{"id":42236,"date":"2025-06-28T13:21:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T20:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42236"},"modified":"2025-06-28T13:21:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T20:21:19","slug":"just-killed-for-nothing-israeli-troops-say-they-were-ordered-to-shoot-aid-seeking-gaza-civilians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/28\/just-killed-for-nothing-israeli-troops-say-they-were-ordered-to-shoot-aid-seeking-gaza-civilians\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Just Killed, for Nothing’: Israeli Troops Say They Were Ordered to Shoot Aid-Seeking Gaza Civilians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Palestinians mourn over the plastic-wrapped bodies of Gazans killed by Israeli fire while seeking food aid, during a funeral at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Palestine on June 21, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: Majdi Fathi\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Killing innocent people\u2014it’s been normalized,” said one senior reserve officer. “We were constantly told there are no noncombatants in Gaza, and apparently that message sank in among the troops.”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jun 27, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel<\/a> Defense Forces commanders ordered troops to shoot and shell aid-seeking Palestinian civilians in Gaza<\/a>, even when they posed no threat, according to IDF officers and soldiers interviewed by Israel’s oldest daily newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haaretz<\/em> on Friday published<\/a> testimonies of IDF members including senior officers who said that commanders including Brig. Gen. Yehuda Vach ordered troops to open fire on aid-seeking Palestinians in order to disperse them, even when there was no danger to Israeli troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WITHOUT YOU, COMMON DREAMS SIMPLY WOULDN\u2019T EXIST.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a moment that demands fearless reporting, Common Dreams needs your support to keep our independent journalism alive.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

about:blank<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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\u2014no crowd-control measures, no tear gas\u2014just 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The soldier said troops informally call this activity “Operation Salted Fish.” Salted fish, or dag maluach in Hebrew, is an Israeli children’s game similar to red light, green light. One IDF reservist who just finished a round of duty in Gaza this week said that “the loss of human life means nothing. It’s not even an ‘unfortunate incident,’ like they used to say.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification<\/a> report revealed<\/a> that 244,000 people in Gaza were suffering such “an extreme deprivation of food” that “starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition are or will likely be evident.” Gaza officials say at least hundreds of people have already died<\/a> of malnutrition and lack of medical care since Israel tightened the siege in March. Many of the victims are children and elders<\/a>. Hundreds of premature infants face imminent death<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid such desperation\u2014driven by 629 days of U.S.-backed Israeli bombardment, invasion, and ethnic cleansing that have killed, wounded, or disappeared more than 200,000 Palestinians and forcibly displaced over 2 million\u2014Gazans are willing to risk their lives for their next meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, at least 549 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,000 others have been wounded by IDF troops since May 27 while trying to obtain humanitarian aid amid Israel’s “complete siege<\/a>” of the Gaza Strip that has fueled<\/a> mass starvation and illness. Dozens<\/a> or more<\/a> civilians have been killed in the worst of these aid massacres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reserve officer in Vach’s Division 252\u2014veterans of which have accused<\/a> the general of telling them “there are no innocents in Gaza”\u2014told Haaretz<\/em> that he was ordered to fire artillery shells toward a crowd gathered near an aid distribution site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Technically, it’s supposed to be warning fire\u2014either to push people back or stop them from advancing,” he said. “But lately, firing shells has just become standard practice. Every time we fire, there are casualties and deaths, and when someone asks why a shell is necessary, there’s never a good answer. Sometimes, merely asking the question annoys the commanders.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You know it’s not right. You feel it’s not right\u2014that the commanders here are taking the law into their own hands,” the soldier added. “But Gaza is a parallel universe. You move on quickly. The truth is, most people don’t even stop to think about it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A senior reserve officer who was present when more than 10 aid-seekers were killed said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

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\u2014they were just killed, for nothing. This thing called killing innocent people\u2014it’s been normalized. We were constantly told there are no noncombatants in Gaza, and apparently that message sank in among the troops.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That message has come all the way from the top. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2014who is wanted<\/a> by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, including murder and weaponized starvation<\/a>\u2014has invoked the biblical command for genocide against Israel’s ancient enemy Amalek. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said<\/a> that the killing of every man, woman, and child in Gaza would be “justified and moral.” Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi asserted<\/a><\/a> that “there are no uninvolved people” in Gaza, and “we must go in there and kill, kill, kill.” Many other prominent Israelis have made similar statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel’s Military Advocate General has instructed the IDF General Staff’s Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism to investigate the killing of aid-seeking civilians as possible war crimes. However, the historical record suggests impunity\u2014or at worst, wrist-slap punishment<\/a>\u2014will prevail for most if not all of those who ordered and carried out the shooting and shelling of civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One military source who attended a high-level IDF meeting during which the use of artillery on aid-seekers was discussed told Haaretz<\/em> that “they talk about using artillery on a junction full of civilians as if it’s normal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“An entire conversation about whether it’s right or wrong to use artillery, without even asking why that weapon was needed in the first place,” the source said. “What concerns everyone is whether it’ll hurt our legitimacy to keep operating in Gaza. The moral aspect is practically nonexistent. No one stops to ask why dozens of civilians looking for food are being killed every day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This isn’t about a few people being killed\u2014we’re talking about dozens of casualties every day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A legal official who attended the meeting told Haaretz<\/em> that representatives of the Military Advocate General’s Office rejected the IDF’s argument that aid killings were one-off incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The claim that these are isolated cases doesn’t align with incidents in which grenades were dropped from the air and mortars and artillery were fired at civilians,” the official said. “This isn’t about a few people being killed\u2014we’re talking about dozens of casualties every day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The near-daily massacres of aid-seeking Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces and Israel’s use of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation\u2014whose operations have been called a “death trap<\/a>“\u2014have drawn international condemnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/RepRashida\/status\/1938682400265138231?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1938682400265138231%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fidf-gaza-aid-killings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said<\/a> that “the weaponization of food for civilians… constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law,” remarks that came amid the ongoing genocide case<\/a> against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz rejected the claims in the Haaretz<\/em> report as “blood libels,” while the IDF responded to the expos\u00e9 in a statement claiming that “any allegation of a deviation from the law or IDF directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The allegations of deliberate fire toward civilians presented in the article are not recognized in the field,” the IDF added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IDF troops have previously admitted to witnessing alleged war crimes including\u00a0indiscriminate murder<\/a>\u00a0of people including women and children in Gaza and\u00a0torture<\/a>, sometimes fatal, in Israeli detention centers including the notorious Sde Teiman prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Palestinians mourn over the plastic-wrapped bodies of Gazans killed by Israeli fire while seeking food aid, during a funeral at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Palestine on June 21, 2025. \u00a0(Photo: Majdi Fathi\/NurPhoto via Getty Images) “Killing innocent people\u2014it’s been normalized,” said one senior reserve officer. “We were constantly told… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42236"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42237,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42236\/revisions\/42237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}