Hamas strike on Israel - mod warning in OP updated 19/10/23

Oh no you didn't. There isn't one.

That is the question !! Neither side willing to accept the other. Yet the UN who have the experience of wars all over the world is not being listened to regarding the codes of conduct in war or otherwise. I see no end to it.

Nobody's listened to the UN since 1961 when Dag Hammarskjöld was killed in the Congo.

Please link to some of the posts of people defending Hamas.

Not wanting Palestinian civilians to be butchered is not defending Hamas.

Not is explaining why Hamas exists for that matter.

Only one side has committed clear and unequivocal war crimes.

There are many more allegations of war crimes on both sides, e.g. the use of human shields by Hamas, the placing of rocket launchers in hospital grounds by Hamas, the actions of the IDF in bombing hospitals and schools. In some cases, these allegations are two sides of the same coin. If Hamas put rocket launchers or other military targets in a school playground, that is a war crime, so attacking it is not a war crime. Or vice versa. If Israel attacked a school without any militiary justification, that is a war crime. Impossible to know from here which of those two situations is true, hence they can only be considered allegations.

On the other hand, the taking of civilian hostages is a war crime, one of the worst actually, so it is clear that Hamas have committed that war crime. The continued holding of those hostages is also a war crime, something you and others appear to support given the criticism I have received for calling for the immediate and unconditional release of those hostages.

So you don't agree with the UN calling out war crimes when it's the Israelis who are called out. Nice. I heard an Israeli general try the same thing on tv.

Ah yes. 4,700 children dead in the bombardment and not a mention of it. How many are injured and without functioning hospitals??

Some war crimes that Israel may have committed (to be proven in court). You've seemingly given Israel a Pass due to you bias for all of these. Glad you don't do law.

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1 Civilians: The principle of distinction, that is to say, the obligation of warring parties to distinguish between combatants and civilians, is an important principle of IHL. 

1 Civilians: Article 57(2) of Additional Protocol I obliges parties to take precautions in their attacks to avoid or minimise incidental civilian losses. 

1 Civilians: The Fourth Convention provides in Article 51(2): The civilian population, as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of an attack. Actual threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.”

2 Hospitals: Article 19: Medical facilities shall not be attacked in any circumstances, but shall at all times be respected and protected. We've been over this one countless times without reply. The key phrase for this protection to be removed is "acts harmful to the enemy". Unproven. None of the hospitals in Northern Gaza are operational thanks to Israel. Is that respecting and protecting hospitals?

3 Proportionality: Article 51(5)(b) of Additional Protocol I prohibits attacks that violate the rule of proportionality: that is to say, is not permissible to attack, even when there is a clear military target if it “may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.”. 

4 Forced movement and Starvation: Article 49 of the Fourth Convention provides that individual, or mass, forcible transfer, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, “regardless of their motive”. Where such displacements occur, all possible measures must be taken in order that the civilians are afforded satisfactory shelter, hygiene, safety and nutrition.

5 Supplies: Article 55 of the Fourth Convention requires the Occupying Power, to the fullest extent of the means available to it, “to ensure food and medical supplies to the population. It should, in particular, bring the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate”.

6 Collective punishment: Common Article 33 provides that collective punishment is a war crime. Contrary to its duty under Article 55, the act of Israel in cutting off water, electricity, food, and fuel to the population of Gaza punishes the entire population of Gaza for the acts of Hamas is a collective punishment

7 Relief Aid: Article 61 of the Fourth Convention requires the Occupying Power to agree relief schemes for the population of an occupied territory if it is inadequately supplied.

8 No survivors: Article 41 of Additional Protocol II prohibits an order that there should be no survivors. Netanyahu has other ideas. Declaring that no quarter will be given is also a war crime under Article 89(2) of the Rome Statute.

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Over to you.

By the way, I agree that Hamas have committed many war crimes and I hope they are punished for it. Murdering innocent civilians and taking hostages is absolutely evidence of war crimes. However you have to take off the blinkers where Israel is concerned.

Ah yes, Douglas Murray, promoter of great replacement theory, anti-immigration, cultural Marxism and is basically a toff version of Steve Bannon. I notice this comes from Sky News Australia, which, yeah.

The Gaza strip is behind him in this video. FFS.

That is interesting. The absolute hatred for Israel is palpable. We are many many decades from resolving this awful conflict. Maybe it will never be resolved.

I haven’t seen anywhere it’s a Hamas video. However irrespective. A tank blew up a car with civilians in it. Hamas don’t have tanks. And I very much doubt Israeli are using tanks killing Israel civilians in their cars… literally not rocket science

Interesting, and also depressing.

Such a shame we can't go back in time to Oslo and Wye and show the leaders of Palestine and Israel what the future would look like if they failed to implement their agreements.

I have no problem with the UN calling out Israel for its callous disregard for human life. I do have a problem with UN officials being openly biased against Israel and undermining the credibility of the entire institution.

I haven't said that. Where war crimes are clear and unequivocal, I have pointed to them. Where they are not clear, further evidence is required before I will pass judgment. I may suspect Israel of war crimes, I may not, but I don't have clear and unequivocal evidence.

Hamas themselves have been 100% clear about committing war crimes, proudly declaring it to the world.