Israeli soldiers reveal systematic destruction to create Gaza buffer zone

SMA NEWS – JERUSALEM
Israel’s military has transformed every bit of Gazan territory within about half a mile of the Israeli border into a wasteland.

Armored bulldozers have systematically leveled one home after another. Combat engineers have laid explosives and triggered controlled demolitions inside once-bustling factories. Troops have torn up and denied Palestinians any access to the fertile farmland that once sustained lives and livelihoods.

In its place, the Israeli military has established a roughly 1-kilometer-wide buffer zone (about 0.6 miles) from which it has banished Palestinians and killed or fired at those who do set foot within its unmarked perimeter – all of which it has never officially acknowledged.

Now, in interviews with CNN and testimonials to an Israeli watchdog group, Israeli soldiers who were deployed to Gaza are revealing how the military carried out the destruction of civilian infrastructure to create the buffer area and the loose rules of engagement that have allegedly resulted in Israeli troops firing on and killing unarmed Palestinians.

These testimonies reveal Israeli military practices that arguably violate international humanitarian law and, in some cases are war crimes, according to international law experts.

After publication, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed to CNN that it has established a “broad military presence in the security zone adjacent to Israel,” which it called a “vital component” to prevent another October 7-style attack.

“These actions are essential in order to prevent Hamas and other terrorist organizations from operating in the area while ensuring the security of IDF forces and Israeli communities,” the IDF said in a statement, insisting its actions are “in accordance with international law.”

When Sergeant 1st Class “A” arrived in the industrial zone of Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood in December 2023, many of the warehouses and factories had already been destroyed. But others were still standing.

“Our job was to make more of the first kind,” the sergeant told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity because he risks reprisals for speaking out publicly. “We destroyed them one by one in a very methodical fashion – area by area.”

After initially deploying to Israeli communities along the Gaza border to shore up their defenses following Hamas’s October 7 attack, Sgt. “A” was sent to Shujaiya and tasked with protecting combat engineers as they bulldozed buildings and rigged others to explode.

The purpose of the destruction was quickly made clear to him and his fellow soldiers: Israel was enlarging the buffer zone separating Palestinians from Israeli communities along the Gaza border.

Before October 7, Israel restricted Palestinians from coming within 300 meters (around 980 feet) of the border fence. But after Hamas’s attack, Israel’s military brass soon put into motion a plan to expand that area to approximately 1 kilometer, establishing a clear line of sight through the expanded buffer zone by leveling territory ranging from 800m to 1.5 km from the border.

In testimony provided to Breaking the Silence, an Israeli watchdog group which vets and publishes military testimonials, multiple soldiers said they were told the mission was to dramatically expand the buffer zone, in order to prevent another border attack.

But international law experts say that justification likely fails to meet the bar of “military necessity” that must be met to justify the destruction of civilian property, likely putting Israel’s actions in violation of international humanitarian law.

“There needs to be a legitimate military objective and operational objective – and the only way to achieve it would be to destroy the civilian property. And so, at that scale, that’s simply not quite plausible,” said Janina Dill, co-director at Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.

Beyond potential violations of humanitarian law, the deliberate, widespread destruction of civilian property without a clear military necessity is a war crime, Dill said.