LONDON: A video showing Israeli soldiers documenting the extensive destruction in Gaza while playing a mocking song in the background has sparked a fresh backlash on social media.
The footage is the latest in a series of incidents involving Israeli troops using platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and X to ridicule the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
The video, widely shared on Thursday, showcases the widespread destruction in a Gaza neighborhood, featuring flames, fire, and collapsed buildings, accompanied by background music with lyrics containing haunting phrases.
“When the sun comes back, there are ghosts that enter the house, there are demons that awaken, you and I are suddenly awake at night,” the song said.
Many users condemned the soldiers’ actions as “inhuman” and “cowardly,” while others urged international intervention.
Younis Tirawi, an independent journalist covering politics and security in the Palestinian territories, said that the video, along with similar versions, was uploaded directly by Israeli soldiers seeking public attention.
An Israeli publication, N12, reported earlier this month that front-line troops use their phones to record such videos, which are then shared on their personal social media accounts.
“Videos such as ‘May your village burn’ or ‘Sex on the beach of Gaza’ — two of the most notable examples — are distributed from soldiers’ TikTok accounts,” the article wrote, explaining that such attitudes “cause enormous damage in the propaganda arena abroad.”
The Thursday clip is the latest in a series of videos circulating online, inciting anger among millions of users.
In January, an IDF soldier posted a video on TikTok showing burning houses in the Al-Boreij refugee camp in Gaza, accompanied by a remix of a racist fan song associated with Beitar Jerusalem football club.
Similarly, a video showing Israeli soldiers making jokes about having sex on the beach of Gaza, while smoking a hookah and eating snacks in front of blindfolded Palestinian detainees in Jenin, resulted in their suspension.
More recently, Israeli Sgt. Noam Amar posted a video mocking Palestinians being expelled from Rafah, using a children’s song as background music.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Israeli army condemned the soldiers’ behavior, saying that it “stands in stark contrast to the values of the IDF.”
They added: “The army has acted and continues to act to identify unusual cases that deviate from what is expected of IDF soldiers. Those cases will be arbitrated, and significant command measures will be taken against the soldiers involved.”
Citing legal experts, a BBC investigation in February found that videos of Gazan detainees stripped, bound, and blindfolded, filmed and uploaded by Israeli soldiers, could potentially violate international law.
