Whistleblower Israeli soldiers describe killing unarmed Palestinians as they ‘demolish’ Gaza
IDF soldiers tell how they use teenage Palestinians as human shields in Gaza and have left the enclave a ‘zombie apocalypse’
Bel Trew
Chief International Correspondent
Tuesday 11 November 2025 13:53 GMT
The
Israeli army in
Gaza shot unarmed
Palestinians “without restraint”, created a “protocol” for using
civilians as human shields, and pursued a policy of “destroy, demolish, transfer”, military whistleblowers have claimed.
In a shocking
documentary broadcast on
ITV, at least a dozen soldiers described in detail how Gaza was left a “zombie apocalypse” after Israel’s unprecedented two-year offensive.
During that time, they said commanding officers told them to ignore international law, use civilians, including teenagers, as human shields, celebrate drone strikes and “take revenge on them all”.
The testimonies, which include a contractor for the controversial Israeli-run
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, also described the wanton
destruction of civilian infrastructure, torching Palestinian homes they turned into forward bases,
shooting aid seekers at distribution sites, and an “unprecedented” bombing campaign allowing for vast collateral damage.
One officer, identified only as Lieutenant Colonel B, who has served more than 300 days in Gaza, described the offensive as “all-out”, adding he believed there was “no limit” for collateral damage.
“If you ask me I would have pushed them all into the sea [with bulldozers] on October 7, given them snorkels and let them swim in Egypt,” he told ITV’s
Exposure.
Another, whose identity was also protected, added: “In my [company] there were people openly saying ‘let’s destroy, demolish, transfer them [out of Gaza]’.”
Israel’s bombardment has destroyed or damaged more than 90 per cent of homes in Gaza (AP)
Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign and siege of Gaza in the wake of Hamas’s bloody attacks on southern Israel, during which more than 1,000 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli estimates.
In the documentary
Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, soldiers said that in the aftermath, Israel launched a “revenge campaign”.
Since October 2023, Israel’s bombardment and the war have killed more than 64,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials. It has also destroyed or damaged more than 90 per cent of homes, according to the UN, and displaced most of the 2.3 million population.
An Israeli siege of the tiny 25-mile-long enclave has meanwhile pushed the strip into famine and unleashed a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. The UN Commission of Inquiry concluded this year that Israel has committed
genocide.
Israel has vehemently and repeatedly dismissed these allegations as false and antisemitic. The military has, in multiple statements to
The Independent, denied deliberately violating international law or committing any crimes, maintaining that any potential violation is investigated.
Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution centre in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip in August (AFP/Getty)
But in the ITV
Exposure film, a conscript infantry soldier named only “Yaakov” said the destruction is so widespread that they have “destroyed a society”.
“All mosques, almost all hospitals, almost all universities, every cultural institution has been destroyed,” he added grimly. “You’ve destroyed a society. You don’t have to kill them one by one to destroy every sign of the society that once existed there.”
He described his company using two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old boy, as human shields.
When the soldiers protested, he said they were told by their commander: “Soldiers don’t have to worry about international law, just about the ‘IDF spirit’.”
This photo provided by Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower group of former Israeli soldiers, shows two detainees used as human shields being held inside a house in the Gaza City area in 2024 (Breaking the Silence via AP)
Daniel, a tank unit commander, said the use of human shields is widespread.
“It is called the ‘Mosquito Protocol’. It entails a method, a process by which a Palestinian is turned into a so-called agent. It’s designed exclusively for working in tunnels and is something that has been proven very, very useful,” he added.
After about a week, he said every company was operating with its own “mosquito”.
“That’s three Palestinians per battalion, nine to 12 per brigade, dozens, hundreds per division,” he continued, adding, “It saves soldiers’ lives.”
The Independent’s own investigation into the use of human shields revealed that children as young as 12 years old were forced to inspect houses and roads and look for tunnels and militants, sometimes dressed in military fatigues.
When asked about these testimonies, the Israeli military said: “The orders and directives of the IDF prohibit the use of Gazan civilians captured in the field for military missions that endanger them.”
Another disturbing reality revealed in the film was the wanton destruction of swathes of the strip, which the World Bank has estimated will cost $53bn (£40bn) to rebuild.
Last year, the UN Conference on Trade and Development said even if the war stops, if Gaza remains under an Israeli blockade, it could take a staggering 350 years for its battered economy to return to pre-war levels.
Israeli D9 bulldozers roll along the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip in 2014 (AFP via Getty)
Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, who has served more than 500 days in Gaza driving bulldozers and flattening swathes of the strip, also spoke to filmmakers from the settlement where he lives.
He claims to have come up with the idea of systematically demolishing entire neighbourhoods in Gaza, inspiring other units within the Israeli military.
“We changed the conduct of an entire army. The IDF invests hundreds of thousands of shekels to destroy the Gaza Strip.”
He argues that the mass demolition of civilian homes is justified, claiming in one video: “Everything there is one big terrorist infrastructure.”
The soldiers also recalled several incidents where unarmed Palestinians were killed, including a man who was on a roof hanging out his washing; one soldier says a tank brigade, between 600 and 700 metres away, labelled him a “spotter” and took out half the building. In another incident, a teenager pushing a cart was shot in the head.
“Eli”, another soldier, said at the end of his deployment that his commander reported they took out “112 terrorists”, but added: “I can confidently say that … only one was even suspected of being armed. That is, the 111 other people we killed, no one even claimed that they were armed.”
Drone warfare is also described by Neta Caspin, a major in the IDF, who said she watched drone operators follow a man walking in the Netzarim corridor for half an hour before he was shot, after which a fellow soldier told them to “be happy”.
Another anonymous soldier said that using drones in Gaza “feels like a game”.
“You can sit in some basement of a house, safe with your helmet off, scratching your balls, half dressed and kill Palestinians,” he added bluntly.
‘Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War’ is on ITV1, ITVX, STV & STV Player
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