par Yael Ancri | Arouts 7
mercredi 25 mars 2009
Major-General Galant says ratio between terrorist, civilian casualties in Gaza op constitutes 'unprecedented achievement for campaign of this nature'
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Shmulik Hadad
| Published: | 03.24.09, 23:57 / Israel News |
| Southern Command chief Major-General Yoav Galant commented for the first time Tuesday on the IDF's recent military operation in the Gaza Strip and the ethical dilemmas that accompanied it.
"I'm proud that we have such a moral army, which respects international law," Galant said during an event in honor of the Medical Corps.
Galant spoke of the extensive preparations carried out ahead of the operation, and of Hamas' attempts to involve civilians in the fighting. "The Palestinian gunman held his arms cache in his home, came out to fight and went back to the house believing that we will not target him there," he claimed.
"All in all, 800 terrorists and 300 civilians we did not want to hurt had been killed in the operation. This ratio, of almost a quarter uninvolved (victims) is an unprecedented accomplishment in the history of campaigns of this nature," he added.
Galant did not directly address recent testimonies by soldiers who claimed they were ordered to target civilians, but said: "The soldiers were faced with tough moral dilemmas, and at the same time the command was required to exercise moral balance, when every mistake could lead either to the failure of the mission or to the killing of civilians.
"Some 300 houses in Gaza were abandoned after we alerted them by phone on imminent shooting. Only the residents of one house chose to stay put." |
According to the major-general, he was currently in the process of conducting inquiries of all the units that participated in the operation, "And the results give the sense of a moral, disciplined army."
Galant concluded by saying that the IDF has managed to establish deterrence against Hamas, as well as against Israel's neighboring Arab countries.
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