The Israeli military attacked Palestinian landmarks after taking over the Rafah border crossing earlier this week, deliberately running them over with tanks, disturbing footage circulating online suggests.
The damage depicted in the footage appears to have been inflicted by tanks with the Israeli 401st Iron Tracks Brigade, which entered the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning.
The border crossing connects the Palestinian enclave with Egypt.
One video circulating online, filmed by a Merkava tank crew member, shows the vehicle maneuvering in front of a ‘I love Gaza’ sign at the crossing. The tank then takes aim at the sign and runs it over.
An IDF tank also destroyed a sign reading ‘Gaza’ located in front of a border-crossing facility.
Another video appears to show Israeli forces tearing down Palestinian flags at the location and hoisting Israeli ones to replace them.
Israel launched its long-discussed attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Monday night. The ground advance was accompanied by airstrikes on the densely populated city, which had seen a major influx of refugees from the north amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas.