OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Former Israeli army commander Herzi Halevi has admitted that more than 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He also said that legal advice never restricted attacks at any point in Israel’s aggressions.
Halevi stepped down in March as chief of staff after leading the Israeli army through the first 17 months of the genocide.
Speaking at a settlement meeting in southern Israel, Halevi told settlers that more than 10% of Gaza’s population had been killed or wounded. “More than 200,000 people,” he said.
The figure matches closely with the toll reported by Gaza’s health ministry, which Israel has often dismissed as propaganda. Yet international humanitarian groups have long considered the ministry’s statistics reliable.
According to official Gaza figures, 64,718 Palestinians have been killed and 163,859 injured since the genocide began. Thousands more remain missing, believed to be under the rubble as Israel continue to hinder rescue teams work.
Leaked Israeli military intelligence showed that more than 80% of the dead in Gaza until May were civilians.
Halevi defended the scale of Israel’s military response. “This isn’t a gentle war. We took the gloves off from the first minute. Sadly not earlier,” he said.
The remarks were made in Ein HaBesor, a farming settlement.
“No one is working gently,” Halevi continued. He claimed, however, that the Israeli military operates within international humanitarian law. Israeli officials have repeated that claim throughout the genocide, often saying military lawyers guide operational decisions.
Halevi, however, denied that legal advice ever affected battlefield decisions. “Not once has anyone restricted me. Not once,” he said.
He added that the military advocate general, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, did not have the authority to stop him. In remarks cited by Ynet, Halevi also implied that the role of military lawyers was more about defending Israel’s image abroad than restraining operations.
“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,” he said.
C. QNN
