'Breaking the Silence' on 22-Day War [Pt. 1] ~ Ní Síocháin go Saoirse!

'Breaking the Silence' on 22-Day War

In the face of mounting International pressure, Israel continues to denounce allegations of human rights violations during its 22-Day War against Hamas in Gaza launched in December ‘08. A series of hard-hitting reports in the last month from independent International human rights organisations clearly reveal incidents of blatant disregard for the human rights of the Palestinian community in Gaza during 'Operation: Cast Lead'.

These three reports, carried out byThe Red Cross, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch respectively, are believed to be precursors for a UN Report due in September headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone.

Whilst they were all dismissed by IDF and Israeli government authorities as mere pandering to Palestinian sentiment, the latest report comes from within their own establishment in the form of ‘Front Line’ troops who actually served during the 22-Day pummeling of the Gaza Strip enclave.

The Organisation in question is known as “Shovrim Shtika” (Breaking the Silence), who have recently released a booklet (7/15/09), entitled ‘Soldier’s Testimonies From Operation Cast Lead Gaza 2009’ which gives numerous substantiated testimonies by Israeli soldiers who actively participated in Operation; ‘Cast Iron’. “Breaking the Silence” founded in 2004, is an organisation comprising of Israeli veteran soldiers who served in Palestine since the Second Intifada (Sept. 2000). Their principle objective is to offer the Israeli public and global media an alternate ‘Front Line’ view of the true realities of Israel’s involvement in the Gaza Strip.

In producing this report, “Breaking the Silence” has strenuously attempted to portray the contents as more than just mere disgruntlement from within the military ranks and dispel IDF counter claims that their members represent nothing more than a few ‘bad apples’. The highly revealing testimonies contained within, vividly expose the discrepancies between the official IDF press line to the world on military restraint during their combat operations and what actually transpired on the ground in Gaza during ‘Operation Cast Lead’. In total, this 133-page report contains some 54 testimonies from 30 individual Israeli soldiers, who were actively on the ground during the ’22-Day War’. These testimonies lend considerable weight to previous global media and Independent Organisation’s allegations of ‘unlawful’ practices during the onslaught. In an overview of the report’s findings, “Breaking the Silence” spokesman Mikhael Mankin said;

"The testimonies prove that the immoral way the war was carried out was due to the systems in place and not the individual soldier.....................What was proven yesterday is that through the IDF the exception becomes the norm, and this requires a deep and reflective discussion. This is an urgent call to Israel's society and leadership to take a sober look at the foolishness of our policies."

The main areas highlighted for concern by ‘Soldier’s Testimonies From Operation Cast Lead Gaza 2009' include;

The permissive use of by the IDF of so-called "accepted practices",

The wanton destruction of hundreds of homes, private property and mosques,

The indiscriminate firing of phosphorous gas into densely populated areas,

The wide scale killing of innocent Palestinians

An inherent ‘laissez-faire’ moral attitude, which existed within the upper tiers of the IDF’s command structure, that was allowed to manifest itself and precipitate down through all military ranks.

A central and recurrent theme throughout many of the testimonies is one of indiscriminate targeting of civilians as revealed by one Israeli soldier who claimed to be unable to see "the enemy before their eyes." This particular soldier went on to say;

"You feel like an infantile little kid with a magnifying glass looking at ants, burning them....................a 20-year-old kid should not have to do these kinds of things to other people."

Due to the complexity of this report and its far reaching implications regards substantiating the claims of the previous International Independent bodies, I will split this overview into two Parts.

Part 1 will Examine:

Wide scale deployment of ’Neighbour Procedure’
'Fragmentation’ of the Gaza Strip
Israeli ‘Shoot First Ask Questions Later’ Policy?

And Part 2 will Examine:

Disproportionate Use of Force
Deployment of White Phosphorus Munitions

Wide scale deployment of ’Neighbour Procedure’

‘Neighbour procedure’ is the name given to the military procedure of using civilians (Palestinians in this instance) as human shields by Israeli soldiers when entering a house where suspected militants were believed to be hiding. However, in one of these testimonials a Golani brigade soldier openly confesses that the Israeli occupation forces did use Palestinians as human shields during the 22-Day Conflict, even though the practice has been outlawed since 2005 by an Israeli High Court ruling. The Israeli soldier explains how these Palestinian civilians, referred to as ‘Johnnies’, were use as human shields by fellow IDF soldiers on the ground as they carried out door-to-door raids on Gazan properties. Many of these ‘Johnnies’ were Palestinian civilians who remained on the West Bank despite incessant leaflet drops, telephone warnings, TV campaigns to pressurize Gazan civilians to leave their homes prior to the onslaught. If the use of these civilian human shields proved that militants were present in a civilian property then soldiers automatically adopted the ‘pressure cooker’ approach to neutralise the posed threat.

These so called ‘pressure cooker’ methods to force suspected militants to surrender included the repeated use of helicopter anti-tank missiles and if they this tactic failed to persuade surrender, a D-9 dozer was brought in to demolish the building whilst the Palestinian fighters remained inside. Before each search on a particular building a ‘Johnnie’ was sent into demand the surrender of the individuals inside. In addition, on occasion they were also forced to re-enter the buildings during cessations of IDF fire, sometimes up to three times on an individual military assault.

