British channel ITV is set to screen on Monday a documentary that features testimonies of Israeli soldiers speaking on the killing of Palestinian civilians during fighting in Gaza, the Guardian reported.
According to the Guardian, the soldiers who were interviewed for “Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War,” directed by British filmmaker Benjamin Zand, describe a lawless reality where the legal norms and rules collapse.”If you want to shoot without restraint, you can,” testifies Daniel, a commander in the IDF’s Armored Corps.
Several of the soldiers reportedly asked to keep their identities hidden, while others agreed to appear alongside their full names. The testimonies refute many of the Israeli claims regarding the IDF’s conduct during the war, including its use of human shields and the conduct of shooting at civilians at aid hubs operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
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In August 2024, Haaretz reported that Palestinians have been used by Israeli army units in the Gaza Strip as human shields for soldiers during operations. The Palestinians, whom the soldiers call shawish – an obscure Arabic word of Turkish origin meaning sergeant – were sent into buildings to conduct searches before Israeli soldiers entered the premises.
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The IDF claimed at the time that this conduct is forbidden, and that clarification was issued to forces on the ground. In March, the military police decided to investigate six cases in which Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian civilians in Gaza to serve as human shields during military operations, following the Haaretz investigation and a Red Cross report released in January that highlighted the phenomenon.
“In basic training for the army, we all chanted ‘means, intent and ability’,” said Capt. Yotam Vilk, an officer from the Armored Corps, referring to the IDF’s guidelines on who constitutes a legal target. “There’s no such thing as ‘means, intent and ability’ in Gaza. No soldier ever mentions ‘means, intent, and ability’. It’s just a suspicion of walking where it’s not allowed. A man aged between 20 and 40.”
“If they’re walking too fast, they’re suspicious,” says another soldier, identified as Eli. “If they’re walking too slow, they’re suspicious. They’re plotting something. If three men are walking and one of them lags behind, it’s a two-to-one infantry formation – it’s a military formation.”
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Palestinians walk through the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. Credit: Jehad Alshrafi,AP
Palestinians walk through the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. Credit: Jehad Alshrafi,AP
“Life and death isn’t determined by procedures or opening fire regulations,” he adds. “It’s the conscience of the commander on the ground that decides.”
Eli describes an incident in which a senior IDF officer ordered a tank to destroy a building in an area designated for civilians.
“A man was standing on the roof, hanging laundry, and the officer decided that he was a spotter,” he added. “He’s not a spotter. He’s hanging his laundry. You can see that he’s hanging laundry.”
“Now, it’s not as if this man had binoculars or weapons,” he said. “The closest military force was 600-700 meters away. So unless he had eagle eyes, how could he possibly be a spotter? And the tank fired a shell. The building half collapsed. And the result was many dead and wounded.”