Crime against humanity : Professor Ret. Major General Isaac Ben Israel
In recent years, we in Israel have become accustomed, every few months, to the firing of thousands of rockets at our cities. The rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip under the leadership of Hamas.
Thanks to the defense systems we developed, primarily “Iron Dome”, the number of casualties decreased to 1-2 in each such incident.
What happened two days ago was completely different:
- Under the cover of a “regular” rocket attack, several hundred Hamas members crossed the border and entered the towns, kibbutzim and villages near the border in armed vehicles. They moved from house to house, setting fire to some of them and shooting from point blank range at entire families who were spending the last day of the holiday at home.
- As of this moment, there are more than 700 dead and 2400 injured, of which some 150 are mortally wounded. The final death toll may be greater than 800.
- In addition, over 150 people were kidnapped (including babies, children, women and disabled people, some of them in wheelchairs) and taken to Gaza as hostages.
- By any standard imaginable, these acts of the Hamas would be considered a war crime. (Article written by Professor Ret. Major General Isaac Ben Israel)
Appropriately ‘called out’ – barbaric is too soft a word. Thoughts and prayers are with Israel and her people. Condolences to families of those murdered / executed. I will not hold my breath waiting for the international community to also describe these acts as crimes against humanity. Sadly and inevitably, I fear the international
community will quickly focus their commentary on the Israeli response rather than the barbaric acts committed by Hamas and those supporting Hamas. Having visited the Middle East on many occasions (including Gaza and the West Bank), I cannot help but ponder how much more the Israeli people have to endure? The world is less than perfect and those of Palestinian ethnicity have also suffered. However, any objective analysis of loss of life and crimes against people would show the scales weighing heavily against the Jewish people over the past 100 years. The author of these comments is neither an Israeli or Palestinian and has formed views over many decades of experience in international security and diplomacy.
Yes, I agree.