2 investigations put renewed scrutiny on Israel’s offensive
TEL AVIV — The findings of two Israeli investigations into the country’s offensive on Gaza have cast new light on what is being termed one of the century’s most destructive wars, even as Israeli officials maintain there will be no letup in action.
The investigations, announced Thursday, said the shooting by the Israel Defense Forces of three Israeli hostages trying to escape “could have been prevented’’ and that a December strike on a Gaza refugee camp caused unintentional harm to nearby buildings — as well as potentially those sheltering inside of them.
They address the main points of condemnation of the offensive both internationally and domestically: its catastrophic civilian toll and the government’s failure to do more to protect and secure the release of the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Members of Hamas and allied fighters overran southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage. A brief pause in fighting secured the release of 110 captives, but more than 100 still remain, or have been killed, in Gaza.
Israel’s aggressive response to the attacks — a mission to eradicate Hamas — has killed 21,507 and injured 55,915 people in the enclave, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly 2 million people have been displaced, struggling daily to access food, water, and medical care.
The United States, one of Israel’s only remaining supporters in its offensive, has put pressure on the country to mitigate civilian deaths, but Israel remains resolved to press on.
On Dec. 24, Israeli fighter jets conducted strikes on central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital director Iyad Abu Zaher said at the time that at least 80 people were killed in the bombardments of a residential block.
The IDF on Thursday said it struck two targets “adjacent to which Hamas operatives were located.’’ An initial investigation into the strike ‘’revealed that additional buildings located near the targets were also hit during the strikes, which likely caused unintended harm to additional uninvolved civilians.’’
An investigation is underway, and the IDF did not officially expand on why the strike was so destructive. But a military official told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan that “the weaponry did not match the nature of the attack, so extensive collateral damage was caused.’’ A US intelligence assessment earlier this month found almost half of the munitions Israel had used in Gaza since the war began have been unguided bombs — which experts say can miss a target by up to 100 feet.
But despite international calls to cease or limit the offensive, Israel continues to beat the drums of war. “Whoever talks about stopping — there is no such thing,’’ said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to soldiers in northern Gaza this week. “We are not stopping. The war will continue until the end, until we finish it, no less.’’
Some families of hostages still in the enclave have expressed concerns that this fierce commitment to the destruction of Hamas will put their loved ones in more danger — a fear validated by the findings of a separate IDF investigation into the killing of three hostages who were shot in Gaza by Israeli soldiers.
“We were terrified to see our greatest fear become a reality,’’ Lior Peri whose 79-year-old father, Chaim, is still in Gaza, said to The Washington Post.
The investigation found that the IDF “failed in its mission to rescue the hostages,’’ and that “the entire chain of command feels responsible’’ and “regrets this outcome.’’
While the soldiers “carried out the right action to the best of their understanding of the event at that moment,’’ the deaths “could have been prevented,’’ the IDF said Thursday.
According to the report, soldiers raiding buildings in Gaza City on Dec. 10 heard calls in Hebrew asking for help. They assessed it to be a Hamas trap, part of tactics the army says the group has used in the past.
On Dec. 14, they saw signs that said “SOS’’ and “save three kidnapped people.’’ A day later, an IDF soldier shot at three people, killing two. All were shirtless, and one was waving a white flag. The third emerged again, after commanders had called for a cease-fire. But one soldier, who the IDF said didn’t hear the orders, shot and killed them.
Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office, said Friday that “it should not have happened, and we learned difficult lessons and our forces are implementing the lessons that we learned.’’
Miri Eisen, a colonel in the IDF reserves and director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichman University, said both investigations are evidence the IDF is holding itself accountable. “You need to make sure soldiers understand the depth of the actions that they take,’’ she said. “When you go beyond what you’re allowed to do you need to call yourself out.’’
‘You need to make sure soldiers understand the depth of the actions that they take.’
MIRI EISEN, International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichman University