What is Israel’s ‘most moral army in the world’ doing in Gaza?

Accusations of shooting civilians at will have led some observers to conclude that Israeli soldiers are ‘gamifying’ war.

The Israeli military, which styles itself as the “most moral army in the world”, may be routinely committing war crimes, according to analysts in Israel and doctors who have worked in Gaza.

While killings, beatings and the arbitrary arrest of Palestinians are not new to the Israeli army, a long process of dehumanisation, the infiltration of far-right ideologies in the army and a lack of accountability have led to a scenario where Israeli soldiers can do as they please without even needing an operational reason, analysts said.

“As far as I can see, this is a new phenomenon,” Erella Grassiani of the University of Amsterdam, who has written on what she referred to as the moral “numbing” of Israeli soldiers during the second Intifada of 2000.

“It’s not as if Israeli soldiers haven’t beaten and arrested children for throwing stones before, but this is new,” she said.

“Previously, there were some kind of rules of engagement, even if they were loosely followed, but they were there. What we’re seeing now is completely different,” she said.