"The number of Israelis slaughtered, in many cases in their homes have gone to over 1400, and that's not counting foreigners massacred by Hamas. Since the strike on the hospital, it was already confirmed by IDF and US intelligence, and publicly articulated by President Biden, that it was a failed rocket launch by a sister terrorist organization to Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, that was responsible for the hit on the hospital and resulting casualties. Neither organization is working within the confines of the laws of war; they have in the past and currently used hospitals and other civilians sites to store weapons, as missiles sites, or conducted operations against Israel in close proximity to hospitals and schools, resulting in numerous civilian deaths and injuries".
American journalist, security analyst, lawyer Irina Tsukerman said this in a statement to Ednews.
The expert believes that Israel continues to act within the framework of the laws of war. According to him, Hamas uses many civilians as shields:
"Moreoever, aside from the logistical reality of extremely high density in Gaza and its landscape that has been described as a "concrete jungle", and despite Israel's repeated warnings for civilians to evacuate, Hamas has blocked many civilians from leaving the area affected by air strikes and has also instructed civiilains not to leave in effort to use them as human shields against strikes and to turn the international public opinion against Israel. This sort of technique is considered a form of psychological warfare as it places Israel in an impossible moral dilemma of having to take out Hamas operatives who are continuing rocket barrage against Israel or face the inevitability of a high civilian death toll resulting from civilian inability to evacuate. Nevertheless, Israel continues to act within the laws of war, where the governing principle of proportionality dictates that the incidental and involuntary damages caused to the civilian population during a military attack shall not be excessive in comparison to the direct military advantage obtained".
At the end of the interview, the lawyer emphasized that all responsibility for the loss of the civilian population rests with Hamas and its partners:
"In Israel's case the military goal is to destroy the Hamas Governing Authority (its midlevel operatives on the ground in Gaza) who have hidden among civilian populaiton and have used an intricate system of tunnels to avoid detection and elimination, and given the stated goals, the high casualty rate is to be expected, and something ISrael has repeatedly warned about. The responsibility for any civilian deaths resulting from these operations is squarely on Hamas and its backers; Israel has taken care and has given abundant time for civilians to clear out of the areas, and cannot do any more than that without sacrificing its own defense capabilities which is not an expection under international humanitarian law. To answer your question, Israel has gone well beyond expectation in exercising due care for Palestinian civilian lives and has consistently acted within the laws of war, whereas Hamas and PIJ and countries that backed and funded them have violated the laws of war and deliberately committed numerous war crimes against Israelis, foreigners, and also Palestinians".
Akbar Novruz
