By John Sexton

Chilling evidence that Israeli soldiers shot and killed women and children in cold blood while under orders from their officers during the recent assault on Gaza, has emerged in soldiers' testimony obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The testimony published by Haaretz yesterday is said to be from a February 13 discussion held by graduates of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military preparatory course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon. Dozens of graduates who took part in the discussion fought in the Gaza operation. Haaretz says a transcript of the discussion was published in a college newsletter.

Sniper shot children who walked the wrong way

An infantry squad leader describes how a sniper shot and killed a Palestinian mother and her two children. "There was a house with a family inside .... We put them in a room. Later we left the house and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there was an order to release the family. They had set up positions upstairs. There was a sniper position on the roof," the squad leader said.

"The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the right. One mother and her two children didn't understand and went to the left, but they forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof they had let them go and it was okay, and he should hold his fire and he ... he did what he was supposed to, like he was following his orders."

According to the squad leader: "The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away." In any case, what happened is that in the end he killed them.

The lives of Palestinians are less important

"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he was concerned, he did his job according to the orders he was given. And the atmosphere in general, from what I understood from most of my men who I talked to ... The lives of Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers," he said.

Another squad leader from the same brigade described how a company commander ordered an elderly Palestinian woman shot and killed because she approached within 100 meters from a house the company had seized.

The squad leader said that the attitude of the rank and file soldiers was that "we should kill everyone there [in the center of Gaza]. Everyone there is a terrorist."

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 1,314 Palestinian's were killed during the 23 day conflict, including 416 children and 106 women. On the Israeli side 3 civilians and 10 soldiers were killed.

The Israeli government has repeatedly said that its troops take every possible measure to avoid causing civilian casualties. The Israel Defense Force has instructed its Military Police to investigate the soldiers' testimony.

At a press briefing organized by the Israeli Embassy in Beijing this week, Israeli security expert Professor Zaki Shalom told this reporter that the attack on Gaza was an example of a new Israeli military doctrine of "expressly disproportionate" response to attacks on its territory and citizens. He said "this will be the doctrine that will prevail in future confrontations. The doctrine that we held in Gaza will be enacted again and again."

(China.org.cn March 20, 2009)