Israeli soldier’s videos show continued demolitions in Gaza after ceasefire
Videos posted by an Israeli soldier on social media show the ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip more than 100 days after the ceasefire came into effect.
Middle East Eye reviewed three videos posted in late December by an Israeli soldier using the private Instagram account name Ariel Ashkenazi.
In a post dated 25 December, one video showed a demolition that was geolocated to Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
On 26 and 28 December, the same soldier posted additional videos showing further demolition operations.
The videos were accompanied by different captions. Two included the phrase “Aliyah Bet”, a term referring to the migration of European Jews to Palestine between 1921 and 1948.
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Another video carried the caption “the power of the Spartan”, a phrase evoking brutal strength and the elimination of enemies.
In September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel should prepare to become a “super Sparta”.
“Over the next few years, we will have no other choice. We will have to defend ourselves and know how to attack our enemies,” he said, in an apparent reference to the wars between ancient Greek city states and Persia.
The demolitions documented by Israeli soldiers have taken place on both sides of the so-called yellow line in the Gaza Strip, which was established by Israeli forces following the ceasefire in October.
The ceasefire was intended to end more than two years of genocide in Gaza, during which Israeli forces killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and destroyed nearly 90 percent of the territory’s infrastructure.
However, since the ceasefire, Israeli forces have killed at least 477 people and wounded more than 1,300 others.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israeli forces have committed at least 1,300 violations of the ceasefire.
These include around 200 incidents involving the demolition of homes and other structures, 430 cases of gunfire directed at civilians, 66 incursions into residential areas, and more than 600 strikes.
Filming war crimes
Throughout the war on Gaza, Israeli soldiers extensively filmed themselves while carrying out actions that some experts say may amount to war crimes during the ground offensive.
Some footage shows soldiers celebrating while detonating civilian buildings, including homes, universities and mosques.
Other videos show a soldier forcing bound and blindfolded prisoners to send greetings to his family and say they want to be his slaves.
Soldiers were also photographed holding stacks of money looted from Palestinian homes in Gaza, while another clip shows an Israeli army bulldozer destroying a large pile of food parcels from a humanitarian aid agency.
In a separate video, an Israeli soldier is heard singing “next year we’ll burn the school” as a school in Gaza burns in the background.
Many other clips show Israeli soldiers posing in women’s underwear taken from Palestinian homes.
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