🤥 Israel should not be held accountable for the dead civilians or property destruction, because this is a war, and those are merely casualties of war.

Israel should absolutely be held accountable for the massive casualties and destruction it has inflicted upon the civilian population of Gaza. Israel has broken the laws of war set out in international law by committing a plethora of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel has engaged in the illegal collective punishment of an entire civilian population. If Israel is a nation like any other, and if the international order is to have any meaning at all, then Israel must be held to account for its systematic violations of international and humanitarian law including collective punishment, targeting hospitals, churches, schools and other areas in which civilians sought shelter.

If we accept this argument, then international law is meaningless and we cannot condemn Russian actions in Ukraine or transgressions of international laws by Hamas. Selective application of international and human rights laws that are meant to protect civilians anywhere is a recipe for violence, chaos and lawlessness everywhere.

There are clear international laws of war. Israel should at minimum adhere to those laws and be held accountable to them. In the event that the ongoing atrocities in Gaza do not even fall under the definition of war, then Israel would still be held accountable. As an occupying force, under international law, Israel has a responsibility toward the civilians and land it occupies.