Today a Hamas rocket scored a direct hit on a kindergarten in Ashdod It is not the first time. To my knowledge Hamas have scored direct hits on one other kindergarten and a high school. Luckily for Israelis (if you can call it lucky) nearly 500,000 of them are now living in bomb shelters, schools and kindergartens are closed, therefore the children who otherwise would have been killed are surviving, albeit underground. This started me thinking about the issue of proportionality. When people accuse Israel of a "disproportionate response" what exactly do they mean? Indeed what would qualify as a proportionate response?
If Hamas score a direct hit on a kindergarten in Ashdod with a missile, should Israel then fire one of their missiles at a kindergarten in Gaza? Would that be proportionate? If Hamas score a direct hit on a shopping mall in Ashkelon, should Israel find a mall or in the absence of a mall;find a market full of shoppers to target? Would that be proportionate? If Hamas fire eight thousand missiles at civilian targets in Israel, should Israel respond with eight thousand missiles of their own? Would that be proportionate?
As far as I understand, under international law, proportionality in war does not mean that you only inflict similar damage and casualties to those which you have sustained. International law actually states that the level of force used in a conflict must not be in excess of that which is required to achieve a legitimate objective, which in this case is the total cessation of rocket fire into Israel by Hamas in Gaza (which I also understand is a war crime under international law). As far as I am aware rockets are still being fired by Hamas at civilian targets in Israel and it would appear that they have no intention of stopping, unless they can be convinced otherwise. The question is how much force will it take to convince or indeed force them to stop, not just for now, but for good.
Civilian casualties in war are horrendous and should be avoided if at all possible. I do not know of any army in the world which sends leaflets and telephones people in potential target areas to warn them of an impending attack, yet this is common practice for the Israeli army as it prosecutes its war against Hamas. As far as I am aware it is also a breach of international law to place military installations in civilian areas or to use civilian populations as human shields, yet it would appear that Hamas has license to breach the law with impunity.
In order to protect its citizens Israel must fight against a terror organisation, which chose conflict over renewal of a cease fire agreement and which synically chooses to use the very people it claims to be fighting for as human shields. The unfortunate truth is that Israel will continue to use all necessary means to end the rocket fire achieve its goals and thereby end the fighting. It would appear however that Hamas are only too happy for their own civilian population to suffer the terrible consequences of their illegal and irresponsible actions. Perhaps the real disproportion exists in the number of martyrs Hamas is prepared to see in its civilian population compared to its leaders, who rather than seeking martyrdom are now hiding in tunnels and masquerading as medical staff in Gaza hospitals.
I have a crazy solution to the entire problem for both the Israelis and the Palestinians. End the occupation...maybe it might stop the rockets! Have we considered this?!
ReplyDeleteToday fire was shot on our soldiers when they neared a school in Gaza; when they returned fire - a whole set of explosions took place - Who's the luny that places munitions inside kids' school? and where are all the hamas leaders? hiding inside Shifa hospital and opening a whole "private" hospital just for themselves - depriving the entire population from the medical aid that is being shipped inside gaza as we speak! WHAT OCCUPATION Kelly-Ann? Israel is not in Gaza since the summer of 2005
ReplyDeletei think the point has been made. the occupation of gaza ended three years ago and you can see where we are today. the problem of hamas is as much a problem today for the palestinians as it is for the israelis, maybe even more so.
ReplyDeleteIsreal left Gaza and continued to control its borders - how is that ending an occupation pray tell?
ReplyDeleteHamas came into being because of the occupation. Face the facts...deal with the consequences.
ReplyDeleteit is true that the occupation aided the rise of hamas, however it is important to note that hamas is a derivative of the moslem brotherhood in egypt, whose existence has nothing to do with israel whatsoever....it is indeed one of the reasons that egypt and other arab states are so hostile towards them.......as far as the consequences are concerned, many are now arguing that israel is doing exactly that...it is dealing with the consequences of having left gaza, which for many (not me i might add) felt was a mistake.....still the "proof is in the pudding"....israel left southern lebanon and in return it got rockets fired on its civilian population.....israel then left gaza and received thousands of rockets fired at its civilian population...hardly great incentives to leave more territory.......when israel did leave gaza the idea was that confidence would be built and slowly the palestinians would receive more freedom on their borders...i know this for a fact as i developed a film on gaza airport the year before israel left...the airport was functioning with flights to egypt and jordan......a clear choice was made by hamas in favour of terror and escalation of the conflict versus the creation of a civil society and the opportunity to bring economic prosperity to its people, unfortunately it is the palestinian people who are having to face the harsh facts and deal with the horrendous consequences........
ReplyDeleteThe simple fact that Israel feels it has some sort of inherent 'right' to control what happens in Gaza and on its borders just smacks of arrogance and superiority. Gaza is not and never was a part of Israel. I agree that Israel has a right to take action to stop the rockets being fired into its towns. Who would stand for that? However, this will never end. The violence will continue. More hate will be bred etc etc. You forget that Hamas and the people that act for them long for death. How can you fight a normal fight with people like that? The fact is you cannot.
ReplyDeleteThe current action is clearly NOT in the best interests of Israel unless they have some magic formula which would eradicate all the members of Hamas, all the people that support them, and all the people who have been affected in some way or another by Israeli violence (whether justifiable or not). And this is only possible (given the fact that every single person in Gaza has been affected by Israeli violence at some point in the past) through the extermination of the all the people in Gaza. If this is the intention of the Israeli army, then I wish them well and hope they just get on with it quickly. My belief (Islamic belief) is that because of the circumstances of their death, all of these people will go straight to heaven anyway. Much better place to be than a shit hole like Gaza - blocked off on all sides, can't even take a swim in their own bloody seas, starved into submission. I hope more of them die - if at least to escape that place. The place you have so magnanimously 'allowed' them to live in without an occupation. Cheers for that!