In Occupied Palestine
Zionism in practice
Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land
08:00, 12 July until 08:00, 13 July 2024
[Source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group]
Gaza Strip
Air strikes: Heavy aerial bombardment on buildings, homes and many facilities.
Attacks: All over Gaza, there are air strikes, heavy gunfire, tank and artillery shelling, as well as missiles fired from Israeli forces and military occupation, especially in Khan Yunis. The Israeli Navycontinues to fire missiles, targeting facilities and buildings along the entire Gaza shoreline.
Victims: 61 people killed in Gaza brings the total number of deaths since 7 October to at least 38,443. With another 129 wounded, that number has risen to 88,481.
The daily average of men, women and children killed in Gaza is at least 137 and, of those injured, the daily average is over 317.
OCHA Correction for Humanitarian Situation Update #190
Please note that two changes have been made to yesterday’s Humanitarian Situation Update, which pertain to the number of fatalities and that of injuries as reported by the Ministry of Health in Gaza (MoH) between the afternoons of 8 and 11 July. We mistakenly published numbers pertaining to the previous reporting period. The corrected numbers are 152 killed and 392 injured, as reported by MoH. The updated report is available at https://www.ochaopt.org/
Israeli soldiers confess
‘it’s permissible to shoot everyone’ in Gaza
Julia Conley Common Dreams 8 July 2024
Detailed accounts by former Israeli soldiers describe how they fired their weapons out of “boredom”, designating any Palestinians in sight as a threat, and routinely burning down homes.
Disputing the repeated claims of Israeli officials and their vehement supporters in the Biden Administration who have scoffed at concerns that the Israel Defence Forces are targeting civilians in Gaza, in-depth reporting on Monday based on the testimony of six former IDF soldiers described how they were encouraged to fire their weapons to relieve “boredom” and felt “authorised to open fire on Palestinians virtually at will, including civilians.” In their latest investigative report on the IDF’s rules of engagement in Gaza, Israeli publications +972 Magazine and Local Call interviewed six soldiers who had been released from active duty.
Medical providers and eyewitnesses have described the shooting of Palestinian women and children by Israeli snipers, and footage has shown unarmed Palestinians being executed while walking along a road. The soldiers confirmed that the IDF has been operating with “total freedom of action,” as one said, since October.
“If there is [even] a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain—you just shoot,” said a soldier identified as B. If troops see a person approaching and don’t know whether they are armed or pose a threat, “it is permissible to shoot at their center of mass [their body], not into the air… It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman,” said B. The soldiers said they sometimes fired their weapons as “a way to blow off steam or relieve the dullness of their daily routine,” with one reservist saying that they wanted “to experience the event [fully].”
The reservist described shooting “for no reason” at times, “into the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building,” while a soldier identified as S. told +972 and Local Call that the IDF would engage in a tactic called “demonstrating presence,” in which they would repeatedly fire their weapons to show any Palestinians in the area that they were there. They would “shoot a lot, even for no reason — anyone who wants to shoot, no matter what the reason, shoots,” said S.
The report follows the publication of an analysis by medical experts in The Lancet, who said the death toll in Gaza — officially over 38,000 — could be off by roughly 150,000 people due to the deaths of Palestinians who have starved, died of medical conditions that couldn’t be treated due to the destruction of the healthcare system, and succumbed to other “indirect” impacts of the war.
Al Jazeera journalist, Laila Al-Arian, said that the confessions of the Israeli soldiers to +972 only confirm what “has been clear since the beginning.” “Israeli soldiers in Gaza are operating under the premise that they can kill anything that moves and that every Palestinian is fair game for slaughter,” she said. The soldiers also described “routinely” executing Palestinian civilians because they had entered an area designated a “no-go zone” by the IDF, and allowing their surroundings to become “littered with civilian corpses, which are left to rot or be eaten by stray animals.” The soldiers were instructed to hide the bodies when international aid groups arrived, to ensure that “images of people in advanced stages of decay don’t come out.”
