IDF soldiers admit to targeting civilians and using human shields

While the legacy media has spent two years insisting Israel is not committing genocide, Israeli soldiers have spent that time making genocidal confessions. The latest confessions come from a documentary called: Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War. It is the kind of documentary the BBC would refuse to air in the name of “impartiality”, but to ITV’s credit, they decided to show the truth.

You can now expect accusations of antisemitism, same as Louis Theroux received for daring to let Israelis speak for themselves. We probably won’t see demands for resignations though, because Comcast looks set to take over ITV, at which point you can expect the broadcaster to fall back in line.

The documentary confirms what many of us are aware of, but it is significant that the admissions come from IDF soldiers and are being shown on national TV. This leaves Israel’s apologists with nowhere to hide.

IDF soldiers describe a breakdown in norms and legal constraints, calling the genocide a “free-for-all”, and admitting to gunning down civilians in aid queues. I’m old enough to remember when a US soldier was smeared for describing this behaviour. Is Anthony Aguilar going to get an apology? I won’t hold my breath…

Many IDF soldiers were willing to speak on the record so you can expect them to be punished like the Israeli lawyer who leaked the Sde Teiman rape video. Their testimony correlates with accusations from every human rights group that has been accused of antisemitism, which is pretty much all of them.

IDF soldiers have once again admitted to using human shields. They even have a name for it: the Mosquito Protocol. The below clip is from a CBS report, but it describes the same protocol as the documentary:

IDF soldiers confirmed every company was operating the Mosquito Protocol which involved sending Palestinians into buildings and tunnels with an iPhone to check for booby traps. IDF soldiers have confirmed that some of those used as human shields were children. The below testimony is from Ben Zand, one of the documentary’s makers:

The IDF is officially denying these claims and insisting every accusation of misconduct is thoroughly investigated, but we know from the Sde Teiman scandal, this is the opposite of the truth. The culprits are protected and the whistle-blowers are punished. This is why it’s so ludicrous to expect Israel to investigate itself.

Officially, Israeli soldiers are allowed to open fire only if someone shows the means, intent, and capability to kill, but this is not what is happening in Gaza. The firing is indiscriminate.

We’re not talking about isolated incidents either: IDF soldiers confirmed in the documentary that it is standard practice to shoot at civilians. Perhaps they look the right age. Perhaps they are walking too fast or too slow. In Israel’s eyes, this is enough to justify opening fire. Crucially, the commander on the ground makes the call, meaning this can’t be attributed to rogue soldiers.

One soldier spoke of a building that was destroyed by a tank, despite being in a “designated safe zone”, because a man was hanging out laundry. They decided he must be a spotter, even though he did not have binoculars or weapons.

Half of the building collapsed, killing many civilians, including the man who was innocently drying his laundry. If this was an isolated incident, it would be a war crime, but given the scale of destruction, it can only be genocidal.

Israel is going with the excuse of “Hamas’ systematic embedding within civilian infrastructure,” but its own soldiers dispute this. Importantly, IDF soldiers have admitted to being influenced by the genocidal language of Israeli politicians and religious leaders. They said of the line “there are no innocents on Gaza” that “You hear that all the time, so you start to believe it”.

The killer quote came from Maj Neta Caspin who explained: “One time, the brigade rabbi sat down next to me and spent half an hour explaining why we must be just like they were on October seventh. That we must take revenge on all of them, including civilians. That we shouldn’t discriminate, and that this is the only way.” That’s the world’s most moral army for ya…

Another rabbi, Avraham Zarbiv, served 500 days in the IDF and claimed credit for pioneering the tactic of using military bulldozers in Gaza. Given IDF soldiers have admitted to crushing Palestinians who were both dead and alive, this is not something a sane person would brag about.

The rabbi claimed: “Everything there is one big terrorist infrastructure.” He admitted the IDF has invested large sums of money in destroying the Gaza Strip. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: the best way to incriminate Israeli soldiers is to give them a microphone.

The documentary will make it much easier to demonstrate genocidal intent at the International Criminal Court. The Geneva Conventions state that leaders must make it clear that genocidal actions will not be tolerated and prosecute those who encourage genocide. Clearly, they are doing the opposite.

By the IDF’s own estimates, 83% of Palestinian casualties are civilians, but the IDF is disputing its own figures that were never intended to be made public. Given the IDF considers any male between the ages of 20 and 40 to be Hamas, you can expect the civilian casualty rate to be much higher than 83%. Given the rate at which women and children have been killed, you’re looking at over 95%. You’re looking at undeniable genocide.