The Israeli army approved a policy in Gaza that allowed soldiers to engage in almost indiscriminate killing of civilians, according to army sources.
Israeli soldiers told +972 Magazine that they regularly executed Palestinian civilians for merely entering areas designated as “no-go zones” by the military.
Two soldiers also described a systematic policy of setting Palestinian homes on fire after occupying them.
The sources mentioned that soldiers would often fire randomly to release tension.
“I personally fired a few bullets for no reason, into the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building,” said an Israeli reservist who served in northern Gaza.
“They report it as ‘normal fire,’ which is a codename for ‘I’m bored, so I shoot.'”
Another soldier said, “There was total freedom of action” in Gaza.
“If there is even a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain – you just shoot,” said the soldier.
“It is permissible to shoot at their centre of mass [their body], not into the air – it’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.”
Since October 7, the death toll in Gaza has continued to climb, with the Palestinian health ministry reporting a total of 38,152, most of whom are women and children.
A letter written by experts and published in the medical journal, The Lancet, warns that the actual death toll of Palestinians killed in Gaza could exceed 186,000, highlighting the staggering impact of Israel’s invasion and bombardment of the enclave.
The letter emphasised that the Palestinian health ministry’s figure is likely a dramatic underestimate and does not account for the thousands of people buried under the rubble or for the mounting “indirect” deaths as a result of Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s food distribution, healthcare, and sanitation systems.
“The total death toll is expected to be large given the intensity of this conflict; destroyed healthcare infrastructure; severe shortages of food, water, and shelter; the population’s inability to flee to safe places; and the loss of funding to Unrwa, one of the very few humanitarian organisations still active in the Gaza Strip,” the letter said.
The letter estimated that the number of bodies still buried in the rubble is likely to exceed 10,000, as at least 35 percent of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed, according to UN data.
