Israeli troops admit 'eye for eye' killing spree

Dom

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli commandos killed eight Palestinian policemen in "eye for an eye" shootings three years ago that were ordered to avenge comrades slain in an ambush on an army checkpoint in the West Bank, a newspaper said on Friday.

The report in the Maariv daily, confirmed by senior Israeli security sources, was the latest public challenge to the Jewish state's official insistence that its forces have abided by a strict code of ethics in battling a Palestinian uprising.

After gunmen from the Palestinian faction Fatah killed six soldiers at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Feb. 19, 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved stepping up the scale and variety of retaliations.

"The feeling was that this would be 'an eye for an eye'," an ex-soldier who took part in the shooting spree three years ago told Maariv.

Eighteen Palestinians were killed in various retaliatory attacks, including eight policemen shot while manning their checkpoints near Ramallah and Nablus, another West Bank city.

"'We are going to liquidate Palestinian policemen at a checkpoint in revenge for our six soldiers that they killed'," the ex-commando quoted his commander as ordering the troops.

At one of three checkpoints raided the Palestinians managed to return fire, but caused no Israeli casualties, Maariv said.

"The moment we knew we were going to eliminate them, we no longer saw them as human," another former commando said.

Maariv's interviewees, whose names were withheld for what the newspaper called legal reasons, said they decided to come forward as part of "Breaking the Silence," a campaign by former soldiers to expose alleged Israeli abuse of Palestinians.

The army said in a statement in response to the Maariv report that its forces attacked "checkpoints manned by Palestinian policemen who facilitated the passage and actively assisted terrorists."

The Palestinian Authority, which at the time denied that members of its security forces were complicit in attacks on Israelis, has since acknowledged some moonlighted as militants.

REPRISALS LOOM LARGE

Reprisals have long loomed large in Israel's strategic planning, beginning in the 1950s when it answered cross-border raids by Arab irregulars in kind. After 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian gunmen during the 1972 Munich Olympics, Israel sent agents to assassinate that attack's masterminds.

But while Israel has openly assassinated leading Palestinian militants during the current conflict, it rejected charges by human rights groups that this constituted illegal extra-judicial killing, saying the men targeted were planning imminent attacks.

In its statement, the army said that after it lost six soldiers in the 2002 ambush, it had been "instructed by the political echelon to change the mode of operation and adjust it to the harsh reality on the ground."

Soldiers were told to "hunt down all those involved in terror activities, including members of the Palestinian Authority security apparatus" until the PA prevented "terror attacks emanating from Palestinian towns and cities."

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylh=X3oDMTEwdn...tY3Nz/s/242555

Ev!L-aLphA

wow... and like the palestinians dont do any thing to israel :-| i lived there for 9 years and ud have to see what those ppl do... every other week someone blows up a coffee shop or a buss or kills someone and crap like that :-/

but its not AS bad as the media makes it look like

Dark Lord

we should just pull the hell out of there and let them deal with there own damn problems. i honestly dont see how well ever turn that place into any thing more then a liveable hell hole.

Ev!L-aLphA

actualy israel is one of the most interesting countries in the world.. theres so much about it thats soooo great.. but than theres the parts of it that arnt that great...

but u get used to all of the crap that happens there... and its not every day or couple of days.. since about 2001 security has been WAY tighter there and bombings and other stuff has been 75% less than previous years!

Dom

I don't think killing more random and potentually innocent people is the proper respose.

BiGBrOwNPimpsta

having tanks roll over your homes is ok? in addition, with people in it. they have no other form of warfare, thats how they fight with whatever they have. it may seem dirty or terrorism to us, but ive said it before what israel does and the u.s. does looks like terrorism to them. just because they use a more civilized and advanced form of combat doesnt make them any less of a terrorist. but im not declaring who the terrorist are in the palestinian/israel conflict, its very 2 ways but lawfully it is palestine's land.

have you seen what they do at border checks the israeli soldiers? they do humiliating searches on women and knowing islamic women it greatly violates their bodily integrity. don't get me wrong, palestine should sit down and not engage in violence but at the same time random raids by israelis on refugee camps and hotels isnt something you would keep your mouth shut up over decades.

so of course both israel and palestine have been killing an "eye for an eye" i cant blame both sides for fighting but i can blame israel for not backing out of what is not theirs.