Ex-Israeli soldiers confess: Oppressing Palestinians a common practice
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Israeli occupation forces reveal that they raided Palestinian homes, whom they knew were innocent, to attempt to draw out the Palestinian Resistance, and with time pressure Palestinians to denounce it.
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Israeli security forces arrest Palestinian men during a military raid in Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, West Bank, occupied Palestine, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP)
Israeli occupation soldiers who have served in the West Bank revealed some of the oppressive practices that were ingrained in the Israeli occupation forces' practices across occupied Palestine.
A report published by Andalou Agency underscored that the "testimonies" made by some occupation soldiers "shed light on the systematic nature of the physical and psychological violence endured by Palestinians" since 1948.
One soldier who had served in the occupied West Bank for two years said, "Throughout my time in the army, I lived believing I was a good person and that we were on the right side," before adding "Suddenly, I realized what we, as Israel, were doing and the reality of what I was a part of."
Oppression rooted in the IOF
Among the many oppressive practices, one soldier revealed that the IOF turned stun grenades into booby-traps that would explode in the face of Palestinian farmers.
"[IOF soldiers] Booby-trapped these [stun] grenades, hidden under stones for Palestinian farmers or civilians in the area to find, to explode in their faces as soon as they discovered them," said the soldier.
In other instances, there were some direct orders to kill children, one soldier emphasized, giving an example in al-Fawwar refugee camp where a commander gave such an order in his presence.
The IOF also did not exclude the Palestinian Authority's security forces according to one of the testimonies, the commander of one raiding force gave the order to kill three Palestinian police officers at a Nablus checkpoint because the IOF had five soldiers while storming the city.
Even further, it was reported that shooting Palestinians was rewarded, as "Baruch Marzel (Israeli right-wing politician) would give pizza coupons to soldiers who shot Palestinians."
As for preventing Israeli settlers from harming Palestinians in the occupied territories, one soldier said "It is impossible to prevent a Jew from doing what he wants."
No one is 'unfit for detention'
"There is no concept of being unfit for detention," said one soldier as they explained that even "beaten" children became part of the systematic violence, where despite needing medical assistance due to a broken hand, in one case, the child would still be assessed to be suitable for arrest.
One soldier spoke of an incident that happened regularly while they were on the night shift at one West Bank checkpoint. At night, children who crossed through the checkpoint were sometimes detained and "burned with cigarettes and treated like a toy." Such incidents, said the occupation soldier, were often covered up and they "could not do anything to stop it", Anadolu reported.
Charges made-up successfully: a culture
A former member of the occupying forces also disclosed that, while on patrol, they detained a Palestinian child aged 13-15, subjected them to verbal harassment with unfounded accusations like "I saw you throwing a stone," and resorted to physical violence.
The Andalou Agency report noted that according to the occupation soldier, such actions were deemed acceptable and commonplace within the military.
Indignify the 'enemy'
One instance was recounted by an occupation soldier showing that indignifying Palestinian detainees, was considered regular practice and went unchallenged in the IOF.
The soldier told the story of when one commander "repeatedly" detained a mentally disabled Palestinian in the West Bank and forbade him from using the toilet until he soiled himself.
In al-Khalil, another occupation soldier confessed to refusing to provide detainees with food or water and hitting their heads and faces while using profanity, the report read stressing that this was regular practice.
One occupation soldier noted, "(During my military service,) I hardly encountered any terrorists. What I encountered were families and children," often incursions, during night time, and the raiding of innocent people's homes served as psychological pressure. The ultimate goal was to root out armed Resistance fighters and increase pressure of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to denounce the Resistance.
Sometimes, occupation forces bombed the wrong house but did not care, they continued the operation as if nothing happened, paying little to no attention to the loss of Palestinian lives, the Andalou report read.
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