'You have two million targets in Gaza': Israeli soldier details killings of Palestinians

An Israeli reservist has said that army officers treat Gaza’s entire population of two million Palestinians as targets, describing widespread killings and a collapse of rules of engagement during the genocide.

The drone operator, who spoke to Haaretz on condition of anonymity in an article published on Thursday, described a range of alleged crimes against Palestinian civilians.

He said he joined the army in 2008 and has killed at least 54 Palestinians up until October 2023, including unarmed civilians.

During the genocide in Gaza, he served in a drone attack cell until leaving the army in July.

“In the first days, there were no rules,” he said, describing an army with no clear rules of engagement when it came to Palestinians.

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The reservist also witnessed the Israeli army’s attack on clearly marked ambulances in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah in March 2025, which killed 15 Palestinian aid and medical workers.

'Anyone could kill whoever they wanted, as much as they wanted, and they wouldn't be held accountable for it'

- Israeli reservist

The Israeli army initially denied wrongdoing. After a mass grave containing the victims was discovered, it promised an investigation. No Israeli soldier had been put on trial over the killings.

“These were clearly identifiable as emergency vehicles, even when ground fire opened on them,” the reservist told Haaretz, describing the night of the attack.

“Without any apparent reason, the ground troops stormed the convoy. They shot at the first vehicle. The medical staff exited, hid behind the ambulances and pleaded for their lives, and the soldiers shot them, one after another,” he said. 

“After this incident, I realised that anyone could kill whoever they wanted, as much as they wanted, and they wouldn’t be held accountable for it."

'Two million targets in Gaza'

Despite witnessing the Rafah killings, the reservist continued to serve in Gaza. After taking five days’ leave in Georgia this year, he returned to duty in late April.

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When he returned, he said: “Everyone was already talking about killing.

“I asked to meet with the intelligence officer to upload targets to the computer,” he said.

The officer told him: “You have two million targets in Gaza.”

The reservist said the officer meant Gaza’s entire population of two million people.

Israeli forces have killed at least 73,658 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian authorities, with more than 1,300 killed since a ceasefire was signed last October.

'They fire at anyone they see'

The reservist also described how senior Israeli army commanders move the so-called "Yellow Line" at will.

The Yellow Line is a demarcation established under the ceasefire to mark the limits of Israeli military deployments inside Gaza.

“The division commander decided, on his own, to push them westwards, sometimes by hundreds of metres, creating a new border,” the reservist said, referring to the concrete barriers that marked the line.

Palestinians in Gaza had no way of knowing where the new boundary began, he said, adding that army commanders had encouraged soldiers to kill anyone who approached the line.

“They try to incriminate people without intelligence and without proof, retroactively, just to create a justification for an attack,” he said, describing pressure placed on him and his colleagues to open fire on Palestinians approaching the line.

'Just like they shout to a player, "Come on, score a goal", they shout to a soldier, "Kill him, attack him"'

- Israeli reservist

The reservist said the concept of “collateral damage” quickly disappeared from consideration.

“They fire at anyone they see,” he said, describing what he compares to a football stadium atmosphere inside his attack cell.

“Just like they shout to a player, ‘Come on, score a goal’, they shout to a soldier, ‘Kill him, attack him’.”

The reservist also told Haaretz that he witnessed Israeli forces monitoring criminal acts carried out by army-backed militias, without intervening.

“They burn rows of houses, and we watch them from above. Arson, looting, shooting,” he said.

Last month, Haaretz reported that the Israeli army is allowing mercenaries, criminal gangs and drug dealers to commit war crimes in Gaza, in conduct it describes as “reminiscent of the Sabra and Shatila massacre”, which occurred in the Lebanese refugee camps and neighbourhood in 1982.