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Promising "exclusive content from the Gaza Strip," a Telegram channel reportedly operated by a unit of the Israel Defense Forces regularly posts grotesque videos and images that depict the killing and mutilation of Palestinians—often accompanied by celebratory captions and emojis.
Citing an unnamed senior military official, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Tuesday that the channel—titled "72 Virgins — Uncensored"—is run by the IDF Operations Directorate's Influencing Department, which is tasked with carrying out psychological warfare initiatives.
"The Israel Defense Forces denies that it operates the channel, but a senior military official confirmed to Haaretz that the army is responsible for operating it," reported the newspaper, which published screenshots of some of the content that has appeared on the channel since its launch on October 9—two days after the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
(Warning: The images that follow are disturbing)
One image shows what appears to be two Israeli soldiers dragging a dead body with the caption, "Who wants to buy a mop made by Hamas?"
Other screengrabs published by Haaretz show bodies described in the caption as "dead Hamas terrorists."
Haaretz also pointed to an October 11 post on the channel that read: "Burning their mother... You won't believe the video we got! You can hear the crunch of their bones. We'll upload it right away, get ready." Other images of Palestinians on the channel were captioned "exterminating the roaches" and "exterminating the Hamas rats."
The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill called the images and accompanying messages "deeply, deeply sick" and noted that "there are similar channels run by Israelis that have much larger followings than the IDF one."
"I scanned through the postings of this sadistic IDF-run Telegram channel and it is utterly sickening," Scahill wrote on social media.
Jeet Heer, national affairs columnist for The Nation, likened the Telegram images to the appalling photos that emerged nearly two decades ago from the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq—"but on a far larger scale."
"This will be Biden's legacy," Heer wrote.
The Haaretz report comes amid mounting outrage over the Israeli military's mass detention, torture, and murder of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.
In recent days, photos have circulated on social media showing shirtless, blindfolded men kneeling outside under the watch of armed Israeli soldiers. The IDF claimed without evidence that the detainees in the photos were known or suspected Hamas fighters, but CNN spoke to relatives who said that "at least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups."
Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said the photos show "a form of inhumane treatment that amounts to a war crime."
"Perpetrators should be held to account," he added.
"Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions."
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based nonprofit, said over the weekend that it collected testimony from Gazans indicating that Israeli soldiers are "reenacting the same crimes committed by Zionist gangs during the 1948 Nakba, which resulted in the collective displacement of Palestinians."
"These crimes include premeditated murder, setting fire to Palestinian homes and properties, torture, and insulting and humiliating detained civilians," the organization said. "According to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor from several detainees who were newly released, the Israeli forces took the detainees from their homes, stripped them naked, and attacked them with machine guns, electric cables, and cold water."
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan, and Al-Haq said Monday that they obtained similar accounts from eyewitnesses of Israeli soldiers' actions in the Gaza Strip.
"Israeli authorities have been conducting mass arrest operations for several days, particularly in northern Gaza, arresting Palestinians from their homes or UNRWA schools," the groups said. "Subsequently, they force them to undress, stand in lines, and sit half-naked in the streets. Enduring cruel, inhuman treatment and torture. They are then transported, stacked in trucks, to unknown locations."
"Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions," they added. "Israel's attempts to portray them as militants poses a threat to their lives, and rights."
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Promising "exclusive content from the Gaza Strip," a Telegram channel reportedly operated by a unit of the Israel Defense Forces regularly posts grotesque videos and images that depict the killing and mutilation of Palestinians—often accompanied by celebratory captions and emojis.
Citing an unnamed senior military official, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Tuesday that the channel—titled "72 Virgins — Uncensored"—is run by the IDF Operations Directorate's Influencing Department, which is tasked with carrying out psychological warfare initiatives.
"The Israel Defense Forces denies that it operates the channel, but a senior military official confirmed to Haaretz that the army is responsible for operating it," reported the newspaper, which published screenshots of some of the content that has appeared on the channel since its launch on October 9—two days after the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
(Warning: The images that follow are disturbing)
One image shows what appears to be two Israeli soldiers dragging a dead body with the caption, "Who wants to buy a mop made by Hamas?"
Other screengrabs published by Haaretz show bodies described in the caption as "dead Hamas terrorists."
Haaretz also pointed to an October 11 post on the channel that read: "Burning their mother... You won't believe the video we got! You can hear the crunch of their bones. We'll upload it right away, get ready." Other images of Palestinians on the channel were captioned "exterminating the roaches" and "exterminating the Hamas rats."
The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill called the images and accompanying messages "deeply, deeply sick" and noted that "there are similar channels run by Israelis that have much larger followings than the IDF one."
"I scanned through the postings of this sadistic IDF-run Telegram channel and it is utterly sickening," Scahill wrote on social media.
Jeet Heer, national affairs columnist for The Nation, likened the Telegram images to the appalling photos that emerged nearly two decades ago from the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq—"but on a far larger scale."
"This will be Biden's legacy," Heer wrote.
