Israeli soldiers have testified that they were ordered to “kill any
person” they saw in the latest Israeli aggression against the besieged
Gaza Strip.
The testimonies by as many as 60 Israeli soldiers have been collected
and released in a 237-page report entitled “This is how we fought in
Gaza” by the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence.
“The instructions were to shoot right away. Whoever you spot — be
they armed or unarmed, no matter what. The instructions are very clear.
Any person you run into, that you see with your eyes — shoot to kill,”
the NGO quoted an Israeli soldier as saying in the report.
A testimony by another Israeli soldier disclosed that Israeli forces
shot and killed two Palestinian women talking on the phone around one
kilometer away from the war zone. A subsequent probe showed that the
women were unarmed, the soldier said, adding, “We moved on, and they
were listed as terrorists.”
Another Israeli soldier said that the soldiers involved in the
onslaught on the Gaza Strip had been instructed to “open fire
everywhere, first thing as you go in… the assumption being that the
moment we went in, anyone who dared poke his head out was a terrorist”.
An account by another Israeli soldier revealed that Israeli tanks had
also been ordered to select at random and target buildings.
In excess of 100 examples of misconduct by Israeli soldiers during the summer onslaught have been documented in the report.
“The guiding military principle of ‘minimum risk to our forces, even
at the cost of harming innocent civilians’ alongside efforts to deter
and intimidate the Palestinians, led to massive and unprecedented harm
to the population and the civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,”
the NGO said.
An Israeli report in March said that more than 350 Israeli soldiers
who took part in the deadly Israeli war had received treatment for
symptoms related to post-traumatic stress, including disorientation, low
productivity, and recurring nightmares.
At least 10 Israeli soldiers were also reported to have committed
suicide last year, including four who had taken part in the latest Gaza
war.
Israel started its airstrikes against the Palestinian territory in
early July 2014 and later expanded its military campaign with a ground
invasion. The war ended in late August that year.
Nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, were killed in
Israel’s 50-day onslaught and over 11,100 others, including nearly 3,380
children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people, were injured. Scores of
Israelis were also killed during the war. Moreover, the UN said up to
1,500 children were orphaned in the Israeli war.
Last September, Palestinian experts said it costs more than USD 7.5
billion to rebuild the besieged Gaza Strip and that the process would
take “five years if Israel removed its blockade on Gaza entirely.”
Experts estimated the direct losses caused by the Israeli onslaught
at USD 4.4 billion. They also believe that a total sum of USD 3.02
billion is needed for the development of the enclave, which has been
under a blockade since June 2007.
Selasa, 05 Mei 2015
Kill Gazans ‘armed or unarmed,’ Israel told soldiers
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