Photos and videos of Palestinians have been taken in recent days Men and boys strippedlined up and taken away in trucks by the Israeli army are circulating on social media.

Israel has claimed they were suspected Hamas militants it arrested in the northern Gaza Strip. Photos and a video were even released of a Palestinian man in his underwear walking past a line of naked men and boys with their IDs and placing a gun on the side of the road as “proof” that they were indeed “militants.” .

But a closer look at this video shows that it was staged. It makes no sense that after spotting an armed fighter, the Israeli soldiers waited to strip everyone down and line them up, prepare to take a video, and then order that person over a loudspeaker to give up their weapon , calling her “Habibi” (my love in Arabic).

Media reports later revealed that the Israeli army had violently abducted the Palestinian men and boys after separating them from their families in United Nations-run schools used as shelters for displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip. Some of the men were identified as UN staff, aid workers and at least one journalist. The man who had to hold the weapon is probably a shopkeeper.

Although the gun video stunt is another desperate attempt by the Israeli army to cover up its crimes from Western audiences, the release of the images and footage showing the humiliation of Palestinian men and boys serves a different purpose.

The aim is to demoralize Palestinians while boosting the morale of the Israeli public. It is a clear reflection of the ideology of the occupation, in which the Palestinians are seen as a people who must be subjugated and dominated, if not mercilessly killed.

Abusing Palestinians to “boost Israeli morale”

The publication of these images and recordings comes amid a growing number of reports that the Israeli army is systematically separating Palestinian boys and men from their families in areas under its control in the Gaza Strip and abducting them to unknown locations.

Those who were released have described torture and beatings by Israeli soldiers. The fate of many remains uncertain, but given the deaths of at least six Palestinian prisoners and reports of widespread torture and other ill-treatment, there is a strong possibility that they too will be ill-treated.

The videos and images shared on social media have helped journalists and activists identify some of those arrested and refute Israeli claims that they were Hamas militants.

Hani Almadhoun, an employee of a U.S.-based charity that raises funds for UNRWA, said he saw his brother Mahmoud, a shopkeeper, and his 27-year-old nephew Abood among those arrested. He told the Guardian that his father and 13-year-old nephew Omar had also been arrested.

Diaa al-Kahlout, a correspondent for Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (“The New Arab”), who was also taken away along with his brothers, was recognized in one of the videos by colleagues. The media reported that Israeli soldiers detained them in their homes and drove away their wives and children before setting the houses on fire.

The publication of these degrading images is a violation of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits “cruel treatment and torture” and “violations of personal dignity, in particular degrading and degrading treatment.”

The images and videos sparked global outrage and led to comparisons of Israel’s actions to the U.S. “Rendition” program and torture in illegal sites, Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo detention camp, as well as Serbian genocidal practices Militias in the Bosnian War.

Even Israeli insiders have expressed anger at this behavior. Retired Israeli Brigadier General Shlomo Brom said NPR that the pictures should not have been published because they were humiliating.

So if these images and recordings reveal another Israeli army crime in Gaza, why were they released?

According to Brom, this was aimed at boosting morale in Israel and waging a “psychological war against Hamas.”

Indulging in viral humiliation

This systematic humiliation is not new in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Like the Palestinian scholar Ramzy Baroud argued, “Humiliating Palestinians is actual Israeli policy.” Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass has described the humiliation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons as a “routine tactic”.

While the daily humiliation of Palestinians may have gone unnoticed by the rest of the world, the degrading treatment of rounded up Palestinian men and boys can be seen around the world. Digital technology has helped these humiliations go viral.

Other videos that have also gone viral since October 7 show Israeli soldiers defecating in the Palestinian homes they invaded, smashing toys in a Palestinian store, laughing and abusing Palestinian prisoners.

Publicizing the abuse of Palestinian men and boys increases their humiliation. The act of arrest is different from publishing images depicting degrading treatment. By broadcasting these images, the humiliation is not limited to the moment or the people directly involved. Instead, it becomes a public display, potentially seen by millions of people.

Particularly relevant here is American scientist Susan Sontag’s insight into the role of photography in objectifying human suffering. She notes, “Photographs objectify: they transform an event or a person into something you can own.”

In the context of these events, the photographs serve to objectify the victims and reduce them to mere images that can be shared and viewed apart from their humanity. This objectification robs the victims of their individuality and dignity and reduces them to symbols of humiliation.

It also serves as an attempt to further dehumanize and “other” Palestinians before the Israeli public and the rest of the world. It is part of Israel’s global campaign to portray the Palestinian people as “subhuman” and justify their mass murders.

The publication of these photos and videos is not just documentation of humiliation; it is in itself an act of humiliation. It reinforces the impact of the initial abuse, transforming a moment of suffering into a public spectacle of humiliation, thereby deepening the psychological and emotional wounds inflicted on the victims and their community.

Ultimately, this is not about humiliating Hamas, but about humiliating and dehumanizing all Palestinians in front of the largest possible audience.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.