Some 43 reserve soldiers serving in Israel’s top electronic surveillance unit have refused to wiretap Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency.In a letter addressed to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and army chiefs, some 43 reserve soldiers of Unit 8200 said that they now refuse to perform any military tasks which would consolidate Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands, Israeli radio reported.
The soldiers assert that the information collected by their unit is being used to pile pressure on Palestinian civilians to recruit them to spy for Israel.
Established in 1952, Unit 8200 is the largest army unit responsible for intelligence gathering, according to Al Ray.
This move comes two weeks on the tail of a devestating seven-week Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which over 2,000 Palestinians — mostly civilians — were killed and nearly 11,000 others injured.
See VIDEO: Gaza City’s Devastated Al-Shuja’eyya Suburb
Approximately 1/4 of the slain were children.
At least 72 Israelis – 67 soldiers and five civilians – were also killed in the onslaught, according to Israel’s official tally.
Names of Palestinians Killed in the War on Gaza since 8 July —
