Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted a Lego video of the war in Gaza that denies that there is a genocide taking place on the third anniversary of 7 October.
In a clip posted to the Prime Minister of Israel’s official X account late on Tuesday, the one minute and 19 second clip reenacts the events of 7 October with Lego Hamas figures seen kidnapping Israeli citizens.
It then shows the Israeli military going into tunnels through what appears to be a household kitchen in Gaza before a debate on the meaning of the word genocide, in an imitation of popular videos released by Iran.
The caption reads: “Terrorism is Not a Game. Remember October 7th.”
The clip begins with angry protesters, in what appears to be London, holding a large placard that reads: “Israel commits genocide”. It then asks: “Do the facts support this accusation?”
“On October 7th, Hamas invaded Israeli communities, massacred civilians and took hostages,” the narrator reads. “A senior Hamas leader vowed to repeat the attack. And Hamas militants continue plotting attacks. Israel’s objective: Stop Hamas from invading Israeli homes again.”
It then goes on to claim that Hamas built military infrastructure within civilian neighbourhoods and beneath streets.
“Israeli soldiers fought through those streets and tunnels, risking and losing their lives.”
It shows a teacher in a school or university explaining that genocide requires a specific intent “to annihilate a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part.”
It claimed Israel issued “millions of evacuation warnings” and “facilitated the entry of food, water and medicine”. The video said it agreed to pauses to enable a polio campaign “that vaccinated nearly 560,000 Gazan children”.
“Why take those steps to protect lives?” the video asks and claims that the only way for the war to end is for Hamas to disarm.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu accusing him of being “responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population” in Gaza.
He is also accused of “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.” Netanyahu denies the claims and has called them “antisemitic”.
An independent UN enquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also accused Israel of committing genocide. Proceedings accusing Israel of genocide are ongoing at the International Court of Justice in a case brought by South Africa.
Israel denies it is committing a genocide.
On 7 October, Hamas attacked Israel killing 1,2000 people in an armed incursion across the border and took 251 hostages back into Gaza.
In the ensuing military action, Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, including what Save the Children estimates is around 20,000 children.
Gaza faces the worst economic crisis in its history and over 90 per cent of its housing and infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
Israel effectively controlled an estimated 64% of Gaza by late April, according to a report. Nearly all of the territory's roughly 2 million residents are concentrated in a narrow coastal area under Hamas control, living largely in damaged buildings or makeshift shelters and facing dire humanitarian conditions.
