Published: 15 April 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Poverty and unemployment in Gaza drove many young men to join ISIS; Hamas tortured and imprisoned them. One young man tells RAMI AMAN his story
IN HIS HOUSE located in the al-Junena neighbourhood of Rafah city, in the southern region of the Gaza Strip, 20-year-old Ahmed Samir (a pseudonym) talks about his wish to leave Gaza for good, because of Hamas.
Samir joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2018. He recalls when he first joined: "I couldn’t finish high school. One day I went to the mosque to pray and there I met someone affiliated with ISIS.
"He brainwashed me completely from the first meeting. We were not just friends. I used to walk with them, read for them and listen carefully to what they believe… I was unable to accept others. I was living a state of autism within my family."
What were the reasons that Samir joined Islamic State? "I had no job. I felt empty concerning my future,” he explains. “I became disillusioned. I thought the ISIS members were implementing justice and rights.”
I had no job. I became disillusioned. I thought the ISIS members were implementing justice and rights.
The increasing rates of poverty and unemployment in Gaza, which stand at 85%, according to the latest statistics from the PCBS (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics) are believed to be the reason behind the attraction of youth to ISIS. This has led to a revolution against the conditions caused by the Hamas regime.
It is not known exactly when ISIS began spreading in Gaza. However, politicians believe it began in 2015, when a video was circulated in which ISIS threatened it would expand its influence within the Gaza Strip. The ISIS group in Gaza believes Hamas does not adhere to Sharia (Islamic) law and accuses Hamas of being "infidels and apostates".
Politicians from Gaza are certain that "ISIS aims to drag Hamas into the Sinai, away from Israel, thus embarrassing Hamas in Egypt".
Hamas has officially strengthened its ties with jihadists in Gaza, since they oppose a truce with Israel, as well as Palestinian reconciliation with Fatah, supported by the US.
It is worth noting that the present-day climate Gaza, where high rates of poverty, unemployment and crime are increasing daily, has furthered these ties.
Samir was arrested three times under the pretext of being affiliated with ISIS. He talks about the torture he underwent in Hamas jails, "I was arrested when an ISIS jihadist slandered me - about my belonging to ISIS. I was tortured with the most vicious, cruelest methods".
When he was arrested, Sami had several days of torture and interrogation. "The second time they arrested me for the same pretext. I had done nothing. I was accused of belonging to ISIS," he adds.
Samir spent four years believing in the ISIS, but he repented afterwards. Nonetheless, Hamas continues their surveillance of him. When he was arrested for the second time, he spent three months in jail, which were characterised by inhumane conditions.
I was arrested and tortured, though I had repented belonging to ISIS but they continued beating me during harsh interrogations.
"I was arrested and tortured, though I had repented belonging to ISIS,” Sami says of his experience in 2019. ”I told them that I no longer belong to the group. However, they continued beating me during harsh interrogations.
"This (third) time, I admitted to doing things I had not done, so they would stop torturing me. They prevented me from sleeping for a month and they kicked and beat me, and hung me from the ceiling. They used everything.
"We are banned from having a hunger strike, by beating. Our families were not given access to visit us in jail".
Today, Samir is living in hell, since he is stuck between Hamas, which does not believe him, and the ISIS group, which is trying to convince him to rejoin.
"I no longer belong to ISIS. I want Hamas to leave me alone. I want to live a normal life with no interrogations, being chased, or tortured… sometimes I am kidnapped on the street and fiercely interrogated for no reason at all. They threaten me all the time, in case I return to the group.
"After being tortured, I begged the detective to stop kicking me, but instead, he put his shoe in my mouth," he recalls.
I want to leave Gaza because it is the sole way to end this. Otherwise, they will not leave me alone.
This is how Hamas deals with anyone who opposes its rule in Gaza. Anyone who opposes the Hamas is dealt with in a suspicious way. They are kept under tight observation, due to "security reasons".
Today, Samir is thinking about emigrating and moving to Europe to escape this suffering. "I want to leave Gaza because it is the sole way to end this. Otherwise, they will not leave me alone… They defamed my reputation, they destroyed my future. This is why I want to leave Gaza for good. I have no other real option."
The Hamas jails are filled with ISIS members from different ages. According to security sources, there are more than 300 people who have arrested for being affiliated with ISIS. They are jailed under the pretext of breaching the public security of Gaza, as well as for firing missiles against Israel. They are jailed together with people who have collaborate with Israel. They also have military courts.
Samir concludes: "I want to leave Gaza, the place of agony, poverty, unemployment and crime. I am sick with of it."
Photo: Handcuffs hang in a Hamas-run prison, 2013 (Reuters/Suhaib Salem)
