Hamas Wants ICC to Probe Into Israeli Soldiers’ Crimes

The movement said the ICC needed to “urgently investigate the monstrous behaviour” of Israel’s rank-and-file soldiers, citing documented cases of the “most brutal crimes against Palestinians, including shooting civilians and burning down homes”, adding that they had targeted women, children and the elderly for their “own entertainment”.

A new probe by Israeli outlets +972 Magazine and Local Call has found that Israeli occupation soldiers have been shooting Palestinians, including civilians “virtually at will” during their operations in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers told the outlets of near-total absence of firing regulations, “with troops shooting as they please, setting homes ablaze, and leaving corpses on the streets” all with their commanders’ blessings.

The investigation was based on the testimonies of six Israeli soldiers who spoke to +972 Magazine and Local Call following their release from active duty in Gaza in recent months.

“I personally fired a few bullets for no reason, into the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building. They report it as ‘normal fire,’ which is a codename for ‘I’m bored, so I shoot,” said a reservist who served in northern Gaza

“There was total freedom of action. If there is [even] a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain — you just shoot.” When soldiers see someone approaching, “it is permissible to shoot at their center of mass [their body], not into the air,” B. continued. “It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman,” added another soldier who served in the regular forces in Gaza for months.

“When there are no [other] IDF forces [in the area] … the shooting is very unrestricted, like crazy. And not just small arms: machine guns, tanks, and mortars,” confirmed another reservist who served in the Gaza Strip.

Since october 7, Israeli army has killed about 16,000 innocent children in the Gaza Strip.