Israeli soldiers make videos mocking Islam in captured mosque

In a controversial incident, Israeli soldiers were filmed mocking Islam inside a mosque in the West Bank. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) issued an apology, stating the soldiers’ behavior contradicted the IDF’s values and promised disciplinary action.

The incident was reported amid a broader context of conflict, including Israeli military actions in Gaza and the West Bank, leading to significant Palestinian casualties and destruction of infrastructure, including mosques.

There has been international concern about the incident. Palestinian spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the soldiers’ actions and warned of a potential religious war.

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed a need for Israel to be more cautious in its military actions, particularly regarding civilian lives.

Further, Jonathan Kuttab, executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America, characterizes the intense and destructive nature of Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.

Baptist News Global reports:

Amid a war already marked by charges of genocide, Israeli soldiers were filmed mocking Islam in a mosque in the West Bank this week.

The desecration of the Muslim place of worship brought a swift apology from Israel Defense Forces in a prepared statement not attributed to anyone in particular.

“The behavior of the soldiers in the videos is serious and stands in complete opposition to the values of the IDF,” the statement said. “The soldiers will be disciplined accordingly.”

The British newspaper The Guardian published videos showing Israeli troops singing and mocking the Islamic call to prayer over the loudspeaker of a mosque Jenin, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel’s military has been waging a brutal assault on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, located on the opposite side of Israel’s territory from the West Bank. However, this week Israel has made several raids into the West Bank, killing at least 12 Palestinians, including one youth shot dead at a hospital.

That death count pales in comparison to the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli forces — 18,000 and counting — not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians facing illness and hunger as all supplies for living have been cut off.

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