[News] 'It’s permissible to shoot everyone' in Gaza: Six IOF soldiers testify

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-it-s-permissible-to-shoot-everyone--in-gaza--6-iof-soldiers>
'It’s permissible to shoot everyone' in Gaza: Six IOF soldiers testify
Al Mayadeen English
July 9, 2024
------------------------------

Six Israeli soldiers present harrowing testimonies as they recount how
their fellow soldiers routinely executed Palestinian civilians to release
pent-up frustration or alleviate boredom.
[image: bfa774bc-2925-4921-8b7b-b98d02b3e5ca.jpg]

   - A doctor stands near bodies lined up for identification after they
   were unearthed from a mass grave found in the Nasser Medical Complex,
   southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, April 25, 2024. (*AFP*)

Six Israeli soldiers, speaking to *+972 Magazine *and *Local Call* after
being discharged from active duty in Gaza in recent months, reported instances
of executions
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/torture--executions--and-live-burials--un-experts-on-gaza-ma>
that lacked any clear "security justification".

Corroborating the accounts of Palestinian eyewitnesses and doctors during
the ongoing Israeli genocide, the Israeli soldiers described being
authorized to shoot Palestinians indiscriminately.

Of the six sources interviewed by *+972 Magazine *and* Local Call*, all but
one spoke anonymously. They recounted how Israeli soldiers routinely
executed Palestinian civilians for entering areas designated as "no-go
zones" by the military.

The testimonies depict a grim scene of civilian bodies scattered across the
landscape, often left to decay or be scavenged by animals.

The army reportedly only removes these bodies by a bulldozer
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel-s--civilian-executions--bulldozer-burials--shocking>
before the arrival of international aid convoys to prevent images of
advanced decomposition from spreading. Additionally, two soldiers described
a systematic policy of setting Palestinian homes on fire before leaving
them after their occupation.
‘I’m bored, so I shoot'

Several sources told* +972 Magazine *and *Local Call* how the unrestricted
ability to shoot allowed soldiers to release pent-up frustration or
alleviate boredom.

"People want to fully engage in the event," recalled S., a reservist who
served in northern Gaza. "I personally fired a few bullets aimlessly, into
the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building. They classify it as
'routine fire,' which is code for 'I'm bored, so I shoot.'"

Since the 1980s, the Israeli military has refused to disclose its rules of
engagement for open fire, despite numerous petitions to the High Court of
Justice. According to political sociologist Yagil Levy, since the Second
Intifada, "the army has not provided soldiers with written rules of
engagement," leaving much open to interpretation by soldiers in the field
and their commanders. Sources also testified that these loose directives
contributed to the killing of over 38,000 Palestinians
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/day-276-of-israeli-aggression-on-gaza--38-193-killed--87-903>
and a significant number of soldiers killed by friendly fire
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-says-one-soldier-was-killed-with-apache--friendly-fire>
in recent months.
'It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman'

“There was total freedom of action,” B., a soldier who served in the
regular forces in Gaza for several months, including at his battalion's
command center told *+972 Magazine* and *Local Call*.

“If there is [even] a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain — you
just shoot,” he stressed.

When soldiers spot someone approaching, “it is permissible to shoot at
their center of mass [their body], not into the air,” B. said. “It’s
permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.”

B. then recounted an incident from November when soldiers fatally shot
several civilians during the evacuation of a school near Gaza City's
al-Zaytoun neighborhood, which had been used as a shelter for forcibly
displaced Palestinians.

“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.
detailed.
'Every man between the ages of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist'

B. told *+972 Magazine* and *Local Call* that  “every man between the ages
of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist.”

“It is forbidden to walk around, and everyone who is outside is
suspicious,” B. stressed. “If we see someone in a window looking at us, he
is a suspect. You shoot. 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.”

S. witnessed that his fellow soldiers would “shoot a lot, even for no
reason — anyone who wants to shoot, no matter what the reason, shoots.”
'The shooting is very unrestricted, like crazy'

M., another reservist who served in the Gaza Strip, clarified that such
directives would be issued directly by field commanders of the company or
battalion.

 “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,” M. testified.

Even without explicit orders from higher-ups, M. witnessed that soldiers in
the field often act independently, taking matters into their own hands.

“Regular soldiers, junior officers, battalion commanders — the junior ranks
who want to shoot, they get permission,” M. added.
IOF killing a family of four

S. recalled hearing over the radio about a soldier stationed in a
protective compound who fired at a Palestinian family walking nearby.

S. gushed, “At first, they say ‘four people.’ It turns into two children
plus two adults, and by the end it’s a man, a woman, and two children. You
can assemble the picture yourself.”

Only one of the soldiers interviewed for this investigation agreed to be
identified by name: Yuval Green, a 26-year-old reservist who served in the
55th Paratroopers Brigade in November and December of last year.

