Younis Tirawi and Yaniv Cogan | Drop Site News
In the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump's announcement on Thursday
that both Hamas and Israel had signed off on an agreement to stop the
fighting, the Israeli military launched an arson spree, setting fire to
civilian infrastructure, including the destruction of an essential
sanitation plant in Gaza City.
The destruction of Palestinian
structures following the departure of soldiers who had used them as
temporary bases has been a hallmark of Israel's approach to Gaza for two
years. In July, Israeli reporter Yuval Abraham collected
testimonies from soldiers describing a myriad of arson methods. "Every
Arab house we entered had olive oil [...] We poured the oil on the
sofas, on anything flammable in the apartment, and then we ignited [it]
or threw in a smoke grenade. This was a common practice," one of them
described.
The agreement came after months of a concerted effort to render Gaza uninhabitable
by destroying residences and civilian infrastructure, culminating in
the ground invasion of Gaza City and the leveling of several high rises
in Gaza City. In September, Israeli government minister Gila Gamliel told
Channel 7 News, "We have already completely annihilated 75% of the
entire [Gaza] Strip. There remains 25%, which, as you know, it too...we
are now taking over [the city of] Gaza — there will be nothing left
there that would really [have] the potential to be habitable."
The scope of the arson perpetrated in Gaza City on the night of
October 9th and early morning of October 10 — Thursday night into
Friday, just after the ceasefire was agreed to but before Israel's
cabinet approved it — was broader than at any other time Drop Site has
tracked during the assault on the strip. Its perpetrators were not
confined to a single unit, nor was the burning confined to a specific
neighborhood. Drop Site News identified members of the Israeli army
originating from several different brigades, including the Golani,
Givati, Nahal Brigades, and the newly formed ultra-orthodox Hashmonaim
Brigade who posted dozens of photos and videos of buildings engulfed in
flames during their withdrawal from Gaza City to the "yellow line"
defined in the Trump agreement, still deep within Gaza's territory.
On
Sunday, an Israeli soldier from the Kfir Brigade posted a photo showing
himself standing in front of a set of burning wooden pallets. "On
Friday, just before departure. Burning food so that it won't reach the
Gazans, may their names be erased," the caption reads. The post also
includes a song called, "L'Chaim!" (Cheers!), whose music video uses footage from Gaza.
No comments:
Post a Comment