Israeli soldiers in Gaza compete to kill most Palestinians and count children as terrorists - report

The Israeli Haaretz newspaper published a report quoting Israeli soldiers who described how they arbitrarily killed dozens of Palestinian civilians in the so-called Netzarim Corridor in Gaza, counting every Palestinian casualty as a terrorist, including children.

The Netzarim Corridor is a 7km-wide strip of land from south of Gaza City running east to west from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.

"We're killing civilians there who are then counted as terrorists," said a recently discharged Division 252 officer. "The IDF spokesperson's announcements about casualty numbers have turned this into a competition between units. If Division 99 kills 150 [people], the next unit aims for 200."

An officer in Division 252's command recalled when the Israeli spokesperson announced their forces had killed over 200 militants. “Of those 200 casualties, only 10 were confirmed as known Hamas operatives. Yet no one questioned the public announcement about killing hundreds of militants," he said.