[News] Israeli Soldiers Torched Food, Homes, and a Critical Sewage Treatment Plant in the Wake of Ceasefire Announcement

Anti-Imperialist News news at freedomarchives.org
Sun Oct 12 12:20:50 EDT 2025


Israeli Soldiers Torched Food, Homes, and a Critical Sewage Treatment 
Plant in the Wake of Ceasefire Announcement
Soldiers called the mass arson of Gaza City their “final touches.”
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  Israeli Soldiers Torched Food, Homes, and a Critical Sewage Treatment
  Plant in the Wake of Ceasefire Announcement
  <https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2510348&post_id=175949772&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=lvppb&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozNjc1MTU4MywicG9zdF9pZCI6MTc1OTQ5NzcyLCJpYXQiOjE3NjAyNzk2MTIsImV4cCI6MTc2Mjg3MTYxMiwiaXNzIjoicHViLTI1MTAzNDgiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.vOVJuc-3hH0NjaAKyhiL5DJ3HHtTiPxjdJdLVpYHcJw>


      Soldiers called the mass arson of Gaza City their “final touches.”

Younis Tirawi <https://substack.com/@ytirawi> and Yaniv Cogan 
<https://substack.com/@yanivcogan>

Oct 12, 2025

	
<https://substack.com/@ytirawi> 		<https://substack.com/@yanivcogan>

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<https://substack.com/redirect/6e9972f0-6569-45b5-98b0-f486c1fa5b4c?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM> 
	

Israeli soldiers burn a home in Gaza City on the night of October 9. 
Source: social media. Faces obscured by Drop Site.

In the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump’s announcement on Thursday 
that both Hamas and Israel had signed off on an agreement to stop the 
fighting, the Israeli military launched an arson spree, setting fire to 
civilian infrastructure, including the destruction of an essential 
sanitation plant in Gaza City.

The destruction of Palestinian structures following the departure of 
soldiers who had used them as temporary bases has been a hallmark of 
Israel’s approach to Gaza for two years. In July, Israeli reporter Yuval 
Abraham collected 
<https://substack.com/redirect/f4645582-bd42-4497-8030-2f86d86b333e?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>testimonies 
from soldiers describing a myriad of arson methods. “Every Arab house we 
entered had olive oil [...] We poured the oil on the sofas, on anything 
flammable in the apartment, and then we ignited [it] or threw in a smoke 
grenade. This was a common practice,” one of them described.

The agreement came after months of a concerted effort to render Gaza 
uninhabitable 
<https://substack.com/redirect/78432aba-d4ac-4d9f-a899-84b1ff438e6e?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>by 
destroying residences and civilian infrastructure, culminating in the 
ground invasion of Gaza City and the leveling of several high rises in 
Gaza City. In September, Israeli government minister Gila Gamliel told 
<https://substack.com/redirect/27a6949a-6be5-46c9-b10b-0c47b3514b55?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>Channel 
7 News, “We have already completely annihilated 75% of the entire [Gaza] 
Strip. There remains 25%, which, as you know, it too...we are now taking 
over [the city of] Gaza—there will be nothing left there that would 
really [have] the potential to be habitable.”

The scope of the arson perpetrated in Gaza City on the night of October 
9th and early morning of October 10—Thursday night into Friday, just 
after the ceasefire was agreed to but before Israel’s cabinet approved 
it—was broader than at any other time Drop Site has tracked during the 
assault on the strip. Its perpetrators were not confined to a single 
unit, nor was the burning confined to a specific neighborhood. Drop Site 
News identified members of the Israeli army originating from several 
different brigades, including the Golani, Givati, Nahal Brigades, and 
the newly formed ultra-orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade who posted dozens of 
photos and videos of buildings engulfed in flames during their 
withdrawal from Gaza City to the “yellow line” defined in the Trump 
agreement, still deep within Gaza’s territory.

