“We’ve Become Addicted to Explosions” The IDF Unit Responsible for Demolishing Homes Across Gaza - bellingcat
▻https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/04/29/weve-become-addicted-to-explosions-the-idf-unit-responsible-for-demolish
The constant repetition of images of destruction inside Gaza, where entire neighbourhoods have been turned into rubble, can result in desensitisation about the impact of the offensive.
Yet behind each ruined building, each demolished minaret, each pile of rubble, there is a decision and an action which has been carried out by a specific unit or person.
We used social media to track a single IDF combat engineering battalion, 8219 Commando, as they moved across Gaza, demolishing tunnels, houses, and mosques.
8219 Commando is a combat engineering battalion associated with 551 Commando Brigade and - as one of its members asks journalists to report - part of the 98th Division. We noticed that soldiers from 8219 openly posted about their experiences inside Gaza, providing a window into military operations that rarely opens when looking at official sources.
One member of 8219, a captain, wrote posts about his experience in the form of a war diary, noting where they were, and what they destroyed. These posts, combined with social media posts by other members of 8219, include videos, pictures and statements describing the unit’s experience of war. We geolocated each video or image of a demolition, verifying exactly where it took place. We then used satellite imagery from Planet Labs to determine when the demolition had occurred.
We used all these sources to build up a picture of where 8219 went, what it demolished and why.
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We asked Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on adequate housing and the Professor of Law and Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about the demolitions carried out by 8219 Commando. He told us that these demolitions were relevant to the ICJ case on genocide, supporting South Africa’s case that Israel was, in effect, rendering Gaza uninhabitable. He noted that even if it was not possible to establish genocidal intent, widespread destruction rendering a place uninhabitable could still amount to a crime against humanity.
Further, he noted that the “buffer zone” being cleared by the IDF along the border with Gaza doesn’t fit the definition of such zones within the Geneva Conventions and is effectively a “land-grab” taking approximately 16% of Gaza’s land.
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We asked the IDF about each one of these incidents. They did not respond to specific questions nor did they provide evidence showing why the buildings we highlighted were demolished. They told us the IDF is “destroying terror infrastructures” embedded in civilian areas and said that in certain cases large parts of neighbourhoods are converted into combat complexes. They said the IDF is operating in the Gaza Strip to prevent Hamas activity threatening Israeli citizens and implementing a defence plan to improve security in southern Israel. IDF actions are based on military necessity and in accordance with international law, they said.
“There is no IDF doctrine that aims [at] causing maximal damage to civilian infrastructure regardless of military necessity,” they said. Adding that exceptional incidents occurring during the war will be examined by the General Staff’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism. “The IDF addresses exceptional incidents that deviate from the order and expected values of IDF soldiers by examining such events and implementing command and disciplinary measures as necessary.”