This time, it’s personal. My nephew’s fiancé‘s family was in hiding all day in a small room in Kibbutz Magen in Southern Israel that was attacked by Hamas. They survived after fierce fighting. Others were not so fortunate. Hundreds of civilians were murdered, many of whom teenagers and young adults who were at an overnight rave and were machine-gunned.
Other civilians were taken hostage. The clips of an elderly woman and a gun-shot naked young woman being paraded by Hamas and cheered in the streets of Gaza are sickening. There is a video circulating which shows toddlers harassing a 3 year-old Israeli boy who is held hostage. A woman was taken hostage with her two very young daughters. A teenage girl was shown bleeding, hands tied behind her back, dragged out of a vehicle. You cannot watch this and not be repulsed.
And, of course, there are ongoing rocket attacks, in their thousands, directed at major civilian populations – not inadvertently or recklessly but deliberately seeking to cause civilian casualties.
This concerted attack on civilians in their homes and cities is vile; the responsibility lies squarely not just with Hamas, a proscribed organisation for good reason, but with its regional supporters.
Indeed Hamas is a brutal, profoundly antisemitic, terrorist organisation. Just read its charter, especially Article 7 which states that ‘the day of judgment will not come until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him’’.
Hamas obviously does not represent all Palestinians, and I am certain its tactics are not generally condoned – we had a living example of a very different approach by the Palestinian UK mission at a fringe event held at Lib Dem conference. Condemnation of its actions should be unqualified and unequivocal as in indeed reflected in the party’s message.
It also, obviously, does not equate rejection of the plight of Palestinians and does not weaken the resolve to secure Palestinians a life in dignity.
And none of this can relieve Israel of its obligations to abide by the laws of armed conflict in Gaza, even when its adversary is clearly and unashamedly ignoring them entirely. It is prohibited under international humanitarian law to inflict collective punishment and to target infrastructure that is vital for the civilian population. The rage and anger at Hamas’ barbarism cannot and does not justify illegal responses. So the coming days will pose a challenge for all of us: to be able to both explicitly assign blame for unspeakable acts of brutality and terror, with no whatabouteries or ‘context’, and to demand that Israel’s response be compliant with its legal – and moral – obligations.
* Dr. Ruvi Ziegler is Associate Professor in International Refugee Law at the University of Reading. He is an Advisory Council member of Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary.
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
By 1954 not even Dickie Attenborough was safe on a bombsite
Tories in disarray as Badenoch wings it on pensions
Can you help Barnardo's?
Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion polls
Aging, Development, and Living at High Altitudes (Oxygen Levels)
The Charge of the Light Brigade - A perfect analogy for the United Kingdom today
Peter Davies
Craig Levene
Nick Baird
David Evans
Anthony Acton
40 Comments
A 6 month old baby was taken with his mother.
I felt sickened as flags are flown to celebrate the destruction. Apart from my beliefs this seems a total lack of respect for even the country that is housing them.
Of course, Hamas wants to take over Israel. That is quite clear.
It’s time the government started to implement law and order. We live in lawless times. Very little respect for those who need to live in a country that our people fought and struggled for.
@Helen Dudden
I am not aware of Hamas flags being flown – that would be abhorrent. However, flying a national flag is about supporting a nation, in this case supporting the Palestinians against an occupying power.
It seems new depths are here for the middle East. Israel is not blameless but the massacre of concert goers has taken the Palestinian cause into the gutter. Now we await the devestating Israeli response. Later on questions will be asked of any lack of Israeli intelligence.
I despair at the sheer stupidity of Hamas in launching this brutal, sadistic attack in the clear knowledge of the scale of the response that would be launched by Israel, a response that I fear will not end until the fledgling state of Palestine is erased from the map.
As a jewish descendant of a family who suffered greatly in the holocaust and a sympathiser with the plight of the Palestinians, I cannot even begin to comprehend the mindset that believes that these vile actions is justified and that they will advance the Palestinian cause.
