Washington Post: ‘A farewell barrage’ Israeli Forces Document their Crimes in Gaza

The Washington Post investigation, “Revenge, Fire, and Destruction,” reported on a year of videos filmed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The investigation exposed that after their unit withdrew from northern Gaza in late 2023, reserve soldiers from Battalion 9208 of the Negev Brigade fired tank shells and machine gun fire at what had once been a residential area.

A soldier from the unit shared a four-minute video of the bombardment on Facebook. The post included the message “Goodbye” and four fire emojis.

The investigation revealed that over the past 14 months since the Israeli occupation began its invasion of Gaza, numerous videos and images have emerged showing Israeli forces destroying entire structures, including homes and schools, while also looting and setting them ablaze. Additional footage shows Israeli soldiers posing beside the bodies of the martyrs, calling for the elimination and removal of Palestinians.

The Washington Post reports that Israeli soldiers shared thousands of photos and videos from the battlefield, documenting their actions in the war and posting them on social media.

Despite orders from the Israeli military to refrain from filming and sharing “revenge” videos, such footage continued to appear online throughout the ongoing war. The archive of images and videos exposed a rare glimpse into the conduct of Israeli forces during one of the bloodiest and most devastating wars in recent history.

‘Burning and blowing up homes’

Moreover, the Washington Post looked into over 120 images and videos from the war on Gaza, released between October 2023 and October 2024, by soldiers who recorded themselves blowing up buildings or setting them on fire, or mocking Palestinians and calling for the resettlement of Gaza. 

The newspaper verified multiple videos and images showing soldiers setting fire to buildings or posing in front of burning homes, with incidents occurring from Beit Hanoun in the north to Khan Younis in the south.

The newspaper interviewed Israeli soldiers and showed them the images, with some stating that the actions depicted were carried out under direct orders. On the other hand, legal experts who reviewed the videos gathered by the newspaper asserted that the soldiers are essentially documenting evidence of potential violations of international humanitarian law.

This visual evidence aligns with testimonies from soldiers who, in separate instances, described receiving orders to burn private homes. It also matches accounts from Palestinians who returned to their neighborhoods to find their apartments had been torched.

An Israeli soldier, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from Israeli authorities, provided a detailed account of how soldiers would set fire to homes, describing this as a practice that had been happening “since the beginning” of the war.

“Every house with Hamas signs, we were told to burn,” he said. “But Hamas is the main power in Gaza. Most of the houses have the Hamas flag, a photo of Haniyeh,” he said, adding that soldiers had the “option” to burn houses displaying images of Yasser Arafat.

He mentioned that his unit set fire to at least twenty homes during his five-month deployment.