IDF conduct and ethics under scrutiny following soldiers’ social media posts

Six months after the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the conduct and ethics of certain members of the Israeli Defense Forces are increasingly scrutinized.

Incidents ranging from pranks to potentially criminal acts are revealed to the world, often through videos that soldiers themselves have posted online, according to critics and Israeli officials.

In numerous photos and videos that have circulated since the start of the conflict and which have been republished by pro-Palestinian activists to millions of supporters, we see IDF soldiers blowing up buildings in Gaza during the fighting, waving pennies -female clothing like flags and rummage through possessions. Gazans with happy expressions.

Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian activist, claims to have seen thousands of videos of IDF soldiers behaving inappropriately. “You can see all the soldiers love their position,” Tirawi told ABC News. “

The images and videos have been condemned by activists, and military ethics experts say some of the incidents filmed and photographed show serious violations. Israeli soldiers are prohibited from bringing phones and filming military activities into Gaza.

“The photos (and) videos I saw were taken by the soldiers. So it’s not fabricated and they are wrong. Their activities there are wrong,” said Asa Kasher, a professor at the Tel Aviv University and principal author of the IDF code. of ethics.

Oren Ziv, an Israeli journalist who first reported on the videos in Israel, told ABC News that the messages were emblematic of a worrying trend within Israeli society and its military.

“Losing any moral compass and seeing Palestinians as human beings in general… is a long process that spans decades,” he said.

“Of course, after October 7, I think it is very difficult for the general Israeli public and of course for the soldiers on the front to consider them as human beings and also to differentiate between Hamas and the people who committed the October 7 massacre, then civilians who live in Gaza,” Ziv added.

US officials expressed outrage after seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed on April 2 by Israeli airstrikes.

“This week’s horrific attack on World Central Kitchen was not the first incident of its kind. It must be the last,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the attack.

Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, told ABC News that he was aware of the videos posted by the soldiers, but maintained that the army was committed to adhering to its code of ethics.

“This is the people’s army. And we follow the core, the values ​​and international law. Those who made the video, (and) not just a bragging video… will be (met) with punishment, severe punishment,” he said.

A group of Israeli soldiers are seen kneeling in what was a Gaza neighborhood before setting off explosives in a video filmed by an IDF soldier and verified by ABC News.

The soldier said he was destroying 21 houses to commemorate the deaths of 21 Israeli soldiers in a Hamas ambush in January.

Asked about the video, the Israeli military said in a statement that it “investigates events of this type as well as reports of videos uploaded to social media and addresses them with command and disciplinary measures.”

Acts of revenge and collective punishment are prohibited by international law, according to Professor Kasher.

Kasher told ABC News he was troubled by other alleged incidents by IDF members, including one in the West Bank where a soldier was filmed reciting a Jewish prayer through the speakers of a mosque that the soldiers attacked.

The Israeli army said it had discharged the soldiers seen in this video.

In another video that went viral, IDF reservist Leroi Taljaar was seen jokingly saying “everything is fine” while on duty in Gaza before IDF soldiers detonated an explosive.

Taljaar, a South African citizen, told ABC News the video was “a joke.”

“And I certainly wouldn’t put together a video where I knew innocent civilians were being killed,” he said. “My friends and I went through a very, very difficult time while we were there. And our way of overcoming that difficulty was to make a dark comedy. Maybe it was the wrong time, the right place.”

Taljaar said the IDF did not speak to him about the incident; However, South Africa has now said it will prosecute dual national soldiers like him if they try to return to the country.

Taljaar said he was not concerned about the repercussions.

“Let us first solve the problems within our country before looking at the problems of other countries,” he said. “(The South African government) is looking for trouble where it really can’t do anything anyway.”

The incidents are not limited to rank-and-file members of the IDF.

ABC News verified a video showing a drone missile hitting an empty university building in Gaza. The strike was ordered by a general who was not authorized to do so, according to authorities.

The video of the strike on the Palestinian Institution of Higher Education was posted by a soldier – which is against IDF policy.

Israeli officials say the building was used by Hamas as a weapons depot and said the general who ordered the unauthorized attack has been reprimanded.

Although tensions are high due to the violence of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which was also filmed and shared on social media, Israeli forces must adhere to their code of conduct, said Amos Yadlin, former head of IDF intelligence. ABC News.

“This is against the rules of engagement and the ethics of the IDF, and IDF commanders have a duty to ensure that this does not happen and to enforce discipline,” he said. .