As a Quaker who believes fervently in the Peace Pledge, I know that war is never the answer, whatever the question. One death is one too many and I am very afraid that in this war we will see many many more. The only way to get peace in the this and every other conflict is to get the combatants round the table and make peace.
Sadly, it is only too clear that neither side want peace, but want to eradicate the other side. Netanyahu now has the justification he needs to wage unrelenting war on Hamas as he has always wanted to do and as far as I can see the international community will wring its hands and send weapons to both sides.
It only exacerbates the situation that Biden’s first action is not to call on both sides to cease fire, but to move the US navy to help Israel.
It’s hard to see what purpose Hamas think their sickening violence might serve, although the idea, @Helen, that they want to take over Israel seems far-fetched, and a very long way from “quite clear”. We all know what will happen in the immediate future; Israel will make the people of Gaza pay a heavy price.
The Palestinian people as a whole are not religious fanatics in the ISIS mould, but no doubt some of those who took part in the raid on Israel are.
With Israel mourning the loss of so many innocent civilians it may be the wrong time to ask this, but it’s a question that needs to be answered: depriving two million people of all but a trickle of the basic essentials of life for seventeen years – and with it their dignity and any hope for a better future – was always bound to build increasing resentment of their captors. In Gaza, Israel created a fertile breeding ground for Islamic extremism. Why did they do it?
What’s just happened is a tragedy. The question that begs an answer if you don’t want a repeat of it is, what can the Palestinians do other than use violence to stop Israel from systematically stealing what’s left of their land from them. I’m emphatically not anti-Jewish but the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel is a disgrace.
Given the way Hamas treats their fellow Palestinians with beatings and executions, it’s not entirely unsurprising – and they know full well Israel has a long-standing policy of responding to force with even greater force. As ever, civilians are the ones made to suffer for the actions of a twisted minority.
The timing is also symbolic: 50 years on from the Yom Kippur War, and in the middle of negotiations towards formal Saudi-Israeli relations.
We need to find time to talk about Israel/Palestine in times of relative peace so work towards a long term peaceful solution with both nations given dignity and security.
The actions of Hamas in the past week, actions which are ongoing, are awful and should be condemned. The quote given by the Israeli defence minister regarding “complete siege” is awful and should be condemned. I order in this way simply due to which came (or at least started) first.
Following the Hamas attack on innocent civilians, killing many hundreds of men, women and children, we are now seeing and Israeli attack on innocent civilians killing many hundreds of men, women and children. And the difference is ?
Helen, Hamas doesn’t want to take over Israel – its leaders know that it would be futile to try in the face of Israel’s powerful security forces. It’s aim is to raise its significance as a player in the tangled web of Middle Eastern diplomacy by causing shock & outrage amongst foreign institutions, governments & populations. Hamas cares little about the civilians of Gaza and the West Bank, let alone of Israel, whom it treats as pawns in their power struggle with the Israeli Government and its widening circle of allies.
The ultimate losers in this 75 year-old conflict will be the Palestinians themselves – the likes of Netanyahu will ensure they are enfeebled & ground down and eventually their remaining territories will be absorbed into an enlarged Israel. Many thousands of Palestinian already subsist as refugees outside the borders of Israel: in the coming decades could we witness the development of a Palestinian diaspora, with many living outside of the Middle East?
To those who say Hamas is stupid to launch this attack: no, the aim of Hamas and its Iranian sponsor, is to stymie the detente between Israel and Saudi/Egypt, on which the US has been working. And when Israel invades and occupies Gaza, Hamas will have suceded in that aim.
Might it be that the Ukrainians and the Palestinians are do much the same in that they are resisting forms of oppression by a more powerful neighbour?
Thank you Ruvi for writing about what must be a personal and very painful event, involving real people that you are close to.
An accurate account in these situations is crucial.
Thank you also for differentiating between Hamas and Palestinians who are just wanting to make a living amidst all the atrocities on both sides.
