Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers fighting in Gaza have not been shy about posting videos
on social media gleefully documenting their wanton destruction of buildings and
humiliation of Palestinian detainees. Some of these clips were even exhibited
in South Africa’s presentation at the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) last
month as evidence of genocide. But there is another war crime being readily
documented by IOF soldiers that has garnered less attention and condemnation
despite its prevalence: looting.
اضافة اعلان
In November, the
Palestinian singer Hamada Nasrallah was shocked to discover a TikTok of a
soldier playing the guitar his father had bought him 15 years earlier. Other
recent videos uploaded to social media show IOF soldiers boasting about finding
wristwatches, unboxing someone’s collection of soccer shirts, and stealing
rugs, groceries, and jewelry.
In a Facebook group
for Israeli women comprising nearly 100,000 users, someone wondered what to do
with the “gifts from Gaza” that her partner, a soldier, had brought back for
her. Sharing a photo of cosmetic products, she wrote, “Everything is sealed except
for one product. Would you use these? And does someone know the products, or
are they only in Gaza?”
“More than an open secret, the phenomenon has been widely and uncritically reported in the Israeli media”
Indeed, since the
start of Israel’s ground invasion in late October 2023,
IOF soldiers have been
taking whatever they can get their hands on from the homes of Palestinians who
have been forced to flee. More than an open secret, the phenomenon has been widely
and uncritically reported in the Israeli media, while rabbis from the Religious
Zionist movement have been answering soldiers’ questions about what is
permissible to loot according to Jewish law.
Soldiers who returned
from fighting in Gaza confirmed to +972 Magazine and Local Call that the
phenomenon is ubiquitous and that, for the most part, their commanders are
allowing it to happen. “People took things; mugs, books, each one the souvenir
that does it for him,” said one soldier, who admitted that he himself took a
“souvenir” from one of the medical centers that the IOF occupied.
Another soldier, who
served in northern and
central Gaza, testified that soldiers “took rugs,
blankets, [and] kitchen utensils” and explained that there was no briefing on
the matter from the army either before entering or while in the field. “There
was zero talk about it from the commanders,” he said. “Everyone knows that
people are taking things. It is considered funny; people say: ‘Send me to The
Hague.’ It does not happen in secret. The commanders saw, everyone knows, and
no one seems to care.”
The soldier offered
his explanation for why the phenomenon is so widespread, “There is something
about this reality in which the house is already [in ruins] that allows you to
take a plate or rug. In one of the operations, in a destroyed house, there was
a cupboard with antique kitchen utensils, special plates, and special mugs. I
saw them being looted, unfortunately.”
“[The commanders] did
not really talk to us about it,” another soldier testified. “They did not say
you could not take things. And most people felt the need to take a souvenir.”
The soldier noted that
the looting was no secret; indeed, some of their seniors were doing it too.
“The company sergeant major distributed Qur’an study books that he found and
gave to whoever wanted them,” he said. “Another soldier took a set of coffee mugs,
a serving tray, and a pot. Another unit, whom we met after they returned from a
tour, brought a motorcycle, like the Nukhba [Hamas special forces] motorcycles.
One of the soldiers declared that it was his. They [the soldiers] talked about
renovating it.”
“Everyone knows that people are taking things. It is considered funny; people say: ‘Send me to The Hague.’ It does not happen in secret. The commanders saw, everyone knows, and no one seems to care”
Another soldier who
served in Gaza told +972 and Local Call that soldiers took “prayer beads,
spoons, glasses, coffee pots, jewelry, rings. Whatever is easy and accessible
is taken. Not everything, but people felt like the lords of the land.” He noted
also that “maps from children’s textbooks were taken to show how they are
taught there.”
In contrast to the
others who testified, this soldier said it was clear to him that looting was
forbidden. “In my experience, of course, it is a big no-no,” he explained.
“They emphasized this issue, but no one supervises the reservists. The most
common thing [to steal] is ‘local souvenirs’ [i.e. quintessentially Palestinian
or Arab items]. Once, they kicked out a soldier who stole money.”
The soldier added that
he and his team tried, with varying degrees of success, to persuade other
soldiers to leave behind the items they had stolen in Gaza. “They [soldiers]
would come back with things; we told them it was better to leave them [inside
the Strip, near the fence], it is better to throw them away than to take them.”
‘From the ruins of Khan Younis, in the classic Gazan
style’
In a communique this
week to commanders in charge of units fighting in Gaza, IOF Chief of Staff
Herzi Halevi urged soldiers “not to take anything that is not ours.” But this
letter comes after several months in which looting has become completely
routine.
So normalized is the
phenomenon that in a recent segment on Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan,
soldiers presented reporter Uri Levy with a mirror they had brought back from
Gaza. “From the ruins of Khan Younis, in the classic Gazan style,” Levy jokes,
without asking the soldiers where they found the mirror or why they stole it.
In a column on Ynet, Nahum Barnea quotes a soldier who said he saw the looting
of “phones, vacuum cleaners, motorcycles, and bicycles.”
