When Operation Cast Lead began, I was on standard weekend security duty. When you’re at sea, there always have to be people on duty at the bridge. We’re sitting there and suddenly we see [shells] falling and smoke billowing on the shore. We hear booms. At first, we immediately alerted everyone and started moving the vessel. We didn’t know where it was coming from, what was going on.

You weren’t warned? Not in advance. We moved away from shore and saw what was happening. Ten minutes later, we get some kind of message that something has started against Gaza, that it’s a coordinated air force operation and that for the time being, we carry on as usual. From the moment we reached the shore, there were all kinds of changes. On the first night [that the ground forces] entered Gaza, we simply escorted the forces. Actually, our job was to back them up and be on the lookout from the sea, to make sure no one was lying in ambush. The first ones to enter from the shore side were dogs and paratroopers. At some point, the D9 bulldozers arrived and started driving along the beach. You see him driving on and on and on, and suddenly you see a huge red burst and then you hear: “I hit a surprise [explosive charge],” and he keeps on driving. It was all air force strikes and a very slow [ground] entry. We took part in all kinds of operations. I can tell you that I spent most of the time waiting for night operations.

When you say operations, what does that mean? It means that if anything happens near the beach, we‘re there as backup, especially in order to keep an eye on the infantry guys. I can tell you that to me, as an onlooker, it looked like wherever someone stepped, an air force bomb had already fallen there. Very specific areas were bombed, all kinds of areas where they said: “This and that building, at this and that time – bomb it.” As far as I know, the houses that were bombed were always abandoned. It was about demolishing the building.

Did you do shore shelling with the Typhoon (25-mm cannon)? Yes. The specific targets were mostly places that were reportedly frequented by Hamas guys. We had to demolish the houses when they weren’t there, so they wouldn’t be able to take shelter there again. I think there was one mosque, but it was mostly houses in specific areas. Just coming and heavily shelling the place for a few moments as a show of force. At some point we were told, any person you see, any living thing that you see at night in the Gaza Strip – is a target. Several cows were killed, because they were mistaken for terrorists. Most of the shooting was at night. I don’t remember daytime entries, it was too dangerous. From the moment they went in, everything heated up. I recall the feeling, sailing out there, everything living that you see on shore is a target. You look and check, and usually you see that it’s abandoned animals. If there’s any suspicion that it’s a person walking there and you identify that it’s a person, the orders were to shoot.

What did you shell the buildings with? 25-mm explosive. The moment the bullet hits, it explodes, and that has a nice “meaning”. You don’t need to take down the building. You have to make it a place that people know is marked.

You spray it once in a while? Yes. There are targets randomly marked on the shore and you are told to go ahead at random times. I think that most of the targets were set before the operation. There were moments during certain operations when my company commander would direct some plane to some building and say: “As far as I’m concerned, that room is implicated, take it down”.