If someone enters a forbidden zone can be captured or even shot. An imaginary line is traced
They are called ‘no-go zones’. These are the prohibited areas, areas defined by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip. Those who have the boldness to cross the imaginary lines and enter these areas can end up dead.
This is a practice that kills several civilians and leaves them where they fell. “We have a territory where we are and the orders are: Everyone who enters has to die,” an Israelite soldier told Sky News. “If they are inside, they are dangerous, they have to kill them. No matter who it is.”
The soldier, who maintains his identity in anonymous, revealed that troops kill the civilians arbitrarily and that the selection criterion is based on the orders that are issued by the commander. “They can be slaughtered, they can be captured,” he said. “It depends a lot on the day, the arrangement of the commander.”
The soldier in question has already fulfilled three missions in Gaza and is a reservist of the 252nd Division of the Defense Forces of Israel (IDF). It has been highlighted in the Netzarim corridor – which divides the Gaza Strip between the North and the South and was occupied by the Israeli forces, as it allowed greater power and control over the course of the conflict.
The combatant revealed that when his unit was located very close to a civil zone, they would define an imaginary line that aimed to ban the passage of the inhabitants of Gaza and delimit the area where the soldiers were.
“There is an imaginary line that tell us that all the inhabitants of Gaza know and know they are not allowed to exceed it,” said the soldier. “But how can they know?” He asked.
Those who pass this line have their destination outline: most of the time it is shot. According to the soldier, the troops believe that all the inhabitants of Gaza are terrorists, even if they are notoriously civilians disarmed. This idea is not contested and is carried out by the commanders.
The decision is in the hands of the commanders. These can decide how troops will act.
The soldier recalled a moment that reveals how everything works: a man crossed the limit defined by the troops and was shot. Later, another man went to the body that was on the ground and the order given was to capture the civilian. After these two cases, the order changed: who crosses the imaginary line is shot.
The Israeli soldier said that his comrades believe that the citizens of Gaza have done nothing to prevent the attack of October 7 and that “they deserve to die.”
“I think many of them really felt that they were doing something good,” said the soldier. “I think the core of the matter is that, in your mind, these people are not innocent,” added the military, who defends the end of the war.
The soldier declined to be identified because he was in danger of being labeled a traitor or avoided by his community, given that cases of complaint or criticism of the IDF are rare, since they risk being ostracized.
Still, he was obliged to speak. “I feel that I participated in a bad thing and have to compensate for something good I do, talking about it, because I am very concerned about what I did and continue to do, as a soldier and citizen of this country,” he said.
Confronted with the alleged arbitrary deaths in the Netzarim corridor, the IDF contested by saying that “they act in strict compliance with their commitment rules and international law, taking the necessary precautions to reduce the damage caused to civilians.” They also add that “they operate against military targets and objectives and not against civilians or civil objects.”
In the statements made, they reported and clarified that they issue evacuation warnings and advise people to temporarily abandon combat zones in order to protect civilians and safeguard their safety.
