A group of diplomats from France, Belgium, and Poland were attacked by settler terrorists near Taybeh, in the West Bank. Facing international outcry, the IDF published a revealing response to the incident. Let’s break down why the IDF really failed to protect the diplomats 🔽 The IDF: (1) the European diplomats did not coordinate their visit with the military; (2) the hotline they used to report the attack is not intended for civilian use, so the IDF did not respond to the incident. The IDF is the sole authority responsible for security in the area where they were attacked, at all times and regardless of coordination. That’s why it has an obligation to prevent settler terrorists from attacking people: Palestinians, Israelis, European diplomats or American journalists. Had the IDF fulfilled its responsibility, masked settlers armed with clubs wouldn’t be roaming around a Palestinian village in broad daylight in the first place. And even if the hotline is not intended for civilian use, as the IDF claims, it remains unclear why the soldiers who received the call did not relay the report to the appropriate unit. The IDF will always have a bureaucratic excuse, but the real reason is that backing settler terrorists is its policy. For this reason, every day settler terrorists, funded by the state, injure people, slaughter animals, burn mosques and homes, uproot trees, and destroy property. They kill Palestinians and mostly get away with it. If, on the other hand, a Palestinian teenager throws a stone at the attackers, soldiers are authorised to use lethal force to “eliminate the threat.” European diplomats got a glimpse of everyday life for Palestinians in the West Bank. This horrifying routine serves a purpose. Through daily terror and economic strangulation, it aims to drive Palestinians off their land. The ultimate goals: ethnic cleansing and annexation.

"Since 1967, approximately 1 million Palestinians have been detained by Israel, with some estimates calculating that up to 40 percent of Palestinian men have been arrested at least once in their lives."

“Der Kollateralschaden betrage bis zu 300 Zivilisten. Das deckt sich mit Angaben eines weiteren ehemaligen Soldaten gegenüber Breaking the Silence. In seiner Aussage, deren Transkript der F.A.Z. vorliegt, heißt es mit Blick auf den Angriff in Dschabalia: „Ich war an der Genehmigung eines Ziels mit einem Kollateralschaden von 300 beteiligt.“ Auch er sagt, die Erlaubnis für eine so hohe Naza-Zahl sei vermutlich vom Generalstabschef gekommen."

"During the more than 80 days [in Netzarim, Gaza] we were there, my brigade killed 160 to 170 people. Only one man was suspected of carrying a weapon. No one saw the weapon." We collaborated with Der Spiegel to publish testimonies from ten soldiers who served in Gaza. Here are some excerpts from their testimonies: NAZA-300: Up to 300 Civilians Authorised to be killed as Collateral Damage "When it came to high-ranking officers, several hundred civilian casualties were allowed for a certain attack. I remember the case of Ibrahim Biari, the Hamas commander in Jabalia. [...] A few hours before the attack on October 31, 2023, our commander gathered us all around and told us that the chief of staff had decided to actually attack the place and it was potential for collateral damage of 300 civilians. The attack was eventually carried out." Rules of Engagement: "Someone reported that there was a Hamas spotter on the roof of a building. A drone was sent there, and the pilot said: 'This person is hanging laundry.' An officer replied: 'Palestinian men don’t hang laundry. He must be a spotter.' The drone pilot said again: 'No, he’s standing with his back to us and hanging laundry.' Then the officer of the tank unit that was part of our combat force said: 'I have a clear shot. Can I fire?' The commander asked: 'Can you see the spotter?' By then, he was definitely a spotter, a 'Tatzpitan.' The commander gave the order to fire.' About 20 minutes later, ambulances raced to the building and began evacuating the wounded and the dead. A little later, I saw a report on an Israeli news website: Palestinians claim that 12 members of a family have been killed. That’s how it’s always phrased: 'claim.' And I thought: that was us." Human Shields: "While I was on duty in Rafah, I witnessed the use of human shields, known as "mosquitoes.” I saw two or three of them: young Palestinian men clad only in shoes and underwear, blindfolded and with their hands bound. In the houses that served as our camps, music from the radio was constantly blaring so that they couldn’t hear anything. They were sent ahead into tunnels and houses, and during their missions they had to wear Israeli military uniforms and GoPro cameras." Retroactive Incrimination: Whenever people are killed or injured, the army’s first response is to try to link them to Hamas. That’s because saying the people killed were Hamas terrorists looks better in the eyes of the world. We call this process 'retroactive incrimination.' [...] In the case of the attack on journalists at [the Nasser] hospital, the first [the IDF's] statement said that six Hamas terrorists had been killed. It said the target was military and posed a threat to the soldiers. The soldiers referred to it as a 'Hamas camera,' because Hamas could use it to see everything happening nearby. Their aim was to take out cameras like that. But the Reuters cameraman they targeted was not a terrorist. They killed a legitimate journalist." Destruction of Buildings: "Is one building the tallest in our sector? We destroy it because it could pose a threat. But then the next-tallest building becomes the tallest, and so it goes on until everything is destroyed. At first, we were told to destroy individual buildings. Later, we were assigned an entire area" "When we used civilian homes as a base, we were often told to set the house on fire as we withdrew. That didn’t destroy the building completely, but it made it uninhabitable. We understood that the point was to prevent the residents from returning." Read the full article in Der Spiegel: spiegel.de/international/wor…