From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Mar 21 2009 - 04:38:50 EST
Israeli troops shot 'unarmed Palestinian civilians under orders' during
Gaza war
Published soldiers' testimonies contradict official version of events
and reinforce Palestinian accounts of disproportionate force
Rory McCarthy, Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 March 2009 12.21 GMT
Striking testimony has emerged from Israeli soldiers involved in the
Gaza war in which they describe shooting unarmed civilians, sometimes
under orders from their officers.
One soldier described how an Israeli sniper shot dead a Palestinian
mother and her two children, adding that fellow troops believed the
lives of Palestinians were "very, very less important than the lives of
our soldiers".
The testimony, published in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz today, gives
a rare insight into how Israeli soldiers fought the war on the ground;
reinforces Palestinian accounts of disproportionate Israeli force; and
sharply contradicts the Israeli military's official version of events.
The accounts come from unnamed soldiers who were graduates of a
pre-military course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon and who spoke in
a session in mid-February. The transcript of the session was published
this week and obtained by Ha'aretz.
In that transcript, one infantry squad leader said: "There was a house
with a family inside . We put them in a room. Later we left the house
and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there was an
order to release the family. They had set up positions upstairs. There
was a sniper position on the roof.
"The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the
right. One mother and her two children didn't understand and went to the
left, but they forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof they had let
them go and it was OK, and he should hold his fire and he ... he did
what he was supposed to, like he was following his orders. The
sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the
lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away. In any
case, what happened is that in the end he killed them."
The squad leader said he believed the sniper did not feel regret. "I
don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he
was concerned, he did his job according to the orders he was given. And
the atmosphere in general, from what I understood from most of my men
who I talked to ... I don't know how to describe it ... The lives of
Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important than the
lives of our soldiers. So as far as they are concerned they can justify
it that way."
A second squad leader, from the same brigade, described how a company
commander ordered troops to shoot an elderly Palestinian woman who was
walking on a road about 100 metres from a house the soldiers had taken
over. He said he argued with his commander about the rules of
engagement, particularly the way they shot without warning to clear
houses.
Ha'aretz reported: "After the orders were changed, the squad leader's
soldiers complained that 'We should kill everyone there [in the centre
of Gaza]. Everyone there is a terrorist.'"
The squad leader said: "You do not get the impression from the officers
that there is any logic to it, but they won't say anything. To write
'death to the Arabs' on the walls, to take family pictures and spit on
them, just because you can. I think this is the main thing: to
understand how much the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] has fallen in the
realm of ethics, really. It's what I'll remember the most."
The head of the Oranim course was apparently "shocked" after hearing the
soldiers' accounts of their fighting and reported his concerns to the
army chief, Major General Gabi Ashkenazi. Ashkenazi's office asked for a
transcript of the discussion, which was provided.
The Israeli military today first denied having "any previous knowledge
or information about these incidents". Then in a later statement it
admitted that the head of the course had sent a letter to the chief of
staff's office "several weeks ago" describing the soldiers' accounts and
that the military's chief education officer then met with the course
head.
It said the military advocate general, Brigadier General Avichai
Mendelblit, today instructed the military police to investigate the
soldiers' accounts.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/19/israeli-troops-gaza-shooting
s-civilians