Social Media Is a Crime Scene — The ICC Must Act on IOF War Crimes

EDITORIAL

There was a time when perpetrators of war crimes at least felt the need to hide them. Today, war crimes are being uploaded, liked, and shared. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers are using TikTok and Instagram not just to document their actions in Gaza, but to boast about them. Entire homes reduced to rubble, civilian neighbourhoods erased, even bodies filmed and set to music — this is not “content.” It is evidence. The moral rot of this behaviour is obvious. But what is perhaps more alarming is the apparent absence of consequences.

Sali Israel Hazut is one of these soldiers. He lives in Tel Aviv, and describes himself on Facebook as self-employed in “earthworks, excavation and demolition”. 

Multiple videos show Hazut in close proximity to dead bodies. Videos dated 7 October 2024 show him in his JCB truck, while soldiers take a closer look at bodies left on a dirt track. Although it is unclear how the occupation murdered these people, Hazut can be heard laughing and joking with other criminals at the scene. The bodies are then loaded into the bucket of Hazut’s bulldozer and are then dumped on the ground, while a gathering crowd, taking photos on their phone, can be seen in the shadows.

Since October 2023, soldiers have used TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram to boast of bombings, post images of destroyed civilian homes, and even record the dead. Some of these videos are stylised, set to music, and designed to shock. They are, in effect, digital trophies of devastation. One of these soldiers is Sali Israel Hazut, an israeli from Telaviv that constantly shares Gaza videos on his social media platforms.

Social media posts from those serving in the IOF, such as Sali Israel Hazut, serve as powerful evidence because soldiers are documenting on camera what international law prohibits – the targeting of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, named for the six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza earlier this year, has been working to ensure these images are not forgotten or trivialised. The foundation recently filed a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), submitting evidence that implicates over 1,000 IOF soldiers in war crimes. The evidence includes precisely the kind of social media “content” that soldiers so casually share. Their work underlines an uncomfortable truth: what the soldiers see as entertainment may well be the strongest evidence against them.

The symbolism is powerful. Hind Rajab’s death became a symbol of Palestinian suffering, her name now attached to an institution that fights to hold perpetrators accountable. By weaponising the very content that IOF soldiers use to glorify violence, the foundation is reminding the world that accountability is possible.

But where is the political will? Western capitals, including London and Washington, remain reluctant to act. Even when British nationals are implicated — as evidence submitted to the UK’s Metropolitan Police shows — the machinery of justice stalls. Legal systems can move slowly, but political calculations move even slower, especially when allies are involved.

This leaves us with an inverted reality: Palestinians document their survival in order to be believed, while IOF soldiers document their violence in order to be celebrated. Both are uploading to the same platforms. Only one side risks being silenced.

The international community must make a choice. Either it accepts a world where war crimes are flaunted online with no repercussions, or it supports institutions like the Hind Rajab Foundation in transforming this grotesque content into the basis for justice.

The IOF soldiers posting their “war souvenirs” may think they are untouchable. But history has a way of catching up. And when it does, those same videos might play not for likes and shares, but in the chambers of a court.

©TNPP