(Israel Hayom) Lilach Shoval - Israel Defense Forces Capt. (res.) Matan Katzman told the European Parliament's Human Rights Subcommittee on Wednesday: "The IDF is a moral army fighting in an immoral neighborhood." "In Gaza, our mission was clear: It was to stop the rocket fire that put over a million Israeli children in bomb shelters last summer." Katzman said the IDF has a clear policy to protect Palestinian civilians, even at the expense of compromising the safety of its own missions, as it does when it repeatedly warns civilians about upcoming attacks. He clarified that the most important rule of engagement in the IDF is: "in cases of doubt, don't shoot. If there is doubt, there is no doubt - we don't shoot." "During last summer's war, the Israeli army aborted and cancelled multiple missions from air and from ground in cases where Palestinian civilians were present, or we even thought they were present. Our policy is so concrete and clear that Hamas is an expert on it and uses it to their advantage. They place snipers in schools and hospitals, they stock weapons in homes. UN-funded medical clinics are booby-trapped to harm soldiers."
2015-06-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive