Israeli soldiers proudly film deliberate destruction of Gaza gift shop and food aid

Videos of Israeli soldiers destroying shops and food supplies in Gaza have gone viral as Israel continues its indiscriminate bombardment and destructive ground invasion across the besieged Palestinian enclave.

In a widely shared video, an Israeli soldier can be seen laughing as he smashes toys, ornaments and other items in a ruined shop in the Jabalia Refugee camp north of Gaza city, according to recently shared footage.

Israeli airstrikes on the camp have killed dozens of civilians and forced the remaining residents to flee their homes.

Israeli soldiers vandalize a gift shop in #Gaza after destroying the area and killing or expelling residents pic.twitter.com/Dunu2cQxXL

— Palestine Now (@PalestineNW) December 8, 2023

Another video appears to show Israeli soldiers destroying food and water by setting fire to aid supplies on the back of a lorry in the Shejaiya area, amid the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Janine di Giovanni, the CEO of the Reckoning Project said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Israeli soldiers were "documenting their own war crimes". 

Other footage has been shared showing Israeli soldiers mistreating Palestinian detainees in Israeli captivity, including Diaa Al-Kahlout, the Gaza correspondent for The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Israeli soldiers celebrating Hanukkah by setting fire to the little food and water that’s left in Gaza, where food and water shortages are at crisis level. https://t.co/OHoYsNHj2Q

— idreesahmad.bsky.social (@im_PULSE) December 10, 2023

The footage showed dozens of Palestinian civilians stripped down to their underwear and held next to a building, with Israeli soldiers calling a prisoner over to place a gun next to a tank.

However, although the Israeli military claims that the video shows surrendered Hamas fighters, social media users have pointed out similarities to earlier footage showing dozens of civilians being detained by the Israeli military.

In a post on X, Marc Owen Jones, associate professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said the video showing a Palestinian handing over a gun to the Israeli military could have been staged to back Israeli claims the detainees were Hamas fighters.

In addition to the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed journalist, other civilians have been identified.

🧵1/ Several people have pointed out that this video posted of 'Hamas surrendering' has been staged, with several takes. The photo on the left shows a man holding a gun in his right hand. Another video shows the same man holding the gun in his left hand. #disinformation #gaza pic.twitter.com/s7ImSrKCvB

— Marc Owen Jones (@marcowenjones) December 10, 2023

Israel's indiscriminate war on Gaza have killed around 18,000 people and injured nearly 50,000 more, according to figures released by Gaza's Ministry of Health.

Writing in The LA Times Phillip Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UN's Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), accused Israel of using food, water and fuel "as weapons of war in Gaza".

He added that UNRWA's "ability to continue delivering its mandate in Gaza has become very limited".