“There is a particular unit in the IOF dedicated to seizing money and other property found on the battlefield. So far, it is known that the military has seized tens of millions of shekels from Gaza, which it claims belonged to Hamas.”
Channel 13 also
reported on the phenomenon earlier this month. Rather than condemning it, the
presenters simply noted that the videos are being shared worldwide to “shame”
IOF soldiers. The segment also included an interview with the soldier who
filmed himself with the wristwatches he found inside a Palestinian home, who
claims that he did not steal them, “They see me holding watches, not looting,
nothing … My intention was to show that the Hamas leadership lives there at a
high level.”
Another sign of how
widespread the phenomenon has become is the fact that rabbis from the Religious
Zionist movement have been receiving questions from soldiers on the issue. In a
Q&A uploaded to YouTube, Rabbi Yitzchak Sheilat of the Ma’ale Adumim Yeshiva
in the occupied West Bank noted that looting is forbidden.
“This is a very
serious issue, in two respects: in terms of halacha [Jewish law] and military
law,” he said. “Halacha permits looting only food or perishable things from the
enemy … taking objects is strictly prohibited. According to halacha, all the
spoils must go to the king, that is, the army commander … It would be a shame
for someone to be caught and have to pay a heavy price.”
One of the IOF
soldiers asked the rabbi if it is permissible to take things from a house
before it is demolished. “It is forbidden to take things,” Sheilat answered.
“If you take something, it must be handed over to the chief of staff.” “And if
a commander approves taking things for the company?” a soldier asked. “No, that
is exactly the problem, that there are commanders who do not know military law
or do not want to know, and suddenly they allow guys [to do] things they should
not allow,” Sheilat replied.
However, Rabbi Shmuel
Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of the northern city of Safed, offered a different
perspective on the issue in a Q&A of his own. He explained that because the
“Arabs in Gaza do not observe international conventions, we are not obliged to
abide by any of the rules of war. Nonetheless, we are very careful because we
want to preserve the image of God within us.”
It should be noted
that in addition to the “independent” looting by soldiers, there is a
particular unit in the IOF dedicated to seizing money and other property found
on the battlefield. So far, it is known that the military has seized tens of
millions of shekels from Gaza, which it claims belonged to Hamas.
‘And you shall eat the riches of all the nations’
“Alongside the looting of Palestinians’ belongings, IOF soldiers are also routinely eating the food they find in Gaza’s abandoned homes.”
Alongside the looting
of Palestinians’ belongings, IOF soldiers are also routinely eating the food they
find in Gaza’s abandoned homes. “After two or three weeks, soldiers use
whatever they find, clean it, and disinfect it,” a soldier told +972 and Local
Call — though, according to him, soldiers are not supposed to use food found in
Palestinian homes in case it is contaminated. Others said that no precise
instructions were given regarding how to behave while staying in houses, many
of which are set on fire or blown up by the army once they are no longer in
use.
In a recent Haaretz
article, IOF soldiers described their “experiences” of cooking in Palestinian
homes using the ingredients they found there. “Gazan cuisine, from what we have
seen, is full of spices,” one soldier said in the article. “In every house, you
will find a lot of ras al-hanout style mixes. There are also plenty of lentils,
so at first, we made a lot of stews …. Every house we stayed in had olives that
[Palestinians] make, which we tasted … Olive oil is also present in every home,
in gallons, and it helps a lot to upgrade any food. They also have a great
spicy sauce.
“Sometimes you
encounter special things; suddenly there is garlic, and then you go all out on
pasta with tomatoes and garlic,” the soldier continued. “I also came across
this carob sauce that we added to the porridge, and it was excellent.”
Last month, a letter
published by the military rabbinate detailed instructions on how to keep kosher
when using food and utensils found in homes in Gaza. The letter, signed by
Rabbi Avishai Peretz, ends with the biblical directive, “And you shall eat the
riches of all the nations.”
Rabbi Sheilat also
addressed the issue of whether it is permissible to eat food found in
Palestinian homes in his Q&A. “With regard to non-kosher foods, there is a
difference between what happens when you find food in enemy homes, where the
law is that if you find food that you do not have, and you want that food, even
if it is not essential, say sweets … it is permitted to eat them without
worrying whether it is kosher or not.”
In a statement to +972
and Local Call, the IOF spokesperson said: “The IOF views with severity any
case in which soldiers act contrary to the spirit of the IOF, including cases
of unlawful taking of property. IOF commanders in various units conduct an ongoing
dialogue on the subject throughout the fighting. Every report received on the
subject is examined and dealt with individually. In relevant cases, an
investigation is opened by the military police, and in some cases, suspects are
detained for interrogation purposes. The IOF operates in accordance with
international law and will continue to do so.”
Oren Ziv is a photojournalist,
reporter for Local Call, and a founding member of the Activestills photography
collective.
This essay was published first by
+972 Magazine on February 20, 2024.
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