Israeli soldiers said the army ordered troops to kill any man they encountered in Gaza during the genocide that began in 2023.
“A man, no matter what age, don’t play games with it; kill immediately,” one soldier said, describing the orders they received.
“They even told us that if it’s a woman or a child, use your judgment, because things happen,” he added, saying similar instructions were given regarding donkeys.
His testimony was given to Iris Haim, the mother of an Israeli captive killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, and aired on Channel 13’s investigative programme on Thursday.
In December 2023, Israeli soldiers killed three Israeli captives in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighbourhood despite them being shirtless, waving a white flag and posing no apparent threat.
The incident sparked widespread criticism of Israel’s rules of engagement in Gaza, which have led to indiscriminate killings of Palestinians near homes, aid sites and "buffer zones".
In the Channel 13 investigation, the soldier, who spoke anonymously, said he was the one who shot one of the captives during the incident.
Describing his mindset at the time, he said: “I fire 500 bullets a minute. I blow things up. I don’t care. I’m here to kill terrorists.”
Recalling the shooting, the soldier said: “There are three terrorists, I’ll kill them. Then I realised two had already been killed, and one had escaped.”
That captive, he later understood, was Yotam Haim.