because they can leave their base whenever they want and go to a restaurant to eat they take their wallets. When they get the order to enter the Gaza strip they don't have where to put the wallet so they take it with them.

Having heard the testimonies of many soldiers I am not surprised at all by the above remarks. The same I have heard. One point stated is true - why did the soldier who made such remark not say something a lot earlier and allow for investigation. As to the witnesses - who would trust Palestinian eyewitnesses in Gaza, they are not known for being credible and most are a PR machine for Hamas (which you can not blame them at times considering how they live) The IDF was honourable and those soldiers who acted differently were far from the norm.

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.." - Cicero. Jews who defame Israel are the most pernicious tools in the war against Israel and Jewry, those who, to paraphrase Cicero, move among us freely, teaching our young, their sly moral equivalence, which equates Israel with its tormentors, heard in the halls of government itself. They preen and strut as supposed devotees of "peace" and "justice." More at : http://xrl.us/beh9va

South America is a hellhole because of your country -- the Spaniards raped the New World for gold and treasure with no regard for the natives. I also think I remember something about the Spanish Inquisition, and maybe something else about Ferdinand and Isabella throwing the Jews out of the country. Oh yeah, and Spain REALLY stood up during World War 2 -- all the troops you sent to help the allies, all the Jews your countrymen helped save. I also believe your country was hardcore Communist for a while. Basically, you have little to be proud of your country over and no right to lecture anyone about the actions of their countrymen or government. Keep the hypocrisy to yourself please.

The pros and cons of IDF behavior will be discussed for a long time. Most of what is said will be determined by the political stance of the commentator, not by any examination of what occurred. This is sad but true. And in cases where there is some examination of what occurred, the conclusions will have been reached before the job starts. Once again, sad, but true. I would like to address the claim that a group of IDF personnel left an envelope of money for a Palestinian family. Why? Did they suffer from bad consciences? Were they attempting to make a sacrifice and atone? Or, was this gesture simply a very ironic, darkly humorous piece of gallows humor? Everyone knows that Gaza has been under an intense lockdown and blockade for months. How in hell can Gazans use the money? Do the IDF personnel want the Gazans to stock up on gefilte fish before the next invasion? In short, what is the point of this little charade? If anyone can give a reasonable answer, I'd love to hear one. I'll check back here, periodically. So long.

Channel 2 TV Army correspondent Roni Daniel stated at 6:30 PM this evening, that he personally tracked down one of the soldiers interviewed for the Haaretz article. Apparently the soldier's testimony to Haaretz wasn't based on anything he personally saw or witnessed, rather based on rumors and hearsay he heard (and the soldier wasn't even in Gaza!) Haaretz today: "Givati brigade commander Ilan Malkha summoned the squad leader who recounted the story, who admitted he had relied solely on rumors in the company."

did you protested so vigorously when the Taliban in Afganistan destroy the biggest Buda statue in the world?

"That’s the beauty of Gaza. You see a man walking, he doesn’t have to have a weapon, and you can shoot him,” "When we entered a house, we were supposed to bust down the door and start shooting inside and just go up storey by storey… I call that murder. Each storey, if we identify a person, we shoot them. I asked myself – how is this reasonable?"

for any damage. Gaza also uses shekels for its currency so that money can be used for anything and as numerous photos have shown, gaza has plenty of food. Gaza hasn't been under an intense lockdown nor has it been under a blockade, billions flow into Gaza - palestinians being the largest per capita recipients of international in the world - and tons of food and fuel is sent in via the Israeli borders - note the Egyptians keep their border sealed. I know with lazy journalists parrotting Palestinian propaganda it is hard to get facts but it isn't impossible

i wish my hebrew writing was that neat. Imagine if the soldier had bad handwriting, what a waste of a propaganda photo...

On a seperate note , Hawida Araf happens to be the co founder of the International Solidarity Movement along with her husband Adam Shapiro . The ISM subscribes to being an apolitical humanitarian movement when in fact the reality is that it is a non military offshoot of the Palestinian terror apparatus.It uses yong idealistic volunteers and places them in combat zones in order to prevent the IDF from carrying out anti terrorist operations .At the height of the Intifada ,they would place their operatives around the homes of homicide bombers before the intended atrocity taking place having received prior information.Thus they would be in position when the IDF arrived .It is effectively a win win situation. Either the IDF are prevented from carrying out an operation or a volunteer is injured or killed thus becoming a useful propoganda tool. Several years ago here in London the ISM staged a film show of their work followed by a question and answer session . When I asked whether we could expect a similar humanitarian gesture in Tel Aviv with volunteers positioned in buses and cafes ,I was labelled a Zionist agitator and promptly removed by several of their goons . In short ,Araf is an experienced spokesperson for the terrorist entity and a master of propoganda .She will naturally seize upon any naive angst ridden leftie comments to further her own agenda . It may well be that a few individuals failed to perform to the exacting and constantly high standards set by the IDF The overwhelming majority did in desperately difficult conditions of assymetric warfare against a ruthless barbaric enemy . Hamas could have put a stop to it at any time by ending the rocket barrage .The fact that they did not is representative of the contempt they have for the well being of their people

