Hamas war crimes explained

Hamas war crimes are the violations of international criminal law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, which the Islamist Nationalist organization Hamas and its paramilitary wing, the al-Qassam Brigades have been accused of committing. These have included murder, intentional targeting of civilians, killing prisoners of war and surrendered combatants, indiscriminate attacks, the use of human shields, rape,[1] torture and pillage.

Applicability of laws of war

Determining the applicability of laws of war to militant groups is a difficult question, as both the Council of Europe and International Committee of the Red Cross note that international law traditionally treats war and terrorism as separate legal categories.[2] [3] The Israeli, American, EU, UK, Japanese, and Canadian governments define Hamas as a terrorist group. However, many countries have disagreed with this characterization and have engaged with Hamas as a legitimate political entity.[4] [5] While the term "international law" conventionally pertains to states, it has also been applied to insurgent and terrorist armed forces. [6] Accordingly, even insurgencies deemed lawful under international law that meet the criteria of "just cause" must also adhere to principles of "just means" as well.[7] Regarding Hamas and its combatants, even if they have a presumptive right to fight against what they term as an "illegal occupation," they must still abide by legal rules of "discrimination", "proportionality", and "military necessity" under international law as conventional states do.[8] [9]

According to Human Rights Watch, "international humanitarian law, through the well-established doctrine of command responsibility" also applies "to political and other leaders insofar as they have 'effective responsibility and control' over the actors in question...thus making its leadership also criminally liable."[10]

War crimes

Targeting of civilians

According to Amnesty International, the "prohibition on targeting civilians is absolute in international law".[11]

Human Rights Watch has declared that the "scale and systematic nature" of Hamas' targeting of Israeli civilians "meet the definition of a crime against humanity", and that its particular use of suicide bombings taking "place in the context of violence that amounts to armed conflict...are also war crimes."[12]

Suicide attacks

See main article: List of Palestinian suicide attacks. According to Amnesty International, "the campaign of suicide bombings and deliberate attacks against Israeli civilians by Hamas and other armed groups constitutes crimes against humanity.

Between September 1993 and the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000, "Palestinian groups carried out fourteen suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians, mostly in 1996-97, killing more than 120 and wounding over 550. Hamas said it committed most of the attacks."[13]

In the decade between 2000 and 2010, there were 146 suicide attacks committed by Palestinian militant groups against Israelis, resulting in 516 fatalities.[14] A 2007 Harvard University study of 135 Palestinian suicide attacks conducted between September 2000 and August 2005 determined Hamas responsible for 39.9% of such attacks during that period.[15]

Use of human shields

See main article: Use of human shields by Hamas. Israel has accused Hamas of using human shields in the Gaza Strip, saying that Hamas has purposely attempted to shield itself from Israeli attacks by storing weapons in civilian infrastructure, launching rockets from residential areas, and telling residents to ignore Israeli warnings to flee. Israel has also accused Hamas of maintaining command and control bunkers and tunnel infrastructure below hospitals. Hamas has denied using hospitals to shield any command centre,[16] while it has previously made remarks expressing support for Palestinians refusing to flee areas Israel has targeted.[17]

The Israeli accusations have been supported by NATO,[18] and during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war EU nations condemned Hamas for using hospitals as human shields, while the UN Secretary General said "Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields".[19] [20] In 2023, HRW stated "Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups need to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians under their control from the effects of attacks and not use civilians as 'human shields.'"[21]

Indiscriminate attacks

See also: Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.

Between 2000 and 2021, over 17,000 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza.[22] Hamas' use of indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilians has been widely condemned as a war crime.[23] [24] Palestinian UN Observer Ibrahim Kraishi has equally decried the attacks, stating that "every rocket and mortar fired from Gaza toward Israel is a “crime against humanity.”[25]

Second Intifada

See main article: Second Intifada and Civilian casualties in the Second Intifada.