Thank you Mike Taylor for giving a peaceful perspective. It isn’t going to happen today or tomorrow, but it has to be our firm vision.
we are now seeing and Israeli attack on innocent civilians killing many hundreds of men, women and children. And the difference is ?
The difference is that the Israeli attack is not on innocent civilians; it is on enemy combatants. The Israelis have precision munitions; in advance of their bombing rings they distribute leaflets informing residents of Gaza of designated safe zones, they give civilians time to get to those zones, and then they do not bomb those zones .
The Israelis make every effort to avoid killing civilians, even though to do so puts them at a tactical and strategic disadvantage because it means their enemy knows where they plan to strike and can vacate the area.
Hamas, on the other hand, deliberately targets music festivals without warning for an orgy of rape and slaughter.
That’s the difference.
Why do we persist in using the term ‘antisemitic’ when we mean ‘anti-Jewish?’ I have both Jews and Palestinians in my family. Palestinians are equally ‘Semitic’.
Helen Dudden
The Israeli settlers who have occupied an ever larger part of Palestine presumably justify their cruel behaviour on the Old Testament Bible in which God told the people of Israel to kill the people living there in order to occupy their land. I do not support what Hamas has done but actions have consequences. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Palestinians have always resented the presence of Israel in what they consider to be their land, but a just peace must be the aim. This would mean the US forcing Israel to retreat to its original boundaries.
I have Christian grandchildren.
To night I will pray for the 40 children who met a terrible and thinkable end to their lives.
I have suffered antisemitism. Its a price you pay.
Last night the rejoicing was so painful to watch.
Whatever has happened before, whatever happens in future, however bad anyone else might be: NOTHING excuses, mitigates, or justifies what Hamas has just done.
@AndyDaer You say “the idea, @Helen, that (Hamas) want to take over Israel seems far-fetched, and a very long way from “quite clear”.”
BBC News (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67039975) says: “The group is sworn to Israel’s destruction and wants to replace it with an Islamic state.”
BBC News also says (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13331522):
“Under its charter, (Hamas) is committed to the destruction of Israel…
“Hamas’s charter defines historic Palestine – including present-day Israel – as Islamic land and it rules out any permanent peace with the Jewish state.
“The document also repeatedly makes attacks on Jews as a people, drawing charges that the movement is anti-Semitic.
“In 2017, Hamas produced a new policy document that softened some of its stated positions and used more measured language.
“There was no recognition of Israel, but it did formally accept the creation of an interim Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem – what are known as pre-1967 lines.
“The document also stresses that Hamas’s struggle is not with Jews but with “occupying Zionist aggressors”. Israel said the group was “attempting to fool the world”.”
“NOTHING excuses, mitigates, or justifies what Hamas has just done.”
Indeed. However…
Despite what Martin claims above about Israel targetting what he refers to as ‘enemy combatants’ – where are the civilians supposed to go? More than 2 million people live in this 25-mile strip of land – one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Israel has set seige to Gaza – the civilians cannot leave.
However
Ignore everything before the ‘but’, isn’t that the rule?
where are the civilians supposed to go? More than 2 million people live in this 25-mile strip of land – one of the most densely populated places on the planet.
They are supposed to go to the designated safe zones which the Israeli forces avoid striking. There is plenty of room in those 25 miles which is not being targetted.
Israel has set seige to Gaza – the civilians cannot leave.
Isreal has not ‘set siege’ to Gaza. A siege requires the besieging forces to surround the target. Israel does not surround Gaza. There is a wide border between Gaza and Egypt. Residents of Gaza could quite easily leave the territory via that border and there is nothing Israel could do about it — if Egypt would let them in.
@Martin, you suggest Egypt should let the people of Gaza in. Why Egypt?
