Israel authorizes free killings in Gaza war

According to army sources, the Israeli army has authorized its soldiers in the Gaza Strip to carry out a “wide-ranging chaos” that allowed the almost indiscriminate killing of civilians.

Israeli soldiers told the magazine +972 that they regularly Palestinian civilians, simply because they entered an area that the military has defined as a “no-go zone.”

Two soldiers also described a systematic practice of setting fire to Palestinian homes after the occupation.

According to the sources, soldiers often fired indiscriminately to let off steam.

“Personally, I have fired a few shots into the sea, the sidewalk or an abandoned building for no reason,” said an Israeli reservist serving in northern Gaza.

“They report it as ‘normal fire,’ which is a code name for ‘I’m bored, so I’m shooting.'”

Another soldier said there was “complete freedom of action” in Gaza.

“If there is (even) the feeling of a threat, you don’t have to explain anything – you just shoot,” said the soldier.

“It is permissible to shoot at her center of gravity (her body), not into the air – it is permissible to shoot at anyone, a young girl, an old woman.”

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has continued to rise since October 7. The Palestinian Health Ministry says the total death toll now stands at 38,152, most of whom are women and children.

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A letter written by experts and published in the British medical journal The Lancet warns that the actual number of Palestinians killed in Gaza could exceed 186,000, and underscores the devastating impact of Israel’s invasion and bombing of the enclave.

The letter stressed that the Palestinian Health Ministry’s figures are likely a dramatic underestimate and do not take into account the thousands of people buried under the rubble, as well as the rising number of “indirect” deaths resulting from Israel’s destruction of food distribution, health and sanitation systems in Gaza.

“Given the intensity of the conflict, the destroyed health infrastructure, the severe shortages of food, water and shelter, the inability of the population to flee to safe places and the loss of funding for UNRWA, one of the few humanitarian organizations still active in the Gaza Strip, the total death toll is expected to be high,” the letter said.

The letter estimates that the number of bodies still buried under the rubble is likely to be over 10,000, as the UN says at least 35 percent of buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed.