A new ITV documentary, Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, airing in the UK on Monday, November 10, 2025, features testimony from Israeli soldiers detailing what they describe as a breakdown in norms and legal constraints during operations in Gaza, with civilians killed at the discretion of individual officers.
Daniel, a commander of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank unit, tells the programme:
“If you want to shoot without restraint, you can.”
Some soldiers spoke on the record, while others requested anonymity, but all pointed to the erosion of the official IDF code of conduct regarding civilian targets. The documentary also includes confirmations of human shield use by the IDF, contradicting repeated official denials, and describes unprovoked shootings at civilians rushing toward food distribution points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by the US and Israel.
Capt. Yotam Vilk, an armoured corps officer, explained the gap between training and practice:
“In basic training, we all chanted ‘means, intent, and ability’ that a soldier can fire only if the target has the means, shows intent, and can cause harm. There’s no such thing in Gaza. Soldiers just fire based on suspicion.”
Another soldier, identified only as Eli, said that decisions over life and death are left entirely to the conscience of commanders on the ground. This creates arbitrary distinctions between civilians and combatants, he says:
“If they’re walking too fast, they’re suspicious. Too slowly, they’re suspicious. One lags behind, it’s a military formation. It’s subjective judgment rather than procedure.”
Eli recounts a striking incident in which a tank destroyed a building in a so-called safe zone for civilians. A man hanging laundry on the roof was misidentified as a military spotter:
“He had no binoculars or weapons, the nearest military force was 600–700 metres away, yet the tank fired, collapsing half the building. The result was many dead and wounded.”
The documentary paints a stark picture of operational conduct in Gaza, highlighting what soldiers describe as a culture where standard rules of engagement have been sidelined, leading to preventable civilian casualties.