On Sunday, an Israeli soldier from the Kfir Brigade posted a photo 
showing himself standing in front of a set of burning wooden pallets. 
“On Friday, just before departure. Burning food so that it won’t reach 
the Gazans, may their names be erased,” the caption reads. The post also 
includes a song called, “L’Chaim!” (Cheers!), whose music video 
<https://substack.com/redirect/136daf07-69a2-4163-8451-b67a255d0f6d?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>uses 
footage from Gaza.

	<https://substack.com/redirect/e5f8928b-52ce-434e-8f7e-a0dc67ef448f?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM> 	

Photo posted on social media with the caption: “On Friday, just before 
departure. Burning food so that it won’t reach the Gazans, may their 
names be erased.”

The Israeli military did not provide comment by press time. The images 
posted to social media stand in stark contrast to the message put out on 
Truth Social by Trump: “Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed 
upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting 
Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!” The burning of buildings 
taken over and used as command centers upon departure has been a 
consistent Israeli policy in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank. The scope 
of the carnage on Thursday night, however, went beyond any previously 
recorded individual arson spree.

Among the structures Drop Site discovered had been set on fire by the 
departing soldiers was the Sheikh Ajlin Sewage Treatment Station, a 
central component of Gaza City’s sanitation network. Monther Shoblaq, 
Director General of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) in 
Gaza, said the attack is a blow that could push Gaza City’s wastewater 
system “to point zero.” He added the plant is “one of Gaza’s oldest” and 
warned that its destruction will set back planned reconstruction efforts 
by years. “I mean, they signed a ceasefire,” Shoblaq said. “Why set it 
on fire?”

Soldiers in front of the burning biotowers inside the Sheikh Ajlin 
sewage plant. Source: social media.


    The Torching of Gaza City’s Sewage Treatment Plant: “[One] last memory”

In social media posts, one soldier can be seen posing in front of the 
burning treatment plant smiling; another captioned a photo of the flames 
“[one] last memory.” The plant is operated by the Coastal Municipalities 
Water Utility (CMWU), a Palestinian NGO which is managing much of the 
water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza. Drop Site News spoke with 
CMWU’s director, Monther Shoblaq, who said the arson fits a clear 
pattern of Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s water system. (Drop Site News has 
previously reported on the destruction of Rafah’s main water reservoir 
<https://substack.com/redirect/235690de-4318-4539-a873-e7adba2ce4bc?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>in 
July 2024 and the Israel military’s conversion of Gaza City’s only 
desalination plant 
<https://substack.com/redirect/97c22f42-107c-4900-a5e8-21a74ac422ad?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>into 
a military base in autumn 2024.)

	<https://substack.com/redirect/504b4403-c0ad-45f0-9f0f-4abf173cedcb?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM> 	

Sheikh Ajlin Sewage Treatment Plant. Photo: MACC contracting 
<https://substack.com/redirect/1a4b96ed-2a8a-43ee-ba3e-7c9a22bbc2d8?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>.

CMWU convened in May, Shoblaq noted, for an internal damage assessment 
of Gaza’s water system. During the meeting, the authority reviewed 
satellite imagery showing that the plant appeared to be partially intact 
and drew up a plan stipulating that, once the assault stopped, CMWU 
teams would visit Sheikh Ajlin and attempt to relaunch operations from 
the site to provide services for people in Gaza City.

Sheikh Ajlin was the sole facility remaining that was capable of 
providing sewage services to Gaza City after earlier Israeli attacks 
destroyed the Central Gaza Wastewater Treatment Plant east of Bureij in 
the process of establishing the “buffer zone” around Gaza’s perimeter. 
UN bodies have assessed 
<https://substack.com/redirect/63f46b17-2338-42f8-b3c7-75560213194f?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>the 
buffer zone to be “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed 
against the civilian population in Gaza” and 
<https://substack.com/redirect/0de4b574-6a03-4adc-91c1-50d34bca8a7e?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>“a 
crime against humanity”.

Shoblaq told Drop Site that the torching of the Sheikh Ajlin plant, five 
kilometers from the border, dispelled any notion that targeting Gaza’s 
sanitation infrastructure could have been driven by security 
considerations related to its location. “If the pretext for blowing up 
the Bureij plant was its proximity to the border, why set on fire such a 
crucial civilian water facility that is nowhere near the border?”

