TEHRAN – Facing global backlash, the Israeli military has defended one of its soldiers after a video showed him boasting about killing women and children and raping Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli army officials said the interview was “unauthorized,” the soldier had been reprimanded, and military police had launched an internal investigation.
In the footage, recorded during a live session with American content creator Jeff Davidson, the soldier identified himself as a member of the Israeli army operating inside Gaza. He gestured toward the surrounding area and described widespread destruction.
“You wanna see Gaza? Do not be surprised, there is no house here. Flat, all flat,” the soldier said. When asked, “You guys flattened it?” he responded, “Oh yeah.” He also admitted, “We have killed women and children,” and added, “And by the way, do not worry…we rape them too.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli armed forces stated that commanders had reprimanded him and military police had opened a probe, insisting that the video was “unauthorized” and that the comments were made in jest.
The response, however, came only after the video spread widely on social media, intensifying international criticism of Israeli attacks across Gaza.
During the exchange, the soldier tried to justify targeting children by showing an image of a child holding a weapon, claiming he found it in a bombed home.
Davidson refuted this, stressing that children defending themselves against an invading force cannot justify their killing, and placed responsibility on the ongoing occupation of Gaza.
Human rights organizations have cited the video as further evidence of crimes against humanity during the Gaza genocide.
Previous testimonies and reports have documented sexual violence in Israeli detention facilities, including widely circulated footage from the Sde Teiman site showing Israeli personnel sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee.
The video has reinforced calls for independent international investigations into the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
In a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on March 13, 2025, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded that Israeli armed forces used sexual, reproductive, and other forms of gender‑based violence including forced public stripping, threats of rape, sexual assault and other abuses as part of operations across Gaza and the occupied territories since October 7, 2023, when the Israeli regime launched its genocidal assault on Gaza.
The commission said these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity and noted that such violence has been used “to destabilize, dominate, oppress and destroy the Palestinian people.”
Since October 7, 2023, the occupying entity has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 172,000, most of them women and children.
