The Only Democracy In The Middle East, everybody: Israeli Minister of Communications has begun the process of shutting down Israeli paper Haaretz for being “anti-patriotic” when it revealed that Israeli Helicopters were responsible for killing civilians on Oct. 7th. Many eye witness accounts confirmed this only days after Oct 7.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-11-23/ty-article/israels-communications-minister-threatens-haaretz-suggests-penalizing-its-war-coverage/0000018b-fd0c-de73-a9bb-ffefb9f10000

@KevinCarson1

Another similarity between Netanyahu and Putin. Both are occupying territory that doesn't belong to them, murdering civilian populations, and threatening media outlets that don't toe the government line.

@riggbeck @KevinCarson1 Ahem. Israel occupies what exactly? You might want to check your maps.

@datenritter This is a map of the West Bank elaborated by UN in 2020: https://www.ochaopt.org/sites/default/files/westbank_a0_25_06_2020_final.pdf

It counts more than 600k settlers, and includes military bases, roads prohibited to palestinians, and "Area C" (Full Israeli control over security, planning and construction). According to Wikipedia, Area C comprises 61% of the West Bank land.

@jalda Yeah, that settlement bullshit should stop.

I find the comparison to Putin bizarre though. Ukraine never wanted to drive Russia into the sea, nor did they fail to control their own territory or even to sign a contract. Neither did Israel wipe complete cities of the map.

Anyway, I understand how you'd consider this an occupation.

@datenritter Israel in one and a half month killed 1 out every 200 Gazans [1], amounting to more of 11000 civilians. Russia in 19 months has killed 9700 civilians [2]. If Israel didn't "wipe complete cities" is because Gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world, not because they were less bloodthirsty than Russia.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/gaza-rising-death-toll-civilians/
[2] https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/09/ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-24-september-2023

Gaza’s death toll: 1 out of every 200 have been killed, according to Health Ministry

More than 11,100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. They include doctors, journalists, professors and poets.

The Washington Post
@jalda In Gaza ylu mean? The problem with attributions like "bloodthirsty" is they oversimplify the situation and mask Hamas' actions. Hamas turned hospitals into military compounds, making them legitimate targets. The IDF could just flatten the place, yet they send ground troops to minimize casualties and are still criticised for "attacking a hospital". I am fed up with the double standards.

@datenritter Israel raided the Al-Shifa hospital on November 14, and two weeks later still hasn't produced a single piece of evidence of terrorist activity. Surely the burden of proof should be much stronger before taking military actions against an hospital.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/23/idf-gaza-hospital-tunnels-director-arrested/

Inside the tunnels beneath Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital

The Telegraph has analysed and geolocated a tranche of footage released by the IDF showing tunnels with inter-connected rooms

The Telegraph

@jalda See that's what I mean by double standards. You see the tunnels, you know Hamas use these tunnels, you know Hamas use civilians as humans shields, you know Israel could just have bombed the place instead of besieging it, and you also know there is a lot of intelligence work going on in the background. Israel has aerial reconnaissance and informers. Still you hold to the idea Israel needs to deliver perfect proof, at least two days before, kindly asking the international community to allow the attack, while Hamas just moves out of the place? Why should Israel even be 100% sure in a warzone? Completely unrealistic. Also, since when is Hamas expected to leave litter in tunnels? WTF?

IDF claim they brought medical supplies with them. (No proof, but again: They didn't flatten the place.)

There are recordings from CCTV and other indications for Hamas activity, including at least 5 killed Hamas fighters.

And there's this from 2015: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/hamas-tortured-and-killed-palestinian-collaborators-during-gaza-conflict-new-report

You want more sources?

Hamas tortured and killed Palestinian 'collaborators' during Gaza conflict - new report

We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.

@datenritter Of course there is a double standard! Hamas is a terrorist group. Asking to treat Israel the same way as Hamas is asking to treat them as a terrorist group, and not as a democratic country where the rule of law applies.

Anyway the Israeli claim was that the hospital was a key command center. Now the claim is that there are tunnels and at some point some terrorists passed by. Moving the goalposts.

@jalda This is the best and most neutral and fact-based video I have found so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2cPTxpfveU

Big part of it covers the two famous hospitals.

Tunnels and AI report are enough evidence for me. The hospitals are still there btw.

Israel’s Ground Assault to Cease-Fire

YouTube

@datenritter I'm at work, so I can't watch any videos.

Yes, the tunnels exist. Part of them were built by Israel in the 90s, and it seems that the Palestinians later expanded them. However, that doesn't prove the intention behind the expansion.

In a cursory search, I have found no news articles about an AI report. Without more details, I cannot tell if the AI report is trustworthy or the usual LLM hallucination.

@datenritter Anyway, the point isn't whether it's enough evidence for you. The point is whether this could be considered "acts harmful to the enemy" as defined in Art.19 of the Geneva Convention IV, which is the only case where it is legal to attack a civilian hospital. And the mere existence of tunnels is not enough to declare that the hospital was used in harmful acts.

@jalda It doesn't matter how you interpret the situation. Hamas had been using the hospital and the tunnels below. It's just not plausible they just stopped that after the 1990. Also there are reports about the use. They didn't really look abandoned. Then there's intelligence. It's not like Israel is blind. Not everyone in Gaza loves Hamas. *cough*

The IDF did not bomb the hospital, they literally walked there and shot terrorists which is absolutely okay. Also keep in mind that Hamas is by no means respecting the Geneva Conventions or anything like that.

@datenritter As for interpretations, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, is very clear about Israel's (as well as Hamas') breaches of the Geneva conventions.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/10/law-israel-hamas-international-criminal-court-icc

We are witnessing a pandemic of inhumanity: to halt the spread, we must cling to the law

There is no blank cheque in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The ICC is working to ensure justice is on the frontlines, says Karim Khan of the ICC

The Guardian
@datenritter "For those responsible for targeting and firing missiles, I wish to be clear on three points in particular. One: in relation to every dwelling house, in relation to any school, any hospital, any church, any mosque – those places are protected, unless the protective status has been lost because they are being used for military purposes."
@datenritter "Two: if there is a doubt that a civilian object has lost its protective status, the attacker must assume that it is protected. Three: the burden of demonstrating that this protective status is lost rests with those who fire the gun, the missile, or the rocket in question."
@datenritter It's not enough saying that "it is not plausible" or "that didn't look abandoned". Israel MUST show their hard evidence that the hospital or the tunnels were used for military purposes (not just used).