Israeli Reservist: Soldiers Were Ordered to Kill Palestinians, Regardless of Whether They Posed Threat, in Gaza

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Israeli journalist and former reserve soldier who served in Gaza, Chaim Har-Zahav, has revealed that army commanders instruct forces to open fire on any Palestinian regardless of whether or not they pose a threat.

In a Haaretz article published on Wednesday, Har-Zahav, who served an 86-day reserve mission in the enclave, detailed what he witnessed during that time.

“The lives of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip depend first and foremost on the private and personal scale of values ​​of the commanders in the Strip,” Har-Zahav wrote, adding that any senior officer who orders the killing of Palestinians simply because of their identity will not face consequences.

“A human life in the Gaza Strip is worth less than the lives of the thousands of stray dogs that roam the area looking for food. While there is a clear order prohibiting shooting dogs unless a soldier is in real danger when the dog’s jaws are locked on him, humans are permitted to be shot without any real restrictions.”

In the piece, Har-Zahav relayed an incident that involved a senior commander ordering the shooting of an unarmed man waving a white flag. Though the general was told the man did not pose a threat and was clearly without weapons, he responded by saying: “I don’t know what a white flag is, shoot him, it’s an order.”

“No one carried out the order, and it is understood that the commanders in the field knew that it was a clearly illegal order,” the former reservist wrote.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the author of the piece reiterated that the lives of Palestinians depend “entirely on the values ​​and worldview of the soldier who holds the weapon”, adding that the Israeli army “values, orders and norms no longer exist”.

According to Har-Zahav, the Israeli army’s code of ethics and guidelines have been “thrown out the window since October 7.”

The journalist added that the Gaza Strip’s boundary and what constitutes a “red line” is not fixed and remains unclear to Palestinians in Gaza.

“They find this out the hard way: they are shot to death as they approach the imaginary line that the [Israeli army] has decided on, and it changes from time to time,” he said.

Har-Zahav said that whether they were civilians caught up in the wrong place and time or Hamas members gathering intelligence, the moment a Palestinian is targeted and killed, “they officially become terrorists and enter the statistics that will appear the next day in the [Israeli army] spokesman’s statement praising the heroism of the fighters who further reduced the number of terrorists in the Gaza Strip.”

There have been many similar cases documented by human rights groups and international media outlets.

A recent case documented by Al Jazeera shows Israeli forces targeting unarmed Palestinians attempting to head north of the enclave, with at least one of them waving a white flag.

The group were near the Nabulsi Roundabout, southwest of Gaza City, when they were attacked. One man in the clip could be seen being pursued by an armoured vehicle, after which troops opened fire on him. Later, a bulldozer was used to bury two bodies.

Professor Richard Falk, a former UN special rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, told Al Jazeera that the shootings were a “vivid confirmation of continuing Israeli atrocities”.

“The eyes and ears of the world have been assaulted in real-time by this form of genocidal behaviour,” Falk said.

A new investigation published on Tuesday by The Washington Post revealed that Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted homes in Gaza for revenge and amusement. Videos, photos, and firsthand accounts reveal shocking acts of destruction, including setting homes ablaze, vandalizing property, and celebrating the chaos.

One soldier confessed to being ordered to burn homes after occupying them. He described how furniture was piled in rooms, soaked in gasoline, and ignited. “They had fun doing it,” he said.

“You feel this very, very strong sense of revenge from everybody,” said Michael Ziv, a reservist in the Jerusalem Brigade. He described fellow soldiers acting with “a sense of religious fanaticism or the desire for retribution.”

The testimonies come amid widespread criticism of Israel’s conduct during the Gaza genocide and ICC warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. As more videos and accounts surface, calls for accountability continue to grow on the international stage.

The Israeli military claims such incidents are “exceptional” and against its values, but experts warn these actions could violate international law. The destruction of civilian infrastructure without military necessity constitutes potential war crimes under humanitarian law.