(Ha'aretz) Alexander Yakobson and Yitzhak Benbaji - Attacking buses, open-air markets and pizzerias, with the goal of killing as many random passersby as possible, as Hamas does, is not legitimate and isn't even in the gray area. These are acts of terror - war crimes. These acts are the result of an explicit intent to kill. In Gaza, too, Hamas' methods of combat were criminal. It could have attacked Israeli military forces without firing rockets at Israel's civilian population, but chose to make firing rockets at Israeli communities its principal weapon. And even when firing from a populated area, Hamas operatives need not have placed the launch sites in the very locations that are most sensitive from a humanitarian standpoint. These methods of combat demonstrate utter contempt for human life, Israeli and Palestinian alike. The writers are research fellows at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
2014-10-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive