Gaza /PNN /

At least 100 Palestinian men detained by Israeli forces have been stripped to their underwear, blindfolded and made to kneel on a street in northern Gaza, according to images and videos widely circulated on social media and confirmed by the Israeli army.

The men were shown with their heads bowed as they were guarded by Israeli troops in the undated video that first surfaced on Thursday, which has drawn condemnation.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said on Friday that the images echoed the history of the region, where stripped men are taken to unknown locations.

Many of the detainees were recognised by members of the community and family.

“Some say one was a student, one ran the local store and another one had no connection with ‘terrorism’ as he lived in an apartment block. … A number of people identified a well-known local journalist among those who were arrested,” according to Fisher, who added that one man was with his two children and all three of them were rounded up.

Shawan Jabarin, director of the Al-Haq human rights organisation, said he was “shocked” to see images that reminded him of the treatment of detainees and prisoners of war during World War II.

“This [is] inhuman, it amounts to torture and more than that, it’s a war crime and a crime against humanity,” he told Al Jazeera.

Israeli media reported that some of the images appeared to show suspected Hamas fighters who had surrendered to Israeli forces.