Haaretz just revealed, based on conversations with soldiers, that commanders instructed them to fire at crowds near the GHF aid distribution centers to drive them away — even when it was clear the crowds posed no danger.
"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 – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just 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."
"Gaza doesn't interest anyone anymore," said a reservist who completed another round of duty in the northern Strip this week. "It's become a place with its own set of rules. The loss of human life means nothing. It's not even an 'unfortunate incident,' like they used to say."
An officer serving in the security detail of a distribution center described the IDF's approach as deeply flawed: "Working with a civilian population when your only means of interaction is opening fire – that's highly problematic, to say the least," he told Haaretz. "It's neither ethically nor morally acceptable for people to have to reach, or fail to reach, a [humanitarian zone] under tank fire, snipers and mortar shells."
We’ve been following the immense number of casualties and injuries around the GHF aid distribution centers and have heard the people on the ground reveal the horrors. But these Soldiers’ testimonies expose a policy of violence and a systematic disregard for civilian life. This piece is a must read.
