The Israel Defense Forces early Monday morning launched a raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, amid intelligence that senior Hamas officials were in the area and using the hospital to plan and carry out terror activity, the military said.During the operation troops killed a senior Hamas commander, according to the IDF.In one incident, the IDF said troops killed a senior Hamas commander, Faiq Mabhouh.Mabhouh, who served as the head of operations in Hamas’s internal security, was armed and hiding inside the Shifa complex, “from which he was working to advance terror activity,” the IDF said.Mabhouh was killed amid an exchange of fire during an attempt to arrest him, the IDF said. In a nearby room, the IDF said troops recovered a cache of weapons.Mabhouh, according to the IDF and Shin Bet, was responsible for the “synchronization” of various Hamas units in the Gaza Strip, including during the war.The slain operative was the brother of senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mabhouh, who was allegedly assassinated by the Mossad in Dubai in 2010, Israeli defense sources confirmed to The Times of Israel. Mahmoud Mabhouh was chief of logistics and weapons procurement for the military wing of Hamas.
But Hamas says he was an innocent police chief who was only doing humanitarian work:
The government media office in Gaza confirmed that the occupation had assassinated Brigadier General Fayeq Al-Mabhouh, who was coordinating with the tribes and UNRWA to bring and secure humanitarian aid to northern Gaza.
The media office said in a statement that Brigadier General Al-Mabhouh was carrying out purely humanitarian civilian work, and he should have been protected and not harmed in accordance with international law.
He added, "The occupation committing such crimes, killing civilians, and targeting those in charge of humanitarian work confirms that it seeks with all force to spread chaos and chaos in the Gaza Strip, and prevent facilitating the access of humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of hungry people."
He said that the assassination indicates that the occupation is determined to starve and deprive the population of access to food supplies, despite their limited availability so far.
An email correspondent has sent me the legal justification for the IDF targeting the Hamas policemen, from Yoram Dinstein's "The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict," where he writes:Can police officers and other law enforcement agents be subsumed under the heading of armed forces (who are legitimately subject to attack)? The answer to the question depends on whether the policemen have officially incorporated into the armed forces or (despite the absence of official incorporation) have taken part in hostilities. If integrated into the armed forces, policemen - like all combatants - 'may be attacked at any time simply because they have that particular status'.My correspondent asked Dinstein in an email1) In the case of Hamas police would it be enough to constitute that all police could be targeted? and 2) where is the line of 'taking part in hostilities'?"to which Dinstein replied1. In a non-State entity the difference between police and other armed groups is hardly perceptible. This is true not only of Hamas. In the Palestinian Authority, the "police" is the army.
2. In any event, direct participation in hostilities (the alternative) includes also training prior to combat engagement.
- (email Dated: 27/01/2009)
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