against detainees held by these militias, including physical assault, humiliation and threats, raising serious fears that the abductees in the latest incident may be subjected to similar practices.

It pointed out that video clips broadcast by members of these militias themselves raise further concerns, as they show torture and humiliation of their detainees, including people from within these groups’ own ranks, in what appears to be punishment for them when they are suspected of trying to withdraw or return to areas of the Gaza Strip.

The centre stressed that the creation of armed militias operating outside the framework of the law and enjoying the protection of the occupation force does not absolve the latter of its legal responsibilities, but rather establishes its responsibility for the acts committed by these groups given its effective control over the areas where they are stationed.

It held that the use of armed militias to pursue, abduct and terrorize residents is part of a broader pattern of coercion and violence aimed at emptying areas under Israeli control of their population, which necessitates a serious international investigation and effective legal accountability.

It held the Israeli occupation authorities responsible for the crimes and violations committed by these militias against civilians, including killing, abduction, torture and all other forms of cruel or degrading treatment, whenever these acts are proven to be linked to the support, direction or protection provided by the occupation forces, or to their failure to prevent them and hold the perpetrators accountable despite their ability to do so.

It affirmed that individual criminal responsibility remains with everyone who participates in these crimes, orders them or contributes to their commission, stressing that providing protection to armed groups or using them to carry out unlawful acts creates no immunity from accountability.

The centre demanded the immediate disclosure of the fate of all abducted civilians and their places of detention, and their release, while guaranteeing their physical and psychological safety, and called for an independent and effective investigation into the attack on the camp for displaced people in Khan Younis and into previous killings and abductions attributed to these militias, and for all those responsible to be held accountable.

It also demanded that the occupation be obliged to stop supporting, protecting and backing armed militias that target civilians, and to end their use in carrying out attacks or abductions inside the Gaza Strip.