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A year after the launch of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has released , , that exposes Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through photos and videos shared online by Israeli soldiers over the past year.

Drawing on the IU’s extensive database of videos, photos and social media posts, the film “reveals a range of illegal activities, from wanton destruction and looting to the demolition of entire neighbourhoods and murder”.

The documentary also tells the story of the war through the eyes of Palestinian journalists, human rights workers and Gaza residents and exposes the complicity of Western governments — in particular the use of RAF base Akrotiri in Cyprus for British surveillance flights over Gaza.

Al Jazeera correspondent, Youma El Sayed, who is based in the Gaza Strip, narrates the documentary, which is directed by award-winning British filmmaker Richard Sanders.

The film includes Hamas leaders who say that Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 to bring to the attention of the world the willingness of Palestinians — especially the people of Gaza — to engage in armed combat against their Israeli oppressors.

Gazans have suffered at the hands of Israel for decades in what has been described as the world’s largest outdoor prison. October 7 was a prison break. It was not a massacre, as described by some, including those on the left who have since opposed Israel’s war.

Israel did not launch its war of ethnic cleansing, genocide and destruction in Gaza in “response” to the Hamas attack. As this documentary shows, Israel used the events of October 7 as a pretext to gain Western government and media support to carry out genocide.

The great mass of humanity knows this truth, and does not support Israel’s war or the bipartisan backing it receives from the United States.

As Sanders and El Sayed told : “The Israelis themselves were telling us precisely what they were doing and why they were doing it.”

Israeli government spokespeople have made it clear in media statements that Palestinians must be treated like “animals” and are “vermin” to be exterminated.

The actions of Israeli soldiers, recorded in the field and widely distributed — to much acclaim inside Israel — back this up.

To make the film, Al Jazeera collected more than 2500 Israeli soldiers’ videos. Some show soldiers shooting and killing unarmed Palestinians, which corroborates that it is a genocidal war against a whole people.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog recently said it is “not true” that “civilians [are] not aware, not involved. It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible.”

Given Israel’s actions, does this include the people of Palestine and Lebanon? Or is it a warning to the entire Arab world?

Other videos show Israeli soldiers cheering and laughing when Palestinian homes, universities, hospitals and other buildings are blown up by their artillery. Often they are set to music on Tik Tok.

Video taken inside Israel shows a soldier’s footage of burning buildings being shown to crowds, who laugh and shout: “Let them burn!”

Other videos show Israeli soldiers mistreating prisoners, beating them, throwing them to the ground and humiliating them. Videos show groups of bare-chested prisoners kneeling or being paraded around. Another shows a kneeling prisoner urinating on himself, while a female voice mocks him — “Oh look, he is pee-peeing”.

Investigating War Crimes in Gaza also documents Palestinian prisoners being tortured and children being thrown to the ground by IDF soldiers. One video shows a soldier with their foot on a child’s head, and shows the child screaming as they are dragged away.

A series of videos shows soldiers wreaking havoc inside homes abandoned by fleeing Palestinians. Some show soldiers throwing dishes against walls. Others show them smashing kitchens with large hammers and demolishing walls.

There are videos of soldiers rummaging through bedroom drawers in Palestinian homes, looking for female undergarments. A soldier puts on a pair of women’s underpants over his clothing and shakes his hips. Others put on bras and prance around. The videos have even been posted on dating apps in Israel.

One soldier is heard to say: “Arab girls are the sexiest.”

One reason why soldiers know they can make and widely distribute these dehumanising videos and not face criticism at home is that their sentiments are shared by the overwhelming majority of Israelis. The other is that they are in tune with the messaging by Israel’s military command and the government.

As El Sayed told Democracy Now!: “[The soldiers] know they are not even going to be condemned by posting these videos. They are showing off how much they dehumanise Palestinians, how much they kill. They destroy their properties. They completely torture them and dehumanise them in different ways, whether they’re children, they’re men, they’re women. They brag about it, and they are very proud of their doings.”

In the days after the Al Jazeera documentary was released, there was a rush to remove the soldiers’ videos from social media in Israel.

[Watch the documentary .]