Israeli reservist alleges army treats all Gaza civilians as combat targets
A former Israeli drone operator claims the military regarded Gaza's two-million residents as legitimate targets, describing widespread killings and lax rules of engagement.
An Israeli reservist who operated drones since 2008 testified that the army treated Gaza's entire two-million-person population as permissible targets, noting a collapse of engagement rules during the conflict. He said he personally killed at least 54 Palestinians, many of them unarmed, before leaving the service in July. He witnessed a March 2025 attack on marked ambulances in Rafah's Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood, which resulted in 15 deaths among aid and medical staff.
According to him, an intelligence officer later told him that Gaza's whole populace was considered "two million targets." He also described senior commanders arbitrarily moving the ceasefire-defined "Yellow Line" and urging soldiers to fire on anyone near the new border, while observing militia crimes such as arson and looting without intervention.
Why it matters
The account suggests possible violations of international law and raises questions about accountability within the Israeli military.
In this story
