‘I’m bored, so I shoot’: IDF soldiers reveal unchecked violence

On July 9th, Middle East Eye and agencies reported shocking testimonies published in +972 Magazine from six Israeli soldiers revealing the depraved violence of IDF forces in Palestine. The accounts showed a culture within the Israeli military that allowed for the indiscriminate killing of civilians along with the aimless destruction of buildings.

The statements revealed that the Israeli soldiers regularly carried out executions of Palestinian civilians in areas outlined as “no-go zones” by the military.

The term ‘normal fire’ was explained by a reservist deployed in Gaza as a codename for firing freely in an area for no reason or another way of saying, “I’m bored, so I shoot”. “I personally fired a few bullets for no reason, into the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building,” stated the soldier. Multiple soldiers illustrated the lax rules for shooting, with one soldier claiming, “there was total freedom of action” in Gaza, adding that “If there is [even] a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain – you just shoot,”.

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The accounts demonstrated a lack of distinction between enemy combatants and civilians, with a soldier claiming that “Every man between the ages of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist,” with another source stating, “It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.” with no need to fire warning shots.

Two IDF soldiers also described a systematic policy which allowed for setting Palestinian homes alight after staying in them. 26-year-old reservist Yuval Green witnessed two instances, one of which included a soldier acting independently and another where orders were received from a commanding officer to burn down the houses of Palestinians. Another soldier confirmed such activities, adding, “This is backed up at the battalion commander level. It’s so that [Palestinians] won’t be able to return”.

Green added that his unit “destroyed everything we wanted to,” justified “out of total indifference to everything that belongs to [Palestinians].”

One soldier described the environment as being “full of bodies” rotting amidst a “horrific smell of death”. The corpses were often cleared away by building machinery such as bulldozers and buried under rubble. The clearing of bodies was usually done before international aid convoys arrived in the area to ensure that images of such scenes could not be captured and released to foreign media.

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+972 Magazine had previously reported on the indiscriminate nature of Israel’s assault within Gaza using AI to generate targets in the enclave. The targeting system could calculate the number of civilians likely to be killed in an attack by Israeli forces.

The International Criminal Court is currently deciding on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The probe comes during the ongoing ICJ case against Israel that called on the Netanyahu administration to take steps to prevent genocide from occurring. Colombia, Mexico and Spain have joined the case initially introduced by South Africa with more nations such as Ireland, Belgium and Chile expected to join.

The expose adds mounting pressure to the Israeli government, which has been dodging allegations of imprecise military strikes and deliberate targeting of civilians.

Researchers from the British medical journal The Lancet warned that the death toll could be over 186,000 – accounting for 8% of Gaza’s population. The number of casualties in Gaza since the October 7th attacks stands at 38,152, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Middle East Eye / Middle East Monitor and agencies

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