https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-12-18/ty-article-magazine/.premium/idf-soldiers-expose-arbitrary-killings-and-rampant-lawlessness-in-gazas-netzarim-corridor/00000193-da7f-de86-a9f3-fefff2e50000?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_content=author-alert&utm_campaign=Yaniv+Kubovich&utm_term=20241218-20:37
'No
Civilians. Everyone's a Terrorist': IDF Soldiers Expose Arbitrary
Killings and Rampant Lawlessness in Gaza's Netzarim CorridorYaniv Kubovich Dec 18, 2024
The
line appears on no map and exists in no official military order. While
senior Israel Defense Forces officials might deny its existence, in the
heart of the Gaza Strip, north of the Netzarim corridor, nothing is more
real.
"The forces in the field call it 'the line of dead
bodies'" a commander in Division 252 tells Haaretz. "After shootings,
bodies are not collected, attracting packs of dogs who come to eat them.
In Gaza, people know that wherever you see these dogs, that's where you
must not go."
The Netzarim corridor, a seven-kilometer-wide
strip of land, stretches from near Kibbutz Be'eri to the Mediterranean
coast. The IDF has emptied this area of Palestinian residents and
demolished their homes to construct military roads and military
positions.
Destroyed houses in the Netzarim corridor area, April.Credit: Ashraf Amra / ANADOLU / Anadolu / AFP
While
Palestinians are officially prohibited from entering, the reality is
more severe than a simple exclusion zone. "It's military whitewashing,"
explains a senior officer in Division 252, who has served three reserve
rotations in Gaza. "The division commander designated this area as a
'kill zone.' Anyone who enters is shot."
A recently discharged
Division 252 officer describes the arbitrary nature of this boundary:
"For the division, the kill zone extends as far as a sniper can see."
But the issue goes beyond geography. "We're killing civilians there who
are then counted as terrorists," he says. "The IDF spokesperson's
announcements about casualty numbers have turned this into a competition
between units. If Division 99 kills 150 [people], the next unit aims
for 200."
These accounts of indiscriminate killing and the
routine classification of civilian casualties as terrorists emerged
repeatedly in Haaretz's conversations with recent Gaza veterans.
"Calling
ourselves the world's most moral army absolves soldiers who know
exactly what we're doing," says a senior reserve commander who has
recently returned from the Netzarim corridor. "It means ignoring that
for over a year, we've operated in a lawless space where human life
holds no value. Yes, we commanders and combatants are participating in
the atrocity unfolding in Gaza. Now everyone must face this reality."
While
this officer doesn't regret mobilizing after October 7 ("we went into a
just war"), he insists the Israeli public deserves the full picture.
"People need to know what this war really looks like, what serious acts
some commanders and fighters are committing inside Gaza. They need to
know the inhuman scenes we're witnessing."
Haaretz has gathered
testimonies from active-duty soldiers, career officers, and reservists
that reveal the unprecedented authority given to commanders. As the IDF
operates across multiple fronts, division commanders have received
expanded powers. Previously, bombing buildings or launching airstrikes
required approval from the IDF chief of staff. Now, such decisions can
be made by lower-ranking officers.
"Division commanders now have
almost unlimited firepower authority in combat zones," explains a
veteran officer in Division 252. "A battalion commander can order drone
strikes, and a division commander can launch conquest operations." Some
sources describe IDF units operating like independent militias,
unrestricted by standard military protocols.
The Nahal combat brigade in the Netzarim Corridor.Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
'We took him to the cage'
The
chaotic reality has repeatedly forced commanders and fighters to face
severe moral dilemmas. "The order was clear: 'Anyone crossing the bridge
into the [Netzarim] corridor gets a bullet in the head,'" recalls a
veteran fighter from Division 252.
"One time, guards spotted
someone approaching from the south. We responded as if it was a large
militant raid. We took positions and just opened fire. I'm talking about
dozens of bullets, maybe more. For about a minute or two, we just kept
shooting at the body. People around me were shooting and laughing."
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But
the incident didn't end there. "We approached the blood-covered body,
photographed it, and took the phone. He was just a boy, maybe 16." An
intelligence officer collected the items, and hours later, the fighters
learned the boy wasn't a Hamas operative – but just a civilian.
"That
evening, our battalion commander congratulated us for killing a
terrorist, saying he hoped we'd kill ten more tomorrow," the fighter
adds. "When someone pointed out he was unarmed and looked like a
civilian, everyone shouted him down. The commander said: 'Anyone
crossing the line is a terrorist, no exceptions, no civilians.
Everyone's a terrorist.' This deeply troubled me – did I leave my home
to sleep in a mouse-infested building for this? To shoot unarmed
people?"
Similar incidents continue to surface. An officer in
Division 252's command recalls when the IDF spokesperson announced their
forces had killed over 200 militants. "Standard procedure requires
photographing bodies and collecting details when possible, then sending
evidence to intelligence to verify militant status or at least confirm
they were killed by the IDF," he explains. "Of those 200 casualties,
only ten were confirmed as known Hamas operatives. Yet no one questioned
the public announcement about killing hundreds of militants."
Smoke rises above the Nezarim corridor area, August.Credit: Eyad BABA / AFP
Another
fighter describes witnessing four unarmed people walking normally,
spotted by a surveillance drone. Despite clearly not appearing as
militants, a tank advanced and opened fire with its machine gun.
"Hundreds of bullets," he recalls. Three died immediately ("the sight
haunts me," he says), while the fourth survived and raised his hands in
surrender.
"We put him in a cage set up near our position,
stripped off his clothes, and left him there," the soldier recounts.