During the Second Intifada, the majority of Israeli casualties were civilian non-combatants, with Hamas conducting numerous attacks deliberately targeting civilians.[26] [27]

Prominent examples include:

Name Date Dead Injured Notes
May 18, 2001 5 100
June 1, 2001 21 100+
August 9, 2001 16 130
September 9, 2001 3 94
Ben Yehuda Street BombingDecember 1, 2001 11 188
December 2, 2001 15 40
Café Moment bombingMarch 9, 2002 11 54
Passover massacreMarch 27, 2002 29 140 Carried out with Palestinian Islamic Jihad
March 29, 2002 2 28
Matza restaurant suicide bombingMarch 31, 2002 16 31
April 10, 2002 8 19
May 7, 2002 16 55
May 19, 2002 3 59
June 18, 2002 19 74+
July 16, 2002 9 20
July 31, 2002 9 80
August 4, 2002 9 38
September 19, 2002 6 70+
Kiryat Menachem bus bombingNovember 21, 2002 11 50+
Haifa bus 37 suicide bombingMarch 5, 2003 17 53
April 30, 2003 3 50+
May 18, 2003 7 20
Davidka Square bus bombingJune 11, 2003 17 100+
September 9, 2003 9 30
September 9, 2003 7 50+
Gaza Street bus bombingJanuary 29, 2004 11 50+
March 14, 200410 16
August 31, 2004 16 100+
January 13, 2005 6 5

2014 Gaza war

See main article: 2014 Gaza war.

Killing and injuring of Gazan civilians

See also: 2014 Gaza war and 2018–2019 Gaza border protests.

According to the Jerusalem Post, during the 2014 Gaza war, 20 civilians from Shuja'iyya were killed while protesting against Hamas.[28] A few days later, Hamas reportedly killed two Palestinians in Gaza and wounded ten after a scuffle broke out over food handouts.[29]

The IDF stated on 31 July that more than 280 Hamas rockets[30] malfunctioned and fell inside the Gaza strip, hitting sites including Al-Shifa Hospital and the Al-Shati refugee camp, killing at least 11 and wounding dozens.[31] Out of the Hamas denied that any of its rockets hit the Gaza Strip.,[32] [33] but Palestinian sources said numerous rocket launches ended up falling in Gaza communities and that scores of people have been killed or injured. Israeli Military sources said the failed Hamas launches increased amid heavy Israeli air and artillery strikes throughout the Gaza Strip. They said the failed launches reflected poorly assembled rockets as well as the rush to load and fire projectiles before they were spotted by Israeli aircraft.[34] While the Al-Shifa Hospital incident is disputed, early news reports have suggested that the strike was from an Israeli drone missile.[35] [36] UK based human rights group, Amnesty International concluded that the explosion at the Shati refugee camp on 28 July in which 13 civilians were killed was caused by a Palestinian rocket, despite Palestinian claims it was an Israeli missile.[37]

Killing of suspected collaborators

Shurat HaDin filed a suit with the ICC charging Khaled Mashaal with war crimes for the executions of 38 civilians.[38] [39] Hamas co-founder Ayman Taha was found dead; Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported he had been shot by Hamas for maintaining contact with the intelligence services of several Arab countries; Hamas stated he was targeted by an Israeli airstrike.

On 26 May 2015, Amnesty International released a report saying that Hamas carried out extrajudicial killings, abductions and arrests of Palestinians and used the Al-Shifa Hospital to detain, interrogate and torture suspects. It details the executions of at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel and torture of dozens of others, many victims of torture were members of the rival Palestinian movement, Fatah.[40] [41]

2023 Israel–Hamas war

See main article: 2023 Israel–Hamas war and 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

On 9 October 2023 Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas's apparent targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and taking of hostages amounted to war crimes.[42]

On 10 October 2023 the OHCHR stated the taking of hostages and use of human shields were war crimes.[43] United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Türk noted that militant groups' "horrifying mass killings" were violations of international law.[44]

Re'im music festival massacre

See main article: Re'im music festival massacre.