S. said they “saw a lot of civilians — families, women, children,” and confirmed that “there are more fatalities than are reported.” “Every day, at least one or two [civilians] are killed [because] they walked in a no-go area. I don’t know who is a terrorist and who is not, but most of them did not carry weapons,” they said.
B told +972 and Local Call that the army suspects any male between the ages of 16 and 50 of being a terrorist, and treats anyone walking around outside or looking at the IDF from a building as suspicious — and a legitimate target.
“You shoot,” said B. “The [army’s] perception is that any contact [with the population] endangers the forces, and a situation must be created in which it is forbidden to approach [the soldiers] under any circumstances.”
The report follows previous revelations from the Israeli news outlets on the IDF’s use of artificial intelligence to target Palestinians, with little regard for civilians who might be killed when suspected Hamas members were attacked in their homes. A soldier identified as A. said that working alongside commanders in an operations room and determining which buildings should be struck “felt like a computer game.”
“I, too, a rather left-wing soldier, forget very quickly that these are real homes,” said A. “Only after two weeks did I realise that these are [actual] buildings that are falling: if there are inhabitants [inside], then [the buildings are collapsing] on their heads.” Yuval Green, who served in the 55th Paratroopers Brigade late last year and signed a letter with 40 other reservists last month refusing to take part in the invasion of Rafah, testified that soldiers were ordered to burn down homes that they had occupied.
“If you move, you have to burn down the house,” he said, adding that the policy did not make sense to him in an operation that was supposedly aimed at targeting Hamas. “We are in these houses not because they belong to Hamas operatives, but because they serve us operationally,” Green said. “It is a house of two or three families — to destroy it means they will be homeless.” Policy analyst Tariq Kenney-Shawa addressed those who might be surprised that “Israeli soldiers would so readily admit their war crimes.” “It’s simple,” Kenney-Shawa said. “They’ve never faced any consequences. They are only rewarded for their massacres.”
Yael Berta of the Middle East Initiative said the latest dispatch from +972 regarding the orders IDF soldiers are given is likely just a fraction of the truth that will eventually come out about the war in Gaza. “I am pretty sure we don’t know half of what went on during these nine months in Gaza,” she said.
West Bank
Israeli Army attack – 1 resident killed – 1 youngster wounded: Ramallah – 17:20–01:10, Israeli Occupation forces, firing live ammunition, stormed Abwein, killing one resident, Ali Muwaffaq Musa Muzahim, as well as wounding a 16-year-old youth, Muhammad Saleh Barakat, before taking him prisoner.
Israeli Army attack – 1 youngster wounded – 2 people taken prisoner: Qalqiliya – 00:15–01:50, Israeli forces, storming the city, wounded a 16-year-old youth, Laith Muayyad Hamad Miskawi, and took prisoner one woman and a man.
Israeli settler attack: Qalqiliya – 00:20, an Israeli settler motorist stopped and opened indiscriminate fire, while passing near the entrance to the village of Izbit al-Tabib.
Israeli settler attack: Hebron – 19:50, a group of armed settlers raided an area of Tabqa village, opening fire and setting trees alight.
Home invasion and forced personal demolition: Jerusalem – the Israeli Occupation forced a resident, Walid Sadiq Adkidik, to destroy his home in Beit Hanina – or otherwise be forced to pay an extortionate sum to the Israeli Occupation demolition squads, who would be sent in to do it.
Israeli Army – child abduction: Jerusalem – Israeli Occupation forces abducted a child, Basil Mahmoud, in the village of al-Issawiya.
Israeli Army – population–control: Bethlehem – afternoon, Israeli forces closed to traffic the eastern entrance to Husan village.
Israeli Army – population–control: Hebron – 14:20, the Israeli Army closed the entrance to the village of Khallet al-Maya.
