• Al Jazeera’s documentary Gaza reveals disturbing evidence of war crimes committed by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
• The film features harrowing accounts including the torture of civilians, using them as human shield, as well as AI-generated spyware to target families for annihilation.
The documentary Gaza, released yesterday, by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit, has ignited widespread discussion, trending on Twitter throughout the day. Its viral impact is undoubtedly due to Al Jazeera’s meticulous, year-long effort in assembling a compelling corpus of evidence in a coherent and chronological narrative. The documentary masterfully incorporates expert analysis to scrutinise the footage of IDF soldiers and subsequently unearths a range of war crimes employed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Richard Sanders is the man behind the filmmaking.
Al Jazeera’s team was able to identify the names, ranks, and military units of many soldiers through a detailed database they compiled of “over two and a half thousand social media accounts containing photos and videos posted by Israeli soldiers.” Human rights lawyer Rodney Dixon, who previewed the documentary, described it as “a treasure trove you very seldom come across.”
The film opens with a compelling quote from Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa:
“The West cannot hide, they cannot claim ignorance. Nobody can say they didn’t know. We live in an era of technology and this has been described as the first livestream genocide in history, and I believe that to be true.”
Since their invasion of Gaza, Israeli forces have consistently documented themselves in the act of demolishing homes and schools, as well as abusing captives in the most inhumane of manners— with photos and videos brazenly shared across social media.
The documentary exposes these acts, revealing not only war crimes but also the disturbing pride with which they are celebrated by the soldiers involved. The documentary uncovers how Israeli troops routinely disseminated footage of their abuses on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, displaying a chilling lack of accountability. These transgressions, ranging from calculated destruction and looting to the obliteration of entire neighborhoods and possible extrajudicial killings, are portrayed as being conducted with flagrant impunity.
Dixon suggested that the footage could be of significant interest to the International Criminal Court (ICC), stating that it contains material that “prosecutors will be licking their lips at.”
Shortly after October 13th, Israeli news outlet +972 reported that Israel deployed AI-generated spyware, ominously titled Where’s Daddy. This surveillance tool tracks individuals’ social meetings, social media activity, and phone locations. Once the system identifies that people are home with their families, it’s easier to kill them and strikes are launched to annihilate them together.
‘Where’s Daddy?’ The Role of AI Powered Spyware on Palestinian Civilians
This tactic is profoundly cruel and inhumane, designed to ensure that entire families are targeted and obliterated in unison.
The documentary underscores several war crimes, including the torture of civilians and the use of Palestinians as human shields. It exposes the calculated psychological warfare employed by the IDF, revealing their use of deceptive tactics to manipulate and terrorize the local population. One harrowing example is the case of Jamal, a Palestinian civilian who was brutally tortured and beaten by Israeli forces before being released with a fabricated warning, urging people to flee to safety.
Upon delivering this message, Jamal was tragically shot and killed by a sniper, as recounted by his mother.
This cruel manipulation exemplifies the IDF’s exploitation of civilians, using them as pawns in their broader campaign of terror.
In another shocking revelation, the documentary features a video uploaded by a member of Israel’s 202nd Paratroopers Battalion, showing Israeli snipers killing three unarmed Palestinian men. Retired British army general Charlie Herbert called it “extraordinary” that an Israeli soldier uploaded such footage, commenting on the apparent impunity with which these acts were committed: “There may have been legitimate targets, but it sure doesn’t look like it to me.” Regarding the demolition of buildings, Herbert remarked that the way soldiers had rigged buildings with explosives clearly indicated “there’s no current threat from those buildings.”
Al Jazeera’s on-the ground-Palestinian correspondent, Youmna El Sayed expressed a powerful sentiment in the documentary, stating:
“Even if Israel intended to cross these red lines, there was a belief that the international community would intervene and say no!”
This moment in the film stood out as particularly poignant, highlighting the deep disillusionment with the world’s inaction in the face of such barbaric transgressions.
The documentary also explores how Israeli forces destroyed the small town of Khirbet Khaza’a, across the barrier from the kibbutz of Nir Oz, which was attacked on October 7. One soldier posted a video on Facebook set to music, showing the town’s destruction, with a voiceover stating: “We went joyously to annihilate the village of the Nazis. We worked hard for two weeks. We blew up the entire village.” Soldiers also posted before-and-after images of the destruction on social media.
In a separate video on Instagram, soldiers shared a post featuring the message: “Mission accomplished. We… destroyed a whole village as revenge for what they did to Kibbutz Nir Oz.” According to Dixon, “It is strictly prohibited to use reprisal against the civilian population of your enemy.” Bill Van Esveld, a children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, further explained that such large-scale destruction of civilian property is prohibited under both the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the ICC.
The documentary also includes a disturbing account from Fadi Bakr, a former detainee held at the Sde Teiman detention camp in southern Israel. Bakr recounts witnessing Israeli soldiers orchestrating the rape of a fellow prisoner by a dog. He describes the horror: “They [Israeli forces] forced him [the Palestinian prisoner] to the ground on his belly. They tied his hands and tied his feet. There were about eight or nine soldiers. They stripped him of his underpants. A captain came and sprayed something on his backside. There was a dog there. They unleashed the dog on him. The dog raped the young man. It raped him, literally speaking. Rape.” Bakr added, “It is impossible that anyone ever heard of it or saw it, or [it] could be imagined by a human mind.”
The documentary not only highlights Israeli military actions but also suggests complicity from Western leaders. It particularly scrutinizes the role of U.S. President Joe Biden, arguing that he has been the most senior enabler of alleged Israeli criminality. It also explores potential British involvement, with a focus on RAF surveillance flights over Gaza from the Akrotiri base in Cyprus.
