In a lengthy article, the Hebrew website "Siha Mekomet" presented testimonies of soldiers in the Israeli occupation army, revealing the occupation's prior intention to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the orders issued allowed for indiscriminate shooting and the burning of Palestinian homes.

According to what the site reported from six soldiers who fought in Gaza during this war, the orders considered every man between the ages of 16 and 50 to be a Palestinian resistance fighter and wanted by the occupation, which means that anyone who approaches the forces is allowed to be shot, even just for fun, without a specific target.

The soldiers confirmed that there were no real restrictions on the shooting, and that it was carried out randomly and without specific targets.

“Everyone was allowed to be shot,” one soldier explained, noting that shooting civilians who entered restricted areas or approached soldiers was commonplace.

One of the soldiers indicated that the army "cleansed" the area of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs before the entry of humanitarian convoys belonging to international relief organizations. Two of the soldiers also described the systematic policy of burning Palestinian homes after the soldiers left them. These testimonies reflect a bleak picture of the Israeli occupation policies in Gaza and raise serious questions about human rights violations and possible crimes committed during this war.

Shujaiya incident

In the same context, a soldier revealed another incident in which soldiers shot and killed three Israeli prisoners in the Shujaiya neighborhood in December, even though they raised the white flag and did not pose a threat to the forces. Despite the army's talk about opening an investigation and reviewing the instructions after the incident, the firing instructions did not change.

The soldier explained, "With regard to the prisoners, we did not have specific instructions. After the prisoners were shot, the army said that we would be given new instructions, but they did not talk to us." He pointed out that he and his colleagues did not hear about the shooting of prisoners until two and a half weeks after the incident, after they left the Gaza Strip. He added: "They were saying that they were here for the prisoners, but it is clear that war hurts the prisoners, and this is what I thought today and it turned out to be true."

Random shooting

In many documents that emerged from the Strip and were photographed by soldiers, soldiers appear to be shooting for no operational reason or specific target. “They shoot a lot, even for no reason,” said a reservist who has been to the northern Gaza Strip dozens of times.

Anyone who wants to shoot, for whatever reason, shoots, and then reports that it is normal.” The soldier continued: “This indiscriminate shooting comes from above and below: naval ships, tanks, planes, and also mainly small arms. Personally, I went up to the site and fired a few shots at the sea or at an abandoned building, and they said, 'I'm bored, so I shoot.'

Another soldier explained that the shooting situation was "almost free", as there were no restrictions on ammunition, they were shooting freely, and people just shot to relieve boredom. He pointed out that one day during the Jewish Festival of Lights, they wanted to do something special, so the whole battalion set off together like fireworks, shooting fire to light up the sky, because it was the Festival of Lights! The soldier said that an hour later, they opened fire on a family that was walking around there. He heard it over the phone. First they say "four people", they become two children and two other adults, and eventually one adult, a wife and two children, an entire family killed in "celebrating the Jewish holiday".

According to the site, many documents show soldiers standing next to houses that catch fire after they leave.

House burning policy

According to the testimonies of two soldiers interviewed during the preparation of the article, burning homes was a policy followed by the occupation army during military operations in the Gaza Strip. One soldier explained his experience in Gaza City, saying: “When we leave a house, we collect military equipment and then burn the house.” In Khan Yunis, burning was more organized. Another soldier described the decision: “If you move, you have to burn the house down.” He confirmed that this was taking place in central Khan Yunis, noting that the homes themselves were not targeted military targets.

He said: "We are not in the homes because they are Hamas homes, but because they are practically using us. This is a home for two or three families, and destroying it means that they will become homeless."

Another soldier, who served as a regular soldier in the Gaza Strip, confirmed that this was routine: after the soldiers left the house, they would burn every house. He pointed out that this policy is supported at the leadership level, so that the Palestinians will not be able to return. These testimonies shed light on the destructive policies followed in Israeli military operations in Gaza, and reveal aspects of violations that may rise to the level of war crimes. The goal was clearly to cause maximum harm to Palestinian civilians and infrastructure, including burning homes to leave residents homeless and prevent them from returning to their areas.