The Haaretz report comes amid mounting outrage over the Israeli military's mass detention, torture, and murder of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.
In recent days, photos have circulated on social media showing shirtless, blindfolded men kneeling outside under the watch of armed Israeli soldiers. The IDF claimed without evidence that the detainees in the photos were known or suspected Hamas fighters, but CNN spoke to relatives who said that "at least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups."
Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said the photos show "a form of inhumane treatment that amounts to a war crime."
"Perpetrators should be held to account," he added.
"Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions."
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based nonprofit, said over the weekend that it collected testimony from Gazans indicating that Israeli soldiers are "reenacting the same crimes committed by Zionist gangs during the 1948 Nakba, which resulted in the collective displacement of Palestinians."
"These crimes include premeditated murder, setting fire to Palestinian homes and properties, torture, and insulting and humiliating detained civilians," the organization said. "According to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor from several detainees who were newly released, the Israeli forces took the detainees from their homes, stripped them naked, and attacked them with machine guns, electric cables, and cold water."
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan, and Al-Haq said Monday that they obtained similar accounts from eyewitnesses of Israeli soldiers' actions in the Gaza Strip.
"Israeli authorities have been conducting mass arrest operations for several days, particularly in northern Gaza, arresting Palestinians from their homes or UNRWA schools," the groups said. "Subsequently, they force them to undress, stand in lines, and sit half-naked in the streets. Enduring cruel, inhuman treatment and torture. They are then transported, stacked in trucks, to unknown locations."
"Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions," they added. "Israel's attempts to portray them as militants poses a threat to their lives, and rights."
Promising "exclusive content from the Gaza Strip," a Telegram channel reportedly operated by a unit of the Israel Defense Forces regularly posts grotesque videos and images that depict the killing and mutilation of Palestinians—often accompanied by celebratory captions and emojis.
Citing an unnamed senior military official, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Tuesday that the channel—titled "72 Virgins — Uncensored"—is run by the IDF Operations Directorate's Influencing Department, which is tasked with carrying out psychological warfare initiatives.
"The Israel Defense Forces denies that it operates the channel, but a senior military official confirmed to Haaretz that the army is responsible for operating it," reported the newspaper, which published screenshots of some of the content that has appeared on the channel since its launch on October 9—two days after the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
(Warning: The images that follow are disturbing)
One image shows what appears to be two Israeli soldiers dragging a dead body with the caption, "Who wants to buy a mop made by Hamas?"
Other screengrabs published by Haaretz show bodies described in the caption as "dead Hamas terrorists."
Haaretz also pointed to an October 11 post on the channel that read: "Burning their mother... You won't believe the video we got! You can hear the crunch of their bones. We'll upload it right away, get ready." Other images of Palestinians on the channel were captioned "exterminating the roaches" and "exterminating the Hamas rats."
The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill called the images and accompanying messages "deeply, deeply sick" and noted that "there are similar channels run by Israelis that have much larger followings than the IDF one."
"I scanned through the postings of this sadistic IDF-run Telegram channel and it is utterly sickening," Scahill wrote on social media.
Jeet Heer, national affairs columnist for The Nation, likened the Telegram images to the appalling photos that emerged nearly two decades ago from the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq—"but on a far larger scale."
"This will be Biden's legacy," Heer wrote.
The Haaretz report comes amid mounting outrage over the Israeli military's mass detention, torture, and murder of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.
In recent days, photos have circulated on social media showing shirtless, blindfolded men kneeling outside under the watch of armed Israeli soldiers. The IDF claimed without evidence that the detainees in the photos were known or suspected Hamas fighters, but CNN spoke to relatives who said that "at least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups."
Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said the photos show "a form of inhumane treatment that amounts to a war crime."
"Perpetrators should be held to account," he added.
"Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions."
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based nonprofit, said over the weekend that it collected testimony from Gazans indicating that Israeli soldiers are "reenacting the same crimes committed by Zionist gangs during the 1948 Nakba, which resulted in the collective displacement of Palestinians."
"These crimes include premeditated murder, setting fire to Palestinian homes and properties, torture, and insulting and humiliating detained civilians," the organization said. "According to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor from several detainees who were newly released, the Israeli forces took the detainees from their homes, stripped them naked, and attacked them with machine guns, electric cables, and cold water."
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan, and Al-Haq said Monday that they obtained similar accounts from eyewitnesses of Israeli soldiers' actions in the Gaza Strip.
"Israeli authorities have been conducting mass arrest operations for several days, particularly in northern Gaza, arresting Palestinians from their homes or UNRWA schools," the groups said. "Subsequently, they force them to undress, stand in lines, and sit half-naked in the streets. Enduring cruel, inhuman treatment and torture. They are then transported, stacked in trucks, to unknown locations."
"Our organizations strongly condemn the acts of torture against Palestinian detainees, including their humiliation through forced nudity and the dissemination of their images while in degrading positions and conditions," they added. "Israel's attempts to portray them as militants poses a threat to their lives, and rights."