Israeli tactics in spotlight
Israeli investigations into the killing of three hostages in the Gaza Strip and unintended strikes on buildings in the enclave are casting new light on Israel’s tactics in what is already one of the century’s most destructive wars, even as Israeli officials say there will be no letup in the assault.
In findings announced on Friday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the shooting deaths of three Israeli hostages by IDF soldiers this month as they attempted to identify themselves “could have been prevented”, and that air strikes last week were likely to have caused unintentional harm to civilians.
The probes address the main points of criticism of the Israeli campaign, both domestically – the government’s failure to protect and secure the release of the hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip – and internationally – the catastrophic civilian toll in the enclave.
Israeli forces have killed more than 21,500 people in Gaza and wounded more than 55,000 in the past three months, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel launched the campaign after Hamas and allied fighters overran communities in southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1200 people and taking more than 200 hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
The Biden Administration, while supportive of the Israeli campaign to eradicate the Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, has pressured the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do more to minimise civilian deaths in the enclave.
Israeli fighter jets on December 24 attacked targets in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. At least 80 people were killed, the director of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
The IDF said it was targeting “Hamas operatives” but that an initial investigation had “revealed that additional buildings located near the targets were also hit … which likely caused unintended harm to
additional uninvolved civilians”.
The IDF did not expand on why the strikes were so destructive, but a military official told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that “the weaponry did not match the nature of the attack, so extensive collateral damage was caused”.
In a US intelligence assessment released this month, analysts found that almost half of the munitions Israel had used in Gaza were unguided bombs – which can miss a target by up to 33m.
Israel has rejected international calls for a ceasefire.
Family members of hostages who are still being held in the enclave worry that the Israeli campaign is putting their loved ones in greater danger. Hamas released 110 hostages last month in exchange for the Israeli release of Palestinians detained in the West Bank, but more than 100 hostages remain – or have been killed – in Gaza.
The IDF said the soldiers who killed the
hostages “carried out the right action to the best of their understanding of the event at that moment” but that the deaths “could have been prevented”.
Israeli troops raiding buildings in Gaza City on December 10 heard calls in Hebrew asking for help, the IDF said. They assessed it to be a Hamas trap, a tactic Israel says the group has used.
On December 14, soldiers saw signs that read “SOS” and “Save three kidnapped people”. The next day, an IDF soldier saw three people – all shirtless, one of them waving a white flag – and opened fire, killing two. Commanders ordered a stop to the shooting. The third person re-emerged, and one soldier shot and killed him. The IDF said the soldier didn’t hear the order to stop.
“It should not have happened,” Tal Heinrich, a spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office, said yesterday. “We learned difficult lessons, and our forces are implementing the lessons that we learned.”
The killings of the three hostages outraged Israelis. Thousands rallied in Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu to do more to bring the other hostages home. Hamas has said it will release more hostages only when the fighting ends.
“There will be no prisoner swap deal nor negotiations under fire until the Israeli aggression ends,” said Bassem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau in Doha, Qatar. “Meanwhile, we can say we are open to any initiative that can end this Israeli genocidal war.”
An estimated 100,000 Gazans, displaced by fighting in the north, have crowded into the southern city of Rafah. They are struggling with shortages of water, food and shelter, insufficient aid – and continuing bombardment.
“I escaped death, only to find the situation here equally perilous,” said Ihab Al-Daya, who fled central Gaza to shelter in Rafah. “There is no water, no food, and nowhere to sleep. Shells are constantly being fired at us.”
The plight of Gazan civilians, pushed by the military campaign into shrinking spaces within the already cramped enclave, has stirred protests around the world. But the Israeli government faces little pressure domestically to ease up. Israeli disapproval of the government is high, but so is support for the war.
Still, some Israelis are calling for an end to hostilities. Hundreds rallied in Tel Aviv this week to demand a ceasefire.
“I came to protest two main things,” Oren Ben Natan said. “Firstly, how our government abandoned 108 hostages who are still held by Hamas. And second, the massacre in Gaza.” The 24-year-old held a sign that read: “There is no security without a political solution.”
“Beyond it being a horrifying war crime," Ben Natan said, ”it is 100% clear to me that this will not lead us to peace and quiet, but on to the next round, which will be deadlier, to both Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Across the street, onlookers shouted swear words at the demonstrators.