The Israeli military loosened its rules of engagement at the start of the Gaza offensive to enable commanders to order attacks on targets despite a heightened risk of civilian casualties, Reuters quotes a New York Times report as saying.

Immediately after the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel by groups of Hamas-led gunmen, the military granted mid-ranking officers the authority to strike a wide range of military targets where up to 20 civilians risked being killed, the newspaper said.

In addition to raising the number of civilian casualties that could be risked in a single attack, the NYT said the military removed a limit on the cumulative number of civilians that its strikes could put at risk each day.

On a few occasions, the military high command approved strikes that they knew would put as many as 100 civilian lives at risk, the newspaper said.

The order meant for example that the military could target rank-and-file militants while they were at home surrounded by relatives and neighbours, instead of only when they were alone outside, the newspaper said.

The NYT said the military acknowledged that the rules of engagement had changed after Oct 7 but said its forces had “consistently been employing means and methods that adhere to the rules of law”. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

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