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Wednesday 06 May 2015 - 13:59 Makkah mean time-17-7-1436
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London (IINA) - An organization representing Israeli soldiers has released damning details of accounts by up to 70 combatants during the 50-day Gaza war in 2014, according to a report published by the International Business Times (IBTimes UK).
The details include deadly attacks on Palestinian civilians and widespread destruction of property and infrastructure.
The 240-page report of first-hand accounts from the Israeli combatants, whose names have not been revealed, thrusts the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and the Israel government under the spotlight for its repeated denial that its forces deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians.
The report from Breaking the Silence an organization established by IDF soldiers and veterans who provide testimonies about their military service in the Palestinian territories comes less than a week after a United Nations inquiry concluded that Israel was responsible for striking seven UN civilian shelters, where 44 Palestinians died and 227 were injured.
The testimonies focused heavily on ground forces but included those that served in artillery and aerial fire units outside the Gaza Strip.
The ground invasion began on July 17 as Israeli forces entered the northern parts of the Strip and remained there until August 5.
Soldiers said they were told that the areas they were deployed to were entirely clear of civilians after the air force dropped leaflets telling all civilians to leave. But frequently, the army would begin firing on Palestinian homes only to find dozens of civilians sheltering inside.
"There weren't really any rules of engagement... The idea was, if you spot something, shoot. They told us: 'There aren't supposed to be any civilians there. If you spot someone, shoot," one said.
Another said his commander told him: "Anything there is as good as dead. Anything you see moving in the neighborhoods you're in, is not supposed to be there. The civilians know they are not supposed to be there. Therefore, whoever you see there, you kill."
The report claims that Palestinian civilians were deliberately targeted, including two Palestinian women in southern Gaza Strip walking in an orchard.
"The lookouts couldn't see well so the commander sent a drone up to look from above, and the drone implicated them. It saw them with phones talking, walking. They directed fire there, on those girls, and they were killed," one soldier said.
Breaking the Silence executive director Yuli Novak said based on the testimonies, the rules of engagement were the most permissive the organization had ever heard.
"Many soldiers testified that the orders that they received were to shoot to kill every person sighted in the area," he said.
The report claimed soldiers in the Gaza strip occupied Palestinian homes before destroying them with bulldozers and mortar fire when they left. The IDF is also alleged to have destroyed any homes that were in strategic positions such as on hills or close to the Israeli border fence.
IDF spokesman Peter Lerner told IBTimes UK that Breaking the Silence had systematically failed to come to the IDF with their concerns. "We have 20 criminal investigations under way specific to Protective Edge," he said.
When asked about specific examples of targeting civilians in Gaza, he said he could not comment on anonymous information but said he stood by his previous statements to media that the IDF did not target civilians in Gaza during the last war.....?
SM/IINA
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