As one of the first massacres of many in the coordinated attacks on 7 October 2023, militants of the al-Qassam Brigades and other Palestinian factions entered a music festival in Re'im at local time and murdered over 360 people, as well as taking over 40 people hostage. Considering the attack on festival goers as indiscriminate in nature, along with a lack of Israeli military presence during the massacre, it could only be considered an intentional attack against civilians.[45] [46] [47]

Be'eri massacre

See main article: Be'eri massacre. At, on 7 October 2023,[48] around 70 al-Qassam and DFLP militants had entered and attacked the kibbutz of Be'eri, taking over 130 peoples' lives,[49] including women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver),[50] children,[51] toddlers, and one infant,[52] [53] [54] [55] in total claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents. Dozens of homes were also burned down.[56]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. Web site: Reasonable Grounds to Believe Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Occurred in Israel During 7 October Attacks, Senior UN Official Tells Security Council Meetings Coverage and Press Releases . 2024-05-13 . press.un.org.
  2. Web site: War and terrorism . Council of Europe . 8 April 2024 . 31 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231031041143/https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/war-and-terrorism . live .
  3. Web site: Thynne . Kelisiana . Better a war criminal or a terrorist? A comparative study of war crimes and counterterrorism legislation . International Review of the Red Cross . 18 February 2022 . 8 April 2024 . 31 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231031042646/https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/better-a-war-criminal-or-a-terrorist-a-comparative-study-916 . live .
  4. Web site: Marks . Monica . What the World Gets Wrong About Hamas . Time Magazine . 30 October 2023 . 8 April 2024 . 31 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231031004527/https://time.com/6329776/hamas-isis-gaza/ . live .
  5. Web site: 2023-10-09 . What is Hamas? The group that rules the Gaza Strip has fought several rounds of war with Israel . 2024-04-08 . AP News . en.
  6. Web site: War and terrorism - Manual for Human Rights Education with Young people - www.coe.int . 2024-04-08 . Manual for Human Rights Education with Young people . en-GB.
  7. Web site: 2023-10-09 . Hamas Terror Attacks and International Law . 2024-04-08 . www.jurist.org . en-US.
  8. Web site: 2023-10-09 . Questions and Answers: October 2023 Hostilities between Israel and Palestinian Armed Groups Human Rights Watch . 2024-04-08 . en.
  9. Web site: 2021-05-20 . Israel versus Hamas: Proportionality, Perfidy and the Law of War . 2024-04-08 . www.jurist.org . en-US.
  10. Web site: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians . 2024-04-08 . www.hrw.org.
  11. Web site: January 31, 2006 . Palestinian Authority: Hamas must stop targeting of civilians . April 9, 2024 . amnesty.org . Amnesty International.
  12. Web site: I. SUMMARY . 2024-04-08 . www.hrw.org.
  13. Web site: October 2002 . Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians . 2024-04-10 . www.hrw.org . Human Rights Watch.
  14. Schweitzer . Yoram . October 2010 . The Rise and Fall of Suicide Bombings in the Second Intifada . Strategic Assessment . . 13 . 3 . 39.
  15. http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/benmelech/files/JEP_0807.pdf Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers pdf
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  18. Hamas' use of human shields in Gaza . NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.
  19. Web site: Secretary-General's press conference on the Middle East United Nations Secretary-General . 8 April 2024 . www.un.org.
  20. Web site: 13 November 2023 . EU nations condemn Hamas for what they describe as use of hospitals, civilians as 'human shields' . 8 April 2024 . AP News . en.
  21. Web site: Gaza: Unlawful Israeli Hospital Strikes Worsen Health Crisis . Human Rights Watch . 14 November 2023 . 8 April 2024.
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  24. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/ban-kimoon-lsquoappalledrsquo-by-gaza-destruction-1451889.html Ban Ki-moon 'appalled' by Gaza destruction
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  26. Manekin . Devorah . Violence Against Civilians in the Second Intifada The Moderating Effect of Armed Group Structure on Opportunistic Violence . Comparative Political Studies . October 2013 . 46 . 10 . 1285 . Sage Journals. 10.1177/0010414013489382 .
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  34. Web site: Israel: 10 percent of Hamas rockets misfired, landed in Gaza Strip . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140808071549/http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/07/30/israel-says-10-percent-hamas-rockets-misfire-fall-gaza-strip/ . 8 August 2014 .
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  54. Web site: 2023-11-15 . המספרים נחשפים: נרצחו 13 ילדים, 31 נערים ו-25 מעל גיל 80 מתחילת המלחמה - וואלה! חדשות . 2024-04-09 . וואלה! . he.
  55. Web site: ynet - מלחמת 7 באוקטובר: פרטי החללים והנרצחים . 2024-04-09 . ynet . he.
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