Almost every Arab media outlet argues, with certainty, that is Israel is committing war crimes while helpless Palestinians are mere victims. Turns out, it is the opposite. 

According to a Reuters report, Hamas's kidnapping of civilians and indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel are proven war crimes. Some of Israel's responses may qualify as war crimes, only if proven that Israel intentionally targeted civilians. 

WHAT ACTS COULD VIOLATE WAR CRIMES LAW?

New York-based Human Rights Watch cited as possible war crimes the deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate rocket attacks, and the taking of civilians as hostages by Palestinian armed groups, as well as the Israeli counter-strikes in Gaza that have killed thousands of Palestinians.

The taking of hostages, murder and torture are explicitly banned under the Geneva Conventions, while Israel's response could also be subject to a war crimes investigation.

Hamas militants stormed from Gaza into nearby southwestern Israeli communities on Oct. 7 and killed about 1,400 people, most of them civilians, in one day. They also took about 240 hostages back to the small, Hamas-ruled enclave.

In response, Israel laid siege to Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, and launched the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year-old history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, destroying entire neighbourhoods. Israeli ground forces then swept into Gaza at the end of last week with the stated aim of annihilating Hamas, with air strikes continuing.

Following aerial bombings of Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp this week, in which Israel said it targeted and killed two senior Hamas commanders, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights cited concern that Israel's srikes were "disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes".

WHAT DO THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS SAY?

Their overarching goal is to protect civilians in wartime.

Under the laws of armed conflict, combatants include members of state armed forces, military and volunteer forces and non-state armed groups.

Directly targeting civilians or civilian objects is strictly forbidden. Intentionally attacking personnel and material involved in humanitarian assistance is a separate war crime as long as those providing the humanitarian aid are civilians.

A siege can be considered a war crime if it targets civilians, rather than a legitimate means to undermine the military capabilities of a force like Hamas, or if found to be disproportionate.

International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has warned the Israeli army that it will need to show that "any attack that impacts innocent civilians or protected objects" such as hospitals, churches, schools or mosques must be done in accordance with laws of armed conflict.

Under these laws there are instances in which otherwise civilian objects can become legitimate military targets if they are being used to effectively contribute to military action.

"The burden of proving that the protective status is lost rests with those who fire the gun, the missile, or the rocket in question," Khan said.

Israel says Hamas fighters use residential neighborhoods as cover and civilian buildings to conceal command posts and arms.

Source: News Agency