On Monday, December 11, the Israeli army passed a death toll of 100 in its war in Gaza. Five reservists were killed in a school in Khan Yunis, the main town in the south of the enclave, somewhere thousands of displaced Gazans are crammed together and where infantry have been operating since early December. The incident has prompted criticism now commonplace online and on TV. Israelis are asking why these soldiers entered the building, rather than it being destroyed by shelling. The army says it is investigating this operational choice.
Never before have Israeli forces suffered such casualties in an operation in Gaza. Of the 105 soldiers killed, a quarter were killed by friendly fire and in operation-related incidents. To this must be added more than 1,600 wounded, according to figures released this week. But the death toll remains low, compared with equally unprecedented Israeli engagement on the ground.
Since the start of the ground invasion at the end of October, infantry have made slow progress. This follows indiscriminate bombardments on an unprecedented scale, causing most of the more than 18,000 Gazan deaths recorded by the Ministry of Health, under the authority of Hamas in Gaza. This figure includes 7,000 militants according to the Israeli army which is seeking to preserve its troops at all costs, in a war that involves Israeli society as never before. Particularly through the high proportion of reservists being deployed in the enclave.
The country's main TV channels are broadcasting little footage of Gaza City or the suffering of civilians filmed by local residents. But Israelis are far from being blind to operations inside Gaza. On the contrary. Since October, they have been consuming a quantity of images unprecedented in contemporary conflicts, broadcast by soldiers themselves, despite the principled ban on them using their cell phones in the enclave. They are posting photos and videos online and sending them to friends and family on messaging loops.
The army tolerates, even encourages, the broadcasting of such images. It's seeking to give public opinion the impression of an increasingly firm infantry takeover of the enclave, the demoralization of Hamas fighters and the gradual collapse of its brigade command. On Tuesday, December 12, left-wing daily Haaretz attributed management of a Telegram broadcasting channel to an army department usually in charge of operations to influence foreign opinion.
Since October, this channel has been broadcasting images of the bodies of Hamas fighters. Other images of acts of violence were filmed by soldiers themselves – including the destruction of meager food stocks in a truck and a grocery store. Some also broadcast images of the first Jewish "house of prayer" in Gaza, supposedly opened in a conquered building, feeding settler fantasies of regaining a foothold in the enclave after the 2005 withdrawal.
You have 25% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.