Breaking the Silence was formed by a group of Israeli soldiers who wanted to tell about the abuses they had participated in and witnessed in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Since 2004, hundreds of soldiers have shared their testimonies, and the picture they have drawn of the Israeli occupation force is not pretty.
The network is currently led by Avner Gvaryahu, who is strongly critical of Israel’s warfare in the Gaza Strip.
– During the war in 2014, we usually waited to move into Palestinian quarters until we had “knocked on”, as it was called. The military warned the Palestinians before their block of flats was bombed, says Gvaryahu in an interview with the Danish newspaper Politiken.
Now there is a complete absence of such rules, he believes and points out that whole quarters are being labeled as areas of destruction.
“Killing zone”
– In reality, it means “killing zone” where anyone who travels can be killed without further justification, he says.
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Over 34,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October, and according to Palestinian health authorities, around 70 percent of the victims are children and women. Gvaryahu calls it terrifying.
– We are far outside the principle of proportionality, he says.
Striking
He calls it striking that the number of men killed in the attacks corresponds to the number of alleged Hamas members Israel claims to have killed.
– As if there are no Palestinian men who do not belong to Hamas, he says.
Gvaryahu fears that Israeli soldiers are too little questioning the war in which they are now participating.
– My immediate feeling is that the soldiers have asked fewer questions during this war. What that entails in terms of violations, crimes and general abuse, it is too early to say, he says.
