🤥 Israel is not committing war crimes since Hamas started the most recent escalation and Israel is only acting in self-defense.

The three main pillars of humanitarian law are the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution. If any or all of these principles are violated, it could be found that a war crime has been committed. So far. Israel has managed to violate all three pillars during its recent military onslaught in Gaza.

Human Rights Watch notes that acts committed as part of a retaliatory operation are not any more acceptable under international law. All parties involved in a conflict, regardless of who initiated it (which in of itself is debatable in this case), must adhere to international law and the laws of war. The war crimes of one side do not justify war crimes on the other.

The laws of war prohibit the punishment of any person for an offense other than one that they have personally committed. The imposition of collective punishment – such as, in violation of the laws of war, the demolition of homes of families of fighters, or other civilian objects such as multi-story buildings as a form of punishment – is a war crime.

Intent matters. If the intention is to punish, purely or primarily as a result of an act committed by third parties, then attacks carried out in this vein are considered to be collective punishment. Israeli politicians, military and religious leaders have made it abundantly clear that all Palestinians of Gaza – regardless of age or political affiliation, must pay the price for Hamas’ actions. They have left very little room for “intent” to be questioned.