Yet more proof

Israeli soldiers have given testimony that in some cases the Israeli army made use of Palestinian human shields in its war on Gaza in January. The accounts, from an Israeli human rights group, provide yet more proof, if more is needed, that Israel stood in grave contravention of the laws regulating combat behaviour and should be charged with war crimes.

The use of human shields is only one issue. There have been several well-documented instances of so-called white flag killings: the shooting at unarmed civilians clearly carrying the internationally recognised sign for surrender, a white flag. There is the use of certain chemical weapons, such as white phosphorus shells, in densely populated civilian areas, also illegal and something that unfolded live on TV.

There was the equally obvious massive shelling of civilian neighbourhoods, with the equally unavoidable loss of human life, as well as the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, from roads to factories. Finally, there was the illegal use of unmanned aerial drones, which in several cases caused the loss of life of children and other unarmed civilians.

These well documented instances of war crimes, some more serious than others, are also backed up by the figures and the facts. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army during the Gaza offensive. The vast majority of them were civilians. They were killed from the air, the sea and the ground by sophisticated weapons the likes of which simply do not exist on the Palestinian side, confined as Palestinian fighters are to old semi-automatics and homemade rockets.

In all, the picture of what Israel did in Gaza is not hard to discern. A vastly superior armed force was ordered to descend without restraint and did so with heavy weaponry of all kinds, including chemical, on a largely civilian, unarmed and defenceless population that, in addition, had nowhere to run. The resulting mayhem and murder were entirely predictable and completely avoidable. It is not as if Israel could not have signed a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It just didn’t want to.

From the other side, 13 Israelis were killed by the ineffective and inaccurate homemade rocket fire from Gaza. Those rockets should not have been fired, since they are indiscriminate and targeted, however, badly, a civilian population on the other side. As such, Palestinians can also be accused of war crimes, even though they can make the legitimate claim that as a population under occupation they have a right to armed resistance. However, charges against Palestinians should be nothing compared to the seriousness and number of charges that Israel must face, at least if the world wants not only to establish rules but enforce them.

Israeli political leaders and army generals during Israel’s Gaza offensive are guilty of war crimes. There are no ifs or buts. As a result, any such official should be charged in international fora and held accountable. In the meantime, none of these officials should be allowed a moment’s rest anywhere in the world. They must be persona non grata.