Gay Israeli soldier displays ‘In the name of love’ LGBT flag in Gaza

A gay Israeli soldier has unfurled an LGBT flag in Gaza that read: ‘In the name of love’.

Yoav Atzmoni, 31, an IDF soldier who was called up to fight after the October 7 massacre, proudly posed with the colorful flag while stationed in Gaza.

His courageous act was one of resistance to the area’s pervasive anti-gay laws and enforced rhetoric, he said The New York Post.

The image began circulating on social media over the weekend and was reshared today by the official account of the State of Israel, with the caption: “The first ever pride flag raised in Gaza.”

Atzmoni last month revealed his plans to carry the pride flag on his army tank in his fight against Hamas, despite it making him a bigger target for militant attacks.

Atzmoni last month revealed his plans to carry the pride flag on his army tank in his fight against Hamas, despite it making him a bigger target for attacks by militants

He told Insider when he worried that a Hamas victory could set Israel’s progress on LGBTQ+ rights back decades. “I’m not going to let myself be put back in the closet,” he said.

Now he has succeeded in his mission after raising the flag in Al-Atatra, the northern part of the Gaza Strip, two weeks ago.

Atzmoni was drafted to serve in the Israeli army after the October 7 Hamas terror attack, which killed about 1,200 people and took 240 hostage.

Since then, Israel has retaliated against Hamas and launched a military campaign that has killed thousands of people in Gaza.

Some anti-Israel protesters who call themselves “Queers for Palestine” have been mocked online, given the oppression of LGBTQ people in Gaza.

‘To all anti-Israel LGBTQ activists, the IDF sends greetings from Gaza!’ Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad tweeted.

LGBTQ Palestinians living under Hamas rule face “severe persecution and exclusion,” according to a 2022 UN Watch report.

According to the Human Dignity Trust, men are also banned from same-sex activities, which is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Some anti-Israel protesters who call themselves “Queers for Palestine” have been mocked online, given the oppression of LGBTQ people in Gaza.

The laws date back to the 1936 British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance and are still in force in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel is the only country in the Middle East that recognizes same-sex marriage.

The rule was introduced in 2006 and allowed for the adoption of children through surrogacy in 2020.

As a result, hundreds of gay and bisexual Palestinians have been fleeing to Israel for years to escape persecution.

One of those refugees, Ahmad Abu Marhia, a 25-year-old gay Palestinian man, was living under asylum in Israel when he was kidnapped and beheaded in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2022. His killers uploaded images of the murder to social media.

In 2016, Hamas executed one of their own seniors, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, allegedly for sleeping with a man.