Israel built an ‘AI factory’ for war. It unleashed it in Gaza.

In 2014, the IDF’s acceptable civilian casualty ratio was one civilian for a high-level terrorist, said Tal Mimran, a former legal adviser to the IDF. In the Gaza war, the number has grown to about 15 civilians for one low-level Hamas member and “exponentially higher” for mid- and high-level members,” according to the Israeli human rights organization Breaking the Silence, citing numerous testimonies from IDF soldiers. The New York Times reported the number as 20 earlier this week.

Israel Loosened Its Rules to Bomb Hamas Fighters, Killing Many More Civilians

The Times reviewed dozens of military records and interviewed more than 100 soldiers and officials, including more than 25 people who helped vet, approve or strike targets. Collectively, their accounts provide an unparalleled understanding of how Israel mounted one of the deadliest air wars of this century. Most of the soldiers and officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were barred from speaking publicly on a subject of such sensitivity. The Times verified the military orders with officers familiar with their content.

Palestinians See Echoes of Israel’s Gaza War in West Bank Raids

“It’s a Gazafication of the northern part of the West Bank,” said Nadav Weiman, the director of Breaking the Silence, an advocacy group made up of former Israeli soldiers who say they are collecting testimonies from soldiers who took part in the raids in Jenin and another city, Tulkarm.

The Israeli military has used Palestinians as human shields in Gaza, soldier and former detainees say

The soldier said that he and his comrades refused to carry on with the practice after two days and confronted their senior commander about it. Their commander, who first told them not to “think about international law,” saying that their own lives were “more important,” ultimately relented, releasing the two Palestinians, the soldier said. The fact that they were released, he said, made it clear to him that they had no affiliation with Hamas, “that they are not terrorists.” CNN was connected with the soldier by Breaking the Silence, an organization that provides a forum for Israeli soldiers to speak out and verifies their testimony.

How Israel’s Army Uses Palestinians as Human Shields in Gaza

The soldiers who spoke to The Times said they began using the practice during the current war because of a desire to limit the risks to infantry. Some of the soldiers who saw or participated in the practice found it deeply troubling, prompting them to take the risk of discussing a military secret with a journalist. Two were connected to The Times by Breaking the Silence, an independent watchdog that gathers testimony from Israeli soldiers.

The Silent Overhaul - Full Report

Using stealthy bureaucratic measures, Israel has transformed the nature of governance in the West Bank, taking it from a military occupation with obligations towards the occupied population under international law to a system in which Israeli civilian government institutions, carrying a duty of loyalty to Israelis, run most aspects of Palestinian life in the West Bank. Under Minister Bezalel Smotrich, adherents to the settler ideology have been given greater control over the West Bank and, in practice, the power to implement their ideological agenda.

Stripped and held at gunpoint, the Gaza schoolboys ‘forced to be Israel’s human shields’

Breaking the Silence says its research shows the use of human shields is not limited to a few isolated incidents or a commander acting on a whim. “The testimonies make it clear that it’s both systemic and systematic to how the IDF is fighting in Gaza,” a recent statement said.

In Gaza, Israel's Dehumanization of the Palestinians Has Reached a New Height

There were soldiers who protested at the sight of the new "dogs," several brave ones even gave testimony to Breaking the Silence. But the procedure, which was once specifically forbidden by the High Court of Justice, has been adopted on a broad scope in the army. The next time that the public protests the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu ignores High Court rulings, we should remember that the army also brazenly ignores its rulings.

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