Cast Lead, Gaza 2009 October 3, 2009
Breaking the Silence is an organization of veterans who served in the Israeli army during the Second Intifada (since September 2000) and have assumed the responsibility to tell the Israeli people the routine situations of everyday life in the Occupied Territories, a reality that is not present in the media. Lead time on such
have collected a number of witnesses in a publication that is available here. I selected the pieces, but should be translated in full. Human shields
1
Sometimes putting the unit enters the barrels of their rifles on the shoulder a civilian, advancing into the house and using it as a human shield. Commanders have said that these were the instructions and we had to do it ...
Human shields were used as 2
Johnnies (elsewhere in the interview the witness described the procedure Johnny, the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields during searches of homes) and then released, and we find them in subsequent searches. White phosphorus
1
What was the history of the use of white phosphorus mortar bombs?
The company commander gives the commander of the mortar platoon that has a goal and ordered him to fire.
What was, knows?
One goal. We define objectives. I do not really say what it was. Sometimes they heard on the radio: "Go ahead, phosphorus in the air." That's it. I do not remember if confirmed by the company commander, but I also know of an officer who shot him without asking for permission.
shoot phosphorus Why?
Because it's fun. Fantastic. Professionally
phosphorus have to use against these threats?
I do not know what purpose it is used. I was just talking about it yesterday. I do not understand how these munitions are among our supplies if not then we have to use them. It's ridiculous. White phosphorus
2
Then we returned to the north, about 500 meters from the fence, and we were there on guard all night. We have not seen anything special. The next day we returned to base to get new orders of the mission and were again assigned to a unit of the battalion *** with which we entered. We walked with them on the beach and saw all the white phosphorus bombs in I said, we saw glass on the sand.
Can you describe it? What did you see?
Walk along the sand and feel this crunch that something is broken. We looked down and saw things that looked like fragments of thousands of bottles and broken glass.
What color did they have?
brown dirt.
I saw the remains elsewhere in the vicinity?
There was an area of \u200b\u200babout 200-300 square feet of glassy sand like that. We knew that was coming from white phosphorus and it was shocking.
Why? Why
during training you will learn that white phosphorus is not used, and you learn that is not human. You can see the film and see what it does to people who are affected, and you say "Here is what we're doing." Not what I expected to see. Until then, I thought to belong to the army in the world more human. White phosphorus
3
There was certainly used white phosphorus, I've seen and you can not go wrong, you see their umbrellas inflamed.
Rules of Engagement 1
the beginning, the brigade commander and other officers have told us very clearly that each movement required that fire.
Regardless of the type of movement.
No need to shoot. Just suspect there's a movement, and this first to go to our designated area. I do not remember if he said the brigade commander or someone else. I'm not sure: no one should be there, they shoot at any sign of movement. These essentially were the rules of engagement. Shoot, if you want. If you're afraid or if you see someone, shoot.
Although there is no danger?
You mean this, yes. Do not you shoot only when you are threatened. It is assumed to be constantly in danger, then the threat is constant and it shoots. In reality, no one said "shoot anyway" or "shoot anything that moves." But there has been ordered to open fire only if threatened.
you feel threatened, entering? Yes
been receiving the alert. The sense of threat was building up in us literally. I can say this of us, we were very frightened. In reality there was no reason to be, but we felt threatened. Not that something has happened justifying it, but since we entered Gaza in fear.
Rules of Engagement 2
He made some distinction between civilians and terrorists?
This was also said later, not in the same conversation: if you see something suspicious and you shoot, the better to hit an innocent man who hesitates to strike an enemy target. We use your trial. The first house we entered did not contain a single enemy. We fired at the windows and there was no reaction. So we got in the way we usually enter a house in Hebron: we go in, ask the owner to open, we gather all the males, chained them, collect the whole family in a room and begin to search the house. This war does not normally do.
Rules of Engagement 3
ahead and ask how often they met the soldiers fighting in Gaza - nothing.
When you have entered the Gaza Strip there was no resistance?
Almost nothing.
What were the rules of engagement? Bring arms? Yes
First of all, no matter where our forces are there, you are exposed to fire. Everything is a threat. No such thing as a procedure for the arrest of suspects. If a suspicious individual, if it is a threat to me, I shoot.
Demolition
There was a mosque, and I will not go in all the traditional accounts of why there was a mosque, those are for internal discussion. But overall, most of the flies was destroyed.
Unit rabbinical
There were rabbis who were the army and prayed and gave us a lot of moral support ... within the area, the rabbis come to talk to you. A rabbi was brought to a house and was all excited about being out on the field with the contestants and was wearing a protective jacket of ceramic for the first time in 30 years and sat with the men talking. We also had books published by the unit with the rabbinic sages.
what they contained?
Essays on the transaction, the importance of serving the people of Israel who has been persecuted all these years and now has returned to his country and has to fight for it. All the familiar cliches that put this in relation to the Holocaust and the defense of God and also because it is the link with Gaza and the settlements of Katif evacuees, and here we are back in the zone of Katif, Netzarim in. A completely different scale
She has served in the army in Gaza for years, was destroyed in a somewhat similar to those experienced before?
No, in the strongest terms. It was a completely different scale. This was a firepower as I have ever known. I can not say that when I was in Gaza had not been used in aviation. But no, the earth was shaking continuously. I mean, there were explosions all the time. If they were near or far, this has already semantics. But the bottom line was our feeling that the earth trembled constantly. You could hear explosions all day, the night was full of flashes, an intensity I had never tried before. Many D-9 bulldozers were working 24 hours on 24, were constantly busy. This was a very different scale of intensity from those known before. Much bigger ... Look, when we were shooting, we did not see really the enemy with our own eyes. On the other hand, we were shooting and we respond to fire at suspected areas. What is a suspect? It means that decided that it was suspect and could poured upon all your anger.
