Israeli Soldiers 'Haunted By What They Have Done' In Gaza, UN Expert Says
Israeli troops are “haunted by what they have done” in Gaza, according to a UN specialist.
Israel declared war on the Palestinian territory in October 2023 after Gaza-based militants Hamas killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil and took a further 251 others hostage.
Israel then imposed an aid blockade and launched a ground offensive, triggering a humanitarian crisis in the territory.
An estimated 56,000 people in Gaza have been killed over the last 21 months. Up to 70% of the deceased are believed to be women and children.
On Monday, an Israeli soldier told Sky News that his unit was often ordered to fatally shoot anyone entering so-called “no-go zones” whether or not they posed a threat.
He suggested there is a prevailing belief in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) that all Gazans are terrorists, even if some are “poor people, civilians that don’t really have too many choices” .
On Monday evening, the UN’s special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, explained that many Israeli troops are now “psychologically broken” because of what has happened in Gaza.
Speaking to Sky’s The World with Yalda Hakim, Albanese said: “I’ve been hearing from Israelis on the ground that there is an alarm within the society because most of the young people coming out of Gaza who have been fighting what Israeli leaders keep calling ‘a war’... the impact it has had on the soldiers.
“While the demonisation of Palestinians among them continues, many of them are haunted by what they have done, what they have seen.
“It doesn’t make sense. This is not the war. This is an assault against civilians.
“This is producing a fracture in many of them, many of them are assisted by psychotherapists, but many of them are committing suicide.”
"These kind of testimonies are becoming more frequent"
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 7, 2025
UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese comments on @alexrossiSKY report of an Israeli soldier killing civilians in Gaza
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She called on the Israeli government to stop being “in denial” and look at how “Israeli society is falling apart”.
Albanese claimed the younger generation has been particularly affected because it has been “turned into the willful executioner of a genocidal attack”.
Albanese also warned the “apocalyptic” scenario in Gaza right now “looks different” from previous wars between Israel and the Palestinian territory, claiming this time “there has been an intention to destroy.”
She also claimed younger soldiers believed they were on a mission of “patronage” and defending Israeli society.
“But they have come to confront the reality that amid the rubble of Gaza, there were civilians, there were children like collecting the remains and trying to get a living – and they have been killed just for being in the wrong place,” Albanese said.
She claimed this was a “script” which has been enforced over the Palestinians for a “long time”.
“This is the first time that the Israelis are awakening to this and they don’t make sense to this because their attachment to being part of the IDF which is embedded in their national ideology is too strong. They cannot be traitor to that ideal, and this is why they are psychologically broken,” Albanese said.
US president Donald Trump has been trying to organise a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas for months now.
There was a brief truce between January and March, but it was unilaterally broken by Israel.
Discussions for a new ceasefire have picked up momentum recently, though and Trump told reporters on Saturday that there could be “a Gaza deal next week”.
During a trip to Washington DC on Monday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu even announced he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.