Community | July 15, 2009 | 2 comments

Israeli soldiers in Gaza describe a 'moral Twilight Zone', admit war crimes

source: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/71837.html

Image
WakeUpPeople

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/71837.html

Israeli combat soldiers have acknowledged that they forced Palestinian civilians to serve as human shields, needlessly killed unarmed Gazans and improperly used white phosphorus shells to burn down buildings as part of Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter.

In filmed testimony and written statements released Wednesday, more than two dozen soldiers told an Israeli army veterans' group that military commanders led the fighters into what one described as a "moral Twilight Zone" where almost every Palestinian was seen as a threat.

Soldiers described incidents in which Israeli forces killed an unarmed Palestinian carrying a white cloth, an elderly woman carrying a sack, a Gazan riding a motorcycle, and an elderly man with a flashlight, said Breaking the Silence, a group formed by army reservists in 2004.

Any Palestinian spotted near Israeli troops was considered suspect. A man talking on a cell phone on the roof of his building was viewed as a legitimate target because he could've been telling militants where to find Israeli forces, the group quoted soldiers as saying.

"In urban warfare, everyone is your enemy," said one soldier. "No innocents."

The 110-pages of testimony — along with 16 video clips — of interviews with 26 unnamed Israeli soldiers offers the most comprehensive look inside a military campaign that's become the subject of an unfolding United Nations war crimes investigation.

The Israel Defense Forces dismissed the report.
  1. groups:
    Community,   News and Politics,   Free Gaza,   Zionism
  2. tags:
    News,  News and Politics,  Barack Obama,  Congress,  4 more
  3. recommended by:
    WorldPeaceTV
  4.     
    |

2 comments // Israeli soldiers in Gaza describe a 'moral Twilight Zone', admit war crimes

  • freecrack
    • 0
      freecrack  

    • now find the palastinian soldier testimonies feeling conflicted about launching rockets at kindergatens
      the whole situation is sick not just the israeli side of it.
      if anything this clarifies wich society is interested capable of learning through regret.
      not one report from hamas about anything at all acknowledges ANY wrongdoing on thier part.
      whats it like to be "perfect"

    • 3 years ago
  • masterzip
    • 0
      masterzip  
    • Image

    • Wars are started to KILL people, it is laughable that an agency is going to step in and determine if one or more people were killed "unfairly" in battle conditions. What is a fair kill after all?
      When I read about war atrocities I am always reminded of the brutality and nonsense off war as depicted in Picasso's 'Guernica.'

    • 3 years ago

top videos