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This Is How We Fought in Gaza

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This is How We Fought in Gaza testimonies and photographs from ׳Soldiers Operation „Protective Edge˝ (2014) This is How We Fought in Gaza This book was produced thanks to the generous support from: Christian Aid Dan Church Aid Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat Open Society Foundations Trócaire Breaking the Silence’s activities are made possible through the generous support of individuals and foundations including: Broederlijk Delen, the CCFD - Terre Solidaire, Dan Church Aid, Die Schwelle, Foundation for Middle East Peace, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, medico international, MISEREOR, Moriah Fund, New Israel Fund, Open Society Foundations, Pro Victimis, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Sigrid Rausing Trust, SIVMO, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, The Royal Norwegian Embassy to Tel Aviv, Trócaire and countless private individuals who have made contributions to our work. This list of donors reflects current organizational donors correct to the date of publishing. The content and opinions expressed in this booklet do not represent the positions of our partners and donors and are solely the responsibility of Breaking the Silence. This is How We Fought in Gaza testimonies and photographs from ׳Soldiers Operation „Protective Edge˝ (2014) 4 Contents Glossary Page 12 Index Page 14 Introduction Page 16 Testimony 01 Page 25 Palestinians only sing the chorus as they have no verses (houses) left s no such thing there as a person׳Testimony 02 Page 26 There who is uninvolved Testimony 03 Page 28 People that look at you from the window t look׳of a house, to put it mildly, won anymore t know they were inside׳Testimony 04 Page 29 We didn Testimony 05 Page 31 Use as much of our arsenal as is needed Testimony 06 Page 32 Why would anyone come near? To die? Testimony 07 Page 34 Suddenly I saw a horse collapse to the ground Testimony 08 Page 36 No one spoke about that at all Testimony 09 Page 38 We can be good kids, on our best behavior, but even then a D9 will show up and flatten the house m sure the dogs there just died׳Testimony 10 Page 41 I Testimony 11 Page 43 The people at their finest hour Testimony 12 Page 44 By the time we got out of there, it was all like a sandbox Testimony 13 Page 45 I really, really wanted to shoot her in the knees Testimony 14 Page 47 Anything that could shatter had been shattered This is How We Fought in Gaza 5 Testimony 15 Page 50 A 500-meter radius where not a single house is left standing Testimony 16 Page 52 Shoot, shoot everywhere ,s cool׳Testimony 17 Page 55 If you shoot someone in Gaza it no big deal s nothing at all׳Testimony 18 Page 56 Check it out, there left of Juhar al-Dik was conducted and no ׳roof knocking׳ Testimony 19 Page 57 If one came out after a few minutes, then the assumption was that there was no one there s simple: whoever feels like shooting׳Testimony 20 Page 60 It more - shoots more Testimony 21 Page 62 Everything exploded. Everything destroyed Testimony 22 Page 64 Anything still there is as good as dead firing procedure ׳Harassment׳ Testimony 23 Page 67 s moving, go ahead, shell it׳Testimony 24 Page 68 Yeah, it Testimony 25 Page 72 We want to make a big boom before the ceasefire Testimony 26 Page 74 Person looking out from a house… Whether ,t using any lookout aids׳he was or wasn one shoots in that direction Testimony 27 Page 76 A crazy urge to run over a car Testimony 28 Page 77 The instructions are to shoot right away… Be they armed or unarmed, no matter what Testimony 29 Page 80 Good Morning al-Bureij Testimony 30 Page 82 Those guys were trigger happy, totally crazy 6 Testimony 31 Page 84 Blow it up, blow it up, use it all Testimony 32 Page 87 There was a constant atmosphere of fire Testimony 33 Page 90 The sons of bitches ate my cornflakes ,ll ask what we shot at׳Testimony 34 Page 91 Worst case they ׳suspicious spot׳ ll say it was a׳we Testimony 35 Page 93 They were fired at - so of course, they must have been terrorists… Testimony 36 Page 95 The real audiovisual spectacle Testimony 37 Page 98 With regard to artillery, the IDF let go of the restraints it once had Testimony 38 Page 99 We were we just trying to hit the cars Testimony 39 Page 101 When you go in with a tank brigade, who cares about a mortar? Testimony 40 Page 105 Just blasting things away Testimony 41 Page 106 We were about to launch the rocket and then one of the soldiers yells at them not to shoot because he could hear people inside the house Testimony 42 Page 108 They went in just to destroy stuff. Just to purposelessly destroy stuff s enough for a gunner to be uncertain׳Testimony 43 Page 109 It of what something he sees in some ׳open fire׳ - window is Testimony 44 Page 111 On Friday evening we made Kiddush Testimony 45 Page 112 Blowing the house up and returning Testimony 46 Page 113 Columns of smoke everywhere, the neighborhood in pieces re blowing up this house, but we׳Testimony 47 Page 115 We can’t eat this bag of Bamba? This is How We Fought in Gaza 7 Testimony 48 Page 119 You fire shells at the houses and spray bullets at the orchard Testimony 49 Page 121 I never saw anything like it, not even in Lebanon Testimony 50 Page 122 We would take a pot and stick a shirt in it, and then shit on the shirt Testimony 51 Page 126 Firing shells in his memory Testimony 52 Page 128 This was one very stubborn family the area around the tunnel ׳Acquiring׳ Testimony 53 Page 131 Testimony 54 Page 133 It was just for kicks - the sort of fun you have at a shooting range Testimony 55 Page 137 Because this is our home, because we have nowhere to escape to t clearly look׳Testimony 56 Page 138 Anyone there who doesn innocent, you apparently need to shoot t some family׳t sure it wasn׳Testimony 57 Page 140 They weren they just took down in there Testimony 58 Page 142 Lots of innocent people were hurt in that incident, lots Testimony 59 Page 143 Shooting if you feel threatened is absolutely the most moral thing to do t spare any means׳Testimony 60 Page 145 You don Testimony 61 Page 146 Running over a car is sort of the wet dream of every guy in a tank crew Testimony 62 Page 148 Listen, we did just destroy at least a whole neighborhood in there Testimony 63 Page 150 OK, mark another one here. And here is exhausted ׳target list׳ Testimony 64 Page 152 When the s an׳s inside a combat zone… He׳Testimony 65 Page 154 He enemy, he should have known better 8 s show them׳Testimony 66 Page 156 Let Testimony 67 Page 157 The lives of our soldiers come before the lives of enemy civilians Testimony 68 Page 158 The possibility that some old man who t get out is there׳can Testimony 69 Page 160 An accomplishment before the ceasefire Testimony 70 Page 162 The discourse is racist. The discourse is nationalistic Testimony 71 Page 163 They fired the way it’s done in funerals, but with shellfire and at houses Testimony 72 Page 164 There was no electricity or water. The electrical poles were leveled too s mansion goes up in׳Testimony 73 Page 165 Suddenly Haniyeh the air, too Testimony 74 Page 166 Then we went down into the street and the houses we were supposed to take over no longer existed Testimony 75 Page 167 We are entering a war zone Testimony 76 Page 170 The only thing left standing was one wobbly house t our׳Testimony 77 Page 173 It was obvious that if it wasn forces there, we needed to shoot Testimony 78 Page 174 Everyone wanted to take part Testimony 79 Page 176 Everyone - from the commander all the way down - took dumps in pots out of some kind of operational principle. Whatever Testimony 80 Page 178 The day after Testimony 81 Page 180 Rules of engagement were, in effect, to shoot to kill upon any identification This is How We Fought in Gaza 9 gave them enough time ׳Roof knocking׳ Testimony 82 Page 181 to go down into some burrow re going to put on a show׳Testimony 83 Page 182 Look, we Testimony 84 Page 186 Every five hours that the tank is idle, the place ׳provoke׳ s better to׳it Testimony 85 Page 188 Ultimately, they were all bombed Testimony 86 Page 190 The civilian was laying there, writhing in pain t any of our forces׳Testimony 87 Page 192 Wherever there aren - you have permission to fire Testimony 88 Page 194 We were encouraged to avoid directing high-arc trajectory fire into built-up areas Testimony 89 Page 196 Achieving diplomatic effects t been any׳Testimony 90 Page 197 This area, there haven civilians in it for a long time Testimony 91 Page 198 Operational consequences that are more permissive for us, and more severe for them Testimony 92 Page 200 The safety regulations are just there for the out-of-touch guys in the headquarters t really have a clue׳that don Testimony 93 Page 202 The battery fired 900 shells that night Testimony 94 Page 203 The drones play an active role s a׳re talking about human beings, it׳Testimony 95 Page 204 We dialogue that takes place through fire - s an escalation, things intensify׳if there Testimony 96 Page 205 The artillery is constantly firing Testimony 97 Page 207 Not enough time for everyone to leave Testimony 98 Page 210 From what we knew, that area was supposedly devoid of civilians 10 Testimony 99 Page 212 I spotted someone, I shot him in the t know who he is׳legs, I don Testimony 100 Page 214 He just came over with an urge to take down targets Testimony 101 Page 216 Deter them, scare them, wear them down psychologically Testimony 102 Page 217 The second guy got incriminated too, and nobody knew from where he had popped up Testimony 103 Page 219 In the Hannibal Procedure, you [hit] ve prepared in׳all the targets that you advance Testimony 104
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  • Suicide Terrorists in the Current Conflict

