Rank: officer Unit: elite paratrooper unit Place of incident: Balatta refugee camp, Nablus Description: February 2002
We were stationed during that time at training that was supposed to change the way our unit operated, they wanted to take out the unit to this base because it had a structure to train for urban warfare. It never worked out of course; every day we were called for some assignment in the Nablus area -- sniper assignmetnts near the refugee camp.
That entailed going out every night, Balatta was then considered an area full of terrorists , where only the refugee camp in Jenin was worse, and there was lots of talk regarding land mines and armed Palestinians, and what weapons they had there, and that there were tough wanted Palestinians and so on. It turned out to be two weeks before Operation Defensive Shield. We would laugh about it.
There were already lots of armed Palestinians there. THe trigger was that someone spotted a Kassam rocket in Balatta or something like that. That was what they said first. There ad already been Kassams in Gaza but this was new. SO we would go every night to look for it.
What was the job of the snipers?
Their job -- it was just to go out. There is one side of the camp which is close to Nablus and one side which is rural, just fields. They had to sneak into those fields, it is pretty dark and remote, a couple of hundred of meters and to walk by foot to lure Palestinian gunmen outside of the camp. We would either bring a D9 to move around and get attention, or a tank... something like that.
And then the armed Palestinians would come, just stand there, or shoot at the tanks, which obviously not do anything. And when we would see them, it was rather easy, and successful from a military perspective.
We were doing this for a couple of nights, and the morning after... which was the same day as the attack on Ein Arik checkoint, there was a briefing of the brigade General. Aviv Cochavi. We are sitting together going over all the events of the last couple of days, i don't remember exactly how many days, and someone comes from the brigade and talks about the results, because that's what the guys want to hear."Last night, four killed, two wounded...", things like that. Every time we killed three or four, i don't remember how many wounded, and amongst them he say that a woman was killed. A woman was killed in her house in Balatta. Houses of cardboard and the like.
An I see,this I really remember well, I see the Brigade General of the Paratroopers, and someone who i greatly admire and respect. Suddenly he stopps and he doesn't really know how to comprehend what he just heard, and he says something like.. "part of the horrors of war" , and continued with the talk
Now I didn't say anything, even though I was in the position to. I mean, I spoke with larger audiences in the army, and I actually knew the guy and it was in the unit... but the issue is that her was no investigation! Not at all I mean, ther was an internal investigation for the snipers, but the only investigation for the General was that this was part of the horrors of war, and that probably the walls were very thin so they hit her.
And it drove me crazy, becauwse it didn't matter for the military system, there was no way to deal with these kinds of things. Only when you understand that, you can understand the moral degeneration and all of that.
Rank: First Sergeant Place of incident: Dir El Balach Description:
Participants ranks: 4- The tank commander (first sergeant), 2 corporals and a sergeant.
During a routine ambush the gunner fired a number of rounds at the water heaters on the rooftops of Dir El Balach. This fire was normally used to check the gun sights, as warning shots and simply on a whim. Through the sighting system we could see the direct hits and would watch the water pouring onto the roofs of the buildings.
Rank: officer Unit: elite unit Description: End of 2004
We had an order to shoot armed Palestinians who came to see what was happening...
What do you mean? Where was that The idea was... I didn't participate in this assignment. The idea was to sneak up somewhere in the Gaza strip two broken M16s near a car, and to blow something up in order to create a commotion. In the beginning we thought of a car and then it was a street light or something like that.
To sneak up and just leave the weapons?More or less, the guys sat at in an ambush and they were in control. And then you create an explosion and wait for something to happen. Nothing happened in the end. Because there are tanks and helicopters there and nobody cares about some small explosion.
Oh, so you blew up a street light?
Yeah
Do you remember if there were specific orders?
No. I have no idea. I know that the point was not to hurt people who picked up the guns but to shoot the armed ones coming to see what happened.
Do you know if you hurt anyone with the explosion?
no
Rank: Officer Unit: elite unit Place of incident: Anabta Description:
One of our stakeouts really did kill two people that shot towards a car, but hurt no one.
They found them shooting the road, and so…?
Yes. And then they shot, killed two out of four. Two got away. So, we came there after this incident, and then the brigade commander arrived. It was Anabta, I think. Exactly west of Chomesh [Jewish settlement]. Yes; it could be the area. So ***, the brigade commander comes.
This was after…?
After the incident. In our unit we take our time. We don’t rush things. We throw grenades, and until we are certain they are really dead… It is not that we run straight ahead and storm them.
What do you mean?
It means that we run the whole business safely, not hastily. I mention that because it took a really long time from the time of the event ‘till the Brigade commander came, and gave the order – “Come, go into the nearby houses.”
Wait, since you’ve already mentioned it – was it part of the procedure to verify killing?
Yes.
Meaning…
This whole fuss about kill-verification, I don’t know why it became such a big deal. The chief of staff came out really bad of this whole business.
Why?
Because it was something we all learned on the first day in the army – we verify killing. I remember the picture. I also remember that the guy who preformed it was the platoon commander. I was telling myself it must be disgusting. He just went there, looked at the terrorist’s head, and gave a few bullets.
Approached the terrorist and boom, boom, boom?
Exactly.
The company commander?
The company commander.
So the combat ends, and ***, the brigade commander, comes and essentially wants to look for the two who got away. No, we didn’t ask him what it was all about. “We need to show them we are here.” Now. The houses were pretty far away. In short, it was…
Like, show your presence in the nearby village?
