Halifi admits: More than 200,000 victims in Gaza.. "We removed the gloves from the very first moment"

The former Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army, Herzi Halevi, revealed that: "The number of Palestinian dead and injured in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 200,000 people since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023," confirming that: "Military decisions were not constrained by any legal advice during the operations."

Halevi, who completed his duties in March after leading the army for 17 months of war, stated during a meeting with residents of the "Ein Habasor" settlement in southern occupied Palestine, that: "More than 10 percent of Gaza's population of 2.2 million have been killed or injured, which amounts to over 200,000 people."

Figures close to Gaza's statistics, according to the British newspaper The Guardian, indicate that: "Halevi's estimates are close to the statistics of the Gaza Ministry of Health, which Israeli officials always claim is propaganda for Hamas," while international humanitarian agencies consider them reliable.

Official figures indicate that 64,718 have been martyred and 163,859 injured so far, while thousands of victims remain under the rubble of destroyed homes.

"We took off the gloves from the very first moment," Halevi said in a recording published by the Hebrew website "Ynet": "This is not a nice war. We took off the gloves from the first minute, and unfortunately, we did not do so before October 7."

He confirmed that: "The army did not operate gently," while claiming at the same time that it adhered to international humanitarian law, which is denied by local and international human rights organizations.

In a striking comment, Halevi emphasized that: "No legal advice constrained his decisions or those of his subordinates in Gaza or outside it: No one ever constrained me. Neither the military legal advisor Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi nor anyone else. She does not have the authority to constrain me in the first place."

According to "Ynet," Halevi clarified that: "The importance of legal advisors within the army lies primarily in convincing the world of the legitimacy of what we are doing," saying: "There are legal advisors who know how to defend what we are doing before the world, and this is very important for the State of Israel."

Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard commented on this by saying that: "Halevi's statements confirm that legal advisors are merely rubber stamps," adding: "Generals see them as ordinary advisors whose opinions can be taken or ignored, not as professionals who determine what is permissible and what is prohibited."

The newspaper "Haaretz" revealed that: "Halevi's successor as Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, also ignored the recommendation of the military legal advisor who urged delaying evacuation orders for about a million Palestinians from the city of Gaza until a minimum of shelters and services were available in the southern sector."

In a related context, the Israeli occupation army proceeded with its plans, leading to the exacerbation of the civilian tragedy. On Friday, nearly 40 Palestinians were martyred in a reckless Israeli bombardment, primarily targeting areas in Gaza, including many who were unable to leave their homes or refused to be forcibly displaced to southern areas without shelter or protection from the bombardment.

As the Israeli occupation continues its attacks on the sector for the second consecutive year, Halevi's statements confirm that: "The war has been characterized from its very first moment by a 'scorched earth' policy, far from any legal constraints or humanitarian considerations, at a time when international pressure on Tel Aviv is escalating due to the scale of the humanitarian disaster it has left in Gaza.