(Photo from Gaza by Sameh Habeeb, from the show Victim's Victims at the Dadabase Gallery)
Text from George Bisharat on today's Times Op-Ed page (yes, the Times Op-Ed page, glory be to Gutenberg):
Of 1,434 Palestinians killed in the Gaza invasion, 960 were
civilians, including 121 women and 288 children, according to a United
Nations special rapporteur, Richard Falk. Israeli military lawyers
instructed army commanders that Palestinians who remained in a targeted
building after having been warned to leave were “voluntary human
shields,” and thus combatants. Israeli gunners “knocked on roofs” —
that is, fired first at corners of buildings, before hitting more
vulnerable points — to “warn” Palestinian residents to flee.
With nearly all exits from the densely populated Gaza Strip blocked by
Israel, and chaos reigning within it, this was a particularly cruel
flaunting of international law. Willful killings of civilians that are
not required by military necessity are grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions, and are considered war crimes under the Nuremberg
principles.
civilians, including 121 women and 288 children, according to a United
Nations special rapporteur, Richard Falk. Israeli military lawyers
instructed army commanders that Palestinians who remained in a targeted
building after having been warned to leave were “voluntary human
shields,” and thus combatants. Israeli gunners “knocked on roofs” —
that is, fired first at corners of buildings, before hitting more
vulnerable points — to “warn” Palestinian residents to flee.
With nearly all exits from the densely populated Gaza Strip blocked by
Israel, and chaos reigning within it, this was a particularly cruel
flaunting of international law. Willful killings of civilians that are
not required by military necessity are grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions, and are considered war crimes under the Nuremberg
principles.