    Suicide Terrorists in the Current Conflict

    Israeli Security Agency [logo] Suicide Terrorists in the Current Conflict September 2000 - September 2007 L_C089061 Table of Contents: Foreword...........................................................................................................................1 Suicide Terrorists - Personal Characteristics................................................................2 Suicide Terrorists Over 7 Years of Conflict - Geographical Data...............................3 Suicide Attacks since the Beginning of the Conflict.....................................................5 L_C089062 Israeli Security Agency [logo] Suicide Terrorists in the Current Conflict Foreword Since September 2000, the State of Israel has been in a violent and ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, in which the Palestinian side, including its various organizations, has carried out attacks against Israeli citizens and residents. During this period, over 27,000 attacks against Israeli citizens and residents have been recorded, and over 1000 Israeli citizens and residents have lost their lives in these attacks. Out of these, 155 (May 2007) attacks were suicide bombings, carried out against Israeli targets by 178 (August 2007) suicide terrorists (male and female). (It should be noted that from 1993 up to the beginning of the conflict in September 2000, 38 suicide bombings were carried out by 43 suicide terrorists). Despite the fact that suicide bombings constitute 0.6% of all attacks carried out against Israel since the beginning of the conflict, the number of fatalities in these attacks is around half of the total number of fatalities, making suicide bombings the most deadly attacks. From the beginning of the conflict up to August 2007, there have been 549 fatalities and 3717 casualties as a result of 155 suicide bombings. Over the years, suicide bombing terrorism has become the Palestinians’ leading weapon, while initially bearing an ideological nature in claiming legitimate opposition to the occupation.