Al Jazeera has managed to confirm that some Palestinians who were arrested in and around Beit Lahia in northern Gaza have been released.

“The Israeli army says a few of them had surrendered but many of them were at the UN schools thinking that was a safe haven, and suddenly the army appeared and took them away,” says Alan Fisher from occupied East Jerusalem.

“Some of these men would have been interrogated by the Israeli army and also by Shin Bet, the intelligence service, and that would’ve happened either in Israel or in a special facility that has been created in Gaza.

“One person was identified by locals as a student, one man was there with his two children. Another was described as a shopkeeper with no links to Hamas. And there was a well-known local journalist among them,” Fisher added.