New report details extensive Israeli arson in Gaza after ceasefire

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: DropSite News
13 Oct 2025 14:06
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A new DropSite investigation reveals that Israeli forces conducted a large-scale arson campaign across Gaza City, torching homes and key infrastructure, including a major sewage plant, just hours after Trump announced the ceasefire agreement.

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An Israeli soldier smokes a cigarette in the aftermath of widespread arson that left buildings in Gaza City engulfed in flames. (Social media)

DropSite published on Monday a gruesome report revealing that Israeli forces carried out a sweeping campaign of arson in Gaza City immediately after US President Donald Trump announced that both the Resistance and "Israel" had agreed to the ceasefire.

According to the investigation, the Israeli army set fire to homes, public buildings, and vital infrastructure, including the Sheikh Ajlin sewage treatment plant, Gaza City's last functioning sanitation facility, just hours after the ceasefire was declared.

The report documents how troops from multiple brigades, including the Golani, Givati, Nahal, Kfir, and the newly formed ultra-Orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade, posted photos and videos online showing buildings engulfed in flames as they withdrew to the so-called "yellow line" outlined in the Trump-brokered agreement.

One soldier from the Kfir Brigade shared an image of himself in front of a fire, writing, "On Friday, just before departure. Burning food so that it won't reach the Gazans, may their names be erased." Another captioned a photo of the burning sanitation facility, calling it "[one] last memory."

The text on this social media post reads: "On Friday, just before departure. Burning food so that it won’t reach the Gazans, may their names be erased."

The Sheikh Ajlin plant, which served as the backbone of Gaza City's wastewater network, was one of several civilian structures torched during the withdrawal. Its destruction, said Monther Shoblaq, Director General of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), could push the city's sewage system "to point zero." He added, "I mean, they signed a ceasefire. Why set it on fire?" Shoblaq explained that without the plant, raw sewage would have to be dumped directly into the sea, creating an environmental catastrophe that could take years to repair.

Pattern of destruction

This latest arson is part of a well-established pattern of Israeli forces destroying civilian infrastructure upon retreat from occupied zones. Soldiers' social media posts, filled with captions like "Leaving a mark," "a small souvenir," and "good riddance," depict the burning of multi-story apartment buildings around Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. In one post, a soldier boasted of "finishing touches" as flames consumed residential homes. Others vandalized interiors with graffiti; one message read, "Enjoy[,] sluts," while another warned, "We shall return here."

Israeli officials have long spoken openly about their intention to render Gaza uninhabitable. In September, Minister Gila Gamliel told 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." Likewise, cabinet member Itamar Ben-Gvir previously declared that "the only thing left in Gaza for The Electricity Company to disconnect now is the wastewater treatment plant."

Burned legacy

The Sheikh Ajlin facility, funded through a $19 million German investment and a later upgrade program by the KfW Development Bank, had been central to reconstruction plans drafted by CMWU earlier this year. Satellite imagery from May showed the plant partially intact, and engineers had hoped to restart operations once fighting ceased. Those plans are now in ruins.

Germany had invested $18 million to upgrade the Sheikh Ajlin Water Plant.

Gaza’s water utility told us the facility was intended to manage Gaza City’s sewage system in the aftermath of the genocide, soldiers set it on fire saying it was for a “last memory” photo -> pic.twitter.com/ztEECyP7Cz
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) October 12, 2025

UN agencies have repeatedly warned that "Israel's" systematic destruction of Gaza's utilities, water, electricity, and sanitation constitutes part of a "widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population" and could amount to a crime against humanity. With the Sheikh Ajlin plant destroyed, over half of Gaza's residents are now exposed to raw sewage, increasing the spread of disease and contaminating groundwater.

Trump, meanwhile, celebrated the ceasefire on Truth Social, writing that "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 scenes emerging from Gaza tell a different story. "We are leaving behind us only dust. There's nothing here," an Israeli colonel told local media. As one soldier wrote online, "It was brief but high quality [stay], we shall come back."