Today Ha'aretz has begun reporting on a meeting of Israeli soldiers who fought in Gaza and are now telling their stories. Amos Harel notes that the stories "[paint] a grim picture of civilian deaths, deliberate destruction of Palestinian property and lenient orders to open fire . . . Their on-the-ground testimonies are different from
the army's official statements, in which the IDF insisted its forces
paid heed to high moral standards in every sector."
Ha'aretz will be publishing the testimonies as a series. Harel shares one story in this opening article:
"There was one house with a family in it… we put them into some room. Afterward, we left the house and another company went in, and a few days after we went in there was an order to release the family. We took our positions upstairs."
"There was a sniper position on the roof and the company commander released the family and told them to take a right," said the soldier. "One mother and her two children didn't understand, and they took a left. Someone forgot to notify the sniper on the roof that the family had been released, and that it was okay, it was fine, to hold fire, and he… you can say he acted as necessary, as he was ordered to."
Ha'aretz has updated this story:
According to the squad leader: "The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away. In any case, what happened is that in the end he killed them.
"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he was concerned, he did his job according to the orders he was given. And the atmosphere in general, from what I understood from most of my men who I talked to … I don't know how to describe it …. The lives of Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers. So as far as they are concerned they can justify it that way," he said.
