ISRAELI SOLDIERS have provided the most damning indictment yet of the army’s conduct during the recent Gaza war, claiming they committed serious abuses against civilians, including the shooting of unarmed women and children.
One incident, in which a Gaza woman was killed by Israeli sharpshooters, was described as “cold-blooded murder” by a soldier who served in the conflict.
In response to a string of testimonies compiled by an army training school, published in the media yesterday, Israel’s military advocate general has ordered a criminal investigation.
The revelations are likely to further undermine Israel’s image, already dented by the war in January. Palestinian and international human rights groups have long claimed that Israeli forces operating in the Gaza Strip committed grave violations against the civilian population. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during Israel’s three-week assault on the Hamas-controlled strip.
Claims of war crimes, as well as the mounting international effort to prosecute Israeli officials and soldiers for alleged violations, have met angry denials from the government and army.
Speaking on the night Israel ended its offensive, prime minister Ehud Olmert applauded the army for its “great sensitivity in exercising its force”, adding that few countries would have behaved with such restraint.
That claim has been undermined by the testimony of Israel’s soldiers. In a 35-page eyewitness report compiled by the head of a military preparation programme, soldiers reported cases in which troops shot civilians and vandalised homes. Several said there was a general disregard for the safety of civilians.
“I felt there was a lot of thirst for blood,” one soldier is quoted as saying. “This is the beauty of Gaza. You see a person walking down a street or path; he does not have to be with a weapon. You just have to see him with something, and you shoot him.” Another soldier said: “The atmosphere in general – how should I say this? – the life of the Palestinians is much less important than the life of our soldiers.” One officer described the behaviour of soldiers occupying a Palestinian house, highlighting abuses including “writing sentences on the walls like ‘Death to the Arabs’, taking family pictures and spitting on them, burning everything that reminds us of the family.
"Talking about the IDF being a 'moral army' – that's not the case in the field." – ( Financial Times)