Israel is retaliating after the Hamas terrorist attacks. What is covered by international law — and what is a war crime?
War is the use of organized violence to achieve political goals. Constraining this violence within a framework of rules is the aim of international law. Things become complicated, however, when this idea meets the messy reality in Israel and Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accordingly declared a state of war. The day after the massacre in southern Israel, Netanyahu said explicitly that Israel would lay to ruin every place where Hamas was operating or hiding. That only means, however, that civilians or civilian facilities are not allowed to be knowingly targeted in attacks. So, the killing of civilians is only forbidden when there is proof that it was done deliberately.
Watch more News on iWantTFC "If Hamas stays and hides in schools, mosques, hospitals, and operates command centers from there, then they become legitimate military targets," Stefan Talmon said. At the same time, it applies that: If Hamas sets up military positions in civilian areas, that counts as a war crime.Israel has imposed a total and comprehensive blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Because the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip is in ruins and there are not enough places for that many people to go to, the United Nations said such an evacuation was impossible. Jan Egeland, a former state secretary of Norway and current secretary general of the aid organization Norwegian Refugee Council, described the evacuation order as illegal. It is "not an evacuation opportunity, it's an order to relocate.
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