Arabs Need 2 Die

Report: IDF Probing Racist Graffiti Left By Soldiers In Gaza
By Haaretz Service Last update - 16:48 28/01/2009 Courtesy Of Haaretz NewsPaper

The Israel Defense Forces is investigating incidents of racist graffiti scrawled by its soldiers on Palestinian property the Gaza Strip, foreign media outlets say.

A series of slogans in both Hebrew and English were left on a house in the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeytun, including "Arabs need 2 die," "Make war not peace", and "1 is down, 999,999 to go," The Guardian newspaper reported.

Troops also wrote "Arabs 1948-2009" on the image of a gravestone, the British daily said.

According to the media outlets, some of the graffiti was sprayed on the walls of a house belonging to the Samouni family, which lost 30 of its members during the IDF's three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Sky News quoted IDF spokesperson Major Avital Leibovich as saying the incidents in Zeytun are under investigation.

"This is not the way soldiers are educated and trained. It is against our moral values. They will be investigated and those responsible will be punished," she was quoted as saying.