IDF to probe more soldiers on Gaza war conduct
Investigators widening inquiry into strike on civilian clinic that may have been ordered in retribution for soldier’s death
Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
As the army continues its investigation of a senior IDF commander for alleged criminal decisions during last summer’s Gaza war, officials announced Sunday that they would widen the probe over the bombing of a civilian clinic in the Palestinian territory, allegedly as retribution for the death of an Israeli soldier.
The military said it would investigate several other soldiers involved in the incident in which Lt. Col. Neria Yeshurun is suspected to have ordered the shelling in the northern Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya as revenge.
Over the last month, the Military Police have reviewed allegations that one day after Cpt. Dimitri Levitas was shot by a Palestinian sniper hiding atop the medical facility, Yeshurun ordered the heavy strike on the complex.
Channel 2 news reported that a number of Yeshurun’s soldiers claimed they believed the medical complex was empty at the time of the shelling, meaning they were not required to notify civilians of the impending bombardment.
Idan Dvir, an attorney representing one of the soldiers, told Channel 2 that while his client had not been the one to give the order, he had told investigators the strike was “militarily necessary in light of its location and enemy use of civilian facilities.”
“Its clear the attack was planned by soldiers more senior than my client,” Dvir said, before adding that as far as his client was aware, the clinic was empty at the time of the strike.
According to Palestinian sources, the strike on the medical facility killed five people, four of whom were civilians, and injured 45 others.
In a recording of an internal IDF communication obtained by the Israeli website NRG at the time, Yeshurun can be heard instructing his soldiers to salute Levitas’s memory in lieu of attending his funeral taking place that same day. Due to ongoing operations, the soldiers of Levitas’s unit could not be released to attend the funeral.
“I would like for us, here, in the middle of Shejaiya in Gaza to join in with those accompanying Dima on his final journey, and shoot a barrage of honor to salute our officer,” he can be heard saying with a shaky voice.
According to media reports, Yeshurun did not dispute his statements, but said the decision to bombard the building was not actually taken for the reasons he gave his troops. Following the June announcement of the Military Advocate General’s newest investigations, Yeshurun told NRG that his decision to shell the clinic was part of a wider operation targeting Hamas fighters who were hiding in the area. He claimed his reference to Levitas was only meant to raise morale among troops unable to attend the funeral.
A number of Yeshurun’s soldiers interviewed by Hebrew-language media outlets in recent weeks stood by their commander, praising his leadership during the 50-day war. One officer called the incident “the closing of a circle” and said the strike was not ordered out of vindictiveness. Another praised Yeshurun as the “commander that all soldiers wanted to have.”
“Turning him into a suspect makes all of us in the battalion suspects,” said an officer identified only as “A.”
Since the probes center around judgement calls, a fierce debate has erupted within the IDF between those who believe the incidents warrant full Military Police investigations, which can lead to criminal prosecution, and those who want the inquiries limited to operational debriefings, which are usually dealt with internally.
Among the other incidents under investigation include the bombardment of a café in Khan Younis that resulted in the deaths of nine Palestinians, and the bombing of a United Nations school that, according to Palestinians, killed 21 civilians and injured dozens.
Another investigation concerns allegations of IDF abuse of a Palestinian detainee.
A number of other investigations of operational misconduct during the Gaza war ordered by the Military Advocate General have already been closed, including a probe into a shelling of a Gaza beach that left four children dead on July 16.
In April, the Military Prosecution filed an indictment with a military court against three soldiers suspected of looting the homes of Palestinian civilians during the fighting.
The case marked the first instance of charges pressed against IDF troops who participated in combat in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge.
The 50-day war killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Palestinian sources in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and 73 Israelis, 66 of them soldiers.
Israel officially blames Hamas for all Palestinian civilian casualties, noting that the group, which rules Gaza, often launched attacks from within residential areas.
Avi Lewis contributed to this report.
