Hamas war crimes, illustrated

Geneva Conventions

Protocol IAdditional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 8 June 1977

Article 51:

2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.

A volunteer goes through the apartment in Kiryat Malachi were three where killed Thursday, and looks for remains. November 15 2012. Photo by Yossi Zeliger/Flash90

4. Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited. Indiscriminate attacks are: (a) those which are not directed at a specific military objective; (b) those which employ a method or means of combat which cannot be directed at a specific military objective; or (c) those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol; and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction.

Rockets being fired from Gaza indiscriminately towards Israeli communities

5. Among others, the following types of attacks are to be considered as indiscriminate: ... an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

Ultra Orthodox Jewish men gather around the body of Mirah Sharf who was killed in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi by a rocket thought to have been fired [!] by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, during her funeral in Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012.

6. Attacks against the civilian population or civilians by way of reprisals are prohibited.

 Tel Aviv residents bracing themselves as rocket alarm sirens sound Thursday

7. The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations.

 A rocket launched by Palestinian militants towards Israel [from a heavily populated area of Gaza] makes its way from the northern Gaza Strip, seen from the Israel Gaza Border, southern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)