Green, who recently signed a letter with 41 other reservists declaring
their refusal to continue serving in Gaza following the army's invasion of
Rafah, told *+972* and *Local Call*, “There were no restrictions on
ammunition; people were shooting just to relieve the boredom.”

Green recounted an incident during a Jewish holiday in December when “the
whole battalion opened fire together like fireworks, including tracer
ammunition [which generates a bright light]. It made a crazy color,
illuminating the sky, and because [Hannukah] is the ‘festival of lights,’
it became symbolic.”
Friendly fire is the 'main issue' threatening IOF

In the same context, C. testified that “people shot as they pleased, with
all their might,” noting that the lack of restrictions on shooting meant
that soldiers were frequently exposed to significant risks of friendly fire
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/friendly-fire-and-incidents-claim-lives-of-29-israeli-soldie>
.

In Green’s testimony, friendly fire has been the “main issue” threatening
soldiers’ lives. “There was quite a bit [of friendly fire]; it drove me
crazy,” he stressed.
'The war harms the hostages'

For Green, the rules of engagement also showed a profound disregard for the
well-being of Israeli captives.

“They told me about a practice of blowing up tunnels, and I thought to
myself that if there were hostages [in them], it would kill them,” Green
testified.

Green recalled an incident during which three Israeli captives were killed
in Gaza by the IOF holding up a white flag.

On this issue, Green told *+972 Magazine* and *Local Call, *“I’ve heard
statements [from other soldiers] that the hostages are dead, they don’t
stand a chance, they have to be abandoned."

“[This] bothered me the most … that they kept saying, ‘We’re here for the
hostages,’ but it is clear that the war harms the hostages. That was my
thought then; today it turned out to be true.”
'A building comes down, and the feeling is, 'Wow, what fun''

A., an officer who served in the army's Operations Directorate, testified
that his brigade's operations room, responsible for coordinating combat
activities from outside Gaza, did not receive clear instructions on
open-fire orders to relay to soldiers in the field.

“From the moment you enter, at no point is there a briefing,” he said. “We
didn’t receive instructions from higher up to pass on to the soldiers and
battalion commanders.”

“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,'" he added.
'Shoot first, ask questions later’

A. detailed that shooting at "hospitals, clinics, schools, religious
institutions, [and] buildings of international organizations" required
higher authorization. However, in practice, "I can 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 stressed.

A. added, “The spirit in the operations room was ‘Shoot first, ask
questions later.’ That was the consensus … 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.”

A. reported being aware of instances where Israeli soldiers fired at
Palestinian civilians who entered "their operational area," corroborating
findings from a *Haaretz *investigation into "kill zones" in Gaza areas under
army control
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-plans-to-make-gaza--buffer-zone--war-crime--un>
.

“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. stressed.
Doubt cast on military reports of Hamas casualties

A. added that it was often unclear from the reports whether soldiers had
targeted militants or unarmed civilians—and “many times, it sounded like
someone was caught up in a situation, and we opened fire.”

However, due to this uncertainty regarding the identity of the victims, A.
did not trust military reports concerning the number of Hamas fighters
killed.

“The feeling in the war room, and this is a softened version, was that
every person we killed, we counted him as a terrorist,” he testified.

“The aim was to count how many [terrorists] we killed today,” A. stressed.
“Every [soldier] wants to show that he’s the big guy. The perception was
that all the men were terrorists. Sometimes a commander would suddenly ask
for numbers, and then the officer of the division would run from brigade to
brigade going through the list in the military’s computer system and count.”
'Today’s child [is] tomorrow’s terrorist'

A. observed the irony that some Israelis justified calls for revenge by
alleging that Palestinians in Gaza celebrated the death and destruction on
October 7, as the Israeli soldiers justified their killing by using phrases
such as: "They handed out sweets," "They danced after October 7," or "They
elected Hamas."

"Not everyone, but also quite a few, thought that today’s child [is]
tomorrow’s terrorist."

This belief was used to justify disregarding the distinction between
civilians and combatants.

It is worth noting that Israeli newspaper *Haaretz *reported, on Sunday,
that during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, Israeli occupation forces
(IOF) routinely used a command that allowed soldiers to murder their own
soldiers, namely the infamous Hannibal Directive
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israelis-widely-used-hannibal-directive-on-oct-7--israeli-re#:~:text=Israeli%20newspaper%20Haaretz%20has%20reported,namely%20the%20infamous%20Hannibal%20Directive.>
.

The Israeli Air Force targeted at least three military facilities and
outposts during the operation, and the IOF opened fire on the separation
barrier dividing Gaza and the occupied territories when Israelis were being
taken captive. According to a source in the Israeli Southern Command, the
region was designed to become a "killing zone", while another commanded
that "not a single vehicle can return to Gaza." These instructions are
known as the "Hannibal Directive", requiring the IOF to take all measures
to avoid the capture of Israeli soldiers, including murdering them.

