Several viral videos of Israeli soldiers behaving maliciously in Gaza have emerged in recent days, creating a headache for the Israeli military as it faces an international outcry over its tactics and the rising civilian death toll in its war against H.
Israeli soldiers rummaging through private homes in Gaza. Forces destroying plastic figurines in a toy store, or trying to burn food and water supplies in the back of an abandoned truck. Troops with their arms slung around each other, chanting racist slogans as they dance in a circle.
Several viral videos and photos of Israeli soldiers behaving in a derogatory manner in Gaza have emerged in recent days, creating a headache for the Israeli military as it faces an international outcry over its tactics and the rising civilian death toll in its punishing war against Hamas.
The Israeli army has pledged to take disciplinary action in what it says are a handful of isolated cases.
Such videos are not a new or unique phenomenon. Over the years, Israeli soldiers — and members of the U.S. and other militaries — have been caught on camera acting inappropriately or maliciously in conflict zones.
But critics say the new videos, largely shrugged off in Israel, reflect a national mood that is highly supportive of the war in Gaza, with little empathy for the plight of Gaza’s civilians.
“The dehumanization from the top is very much sinking down to the soldiers,” said Dror Sadot, a spokeswoman for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which has long documented Israeli abuses against Palestinians.
Israel has been embroiled in fierce combat in Gaza since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants raided southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 hostages.
More than 18,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory.
The videos seem to have been uploaded by soldiers themselves during their time in Gaza.
In one, soldiers ride bicycles through rubble. In another, a soldier has moved Muslim prayer rugs into a bathroom.
