A senior Israeli army commander has boasted that troops are killing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank at levels not seen since 1967, according to remarks reported from a closed military meeting.
Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli army’s Central Command, admitted that Israeli forces were “killing as we have not killed since 1967”, in comments reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Sunday.
The year 1967 refers to Israel’s multiple-front attack on neighbouring countries, commonly referred to as the Six-Day War, during which it began its illegal occupation of the West Bank.
Bluth also acknowledged that the army applied different rules to Jewish and Palestinian stone-throwers, citing domestic repercussions for using lethal force against Israelis.
“Soldiers firing at Jews has difficult social repercussions,” he said, later admitting: “Yes, there is a certain discrimination.”
He further boasted of loosening the rules of engagement against Palestinians, particularly those approaching or crossing the separation barrier.
“Today, in the seam zone, it is permitted to carry out a suspect-arrest procedure, including firing toward the knee and below, in order to create awareness of the existence of a barrier,” he said.
Referring to the high number of Palestinians shot in the legs, Bluth added sarcastically: “Today there are many limping memorials in Palestinian villages – people who tried to infiltrate and were injured. There is a price to be paid.”
He framed the policy as part of efforts to prevent a repeat of the 7 October attack in the West Bank, describing the army’s approach as one of “precise aggression”.
“What distinguishes me is that I am constantly dealing with (the Palestinians), and continuously turning villages into arenas of confrontation,” he said.
He claimed that Israeli forces had killed 1,500 Palestinians over three years, describing them as “militants”.
“We killed 1,500 terrorists over three years. So why is there no uprising? Why don’t they go out into the streets? Why is the Palestinian public indifferent? Why are there no disturbances?” he said. “Because 96% of the 1,500 killed were involved in terrorism, and only 4% were not.”
Bluth further asserted: “Of the 1,500, 70% were carrying firearms. Also, Arabs understand that if someone rises to kill you, you must act first to kill him = this is a rule in the Middle East. Therefore, we are killing as we have not killed since 1967.”
While Bluth’s claims could not be independently verified, leading rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel of targeting Palestinians arbitrarily in the West Bank
On Palestinians accused by Israel of throwing stones, he said: “This is terrorism… and in 2025 we killed 42 stone-throwers on the roads.”
In contrast, when discussing documented incidents of Israeli settlers throwing stones, Blot said he opposed opening fire. “For example, we shot two masked Jews – I don’t know if you remember the uproar that caused,” he said, referring to an incident last year.
He cited additional cases, including “a 15-year-old anarchist, mentally unstable, from (the settlement of) Beit She’an, who threw stones at midnight at a military jeep”, adding that the officer who shot him “did not know they were Jews until he heard Hebrew being spoken”.
In another case near Givat Asaf, a Border Police officer shot a suspect in the neck, and “by chance, the Jews were not killed”.
Bluth said such incidents had carried wider societal implications. “Every incident of this kind has very difficult social repercussions. I am not sure we need to reach that point, nor is there a need to reach live fire,” he said. “We prefer to resolve this by other means.”
“If we start now firing at every Israeli stone-thrower at a junction, I am not sure that will be beneficial; in fact, I think it will lead to the exact opposite,” he added.
Bluth also pointed to disparities in administrative detention, noting that thousands of Palestinians are held without trial while Israelis are not.
“Do you know how many Arab administrative detainees there are now? More than 4,000. You have no administrative detention for Israelis, but you have 4,000 Palestinian administrative detainees,” he said.
The controversial practice of administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to hold individuals indefinitely without charge or trial on undisclosed security grounds, a measure widely criticised by rights groups as lacking due process and used to suppress Palestinian political activity.
