At precisely 1 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s army management issued an order that unleashed one of the vital intense bombing campaigns in up to date warfare.
Effective instantly, the order granted mid-ranking Israeli officers the authority to strike hundreds of militants and army websites that had by no means been a precedence in earlier wars in Gaza. Officers might now pursue not solely the senior Hamas commanders, arms depots and rocket launchers that had been the main focus of earlier campaigns, but in addition the lowest-ranking fighters.
In every strike, the order mentioned, officers had the authority to threat killing as much as 20 civilians.
The order, which has not beforehand been reported, had no precedent in Israeli army historical past. Mid-ranking officers had by no means been given a lot leeway to assault so many targets, a lot of which had decrease army significance, at such a excessive potential civilian price.
It meant, for instance, that the army might goal rank-and-file militants as they had been at residence surrounded by kinfolk and neighbors, as a substitute of solely once they had been alone outdoors.
In earlier conflicts with Hamas, many Israeli strikes had been authorized solely after officers concluded that no civilians could be damage. Sometimes, officers might threat killing as much as 5 civilians and solely not often did the restrict rise to 10 or above, although the precise demise toll was typically a lot increased.
On Oct. 7, the army management modified its guidelines of engagement as a result of it believed that Israel confronted an existential menace, based on a senior army officer who answered questions in regards to the order on the situation of anonymity.
