israeli soldiers are ordered shoot to kill in Gaza

The Israeli military deliberately pounded civilian areas in the Gaza Strip with incessant fire of inaccurate ordinance during last year’s war against Hamas and was at best indifferent about casualties among the Palestinian population.

Those are the conclusions of a report complied by Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group that has spent the eight months since the end of the war, known as Operation Protective Edge,interviewing more than 60 members of the Israeli army, air force and navy, including soldiers and officers up to the rank of major.

“Many of the soldiers testified that the rules of engagement they were provided with before the ground incursion into Gaza were unclear and lenient. The soldiers were briefed by their commanders to fire at every person they identified in a combat zone, since the working assumption was that every person in the field was an enemy,” Breaking the Silence claims.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/fire-at-every-person-you-see-israeli-soldiers-reveal-they-were-ordered-to-shoot-to-kill-in-gaza--even-if-the-targets-may-have-been-civilians-10223427.html

sorry to say it but Isreal shouldn't exist... don't take me wrong but it's existance is based on religion... and well... those things never have peace

You want to see religious states there are much better examples in the Middle East.

@LJS9502_basic: Don't get me wrong they can have their religion but as long as they keep it to themselves as it always ends in bloodshed...

Always good to know where people stand.

Then you should be pointing the finger at Gaza as well.....

@Master_Live: I respect everyones religions but i ain't a fan of it as till now only buddhism has been peacefull

@LJS9502_basic: You know, if the choice lied at the feet of the people there wouldn't be agony like now, we have only the people with the power to blame here...

(sorry for bad grammar as i didn't know how to express it)

That makes no sense.....nonetheless I get the feeling you are using a double standard in this case which makes you a hypocrite.

@LJS9502_basic: nah, the only thing i say is: cut the crap before you both end up dead :p

@dylandr: I agree with that. But the way I see it....is that it does exist. People need to get over it and move on because Israel is not going anywhere. Very easy for me to say as I do not live in the Middle East but it's the way it is...

@SOedipus: If you look at it: Israel is technically fighting about land that they don't own in the first place...

Land they captured after a war their opponents lost...the same as any other nation on earth. Both Egypt and Jordan captured land as well, but you don't hear people crying about that.

It's Israel, this shouldn't surprise anyone. They are the masters of a country that cries foul every time they are attacked, but have no problems expanding their borders and killing Palestinians in the process. I know if my neighbor slowly started taking my land and then killing my family as they did it, I'd have a problem with them too.

I mean 0 Israeli prisoners are held by Palestinians while 6000 Palestinians are held prison by Israel, 28000 Palestinian homes have been destroyed by Israelis, and there are 163 Jewish only settlements built on confiscated Palestinian lands even after they were sanctioned by the UN to not build these settlements.

I get tired of all the Israel apologists. The place shouldn't exist. Giving them that land back in 1948 was a huge mistake and a slap in the face to Palestinians and Israel only makes it worse by expanding the borders and destroying the homes of Palestinians. As long as Israel is allowed to continue to run wild and America continues to funnel them $8.5 million in military aid each day, there will never be peace in those lands.

Religion is a big factor of why the killing is happening. Israel wants all the land there as their own because the feel it is their holy land, but the land was never theirs to begin with and outside of one book there is no history saying it ever was. Religion has falsified a lot of things and created a lot of wars due to this false history that religious zealots can't let go of in order to achieve peace. That's why the only religions I have respect for would be peaceful religions like Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Sorry for the rant, but this stuff irritates me. Orders of shoot to kill just seems wrong to me. The conflict could be resolved, but both sides would have to make changes.

Christ...you would have thought Kissinger himself gave the order. We should have expected as much. I mean, how else does one explain a sea-to-land missile blowing two kids to bits while they're playing on a beach? It's always good to have confirmation, though. Kudos to the members IDF for stepping up and speaking out - they're the truly courageous ones.

Story and interview on Democracy now; "Kill Anything": Israeli Soldiers Say Gaza Atrocities Came from Orders for Indiscriminate Fire

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/6/kill_anything_israeli_soldiers_say_gaza

But people are over it. Egypt has a peace treaty with Israel, Jordan and Israel are bffs and Syria and Lebanon took the cold shoulder route since the Lebanese war, except for the 2006 skirmishes. The only people that actively have a problem with Israel are the Palestinians, is that so outrageous? You know, seeing how they remain occupied by Israel and everything that entails.

The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah abolished force more than 20 years ago, cooperates on all levels with the Israelis and its demands for the Palestinian state have become quite humble. What did they get in return? Netenyahu winning the elections on a "no Palestinian state" platform and the Israeli president Reuven saying "annex the west bank". The last Israeli offensive was nothing short of a massacre; a few dozens Hamas combatants died, the rest were people leading wretched lives as it was as a result of an ongoing blockade that is suffocating an entire population.

@GazaAli: I hate those rich people...

Still waiting for "only democracy in the region" and "they share our values"

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

@davillain-: I am ready to end the game...

I only see a handful of 'tryhards' using that gimmick. Even they must be aware of how foolish they sound right about now..

What do you think of Palestine joining the ICC?

I'm not religious, but "Amen" to that

No it is not, Israel is a secular country. Israel doesn't even have an official religion... unlike Palestine... or Norway...

Israel is not the only democracy. Cyprus is also in the Middle East ;)

That little caveat about war is something many people do not understand. They just see the word "Israel" and start foaming from the mouth.

I particularly don't care to change people's minds about the situation over there but I at least expect some consistency. If Israel is wrong for killing civilians during their war or skirmishes, shouldn't the same be said about those who attack Israel and kill their civilians or is the line only crossed when it is the Jewish state doing it?

