Amb. Alan Baker: Did Israel Use “Disproportionate Force” to Protect the Gaza Fence?
The Gaza border clash was not a situation of armed conflict, nor had it anything to do with the laws of armed conflict and occupation of territory. It was routine border protection by a sovereign state, from within its sovereign territory, facing a blatant threat of border violation by violent elements on the other side of the line.
Accusing Israel of committing war crimes, massacres, and violations of international humanitarian law, as well as invoking criteria and norms – including the customary international law rule of proportionality – characteristic of situations of armed conflict, has no relevance vis-à-vis the situation along the delimiting fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The highly publicized visit by the Palestinian Foreign Minister to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), armed with a new set of complaints of war crimes and violations of the Geneva Conventions along the fence, cannot be considered to be anything other than a flawed and cynical manipulation of the Court.
Israel to Issue Its Own Report on Gaza Riots, Won’t Collaborate With United Nations Human Rights Council
Israel will not collaborate with the United Nations Human Rights Council on an investigation into the recent riots on the Gaza border. Instead, it will issue its own report on the events, Hebrew media outlets reported on Sunday.Amb. Alexander Downer: Feckless West can't keep falling for Hamas propaganda
Around a hundred Palestinians were killed in the riots, most of them terrorists. The events were marked by attempts to breach the border fence, the planting of explosives, and the use of kites equipped with incendiary devices.
The UNHRC recently voted to establish a committee to investigate the riots, with only the US and Australia opposing the idea.
Israel views the UNHRC as wholly biased and therefore unable to conduct a fair investigation. The overwhelming majority of the council’s resolutions are anti-Israel, and the Jewish state is the only country that is the object of a permanent agenda item.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said of the council, “The results of the investigatory committee are known in advance and are written into the language of the resolution itself. It is clear to everyone that the council’s goal is not a real investigation, but to harm Israel’s right to self-defense and the specific demonization of the Jewish state.”
In response, Israel will issue its own report. According to the Hebrew news site Walla, a top legal official stated, “Previous experience teaches that the best response to the false narrative put forward by the Human Rights Council is to present a direct and professional presentation of the facts for their approval.”
So that brings us to the Hamas protest against the US Embassy on the Israeli/Gaza border. Hamas' strategy is to build international opposition to a Jewish state. Since they don't care about human life, any tactics will do.
They sent their fighters – as well as women and even some children – to try to breach the Israeli border and attack Israelis within Israel. The Israelis tried to stop them breaching the border with tear gas and even leaflets. But they kept coming trying to breach the border. The Israeli army fired at the invaders feet but even that didn't work. In the end they did shoot dead some of the attackers.
That may have been tragic. But 80 per cent of the victims were Hamas fighters, not Sunday afternoon protesters. For Hamas it was a triumph. They got what they wanted. Martyrs, as they like to call the victims, helped them win a media propaganda war worldwide. They saw it as a price worth paying. Even thrusting children and babies into a conflict zone is okay by them.
How feckless are so many governments to be taken in by these cruel tactics. And where, ultimately, will this lead? Will the Jewish people, mercilessly persecuted for centuries, give up their own state? Will those great people who have given so much to science and scholarship give in and let cruel extremists like Hamas define their future? I think not.