“I, too, a rather left-wing soldier, forget very quickly that these are
real homes [in Gaza],” A. said.

“It felt like a computer game. Only after two weeks did I realize that
these are [actual] buildings that are falling: if there are inhabitants
[inside], then [the buildings are collapsing] on their heads, and even if
not, then with everything inside them,” he added.
'So, you occasionally see dogs walking around with rotting body parts'

Multiple soldiers testified that the lenient shooting policy has allowed
Israeli units to kill Palestinian civilians, even when their civilian
status is known beforehand.

D., a reservist, mentioned that his brigade was positioned near two
designated "humanitarian" travel corridors in Gaza: one for aid
organizations and another for civilians moving from North to South within
the Strip.

Within its operational area, the brigade implemented a policy known as "red
line, green line," marking zones where civilians were prohibited from
entering.

 "Anyone who crossed into the green area would become a potential target,”
D. said.

“If they [civilians] cross the red line, you report it on the radio and you
don’t need to wait for permission, you can shoot,” he stressed.

In Gaza, soldiers recounted incidents where civilians, often desperate
refugees scavenging for food from aid convoys, risked being shot if they
approached. Despite acknowledging their desperation and lack of resources,
soldiers cited frequent incidents where individuals, whether innocent
civilians
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--killing-clan-members-distributing-aid-in-gaza--stat>
or suspected scouts for Hamas, were shot by their battalion. The aftermath
left numerous Palestinian civilian bodies strewn across roads and open
areas throughout Gaza.

“The whole area was full of bodies,” said S., a reservist. “There are also
dogs, cows, and horses that survived the bombings and have nowhere to go.
We can’t feed them, and we don’t want them to get too close either. So, you
occasionally see dogs walking around with rotting body parts. There is a
horrific smell of death.”
'A D-9 [Caterpillar bulldozer] clears the area of corpses'

S. pointed out that before humanitarian convoys arrived, the bodies were
cleared or removed from the area by bulldozers.

 “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 testified.

“I saw a lot of [Palestinian] civilians – families, women, children,” S.
continued. “There are more fatalities than are reported. We were in a small
area. Every day, at least one or two [civilians] are killed [because] they
walked in a no-go area. I don’t know who is a terrorist and who is not, but
most of them did not carry weapons.”

“We saw some indistinct mass outside a house. We realized it was a body
<https://english.almayadeen.net/videos/horrific-scenes-from-jabalia-refugee-camp-in-gaza-after-isra>;
we saw a leg. At night, cats ate it. Then someone came and moved it,” he
detailed.
‘Before you leave, you burn down the house’

Two soldiers testified that burning Palestinian homes has become routine
among Israeli troops, a practice extensively detailed by *Haaretz *earlier
this year.

Green personally witnessed two incidents: one initiated independently by a
soldier and another carried out under commanders' instructions.

"If you move, you have to burn down the house,” he tersely stated.

“I asked the company commander, who said that no military equipment [could
be] left behind, and that we did not want the enemy to see our fighting
methods,” Green added. “I said I would do a search [to make sure] there was
no [evidence of] combat methods left behind. [The company commander] gave
me explanations from the world of revenge. He said they were burning them
because there were no D-9s or IEDs from an engineering corp [that could
destroy the house by other means]. He received an order and it didn’t
bother him.”

“Before you leave, you burn down the house — every house,” B. reaffirmed.
“This is backed up at the battalion commander level.”

Green went on to say, “You draw on the walls, rude things. Playing with
clothes, finding passport photos they left, hanging a picture of someone
because it’s funny. We used everything we found: mattresses, food, one
found a NIS 100 bill [around $27] and took it.”

“We destroyed everything we wanted to,” Green testified. “This is not out
of a desire to destroy, but out of total indifference to everything that
belongs to [Palestinians]. Every day, a D-9 demolishes houses. I haven’t
taken before-and-after photos, but I’ll never forget how a neighborhood
that was really beautiful … is reduced to sand.”

It's a familiar story: Israeli soldiers are confessing to shooting to kill
and reducing everything to rubble. This time, amid ongoing genocide—the
gravest of crimes—the atrocities are unfolding live and unabated.

This extreme cruelty
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/rescue-teams-discover-third-mass-grave-in-al-shifa-hospital>
precisely meets the definition of genocide with intent, illustrating why
ignoring it is not just impractical but absurd. It highlights the profound
challenge of genocide denialism that persists globally. This impunity
allows the killing of Palestinians to continue, as evidenced by Israeli
soldiers boasting about it and documenting their actions on social
media—insolently motivated by boredom.
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