Hamas prosecutes gay recruits for violating ‘morality’ code: Report cites secret docs

Hamas has been prosecuted gays within its ranks in the name of morality, according to a report.

Hamas continues to enforce a ban on consensual same-sex relations and dubs the LGBTQ rights movement as a Western notion.

The New York Post has cited internal Hamas documents to report that the group prosecuted dozens of its members for homosexuality and other acts that were against its so-called morality code. The period covered by the documents is between 2012 and 2019.

Hamas, which Israel and a number of countries have designated as a terrorist organisation, has been known to harass and prosecute gays. It has dubbed homosexuality as “deviance and moral decay” in the past.

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Hamas prosecuted 96 recruits for moral crimes: Report

During 2012 and 2019, Hamas prosecuted 94 recruits in the military, intelligence, and interior ministry for the violation of its morality code, according to The Post.

Their crimes included “homosexual conversations”, “flirting with girls without a legal relationship”, and “sodomy”.

The sodomy is a reference to child rape and torture, as per the newspaper.

The complaints also included insults to God, with one complaint saying that the accused “constantly curses God” and that “information was received that he sexually harassed a young child“.

Another allegation stated: “He has romantic relationships on Facebook. He never prays. He is behaviorally and morally deviant.”

‘Deviant’ is a word, as stated before, that Hamas uses for homosexuality.

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The newspaper reported that these recruits were declared “unacceptable” to Hamas, but it is not known for sure what happened to them.

However, the newspaper indicated that it could be safely assumed that they were imprisoned if not killed as Hamas has frequently jailed people for being gay. Hamas is also known to have executed them. Even commanders from influential families are not spared as was seen in case of Mahmoud Ishtiwi.

In 2016, 34-year-old Ishtiwi, who commanded around 1,000 Hamas personnel and was in-charge of a number of tunnels, was executed by Hamas after being charged of being gay.