Israeli soldiers deliberately shoot at unarmed Palestinians near aid sites in Gaza: report

Defence affairs - haaretz jewish media

It was pointless, they were just killed for nothing, an Israeli soldier tells daily Haaretz.

Israeli soldiers deployed in Gaza have been ordered to open fire on unarmed Palestinian civilians waiting for humanitarian aid, even when no threat was present, according to a detailed investigation published by Haaretz on Friday.

According to the Israeli daily, conversations with soldiers indicate that “commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds to drive them away or disperse them, even though it was clear they posed no threat.”

“It’s a killing field,” one soldier told Haaretz. He said that in his position, “between one and five people were killed every day” by live fire instead of taking non-lethal measures for crowd control.

The revelations followed reports from Gaza’s Health Ministry stating that at least 549 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded near aid centres and UN food truck locations since May 27.

The food sites in question are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an aid initiative reportedly coordinated by Israeli authorities, American evangelical groups, and private security contractors, according to reports.

Killing innocent people 'normalised'

An Israeli reservist told Haaretz that “Gaza doesn’t interest anyone anymore,” describing the zone as a lawless space where “the loss of human life means nothing.”

A senior reserve officer also told Haaretz: “When we asked why they opened fire, we were told it was an order from above … 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.”

He added: “This thing called killing innocent people, it's been normalised.”