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SvennoJ on 08 April 2025
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‘It needs to be flat’: Israeli soldiers recount orders to raze parts of Gaza

Breaking the Silence, an Israeli veterans’ organisation that opposes the occupation of Palestinian territory, has published a collection of testimonies from soldiers involved in creating a “buffer zone” in Gaza.

The anonymous testimonies, compiled in a publication titled The Perimeter, describe how soldiers were instructed to raze large areas of Gaza and fire upon Palestinians who approached.

“Residential buildings, greenhouses, sheds, factories; you name it – it needs to be flat. That’s the order,” said one sergeant major who fought near Khan Younis.

Another sergeant, stationed in northern Gaza, described how Israeli bulldozers destroyed agricultural fields, including olive groves and crops. “A very large excavator just comes through and takes out all the soil, kind of rolls it up, flattens it,” said the soldier.

A captain stationed in southern Gaza explained that areas around the military-designated security zone became “kill zones” for Palestinians. “Anyone who crosses a certain line, that we have defined, is considered a threat and is sentenced to death,” they said.


Emergency workers trying to evacuate wounded people after explosions in Rafah

Massive explosions have taken place in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah. We could hear these explosions from where we are in Deir el-Balah. Witnesses have confirmed that the eastern parts of Rafah have been totally covered in smoke and dust from destroyed buildings.

Emergency responders in the city’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood are trying to evacuate wounded people under very heavy gunfire.


Gaza death toll rises

At least 58 Palestinians have been killed and 213 injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, unable to be reached by ambulances and Civil Defence crews, the ministry statement said.

Israel has killed 1,449 people and injured 3,647 since breaking the ceasefire on March 18, the announcement added. The latest figures raised the total number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s war on Gaza to 50,810, the ministry said. At least 115,688 people have also been injured since October 7, 2023, it added.