Israeli military condemns Brit activists for revealing its ‘war criminal’ soldiers on website

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military has condemned British activists for the publication of names and photographs of 200 Israeli soldiers, including senior commanders and low-ranking soldiers, on a US-based website that called them ‘war criminals.’

According to the Mail Online, the website also published home addresses and ID numbers of those soldiers, who the site claimed had participated in the three-week military offensive launched by Israel in Gaza in 2008.

Israel Defence Forces have issued a statement saying that the military “deplores” the publication of personal details of hundreds of IDF soldiers and officers, without any factual basis.

However, it assured that the information “poses no real threat to those whose names ended up on the list.”

The website however said that it had removed the publication on Friday citing ‘breach of terms,’ and added that the information came from an anonymous source who was ‘presumably’ serving in the Israeli military.

The paper quoted the website as saying: “The people listed here held positions of command at the time of the attack. Therefore, not only did they perform on behalf of a murderous state mechanism but actively encouraged other people to do the same.”

It also threatened to harm the soldiers, urging readers, to “do your bit so that this virtual list may come to bear upon the physical.”

In December 2008, Israel began its Gaza offensive after years of intense rocket fire from the coastal strip ruled by the Iran-backed militant group Hamas.

According to Palestinian and international human rights groups, the attack had devastated Palestine, killing around 1,400 people.

In Britain and other European countries, anti-Israeli activists have sought to use the principle of universal jurisdiction to pursue past and current Israeli officials linked to military operations that killed civilians, the paper said. (ANI)