April 9, 2024 (EIRNS)—There is compelling evidence that the commanding officer of 933rd “Nahal” Brigade, Yair Zuckerman—cited for a reprimand in the April 1 killings of 7 aid workers—and his “Nahal” unit, are infected with the “settler” mentality of a reckless abandon toward a non-human enemy. Zuckerman has a history of being featured by the IDF for excuses to attack civilian areas and to destroy mosques. And his reference to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria” suggests an ideology shared with the “settlers.” Such evidence would indicate that, beyond the IDF’s narrative of a series of remarkable errors, there is an underlying sickness that has infected the society, where such fatal ‘accidents’ will keep reoccurring.
The IDF posted a video of Zuckerman on November 23, 2023, showing him standing in a field with a wreckage of buildings in the background. It’s identified as the outskirts of Jabalya. He says that his unit “exposed territories here in the urban environment"—evidently meaning that they removed what was standing in the area. He then points to a hole in the ground with a piece of metal visible and says, “and here next to residential houses, we found all these missiles, long and medium range missiles…. We entered the area and found missiles next to the mosque. Very, very large missiles.” However, none of the photos provided separately show anything longer than about two feet, and they are in a field, not very close to the buildings. He concludes: “This made it clear that terrorist activity was taking place inside the mosques and inside the urban area. The Nahal Brigade… will continue to operate here until we are victorious.” One must assume that the offending mosque and urban area were dealt with.
Another example is from Jan. 7, 2024, in or around Gaza City, where Zuckerman provides the evidence for targeting homes and infrastructure: “Over the last few days, we encountered many [terror] squads, infrastructure and booby-trapped houses.”
