srael shrugs off talk of army violations in Gaza even though a UN report confirms a new form of crime against humanity has been committed.
The Israeli army ethics chief, Eli Shermeister, has alleged that there is no evidence that troops fought anything but a fair war during the three-week operations on the besieged Gaza Strip.
"I didn't see in the Gaza operation anything that can teach us or show us that something in the moral attitude of the IDF (military) was ... changed or spoiled," Shermeister said in an interview with AP.
Three weeks of Israeli airstrikes and a ground incursion resulted in the death of over 1,350 Palestinians and the injury of nearly 5,450 people. Most of the victims were civilians.
The carnage also inflicted more than $1.6 billion in damages on the Gazan economy.
Israeli soldiers have confessed that they knowingly relaxed the rules of engagement and hastily killed Palestinian civilians and destroyed civilian property, as they were confident that they had the full protection of echelons in Tel Aviv.
The head of a special military course, Danny Zamir, told the Ha'aretz daily that he was "shocked" by the confessions of the soldiers and relayed a report on the matter to higher authorities because he feared serious ethical lapses among troops.
"Those were very harsh testimonies about unjustified shooting of civilians and destruction of property that conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians," Zamir told public radio.
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