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The claim that Hamas bares the responsibility for Palestinian civilian deaths is ludicrous. A recent
NY Times Article published on July 23, 2014 stated that ?
there is no evidence that Hamas and other militants force civilians to stay in areas that are under attack ? the legal definition of human shield.? Jeremy Bowen, a
BBC Middle East reporter in Gaza, confirmed this as well. On July 25, Amnesty International
reported that there is no evidence ?at this point [behind the notion] that Palestinian civilians have been intentionally used by Hamas or Palestinian armed groups during the current hostilities to ?shield? specific locations or military personnel or equipment from Israeli attacks.?
Like any other human beings, Palestinians protect their children and loved ones, and would flee to areas of safety, if there were any areas safe from Israeli attacks. All people have the right to seek refuge in times of war.
By blockading Gaza, Israel and Egypt have deprived the Palestinians of this right and trapped them in an impossible situation.
This alleged restraint that the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. wants us to recognize is simply not present in any of the IDF?s actions. Israeli talking points promote the view that the IDF complies with international law. But when we look at these distinct cases, and the soaring civilian death toll, we are not fooled. Self-defense, if applicable in this case, warrants
only the necessary amount of force to quell the armed attack. Israel is going above and beyond, and this operation will only be measured in the loss of lives, limbs, and loved ones in Gaza, and the continued terrorization of 1.8 million people.
...But that was written by a Palestinian attorney, so you can just dismiss it out of hand.
it's impossible to look at the situation there, with the most powerful army surrounding an area the size of a postage stamp (which they decided to halve, by decree, issuing the right to invade or bomb half of the Gaza Strip just because they can) and blame the government of the people getting bombed... I don't see how any sane person can do that. from the same article:
A perceived military advantage cannot justify the mass murder of innocents, under international law. This claim has been used over and over again,
and rejected by international officials, over the course of history, and most recently, with regards to the Serbian 44-month siege of Sarajevo. While Serbian generals claimed they only fired in self-defense, the reports of hundreds of shells raining down on densely populated areas said otherwise. Thousands of civilians were killed in the siege and bombardment. Today, the generals who led the offensive in Sarajevo, most notably Ratko Mladic, and the political officials in charge of the siege, such as Radovan
Karadzic, are being tried for war crimes in The Hague.
