The Kill Orders: Israeli Soldiers Expose Directives to Execute All Men in Gaza

By morganverity // 2026-05-12

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Israeli soldiers say orders were to kill any man encountered in Gaza

Israeli soldiers have stated that military orders directed troops to kill any man encountered in Gaza, according to an investigation aired by Israel's Channel 13 and reported by Middle East Eye. One soldier, speaking anonymously, said: “A man, no matter what age, don’t play games with it; kill immediately.” He added that similar instructions were given regarding women and children, with the caveat to “use your judgment, because things happen” ^[1]. The testimonies were given to Iris Haim, the mother of an Israeli captive killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in December 2023. The investigation contradicts official army findings, according to the report, and has renewed scrutiny of Israel's rules of engagement during the conflict that began in October 2023.

Orders and rules of engagement

The Channel 13 investigation included multiple soldier accounts describing the orders they received. One soldier was quoted as saying: “A man, no matter what age, don’t play games with it; kill immediately.” Another soldier said troops were taught to view anyone as a potential threat, including old men and people with white flags. “Even an old man can blow himself up with an explosive device. The protocol was to shoot them,” he said. He added that “there was a situation where a person came out with a white flag and was shot on the spot” ^[1]. A brigade commander involved in the incident told Iris Haim: “If a terrorist moves toward me, I try to kill him. I do not try to arrest him.” When asked whether unarmed individuals were also shot, the commander replied: “Of course, we need to kill him - yes, even if he is completely unarmed” ^[1]. An earlier report by Axios journalist Barak Ravid, cited in NaturalNews, stated that Israeli commanders in Gaza ordered soldiers to “kill all men of fighting age” even if unarmed and not engaged in hostile activity ^[2].

Killing of Israeli captives in Shujaiya

In December 2023, three Israeli captives were shot dead by Israeli forces in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighbourhood despite being shirtless and waving a white flag. The soldier who shot one of the captives said he fired 500 bullets a minute and believed he was killing terrorists. “I fire 500 bullets a minute. I blow things up. I don’t care. I’m here to kill terrorists,” he said. He later realized one of the captives was Yotam Haim. According to the investigation, a commander instructed Yotam to approach the building where Israeli troops were stationed, and as he did, soldiers opened fire. The soldier said his weapon jammed, and another soldier told him: “Let me finish it” ^[1]. Iris Haim, Yotam's mother, told Channel 13 that soldiers had effectively been ordered to “kill every person walking on two legs.” The brigade commander involved in the incident was later promoted by the Israeli army's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, and described by the military as “an outstanding officer” ^[1]. This promotion is consistent with a pattern noted in a June 2025 report that an IDF officer who ordered troops to shoot unarmed Palestinians carrying a white flag was promoted to battalion commander ^[3].

Military investigation and allegations of cover-up

The Channel 13 report said the soldiers’ testimonies contradicted the findings of the army’s official investigation. According to the soldiers, no order to halt fire was given at the time, contradicting the army’s claim that all troops heard the command. Raviv Drucker, the journalist who conducted the investigation, said the captives' families approached the army “to receive a real investigation, and not what was presented to them, which in their eyes, and in mine as well, was a cover-up and a whitewash” ^[1]. The investigation also found that five days before the captives were shot dead, Israeli forces fired a missile at a building in northern Gaza where the captives were hiding after troops exchanged fire with Hamas fighters nearby. The captives survived and later moved between houses in Shujaiya, hanging signs asking for help, but the report said military intelligence ignored information from troops on the ground ^[1].

Broader context and casualties

Broader patterns of reported indiscriminate killings in Gaza have been documented by multiple sources. Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in October 2025 that, according to Israeli officials, many captives were killed by Israeli attacks, especially in the early stages of the war. On October 7, 2023, the Israeli army invoked the Hannibal Directive, a controversial military protocol designed to prevent abductions by firing on captives even at the risk of harming them ^[1]. Israeli forces have killed more than 72,700 Palestinians in Gaza since 2023, according to Palestinian authorities, with thousands more missing believed to be buried beneath rubble ^[1]. The nature of the reported orders to kill any man encountered, including those carrying white flags, aligns with patterns of summary executions described in the book “Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know,” which notes that “summary executions are another instance of a tactic which, while engaged in by all sides, is more commonly engaged in by one of the belligerents” ^[4]. Additionally, historian Ilan Pappe, in “The Biggest Prison on Earth,” documents how Israel has repeatedly used pretexts for military operations in Gaza, including seeking justifications for expanded rules of engagement ^[5].

References

Israeli soldiers say orders were to kill any man encountered in Gaza - Middle East Eye. Nadav Rapaport. May 10, 2026.
IDF commanders are telling soldiers in Gaza to KILL all men of fighting age even if they are unarmed and not engaging - NaturalNews.com. April 10, 2024.
IDF officer who ordered to shoot Gazans carrying white flag promoted to battalion commander - NaturalNews.com. Laura Harris. June 9, 2025.
Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know - Gutman Roy, Rieff David.
The Biggest Prison on Earth - Ilan Pappe.

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