Former Israeli army chief admits genocide: 200,000+ Palestinians killed or wounded in Gaza

• Israel’s former military chief openly admits to unrestrained slaughter of over 200,000 Palestinians with no legal or moral limits.
• Gaza’s death toll exceeds 64,000 killed and 164,000 wounded, with 80 percent civilians, including women and children.
• Israel’s blockade has caused famine, with 361 dead from malnutrition, while hospitals and medics are deliberately targeted.
• The ICJ and ICC are investigating Israel for genocide and war crimes, with global scholars confirming the legal definition of genocide.
• Israel’s claim of self-defense is exposed as a lie by the 50:1 Palestinian death toll and systematic destruction of civilian life.

When a nation’s top military commander openly admits to slaughtering more than 200,000 people — more than 10 percent of an entire population — while boasting that no legal constraints ever slowed him down, the world must recognize this for what it is: genocide. That is exactly what former Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi confessed this week, confirming what human rights groups, legal scholars, and the Palestinian Health Ministry have long documented.

Halevi, who led Israel’s assault on Gaza for 17 months before resigning in March, spoke to residents in southern Israel: “This isn’t a gentle war. We took the gloves off from the first minute. Sadly not earlier.” His words were not a slip; they were a proud declaration of a campaign so brutal that even Israel’s own military lawyers never once restricted his actions.

“Not once has anyone restricted me. Not once,” he repeated, dismissing the idea that legal or moral boundaries applied. Instead, he framed military lawyers as little more than PR cover: “There are legal advisers who say, ‘We will know how to defend this legally in the world,’ and this is very important for the state of Israel.” In other words, the law isn’t a constraint; it’s a narrative to be manipulated.

A death toll too massive to ignore

The scale of the carnage is almost unfathomable. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports 64,803 Palestinians killed and 164,264 wounded since October 7, 2023, but thousands more remain buried under rubble, uncounted. Independent analyses, including leaked Israeli intelligence data, suggest more than 80% of the dead are civilians, including women and children. To put it in perspective: If a foreign military killed 10% of America’s population, that would mean 33 million Americans dead or maimed.

Yet Israel’s apologists still dismiss these numbers as “Hamas propaganda”, a claim debunked by the United Nations and humanitarian agencies worldwide. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is investigating Israel for genocide, while the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes. Even the world’s largest association of genocide scholars recently passed a resolution, endorsed by 86% of its members, stating that Israel’s actions “meet the legal definition of genocide” under the 1948 UN convention.

Starvation as a weapon, hospitals as targets

The brutality extends far beyond bombs. Last month, famine was officially declared in Gaza after Israel enforced a total blockade, cutting off food, water, and medical supplies. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 361 Palestinians have already died from malnutrition, including 124 children. Hospitals, which are supposedly protected under the Geneva Conventions, have been systematically bombed, with Israeli forces even dressing as medics to infiltrate and attack patients.

When a nation deliberately starves civilians and obliterates healthcare infrastructure, it’s a premeditated campaign of annihilation.

Israel’s defenders still cling to the narrative of “self-defense” after the October 7 Hamas attacks, which killed 1,200 people. But two years of relentless bombardment — with a death toll now 50 times higher on the Palestinian side — exposes the lie.

Halevi’s successor, current IDF chief Eyal Zamir, has continued the pattern of defiance. According to Haaretz, Zamir ignored legal advice from Israel’s military advocate general, who warned against displacing 1 million Gazans without ensuring their safety. The result? Thousands trapped in rubble, families forced to flee repeatedly, and a humanitarian catastrophe that grows worse by the day.

Halevi’s admissions aren’t just a smoking gun. They’re a confession. When a military commander brags about taking “the gloves off” while 200,000 people lie dead or wounded, there’s no more room for denial.

Sources for this article include:

MiddleEastEye.net

TheGuardian.com

PalestineChronicle.com