Gaza: Israeli soldiers reveal that the army deliberately bombed inhabited buildings, disregarding the lives of civilians
Buildings full of civilians bombed without prior evacuation, hundreds of Palestinian victims anticipated and strikes nevertheless authorized by the Israeli military hierarchy. This is what emerges from the testimonies of four Israeli intelligence soldiers collected by the daily Haaretz and relayed by the Palestinian agency WAFA.
One of the soldiers returns in particular to the bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp on October 31, 2023. According to his testimony, Israeli intelligence had estimated that 250 to 300 people were at risk of being affected. The attack would however have been authorized knowingly.
Another soldier describes bombings of buildings that are still inhabited, without warning or evacuation, to prevent the escape of Hamas officials. These testimonies directly call into question the decisions of the Israeli command and contradict the discourse presenting its army as “the most moral in the world”. They confirm the seriousness of the accusations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza, while providing new elements on the knowledge that the military hierarchy had of the consequences of its bombings on civilian populations.
Far from simple military errors, the facts reported describe decisions taken knowing that Palestinian civilians were at risk of dying in large numbers. They raise with particular acuteness the question of the criminal responsibility of those who gave and executed these orders. Despite the seriousness of the facts denounced, those allegedly responsible continue to benefit from widely denounced impunity. Even more scandalous, the Israeli state continues to benefit from the support of European political leaders, particularly in France, even though the accusations against its leaders and its army are extremely serious.
This impunity reveals an unbearable double standard. Where other states are hit with economic sanctions, boycotts and diplomatic isolation for their violations of international law, Israel continues to benefit from political and diplomatic protections, notably in Europe and France. Even more serious, French politicians persist in defending Israel despite the accumulation of evidence of crimes committed against the Palestinians. This complacency is no longer just a question of diplomacy: it engages their political and moral responsibility.
How many more Palestinian civilians must die before European leaders stop making the defense of Israel a permanent exception to the principles of international law they claim to defend?
