Both Hamas and Israel have committed war crimes since the conflict began in Gaza. This was said by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, and confirmed what was previously supported by authoritative humanitarian organizations such as Amnesty International. “The atrocities committed by Palestinian armed groups on October 7 were horrific, brutal and shocking; they were war crimes, as was the continued holding of hostages,” Turk said. He added: “Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians constitutes a war crime, as does its illegal forcible evacuation of civilians.”
Israel’s response to Turk’s remarks was immediate: “Attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF, ed.) against military targets are subject to the relevant provisions of international law, including the adoption of practicable precautions and the assessment that incidental harm to civilians is reasonable.” not excessive compared to the expected military gain,” Tel Aviv said. Who is right?
It’s hard to say. Last October 23, Amnesty International published its investigation, in which it declared that there was evidence that at least five bombings carried out by the Israeli army in Gaza constituted “war crimes” because they violated “international law”. Amnesty International therefore requested the International Criminal Court to order an investigation into both Israel’s actions and Hamas’ attack on 7 October.
What does international law say?
Amnesty International refers to the 1949 Geneva Conventions as the legal basis for the definition of war crimes; These conventions are integrated with the decisions of all member states of the United Nations (and therefore also ratified by Israel and Palestine) and international tribunals on war crimes. .war.
“A series of agreements regulate the treatment of civilians, soldiers and prisoners of war in a system known collectively as ‘The Law of Armed Conflict’ or ‘International Humanitarian Law’. This applies to government forces and non-state organized armed groups. Reuters also describes Hamas militants.” This legal system basically aims to protect civilians from the consequences of war, but combatants are not excluded from these protections.
What are war crimes
Humanitarian NGOs, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the UN agree that Hamas’s attack on civilians, its indiscriminate missile launches, and the taking of civilians hostage by Palestinian armed groups can clearly be described as war crimes. However, Israel’s reaction will also lead to such crimes.
In the case of Tel Aviv, the bombings are war crimes not if they cause civilian victims, but if they deliberately target non-combatants and fail to take all necessary precautions to prevent innocent deaths. Additionally, the attack must not be disproportionate to the military objective it intends to pursue (in Israel’s case, the elimination of Hamas militants). Finally, deliberately attacking personnel and material participating in humanitarian aid is also a separate war crime, as long as those providing humanitarian aid are civilians.
Israel claims that it carried out its intervention in Gaza in line with these requirements. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (led by Hamas), there have been more than 10,000 deaths in the Strip so far; It is estimated that at least 4 thousand of them are children. All buildings were destroyed, mosques, hospitals, even ambulances and refugee camps were also hit. Nearly eighty UN officials died under IDF bombs in Gaza, and dozens of journalists, including their families, were killed.
Tel Aviv assures that it has taken every precaution to reduce the impact on civilians, and that even the most controversial cases (such as the bombing of ambulances) are linked to Hamas’ use of civilians and humanitarian personnel as human shields. For example, members of the Israeli army, as confirmed by Amnesty International itself or by the media BBCWarn residents of a specific area of the Strip via text message or direct call before carrying out an attack if civilians are present in that area in addition to presumed terrorists.
Amnesty International disputes that this does not always happen. Additionally, the NGO claims that warning the public about bombings does not mean that a license to bomb is automatically granted in accordance with international humanitarian law. For example, on October 10, airstrikes destroyed a six-story building in Sheikh Radwan, a neighborhood of Gaza City, killing at least 40 people, according to Amnesty International’s report. “Our investigations revealed that a Hamas member resided on one of the building’s floors but was not present at the time of the airstrike,” the NGO writes. “The presence of a combatant in a civilian building does not turn that building or any civilians inside into a military target.” In short, the attack would be disproportionate to the military target.
The UN also said that the aerial bombardments carried out on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza last week, in which Israel announced that it targeted and killed two senior Hamas commanders, were “disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes”.
What justice for war crimes?
The only third-party court that can clarify whether Israel also committed war crimes is the International Criminal Court (ICC). At least on paper. Prosecutor Karim Khan warned the Israeli military that it would have to show that “any attack targeting innocent civilians or protected objects such as hospitals, churches, schools or mosques” must be carried out in accordance with the laws of armed conflict. “The burden of proving that protected status has been lost lies with those who fired the weapon, missile or rocket in question,” Khan added.
The problem is that Israel never signed the Rome Statute, which provides for membership in the ICC. Therefore, as far as Tel Aviv is concerned, the Court has no jurisdiction in Israeli territory. Can it capture Gaza and the West Bank? The Palestinian Authority acceded to the Rome Statute in 2015, but according to Israel, Palestine is not a sovereign nation and therefore even what happens in the Strip or the rest of the Palestinian territory does not fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC.
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Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
