The Armored Corps soldiers blew up the reservoir with the approval of their commanders but without the OK of senior officers. One soldier posted footage on social media describing it as ‘in honor of Shabbat.’ The army will decide whether to open a formal investigation
Yaniv Kubovich. Jul 29, 2024
The Israeli army is investigating suspicions of a violation of international law by its troops who blew up a main water reservoir serving the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The reservoir, in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, was destroyed last week with the approval of the commander of the soldiers, who belong to the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps, but without the approval of senior officers from the IDF Southern Command.
One soldier posted video footage of the explosion on social media with the caption: “The destruction of Tel Sultan’s water reservoir in honor of Shabbat.” After an initial probe into the incident, the army will decide whether to refer the case for investigation by the military police.
The IDF has refused to provide a response regarding the incident, but army sources have confirmed the details.
Amid evacuations in the southern Gaza Strip, most of the residents of the Tel Sultan neighborhood had not been evacuated by the IDF. The neighborhood, in the northwestern section of Rafah, is near humanitarian areas that the army has designated as safe zones.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October, a number of video clips involving Israeli troops have been made public that have sparked outrage around the world. In May, for example, the army announced that it had opened an investigation against a soldier filmed against the backdrop of burning books at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa University. Other soldiers posted photographs and videos of themselves playing with women’s underwear in homes in the Gaza Strip.
The posts have been seen as examples of soldiers’ blatant disregard for the distress of Gaza’s civilian population. Other soldiers have posted videos, in violation of standing orders, advocating the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza. Israel withdrew its forces from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and dismantled the Jewish settlements there.