The killing fields of Gaza: Netanyahu accuses ‘Haaretz’ of defaming IDF

Describing the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) because the ‘most ethical army on the planet’, Netanyahu and Katz angrily described a latest report within the Haaretz newspaper as ‘malicious falsehoods’ designed to defame Israel’s military.

“The state of Israel completely rejects the contemptible blood libels which were revealed within the Haaretz newspaper,’ the joint assertion mentioned, reported Haaretz. The assertion accused the newspaper of publishing ‘blood libels’, the report added.

The time period ‘blood libel’, the newspaper defined, refers to false accusations towards Jews in medieval Europe of murdering Christian kids in ritual sacrifices. The false accusations had been used to justify the persecution of Jews.

The newspaper revealed, on 27 June 2025, an article headlined ‘IDF troopers ordered to shoot intentionally at unarmed Gazans ready for humanitarian help’.

The report went on to state: ‘IDF officers and troopers instructed Haaretz that they had been ordered to fireplace at unarmed crowds close to meals distribution websites in Gaza, even when no risk was current. A whole bunch of Palestinians have been killed, prompting the army prosecution to name for a evaluate into potential conflict crimes.

‘One Israeli soldier attested that civilians searching for help had been “handled like a hostile power  —  no crowd-control measures, no tear fuel  —  simply dwell hearth with all the pieces possible: heavy machine weapons, grenade launchers, mortars.”’

One other soldier was quoted as saying, “We open hearth early within the morning if somebody tries to get in line from just a few hundred meters away, and generally we simply cost at them from shut vary. However there is no such thing as a hazard to the forces.” The soldier added, “I’m not conscious of a single occasion of return hearth. There isn’t a enemy, no weapons.”

IDF sources instructed Haaretz that Gaza had change into “a spot with its personal algorithm” the place they’re interacting with civilians with whom “your solely technique of interplay is opening hearth”. Lethal army weapons are used as crowd management to steer the ravenous populace wherever it’s decided they’re alleged to be, routinely killing determined help seekers.

One soldier described being instructed to fireplace artillery shells at a crowd to maintain them at a distance, saying, “Each time we hearth, there are casualties and deaths, and when somebody asks why a shell is important, there’s by no means a great reply. Typically, merely asking the query annoys the commanders.”

A number of Israeli troopers described atrocities they had been ordered to commit which they knew had been unsuitable.

Haaretz has been an outspoken critic of the Netanyahu authorities and confronted prosecution and denial of commercials.

‘When Netanyahu’s Authorities needs to close us down, it’s time to learn Haaretz,’ it boldly declares within the newspaper in addition to on its social media handles.

Haaretz additionally revealed final week an article that put the demise toll in Gaza since 7 October 2023 near 100,000 — a lot larger than different estimates. The info locations the battle in Gaza among the many deadliest conflicts of the twenty first century, each when it comes to the ratio of combatants to non-combatants killed in addition to the demise price relative to inhabitants measurement.

Survey knowledge, according to figures from the Palestinian well being ministry, present that 56 per cent of the victims had been both girls or kids underneath the age of 18 — an unusually excessive proportion in comparison with almost all different wars since World Warfare II, together with these in Kosovo (20 per cent) northern Ethiopia (9 per cent), Syria (20 per cent), Colombia (21 per cent), Iraq (17 per cent) and Sudan (23 per cent), the report claimed.

The brand new examine by Prof. Michael Spagat of Royal Holloway, College of London, and Palestinian political scientist Dr Khalil Shikaki took under consideration direct conflict casualties in addition to oblique deaths attributable to starvation, illness and lack of medical care. The examine refutes the Israeli army’s declare of a ‘1:1 ratio’ of combatant to civilian deaths.

Even when Israeli assertions of 20,000 combatant deaths are accepted, the survey estimates point out 4 civilians killed for each militant, far exceeding official claims.

Spagat emphasised that Gaza’s social assist networks and worldwide help had quickly mitigated a number of the oblique mortality. He warned that “waves of extra mortality” are more likely to come within the months forward, nevertheless, given the continuing displacement, still-collapsing healthcare, malnutrition and mass destruction of infrastructure.

The ministry of well being in Gaza reported on Saturday, 28 June, that at the very least 81 individuals had been killed and 422 injured over the earlier 24 hours alone on account of Israeli assaults.