The investigation found that the videos were deleted after the Trump administration sanctioned three Palestinian organizations over their involvement with the ICC in war crimes cases against Israeli officials.
The sanctioned organizations include Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.
The removals, conducted in early October, wiped out years of archives documenting Israeli actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including footage of home demolitions, civilian deaths, and torture testimonies from Palestinians.
Deleted content included investigations into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and documentaries like ‘The Beach’, which depict children killed by an Israeli airstrike while playing near the sea.
YouTube stated that the removals were in line with “trade and export laws” following the Trump-era sanctions on these groups.
Human rights advocates criticized the decision, arguing it effectively helped US efforts to suppress evidence of Israeli violations.
“It’s really hard to imagine any serious argument that sharing information from these Palestinian human rights organizations would somehow violate sanctions,” said Sarah Leah Whitson of Democracy for the Arab World Now.
The Center for Constitutional Rights condemned the move as an attempt to erase evidence of war crimes, while Al-Haq called it “an alarming setback for human rights and freedom of expression.”
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said YouTube’s actions “protects perpetrators from accountability,” accusing Google of aiding in silencing victims of Israeli aggression.
Al Mezan added that its channel was taken down without warning. The three groups warned that US-based platforms hosting similar content may soon face the same censorship, risking the loss of additional documentation of Israeli war crimes.
The Intercept report highlighted YouTube’s bias, noting that pro-Israel content remains largely untouched while Palestinian narratives face disproportionate targeting.
It said the platform has shown a “ready willingness to comply with demands from both the Trump administration and Israel.”
This crackdown coincides with renewed US efforts to shield Israeli officials from prosecution after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over Gaza war crimes.
Washington has also reinstated sanctions on ICC judges and entities supporting the court’s investigations.
Separately, Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales stepped in after editors locked the “Gaza genocide” page on 28 October.
Wales described the entry as “particularly egregious” and said it “needs immediate correction” to reflect a “neutral approach.”
His comments sparked backlash from editors, who accused him of succumbing to political pressure and undermining UN and academic findings that confirm Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
