Videos of Israeli soldiers reveal the truth about the genocide

One year after the start of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has released a new documentary: Investigating war crimes in Gaza, exposing Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through photos and videos shared online by Israeli soldiers last year.

Drawing on IU’s extensive database of videos, photos and social media posts, the film “exposes a range of illegal activities, from wanton destruction and looting to entire neighborhood destruction and murder.”

The documentary also tells the story of the war from the perspective of Palestinian journalists, human rights activists and Gazans, and exposes the complicity of Western governments – particularly the use of the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus for British surveillance flights over Gaza.

AlJazeera Correspondent Youma El Sayed, who lives in the Gaza Strip, narrates the documentary, directed by award-winning British filmmaker Richard Sanders.

The film shows Hamas leaders saying that Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 to alert the world to the willingness of Palestinians – particularly the people of Gaza – to wage an armed struggle against their Israeli oppressors.

The people of Gaza have suffered for decades from Israel’s violence in what it calls the world’s largest open-air prison. October 7th was a prison break. It was not a massacre as some have described it, including those on the left who have since opposed Israel’s war.

Israel did not begin its war of ethnic cleansing, genocide and destruction in Gaza as a “response” to the Hamas attack. As this documentary shows, Israel used the events of October 7 as an excuse to gain the support of the Western government and media to carry out the genocide.

The great mass of humanity knows this truth and does not support Israel’s war or the bipartisan support it receives from the United States.

As Sanders and El Sayed told Democracy now! on October 9: “The Israelis themselves told us exactly what they did and why they did it.”

Israeli government spokesmen have made it clear in media statements that Palestinians must be treated like “animals” and are “vermin” that must be eradicated.

The on-site and widely reported actions of Israeli soldiers – which were widely applauded in Israel – prove this.

To make the film, AlJazeera has collected more than 2,500 videos of Israeli soldiers. Some show soldiers shooting and killing unarmed Palestinians, confirming that this is a genocidal war against an entire people.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog recently said it was “not true” that “civilians [are] unaware, not involved. There’s a whole nation out there that’s responsible for this.”

Given Israel’s actions, does this also apply to the people of Palestine and Lebanon? Or is it a warning to the entire Arab world?

Other videos show Israeli soldiers cheering and laughing as Palestinian homes, universities, hospitals and other buildings are blown up by their artillery. They are often accompanied by music Tik Tok.

A video shot in Israel shows a soldier’s footage of burning buildings shown to crowds laughing and shouting: “Let them burn!”

Other videos show Israeli soldiers abusing prisoners, beating them, throwing them to the ground and humiliating them. Videos show groups of bare-chested prisoners kneeling or being led around. Another shows a kneeling prisoner urinating on himself while a female voice taunts him: “Oh look, he’s peeing.”

Investigating war crimes in Gaza also documents that Palestinian prisoners are tortured by IDF soldiers and children are thrown to the ground. A video shows a soldier placing his foot on a child’s head, showing the child screaming as he is dragged away.

A series of videos show soldiers wreaking havoc in homes abandoned by fleeing Palestinians. Some show soldiers throwing dishes against walls. Others show how they use large hammers to smash kitchens and tear down walls.

There are videos of soldiers rummaging through bedroom drawers in Palestinian homes looking for women’s underwear. A soldier pulls a pair of women’s underwear over his clothes and shakes his hips. Others put on bras and prance around. The videos were even posted on dating apps in Israel.

A soldier is heard saying: “Arab girls are the sexiest.”

One reason soldiers know they can create and widely distribute these dehumanizing videos without facing criticism at home is that their views are shared by the overwhelming majority of Israelis. The other is that they are consistent with the messages of the Israeli military command and government.

As El Sayed told Democracy now!: “[The soldiers] They know that by posting these videos they won’t even be judged. They show how much they dehumanize the Palestinians and how many they kill. They destroy their property. They completely torture them and dehumanize them in different ways, whether they are children, men or women. They brag about it and are very proud of their actions.”

In the days after AlJazeera When the documentary was released, there was a rush in Israel to remove the soldiers’ videos from social media.

[Watch the documentary here.]