Yes, they certainly ran away in that direction. The guys saw that, but it doesn’t matter, because it was a really long time after the whole business… It went very slowly, this whole event. It wasn’t like – ‘Are they dead? Go verify the killing. Now, what’s next?’ and army spokesman people were brought in. – Who deal with body documentation, and such stuff?
A film unit from the IDF spokesman?
I don’t know. In short, they came to take pictures of the terrorists with the weapons. They had M-16s and all. I mean, it was really… I can’t say if it was an hour, or longer, when half of the world was there, and it was like everyone wanted their picture to be taken.
To have a picture with the bodies?
No, no, no. I only mean that they came to see what was going on. One knows something good is happening – that there is a success – so everyone wants to take the credit. On that day our unit’s commander, ***, came, and I also remember that he came with another guy that was part of his crew – a guy who was an officer in our headquarters. Then they assembled us in a U shape formation. It was sunset. Both of them stand (the unit commander, and his friend who was 1.90 meters tall). They tell them what happened, and all, and then they turn towards the sunset and begin: “Do you remember how we once shot that guy with a gun?” and all sorts of stories. It was funny – really funny. Surreal. Like, you know, talk among themselves for us youngsters to hear their war-legacy.
So, it took a lot of time, you came with the brigade commander ***, and essentially what does he say? That you should enter the village and…?
That we should enter the village, get into a couple of houses and go out. Show our presence. No doubt. I remember we asked him what it was all about? “It’s an hour and a half after the incident. Do you think they’re in the first house? What are they – morons?” – “No. We should show our presence, if Israelis don't sleep well they (Palestinians) won't sleep well". The usual story… It is not something new.
So did you get in alone, or was there another force with you?
No. In the end we didn’t get in. We told him that we talked to our commanders and they somehow convinced him, and he gave up on it – understood it was bullshit.
Rank: Staff Sergeant Unit: ‘Maglan’ (elite unit) Place of incident: Husan bypass road Description:
Jan-Feb 2004
Stakeouts, what kind of stakeouts?
Mainly watching roads.
In what area?
We were in Neve-Tzoof in the beginning – close to Neve-Yair – then in Ofra – road no. 60, at the British police junction.
What were your missions there? What was the purpose of your being there?
Mainly to watch out for kids throwing Molotovs.
Which means…
Every few days there was an incident where kids came to throw [Molotovs]. The open-fire orders were a bit changed. In the beginning, if I’m not mistaken, we were allowed to shoot before the kid threw the bottle in order to prevent it – or however else you want to call it.
What do you mean?
To prevent him from throwing the Molotov… You know the drill… There is no such thing, really, as shooting at legs in the army. It means: shoot the legs, and if you kill the person nothing happens – this is the message, I believe. Shoot the legs, and if he bends a bit – nothing terrible has happened.
All this is valid until he actually throws the bottle?
After the bottle is thrown we were not allowed to shoot. This is how it was in the beginning; later it changed: I’m not completely certain about that, but I think there were times we were told we were allowed to shoot the kid even after he throws the Molotov.
So you got to Husan. What was your mission there?
In the beginning of 2004, at the Husan bypass road, they were throwing stones – usually not Molotovs, I don’t think they ever threw a Molotov there; I’m not sure. Anyway, the open-fire orders there were that if a stone is being picked up with two hands, we were to shoot in order to kill. I think.
And what if it was a regular stone?
Then not. The general idea was shooting… preventive shooting, perhaps. I mean, shooting close to the person, or something like that, I’m not sure. The truth is I don’t really remember now.
Were these orders valid all the time you were there? How long have you stayed there?
We didn’t stay there. We were at the unit headquarters and occasionally a crew would go out there for a stakeout.
And what is the story there?
It was decided that this stone throwing should be prevented. One time they took some kid’s eye out, or something like that. They justified it, saying these stones were dangerous. So it was decided that if the stone is big enough to be picked with two hands, then it is a sign it is dangerous, and one could… I think there was one case they actually shot there – some sniper…
Rank: Staff Sergeant Unit: Golani Brigade Description: I told you that people want take part in a combat-encounter. So near the end of my service (we’re talking about men who’ve been in the army maybe 2 years and seven or eight months) we were setting an ambush and all this time they hammered it into our heads. And I tell you, people really wanted a combat-encounter so that something would finally happen, because every day we would go into the territories and nothing much happened – no encounters. You know how it is. Also, in most cases encounters end up with injuries, and people are apathetic: they don’t think about being injured. Soldiers don’t think too much ahead. It’s a known fact. That’s what they teach us: to attack and not to think too much ahead. So we were sitting in that ambush and somebody came by and when they killed him, a squad that wasn’t there – the one I was part of – started hugging each other. They were so happy. Don’t get me wrong, he was armed he deserved to die, but you see, this reaction… OK you’ve done the right thing, but the moment you start hugging, the moment you shout “yes!”, it loses… it’s not ideology any more, it’s vindictiveness, it’s enjoying it. They say this and that happened and I was there: people were hugging each other and people were shouting “yes!”, and I’m not talking about common soldiers I’m talking about the deputy platoon-commander and about the platoon commander who were happy, and a unit commander, a lieutenant colonel, who was happy and said “good for you”. You can see how the body jumps [being shot at], and then you see this film again – the one shot by a UAV – and people are so excited by the fact that in the UAV film you can see how the body jumps.