As regards the blatant use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, one interviewee adds further credibility to accusations made by a Haaretz reporter, Amira Hassof, who had previously drawn attention to this unlawful practice by Israeli personnel during the campaign. The interviewee states;

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.

When asked about the Army’s official response to the prior accusations published in Haaretz about IDF abuses, the soldier replies:

It was ludicrous to…hear the response of the army spokesperson that the matter was investigated and there are no testimonies on the ground and that the Israeli army is a moral army. It raises doubts about the army spokesperson’s responses in general when you know for a fact that these things actually did take place..

However, in a bid to quell public opinion the brigade commander Colonel Avi Peled told Israeli Television that the "Johnnie" story and the use of "human shields" was "nonsense." He then went on to completely refute the soldiers’ testimony given to “Breaking the Silence” as "strictly hearsay" and claim that the soldier in question was not even involved in combat during the time of the alleged incident. However, the IDF did promise that it would "investigate any specific allegations presented by Breaking the Silence."

‘Fragmentation’ of the Gaza Strip

The report details how the principle IDF strategy of ‘Fragmentation’ was to be deployed by their soldiers on the ground during the offensive. ‘Fragmentation’ was basically Israel’s attempt to completely split the Gaza Strip in two, Northern and Southern sections. The military goal was to stop the movement of ammunitions, reinforcements, etc. between the refugee camps and Gaza city. Effectively a physical ground clearance operation as the Israeli military advanced.

Whole villages were completely obliterated from the Palestinian landscape as the Israeli war machine moved forward in an aim to completely neutralise any vain attempt of a Palestinian fight back. Such was the wholesale wanton destruction of whole swathes of Gazan civilian villages and towns that very few can argue that this was not a premeditated Israeli military operation from the very outset. If nothing else these testimonies only serve to reinforce the globally held sentiment that Israel was intent on re-occupation.

Another interviewee gave a detailed description of how they were detailed to enter Palestinian property. In the report he describes the distinction between two types of military entry into a civilian property, ‘dry’ and ‘wet’. As regards the 22-Day War, the IDF soldier in question claims that to minimise the threat of booby trap devices all Gazan property searches involved the deployment of the ‘wet’ approach, i.e. the use of LPG/LAU/grenades, virtually anything at their disposal prior to entry. An extract from the report explains;

So how does 'wet' entry work?

Missiles, tank fire, machine gun fire into the house, grenades. Shoot as we enter a room. The idea was that when we enter a house, no one there could fire at us. Naturally by combat reasoning we would not take a house that the Hamas would expect us to take, for it would be highly likely for the Hamas to booby-trap it.

Israeli ‘Shoot First Ask Questions Later’ Policy?

This was one of the most fervent allegations made by human rights activists, medical personnel and civilians during Operation: ’Cast Lead’. On numerous occasions there were stories that innocent civilians waving white flags or sheets were indiscriminately shot by IDF soldiers.

During the 22-Day conflict, Jessica Montell of B’Tselem was one of a group of leading Israeli human rights campaigners who received several reports of such incidents. One in particular took place in a town Khuza’a on 13th January when a woman was shot as she left her house whilst waving a white flag. As she lay injured still waving the flag she was then shot in the head. As an ambulance tried to reach the scene it too was fired upon. As the day progressed more incidents transpired including 3 more fatalities when a group of 30 civilians also waving white flags were fired upon indiscriminately. As regards quantifying other incidents Montell claimed;

“This is not the first time that we get such information about the IDF shooting people who leave their houses with white flags, or waving white sheets."

Montell’s sentiment is again echoed by another soldier’s testimonial which appears to reflect an endemic ‘shoot first ask questions later’ approach running through all ranks of the IDF during the Gazan invasion. Within the report one soldier says;

We entered a yard and out of sheer fear the family was waiting in an exposed spot – a father, grandfather, young mother and babies. As we were coming in, the commander was firing a volley, and mistakenly killed an innocent.

What exactly happened?

We got to the house. It was surrounded by a yard, a fence. After the gate is broken in, he goes in with live fire. Several bullets, not a full burst…
The family was hiding from the bombings. They were under the stairs and that happened to be just in front of the door and when he went in and fired, he didn’t see who he was firing at. So he happened to kill an elderly guy…

The IDF soldier goes on to elaborate;

He died on the spot?

I don’t know. When I think back, it really seems insane that I don’t know. It hurts to admit it, but… not that I didn’t care. I did keep this in my mind and intended to write the battalion commander about it but I just didn’t have the time. Too bad I didn’t, come to think of it.

All the testimonials seemingly point to a recurring ‘laissez-faire’ moral attitude (coupled with a massive adrenalin rush) towards IDF soldier’s engagement with Palestinian fighters;

So the atmosphere there was laid back, no pressure, no reservations? There was nothing to hold the men back?

When your company commander and battalion commander tell you, "Go on, fire!" the soldiers will not hold back. They are waiting for this day, the fun of shooting and feeling all that power in your hands.