The Associated Press reported that it had obtained a letter from about 200 Israeli soldiers refusing to continue fighting in the Gaza Strip.
The Associated Press reported: “About 200 Israeli soldiers signed a letter stating that they would stop fighting if the cabinet does not establish a ceasefire.”
The report states: “Israeli soldiers who refuse to fight in Gaza say they have seen or done things in Gaza that crossed moral boundaries.”
The Associated Press quoted a former Israeli soldier as saying: “I participated in war crimes and I regret what we did.”
According to the report, the Israeli soldiers who refused to continue the war in Gaza admitted in the letter: “We feel regret and it takes time to digest what we see in Gaza.”
The report quotes the Israelis who were involved in infanticide and war crimes in Gaza for more than 15 months as saying: “We saw soldiers looting and destroying houses. We received orders to burn or demolish houses that were not in any danger.”
The Associated Press quoted one of the soldiers as saying: “The image of our soldiers killing an unarmed Palestinian youth is etched in my mind. I was ordered to shoot anyone who entered the buffer zone under our control.”
An Israeli aid worker who spent about two months in Gaza also admitted: “One of the commanders gave the order to burn a house, claiming that he did not want Hamas to use it. The soldiers desecrated homes and looted property to collect as souvenirs.”
According to the report, the Israeli army also responded to the refusal of its soldiers to fight in Gaza by declaring: “We condemn refusal to serve, and those who refuse may be imprisoned.”
