While many expected human rights abuse during Israel's 2008 invasion of Gaza, or Operation Cast Lead, the horrific attacks on civilians is emerging to be worse than anyone imagined. "It sounds really terrible to say 'cleanse', but those were the orders", says tank commander Ohad. Speaking candidly of the instructions they were given before their entry into Gaza, the soldiers accuse their leaders of a 'disproportionate' response, which aimed to target civilians. One soldier recalls being instructed to shell every house in a neighbourhood. Soldiers even boasted to each other about the number of civilians they had killed. Yegev remembers being told, "I heard you killed two today, great!" Whilst the IDF have asserted that their operational orders focused on 'humanity', the soldiers recall how their leaders would 'psych up' the troops to encourage unprovoked violence. "The order was very clear - if a car came within 200 metres of me I could simply shoot a shell at it".

A Film by Nurit Kedar