For over a year, senior Israeli officials have advocated for wastewater 
treatment plants in Gaza to be rendered inoperable. In March 2024, 
current Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar criticized 
<https://substack.com/redirect/228f5aad-fde8-46fd-8870-ddf78a62d95f?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>the 
government for permitting repair works on the Central Gaza Wastewater 
Treatment Plant by Gazan authorities. Earlier this year cabinet member 
Itamar Ben-Gvir, in the course of congratulating the government for 
imposing an electricity blackout on Gaza, noted 
<https://substack.com/redirect/68149afd-e45e-41fb-816c-c243e7367fb0?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>, 
“The only thing left in Gaza for The Electricity Company to disconnect 
now is the wastewater treatment plant.” (The Electricity Company is 
Israel’s electric utility company, which sells electricity to Gaza, 
complementing the strip’s domestic electricity production, which has 
been severely curtailed by Israeli bombardment 
<https://substack.com/redirect/cdcec73c-c4f0-41e4-843f-e586274838b0?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>and 
restrictions on fuel entry.)

The Sheikh Ajlin plant had benefited from a significant international 
investment 
<https://substack.com/redirect/1a4b96ed-2a8a-43ee-ba3e-7c9a22bbc2d8?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>of 
more than $19 million from Germany 
<https://substack.com/redirect/1a4b96ed-2a8a-43ee-ba3e-7c9a22bbc2d8?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>in 
2012, and was also included in a wider KfW (German Development Bank) 
upgrade program announced 
<https://substack.com/redirect/022bd98a-75fc-4bc3-9ecd-30759454e61b?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>in 
2019 as part of an approximately $5 million package to enhance Gaza’s 
water network.

According to CMWU’s May reconstruction plan, once a ceasefire was in 
place, sewage from Gaza City was to be routed to Sheikh Ajlin, treated 
there, and then safely discharged into the sea. “But from the images you 
showed me,” Shoblaq explained, “the biotowers are seen in flames, which 
is very bad. If the plant was burned down, I cannot yet assess the 
extent of the damage; our teams must visit and evaluate the site. But 
without Sheikh Ajlin, raw sewage will have to be dumped directly into 
the sea. Remediation could take years and would cause massive 
contamination. You are talking about Gaza without sewage treatment, 
shorelines covered with waste, groundwater at risk, and untreated sewage 
flooding the streets if pipes and pumps are not repaired after this 
assault.” At the time of writing, CMWU staff informed Drop Site that 
they have not been able to safely access the facility.

Since October 7, raw sewage has been dumped in the sea, leading to the 
spread of waterborne disease. A recent assessment 
<https://substack.com/redirect/b1c60922-6e5b-47de-98fe-de7341e16933?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>by 
OCHA, the office coordinating the UN’s humanitarian operations in Gaza, 
found that over half of the population in Gaza is “exposed to sewage or 
fecal matter within 10 metres of their homes, posing severe health 
risks”, with 57% of households reporting at least one member suffering 
from skin conditions.

According to Shoblaq, Sheikh Ajlin plant’s design capacity of about 
75,000 cubic meters would have barely been enough to meet Gaza City’s 
needs, in the absence of support from the Central Gaza Wastewater 
Treatment Plant. Its destruction potentially leaves the city without any 
functioning centralized sewage treatment at all.


    Mass Arson Campaign Around Sheikh Radwan Market, Gaza City

Drop Site News was able to geolocate many of the photos posted by 
soldiers to a cluster of buildings in the Sheikh Rawdan neighborhood in 
Gaza City. Residents had been told to displace from Sheikh Radwan as 
recently as last month 
<https://substack.com/redirect/40784c06-bfad-4b7d-b10e-9f1617673381?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>as 
the ground occupation spread through Gaza City. As Israeli soldiers 
withdrew from the area, they set fire to multi-story residential 
buildings, a frequent target of the Israeli military. The INSS, a highly 
influential national security think tank with deep ties to the upper 
echelon of the Israel Defense Forces, commented 
<https://substack.com/redirect/831f2371-2fb1-4645-b51f-beaeffdd454f?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>in 
2014 that destruction of high-rise buildings proved the most effective 
means to “break the spirit of the people of Gaza.” Over the course of a 
few days in September, the Israeli military had toppled 
<https://substack.com/redirect/cc015cb5-f7d5-4ecc-8c55-40f950778574?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>several 
residential high rises, and over 50 buildings in total.

