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Did Israel Commit War Crimes in Gaza?

[Der Spiegel-Germany] Thomas Darnstadt and Christoph Schult - Israel's enemy is a group of terrorists that fights while using the civilian population as human shields. This alone is impermissible under the rules of the Geneva Conventions. It would be unreasonable to expect a country to accept any legal restrictions that puts it at a serious military disadvantage. In war, say most legal experts, each side must have the right to seek victory. Is Israel, for example, required to spare the bakery of a good citizen of Gaza who pulls out his bazooka from behind his oven at night to secretly take part in the fighting? It is not, because international law defines this citizen as an enemy. In war, anyone can be killed who is considered part of the enemy, even if he bakes bread during the day. Asa Kascher, a philosophy professor at the University of Tel Aviv who wrote the code of ethics for the Israeli armed forces, calls the charges of supposed war crimes "nonsense." Israel takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties, says Kascher. But he also says that it is impossible to fight terrorism without collateral damage.
2009-01-28 06:00:00
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