The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) wants to “inflict as much damage as it can to civilian infrastructure” in Gaza, a former IDF sniper tells Daily Express US.
Since Hamas’ brutal terror attack in Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 civilians, the IDF has responded with heavy bombardment of Gaza.
IDF strikes have killed over 18,000 civilians in the enclave, sparking concern from around the world about the humanitarian crisis that has resulted.
US President Joe Biden even warned Israel this week that it is losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.
IDF spokesmen have maintained throughout the conflict that they do not target civilians, but add that Hamas has embedded itself and its military infrastructure within the population of Gaza.
READ MORE: Israel shoots own hostages dead after mistakenly ‘identifying them as threat’
But Nadav Weiman, a former IDF sniper, tells Daily Express US that Israel’s military strategy involves targeting civilian infrastructure.
He explained: “There are two main doctrines leading the IDF since 2005. One of them is zero casualties to our soldiers and the other is the Dahiya doctrine.
“The Dahiya doctrine refers to the Dahiya neighbourhood of Beirut, Lebanon, that we bombed to ashes in the second Lebanese war in 2006.
“Why? A lot of Hezbollah officers were stationed there. The understanding in the IDF was that Hezbollah is a non-state actor, like Hamas, and therefore we are in an asymmetrical war with them.
“In that kind of war we cannot win, and because of that, the only thing we can do is make the rounds of fighting as long-distance as possible.
“It means that we need to inflict as much damage as we can to civilian infrastructure.
“In Gaza, we are doing the same thing. By the way, this doesn’t work. Hezbollah is stronger than it was in 2006 and Hamas the same thing.”
On Israeli military casualties, he added: “The other thing is zero casualties to our soldiers. In Israeli society, it is worse when a soldier dies than it is for a normal civilian.
“Because of this, we are willing to take all of the dangerous things in combat and put it on the other side’s civilians.”
The Israeli military is also under scrutiny this week after it mistakenly killed three of the hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas.
Alon Shamriz, Samer El-Talalqa, and Yotam Haim were killed in the Gaza City area of Shejaiya.
Army spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said the IDF felt “deep sorrow” and is now investigating the incident.
