“The UN formally acknowledged that Hamas carried out executions, torture, misuse of medical facilities and abuses against women and children in Gaza”
True. A UN Commission of Inquiry report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/62/22, May 2026) documented 249 cases of executions and severe violence in Gaza (Aug 2024–Jan 2026), with Hamas-affiliated forces involved in at least 60; found that Hamas's Sahm Unit interrogated and mistreated civilians inside the Nasser Medical Complex; documented violence against children and sexual violence; and found that 11 executions amounted to the war crime of murder.
Where this claim comes from
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib — a Gaza-born, self-described "pro-Palestine, anti-Hamas" analyst — on June 10, 2026: "At long last, the UN Human Rights Council has formally acknowledged that Hamas in Gaza carried out executions, torture, improperly used medical facilities for terror purposes, and engaged in violent abuses against women and children after October 7."
What the UN report says
Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, A/HRC/62/22, dated May 8, 2026:
- Executions and violence: 249 cases of executions and severe physical violence in Gaza between August 2024 and January 2026 — at least 108 deaths and 384 injured — including executions, kneecapping and bone-breaking, framed as punishment for "collaboration," looting aid, theft or rivalry. Hamas-affiliated forces (the Qassam Brigades, the Sahm Unit, and the Rad'a Force) were involved in at least 60 incidents.
- War crimes: the public execution of 11 people on September 21 and October 13, 2025 "amounts to the war crime of murder"; five further cases amount to the war crime of torture.
- Hospitals: "the Sahm Unit of Hamas has interrogated and mistreated Palestinian civilians in the Nasser Medical Complex"; Médecins sans Frontières reported armed and masked men, arbitrary patient arrests and suspected movement of weapons in the hospital. Hamas-affiliated channels also instructed medical staff to withhold care from some victims.
- Children: boys accused of theft were subjected to extreme violence; children were spectators at 27 publicly staged punishments.
- Sexual violence: 20 cases publicized by Hamas, 11 attributed to Hamas-affiliated forces.
- October 7: the report restates the Commission's finding that at least 809 civilians were killed that day, including at least 280 women and 68 foreign nationals, and that hostages were mistreated, including with sexual violence.
Context
- The report's larger part concerns settler violence in the West Bank; the Gaza findings are a smaller section.
- On the hospital, the Commission concluded the abuses were not "acts harmful to the enemy," so Nasser Hospital did not lose its protection under international law and would not be a legitimate target.
- The Commission's chair attributed the abuses to an environment it says Israel created; that is the Commission's interpretation.
Ratings of the parts of this claim
- Executions — True (documented; war crime of murder found).
- Torture — True (war crime of torture found in five cases).
- Misuse of medical facilities — True for the Nasser Medical Complex (Sahm Unit interrogations and mistreatment).
- Abuses against women and children — True (sections on violence against children and on sexual violence).
- "Formally acknowledged" — True: an official report to the UN Human Rights Council.
Scale and intent — side by side
October 7 (Hamas): about 770–840 civilians killed in one day. Intent to kill civilians is documented — in Hamas's written orders ("kill as many people as possible"), its fighters' own footage, and its leaders' statements.
Gaza (Israel): civilian deaths in the tens of thousands over two years (the civilian share is disputed, roughly 60% to 83%). Israel's stated aim is to destroy Hamas; warnings and large aid volumes are documented, and several incidents have been acknowledged by the IDF as errors. Intent to kill civilians is alleged, and has not been established by any court.
Both facts matter, and neither cancels the other. Every party's alleged crimes, on one scale: War Crimes Ledger.
Sources & References
- › Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Jun 10, 2026: "the UN Human Rights Council has formally acknowledged that Hamas in Gaza carried out executions, torture, improperly used medical facilities…" (~93,000 views)
- › UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, report A/HRC/62/22 (dated May 8, 2026; Human Rights Council 62nd session)
- › AP via CTV: Militants and police executed and maimed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza, UN report says