Since October 7, more than 3,257 children have been reported killed, including at least 3,195 in Gaza, 33 in the West Bank, and 29 in Israel, according to the Ministries of Health in Gaza and Israel respectively. The number of children reported killed in just three weeks in Gaza is more than the number killed in armed conflict globally – across more than 20 countries – over the course of a whole year, for the last three years.
you don’t believe, under the context of thousands of dead kids, there’s any right way to perceive Palestine as the victim? There were less kids killed in the Oct 7 attack than there have been since in the West Bank, and they didn’t do anything to deserve that. Did they? This all just sounds like collective punishment to me.
Collective punishment is a war crime prohibited by treaty in both international and non-international armed conflicts, more specifically Common Article 33 of the Geneva Conventions and Article 6 of the Additional Protocol II.
Hamas is also committing countless warcrimes.
“1. In order to ensure respect for and protection of the civilian population and civilian objects, the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives…
- The taking of hostages is prohibited. Common Article 3; GC IV, Article 34.
- The prohibition against taking hostages in armed conflict is a fundamental guarantee whose breach is a war crime.”
Meanwhile the International Humanitarian Law clearly states:
“ 1. The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations. The Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield military operations.
- Under no circumstances shall medical units be used in an attempt to shield military objectives from attack. Whenever possible, the Parties to the conflict shall ensure that medical units are so sited that attacks against military objectives do not imperil their safety.
It’s often claimed that groups like Hamas and others in areas like Palestine use the proximity of civilians as cover to justify the collateral damage, but Gaza is densely populated and paramilitary groups are part of the civilians. There is no way for them to separate the populations. It’s a well known tactic. https://progressive.org/latest/human-shields-excuse-war-crimes-zunes-210617/
PS Just want to add the extra fucked up aspect of looking up information and finding an article from two years talking about the horrific bombing campaign by Israel then, and how the information war is exactly the same now. Nothing ever changes.
