Israel Troops Speaking Out About Gaza War Tactics

Israeli troops are coming out to tell the world the horrors of the war zone within the Gaza Strip - and what is being said is haunting.

Troops have been urged by their commanders to shoot first rather than worry about killing civilians, a document from an Israeli activist group shows.

"Better hit an innocent than hesitate to target an enemy," one soldier is recorded as saying, speaking about instructions given to him in advance of the 22-day campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, which ran from December 27 to January 18.

Another soldier interpreted the orders passed down to him from superiors as: "If you're not sure, kill ... In urban warfare, anyone is your enemy. No innocents."

Troops were told to proceed in this way due to the high occurrence of suicide bombers.

The document, published by Breaking the Silence, also gives an insight into Israel's policy of house demolitions and its use of white phosphorus, a controversial weapon that can cause chemical burns.

One soldier said that his unit had received orders to "ignite" an area.

"The way to do that was to actually fire phosphorus shells from above," he said.

"What the phosphorus does is to let out an umbrella of fire over the target and naturally that ignites the whole house."

Soldiers said that the use of white phosphorus bombardments was "upsetting" with one adding, "because in training you learn that white phosphorus is not used, and you're taught that it's not humane".

International law allows the use of white phosphorus only as an "obscurant" used to cover troop movements and prevent enemies from using certain guided weapons.

There were also reports of using human shields, called the "Neighbour Procedure" by soldiers fighting in Gaza. In this procedure civilians are forced to enter suspect buildings ahead of troops, with some cases citing civilians advancing in front of troops resting their rifles on civilians' shoulders.

Another report by rights-group Amnesty International accused Israel of "breaching laws of war" saying that it put children and other civilians in harm's way "by forcing them to remain in or near houses which they took over and used as military positions."

A four-member team is investigating the strike in Gaza as the United Nations is accusing Israel of possible war crimes during the 22-day strike that killed 1,3000 Palestinians (many of which were children) and 13 Israelis.

According to the UN, Gaza is just now beginning to clear over 600,000 tons of rubble, six months after the raid ended.

Israel accuses the UN branch carrying out the mission of bias against it.

There are also growing concerns for the health and well being of the people within Gaza because aid shipments have not been allowed to cross into the strip since Israel upped its blockade of the area.

Please, people, be aware of where your news comes from. Most US organizations have Israeli interests, either on a personal or conglomerate level. And wherever the media interests lie is where political interests lead to. Imagine if Barack Obama said something against what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people - he would be ridiculed by media outlets everywhere, which are owned in majority by people with Israeli interests. Obama, or anyone in the public arena for that matter, who would dare to speak out against what I believe is genocide, would be beat down into a pulp by the media which would then trickle down to us folks at home leaving any chance at real change (and re-election) at nil.

Do your own research and form your own opinions, because everything you hear on TV has a bias and has people looming in the background that stand to gain something from you acceptance of what they tell you is fact.

What is going on in Gaza is genocide, the systematic eradication of a specific people. And this is not to say that Jews or Israelis in general are bad people, they are not, and most want an end to the war just as much as any Palestinian. This is, however, meant as a reminder that the people in power use us as pawns in their game, and now is the time to get up and walk away.