Reckless force used in Gaza, say Israeli troops
A group of soldiers who took part in Israel's assault in Gaza say widespread abuses were committed against civilians under "permissive" rules of engagement.
The troops said they had been urged to fire on any building or person that seemed suspicious and said civilians were sometimes used as human shields.
Breaking the Silence, a campaign group made up of Israeli soldiers, gathered anonymous accounts from 26 soldiers.
Israel denies breaking the laws of war and dismissed the report as hearsay. The Israeli military accused the group of "defaming and slandering the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and its commanders."
"The IDF is one of the world's most moral armies and operates according to the highest moral code," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a separate statement.
In testimonies collected by Breaking the Silence, soldiers who participated in the three weeks of Gaza fighting describe demolishing homes and using firepower beyond what was necessary given the relatively light resistance they encountered.
None of the soldiers was identified, and no dates or locations were provided for the events they recount. The report did not look at the actions of Palestinian militants during the fighting.
"We were told soldiers were to be secured by fire-power. The soldiers were made to understand that their lives were the most important, and that there was no way our soldiers would get killed for the sake of leaving civilians the benefit of the doubt," said one soldier in the report.
Until now, Israel always had a ready answer to allegations of war crimes in Gaza. Claims were, they said, Palestinian propaganda. Now the accusations of abuse are being made by Israeli soldiers.
The common thread in the testimonies is that orders were given to prevent Israeli casualties whatever the cost in Palestinian lives.
The Israeli military says past allegations of wrong-doing in Gaza were the result of soldiers recycling rumours.
But Breaking the Silence has a long - and to many, credible - record in getting soldiers to talk about experiences which might not reflect well on the army.
In one of the new testimonies, a soldier said his unit used Palestinian civilians as human shields - a practice outlawed by Israel's Supreme Court - forcing them to enter buildings suspected of housing militants and to break down walls using sledgehammers.
"Sometimes the force would enter while placing rifle barrels on a civilian's shoulder, advancing into a house and using him as a human shield. Commanders said these were the instructions and we had to do it," the soldier said.
Another said the regulations on when to shoot were vague.
"My impression about rules of engagement was that, at least at our level, they were not clear. There were no clear red lines," he said.
"This report reflects the crimes committed in Gaza," said Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas government in Gaza. He called on "human rights bodies and international groups" to put Israel's leaders on trial.
A small number of other soldiers have come forward with similar testimony since the operation. But overall, Israelis support their army and believe the Gaza operation was necessary, so the long-term impact of such reports on public opinion appears limited.
Many of the testimonies are in line with claims made by human-rights organisations that Israeli military action in Gaza was indiscriminate and disproportionate.
Amnesty International has accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during the 22-day conflict.
While confirming that Palestinian militants also violated the laws of war, human rights groups like Amnesty International have focused on Israeli violations, charging that Israel's response was disproportionate and that Israel's military used powerful weapons indiscriminately in heavily populated areas. The UN has also launched a probe into Israel's actions during the offensive.
Israel says many of those reports are politically motivated and that it is singled out for scrutiny not devoted to the Palestinians or to other global conflicts.
Israeli officials insist troops went to great lengths to protect civilians, that Hamas endangered non-combatants by firing from civilian areas and that homes and buildings were destroyed only when there was a specific military need to do so.
There have been several investigations into the conduct of Israel's operation in Gaza, and both Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs the territory, have faced accusations of war crimes.
An internal investigation by the Israeli military said troops fought lawfully, although errors did take place, such as the deaths of 21 people in a house that had been wrongly targeted.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has requested more than $11m (£7m) in compensation from Israel for damage to UN property in Gaza. A limited UN inquiry blamed Israel in six out of nine attacks on UN facilities, resulting in casualties among civilians sheltering there.
Meanwhile, a fact-finding team commissioned by the Arab League concluded there was enough evidence to prosecute the Israeli military for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that "the Israeli political leadership was also responsible for such crimes".
It also said Palestinian militants were guilty of war crimes in their use of indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilians.
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