[News] ‘Damning Evidence’ of War Crimes in Gaza: Israeli Soldiers Compete to Break Legs of Palestinian Protesters

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-in-gaza-israeli-soldiers-compete-to-break-legs-of-palestinian-protesters/?fbclid=IwAR3-AXtsCxlP2y7hAbPisHsvfES9EP1nCDEMr5TOH4017N456OeKLYEgFMw 



  ‘Damning Evidence’ of War Crimes in Gaza: Israeli Soldiers Compete to
  Break Legs of Palestinian Protesters

March 6, 2020
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Palestinians evacuate a wounded demonstrator during a protest at the 
fence separating Gaza from Israel. (Photo: File)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff 
<http://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

A report published in the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz on Friday 
revealed harrowing details of the military protocol followed by Israeli 
army snipers who have killed over 300 Palestinian protesters and wounded 
thousands more at the fence separating besieged Gaza from Israel.

The report, written by Israeli journalist Hilo Glazer included 
testimonies of six Israeli snipers who took part in the ongoing army 
violence targeting peaceful protesters in Gaza, who, starting in March 
2018, gathered at the fence demanding an end to the Israeli siege.

    100 #Palestinians
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Palestinians?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    were injured by Israeli snipers in the Great March of Return
    yesterday. This week's protest was held in support of Al-Aqsa
    (Photos by Abdallah Aljamal, the Palestine Chronicle)
    pic.twitter.com/nwsjumjp66 <https://t.co/nwsjumjp66>

    — Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) August 24, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/PalestineChron/status/1165173866966204416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

‘Eden’, a fictitious name for one of the soldiers, spoke about breaking 
a record that made him stand out among his fellow soldiers.

“Eden says he broke the ‘knee record 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-a-young-gazan-s-dream-amputated-1.7414470>’ 
in the demonstration that took place on the day the new US Embassy in 
Jerusalem was inaugurated on May 14, 2018”.

Eden said:

    “On that day, our pair had the largest number of hits, 42 in all. My
    locator wasn’t supposed to shoot, but I gave him a break, because we
    were getting close to the end of our stint, and he didn’t have
    knees. In the end you want to leave with the feeling that you did
    something, that you weren’t a sniper during exercises only. So,
    after I had a few hits, I suggested to him that we switch. He got
    around 28 knees there, I’d say.”

    #Palestinians
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Palestinians?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    take part in "No to Annexing the West Bank" Friday as part of the
    Great March of Return in the Gaza Strip (Photos by Abdallah Aljamal,
    the Palestine Chronicle) pic.twitter.com/LsUsFVeMDa
    <https://t.co/LsUsFVeMDa>

    — Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 15, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/PalestineChron/status/1139953289028616193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Another soldier told Haaretz:

    “There was a Palestinian who looked like he was about 20, who didn’t
    stop moving around. Pink shirt, gray pants. What they do is
    run-run-run, and then end up in the concertina wire. He was really
    good at it. In that situation you can finish him off or hit someone
    behind him. I clearly remember being worried about missing his leg –
    and then feeling relief (sic) that I made a precise hit.”

Referring to the shooting of Palestinian minors, Eden said:

“Sometimes it really is hard to tell the difference (between minors and 
adults). You look at facial features, height, body mass. Clothing is 
also a certain index. The younger ones are usually wearing T-shirts. But 
listen, a 16-year-old can cause you harm, too. If he presents a threat, 
the age parameter is not necessarily relevant.”

    Gaza: Great March of Return Continues for 7th Week in Row (PHOTOS) –
    Palestine Chronicle https://t.co/nzrVgPki8c
    pic.twitter.com/xvOjcPxIFE <https://t.co/xvOjcPxIFE>

    — Gaza West Bank (@GazaWestBank) May 12, 2018
    <https://twitter.com/GazaWestBank/status/995305419282132992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

When, after 16 months of protests, the Israeli army allegedly decided to 
alter its guidelines for snipers and asked them to aim at the ankle to 
avoid an even higher number of fatalities, Israeli snipers weren’t happy.

“There was a stage when the order really was to aim at the ankle,” Eden 
said. “I didn’t like that change. Believe in your snipers. To me, it 
felt like they were trying to make our life harder for no reason.”

Another soldier, Amir: “A terrorist who deserves to die is standing 
opposite me, but because we have to justify ourselves to Haaretz or to 
the BBC, he gets out of it without a scratch. Cowardice is created that 
trickles down.”

    ‘Fighter of #Return
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Return?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>’:
    Thoughts on Razan al-Najjar and Nikki #Haley
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Haley?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    https://t.co/7k7EreaLtY via @PalestineChron
    <https://twitter.com/PalestineChron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    pic.twitter.com/83zCKWcUxv <https://t.co/83zCKWcUxv>

    — Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 2, 2018
    <https://twitter.com/PalestineChron/status/1013724035014938624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

“I believe I was on the right side and that I did the right thing,” he 
insisted, “because if not for us, the terrorists would try to cross the 
fence. It’s obvious to you that there is a reason that you’re there.”

“Not that we didn’t have enough evidence to indict the Israeli army and 
government for ordering and executing this kind of human rights 
violations and war crimes,” Palestinian writer and editor of the 
Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud said, “but now we have damning 
evidence published in Israel’s own media that should be more than enough 
to put many of these criminals behind bars.”

    Many of these Palestinian amputees were injured by Israeli snipers
    during the Great March of Return protests.

    This unique project provides them training for another shot at
    football. pic.twitter.com/JD3sXIVUnO <https://t.co/JD3sXIVUnO>

    — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 6, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1125497966582591489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

“The bloodbath that has taken place at the fence of a besieged and 
war-fatigued Gaza should be the center of the ICC’s investigation of 
Israeli war crimes,” Baroud said referring to the decision by the 
International Criminal Court Chief, Fatou Bensouda on December 20, 2019, 
to investigate alleged war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Aside from the hundreds of dead and thousands of wounded, hundreds of 
Palestinians in Gaza have been maimed for life.

/(The Palestine Chronicle)/

-- 
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863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
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