The posts, uploaded by soldiers to their social media accounts, were 
accompanied by captions like “Leaving a mark,” “a small souvenir,” 
“bye,” and “good riddance.”

Arson in Sheikh Radwan. Source: social media. Faces obscured by Drop Site.

The aftermath of the mass arson was also documented 
<https://substack.com/redirect/31dc6a72-b5b4-440a-bd03-17b0597f736a?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>by 
local residents upon returning to the area. The homes that were burned 
had been some of the only ones remaining, left intact because they were 
used as military staging areas, according to a review of satellite 
imagery of the area.

	<https://substack.com/redirect/54400660-276c-45e5-90da-bfa5cf592e01?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM> 	

Homes burned in Sheikh Radawn. Source: Facebook.

Not all homes taken over by Israeli forces were burned down. Social 
media posts indicate some units simply left them trashed, and vandalized 
their walls with graffiti. “Enjoy[,] sluts,” one soldier wrote on social 
media to the Palestinians returning to find their homes ransacked. “We 
shall return here” was spray painted over the wall of a house taken over 
by Israeli forces in Gaza by another.

Ransacked homes in Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City.


      Burning Homes Across Gaza City

Israeli troops also shared photos of torched houses in other locations 
accompanied by captions musing about the arson. One soldier dubbed the 
burning of several buildings the “finishing touches.”

The houses of Palestinians going up in flames also became the canvas on 
top of which soldiers shared their views on the future of Israeli 
presence in Gaza, with some expressing relief about leaving: “Goodbye 
and never to be seen again to [what was] my home recently.”

Others vowed to return, even mimicking a review of a hotel or Airbnb. 
“It was brief but high quality [stay], we shall come back,” wrote one 
Israeli arsonist.

Arson across Gaza City. Images: social media. Faces obscured by Drop Site.

As the ceasefire takes hold, Gaza has already been rendered largely 
uninhabitable. One Israeli colonel recentlybragged 
<https://substack.com/redirect/22a3c32b-cb20-46cb-a36f-c61c9422a594?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>to 
the Israeli media, “We are leaving behind us only dust. There’s nothing 
here.” For officials like Gamliel, who have expressed satisfaction with 
the level of destruction in Gaza, the upshot is clear:

    “Look at the hypocrisy of all European countries. They constantly go
    ‘starvation, starvation’ Well...? Open [your] doors! Why, when it
    was about Ukraine, it was fine, when it was about Syria, it was
    fine. When it comes to the Palestinians, they want to perpetuate
    this conflict structurally.

    Now, just for your information: one million and seven hundred
    thousand inside the Gaza Strip are defined as UNRWA refugees.
    Meaning, once they get out of there, they are not coming back!
    Because as refugees, this is not the place where they actually have
    the right of basic belonging.”

/@NemoAnno and @fdov21 contributed open-source geolocation to this report. /


	
A guest post by
Younis Tirawi 
<https://substack.com/@ytirawi?utm_campaign=guest_post_bio&utm_medium=email> 

A Palestinian journalist covering politics and security in the Occupied 
Palestinian Territories, primarily sharing updates on X.
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A guest post by
Yaniv Cogan 
<https://substack.com/@yanivcogan?utm_campaign=guest_post_bio&utm_medium=email> 

Yaniv Cogan is a writer based in Tel Aviv. He recently contributed to 
the book, DELUGE: Gaza and Israel from Crisis to Cataclysm, published by 
OR Books. https://orbooks.com/catalog/deluge/
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