Israeli Professor Neve Gordon, an expert on international law, claims that Israel is seeking to rewrite the laws of war.
The concept of proportionality, based on customary practice, means that it is tolerable to kill innocent civilians if the goal leads to the ‘concrete and direct’ advantage that the attacker expects to gain and the killings are not ‘excessive’.
He claims that now ‘we are light years away’ from the outcry that attended the 2002 assassination of Salah Shehade, head of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, which resulted in 27 civilian deaths. In contrast, the July 13 attack on the Al-Mawasi ‘safe zone’ refugee camp which houses 80,000 displaced Palestinians living in densely-populated tents, killed 90 and wounded 300 in an attempt to assassinate Hamas commander, Muhammed Deif. Netanyahu admitted he did not know if the fighter jets and drones had killed their target but no regret was expressed for the mass murder.
Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global health at the University of Edinburgh estimates that 500,000 Gazans will die in 2024 if current toxic conditions do not dramatically change! And while Israel’s bloody spree accelerates we all continue with our lives as usual and our government is tongue-tied!
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