.. I really think nothing really showed Israel's true colors quite like the Iranian Peace deals and Israel being absolutely against peace.

Israel's true color is being worried about an authoritarian regime bent on Israel's destruction acquiring nukes? How horrible. Israel was also not absolutely against peace.

.. Except Iran agreed to deal, a deal in which they cannot get the type of uranium to enrich nuclear weapons to begin with and are under constant surveillance due to this agreement.. In exchange sanctions are slowly raised.. Absolutely not against peace? Really now? We just has the Israeli PM come to congress in which he said to the congress to not listen to the President of the US and pretty much to listen to him on about going after Iran. Reality doesn't match up with what your saying.

I don't know about the details about this deal and don't really care. But it's certainly understandably for Israel to be a bit paranoid. Iran has not stated its intent to destroy your country and funds various groups acting on this intent. Your country is also several orders of magnitude bigger, more powerful and far away. Your words would likely be different if this wasn't the case.

Let me explain the deal to you.. They are relinquishing the majority of their equipment and centrifuges.. They can now only enrich uranium to a small fraction of what it would be to actually be able to make a bomb. They have agreed to be constantly scrutinized by watch dog groups from the UN and US in ensuring everything is being followed.. In exchange sanctions are going to be slowly raised. Yet again this isn't Israel being paranoid or extremely critical of the dealings, they have basically stated that they are flat out against any kind of peace dealings.. And shortly before this we had the PM of Israel come to congress and tell congress to ignore the President and state that Iran was a threat.. I am sorry but what? Israel's military dominates the entire region, and they are the only one within the region that has nuclear arms.

I don't trust you and too lazy to look it up. I already think Israel is exaggerating, I don't need more info.

Israel's military doesn't dominate the entire region. Sure it is the strongest in the Middle East, or at least one of them. Which is why it still exists. That's not enough to feel safe when their are so many hostile countries around. Israel's military is not much stronger than Saudi's, UAE's, Turkey's or Iran's. Now that's just four countries. Israel also often has to fight on several fronts. It's ridiculous to think that there is no threat. If those countries for example would make an honest attack on each front Israel would be in serious danger to say the least.

@sSubZerOo: LOL trusting Iran...

Or when Israel called on the US and EU to break relations with the PA after the Unity government was formed.

What shows the Palestinian leadership's true color?

They'll never get along no matter what happens or who intervenes. They'll continue to fight until they're all dead.

I'm not trying to start an argument, just curious: what should the response be when Israel detects rockets being prepped to be fired their direction where said rockets happen to be in a populated area?

meaning what?

It's a very simple question. Some action showed Israel's true colors apparently. Which action show their true color?

This will fall on dear ears unfortunately.

What are their true colors?

I'm asking you. Personally I think states and quasi-states in most cases are entities way too intricate to assign "true colors". Especially when countries are liberal, diverse and/or democratic.

Well...whatever.

Yeah

@themajormayor: lol dude, you're being silly, just as you were silly with Subzero; "I don't trust you and I'm too lazy to look it up" This news is far too important for it to be derailed by your silliness. If you want to talk like normal people then I can do that. If not, then...whatever.

What's a better way to respond to "Well...whatever"?

The reason is that as I said, I already think Israel was exaggerating and I don't see Iran as a threat. So if it turns out that he was correct about the details of this deal then how will that affect my opinion? The answer is, not at all. I was even against these stupid sanctions to begin with. In addition I don't think the UN or whatever is capable of enforcing this fully anyway. So the exact details of this deals doesn't interest me. This doesn't even have anything to do with the thread anyway.

I guess the point he was making was that Israel consistently finds ways of undermining peace in the ME. Doesn't matter if it's Iran or the Palestinian territories. While I believe that to be true, I also believe that the two scenarios are quite different from one another I also believe that far more attention should be paid to this piece of news than to whatever issues Israel has with Iran.

Actually, Netenyahu's latest victory on a "no Palestinian state" platform speaks infinitely more about Israel's true color. There can be a measure of redeeming rhetoric in the Iranian case, but what does Israel have against the west bank that it decided "no state for you"?

When all hell breaks loose again in the occupied territories, let's not forget about that pivotal moment in the conflict and start "blaming both sides", let's not point fingers at the brown people refusing to coexist in peace.

Let me take a bite at that. What shows the Palestinian leadership's true color is its longstanding abolition of violence while entirely committing itself to a peaceful solution to the conflict. The PA continues to cooperate with Israel on all levels, especially on the security level, despite a rogue and a belligerent Israel, something that accentuates the painfully peaceable and compromising nature of the PA. Abu Mazen can't stop reiterating Israel's right to exist, despite Israel's refusal to reciprocate. Even on the question of the Palestinian refugees, he plainly stated that no one is going back to present-day Israel, practically telling diaspora Palestinians to get over it. Under his leadership, the PA continues to entrench itself in the international system as a civilian and cooperative polity; the latest diplomatic attempts in response to Israel's duplicity and lawlessness attest to that.

Now I have a question that is begging for an answer, why did Israel decide to deny us a state? I'd like to see you tergiversate your way through this one.

I have a crackpot theory that Likud and Hamas are working together to keep each other in power. They need each other to keep the other side scared enough to keep voting for them.

@fenriz275:

Actually I heard this somewhere in the news. Not sure if it was a reliable source but it said that Hamas had agreed to peace with Israel behind the scenes even though they keep talking about how Israel is evil and how the "resistance" will fight them with all it's got.

Basically Hamas looks pretty desperate right now.