Watan-The systematic looting of Palestinian properties in Gaza by Israeli occupation soldiers has become a routine matter, with the stolen items ranging from carpets, cosmetics, motorcycles, gold, mobile phones, laptops, to even children’s toys, as acknowledged by an Israeli magazine.
Magazine 972 pointed out that Israeli soldiers, who committed crimes against Gaza’s children and women, shamelessly shared videos on social media happily documenting their brutal destruction of buildings, humiliation of Palestinian detainees, and thefts that spared nothing.
Some of these videos were presented as evidence in a lawsuit filed by South Africa in front of the International Court of Justice last month as proof of genocide.
A comprehensive journalistic report by Magazine 972 revealed that Palestinian singer “Hammad Nasrallah” was shocked in November when he discovered a TikTok video of a soldier playing a guitar that was stolen 15 years ago from Nasrallah’s family home in the northern Gaza Strip, which they were forced to leave due to Israeli airstrikes.
Other videos uploaded on social media in recent months show Israeli soldiers boasting about finding wristwatches, someone’s football jerseys, carpets, and jewelry.
Female Israeli soldiers brag about the thefts
In a Facebook group for Israeli women with nearly 100,000 users, one woman wondered what to do with the “gifts” brought to her by her partner, a soldier from Gaza.
One of these women shamelessly posted a picture of cosmetics and wrote: “Everything is sealed except for one product. Will you use this? Does anyone know the products or are they only available in Gaza?”
According to the report, since the start of the Israeli ground invasion in late October, Israeli soldiers have been taking anything they can from the homes of Palestinians they forced to evacuate.
The source also mentioned that this phenomenon was not hidden; it was widely reported, without criticism, in the Israeli media.
Rabbis from the Zionist religious movement would answer soldiers’ questions about what is permissible to loot according to Jewish law.
Soldiers who returned from fighting in Gaza told the magazine that this phenomenon was widespread and their leaders mostly allowed it to happen.
Souvenir gift!
One soldier, who admitted to taking a “souvenir” from a medical center occupied by the army, said: “People took things—cups, books, each one of them is a souvenir for him.”
Another soldier, who served in the north and center of Gaza, recounted how soldiers “took carpets, blankets, kitchen utensils,” and claimed there was no instruction from the army regarding this matter before or during their presence in the field.
He added: “There was no talk about it from the leaders.” “Everyone knows people take things.” He continued: “The leaders saw it, everyone knows, and no one seems to care.”
Another soldier said that “the leaders” didn’t really talk to us about this issue. “They didn’t say you can’t take things. And most people felt the need to take a souvenir.”
Children’s maps
The spread videos showed Israeli occupation soldiers looting a variety of items, including coffee cups, serving trays, prayer beads, spoons, cups, coffee pots, jewelry, and rings – anything easy to access was taken.
Even maps were stolen from children’s schoolbooks to illustrate how they were taught, but the magazine claimed that the Israeli army chief of staff, Hertzi Halevi, told soldiers this week not to take anything that doesn’t belong to them.
However, this message comes after several months during which looting operations have become entirely routine. Channel 13 also reported on this phenomenon earlier this month.
Instead of condemning it, program hosts simply pointed out that the videos were shared worldwide to “expose” Israeli soldiers.
Special unit for looting
It is worth noting that in addition to the “independent” looting operations carried out by soldiers, there is a special unit in the Israeli army dedicated to seizing money and other properties found on the battlefield.
It is known so far that the army seized tens of millions of shekels from Gaza, claiming they belong to Hamas, as happened in the Palestine Bank two weeks ago.
The Hebrew newspaper “Maariv” reported at the time that Israeli occupation forces seized hundreds of millions of shekels from the Palestine Bank in Gaza, intended for the Palestinian Authority, estimated at 200 million shekels ($54.3 million).
The source mentioned that the Israeli army forces worked on looting the money found in the bank’s vaults, and the soldiers themselves loaded it onto “Brinks” vehicles used for transporting money.
-
-
-
-
-
-
