fanger
Gold Member
The 237-page report by the Israeli advocacy group Breaking the Silence described how Israel Defence Forces (IDF) left swathes of devastation after they invaded Gaza last July with the stated aim of halting Hamas rocket fire out of the enclave.
"We were firing purposelessly all day long. Hamas was nowhere to be seen," one tank sergeant was quoted as saying.
The group said its finding cast "grave doubt on the IDF's ethics". The Israeli military says it tried to prevent non-combatant casualties, and accuses Hamas of inviting these by fighting from within residential areas.
The Palestinian Islamist group has been criticised abroad for firing rockets at Israeli civilians.
Some 2,256 Palestinians were killed during the July-August conflict, of whom 1,563 were civilians, according to U.N. figures. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and five civilians died.
The lopsided tolls have fuelled foreign criticism of Israel and Palestinian calls for war-crimes suits.
Monday's report suggested the IDF looked to minimise the risk to their own troops even if that meant harming civilians.
An infantry sergeant is quoted as saying that, once Israel deemed civilians had mostly fled an area of operations, "there weren't really any rules of engagement".
"The idea was, if you spot something, shoot," he said. "If you shoot someone in Gaza it's cool, no big deal." Israel questioned the methodology and motivations behind the report.
Israel inflicted massive harm on Palestinians during 2014 war Report
Any report not submitted to IDF censors before publication will be denied
"We were firing purposelessly all day long. Hamas was nowhere to be seen," one tank sergeant was quoted as saying.
The group said its finding cast "grave doubt on the IDF's ethics". The Israeli military says it tried to prevent non-combatant casualties, and accuses Hamas of inviting these by fighting from within residential areas.
The Palestinian Islamist group has been criticised abroad for firing rockets at Israeli civilians.
Some 2,256 Palestinians were killed during the July-August conflict, of whom 1,563 were civilians, according to U.N. figures. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and five civilians died.
The lopsided tolls have fuelled foreign criticism of Israel and Palestinian calls for war-crimes suits.
Monday's report suggested the IDF looked to minimise the risk to their own troops even if that meant harming civilians.
An infantry sergeant is quoted as saying that, once Israel deemed civilians had mostly fled an area of operations, "there weren't really any rules of engagement".
"The idea was, if you spot something, shoot," he said. "If you shoot someone in Gaza it's cool, no big deal." Israel questioned the methodology and motivations behind the report.
Israel inflicted massive harm on Palestinians during 2014 war Report
Any report not submitted to IDF censors before publication will be denied