Israeli Army Official Admits Gaza Bombing Campaign Is Focused on 'Damage and Not on Accuracy'
"Gazans have been saying Israel is indiscriminately bombing them, with no goal other than to level Gaza to the ground. Now Israel admits the same."
An Israeli military spokesman admitted Tuesday what was plainly obvious to witnesses of the mass destruction underway in the besieged Gaza Strip: that the goal of Israel's ongoing bombing campaign is to inflict severe damage on the occupied territory, not to strictly target Hamas military installations.
"The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy," Israel Defense Forces official Daniel Hagari said, according toHaaretz.
Hagari's remarks came after Israeli airstrikes leveled residential buildings, ripped through a crowded marketplace in Gaza's largest refugee camp, damaged hospitals and mosques, and wiped out families in the wake of a Hamas attack on Israel that killed hundreds of people.
The New York Times reported that Israeli strikes "also hit four mosques in the Shati refugee camp on Monday, according to Gaza authorities, toppling their domes and killing worshipers inside. Neighbors picked through the rubble of the Sousi mosque, where witnesses said boys had been playing soccer just outside when it was destroyed."
Hagari said in a briefing late Monday that Israel's aerial assault on Gaza had used "thousands of armaments" over the previous 24 hours.
"To put that in perspective, the pace of the strikes is five times that of the strikes on Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War," said Hagari. "I repeat, five times what it was against Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War."
The IDF official's comments amplified warnings that Israel is collectively punishing Gaza's population of around 2 million people, roughly half of whom are children. Earlier Monday, Israel's defense minister announced a "total" blockade of the enclave, cutting off its electricity supply and vowing to prevent all food and fuel from entering.
Collective punishment is a war crime.
"Gazans have been saying Israel is indiscriminately bombing them, with no goal other than to level Gaza to the ground. Now Israel admits the same," Yumna Patel, Palestine news director at Mondoweiss, wrote in response to Hagari's remarks. "No more lies about 'precision targets against Hamas.' Just pure destruction."
Hajer Naili, director of communications at the nonprofit Center for Civilians in Conflict, added that "such a statement indicates that Israel is neither using precaution, proportionality, [nor] distinguishing between civilians and combatants when launching attacks in Gaza."
"This is a violation of international humanitarian law," Naili wrote. "The [international] community must stop condoning such violations."
I say “fuck ‘em” - Hamas raped & killed women & children - the wasp nest from which they were born deserves to be destroyed.
The next Dresden.
Total crap. F-16s and F-15Is are precision bombers. With or without LGBs. F around by putting your weapon systems on civilian buildings and find out. That propaganda trick is not going to work this time. Legal targets.
:^)