As Israel faces increasing international pressure over its intensive assault on Gaza, videos have emerged that raise questions over the conduct of its troops on the ground.
One video, apparently taken by soldiers themselves over the past week, shows Israeli troops setting fire to items in what they say is a candy factory in the Gaza Strip. They joke that the fire represents “the second candle of Hanukkah,” which would date it Dec. 8.
The soldiers in the video claim the factory’s candies were intended to be given out to Palestinian children to celebrate terrorist attacks. Panning the camera, they also mention that they had found a Hamas tunnel shaft inside the building. They did not say what these claims were based on or provide evidence for them.
In another video, a soldier is seen breaking children’s toys and gifts in a store. He poses with a snow globe before smashing it on the ground, grabbing notebooks off the shelves and overturning a rack of stickers in the small room, which he laughingly describes as “Jabalia superstore,” referring to the city and refugee camp in northern Gaza.
When asked about both videos, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told NBC News that the soldiers’ behavior was “inappropriate and contrary to the values of the IDF,” and that the cases would be “reviewed and handled accordingly” adding that “the IDF condemns this type of behavior.”
The incidents may prove to be a relative footnote in a campaign in which 18,000 people have been killed and another 50,000 or so wounded, according to local officials. Israel’s military would also not be the first accused of acting in mocking, callous or malicious ways while on the battlefield, with Americans and countless others documented doing similar things.
But while the videos show just a handful of the tens of thousands of IDF troops estimated in Gaza, they nevertheless dent the image that Israel is trying to present to the world: that this is a just war against Hamas by…
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