Israel’s military said it has launched a probe into leaked footage which appears to show IDF troops boasting about the summary execution of an elderly man in Gaza. Tel Aviv insists the graphic video is “edited,” and claims the unarmed Palestinian was a suspected “terrorist.”
Obtained by Al Jazeera, the bodycam video reportedly shows a November IDF raid on a refugee camp in northern Gaza, an area left in ruin after months of Israeli strikes. The four-minute clip opens as an IDF unit sweeps a building in the camp, with soldiers heard calling out for “terrorists.”
When one soldier asked whether any of his fellow troops had seen a person inside, another soldier replied: “We opened the door. He fluttered – came in my direction and did like this,” proceeding to wave his arms to demonstrate while imitating the man’ cries for help.
“I killed him with four bullets,” the soldier added, going on to note the man was not armed and “hid beside his bed” before he was shot.
“You took him down? Excellent,” the first soldier is heard saying. “Respect.”
Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian journalist, posted on X footage from a body camera that seems to show the incident. Responding to questions from the Times of Israel, the Israeli military claimed the video was “edited,” though did not specify how. It added that IDF troops were under fire in the Shati refugee camp at the time the footage was captured and went on to note that the “circumstances of the incident are under investigation.”.
When the unit re-entered the building for another sweep, an elderly Palestinian man could be seen sprawled out on the floor, apparently dead from his injuries. The IDF later acknowledged he was not armed.
Al Jazeera identified the man as 73-year-old Atta Ibrahim, also reporting that the victim’s family has demanded answers about his death and place of burial.
“The location in question was attacked after shooting was carried out against our forces from the area,” the IDF continued. “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.”
Though the military maintained that it does “everything in order not to harm civilians,” the leaked video is not the first of its kind out of Gaza in recent months. In addition to countless clips showing the relentless bombing of civilian infrastructure across the territory, another disturbing video filmed in Gaza City last November appears to show the moment an Israeli sniper opened fire on a Palestinian woman fleeing the fighting. She was carrying a white flag at the time she was shot and was accompanied by a child.
This article was originally featured at Antiwar.com and is republished with permission.
