THE ISRAELI DEFENCE Forces (IDF) have been engaged in their ground invasion of the Gaza Strip for almost two months now. Israel’s stated war aim is to ‘destroy’ Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu has stated ‘If you want peace, destroy Hamas. If you want security, destroy Hamas. If you want a future for Israel, the Palestinians, the Middle East, destroy Hamas’.
After two months of combat, the IDF claim that they have ‘eliminated’ 6,000 Hamas fighters. This leaves an estimated 24,000 Hamas terrorists active within the Gaza Strip. Israel has not managed to apprehend any of the leadership of Hamas. Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar remain at large.
Hamas continues to commit war crimes. As I write, on one day alone, Hamas has carried out 11 separate missile and drone attacks at civilian targets. To be clear. Both sides in this appalling conflict are committing war crimes. Hamas’ targeting of civilians is a war crime. Hamas’ use of civilian objects and Palestinian civilians as ‘human shields’ are war crimes. Hamas’ continued holding of Israeli hostages – with the explicit threat to execute them – is a gross violation of the laws of armed conflict.
Israel is also committing war crimes in Gaza. Israel’s breaches of the Geneva Conventions are egregious. As an invading force, the IDF have significant responsibilities under the laws of armed conflict. Under the 4th Geneva Convention, Article 17, the IDF are obliged to ‘remove from besieged or encircled areas of wounded, sick, infirm and aged persons, children and maternity cases’.
Instead, Israel and the IDF have corralled and trapped 2.2 million Palestinian civilians into a free-fire zone within the confines of the Gaza Strip. At first, the IDF ordered a mass evacuation and expulsion of civilians out of Gaza City south to Khan Younis and Rafah. Contrary to Article 15 of the Geneva Convention – the Israelis did not provide ‘neutralised zones’ or safe passage for these civilians.
Having directed these civilians – under direct and indirect fire – to evacuate to Khan Younis and Rafah, the IDF then began attacking these cities with artillery, missile and air strikes. Thus far, Israel has fired at least 30,000 separate items of military ordnance on Gaza. That is one heavy weapon fired into a densely populated urban environment every three minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 60 days.
Over 40% of these munitions are massive ‘dumb’ bombs – free fall projectiles with no guidance systems.
As a consequence, over 20,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed by high explosives – shock wave injuries including limb separation and decapitation, accompanied by horrific shrapnel injuries and burns. Almost 10,000 children have been killed in this way. In the obscene calculus of indiscriminate and disproportionate – criminal – use of force by the IDF, that means that over 160 children are killed each day. As 2023 comes to a close, that is the equivalent of one child killed in Gaza every ten minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Gaza has now been determined as the most dangerous place in the world for children, according to the United Nations.
Israel’s use of these weapon systems – and the sheer weight of fire from the IDF in their ground operations – are in clear breach of Article 51 of the Geneva Conventions which prohibit the use of weapon systems or a ‘method of attack’ where there is a ‘concentration of civilians or civilian objects’.
By closing their border crossings and refusing civilians the opportunity to flee or evacuate from Gaza – the Israeli government has effectively created a concentration zone or ghetto within the Gaza Strip that is ‘uninhabitable’ according to the UN.
By forcing millions of civilians into an environment that cannot support human life – and by subjecting those civilians to constant bombardment, Israel has adopted some of the tactics of a rogue state.
Like President Assad’s use of indiscriminate ‘barrel bombs’ to target civilians in besieged Syrian towns – Netanyahu’s government has sanctioned a level of force, coupled with the concentrated confinement of civilians that many believe is consistent with mass murder. The IDF’s behaviour is has been called genocidal. These concerns have been raised consistently at the United Nations.
What has happened in Gaza is difficult to fully comprehend in terms of its brutality. It is reminiscent of the ‘total war’ concept employed by the axis powers during World War Two. The UN Works Relief Agency in Gaza (UNWRA) has stated that in two months, 66% of Gaza’s physical infrastructure has been completely destroyed.
The IDF has also specifically targeted protected structures such as schools and hospitals. According to the UN, 300 medical personnel have been killed during IDF offensive operations. Almost 100 journalists have been killed. The actions of the IDF are almost unprecedented – not only in brutality but in the sheer scale of the killing. Israel’s actions, in my view, match the definitions contained within the Geneva Conventions of ‘wanton destruction’ and ‘wilful killing’.
The targeting of hospitals has led to the killing of children – amputees recovering from surgery for life altering injuries. Such savagery is reminiscent of the worst excesses of axis forces in Asia, central Europe and eastern Europe during World War Two.
As I write this review of combat operations in the Gaza Strip, the IDF have repeatedly targeted refugee camps such as Jabaila in the north of Gaza and Nasser hospital in the south – resulting in mass casualties. The Medecines Sans Frontieres Team Leader in Gaza, Chris Hook has described the conditions under which doctors are working ‘Doctors are stepping over bodies of dead children to treat other children who will die anyway’.
In this way, the Israeli government and the Israeli military have brought themselves thoroughly into disrepute among the international community.
Their actions are those of a rogue state and represent an act of collective self-harm for Israel. Their military actions have not destroyed Hamas. Nor will they. Not one killing of an innocent Palestinian civilian will bring Israel the security and safety it deserves as a sovereign state.
The mass killing of innocent Gazans – if continued into 2024 – will ultimately serve to sow the seeds of Israel’s own destruction. Netanyahu has already sought to erode the separation of powers in Israel’s democratic structures. His illegal prosecution of the war against Gaza further erodes the legitimacy of the Israeli state.
An enduring and full ceasefire is essential to prevent a wider escalation of the War in Gaza. If there is no permanent ceasefire – on both sides – tens of thousands more Palestinians will be killed in the first few months of 2024. With inadequate aid – food, medical and water supplies – allowed into Gaza, human life will not be viable within the Gaza Strip. According to UNICEF spokesperson, James Elder:
‘Without sufficient safe water, food and sanitation that only a humanitarian ceasefire can bring, child deaths due to disease could surpass those killed in bombardments’.
History clearly demonstrates that nation states who rely upon indiscriminate violence and a permanent war footing for survival ultimately fail. Netanyahu’s toxic rhetoric on the use of force – echoed and parroted by his security advisor Mark Regev and his IDF male and female spokespersons – belong to a previous century and previous conflicts. As the unlawful killing of each Palestinian child is recorded and uploaded to the digital space – Israel will fall further into disrepute.
In the last two years, the EU, NATO and the US have taken a stand against the criminal aggression of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. Western leaders have repeatedly spoken of the rules-based world order and the value system we must defend in the face of brute force and war crimes.
The same solidarity and ethical resolve must apply in the case of the war crimes of Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Any humanitarian ceasefire must be a permanent suspension of violence from all parties.
Ireland has given considerable ethical and moral leadership in this regard in our capacity as an independent and neutral state using our political and diplomatic influence to call for a ceasefire and release of hostages.
Both the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Michéal Martin have demonstrated moral courage in their condemnation of those war crimes committed in Gaza – on all sides. We must continue to do everything in our power in 2024 to prevent a regional escalation of the current conflict to a second front in Lebanon and a proxy war with Iran.
Global conflict – along with the threat accelerator of climate change — will continue to present Ireland with significant challenges in 2024 and the coming years. The key to survival will be independent and neutral — courageous and ethical — leadership.
Dr Tom Clonan is a retired Army Officer and former Lecturer at TU Dublin. He is currently an Independent Senator on the Trinity College Dublin Panel, Seanad Éireann.
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