YouTube erases hundreds of videos documenting Israeli abuses in Gaza

Major technology companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have long faced accusations of aiding Israel’s war on Gaza — and now, another major platform, YouTube, has joined that list.

According to a November 4 report by The Intercept, the Google-owned platform quietly deleted the accounts of three major Palestinian human rights organizations, resulting in the disappearance of more than 700 videos documenting Israeli violence.

The move reportedly came in response to sanctions imposed during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

The three affected organizations — Al-Haq, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights — had submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which later issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Following the ICC’s decision in early October, the Trump administration had intensified its defense of Israel by imposing sanctions on ICC officials and targeting those cooperating with the court.

Katherine Gallagher, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, told The Intercept that “YouTube’s decision to advance the Trump administration’s agenda by removing public evidence of human rights violations and war crimes is deeply troubling.”

The deleted videos reportedly included investigations into the killing of American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, testimonies from Palestinians tortured by Israeli forces, and documentaries such as The Beach, which chronicled the deaths of children killed while playing on the Gaza shore during an Israeli airstrike.

A spokesperson for Al-Haq said their channel was deleted on October 3 without prior notice, calling YouTube’s action “a moral failure and a dangerous precedent against free expression and human rights.”

Basil Al-Sourani, legal adviser at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, condemned the move, saying, “YouTube has become complicit in silencing the voices of Palestinian victims.”

In response, YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle confirmed the deletions, stating that Google is “legally obligated to comply with applicable sanctions and trade laws.”

The report noted that while some of the removed videos remain partially accessible on Facebook, Vimeo, and the Wayback Machine, a significant portion of the documented evidence has now permanently vanished from the internet.