Oh no! in one house, there was some graffiti, I'm sure that all the thousands of soldiers that were involved in the ground operation were taking part in doing it, or maybe was it a single soldier? Think logically, you are taking one incident, and saying that it's a proof that all the soldiers were drawing graffiti on walls, (and still, it doesn't prove that a Palestinians Hebrew-speaker couldn't have wrote this, many Palestinians knows how, after all Israel gave them work...)

If the IDF is a criminal army, what about the Spaniards? I'm sure they left some of the gold they pillaged in the houses of the people they massacred, right?

400+ murdered children were helping Hamas

Im Glad Im an Anti Zionist If It borders on AntiSemitism.. who gives a Toss?

This is one picture of one house. I am sure that Ynet is not going to post hundreds of pictures for your satisfactionjust for you to be satisfied. You want more pictures, contact the nearest human rights organization office and they will provide you with all you need! Enough with your stupidity. Palestinians are not going to vandalize their homes and kill their children just to make Israel look bad. Israel did a great job at that!

and want to repay them for the hospitality then you leave them money. There are a lot of goods that you can buy in Gaza strip, their living quality is higher than in Egypt, Jordan and way higher than places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Oh yeah, "you are sure", I have been there, I am kinda high ranked, and I know how stuff were going in there. I can count the incidents on my own fingers. I'm sure, because I know it, I was there, and I know what were my commands. You can't know that, because you are watching it externally.

Dear Sidney, Israel is doing her best to avoid these charges by stopping Intl. organizations doing their jobs. That alone, together with being very careful in publishing the names of the responsibles IDF 'heroes' already proof that Israel has gone too far. For the sake of the country of Israel I hope they will punish the ones responsible from individual soldier all the way to the top (the highest in ranks) and even politicians. Shalom.

so the problem now is the graffiti; not the1300+ Gaza civilians killed. wondering what would Israelis say if there were no such damn Graffiti?

a military action, an Israeli soldier takes the time to write -- in the handwriting of a second grader, I might add -- graffiti on the wall of a home. If you believe that, you're as dumb as the Arab who inscribed that graffiti and tried to pass it off as the act of an Israeli soldier. Besides which, Israeli soldiers are far too professional to engage in that type of nonsense while conducting a house to house search in the middle of a shooting war. The handwriting is puerile, anyway. Looks like it was written by someone whose hand is far more accustomed to Arab script. Nice try, but it fools no one with half a brain.

I'm glad you're anti-Zionist, too. There is nothing you have ever posted that bears even a faint semblance to truth or reality and I would find it troubling to think that you and I would share a common sentiment. That said -- no one cares what you think. If it rains, you're glad you're an anti-Zionist. If it's sunny, you're glad you're an anti-Zionist. That makes you kind of irrelevant to most Jews, you know?

More self-hatred and guilt and self-flagrellating from the masters.And it is not even Yom Kippur yet.

In reply to #41 and #49, #41 first. To pay for any damages?? If so, why only one group? The IDF did one hell of a job on Gaza, molto damages everydamnwhere. Shouldn't the IDF as a whole be paying? Or, perhaps, the glorious state of Israel? Please do not get the idea that I believe the Gazans or Palestinians are heroes here. I am repulsed by both sides of this idiocy. Israel is the target of my criticism because it is currently the power in the area and is acting as power always makes one act. Also, it is just possible that an expression of disfavor from an American may carry some weight, not because of any superiority of the USA, that has been trampled , thoroughly. The fact that the USA is 100% responsible for the Israeli war machine might make Israel stop and think. As to # 49, Are you joking?? Hospitality?? Hospitality implies mutual consent and mutual recognition. If the Gazans were showing hospitality, why were the IDF personnel walking around with the safeties off on their rifles? I wish there were some way to take this entire problem away from the politicians and the religious zealots, on both sides. Without the insanity of those two tribes of subhumans, there just might be a way for this to be healed. I feel much as at the end of Romeo and Juliet: " All are punished"