Israeli Soldiers Admit to Killing Civilians
CrossFireArabia- December 21, 2024
Israeli soldiers revealed Friday that the army killed Palestinian civilians who entered previously targeted buildings in the Gaza Strip, according to a media report.
The Haaretz newspaper in Israel said the army “does not routinely update its list of targets in Gaza, nor does it indicate to forces on the ground which structures are no longer being used” by fighters.
“As a result, anyone – including noncombatants – who enters such a building risks being attacked,” it said.
The army claimed that its reported death toll of militants only includes individuals confirmed as such. However, “testimonies from soldiers who served in Gaza suggest a different reality.”
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 21, 2024
Israeli soldiers admit killing civilians in targeted buildings in Gaza
Orders were given to target 'anyone who enters a building, regardless of who they are', soldiers say https://t.co/0SO5R67fgN pic.twitter.com/mA7DeP3S5S
A targeting officer from an Israeli combat brigade told Haaretz that, according to the guidelines, “an active building will always remain an active building, even if the ‘terrorist’ there was killed six months ago.”
A senior officer corroborated those claims, stating that “there were targets that suddenly came back to life,”
“So if someone decides to go into a building in search of a hiding place, the building will be struck,” said the officer.
In some areas, such as the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, instructions were reportedly given to target “anyone who entered a building regardless of who they are, even if they were just looking for shelter from the rain,” according to soldiers’ testimonies.
Another discharged officer from the 252nd Division said snipers were authorized to consider civilians entering specific areas as fighters. “We’re killing civilians there who are then counted as ‘terrorists,’” he said.
The army spokesperson’s “announcements about casualty numbers have turned this into a competition between units. If Division 99 killed 150 [people], the next unit aims for 200,” he added according to Anadolu.
The daily noted that “earlier this week, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry announced that the death toll in Gaza since the beginning of the war has exceeded 45,000 people.”
“Information published by the ministry has previously been verified by international organizations and governments and found to be credible,” it added.
The Haaretz report emphasized that “Israel disputes the figures. However, Israel is not itself counting or publishing the number of civilian Palestinian deaths in the current conflict, unlike in previous wars.”
According to the Israeli military, of those killed, the army “believes with a high degree of certainty” that 14,000 are fighters, and “a somewhat lesser degree of certainty” that 3,000 are fighters.
The Israeli military has not responded to the Haaretz report.
Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,200 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023.
On Nov. 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.
30 Israelis Injured as Yemeni Supersonic Missile Strikes Tel Aviv
- CrossFireArabia
- December 21, 2024
About 30 Israeli settlers were injured by a supersonic missile fired from Yemen that landed in Tel Aviv, early Saturday morning.
Israel’s Hebrew Radio said 30 Israelis were injured by a rocket fired from Yemen on Tel Aviv, while dozens panicked as they fled to underground shelters.
The missile is being described as a direct hit which the Israeli air defences such as David’s Sling and the Cardboard Dome failed to intercept as admitted by the Israeli army in much commentary on the social media
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee confirmed that attempts failed to stop the incoming ballistic missile and the impact activated the alarm bells across central Israel.
Meanwhile the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported that ambulance teams transferred more than 20 injured settlers to the Wolfson and Ichilov hospitals after a rocket from Yemen fell in Tel Aviv as reported in Quds Press.
The Israeli police confirmed as well that “damage” occurred to a number of homes as a result of the rocket explosion in the Bnei Brak area to the east of Tel Aviv.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced, in a statement, that their fighters carried out “a military operation targeting a military site of the Israeli enemy in the occupied Jaffa area with a hypersonic ballistic missile.”
The announcement was made after the Houthis struck central and southern Israel with multiple drones on Friday and Thursday in response to the Israeli airstrikes on Sana’a and Al Hudaydah in Yemen.
Since the war on Gaza was launched soon after 7 October, 2023, the Houthis struck Israel with 200 missiles and more than 170 explosive drones.
Fishermen
- CrossFireArabia
- December 20, 2024
The Fishermen’s Union’s latest report reveals the violence committed by Israeli occupation forces against fishermen during the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
