00:00Let's get into the analysis now. Joel Carmel joins us, Advocacy Director of Breaking the Silence.
00:05Joel, thanks for being with us. I'm wondering, first off, what is your take on this situation?
00:12Well, it's interesting to me that the U.S. administration has now found evidence of this.
00:19It's something that we've been talking about for a very long time.
00:22And testifiers have been coming to us from close to the beginning of the war and throughout the two years of warfare in Gaza,
00:33when at the beginning we thought that maybe what we were hearing about Palestinians being taken and sent into potentially booby-trapped houses and tunnels,
00:45we thought perhaps that was the initiative of some crazy commander or a lone part of the army.
00:53But as the evidence started building up and we heard about this again and again from different soldiers serving in different units
01:01at different parts of Gaza at different times during the war, it became clear that this was certainly not just a pattern,
01:09but something that was certainly coming from above and was indeed a policy.
01:13So this is something you've been aware of for a long time, as you've said, and you've given us some examples of that.
01:20Can you believe that the United States didn't know, and if they did know, should the United States have acted?
01:28Well, clearly the United States was a very important part of this war from the very beginning.
01:36There were very, what was going on in the Gaza Strip was very closely watched by the U.S. administration,
01:43both under Biden and Trump.
01:46I believe that this is something that was clear to them, and if they had acted, maybe things could have been better.
01:57But I have to say that ultimately this war came to an end, well, as much as you can call the ceasefire an end to this war.
02:07So it happened at the pressure of the United States, and it was a matter of Trump deciding that enough was enough.
02:16That certainly could have happened earlier.
02:19Nobody here is saying that what happened on October 7th, 2023 was anything other than an atrocity.
02:24Let's get that out in the open so no one can accuse either of us of trying to ignore what happened then,
02:29because it was an atrocity which took place.
02:31And, of course, what has happened since could equally be given that label, I think.
02:36But this is a very specific story we're dealing with, isn't it, in terms of how this works?
02:40And in terms of international law, clearly Israel now has a case to answer.
02:45Yeah, I mean, I want to echo what you said.
02:50Of course, we're in a small country, and everyone here was very clearly affected by October 7th,
03:00and there's not a single person here who wasn't traumatized by that.
03:05But, yes, what happened in the aftermath of October 7th was something that I think now that things have calmed down
03:15and we're in a ceasefire period, which I hope will continue and become even strengthened,
03:23there is now going to be a time for a proper reckoning.
03:27And that's something that isn't just important for justice for the Palestinians, which is certainly necessary,
03:35but it's also important for us as Israelis.
03:39We need the ability to really take a good look at what happened here,
03:44understand how we got to doing the most atrocious things,
03:48and understand how we can hold those people who took the decisions to account
03:54so that nothing like this can ever happen again.
03:57Joel, thank you for joining us.
03:58Joel Carmel, Advocacy Director at Breaking the Silence.
04:00Thank you, sir, for taking the time to be with CM France 24.
04:03We appreciate the analysis you brought.
