Israeli Press
Israeli officers say the army now awaits approval before firing in Gaza
Graphic: Times of Palestine
Original Reporting
The Israeli army has moved from an attack posture to a response posture in Gaza, and commanders on the ground now need approval from the top of the chain before opening fire, officers told the Israeli news site Ynet in a report by its military correspondent Elisha Ben Kimon published on Monday.
"Even if we see armed men, we wait for approval from above," a senior officer told the site. Actions that once ended in a strike within minutes now travel to the chief of staff's desk.
The change is visible in the daily count. "There were eliminations here every day," one commander said. "Now it is quiet, there is nothing."
Officers described the instruction they received as narrow: remove the threat, and nothing more. Movement beyond the yellow line calls for escalation up the chain rather than immediate engagement.
Some of them told Ben Kimon they fear the pause lets Hamas rebuild what the strikes used to disrupt. The soldiers quoted also said they face no greater danger themselves, because an immediate threat is still met at once.
The report lands while the government says publicly that it opposes the Board of Peace's plans for the Strip. What the officers describe is the plan's ceasefire clause already operating in the field.
Seven Palestinians, among them a woman and a child, were wounded by Israeli fire across Gaza on Sunday, six of them taken to Nasser Hospital after shooting in southern and central Khan Younis.
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