Is Israel's Operation to Find Kidnapped Teens a War Crime?

(Times of Israel) Raphael Ahren - The Palestinian Authority and several human rights groups are claiming that the IDF operation in the West Bank to find the kidnapped Israeli teens amounts to collective punishment. But according to Robbie Sabel, a former legal adviser to Israel's Foreign Ministry and a professor of international law at Hebrew University, in searching for kidnapped civilians, apprehending members affiliated with the organization responsible for the kidnapping is legitimate, and the term "collective punishment" does not apply. International law professor Eugene Kontorovich, who teaches at Northwestern and Hebrew University, said: "Rounding up suspects, or potential witnesses, is not punishment, but rather rudimentary investigative process....There is no evidence whatsoever that the Palestinians are being rounded up just to get back at Palestinians, without any regard to their having potentially useful information."


2014-06-24 00:00:00

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