Surely, it is Israel’s duty to evacuate the people of Gaza somewhere safe if they wish to eliminate Hamas without killing and injuring civilians. It is Israel’s military campaign, not Egypt’s. Israel has the responsibility to the people if Gaza. Under international law it is responsible for their welfare as it is still, technically, the occupying power, believe it or not. Also do not forget that most people in Gaza are from the families of refugees driven from their homes by the IDF in 1948 or later because Israel wanted their land.
“Isreal has not ‘set siege’ to Gaza.”
Who are you going to believe? Me, or the evidence of your own eyes?
“Israel says the siege of Gaza will not end until Israeli hostages are released”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67073970
you suggest Egypt should let the people of Gaza in. Why Egypt?
Geography. Egypt shares a border with Gaza. No other country does other than Israel, and Israel can’t let Palestinians from Gaza in because although most of them are civilians, there will be among them Hamas members intent on rape and murder.
Surely, it is Israel’s duty to evacuate the people of Gaza somewhere safe if they wish to eliminate Hamas without killing and injuring civilians.
Israel’s duty is to cause as few civilian casualties as possible, a duty it is discharging by providing advance notice of its attacks and designating safe zones which will not be attacked, despite that putting it at a tactical and strategic disadvantage. I don’t know what else you could expect it to do, and still be able to destroy Hamas. When we bombed Germany and its occupied lands we didn’t do as much.
It is Israel’s military campaign, not Egypt’s.
But that argument the UK should not take in any refugees from Syria — it’s not our military campaign. We should not take in any refugees from Ukraine — it is Russia’s military campaign, not ours. I assume you don’t believe that.
Israel has the responsibility to the people if Gaza.
Israel has the responsibility to protect its own people first and foremost, same as any state.
Israel says the siege of Gaza will not end until Israeli hostages are released
Israel can say what it likes, but if Egypt were to open its border and allow people from Gaza to cross into safety in Egypt there’s nothing Israel could do about it.
I agree with Helen Dudden’s comments. Creeping anti Semitism from the far left and right is on the rise again. It is abhorrent and it is not being taken seriously enough.
Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 in the wider region of Palestine (which included Trans-Jordan) under the terms of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine.
During the Mandate, the area saw successive waves of Jewish immigration and the rise of nationalist movements in both the Jewish and Arab communities. Competing interests of the two populations led to the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and the 1944–1948 Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine to divide the territory into two Arab and Jewish states was passed in November 1947. The 1947–1949 Palestine war ended with and armistice and the territory of Mandatory Palestine was divided among the State of Israel, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which annexed territory on the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Kingdom of Egypt, which established the “All-Palestine Protectorate” in the Gaza Strip.
During the six day war in 1967, Israel occupied the West bank and Gaza strip. Although Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip in 2005 numerous Israeli settlements have been established throughout the West bank.
Israel has every right to defend itself within its pre-1967 borders, but has no such right under International law in Gaza or the West bank.
The pursuit and destruction of Hamas gunmen in Gaza by IDF forces is a legitimate act of self-defence, but not so the bombardment and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
Israel has every right to defend itself within its pre-1967 borders, but has no such right under International law in Gaza or the West bank.
The problem with that is that an Israel without the West Bank is an Israel that cannot be militarily defended; and Israel must be militarily defended if it is to continue to exist, as recent events have proved.
The pursuit and destruction of Hamas gunmen in Gaza by IDF forces is a legitimate act of self-defence, but not so the bombardment and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
It is Hamas who deliberately base their military assets within and underneath civilian infrastructure, in order to use the civilians there as human shields. It is a despicable tactic, and the moral responsibility for the civilians injured and killed as a result of it lies with Hamas, not Israel.
Martin,
those are the same arguments used by Russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine with the creation of a security buffer zone around its territory. Similarly, Russia makes the same charge against Ukraine with respect to the deployment of military assets within and underneath civilian infrastructure.
Israel’s arguments for a defence zone do not justify the illegal occupation of Palestinian land or the commission of war crimes. The borders of Israel are those recognised by the United Nations and de facto annexation of the Golan heights or West bank does not change that basic premise of International law or the rules based order by which we are all bound.
Ultimately, Israel needs to be able to defend its population within its recognised borders. It has already built the Israeli West Bank barrier along the so called green line and an Iron wall around Gaza. Why the cameras, radars and sensors did not immediately pick up the Hamas incursion and how the Iron Dome defense against rocket attacks came to be overwhelmed is something that the Israeli military command will have to get to grips with as part of their security planning.
Joe, the comparison of buffer zones for Russia and Israel is a very poor one.
Israel in its pre-67 borders is a tiny and highly vulnerable state: a few thousand square kilometres. Russia is three orders of magnitude bigger! i.e. around a thousand times the size of israel.
Exactly the same can be said of any potential Palestinian state.
Hamas have grotesquely stained the legitimate Palestinian demands for statehood.
My thoughts are with my several Palestinian and Israeli friends.
those are the same arguments used by Russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine with the creation of a security buffer zone around its territory.
With the rather significant difference that Ukraine is not home to an organised group which regularly sends suicide bombers into Russian cities to kill Russian civilians, fires rockets into Russian territory, and beheads Russian babies. If that was the case then I would say the Russians had every right to invade Ukraine. Wouldn’t you?
Similarly, Russia makes the same charge against Ukraine with respect to the deployment of military assets within and underneath civilian infrastructure.
With, again, the significant difference that the Russians are lying but Hamas actually does it. Do you not think that makes a material difference?
Another significant difference of course is that Russia is not surrounded by enemies that wish to destroy it as a state and exterminate its people, while Israel is. Russia claims that NATO’s aim is the destruction of Russia, but you know and I know that this is simply paranoia. Whereas Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah really are dedicated to the absolute destruction of Israel.
These are significant differences and justify Israel taking the actions that are necessary to ensure its survival.
There can never be any justification for the commission of war crimes.
While Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the ICC on its territory, the ICC has jurisdiction on the territory of Palestine https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-war-crimes-laws-apply-israel-palestinian-conflict-2023-10-11/
Clearly Hamas militants have no regard whatsoever for Internationally accepted rules of armed conflict.
If Israel is to adopt the same approach to the indiscriminate murder of civilians as Russia does then what hope is there for any International order whatsoever?
The Oslo accords based on a two state solution required the recognition of Israel by the PLO and the halting of settlements in the West bank. The first condition was fulfilled by the PLO 30 years ago. Israel has never halted settlements in the Palestinian areas.
Retribution and revenge killings of non-combatants will simply radicalise yet another generation of Palestinian youth and continue the cycle of violence.
Israel’s security interests (and that of the Palestinian state) lie in jointly eliminating Hamas as a fighting force in Gaza and actively engaging with the PLO on the basis of the conditions agreed in the OSLO accords. That does not bode well for the safety of the hostages taken by Hamas.
Well said, Martin.
The comparison with Russia/Ukraine is completely inappropriate.
Anyone who’s tempted to relativise the nature of Hamas’ attack should make sure they first read all the details. Hamas makes the Palestinian position worse by tarnishing their cause with disgusting cruelty.
If Israel is to adopt the same approach to the indiscriminate murder of civilians as Russia does then what hope is there for any International order whatsoever?
But the whole point is that Israel does not adopt the same approach to the indiscriminate murder of civilians as Russia does.
Russia shells wholly civilian targets. Israel does not bomb civilian targets; Israel only bombs legitimate military targets. It is Hamas who deliberately site those military targets under apartment buildings, schools and hospitals, intentionally so that the Israeli attacks on them will kill civilians in the crossfire.
Israel gives warnings of where it is about to strike so that civilians can leave the danger zones. When was the last time Russia warned Ukrainians exactly where in Kiev their missile were going to strike, twenty-four hours in advance? it is Hamas who prevents the innocent inhabitants of Gaza from leaving those areas, because Hamas wants them to be killed by Israeli fire in order to use their deaths to whip up yet more anti-Israel and anti-Jew sentiment around the world.
