The Independent: ’Israeli’ Forces Accused of Rewriting Gaza Killings to Justify Attacks

By Al-Ahed News, The Independent

The ‘Israeli’ Occupation Forces [IOF] have been accused of retrospectively branding Palestinians martyred in controversial attacks as “terrorists” in an effort to justify lethal military actions in Gaza, according to a former ‘Israeli’ soldier whose testimony was obtained by The Independent through Breaking the Silence.

The whistleblower described the practice as a de facto policy of “retrospective incrimination,” used when attacks cause large numbers of civilian casualties or strike sensitive sites such as hospitals and schools.

“When [the military] understands there is a crisis, they try to connect the people that were killed or harmed to Hamas,” the soldier told The Independent. “Because if they can say the people who killed them were a Hamas terrorist, that would look better in the eyes of the world.”

The allegations come amid renewed scrutiny of the IOF’s August 25, 2025, attack on Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza, which killed 22 people, including five journalists.

The Independent reported that its year-long investigation found the hospital was hit by four tank projectiles. An initial strike hit a Reuters camera on an external stairwell, killing Reuters cameraman Hussam Al-Masri. A second projectile struck an area near the operating room.

Around eight minutes later, two further projectiles hit as medics, first responders, and journalists gathered to rescue the wounded and document the aftermath.

The IOF has previously claimed that the target was a “camera positioned by Hamas” that allegedly endangered its troops. Reuters later identified the camera as belonging to the news agency.

The whistleblower told The Independent that cameras in Gaza are regarded as legitimate military targets regardless of whether they are being used by journalists. They also said the military did not contact Reuters or hospital authorities before the attack to raise concerns about the camera.

According to the whistleblower, the military subsequently attempted to associate those killed with Hamas and label them as “terrorists” following the international backlash over the attack.

Among the six people the IOF initially described as “terrorists” were individuals identified by witnesses and hospital authorities as civilians, including a civil defense worker seen participating in rescue efforts and a hospital employee.

The soldier said the Golani Brigade had received approval for the operation targeting the camera four days before the attack, with the mission reportedly approved at senior levels of the Southern Command.

“They took it up the chain to approve a mission to take down the camera with a precision weapon,” the whistleblower said. “They called it a Hamas camera.”

The soldier also described intense pressure within the military to protect its public image.

“There is immense pressure to make the ['Israeli' military] look as good as they can,” they said, describing the alleged practice as “a tool to handle the narrative and twist it like they are the good guys.”

Breaking the Silence Executive Director Nadav Weiman said the testimony was consistent with other accounts collected by the organization. He accused the IOF of combining what he described as reckless rules of engagement with retroactive justifications for attacks, thereby avoiding genuine investigations.

The allegations also raise further concerns over the safety of journalists reporting from Gaza.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that more than 200 Palestinian media workers have been martyred since October 2023, making the Gaza war the deadliest conflict for journalists in the organization’s records.

International law experts consulted by The Independent said the evidence surrounding the Nasser hospital attack could allow a prosecutor to “reasonably conclude” that war crimes had been committed, including intentionally attacking civilians and launching a disproportionate attack, particularly in relation to the second strike.

The ‘Israeli’ military has denied targeting journalists and accused Hamas of using the hospital as a base, a claim rejected by Palestinian medical staff and international medical volunteers.

The military has said its review of the Nasser incident remains ongoing through the General Staff Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism.

The allegations by the whistleblower, alongside The Independent’s investigation, have intensified calls for independent scrutiny of attacks on hospitals, journalists, and other protected civilian sites in Gaza.