Occupation settler stoning: Ramallah – Israeli Occupation settlers stoned passing vehicles on the bypass road, near the entrance to Shuqba village.
Occupation settler arson – agricultural sabotage: Nablus – 14:20, Israelis, from the Yitzhar Occupation settlement, invaded the south of Burin village and set fire to crops, near the settlement’s bypass road.
Occupation settler violence and vandalism: Nablus – 17:00, Israeli settlers assaulted a resident, Basil Ihab Naalouh, at the Bizzaria village road junction, and smashed the windows of his motorvehicle.
Occupation settler stoning: Jericho – 18:50-20:10, Israeli Occupation settlers stoned passing vehicles on the al-Ma’arjat Road connecting Jericho and Ramallah.
Occupation settler violence and vandalism: Jericho – 18:55, Israeli settlers, in the al-Auja Spring area, assaulted one person, Jabr Idais, and smashed the windows of his vehicle.
Raid: Jerusalem – 02:50–06:00, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the town of Biddu.
Raid: Ramallah – 10:55-14:20, Israeli forces raided and patrolled Atara.
Raids: Ramallah – 13:30-17:15, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled al-Taybeh and Deir Dibwan, as well as the villages of Deir Jarir, Rammun and Beitin.
Raid: Ramallah – 14:10, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the village of Kafr Malek.
Raid: Ramallah – 16:55, the Israeli military, firing stun grenades, raided and patrolled the village of al-Mugheir.
Raid: Ramallah – 19:40-20:40, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled al-Bireh.
Raids: Ramallah – 17:20, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled Sinjil and Aroura, as well as the villages of Jaljuliya, Ajul and Umm Safa.
Raid: Ramallah – 20:05-01:10, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Dura al-Qara’.
Raid: Ramallah – 21:55, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Silwad.
Raid: Ramallah – 23:15, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the village of Turmusaya.
Raids: Jenin – 15:20-17:00, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the villages of Zububa, Jalboun and Faqua.
Raids: Jenin – 15:30-17:20, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the villages of Rumana and Anin.
Raid: Jenin – 22:00–00:40, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Fahma.
Raid: Jenin – 23:00–02:00, Israeli forces raided and patrolled Araba.
Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Jenin – dawn, the Israeli Army raided the village of Umm Dar, taking prisoner three people.
Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Tulkarem – 04:50–07:10, Israeli troops raided the city, taking prisoner three people.
Raids – on refugee camps: Tulkarem – 04:50–07:10, the Israeli military raided the Tulkarem as well as Nur Shams refugee camps.
Raids: Tulkarem – 06:30, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the villages of Pharaoh and Izbit Shufa.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 11:05-15:30, Israeli Occupation forces raided the village of Kafr Qaddum.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 02:25–04:35, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Nabi Elias.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 04:45–05:55, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Azzun.
Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Nablus – 13:55-16:20, Israeli troops, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided the town of Beita.
Raid: Nablus – 16:30–04:30, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Deir Sharaf.
Raids – 1 wounded – refugee camps: Nablus – 23:10–04:30, Israeli soldiers, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided Nablus as well as the Balata and Askar refugee camps. One person, Muhammad Ayman Ibrahim Barakat, was wounded during the assaults.
Raids: Nablus – 07:10, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled Qusra and Qabalan, as well as the villages of Jureish and Yatma.
Raid: Salfit – 16:10–22:35, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Rafat.
Raids: Salfit – 18:05–22:35, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Deir Istiya as well as the villages of Haris, Iskaka and Yasuf.
Raid: Salfit – 18:25, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Qarawat Bani Hassan.
Raid – 2 taken prisoner: Bethlehem – 00:20–02:05, the Israeli military raided Beit Jalah, taking prisoner two people.
Raid: Hebron – 08:35–22:05, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled Tarqumiya.
Raid: Hebron – 17:30–22:10, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the city.
Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Hebron – 23:50–01:00, Israeli forces, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided Beit Ummar.
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