Please provide the full context instead of assuming that I have not "bothered to search". Patel did not address the image himself, but was asked about the image and gave the following answer based on the description given to him by the journalist: "In relation to the image that you shared, I’ve not seen that image specifically. But obviously, it is – it’s deeply troubling. I have no knowledge or information as it relates to the circumstances surrounding that incident, and I will leave it to the IDF to speak to those specific situations."

You asked for Israeli and Western officials officially referring to them - you got it. What exactly is that you dislike in this or the other answer?

I wouldn't even call this "referring" to it. He was asked about it and gave a "I don't know" answer.

@hb20007 so you're interested whether someone responded to it the way you want them to? Then you should ask for that.

No. I have not specified that, so either "I have seen the images of XYZ and I disapprove" or "I have seen the images of XYZ and I applaud them. We need more." is fine and will answer my question. However, Patel was clearly uninformed about the images when asked about it.

@hb20007 you'll need to put the links to specific images if you want references to them. Otherwise the two answers you got is the best you can get.

I'd rather not link to the images as it would be seen as an attempt to be biased or discredit the IDF. I wrote the question in the most neutral way I could and chose not to link to anything.

@hb20007 then what do you expect? Patel's answer is exactly that - "I don't know what you're talking about, but I don't like what you've described". That's how I'd answer your question as well.

But I'm not asking you to make a statement on the images. You might have better search engine skills than me or have seen more news, so you might be able to link to an official making a statement on the images, without actually having seen them yourself.

That's exactly what I did. Without knowing your specific image, I can only search for officials referring to some images, and that's what I found. But, you got to understand that what you see in the picture and what actually is there may not be the same thing. There's a very good reason why the detainees are stripped off their clothes, and there have been multiple cases of suicide-vest wearing Palestinians trying to "surrender" only to blow themselves up when soldiers come closer.

I have literally seen 100+ such images as I am following the war on social media, and tied detainees is just a subset of the images. So, it's also difficult to pick something out of all of them to link to here.

Well, what else? Posing with underwear? Graffiti? Hardly important to anyone, beyond being bad taste. "Destroying civilian infrastructure" can be a lot of things, especially since you don't really have any way of knowing which infrastructure is in fact civilian and which is used for military purposes. So in some cases it may be a perfectly justified act, in others evidence of a war crime, but neither you nor I would know enough to determine which way it should go. Most politicians wouldn't either, at this point of time. So, they just "don't see" it.

I understand why people might see posing with underwear as simply "bad taste". However, for feminists, these images are highly problematic due to the objectification of women, especially in the context of a culture that is very conservative in terms of the sexuality and "honor" of women. I agree with the general idea behind your comment, that there are indeed worse things, but I also believe that it might still be noteworthy enough to be addressed by a senior government official.

Pictures are bad taste, and shouldn't have been taken, for sure. Male of female alike, it's degrading and unnecessary (although internally I'm sure certain documentation and evidence are required for the investigations - they shouldn't be published on social media). See the response of the IDF lawyer, and soldiers have been disciplined for such things before. The strip searches themselves are IMHO quite reasonable given the context.

It's a bit irrelevant to our discussion but I wonder how come there are 100+ such images posted by the soldiers themselves if soldiers were disciplined for such things before. Back to topic, now regarding the strip searches, I again understand why people might see them as reasonable. On the other hand, a counterargument is that the detainees should be given back their clothes as soon as they are searched, instead of being photographed while tied in painful positions. Again, not the worst thing in the world, but perhaps enough for a statement from senior officials.

@hb20007 it's like asking how come there are 100+ new thefts when thieves have been punished before. People do stupid things. On the other hand, a counterargument is that the detainees should be given back their clothes as soon as they are searched, instead of being photographed while tied in painful positions - who said they weren't? The search has to be documented, in part to prove which wounds happened before the detention and which happened after. What is true is that these pictures shouldn't have leaked, and with that I (and the IDF) agree.

Many of the images involve soldiers posing for selfies beside the tied-up detainees, which does not look like it was done for the purpose of documentation. Regarding the comparison with thefts, the equivalent would be thieves posting videos on social media of themselves during the act.

@hb20007 I disagree. We maybe looking at different pictures, but the ones posted in the Times of Israel articles don't show soldiers posing for selfies. Regardless, I think we agree on the fact that the pictures, even if taken for valid reasons, of a valid search, should not have leaked. Obviously mocking and gloating is, as I said, a bad taste, but on its own - not really a war crime. It does warrant disciplinary actions, and it seems like the IDF is acting accordingly.

Okay, this is deep down in the comments so here are some links: twitter.com/ytirawi/status/1765673191521874004/photo/1 twitter.com/ytirawi/status/1765436458108653778 twitter.com/ytirawi/status/1766582097404137482

Also, the IDF spokesman quote does answer my question and I wasn't able to find it myself before posting the question. But I cannot bring myself to accept your answer as it contains an incorrect statement about me not bothering to search. Regarding the war-crime tag, this deals with potential ill treatment of prisoners which is a war crime.

@hb20007 removed. None of the pics you posted show anyone stripped, and most are from the West Bank, not Gaza.

Okay but I believe that this is still not a quality answer. If you want to keep the quote by Patel, it should at least be after the one by the IDF spokesperson. Also, the part about me being biased because of the war-crime tag is irrelevant to the question.

If I indeed used the tag incorrectly as per the guidelines of the website, it's better to edit my question and remove it.

Did not post it as my own. It's community wiki.