IDF Asking Soldiers Who Fought in Gaza to Avoid Travel Abroad

Photo Credit: IDF

IDF soldiers in Gaza.

Officers and enlisted men who fought in Gaza and recently intended to go abroad were required by the IDF to refrain from doing so, Ynet reported on Wednesday. The soldiers are ordered to remove documentation of the fighting from social media, and not to upload new photos and videos of themselves. Apparently, Pro-Hamas organizations have prepared blacklists based on online posts. At least eight vacationing IDF reservists have been ordered to leave immediately their destinations in Cyprus, Slovenia, and the Netherlands, and dozens of lawyers have been hired abroad to manage their defense.

The local lawyers work in dozens of countries around the world, monitoring changes in legislation and case law regarding Israel and local martial law; monitoring local activity taking shape against Israeli military and state officials; and, if necessary, also representing and defending soldiers and officers captured in a given country.

The IDF estimates that the decision of the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will provide a boost to arrests and other criminal proceedings around the world, including against senior army officers and reserve soldiers who fought in the Gaza Strip. Some of them have been ordered in recent weeks to immediately leave countries they had visited, for fear of criminal proceedings against them.

פיצוץ בית המשפט בעזה pic.twitter.com/YlopCI7VLg

— אריאל עידן (@Arielidan20) December 4, 2023

The IDF recently identified some 30 cases in which complaints were filed and criminal proceedings were initiated against IDF officers and soldiers who participated in the fighting in the Gaza Strip and were planning to go abroad. They were warned to avoid doing so for fear of being arrested or questioned in the country they wanted to visit.

Pro-Hamas groups have prepared blacklists which are kept in organized files by activists operating mainly in Europe – but the data are spread across a network of representatives around the world.

They follow the Israeli fighters’ posts on social media, hoping to catch a story from their vacation in Western Europe, North America, or Southeast Asia. As soon as such a story emerges, a complaint is filed against them with the local prosecutor’s office, or a personal petition is filed against them with the court in that country, to launch their investigation and delay their departure from the country.

פיצוץ בית ספר עם פירי מנהרות טרור בעזה ? pic.twitter.com/9rppcT9lhD

— יענקי ניוז | Yanki News (@yankicoen) December 12, 2023

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that in the 14 months since Israel’s military incursion into Gaza, a steady stream of videos and photographs has documented the destruction of entire buildings, including homes and schools, as well as instances of looting and arson attributed to Israeli forces. Some images show soldiers posing beside the lifeless bodies of Arabs, accompanied by calls for expulsion and extermination. These visuals frequently convey a response to the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023, the deadliest day in Israel’s history. That assault, marked by brutal killings of Israeli civilians, was itself publicized in videos shared by Hamas, underscoring the harrowing cycle of violence.

Israeli soldiers have uploaded thousands of photos and videos from the battlefield, documenting their actions during the ongoing conflict and sharing them widely on social media. Despite orders from the IDF prohibiting the filming and posting of “revenge” videos, such footage has continued to surface online throughout the war. The result is an extensive and unsettling archive, offering an unusually candid and troubling glimpse into the conduct of some Israeli military personnel during one of the deadliest and most devastating conflicts in recent memory.