Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation.

Israel’s top commander in the occupied West Bank boasted that the Israeli military is killing at rates not seen since 1967, according to comments published at Haaretz.

In a recent closed meeting with members of the military, Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli military’s Central Command, defended loosening the rules of engagement for firing at Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, saying that Israel is “killing like we haven’t since 1967.”

The year 1967 refers to Israel’s war on its neighbors — commonly called the Six Day War, and known to Palestinians as the Naksa — that culminated in the displacement of over 300,000 Palestinians and the start of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights.

Bluth said that, due to his new rules of engagement, Israeli soldiers can shoot Palestinians on or below the knees when they are approaching the “seam line” between the West Bank and Israel. This, he said, will create a deterrent effect that he called “barrier consciousness.” Referring to the large number of Palestinians who have been shot attempting to cross into Israel, Bluth said, “There are a lot of ‘limping monuments’ in Palestinian villages, of those who tried to [cross without Israel’s authorization], so there is a price being paid.”

The number of Palestinians attempting to cross from the West Bank into Israel without authorization has increased since October 7, 2023, Haaretz reports — but this is because Israel suspended over 100,000 work permits for Palestinians from the West Bank after the start of the genocide in........

© Truthout