Israel's Efforts to Protect Its Soldiers; 'Face Display' Prohibited

On Wednesday, January 19, the Israeli army issued a new directive prohibiting media from 'displaying faces' and fully identifying all combat forces from the rank of colonel down. Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the army spokesperson, announced this directive to reporters, stating, 'This new instruction has been established to protect our soldiers. We want to ensure that anti-Israel activists cannot create trouble for our soldiers anywhere in the world.' According to Israeli media, this decision was made after a Brazilian judge ordered the police to detain an Israeli reserve soldier who had traveled to Brazil for the New Year holidays for investigations related to 'committing war crimes while serving in Gaza.' The request for the detention of this Israeli soldier in Brazil was made by a Palestinian-supporting group based in Belgium. However, the Israeli soldier left Brazil before being detained by the police. The Israeli army spokesperson mentioned that besides the case in Brazil, there have been several other instances of threats against army personnel abroad, all activated by Palestinian-supporting groups, putting pressure on local authorities for investigations. Last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the former Minister of Defense, on charges of war crimes in Gaza. The Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council emphasized on Wednesday, January 19, that no genocide has occurred in Gaza, even if civilian casualties are 'unacceptably' high. John Kirby noted in a media conference that the Israeli army is defending itself and its people and has no intention of killing innocent people under the pretext of being Palestinian, but Yahya Sinwar, the deceased leader of Hamas and his 'terrorist organization' intended to commit 'genocide against Jews' in the October 7 attack on Israel. The White House rejected the accusation of genocide by Israel in Gaza. The U.S. supported Israel's approach in Gaza ceasefire negotiations. The U.S. Secretary of State stated that a ceasefire in Gaza is 'very close.' Another body of an Israeli hostage was found in a tunnel in Gaza. Trump's reluctance to discuss a preemptive strike on nuclear facilities in Iran: military strategy. Reuters reported that the Iranian government described France's approach as 'unconstructive.' Hamas requested Trump to pressure Israel and achieve a ceasefire. Efforts to elect a President of Lebanon began amid Hezbollah's weakness.