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Source: http://www.newsweek.com/opinion-israel-should-get-its-retaliation-first-288684
Lawfare in the Wake of the Gaza War
(Newsweek) Peter Berkowitz - Last summer Hamas launched another round of warfare against Israel. In the wake of that 50-day military conflict, international actors are launching another round of "lawfare" against Israel. In theory, calling Israel to account seeks to safeguard human rights and uphold international law. In practice, it criminalizes Israel's right to defend itself and abuses key principles of international law. Also, by rewarding Hamas, which commits the double war crime of militarizing urban areas in Gaza and targeting civilian populations in Israel, the lawfare aimed at Israel incentivizes terrorism and weakens the ability of the U.S. and the West to defend themselves. The writer is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.