By Quds News Network
Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Around 200 Israeli soldiers have signed a letter stating they’d stop serving in Gaza if the government didn’t secure a ceasefire. The soldiers acknowledged their involvement in war crimes, including the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians and the destruction of homes.
According to The Associated Press ( AP), while the movement is small, the soldiers say it’s the tip of the iceberg and they want others to come forward.
The move comes amid increasing pressure on both Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement. Ceasefire talks are currently underway, with both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump calling for a deal to be in place by the January 20 inauguration.
Trump and Biden said on Monday that a ceasefire deal is “very close” and on the “brink.”
Israeli and Hamas officials also reported progress in talks ongoing in Doha, the Qatari capital, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
On Monday, Qatar handed Israel and Hamas a “final” draft of a ceasefire and prisoner release agreement designed to end the war in Gaza, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.
A breakthrough was reached in Doha after midnight following talks between Israel’s spy chiefs, President-elect Trump’s Middle East envoy an
The Israeli military told AP it condemns the refusal to serve and takes any call for refusal seriously, with each case examined individually. Soldiers can go to jail for refusing to serve, but none who signed the letter has been detained, according to Soldiers for the Hostages, the group that organized the letter.
Crossing Ethical Lines
Seven soldiers who’ve refused to continue serving in Gaza spoke with AP, describing how Palestinians were indiscriminately killed and houses destroyed. Several said they were ordered to burn or demolish homes that posed no threat, and they saw soldiers loot and vandalize residences.
Yotam Vilk, an officer in the armored corps, told the AP that the image of Israeli soldiers killing an unarmed Palestinian teenager in Gaza is seared in his mind.
He said the instructions were to shoot any unauthorized person who entered an Israeli-controlled buffer zone in Gaza. He saw at least 12 people killed, he said, but it is the shooting of the teen that he can’t shake.
“He died as part of a bigger story. As part of the policy of staying there and not seeing Palestinians as people,” Vilk, 28, told the AP.
Vilk is among a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 15-month assault in Gaza and refusing to serve anymore, saying they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines.
When Vilk entered Gaza in November 2023, he said, he thought the initial use of force might bring both sides to the table. But as the war dragged on, he said he saw the value of human life disintegrate.
On the day the Palestinian teenager was killed last August, he said, Israeli troops shouted at him to stop and fired warning shots at his feet, but he kept moving. He said others were also killed walking into the buffer zone — the Netzarim Corridor, a road dividing northern and southern Gaza.
Vilk acknowledged it was hard to determine whether people were armed, but said he believes soldiers acted too quickly.
Some soldiers told AP it took time to digest what they saw in Gaza. Others said they became so enraged they decided they’d stop serving almost immediately.
Yuval Green, a 27-year-old medic, described abandoning his post last January after spending nearly two months in Gaza, unable to live with what he’d seen.
He said soldiers desecrated homes, using black markers meant for medical emergencies to scribble graffiti, and looted homes, looking for prayer beads to collect as souvenirs.
The final straw, he said, was his commander ordering troops to burn down a house, saying he didn’t want Hamas to be able to use it. Green said he sat in a military vehicle, choking on fumes amid the smell of burning plastic. He found the fire vindictive — he said he saw no reason to take more from Palestinians than they’d already lost. He left his unit before their mission was complete.
“Moral Injury”
Some of the soldiers who spoke to AP said they feel “conflicted and regretful.”
Many soldiers suffer from “moral injury,” said Tuly Flint, a trauma therapy specialist who’s counseled hundreds of them during the war. It’s a response when people see or do something that goes against their beliefs, he said, and it can result in a lack of sleep, flashbacks, and feelings of unworthiness.
Talking about it and trying to spark change can help, Flint said.
One former infantry soldier told AP about his feelings of guilt — he said he saw about 15 buildings burned down unnecessarily during a two-week stint in late 2023. He said that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t have fought.
“I didn’t light the match, but I stood guard outside the house. I participated in war crimes,” said the soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity over fears of retaliation. “I’m so sorry for what we’ve done.”
15 January 2025
Source: countercurrents.org