Cnn
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A 22-year-old Palestinian was tortured and killed by Hamas activists after having publicly criticized the group and participated in rare anti-hamas demonstrations in Gaza, his family said.
Uday Rabie was taken last week by dozens of armed fighters with the Hamas military wing, the Al-Qassam brigades, in the Tal al-Hawa district of Gaza City, said his brother Hassan Rabie on Tuesday.
Hassan said his brother had altercations with group members around one month before his death and had expressed his fears that activists come for him.
Uday Rabie had also participated alongside thousands of others in anti-hamas and anti-war demonstrations that took place in the enclave earlier last week, said his brother. Rabie demonstrated in the Al-Rimal district of Gaza City, said Hassan, singing “no to Hamas” during the rally.
Last Friday, a group of armed men affiliated with the brigades of Al-Qassam then kidnapped and tortured Rabie, said Hassan. The Palestinian was removed from the street, a few days after protesting.
“They took him, they continued to torture him,” Hassan told CNN. “They then called me and said: come and get your brother.”
“He was still alive” when the activists returned him, said Hassan. Rabie only wore underwear and the fighters “tied him by the neck with a rope, and dragged him, the fighter,” added Hassan.
“They gave me and told me, according to these words: it is the fate of all those who lack respect for the al-Qassam brigades and speak badly,” said Hassan.
Hassan said he had recovered his injured brother and took him to a neighboring hospital. Shared images on social networks have shown Rabie lying on a hospital bed, covered with large cuts and bruises that extended along his arms, back and his feet. Hassan confirmed the authenticity of the video and said that the man on the bed was indeed his brother.
Rabie died shortly after being taken to the hospital, he said.
A photo shared with CNN by the family shows Rabie after his death, her strongly bruised face, with parts of her hair and a shaved eyebrow.
Hassan, 32, said the family is “safe” Rabie was killed by members of the Al-Qassam brigades, and “we have half their names”.
CNN contacted the Hamas government media office to comment. The media office has however declared that the right of Palestinians to express their opinions and to participate in peaceful demonstrations is a “legitimate right, and an essential part of the national values in which we believe and defend”, adding that the manifestations reflected “enormous pressure and the daily massacres that our people are subject”.
The brigades of al-Qassam have not yet publicly commented on the accusations.
A written statement published by Rabie’s family on Facebook said that a “group claiming to be al-Qassam brigades” kidnapped Rabie at 8:30 p.m. Friday. After hours of research from Rabie, according to the press release, his family was informed that he was in the hands of the group, who said he had to be “disciplined” to “cursed them”.
According to the press release, Rabie was “tortured in the most serious way with all kinds of net and hard objects”. He suffered “internal bleeding”, as well as several injuries to the head, in the pelvis and the back, said his family.
In the press release, Rabie’s family demanded reprisals and that Hamas brought those who killed him.
In a video that her brother said was killed about a week before his death, Rabie is seen talking about the camera: “They (Hamas) want to take me, they want to kill me … I don’t know what they want from me.”
Large demonstrations against Hamas have taken place in the north of Gaza in recent days while the Palestinians call for the end of a war during which more than 50,000 people were killed in the military campaign of Israel after an attack on October 7, 2023 in Hamas.
In a statement, the independent human rights commission, an organization of Palestinian rights established by the former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat, condemned the murder of Rabie, affirming that he considers “this crime as part of the deterioration of security chaos, the proliferation of weapons and the absence of the rule of law, by presenting a serious threat public rights and freedoms ”.