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Gunfire cuts through the air as three Ukrainians stand in cover away from fierce fighting in the streets. Apartment buildings are pockmarked with bullets and torn open by explosions.
One filming with a body camera groans and curses in pain as another tends to him, laughing after a close call. The soldiers are not in Russia nor Ukraine but in Gaza embroiled in bitter fighting with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamists who launched an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
The trio are among an estimated 30,000 foreign-born soldiers, the majority from the United States, who are reportedly fighting for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) from at least 30 countries after Hamas’s assault left nearly 1,200 Israelis dead (British citizen Corporal Nathanel Young, 20, was among the dead).
Over 100 of those foreign fighters, though the number is likely higher, are British nationals or dual-nationals, with several documenting their involvement in the bloody campaign with war diaries or speaking with the UK press.
Others, such as Levi Simon who filmed himself rummaging through drawers of women’s underwear in Gaza, have gained notoriety or documented themselves being involved in potential war crimes.
While according to the IDF, US citizens have accounted for at least 10% of the army’s war dead, at least three British nationals have been killed serving in the Israeli army along with dozens of other foreign-born soldiers also perishing.
Israel’s History of Using Foreign Fighters
Foreign fighters have always played a vital if not understated role in the IDF. Before the IDF was officially formed, operating as the Haganah militia during the civil war in Mandatory Palestine, nearly 5,000 foreign fighters from 58 countries served across the fledgling army in 1947.
Largely composed of Second World War veterans, they were prized assets in the war to establish the Jewish state and tipped the balance of the conflict in the First Arab-Israel conflict.
The non-Israeli volunteers who fought were affectionately named ‘mahal’, an acronym for the Hebrew words ‘Mitnadvei Chutz L’Aretz’, which translates to ‘volunteers from outside the land’.
Since then, thousands of foreigners have fought for the IDF in its multiple wars and helped enforce the occupation of Palestinian territories. Recruitment has become more streamlined in the now institutionalised MAHAL programme.
“The indoctrination of foreign members is a process that consists of several stages,” said Dr Ali Bakir from the Ibn Khaldon Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at Qatar University.
“It is primarily a proactive process, involving various organisations ranging from tourism initiatives to Israel, educational and counter-terrorism programs and donor campaigns.”
The MAHAL programme bypasses the bureaucratic maze of immigration to Israel, offering young Jewish volunteers a chance to fight in the IDF for a short period ranging from four to 18 months. After receiving their mahal visa, they are enlisted with many who lack the means to support themselves being coined as “lone soldiers”.
The MAHAL programme has conditions for eligibility: candidates must be exclusively Jewish and their family cannot live in Israel.
While many have celebrated the new generation of mahal, they have also faced condemnation. This criticism is not new but a few things have shifted.
Discipline has broken down in an increasingly radicalised IDF and much like their native-born comrades, many foreign soldiers have openly revelled in Gaza’s destruction.
Others have mocked Palestinian prisoners and been involved in looting homes while many spew the same dehumanising language against Palestinians now widespread in Israeli society.
Caught on Camera – Then Dragged Before the Courts
Many have documented themselves perpetrating or being involved in alleged war crimes including levelling Palestinian homes and abusing and allegedly torturing detainees, sharing their acts on Instagram and TikTok.
“The amount of publicly available information on Gaza has soared. People are showing their faces and this involves forms of accountability,” Brian Finucane, Senior Adviser for the US Programme at International Crisis Group told Byline Times.
With the footage we’ve seen coming out of Gaza and the West Bank, dual-national IDF soldiers could be implicated
Brian Finucane, International Crisis Group
There have already been consequences for foreign fighters involved. Many soldiers returning home, as well as their families, have faced lawsuits, harassment, and calls for their arrest from campaigners and states.
“There is growing public awareness of this issue,” said Bakir. “Pressure is growing on governments to take action against these individuals, similar to the treatment of others who have joined conflicts elsewhere.”
However, tracking down alleged war criminals has always been arduous but Gaza has generated its own technical challenges.
“It’s a case of different legal regimes,” said Finucane. “There is a big difference between joining a terror