In a detailed investigation, the NYTimes conducted a thorough review and analysis of the Israeli military’s conduct throughout the Gaza war following the Hamas-led October 7 attack, including interviews with more than 100 Israeli… – New York Times – New York Times
In a detailed investigation, the NYTimes conducted a thorough review and analysis of the Israeli military’s conduct throughout the Gaza war following the Hamas-led October 7 attack, including interviews with more than 100 Israeli officials and soldiers, as well as the examination of dozens of military records and documents. The findings confirmed a pattern of behavior that was quite horrifically unique to this conflict and directly resulted in mass civilian casualties, which the IDF would not have tolerated in previous conflicts with Gaza according to its own established rules of engagement.
Here are some of the most noteworthy findings in the NYT report:
1. IDF mid-level commanders were given the authority to order strikes without needing the approval of higher-level officers and senior command staff.
2. The number of noncombatant casualties tolerated per strike was substantially increased, often to 20 and in some cases to 100, with the actual number varying based on the target’s value and munitions selected, some of which were unnecessarily chosen to be of a higher kinetic footprint.
3. The IDF was instructed to go after low-level Hamas fighters and strike them in their homes, seemingly with little to no regard for what happened to their families or neighbors.
4. The IDF Weakened standards, protocols, and safeguards to protect noncombatants, failed to conduct post-strike reviews to assess damage to uninvolved civilians, and ignored warnings from within IDF ranks and senior US military officials about failings.
5. The number of targets was vastly expanded, which meant the vetted set of targets from the “target banks” was used up quickly, and the IDF had to turn to either old or unreliable intelligence to keep the targeting chain going.
6. Artificial intelligence was used to predict harm to civilians and locate prospective targets, reducing significant time spent on each component of the intelligence collection, analysis, and targeting cycles to statistical models and algorithms that were unreliable at best, arbitrary and imprecise at worst.
7. Although monitoring/supervising IDF officers had to approve strike packages based on a conclusion that the cost to noncombatants’ lives is proportional to the military value of the target, they exercised significant discretion, which created inconsistencies in how the IDF’s own standards were carried out, killing many more civilians in the process.
8. The shock, anger, and resentment due to the October 7 massacre caused many IDF officers to become less stringent about adhering to military protocol despite the efforts of some commanders to maintain standards
9. The definition of a military target, including those targets deemed permissible to attack, was expanded; higher-ups’ approval was only necessary when targets were close to sensitive civilian sites with a large number of noncombatants, and in the early weeks of the war, strikes on targets in Gaza could endanger up to 500 civilians each day, an order that mid-ranking officers likely misconstrued as a daily quota to reach rather than a limit
10. The use of advanced artificial intelligence systems and databases such as “Lavender” and “Gospel,” which were previously reported on in +972 Magazine, accelerated target acquisition, sometimes arbitrarily and expediently, increasing the likelihood of mistakes, rubber-stamping cycles, and lags between intelligence analyses and actual strikes that allowed some targets to escape while harming civilians.
There are numerous implications for this piece… It’s time for those who have gone out of their way to claim this war is the most sanitized modern urban conflict in history to realize the folly of their arguments… Perhaps what’s in this piece is the closest I’ll ever get to understanding what led to the IDF’s deadly airstrikes that slaughtered dozens of my family members, for which I’ve never received any answers or details.
🔗SOURCE➡️ New York Times
Related: 12/28 – Israel ‘Severely Weakened’ War Protocols To Allow Rampant Killing Of Civilians In Gaza
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