It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid

[sabbat hunter]

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-27/ty-article-magazine/.premium/idf-soldiers-ordered-to-shoot-deliberately-at-unarmed-gazans-waiting-for-humanitarian-aid/00000197-ad8e-de01-a39f-ffbe33780000

Israeli soldiers in Gaza told Haaretz that the army has deliberately fired at Palestinians near aid distribution sites over the past month.

Conversations with officers and soldiers reveal that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds to drive them away or disperse them, even though it was clear they posed no threat.
One soldier described the situation as a total breakdown of the Israel Defense Forces' ethical codes in Gaza.

According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 549 people have been killed near aid centers and in areas where residents were waiting for UN food trucks since May 27. Over 4,000 have been wounded, but the exact number of those killed or injured by IDF fire remains unclear.

[Mosby]

1. Another article about the situation.

There is visual evidence of Hamas shooting and killing people waiting for aid, which is why various clans are now armed and protecting people.

The Haaretz article is entirely based on anonymous soldiers reports.

IDF strongly rejects damning Haaretz report claiming military targets civilians at aid sites
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-859245

[sabbat hunter]

2. The soldiers are

probably afraid of retaliation, that is why they are anonymous. I have no doubt that Hamas has a hand in the whole situation, but the Israeli government, and the IDF need to take every step possible to minimize civilian casualties. Of course the IDF will reject the Haaretz report, they would be idiots to admit it.
The Haaretz report also points out that it is the commanders on the ground that are ordering the shootings. The IDF instead of outright denying it happened, should say that they are going to investigate the situation, along with an international non-partisan group to show that they are not hiding anything.

[Israeli]

6. Anonymous in a way but not really anonymous

The majority of the boots on the ground in Gaza right now are not seasoned reservists they are 18 year old conscripts
who barely finished basic training .
They come home and who do they open up to ?
Their mothers that's who .
Its not a big secret over here .

One person is not anonymous .........Brig. Gen. Yehuda Vach.

See :

https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-soldiers-allege-division-commander-recklessly-endangered-troops-in-gaza/

https://archive.md/xMOKy

https://archive.md/ziWob

[Richard D]

3. As well . . .

. . . the Hebrew edition says "Shooting towards" not "shooting at" in the English language edition.

I await a front page admission of error and apology from Haartz

Link to tweet

[Israeli]

7. Think you are going to be waiting a while

Ref :

I await a front page admission of error and apology from Haartz

'Too Few Copies, Lots of Support': Locals of South Israeli Town Resist Mayor's Effort to Ban Haaretz

After a Haaretz exposé on IDF aid site killings in Gaza, the mayor of Arad ordered that the newspaper not be sold in his city. Locals handed out copies to residents in protest, hoping for 'more press freedom'

Following the Arad mayor's announcement that he intends to ban the sale of Haaretz in the southern Israeli city, residents gathered at the local commercial center to distribute copies of the newspaper in protest. "

They were scooped up within minutes," said prominent left-wing activist Avi Dabush.

The mayor, Yair Maayan, announced his intention to ban Haaretz from Arad's streets after it published an exposé last week in which Israeli soldiers testified that they were ordered to shoot unarmed civilians in Gaza to keep them away from food distribution hubs, even when they posed no threat.

Dabush, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, joined a small group of locals handing out Haaretz's Hebrew newspaper in the city's main shopping area in response to the ban.

In a social media post, he noted that all 50 copies were gone almost immediately. "Too few copies, but lots of support," Dabush wrote on X. "For the newspaper, yes - but even more for press freedom and the need to resist the mayor's violent populism. We'll keep adding light. Our hope is not yet lost," he added

Dabush and his fellow distributors also said they would return as many times as needed to distribute more newspapers. "We will not surrender to [far-right, ultranationalist] Kahanism or to any attempts to silence us," Dabush vowed.

The report sparked global outrage over the actions of Israel's military in Gaza. However, some pro-Israel supporters and Israeli politicians – including Maayan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz – were more angered by the existence of the report itself, accusing Haaretz of "echoing Hamas propaganda" and perpetrating a "blood libel."

"The municipality will not allow false incitement against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel, certainly in times of war. The municipality will act to prevent the entry of the inciting newspaper into the city in accordance with the Prevention of Incitement Law," Maayan told the Jewish News Syndicate on Monday.

In an interview with Israel's public broadcaster Kan, Maayan said that he would first approach any shops carrying Haaretz and "request nicely" that they stop selling the newspaper. When asked what he would do if the seller refused, the mayor responded, "We will just happen to renovate the sidewalk right in front of that store, and it will have to be closed."

"What can we do?" he asked with faux innocence. "We have to renovate the sidewalks."

In response to the proposed ban, Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn declared, "We will continue to loyally serve our readers in Arad, just like everywhere else," while Noa Landau, the paper's deputy editor, raised another point: "Someone should just let him know that Haaretz is also sold digitally – and it's a bit harder to "renovate the sidewalk" on the internet.".................

Source : Haaretz
Link : https://archive.md/KrbDB#selection-1139.0-1698.0

Why do you so called American Democrats have such a problem handling the truth ???????

[AloeVera]

4. All the "visual evidence" is either weak or obviously fake.

What there is is video of the criminal gangs that Israel funds that have been attacking and looring aid trucks since last year. There is no actual evidence Hamas is doing this, only unsubstantiated allegations made by Israel. Which is disputed by the legitimate aid agencies on the ground. Are they lying too?

Why would soldiers make these claims? At great risk to themselves, even if anonymous. Now you don't believe IDF soldiers?

Shooting and shelling unarmed civilians is what the IDF has been doing since the beginning. That it is now being done to unarmed and starving civilians is not much of a leap.

Much respect to the brave soldiers who are speaking out. These war crimes carry an enormous toll on the conscience. They did the right thing exposing them.

[AloeVera]

5. This is horrific. It confirms everything Israel has been accused of.

It's a killing field," one soldier said. "Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They're treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they know they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire."
The soldier added, "We open fire early in the morning if someone tries to get in line from a few hundred meters away, and sometimes we just charge at them from close range. But there's no danger to the forces." According to him, "I'm not aware of a single instance of return fire. There's no enemy, no weapons." He also said the activity in his area of service is referred to as Operation Salted Fish – the name of the Israeli version of the children's game "Red light, green light".


IDF officers told Haaretz that the army does not allow the public in Israel or abroad to see footage of what takes place around the food distribution sites. According to them, the army is satisfied that the GHF's operations have prevented a total collapse of international legitimacy for continuing the war. They believe the IDF has managed to turn Gaza into a "backyard," especially since the war with Iran began.

.....

Earlier this week, soldiers from Division 252 opened fire at an intersection where civilians were waiting for aid trucks. A commander on the ground gave the order to fire directly at the center of the junction, resulting in the deaths of eight civilians, including teenagers. The incident was brought to the attention of Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, but so far, aside from a preliminary review, he has taken no action and has not demanded an explanation from Vach regarding the high number of fatalities in his sector.

"I was at a similar event. From what we heard, more than ten people were killed there," said another senior reserve officer commanding forces in the area. "When we asked why they opened fire, we were told it was an order from above and that the civilians had posed a threat to the troops. I can say with certainty that the people were not close to the forces and did not endanger them. It was pointless – they were just killed, for nothing. This thing called killing innocent people – it's been normalized. We were constantly told there are no noncombatants in Gaza, and apparently that message sank in among the troops."

Much more at the link.

https://archive.is/8RsGz