“Looting and demolition of homes.” Hebrew media exposes the practices of the occupation army in Gaza

A prominent Israeli analyst confirmed in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that the occupation army has committed unjustified acts of looting and demolition of homes in the Gaza Strip since the start of its ground incursion, warning that these practices cause enormous harm to Israel.

Nahum Barnea, chief analyst for the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, revealed on Friday that his country's army committed unjustified acts of looting and demolition of homes in the Gaza Strip.

The prominent Israeli analyst confirmed that the practices of the occupation army are causing enormous harm to Israel and are being used against it before the International Court of Justice, before which Israel is being tried on charges of committing genocide crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza.

The writer reviewed an example of these practices in an article in the newspaper and said: “In one case, an order was issued to demolish one house in a neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip. A senior commander ordered the destruction of all the houses not because he had to, but because he could issue the demolition order.”

He added: "The decision to bomb the Legislative Council building in Gaza was not liked by the Israeli army staff. It was issued by a field commander, and had no practical justification. The damage was great."

He pointed out that the Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army, Herzi Halevy, acknowledged that looting had occurred, and said: “The Chief of Staff is keen in every visit to the field to remind the commanders and soldiers of what is not permissible, and he talks about looting, breaking discipline, and unnecessary writing on... Walls."

Barnea pointed out that “Israeli soldiers captured video clips,” which document Israeli atrocities, and could be evidence condemning Tel Aviv’s practices, noting that “an investigator in Unit 504 took a picture of himself standing over a naked detainee.”

As the prominent Israeli analyst mentioned, “an officer was filmed shouting ‘Listen to Israel’ (a Hebrew prayer) as he blew up a mosque.”

Nahum Barnea warned that the harm being caused to Israel is enormous, pointing to the use of some of these videos in the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

Tel Aviv asked the International Court of Justice to reject South Africa's request to adopt additional emergency measures to protect Palestinians in Rafah.

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice published documents revealing Israel’s request to reject South Africa’s request to adopt additional emergency measures due to its possible attack on the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

According to the documents, Israel said that the emergency measures issued three weeks ago actually cover “the situation of hostilities in Gaza as a whole, and the court must reject South Africa’s request.”

Earlier this week, South Africa asked the court to issue additional emergency measures to protect the rights of Palestinians in Rafah.

It is not yet clear when the judges will make a decision on the new request submitted by South Africa, or whether they will call for additional hearings to consider it.

On Sunday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (official) said that the Israeli occupation army had approved an operational plan to launch a ground operation in Rafah, which is the last refuge for the displaced in the stricken sector.

The Israeli announcement was met with international warnings and calls not to undertake the operation because it would have “catastrophic” consequences for about 1,400,000 Palestinians, most of whom were displaced from other areas in the Gaza Strip, for whom Rafah represented their last refuge.

Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of civilian casualties, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure.