GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) We still remember the myth of the “invincible army” as marketed by both Zionist and Western media, which ingrained this belief in the collective memory of Arab nations, convincing generations that they are no match for Israel and its soldiers.
This propaganda was accompanied by a misleading campaign portraying the Israeli occupation army as a “defense force” protecting a “democratic oasis” from “extremist” attacks, planting the idea of an “ethical army” in the subconscious of those influenced by such media.
However, with the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, this fabricated image of the occupation army began to fade. The myth of the invincible army was shattered by Palestinian resistance, exposing the moral degradation of the Israeli army. Soldiers recorded their sadistic actions—killing, destroying, burning, and vandalizing—motivated by revenge, boredom, or even for pleasure.
The fall of ethical standards
Israeli officials have often claimed that “our army is the most committed to ethical standards in war,” a statement contradicted by Egyptian writer Mohamed Osman Al-Ghazali, who described the occupation army as gangs turned into a regular army, an unmerciful tool of killing and theft.
In his article titled “The Most Degraded Army,” Al-Ghazali argues that the claim of ethical conduct is contradicted by the occupation army’s actions during its aggression on Gaza, which is just one chapter in its bloodstained history.
The writer provides examples of the army’s loss of ethical standards, noting that soldiers kill at will, stop people at checkpoints, and after a series of torture and humiliation, steal their gold and money. If they let them go afterward, it’s as if they are doing them a favor by leaving them alive.
The moral decline of the occupation army has reached unprecedented levels in the ongoing war in Gaza, with massacres broadcast live. The writer recounts the actions of soldiers that reflect their ethical downfall, such as an Israeli soldier bragging about a “personal victory” by stealing a woman’s necklace and another boasting about stealing watches and valuable items.
Al-Ghazali questions the ethical standards of an Israeli soldier who documents the destruction of Al-Azhar University in Gaza with his phone, sarcastically commenting, “For those wondering why there’s no education in Gaza, we bombed it with a missile.”
The writer also mentions another soldier who, while bulldozing civilian cars on the sides of the road in Beit Lahia, mockingly said, “I’ve lost count of the cars I’ve crushed.”
The desire for revenge
In a report published by the French newspaper “La Croix,” a reservist in the paratroopers’ brigade named Yuval Green testified that he was ordered to enter homes in Khan Yunis to find and destroy tunnels.
Yuval confirms that they arrived in ordinary neighborhoods and destroyed everything, often for military purposes, but sometimes out of revenge. There is a fine line between the two, as soldiers, driven by anger, destroyed and vandalized, graffiti was common, and they looted small souvenirs.
According to the report, the reservist recounted another incident where their commander ordered them to burn down a house they had stayed in for several days. When asked why, the commander replied that it was to avoid leaving behind any military equipment and to send a message to the enemy about their combat methods.
The desire for revenge and the abandonment of all ethical and religious standards is evident in the scenes of mosque bombings, especially when accompanied by hysterical laughter from the soldiers filming the destruction, revealing their sadistic nature. They target places of worship, which all heavenly and earthly principles have decreed should be protected.
This vengeful attitude is confirmed by what the Israeli army radio reported earlier from the father of two prisoners held by the resistance, who said the Israeli government is acting out of a desire for revenge, comparing it to a guerrilla war organization, adding that Netanyahu lacks the moral authority to sacrifice his sons for his political survival.
Cold-Blooded killing
Many videos show the indifference of occupation soldiers towards Palestinian lives, and what’s striking is that most of these videos were published by the soldiers themselves, either to boast among their peers or to satisfy their sadistic impulses, driving them to commit crimes against innocent civilians without any remorse.
In one video posted by occupation soldiers, a soldier fires a shell at a group of Palestinian children swimming in the sea in Gaza, and it’s clear from the footage that their actions were purely for amusement. They fired the shell and laughed, knowing it could kill innocent children whose only “crime” was swimming and enjoying the sea, dreaming of a bright future they might never see if the shell hits them.
Even animals did not escape the brutality of the occupation soldiers, who demonstrated their moral degradation by targeting innocent creatures simply for being in Gaza.
In one video posted by occupation soldiers, a soldier is seen firing an artillery shell at two horses running in Gaza, followed by a barrage of bullets, as if trying to quench their thirst for blood.
Targeting infrastructure
The Israeli aggression on Gaza was comprehensive in every sense, targeting people, trees, and stones. From the first day of the aggression, the occupation army deliberately targeted the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip.
The occupation forces targeted electricity, communication, transportation networks, and water sources, all of which are civilian facilities and not military targets. The destruction of these facilities primarily harms civilians, violating the basic human rights outlined in the 1949 Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in times of war.
The moral decline of the occupation army reached its peak in targeting the already scarce water sources in Gaza. From the first day of the aggression, the army bombed water stations and destroyed most wells in the Strip, completely wiping out those in northern Gaza, exacerbating the residents’ struggle to access water, the most essential element of life.
In a further display of moral degradation, the Israeli occupation army recently blew up the main water tank in the Canada neighborhood of Tel Sultan in Rafah. In a scene that reveals their low level of ethics and clear desire for revenge, occupation soldiers posted a video showing them rigging the tank with explosives before blowing it up completely.
It is worth noting that the water tank, known as “Canada Well,” was inaugurated in 2018 with funding from the Japanese government. It served approximately 100,000 people in Tel Sultan and the town of Rafah before the recent Israeli aggression on Gaza.
The well, with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters, was the source of drinking water for residents of the Strip who had fled to Rafah before the occupation invaded the city.
Similarly, sewage treatment plants were not spared from the occupation’s attacks. According to an investigation published by the BBC last May, four of the six sewage treatment plants, which play a crucial role in preventing the accumulation of sewage and the spread of diseases, were damaged or destroyed due to the Israeli aggression, while two other water desalination plants were shut down due to a lack of fuel or other supplies.
Regarding power lines, the Israeli aggression cut off all power supply lines, which provided 120 megawatts of electricity, in addition to the 80 megawatts produced by the Strip’s only power plant, which stopped operating due to the blockade on fuel imports, according to the Director-General of the SAHEL Municipalities Water Utility.
