Hamas rejects Amnesty accusations of crimes against humanity as 'lies'
PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT Palestinian Hamas militants secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. Qatar and Egypt, guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the fragile agreement. The measures were spelt out in the US- and UN-backed peace plan that has largely halted fighting, though the warring parties have yet to agree on how to move forward from the deal's first phase. Its initial steps saw Israeli troops pull back behind a so-called "yellow line" within Gaza's borders, while Palestinian militant group Hamas released the living hostages it still held and handed over the remains of all but one of the deceased.
Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP
Hamas rejected on Thursday a report by Amnesty International that accused the Islamist movement and other armed groups of crimes against humanity during and after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
"The report's repetition of the lies and allegations promoted by the occupation government concerning rape, sexual violence, and the mistreatment of captives clearly demonstrates that the purpose of this report is incitement and distorting the image of the resistance," Hamas said in a statement, calling for the human rights organisation to retract the "flawed and unprofessional report".