IDF probing leaked video of soldiers appearing to discuss killing of unarmed Gazan
Military claims Al Jazeera footage of troops in Gaza City from November is edited and that Israeli forces were shot at from location where man was found
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF is investigating the circumstances of leaked footage published by Al Jazeera, in which Israeli troops are seen talking about killing an unarmed Palestinian man in Gaza City in November, the military announced Sunday.
In the graphic video, troops can be heard shouting “terrorist” while opening fire inside a building in Gaza City’s Shati camp. The clip then shows a soldier outside the building saying he opened fire at a man waving his hands in the air. Afterward, the troops re-enter the building to find the body of an elderly Palestinian.
In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF Spokespersons Unit said the video is “edited” and that troops at the time were operating under fire in the southern part of Shati camp, which it describes as a “complex area.”
“The location in question was attacked after shooting was carried out against our forces from the area,” the IDF said.
“During the search, weapons were found and shooting was carried out against an unarmed man who was suspected of being a terrorist and was moving towards the soldier who came to search the house,” the response continued.
“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” the IDF added.
At the time of the incident, the IDF had called on the Palestinian population in northern Gaza to evacuate south for their safety.
“The IDF will continue to do everything in order not to harm civilians, alongside the severe exploitation of the terrorists to shoot at our forces under the protection of civilians, women and children,” the military said.
The IDF has repeatedly accused Hamas operatives in Gaza of hiding among the Palestinian civilian population and using them as human shields.
An IDF source told the Times of Israel that “the terrorists move without weapons before and after attacking our forces, and this does not indicate that they are not terrorists.”
In January, the IDF released videos from interrogations of prisoners captured in Gaza who say that Hamas uses human shields. In the interrogations, a prisoner said that members of Hamas entered al-Shifa hospital to hide among civilians while Israeli forces searched the facility.
War broke out following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, which saw Hamas terrorists kill approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 253, while committing atrocities.
The ensuing Israeli offensive on Hamas in Gaza has killed over 31,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. These numbers cannot be independently verified and do not differentiate between civilians and Hamas terrorists. Israel says it has killed over 13,000 Hamas operatives in Gaza since the beginning of the war and 1,000 operatives inside Israel on October 7.
