How Israel’s 'shoot first, ask later' policy turns against its own citizens

Last week, Israeli soldiers shot dead three of their countrymen who were held hostage by Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

It is not their death but the manner of their killing that has sent global shockwaves and sparked anger in Israel against the trigger-happy ways of its military.

The three young men had taken off their shirts to show there were no hidden weapons, were waving a white flag and speaking in Hebrew to the soldiers – begging to be rescued.

The killings come amid increased scrutiny of the Israeli military following similar other incidents – killing their own soldiers in friendly fire during the Gaza offensive.

These incidents have also mounted pressure on the Netanyahu government – the most ultranationalist and radical in Israel's history – which has ignored global calls for a ceasefire in Gaza despite the staggering number of civilian deaths.

Experts and human rights experts, however, say that the cold-blooded killing of the three hostages is emblematic of the Israeli military's 'shoot-first-ask-later' philosophy, which it has been using for years to target Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories.

"Israeli forces have a track record of firing at unarmed people who pose no threat, even those waving white flags," says Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The killings "underscore the long-standing practice of Israeli forces of shooting first and asking later," Shakir tells TRT World.

Shakir has long investigated human rights abuses in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, authoring several comprehensive reports that outline how Tel Aviv continues to commit crimes against humanity and turning into an apartheid state.

In November 2019, Shakir left for Jordan after an Israeli government deportation order that demonstrated how Tel Aviv was suppressing any dissent and criticism toward the Zionist state.

Israeli impunity kills Israelis

The "tragic" incident has "shocked" the public, says Alon Liel, the former general director of the Israeli foreign ministry, creating a perfect storm across the country's political and military establishments.

Nahum Barnea, a well-known Israeli political analyst, believes that this incident is "a war crime" beyond being "tragic" because international law is clear on it. According to international law, killing any person - civilian or military personnel who want to surrender - is a war crime.

Ido Shamriz, brother of Alon Shamriz, one of the three killed Israelis, accused the army of murder.

"Those who abandoned you also murdered you after all that you did right," he said.

After the killings, hostage families and many Israelis urged their government to restart negotiations with Hamas for the release of the rest of the hostages. Despite the 70-day-long campaign against Hamas, the Israeli military has not been able to release any hostages.

As a result, many observers are questioning the merits of continuing to attack Gaza, which has only resulted in civilian deaths and deepened the humanitarian crisis.

But Netanyahu has still doubled down on his killing campaign, claiming that the only way to release hostages is continuing to attack Gaza.

"It's heartbreaking, but it's not surprising," said Roy Yellin, director of public outreach with B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, referring to the deaths of the three hostages.

"We have documented over the years countless incidents of people who clearly surrendered and who were still shot," he added, noting the recent incident shows that the impunity provided to the army is now also killing Israelis themselves.

The three are among nearly 20,000 Palestinians killed by Israel's indiscriminate attacks in Gaza, which has been largely destroyed. Most of the Palestinian dead are children and women. The Israeli army also killed many journalists working in the Palestinian enclave.

In recent days, the Israeli army is also said to have changed tactics by shooting to kill, not stop – by aiming at the head and not the legs.

Israeli army routinely kills unarmed civilians

While the defence ministry and the army chief were quick to apologise for the killing, Netanyahu has refused to take any responsibility, though he said the incident "broke" his heart.

"It shows our soldiers were unprepared to expect such an incident. Our army has to re-examine all its firing orders. An Israeli soldier should never open fire on anyone surrendering," Liel tells TRT World.

Similar incidents happened not long ago, he adds. Last month, during a Palestinian attack in Jerusalem, the Israeli army shot one of its own citizens, Yuval Castleman. While Castleman retaliated against the Palestinian gunmen, Israeli soldiers thought that Castleman was a Palestinian fighter.

"When Yuval realised what they were (the Israeli soldiers) thinking, he opened his jacket to show he had nothing underneath and got down on his knees. He opened his hands, so they could see he had nothing in his hands," Guy Itkovich, a friend of Castleman, told CNN.

"He was shouting in Hebrew. He was shouting, 'I'm an Israeli.' He threw his wallet and identification so they could see he was an Israeli. But they just shot him. They gunned him down," Itkovitz said.

During Hamas' October 7 attack, an Israeli attack helicopter also killed some of the Nova music festival attendees, according to a police investigation.

"The few incidents that happened are enough - very troubling," says Liel, a former top diplomat, who thinks that fear, high tension and breach of orders are the main reasons why these Israeli army killings continue to happen.

Last week, the Israeli army also killed two Christians, a mother and daughter, in "cold blood", according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The two were sheltering in a Catholic Church in Gaza City. Pope Francis described their killing as part of "terrorism" conducted by Israel in Gaza.

On the weekend, at least 90 Palestinians were killed in another deliberate attack on Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza.