The Israeli army’s Central Command has changed its rules of engagement to make it easier to kill civilians in the occupied West Bank, including children, Haaretz reported on Monday.
Citing Israeli commanders and soldiers, the report said authorisation has been given to shoot and kill any individual caught “tampering with the ground”.
The new orders have been made under the pretext of preventing Palestinian militants from planting explosives, but it also allows Israeli forces to open fire more freely.
The new directives were reportedly issued under the authority of Central Command chief Major General Avi Bluth and West Bank division commander Brigadier General Yaakov Dolf.
The Israeli army claimed that there has been “no change” to the rules of engagement, however a senior military source who spoke to Haaretz said that new directives were given from the Central Command leadership.
The report said that many in the Israeli military establishment believe that the new orders are behind the high number of civilian casualties.Â
At least 73 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2025 in the occupied West Bank, including two women – one pregnant – on Sunday.
Under Dolf’s orders, Israeli forces have also reportedly been permitted to open fire at vehicles approaching Israeli checkpoints in the occupied West Bank.
This is despite the army displacing thousands of Palestinians since the start of the assault that began on 21 January, and allowing families to flee their homes by vehicle.
In one incident on Sunday, in which a pregnant woman was killed, the army’s initial investigation found that soldiers had fired at her husband who was driving their vehicle.
After his wife, 23-year-old Sundus Shalabi, exited the vehicle, she was fatally shot three times in the chest. The preliminary investigation also said that Shalabi had “looked suspiciously at the ground”, despite no weapons or explosives being found in her possession.
“Today, anyone killed in the West Bank is someone who ‘tampered with the ground,’ even if they weren’t actually digging or carrying a weapon,” one anonymous military source told Haaretz.
The army is also reportedly using brutal tactics tested in Gaza.
Twenty-one-year-old Rahaf al-Ashqar, also killed on Sunday, died after she opened the door to her residence, which had been loaded with explosives. The army detonated the explosives without telling the residents, army sources said.
After Ashqar was killed, the army forced a local resident to approach her body to check for additional explosives – a human shield tactic employed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
“Jabalia (in Gaza) has become an operational model being replicated everywhere,” one military source was quoted as saying, referring to the northern Gaza refugee camp which was devastated by multiple Israeli assaults since October 2023.
Children have also been killed under the new directives, according to the report.
On Saturday, seven-year-old Saddam Hussein Iyad Rajab succumbed to his wounds after being shot by Israeli forces in the Tulkarm refugee camp ten days earlier.
Footage of Rajab’s shooting was captured on security camera, showing the child being shot while standing outside the house. The army’s preliminary investigation said the child was suspected of “tampering” with the ground.
In January, eight-year-old Rida Bisharat, 10-year-old cousin Hamza Bisharat and 23-year-old Adam Bisharat were killed by an Israeli drone.
A military source quoted by Haaretz said that soldiers suspected them of planting explosives, leading to the strike request being escalated up to the level of Major General Bluth, who allegedly approved it.
