Palestinians carry a dead man wrapped in a blanket, near al-Chifa hospital, on April 1, 2024 in Gaza. (Credit: AFP)
As part of the war it has been waging in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army has reportedly created "kill zones" in the besieged enclave, in which anyone passing by runs the risk of being shot, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
These "kill zones" are defined as geographical areas surrounding positions where Israeli soldiers are stationed, usually in an abandoned house. These areas then become closed military spaces, but without being clearly defined as such, which is said to have led to numerous incidents.
"In every combat zone, commanders define such death zones," explained a reserve officer quoted by Haaretz. "As soon as people enter it, mainly adult males, orders are to shoot and kill, even if that person is unarmed," they stressed.
Israeli Ministry of Defense officials and soldiers quoted by the newspaper explained that the victims are often civilians whose only crime was to cross an invisible line drawn by the Israeli army in places where it is positioned. According to Haaretz, the number of Palestinian civilians killed for entering these areas is currently unknown.
On Oct. 7, Hamas commandos infiltrating from Gaza carried out an attack in southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. According to Israel, some 250 people were also kidnapped, and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, 34 of them dead.
Civilians in search of food?
Haaretz also reports on a video that has circulated widely online in recent days, notably on the accounts of the Qatari channel al-Jazeera, in which four men are seen walking in a deserted area of Khan Younis before being directly targeted by Israeli shells.
"This is a very serious incident," a senior Israeli army official told Haaretz. "They were unarmed, they didn't endanger our forces in the area in which they were walking," continued the senior officer, who denied that the men were linked to an earlier incident in the Ashkelon area.
According to an intelligence officer quoted by the daily, it could simply have been people who had approached the site where the incident took place. While it was possible that they were terrorists, it is also possible that they are just civilians looking for food said the official.
"In practice, a terrorist is anyone the IDF has killed in the areas in which its forces operate," confided a reservist who fought in Gaza.
Israeli operations have claimed the lives of 32,782 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health, and has led to a humanitarian catastrophe and colossal destruction of the enclave.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.