A storm of reactions on social media platforms has been sparked by videos broadcast by Israeli television networks, showing dozens of Palestinian prisoners in only their underwear and blindfolded.

Among those arrested was the correspondent of the Arabic service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed of The New Arab network, Dia al-Kahlut, who was recognized in the images by his colleagues and relatives.

The news site, based in London, said in a post on Platform X (formerly Twitter) that “the Israeli occupation army arrested dozens of Gazans, including The New Arab correspondent” in the Palestinian enclave.

In a report in the English-language edition of The New Arab, it is underlined that the journalist is one of the dozens who were “captured by the Israeli army in Gaza and forced to strip.” They were then subjected to physical checks and “humiliated, before being taken to an unknown location,” according to eyewitnesses, the report said.

Rami Abdou, president of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Watch, an NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland, says in a post on Platform X that he identified the journalist, as well as a school principal and a UN official.

In videos and photos broadcast this afternoon by Israeli television and which have since gone viral on social networks, men can be seen squatting, with their heads bowed, wearing only their underwear.

Asked about this, the spokesman for the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) Daniel Hagari, said this evening that in the area “terrorists are going in and out of tunnels and houses”. “We are investigating and verifying who is connected to Hamas and who is not,” he said, adding that Israeli soldiers were rooting out “terrorists who are still hiding in tunnels, like the cowards.”

According to experts of the French News Agency (AFP) who analyzed the images, the video in question was allegedly taken in the area of ​​Beit Lahia in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv had earlier reported that the captives are Hamas fighters who were captured by Israeli soldiers in Gaza City.