This image made from an undated video shared on X, shows Israeli troops trying to burn food and water supplies in the back of an abandoned truck in Gaza. AP

Several viral videos and photos of Israeli soldiers behaving in a derogatory manner in Gaza have emerged in recent days, creating a headache for the Israeli military as it faces an international outcry over its tactics and the rising civilian death toll in its punishing war against Hamas.

The Israeli army has pledged to take disciplinary action in what it says are a handful of isolated cases.

Such videos are not a new or unique phenomenon. Over the years, Israeli soldiers - and members of the US and other militaries — have been caught on camera acting inappropriately or maliciously in conflict zones. But critics say the new videos, largely shrugged off in Israel, reflect a national mood that is highly supportive of the war in Gaza, with little empathy for the plight of Gaza's civilians.

"The dehumanization from the top is very much sinking down to the soldiers,” said Dror Sadot, a spokeswoman for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which has long documented Israeli abuses against Palestinians. The videos seem to have been uploaded by soldiers themselves during their time in Gaza.

In one, soldiers ride bicycles through rubble. In another, a soldier has moved Muslim prayer rugs into a bathroom. In another, a soldier films boxes of lingerie found in a Gaza home. Yet another shows a soldier trying to set fire to food and water supplies that are scarce in Gaza.

In a photo, an Israeli soldier sits in front of a room under the graffiti "Khan Younis Rabbinical Court.” Israeli forces have battled Hamas militants in and around the southern city, where the military opened a new line of attack last week.

In another photo, a soldier poses next to words spray-painted in red on a pink building that read, "instead of erasing graffiti, let’s erase Gaza.”

A video posted by conservative Israeli media personality Yinon Magal on X, formerly Twitter, shows dozens of soldiers dancing in a circle, apparently in Gaza, and singing a song that includes the words, "Gaza we have come to conquer. … We know our slogan - there are no people who are uninvolved.”

More than 18,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory.

Associated Press