Israel’s security interests (and that of the Palestinian state) lie in jointly eliminating Hamas as a fighting force in Gaza
And there’s the rub. How exactly do you propose Israel does that without collateral civilian casualties, given Hamas’s strategy of deliberately using the civilian residents of Gaza as human shields?
Israel owes its existence to the United Nations when the UN plan for the Partition of Palestine was hashed out in 1947. As a member state of the UN Israel has ratified the 1949 Geneva convention https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/geneva-conventions/overview-geneva-conventions.htm.
The fourth Geneva Convention affords protection to civilians, including in occupied territory. It spells out the obligations of the Occupying Power vis-à-vis the civilian population and contains detailed provisions on humanitarian relief for populations in occupied territory. It also contains a specific regime for the treatment of civilian internees. It has three annexes containing a model agreement on hospital and safety zones, model regulations on humanitarian relief and model cards.
Common Article 3 establishes fundamental rules from which no derogation is permitted. It is like a mini-Convention within the Conventions as it contains the essential rules of the Geneva Conventions in a condensed format and makes them applicable to conflicts not of an international character:
– It requires humane treatment for all persons in enemy hands, without any adverse distinction. It specifically prohibits murder, mutilation, torture, cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment, the taking of hostages and unfair trial.
– It requires that the wounded, sick and shipwrecked be collected and cared for.
The IDF will need to occupy the Gaza strip, declare martial law, remove the Hamas leadership from power and disarm the Islamist militants. The military operation needs to be highly focused, disciplined and every possible effort made to minimise civilian casualties, although it is certain there will be some. How Israel conducts itself will determine whether they retain the support of the International community or whether opinion turns against Israel.
Yes, the Palestinians who want to leave Gaza should be helped to do so and it should be the responsibility of not just Egypt but of course the UNHCR to fast track them out of the country and resettle them in those countries which alreadyhavePalestinian refugees and can provide a safe if temporary home for them. If other countries wish to help they too can offer a home. How to safeguard the safety of those who wish to remain? IMMEDIATE CEASE FIRE CALL AND RELEASE OF HOSTAGES DEMAND FROM UN and world condemnation if that is refused by either side.
thank you so much for writing this Ruvi. My thoughts are with you and your family
@Martin Are you certain that Israel doesn’t bomb civilian targets? That’s a genuine question as I’m very unsure. I would say though that, although I can see that it’s very hard to distinguish between civilian and military when Hamas deliberately embeds itself amongst the civilian population, the reports currently coming out from the area of massive civilian casualties really don’t inspire much confidence in what Israel is doing. Neither does Israel’s instruction to Gazan civilians to leave the territory when Israel itself (along with Egypt) is deliberately preventing them from doing exactly that.
Are you certain that Israel doesn’t bomb civilian targets?
I’m certain that Israel doesn’t target civilians or civilian infrastructure, yes. Unlike Hamas.
Does Israel bomb civilisation targets as an inevitable consequence of bombing military targets, on the other hand? Yes, of course it does. It’s impossible not to, even if the enemy doesn’t deliberately use civilians as human shields, which Hamas does.
the reports currently coming out from the area of massive civilian casualties really don’t inspire much confidence in what Israel is doing.
Of course quite a lot of those casualties are caused directly by Hamas’s misfiring rockets.
Neither does Israel’s instruction to Gazan civilians to leave the territory when Israel itself (along with Egypt) is deliberately preventing them from doing exactly that.
As I understand it Israel hasn’t ordered civilians to leave the territory, but rather to move within the territory away from the areas used by Hamas. And it’s Hamas who are deliberately preventing them from doing exactly that by putting up roadblocks and planting improvised explosive devices on the transit routes, in order to ensure maximum civilian casualties when Israel strikes.