Israel’s soldiers are openly posting footage of their war crimes. Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi has been cataloguing instances of these soldiers’ depraved self-reporting:
🧵 Exclusive on Israeli war crimes published on soldiers' social media accounts
Sergant Simha Lubling 890th battalion:
“You have to much china stuff at your kitchen. I was happy to help you residents of Khan Younes (as much as I had time to). GO SUE ME AT THE HAGUE BASTARDS” -> pic.twitter.com/whnrJcjdy2
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) May 18, 2024
The message posted above suggests two things.
The first is these soldiers understand how the world will view their despicable acts; the second is they’ve been led to believe there will be no punishment:
In a clear letter to the ICJ:
“We are really sorry for the damage we caused, it was intentional. Regarding the fire… it wasn't me, it was Platoon 2 and I was very angry at them and they promised to do it again in the future).”
Full letter:
“The Khan Younis Country Club… pic.twitter.com/TgGpkr9F3Q
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) May 18, 2024
Post war
In several of the posts Tirawi highlights, the posters are attempting to be funny:
“You work hard to take over a house” shooting at a home for fun, and then next day he publishes a video showing a D9 destroying everything. He writes: “
“AND THE NEXT DAY, A D9 COMES AND DESTROYS EVERYTHING… WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER?” -> pic.twitter.com/1LT2xYCmWM
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) May 18, 2024
A particularly disturbing video shows Israeli soldiers playing with the abandoned toys of Palestinian children:
Imagine if Hamas militants repeatedly filmed themselves playing with the toys of Israeli children they had killed, maimed, driven from their homes and traumatised.
It would be front and centre in the evidence of how monstrous they are.
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) May 18, 2024
This isn’t the first instance Tirawi has highlighted when it comes to Israeli soldiers desecrating children’s toys, as we reported in February:
I mean.. https://t.co/c9WKK6GjEL pic.twitter.com/Ydjx2pXCxv
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) February 20, 2024
Of the newer instances Tirawi has published, many depict Israeli soldiers revelling in the invasiveness of their actions:
From the same house in Khan Younis:
[graffiti] Simcha’s bed
“And of course with such warm, loving hospitality, I felt just like part of the cute family of little terrorists who cleared their house for me, so I hung up family pictures” -> pic.twitter.com/YnrVoRlQfz
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) May 18, 2024
Looting & wearing women clothes and jewelry from Khan Younis.
He writes: “Joshua also took care of the Christmas tree in Khan Yunis. Not on our righteous soldiers….Finished decorating the tree moved on to decorate me” -> pic.twitter.com/DLAPJd6mw9
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) May 18, 2024
The tribe of Amalek
Several posts refer to Palestinians as “Amaleks”:
The Amalek were a “biblical nation living near the land of Canaan”, according to the Jewish educational site Chabad.org. It goes on to write that the Amalek launched an attack on the Jewish people, and that:
The Torah lists two mitzvahs regarding Amalek:
- To obliterate the nation of Amalek (timcheh et zecher Amalek).
- To never forget the evil deeds Amalek did (zechor al tishkach).
It adds:
The command to destroy Amalek cannot be fulfilled today, since the identity of Amalek has been lost over the millennia. However, the command to “remember Amalek” still holds true in the spiritual realms.
It’s obviously disturbing that Israeli soldiers are claiming Palestinians are a people their religion commands they “obliterate”. What’s even more disturbing is the messaging comes from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself:
Netanyahu calls Palestinians the tribe of Amalek, who God ordered to be wiped out. He wants genocide. His troops execute women and children in schools.@raymo_g
pic.twitter.com/EhgBFC3XJq— Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis) May 18, 2024
As Mother Jones reported in November 2023:
There are more than 23,000 verses in the Old Testament. The ones Netanyahu turned to, as Israeli forces launched their ground invasion in Gaza, are among its most violent—and have a long history of being used by Jews on the far right to justify killing Palestinians.
As others quickly pointed out, God commands King Saul in the first Book of Samuel to kill every person in Amalek, a rival nation to ancient Israel. “This is what the Lord Almighty says,” the prophet Samuel tells Saul. “‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
The Mother Jones piece also notes:
A member of the Knesset has called for a second Nakba, in reference to the expulsion of Palestinians that Israel carried out in its 1948 war with Arab neighbors. A military spokesperson said about Israel’s initial airstrikes that “the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy.”
In the two posts below, one references the Amalek and the other references the Nakba:
Burning homes and writing Nakba 2023 on a home pic.twitter.com/nVoE4qGUki
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) May 18, 2024
There are also more posts highlighting the belief that this is a holy conquest:
I had to quote tweet this video in its own section regarding Simha Lubling from the 890th Battalion. This is directly for the ICJ.
Israeli soldiers filming themselves writing on a house in Gaza: “WE WILL BUILD FROM THE RUINS OF GAZA, OUR TEMPLE MOUNT” https://t.co/jjbUkQoTXV pic.twitter.com/Y9Xs8DJGXq
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) May 18, 2024
History
In January, a South African lawyer said the following of Israel’s genocidal push into Gaza:
South Africa’s legal team:
“This is the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in real time.”
“The world should be absolutely horrified, there is no safe space in Gaza. The world should be ashamed.”
—Irish lawyer Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh pic.twitter.com/01LukebaZt
— sarah (@sahouraxo) January 11, 2024
People are now pointing out it isn’t just the victims posting what’s happening; it’s also the perpetrators.
Israeli soldiers feel safe to broadcast these unspeakable evils because they’ve been given free reign to oppress the Palestinians by the West for decades. Younis Tirawi is tirelessly documenting what our support has led to.
Featured image via Younis Tirawi