"Soldiers passing by spat on him. It was disgusting. Finally, a military
interrogator came, questioned him briefly while holding a gun to his
head, then ordered his release." The man had simply been trying to reach
his uncles in northern Gaza. "Later, officers praised us for killing
'terrorists.' I couldn't understand what they meant," the fighter says.
After
a day or two, the bodies were buried by a bulldozer in the sand. "I
don't know if anyone remembers they're there. People don't understand –
this doesn't just kill Arabs, it kills us too. If called back to Gaza, I
don't think I'll go."
In another incident, observation posts
spotted two people walking toward Wadi Gaza, an area designated as
restricted. A drone revealed they were carrying a white flag and walking
with raised hands. The deputy battalion commander ordered troops to
shoot to kill. When one commander protested, pointing out the white flag
and suggesting they might be hostages, he was overruled. "I don't know
what a white flag is, shoot to kill," the deputy commander, a reservist
from Brigade 5, insisted. The two people eventually turned back south,
but the protesting commander was berated as a coward.
IDF activities in the Netzarim corridor.Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
These
invisible boundaries north and south of the corridor appear frequently
in testimonies. Even soldiers manning ambush positions say they weren't
always clear where these lines were drawn. "Anyone approaching whatever
line was decided at that moment is considered a threat – no permission
needed to shoot."
This approach isn't limited to Division 252. A
Division 99 reservist describes watching a drone feed showing "an adult
with two children crossing the forbidden line." They were walking
unarmed, seemingly searching for something. "We had them under complete
surveillance with the drone and weapons aimed at them – they couldn't do
anything," he says. "Suddenly we heard a massive explosion. A combat
helicopter had fired a missile at them. Who thinks it's legitimate to
fire a missile at children? And with a helicopter? This is pure evil."
Most
commanders interviewed say the air force initially acted as a
restraining force, especially regarding drone strikes. They would refuse
attacks on unconfirmed targets, populated areas, and humanitarian
shelters. However, this caution eroded over time. "The air force barely
questions anything anymore; their safety mechanisms have collapsed too,"
one commander states.
Division 252 found ways around air force
oversight using a "magic word" – the "flash procedure," an officer
familiar with operations explains. Designed for forces under fire or
evacuating casualties, it guarantees an airstrike within 30 minutes with
no approvals needed. Any officer from battalion commander up could
invoke it. "When targeting requests were denied for various reasons,
Brigadier General Yehuda Vach would tell us to use the 'flash
procedure,'" the officer says.
Wild West on Steroids
Vach,
45, born in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, rose through elite
military units before commanding the IDF's Officers Training School.
Promoted to brigadier general last summer, he took charge of Division
252. His first address to commanders at a corridor outpost revealed
much.
Yehuda Vach, the former commander of Bahad 1, the
Israeli military's training school for officers.Credit: IDF
Spokesperson's Unit
"His worldview and political positions were
clearly driving his operational decisions," a veteran officer present
recalls. Another officer described him as a "small Napoleon" unsuited
for division command: "The role requires judgment ... we knew
immediately he lacked it, but didn't realize how badly."
Days
later, Vach declared "there are no innocents in Gaza," according to one
officer. While such sentiment isn't uncommon among soldiers, with Vach
"it wasn't just opinion – it became operational doctrine: everyone's a
terrorist." He told his commanders that "in the Middle East, victory
comes through conquering territory. We must keep conquering until we
win."
Under Vach, the Wild West atmosphere intensified. The
"kill zone" boundary shifted constantly – "500 meters here today, 500
meters there tomorrow," says one fighter. While other units also broke
rules, officers say Vach went further.
One of the concepts he
introduced was declaring anyone entering the kill zone a terrorist
conducting reconnaissance. "Every woman is a scout, or a man in
disguise," an officer explains. "Vach even decided anyone on a bicycle
could be killed, claiming cyclists were terrorists' collaborators."
His
private initiative to forcibly move northern Gaza's population
south lacked official authorization. "We searched for operational orders
but found nothing," a command officer says. "They eventually stopped
him."
After reports of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's death, Vach
shared disturbing fantasies during a command briefing about mutilating
and desecrating the body. "How they should have stripped him, placed him
in the city square, cut up the corpse and wash it in sewage water. He
tried to explain how to cut and dismember the body," an officer recalls.
"This wasn't a joke – this was a formal assessment meeting. His
commanders stood shocked silent,"
Palestinians carrying
people wounded after IDF airstrikes near the Netzarim corridor,
May.Credit: Ashraf Amra / ANADOLU / Anadolu / AFP
Division staff
repeatedly sought intervention from Southern Command chief Major General
Yaron Finkelman over Vach's conduct, but Vach seemed to disregard even
Finkelman's authority.
In early November, Vach's division left
the corridor, replaced by Division 99. Before their final rotation
ended, officers demanded explanations for his unauthorized "kill line"
and other actions. "This is unprecedented – conducting war with everyone
doing whatever they want in their sector. Operations launched without
proper orders or procedures, just because Vach decided," an officer
present says.
Vach obsessed over a "an image of victory" – not
Israel's, but his own. He believed emptying northern Gaza of
Palestinians would be his triumph. "We didn't meet the goal," he
admitted in December. His attempt to drive out 250,000 residents
clinging to their homes largely failed, with only hundreds crossing
south.
He told officers that Palestinians must lose their land
to learn from Hamas' October 7 massacre. "First he talked about
expelling everyone south, thinking he'd implement the Generals'
Plan alone," a commander recalls. When that proved impossible, he sought
alternatives. None materialized.
In March, Vach is set to return with Division 252 to the Netzarim corridor.