Al Jazeera documentary uses Israeli soldiers’ social media footage to accuse them of war crimes

Israeli soldiers posing for a photo on the Gaza border, February 2024

Rachel Fink reports in Haaretz 0n 6 October 2024:

Al Jazeera’s investigative unit (I-unit) has released a documentary about possible war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza during the past year, based on videos and photos posted by the soldiers themselves to their personal social media accounts.

Producers included the names and identifying information of many of the soldiers featured in the film.

The 90-minute movie, a full version of which can be found on Al Jazeera’s X channel, begins with an interview with Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa. “We live in an era of technology, and this has been described as the first livestreamed genocide in history,” she tells the camera.

I-unit’s documentary is largely based on evidence provided by IDF soldiers themselves – thousands of videos and photos posted on personal Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube accounts. For the most part, Al Jazeera reported, soldiers who posted material did so in their own names on publicly accessible platforms and often gave details of when and where the incidents depicted took place.

The majority of soldiers featured in the film are labeled with their full names, as well as which army unit and company they served in. The film also relied on teams on the ground to capture the testimony of witnesses, as well as Israeli drone footage collected by Al Jazeera Arabic.

Rodney Dixon, an international law expert featured in the film, described the evidence as “a treasure trove which you very seldom come across … something which I think prosecutors will be licking their lips at.”

The films’ researchers say that most of the material collected fell into one of three categories: wanton destruction – soldiers smashing up and destroying property and possessions; the mistreatment of detainees – prisoners stripped to their underwear, being held in uncomfortable positions, mocked for having soiled themselves, or naked and near-naked detainees, bound and blindfolded, being kicked and dragged around on the floor; and the use of human shields – soldiers forcing Palestinians to inspect buildings for booby traps and ambushes or walk in front of Israeli tanks as they rolled along.

Dixon also said that all three may be violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Al Jazeera is not the first media outlet to report on IDF soldiers filming and publicizing their own misconduct in Gaza. Throughout the current war, The New York Times, BBC, and Haaretz have all conducted their own investigations into the practice, with the IDF responding each time that they do not condone the behavior of the soldiers and vowing to open a probe into the claims.

Responding to the New York Times in February, for example, the IDF provided a written statement that said, in part, “The conduct of the force that emerges from the footage is deplorable and does not comply with the army’s orders. We are examining the circumstances.”

While many social media users praised Al Jazeera’s documentary, pro-Israel supporters criticized its producers for “doxing” the soldiers. Doxing, which is defined as the publishing of personal information that can be used to identify, locate and contact someone without their consent, is generally not illegal but can be if it leads to harassment of the subject.

In May, the Israeli government voted unanimously in favor of shutting down the broadcasting of Al Jazeera, which is Qatari-owned, in Israel due to its coverage during the Gaza war. Last month, masked Israeli troops raided Al Jazeera’s offices in the West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down for at least 45 days.

This article is reproduced in its entirety