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If Israel Killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Did It Have the Right To?

(Hudson Institute New York) Alan M. Dershowitz - Not all extrajudicial killings are unlawful. Every soldier who kills an enemy combatant engages in an extrajudicial killing, as does every policeman who shoots a fleeing felon. There are several complex legal questions involved in assessing these situations. First, was the person who was killed a combatant in relation to those who killed him? If Israel killed Mabhouh, there can be absolutely no doubt that he was a combatant. He was actively participating in an ongoing war by Hamas against Israeli civilians. Indeed, it is likely that he was killed while on a military mission to Iran in order to secure unlawful, anti-personnel rockets that target Israeli civilians. Both the U.S. and UK routinely killed such combatants during the Second World War, whether they were in uniform or not. If the Israeli Air Force had killed Mabhouh while he was in Gaza, there would be absolutely no doubt that the action would be lawful. It does not violate international law to kill a combatant, regardless of where the combatant is found and whether or not he is engaged in active combat at the moment of his demise. Richard Goldstone, in his interviews, has suggested that Israel should protect itself by more proportionate measures, such as commando raids and targeted killing of terrorists engaged in the firing of rockets. Well, there could be no better example of a proportionate attack on a combatant who was deeply involved in the rocket attacks on Israel. If Israel was responsible for the killing, it had only two options: to let him go on his way and continue to endanger Israeli civilian lives by transferring unlawful anti-personnel weapons from Iran to Gaza, or to kill him. There was no third alternative.
2010-02-19 09:01:49
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