Gaza's 'kill zone': How Israeli soldiers are killing unarmed Palestinians

Israeli soldiers have created “kill zones” in and around areas in Gaza to take out Palestinians who cross invisible boundaries, according to military sources cited by Haaretz.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently lauded the Israeli military as “the most moral army in the world”.

However, mounting evidence suggests the reality is different. The conduct of the Israeli soldiers also raises questions about the billions of dollars of American taxpayers’ money being spent to arm Israel.

The US recently approved the transfer of 2,000-pound bombs and other weapons to Israel.

Despite assurances from the Biden administration that the weapons will be used in accordance with international law, the investigative report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz sheds light on the actual operations of the US-funded military on the ground in Gaza.

According to a reserve officer quoted by Haaretz, the term "combat zone" is pivotal in Gaza. It denotes an area where soldiers establish a force, typically inside an abandoned house, with the surrounding area designated as a military or combat zone, without clear markings. Another term for these areas is "kill zones."

The officer adds that within each combat or kill zone, the boundaries and operational procedures are subject to the interpretation of local commanders, with many “writing their own rules of engagement.”

“As soon as people enter it, mainly adult males, orders are to shoot and kill, even if that person is unarmed," says the officer.

Routine killings

The report provides crucial context regarding footage captured by an Israeli drone, which surfaced on Al Jazeera. The distressing video depicted an Israeli drone hovering over four unarmed Palestinian men in civilian clothing, tracking them down in the deserted streets of Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. The men were subsequently killed on the spot as several missiles hit them. The incident happened in early February.

“Ostensibly, this was another statistic in the roster of dead Hamas militants”, the publication reported. However, a senior Israeli military officer speaking to Haaretz said that the men were unarmed and did not pose a threat to Israeli forces in the area.

The officer added that it was uncertain whether they were involved in launching the rocket and speculated that they might have been civilians searching for food.

The death toll among Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli forces has now surpassed 33,000. This is only one account of the reality behind how Palestinians are routinely killed in indiscriminate Israeli military fire in Gaza, the report notes.

In the northern part of the besieged enclave, where famine is looming for 300,000 Palestinians, the situation is even worse, soldiers and commanders said.

A senior commander indicated that many civilians in northern Gaza are not in humanitarian shelters and remain in their homes to protect their property from looting. Consequently, these civilians whose homes happen to be located outside of humanitarian areas are in constant danger.

"They could be in buildings right next to where soldiers are located," says the commander. "If someone sees them, they are usually hit."

Another video published by Al Jazeera Arabic on March 27 shows Israeli soldiers shooting at two unarmed Palestinian men in Gaza, one of them clearly waving a white cloth to signal non-aggression.

According to an Al Jazeera correspondent, the men were attempting to return to their homes in northern Gaza via al-Rashid Street, the only viable route, when they encountered Israeli soldiers near the Nabulsi Roundabout, southwest of Gaza City.

Following the shooting, the bodies of the victims were collected by an army bulldozer, and buried amidst sand and debris, in an attempt to conceal the evidence.

“These are brutal and terrifying scenes because we are looking at extra-judicial killings,” remarked Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“Israel is getting away with this because of the silence of the international community,” she asserts.

“How many thousands of Palestinians should be killed before the world takes serious steps to hold Israel accountable and to have an immediate and sustained ceasefire?”

No real rules of engagement

In the Haaretz report, a reserve officer recounted a potentially catastrophic moment in northern Gaza when a strike was called off upon realising civilians were present.

“This was a few yards outside the combat zone boundary, where there was a market with stalls, children on bicycles, a parallel world,” the publication describes, while the officer admitted that they were not even aware of the presence of civilians in the area.

Another soldier from a reserve brigade revealed the strict directives to engage in similar scenarios, stating that they are ordered to neutralise anyone who enters their operational area.

“For our commanders, if we identified someone in our area of operation who was not part of our forces, we were told to shoot to kill," he said. “We were explicitly told that even if a suspect runs into a building with people in it, we should fire at the building and kill the terrorist, even if other people are hurt."

In an interview with Al Jazeera English, journalist and author of the book “The Palestine Laboratory”, Antony Loewenstein, highlights the disparity between Israeli army claims of very strict rules of engagement and soldiers abiding by certain rules, and the stark reality on the ground.

He argues that the military's failure to enforce its standards has fostered a climate of impunity for soldiers who target civilians.

"The military culture is one that is led from the top. You had Israeli defence ministers and many in the Israeli military establishment since October 7 distributing leaflets talking about how Israel is going in there to 'cleanse' Palestinians. This is the culture that allows that kind of inhumane killing," Loewenstein asserts.

"Not just in the last day or so, but over the years and years, you have Israeli soldiers talking about how there is no real punishment for killing Palestinians or injuring them, not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank and East Jerusalem."