It says, "Soldier, lay down your weapons and raise your hands when confronted, and follow the instructions of the resistance in Gaza. A prisoner is better than a dead person. We will protect your life until the next deal."
Hamas is not saying that the soldiers would have POW status, with all the protections that international law provides to prisoners of war. Hamas is saying that it wants the soldiers as bargaining chips for the "next deal." Indeed, last week they mounted a major operation to kidnap bulldozer driver Avraham Azoulay, who resisted and was killed.
That is hostage taking, and it is a war crime.
.png)
The reason it is difficult to decisively win the war is because Hamas doesn't just violate international law, but it does so as its strategy.
How often is this simple and incontrovertible fact mentioned by analysts, NGOs and the UN? How many non-Israeli reports give a comprehensive accounting of Hamas' actions from an international law perspective? Where is the media?
Hamas doesn't just admit that this is their strategy - they brag about it. Hamas media shows how happy they are at making Israelis run to bomb shelters, highlight grieving Jews at funerals, and use existing hostages as pawns.
But the media spends orders of magnitude more time on alleged Israeli violations of international law than Hamas' own joy at doing that very thing.
It's almost like no one really cares about international law at all.
|
"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
 |
Buy