Thirty Israeli soldiers have claimed that they were instructed to shoot first and worry later about civilian casualties during the Gaza invasion earlier this year. Reuters - Israel rejects charges by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and U.N. agencies that its January invasion of the Gaza Strip inflicted civilian death and destruction on an unjustifiable scale. Now, some of the Israeli soldiers who took part say they were urged by commanders to shoot first and worry later about sorting out civilians from combatants. Accordingly, they say, the force went into Gaza with guns blazing. In print and video testimony published on Wednesday by the activist group Breaking the Silence, the 30 soldiers say the Israeli army's imperative was to minimise its own casualties to ensure Israeli public support for the operation. "Better hit an innocent than hesitate to target an enemy," is a typical description by one unidentified soldier of his understanding of instructions repeated at pre-invasion briefings and during the 22-day operation, from Dec. 27 to Jan. 18.
Reuters - Israel rejects charges by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and U.N. agencies that its January invasion of the Gaza Strip inflicted civilian death and destruction on an unjustifiable scale.
Now, some of the Israeli soldiers who took part say they were urged by commanders to shoot first and worry later about sorting out civilians from combatants. Accordingly, they say, the force went into Gaza with guns blazing. In print and video testimony published on Wednesday by the activist group Breaking the Silence, the 30 soldiers say the Israeli army's imperative was to minimise its own casualties to ensure Israeli public support for the operation.
"Better hit an innocent than hesitate to target an enemy," is a typical description by one unidentified soldier of his understanding of instructions repeated at pre-invasion briefings and during the 22-day operation, from Dec. 27 to Jan. 18.
