“It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.”
Testimonies of six Israeli soldiers have corroborated that of Palestinians throughout the ongoing war on Gaza; that soldiers were “authorized to open fire on Palestinians virtually at will, including civilians,” an exposé by +972 Magazine has revealed.
The soldiers, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, described an atmosphere of “total freedom of action” in the enclave, with some Palestinian civilians executed “simply because they entered an area that the military defined as ‘no-go zone’.”
“I personally fired a few bullets for no reason, into the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building. They report it as ‘normal fire,’ which is a codename for ‘I’m bored, so I shoot,’” a reservist, identified as S, told the magazine.
The soldiers were all released from active duty in the past few months.
Yagil Levy, a political sociologist, said that since the Second Intifada, “the army has not given soldiers written rules of engagement.” This has left much open to the interpretation of commanders and soldiers in the field, the report said.
“If there is (even) a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain — you just shoot,” another soldier, B, recounted.
If someone is seen approaching, he explained, “It is permissible to shoot at their center of mass (their body), not into the air,” adding “It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.”
Shooting at Displaced Evacuees
B also related an incident when soldiers killed several Palestinians during the evacuation of a school, which had served as a shelter for the displaced, in Gaza City in November.
The evacuees were ordered to exit to the left, toward the sea, rather than the right, where the soldiers were present, the report said.
“There was intelligence that Hamas wanted to create panic,” B reportedly said. “A battle started inside; people ran away. Some fled left toward the sea, (but) some ran to the right, including children. Everyone who went to the right was killed — 15 to 20 people. There was a pile of bodies.”
B also said that it was difficult to distinguish between civilians and fighters, claiming that Hamas often “walk around without their weapons.” This meant that “every man between the ages of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist.”
“The (army’s) perception is that any contact (with the population) endangers the forces, and a situation must be created in which it is forbidden to approach (the soldiers) under any circumstances. (The Palestinians) learned that when we enter, they run away.”
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‘Demonstrating Presence’
Soldiers would also “shoot a lot, even for no reason – anyone who wants to shoot, no matter what the reason, shoots,” S said, in a procedure known as “demonstrating presence.”
This took place place even in areas that seemed abandoned.
Another reservist, known as M, told the magazine that such orders would come directly from the field commanders.
“When there are no (other) IDF forces (in the area) … the shooting is very unrestricted, like crazy. And not just small arms: machine guns, tanks, and mortars,” he said.
‘War Harms’ Captives
Yuval Green, 26, who was willing to be identified by the magazine said “There were no restrictions on ammunition,” and added, “People were shooting just to relieve the boredom.”
Green, who co-signed a letter recently by 41 reservists who refuse to continue serving in Gaza, raised concern that the rules of engagement posed a danger to the captives.
He said he was told about “a practice of blowing up tunnels, and I thought to myself that if there were hostages (in them), it would kill them.” After Israeli forces killed three captives waving white flags in Shejiya in December, Green said he was told “there’s nothing we can do.”
Green said the sentiment was that “We’re here for the hostages,’ but it is clear that the war harms the hostages.”
‘No Briefing’
Another officer, A, who served in the army’s Operations Directorate, said “From the moment you enter, at no point is there a briefing.”
“We didn’t receive instructions from higher up to pass on to the soldiers and battalion commanders,” he added.
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Besides instructions not to shoot along humanitarian routes, for everywhere else “you fill in the blanks, in the absence of any other directive. This is the approach: ‘If it is forbidden there, then it is permitted here.’”
Soldier A said shooting at buildings such as hospitals, clinics, schools, religious institutions and buildings of international organizations “required higher authorization,” the report stated.
However, he could “count on one hand the cases where we were told not to shoot. Even with sensitive things like schools, (approval) feels like only a formality.”
He said “the consensus” was that soldiers “shoot first, ask questions later,” adding “No one will shed a tear if we flatten a house when there was no need, or if we shoot someone who we didn’t have to.”
‘Kill Zones’
In April, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported on the creation of “kill zones” in Gaza where the orders were to “shoot to kill” anyone who entered them.
“This is the default. No civilians are supposed to be in the area, that’s the perspective. We spotted someone in a window, so they fired and killed him,” A said.
Even civilians who entered areas where aid convoys passed through, looking for scraps, were targeted.
“If they cross the red line, you report it on the radio and you don’t need to wait for permission, you can shoot,” Soldier D told the magazine.
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The soldiers “testified that throughout Gaza, corpses of Palestinians in civilian clothes remained scattered along roads and open ground,” the magazine said.
Bodies Dumped
Another testified that before aid convoys arrived, the bodies were removed along the route that trucks took.
“A D-9 (Caterpillar bulldozer) goes down, with a tank, and clears the area of corpses, buries them under the rubble, and flips (them) aside so that the convoys don’t see it — (so that) images of people in advanced stages of decay don’t come out,” he stated.
Another soldier, identified as C, told the magazine that unrestricted shooting meant incidents of friendly fire which was “more dangerous than Hamas.”
“On multiple occasions, IDF forces fired in our direction,” C said.
According to the report, at least 28 soldiers had been killed in “friendly fire” incidents, citing the army.
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‘Burn Down the House’
Soldiers also told the magazine that it was common practice to burn Palestinian homes after they had been occupied.
“Before you leave, you burn down the house — every house,” one soldier said. “This is backed up at the battalion commander level. It’s so that (Palestinians) won’t be able to return, and if we left behind any ammunition or food, the terrorists won’t be able to use it.”
An Israeli military spokesman, in a lengthy response to +972 Magazine, said “Open-fire instructions were given to all IDF soldiers fighting in the Gaza Strip and on the borders upon entering combat. These instructions reflect the international law to which the IDF is bound.”
The spokesman said the instructions were “regularly reviewed and updated” in light of the “changing operational and intelligence situation, and approved by the most senior officials in the IDF.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
May God grant more courage and power to the Palestinians and their resistance to eliminate as many of these scumbag mercenaries as possible. Such confessions alone are enough to trial and execute these filthy Zionists. Yet, after confessing their war crimes without even a shred of guilt, these trash are blatant enough to call the resistance fighters “terrorists”. If the world wasn’t floating on a sea of hypocrisy and double standards, humanity would be fighting the Zionists and executing them after public trials. But on the other hand, a quick glance at history tells us that rabid dogs are more rampant before they die. The end of the Zionist Apartheid state is looming over the horizon.