Weiman: Israeli army seeks post hoc justification for Gaza attacks

Weiman says Israeli army seeks post hoc justification for Gaza attacks

Nadav Weiman, executive director of Breaking the Silence, said the Israeli army tries to link targets to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad after carrying out attacks in Gaza. Weiman cited the August 25, 2025, attack on Nasser Medical Complex, which killed at least 20 Palestinians, as an example of this practice.

Scraper SystemSeptember 01, 2026, 11:44 PM

Weiman says Israeli army seeks post hoc justification for Gaza attacks

Nadav Weiman, executive director of Breaking the Silence, said the Israeli army tries to create post hoc justifications by linking those killed in attacks in the Gaza Strip to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In an interview with France 24 on Friday, Weiman said the Israeli army and Israeli officials move to formulate justifications for the attacks after they occur. He said they examine whether the people killed had a relative connected to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whether they had been seen near a building allegedly belonging to Hamas, or whether they had previously appeared on the payrolls of these groups.

Attack on Nasser Medical Complex

Weiman described the August 25, 2025, attack on Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza as another example of this approach. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 20 Palestinians were killed and many others were wounded in the attack, which struck an area where patients, medical workers, civil defense personnel and journalists were present.

Weiman said a second artillery shell caused the deaths of most of those in the area and questioned how military officials had identified the targets before the attack. He argued that the Israeli army prepared files on specific individuals after the attack and claimed that Hamas members had been present in the area.

Statement on workers in Rafah

The Breaking the Silence director also said that 15 emergency aid and civil defense workers were killed by the Israeli army in Rafah on March 23. Weiman alleged that a similar justification process was applied after the deaths of these people, who are protected under international law.

Weiman said this approach was not limited to the attack on Nasser Hospital and also referred to the protests along the Gaza border in 2018. During the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege protests, which began on March 30, 2018, Palestinians gathered along the barrier between the Gaza Strip and Israel, demanding the right of refugees to return and an end to the blockade of Gaza.

Weiman said Israeli forces killed 215 Palestinians during the protests and that Israeli media described those killed as “terrorists.” He said testimonies collected by the group from soldiers who served during the ongoing Gaza war also indicated that everyone shot and killed was recorded as a terrorist, regardless of whether they were civilians.

Criticism of internal investigations

Arguing that the Israeli army’s internal investigations rarely provide meaningful accountability, Weiman said the investigations mostly focus on lower-ranking officers. According to Weiman, policy-level questions—such as who issued the orders, who approved the rules of engagement and to what extent civilian deaths were considered acceptable—are not examined sufficiently.

According to Palestinian sources, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 174,000 wounded in Gaza since October 8, 2023. The Gaza Health Ministry said that 1,320 Palestinians had been killed and 4,385 wounded in attacks carried out despite the ceasefire said to have been in effect since October 10, 2025.

Weiman says Israeli army seeks post hoc justification for Gaza attacks