Soldiers should refuse orders that could constitute war crimes, a former Israeli security adviser tells BBC

As someone who served four Israeli prime ministers and was deputy chairman of the country's National Security Council, Eran Etzion's judgment was trusted at the highest levels of the state.

A long-time critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he is also someone whose years of public service have earned him great respect.

But now Mr Etzion, himself a former soldier, is warning that the Israeli military – the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – could be committing war crimes in the northern Gaza Strip. And he suggests that officers and troops should reject illegal orders.

“You should refuse. If a soldier or officer is expected to commit something that could be suspected of being a war crime, he must refuse. That's what I would do if I were a soldier. That’s what I think every Israeli soldier should do,” he tells me.

We are sitting on the balcony of his house in Shoresh in central Israel.

The quiet sunshine of an autumn morning reigns here. A peaceful area with a few contractors working on home improvements.

Less than 40 miles down the road is the Gaza neighborhood of Jabalia.

As Mr. Etzion and I speak, doctors and medical staff at the Indonesian hospital in Jabalia are sending desperate voice notes to the international community asking for help.

A senior nurse speaks in a weary voice of unrelenting privations allegedly imposed by the Israelis in the siege of Jabalia, in a report heard by the BBC.

“My friend, I’m so tired,” he says. “I can't explain how tired I am. The water is empty. We don't have any water. We contacted the Israeli Defense Forces to allow us to fill the tank with water, but they don't accept it… And we don't know what will happen tomorrow. The situation is very, very bad.”

Another nurse says: “I'm sorry for my language, I can't speak well.” I'm very tired and dizzy. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. We try to give the food we found to patients and families and don’t eat ourselves.”

There are tens of thousands of people They are now fleeing Jabalia as the Israeli army continues its offensive against what it says is an attempt by Hamas to regroup.

Mr. Etzion is worried about the civilian population of Jabalia and his country. “There is a very dangerous erosion of norms. There is a widespread feeling of revenge and anger,” he says.

This is because, as Mr. Etzion says, Israel is haunted by trauma following the terrorist attack October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks Around 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.

“The desire for revenge was understandable. It's human, but we are not a gang, we are not a terrorist organization and we are not a militia. We are a sovereign country. We have our history, we have our morals, we have our values ​​and we must act in accordance with international law and international standards if we want to continue to be members of the international community, which we do.”

He speaks as a former soldier, as someone whose children served in the IDF and whose family and friends still serve. “I'm just a concerned citizen trying to make his voice heard. So that's what I do. I want to make sure that no soldier is involved in anything that could be classified as a war crime.”

Israel faced increasing international criticism over its behavior during the war. The The US has threatened to cut its arms supplies if Israel stops providing aid to Gaza.

The The United Nations accuses the Israelis of repeatedly blocking or hindering the transfer of aidmost recently in the northern Gaza Strip.

The IDF has consistently denied allegations that it is implementing a deliberate policy of starvation to force residents to flee Jabalia. Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields and launching attacks from schools and medical facilities.

“Hamas does not hesitate to abuse, exploit, steal aid from the residents of the Gaza Strip and forcibly prevent them from evacuating when it is necessary for them,” the IDF said in May.

One of Britain's most prominent war crimes lawyers, Prof. Philippe Sands KC, told me that while Israel had a right to self-defense after the October 7 attacks, it was now violating international law.

“It has to be proportionate. It must meet the requirements of international humanitarian law. A distinction must be made between civilian and military objectives.

“It does not allow you to use famine as a weapon of war. It does not allow you to forcibly deport or evacuate large numbers of people.”

“So it is impossible to look at what is happening in Gaza now, just as it is impossible to look at what happened on October 7 and not say that the crimes are screaming loudly.”

Prof. Sands led the genocide case against Myanmar and the case for Palestinian statehood at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

His book, East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction. The book also describes his own Jewish family's experiences with the Holocaust.

I ask whether the crisis in Gaza concerns him about the continued existence of international law.

He points out that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants against the Israeli prime minister, the defense minister and the IDF chief of staff.

The prosecutor also requested arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders. All three, including Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, are now dead.

“It [international law] does not work on site in relation to Russia and Ukraine. In Sudan it doesn't work locally. When it comes to Palestine and Israel, it doesn't work on the ground.

“There are simply no ifs and buts. We just have to do it, we have to recognize that. But that’s no reason to tear up the entire system.”

“If you're wondering what the alternative is, which is basically not pieces of paper that say 'contracts,' you're back in the 1930s, and at least now we have a system of rules that allows people to stand up and stand up say, 'This is a breach of contract'.”

We asked the IDF for an interview, but they said no spokesperson was available today and referred us to an earlier statement that said: “The IDF will continue to act as always in accordance with international law.”

And today, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the army's humanitarian assistance department, said it is its policy to facilitate the access of aid to Gaza “without borders.”

This is Israel's narrative. But as scenes of civilian suffering continue to emerge in Jabalia, this is largely being questioned.

With additional reporting from Rudabah Abbass, Haneen Abdeen and Alice Doyard