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The Israeli army in Gaza shot unarmed Palestinians “without restraint”, created a “protocol” for using civilians as human shields, and pursued a policy of “destroy, demolish, transfer”, military whistleblowers have claimed.
In a shocking documentary broadcast on ITV, at least a dozen soldiers described in detail how Gaza was left a “zombie apocalypse” after Israel’s unprecedented two-year offensive.
During that time, they said commanding officers told them to ignore international law, use civilians, including teenagers, as human shields, celebrate drone strikes and “take revenge on them all”.
The testimonies, which include a contractor for the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, also described the wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure, torching Palestinian homes they turned into forward bases, shooting aid seekers at distribution sites, and an “unprecedented” bombing campaign allowing for vast collateral damage.
One officer, identified only as Lieutenant Colonel B, who has served more than 300 days in Gaza, described the offensive as “all-out”, adding he believed there was “no limit” for collateral damage.
“If you ask me I would have pushed them all into the sea [with bulldozers] on October 7, given them snorkels and let them swim in Egypt,” he told ITV’s Exposure.
Another, whose identity was also protected, added: “In my [company] there were people openly saying ‘let’s destroy, demolish, transfer them [out of Gaza]’.”
Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign and siege of Gaza in the wake of Hamas’s bloody attacks on southern Israel, during which more than 1,000 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli estimates.
In the documentary Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, soldiers said that in the aftermath, Israel launched a “revenge campaign”.
Since October 2023, Israel’s bombardment and the war have killed more than 64,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials. It has also destroyed or damaged more than 90 per cent of homes, according to the UN, and displaced most of the 2.3 million population.
An Israeli siege of the tiny 25-mile-long enclave has meanwhile pushed the strip into famine and unleashed a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. The UN Commission of Inquiry concluded this year that Israel has committed genocide.
The military dismissed the allegations in film as “baseless”, telling The Independent, it “affirms that it operates in accordance with international law, including the Law of Armed Conflict.”
“The IDF remains committed to the rule of law and continues to operate in accordance with its legal and ethical obligations, despite the unprecedented operational complexity posed by Hamas’s systematic embedding within civilian infrastructure and its use of civilian sites for military purposes.” it added.
It also said that if there are any allegations of criminal behaviour from its soldiers it is investigated.
But in the ITV Exposure film, a conscript infantry soldier named only “Yaakov” said the destruction is so widespread that they have “destroyed a society”.
“All mosques, almost all hospitals, almost all universities, every cultural institution has been destroyed,” he added grimly. “You’ve destroyed a society. You don’t have to kill them one by one to destroy every sign of the society that once existed there.”
He described his company using two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old boy, as human shields.
When the soldiers protested, he said they were told by their commander: “Soldiers don’t have to worry about international law, just about the ‘IDF spirit’.”
Daniel, a tank unit commander, said the use of human shields is widespread.
“It is called the ‘Mosquito Protocol’. It entails a method, a process by which a Palestinian is turned into a so-called agent. It’s designed exclusively for working in tunnels and is something that has been proven very, very useful,” he added.
After about a week, he said every company was operating with its own “mosquito”.
“That’s three Palestinians per battalion, nine to 12 per brigade, dozens, hundreds per division,” he continued, adding, “It saves soldiers’ lives.”
The Independent’s own investigation into the use of human shields revealed that children as young as 12 years old were forced to inspect houses and roads and look for tunnels and militants, sometimes dressed in military fatigues.
When asked about these testimonies, the Israeli military said: “The orders and directives of the IDF prohibit the use of Gazan civilians captured in the field for military missions that endanger them.”
Another disturbing reality revealed in the film was the wanton destruction of swathes of the strip, which the World Bank has estimated will cost $53bn (£40bn) to rebuild.
Last year, the UN Conference on Trade and Development said even if the war stops, if Gaza remains under an Israeli blockade, it could take a staggering 350 years for its battered economy to return to pre-war levels.
Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, who has served more than 500 days in Gaza driving bulldozers and flattening swathes of the strip, also spoke to filmmakers from the settlement where he lives.
He claims to have come up with the idea of systematically demolishing entire neighbourhoods in Gaza, inspiring other units within the Israeli military.
“We changed the conduct of an entire army. The IDF invests hundreds of thousands of shekels to destroy the Gaza Strip.”
He argues that the mass demolition of civilian homes is justified, claiming in one video: “Everything there is one big terrorist infrastructure.”
The soldiers also recalled several incidents where unarmed Palestinians were killed, including a man who was on a roof hanging out his washing; one soldier says a tank brigade, between 600 and 700 metres away, labelled him a “spotter” and took out half the building. In another incident, a teenager pushing a cart was shot in the head.
“Eli”, another soldier, said at the end of his deployment that his commander reported they took out “112 terrorists”, but added: “I can confidently say that … only one was even suspected of being armed. That is, the 111 other people we killed, no one even claimed that they were armed.”
Drone warfare is also described by Neta Caspin, a major in the IDF, who said she watched drone operators follow a man walking in the Netzarim corridor for half an hour before he was shot, after which a fellow soldier told them to “be happy”.
Another anonymous soldier said that using drones in Gaza “feels like a game”.
“You can sit in some basement of a house, safe with your helmet off, scratching your balls, half dressed and kill Palestinians,” he added bluntly.
‘Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War’ is on ITV1, ITVX, STV & STV Player
