Israel's Shin Bet accused of threatening Hamas members before airstrikes

Israel's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet is alleged to have called Hamas members in Gaza just before airstrikes, demanding they choose between dying alone or dying alongside their families — allegations that stir controversy amid growing international criticism of Israel's conduct in the war.

London-based Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, citing Palestinian sources, reported Thursday (local time) that at least five such incidents had occurred over the past three months. The Times of Israel also carried the report the following day.

According to the report, Muhammad Aliyan al-Bayouk, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Wednesday, received a call from a Shin Bet agent shortly before his death. Sources said the agent told al-Bayouk to go to the rooftop alone to be killed and spare his family, or remain inside the house and face the strike together with them.

Al-Bayouk went to the rooftop alone in an attempt to protect his family and was killed in the Israeli airstrike. According to relatives, an aunt who followed him to the roof trying to stop him was also seriously injured.

The Israeli military said al-Bayouk was a member of Nukhba, Hamas's elite force. However, neither the Israeli military nor Shin Bet issued an official statement on whether calls threatening family members had in fact been made.

The allegations emerged amid sustained international criticism of Israel's conduct of the war.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges including using starvation as a weapon of war and crimes against humanity. The ICC said it had reasonable grounds to believe they bore criminal responsibility. However, the issuance of an arrest warrant is not a finding of guilt.

A UN independent commission of inquiry also concluded in a report released Monday that Israeli military attacks on civilians in the West Bank, as well as torture, sexual violence and persecution, constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The commission cited the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American woman shot dead at a protest in Beita in the West Bank in September 2024, as an example of a war crime involving the deliberate targeting of an unarmed person.

According to the report, 254 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank between Oct. 7, 2023, and Sept. 30 this year — a stark contrast to the six airstrike deaths recorded from 2008 through Oct. 6, 2023.

The commission also said large-scale attacks on civilians were continuing in Gaza. Israel's government, meanwhile, has flatly denied allegations of genocide and pushed back against the UN commission's conclusions as biased.

When Navi Pillay, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who led the UN commission investigating genocide allegations against Israel in Gaza, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year, Netanyahu sharply criticized the Nobel Committee, saying it had lost its moral compass.

International humanitarian law requires parties to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to observe the principles of proportionality and precaution to prevent excessive civilian casualties. Deliberately threatening or attacking civilians could raise questions of violations of international humanitarian law. However, the facts behind the Shin Bet threat allegations have not been verified, and it is not possible to conclude they constitute war crimes at this stage.

Amid all this, Netanyahu's prospects for extending hold on power have grown uncertain following a recent Israeli general election.

In the election held Tuesday, with vote counting completed Friday, Netanyahu's camp secured 53 of the 120 Knesset seats, while the anti-Netanyahu bloc won 48. Arab parties took 19 seats.

Netanyahu's Likud party emerged as the largest party with 27 seats, while Yeshar, led by Gadi Eisenkot, won 21. Neither camp secured the 61-seat majority needed to govern. The official certification of the election results is scheduled for Wednesday.

Arab parties have emerged as a key variable in coalition talks, but negotiations are expected to be difficult. Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, said he would not cooperate with Arab parties.

With the formation of Israel's next government still uncertain, international debate over the military campaign in Gaza and the protection of civilians is expected to continue.