Israeli soldiers are leaving Google reviews for Lebanese places they destroyed
Israeli soldiers have been leaving Google reviews for places in southern Lebanon that they have invaded, joking about the destruction they have caused.
“No mosque, only rubble and a blocked tunnel entrance. I went for nothing. Do not recommend,” Gabi Weisskopf wrote about the Ahel al-Quran Mosque near the town of Yarine.
Another review, posted by Elad Biton, bragged about allegedly burning down Mays al-Jabal’s public hospital.
“Just disappointing, it said that it opens in the morning, we arrived and it was closed! Gall!” Biton said. “Really bad service. There are no good conditions for staying. But other than that, there was (a lot) [of fire].”
Since Israel’s war on Gaza broke out a year ago, Israeli soldiers have flooded social media with disturbing content, revelling in the wanton destruction of Palestinian communities.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Soldiers posted footage of themselves on TikTok, Instagram and elsewhere happily looting people’s homes, wearing women’s lingerie and celebrating blowing up residential buildings.
The trend continued in Lebanon, where soldiers have filmed themselves stealing people’s money and IDs, playing on their pianos and detonating entire towns.
On Google, one soldier posted a picture of an Israeli tank placed in a gym in Ramya.
“The gym itself is quite a high quality, but there is a terrible synergy between the Merkavas [tanks] and the tunnels, like, both facilities exist in the gym, but the tunnels are way too small to use the Merkava in them, I know it’s not a big deal but with oversight like this I can’t bring myself to rate this 5 stars,” wrote a user named Tomer8009, who gave the gym four stars.
Another reviewer, Doron Blumshtein, mockingly reviewed a camping cabin close to Lebanon’s border with Israel.
“Thank you for the donation. The soldiers had a great time. It’s a shame there are many rats and there is no water in the pool and all the windows are broken,” he wrote.
Amichai Eldar, meanwhile, posted a review for a restaurant in Aitaroun saying: "delicious food. Explosion atmosphere".
Legal experts have previously warned that videos posted by Israeli soldiers could breach international law, and an Al Jazeera documentary revealed that their TikToks could amount to war crimes.
Israel’s war on Lebanon has killed more than 3,000 people since clashes with Hezbollah first started on 8 October 2023.
Most of those deaths occurred after Israel launched its widespread bombing campaign on the country in September, followed by a ground invasion in October.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.