Lawyers who spoke after the images verified and provided by the BBC stated that according to the law of war, humiliation or public display of detained people is prohibited. The BBC’s verification service, BBC Verify, identified eight detainees by watching hundreds of hours of videos shared by Israeli soldiers since November. The Israeli army stated that the contract of a soldier who shot one of the videos was terminated and that such videos do not reflect the values of the army.
The United Nations’ senior advisor to international criminal courts, Dr. Mark Ellis said these videos could constitute a violation of international rules regarding prisoners of war.
Article 31 of the Third Geneva Convention states that prisoners of war must be protected from violence, threats, humiliation or public curiosity.
HIS HANDS ARE TOLD AND STRIPPED NAKED
Lawyers say the behavior of Israeli soldiers in the video can be classified as ill-treatment. The soldiers in the videos are active duty soldiers who do not need to hide their identities.
One of these soldiers is Yossi Gamzoo Letova. He has uploaded many videos on his YouTube account since the beginning of December. The unit he is affiliated with can also be seen in the videos.
The video he shared on December 24, 2023, includes the interrogation of a Palestinian in custody, whose clothes were removed, his hands were tied, and blood was flowing from the wound on his hand. Thanks to the school’s logo appearing in the video, it was determined that this was the Gaza College building in the north of Gaza. In the rest of the video, the detained Palestinian is seen walking barefoot on a street.
Making a statement on the issue, the Israeli army stated that the video was taken during interrogation, the Palestinian person was not injured, and the contract of the soldier who published the images was terminated.
VIDEOS REMOVED
In another video shared by Letova, hundreds of detained Palestinians are seen being taken to a stadium. It was determined that the stadium was the Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza.
In the video, most of the detainees are stripped of their clothes until only their underwear remains. Some were blindfolded and forced to kneel on the ground. In the stadium, an Israeli flag was hung over the goal, where a group, including three women, were kneeling. An Israeli soldier who enters the frame more than once seems aware that he is withdrawing. From the markings on his uniform, it appears that he is a lieutenant colonel or battalion commander.
Both videos, shared on Letova’s YouTube account, were deleted shortly after the BBC contacted the Israeli army.
TIKTOK VIDEOS
Two videos uploaded to TikTok by another Israeli soldier include Palestinians blindfolded and detained. Armed Israeli soldiers pose next to these people.
A Hebrew rap song is in the background of a video shared on December 14.
It was determined that the name of the Israeli soldier posing with his thumb up in the video was Ilya Blank.
In another video he shared, a man who is blindfolded and laid on the ground is surrounded by people who appear to be Israeli soldiers.
We determined that some of the photos used in his videos were taken in the north of Gaza.
After we contacted the Israeli army and TikTok, the videos were removed.
THERE MAY BE A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
UN advisor Dr. Mark Ellis says that prisoners of war should not be humiliated, humiliated and the public should not be intrigued by them:
“Making people walk in their underwear and filming it is absolutely a violation of this rule.
“Current rules do not allow any of this.”
Prof., who helped prepare the Israeli army’s code of ethics. Asa Kasher states that these images are also against the Israeli army’s own rules.
Kasher says that a detained person’s clothes can be removed for a short time to see if he has a weapon on him, and emphasizes that there is no justification for these moments to be recorded on video and shared with the public:
“They left them half naked to humiliate them.”
Human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield also states that this video should be examined by a United Nations court:
“There are very strict rules about how prisoners of war should be treated during hostilities. “You have to respect them.”
TikTok, to which we sent six of the videos, said they violated the platform’s rules.
TikTok stated that they do not tolerate content that “seeks to humiliate victims of violent tragedies.”
These videos were later removed from the platform.
A YouTube spokesperson stated that since October 7, they have removed tens of thousands of harmful videos, closed thousands of accounts, and have teams that monitor uploaded content.
