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| April 5, 2002 |
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Moreover, Israel’s attempt to close much of the West Bank to news reporters and human rights monitors has prompted concern that its army is seeking to operate without oversight or accountability. Alleged violations of international humanitarian law by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) include:
It can also be argued – though Israel disputes this – that the entire IDF operation in the West Bank in recent days constitutes a form of collective punishment, aimed not at an exclusively military objective but at demoralising the civilian population. On the Palestinian side, continued suicide bombings and other acts of terror against civilians constitute a clear violation of international law. Israel has released a series of documents, captured during their latest offensive, which they claim shows that Yasser Arafat and his political colleagues are directly linked to the terror campaign. If so, Arafat and others in the Palestinian Authority leadership would be legally accountable for these crimes. Since the Israeli army began its latest phase of operations on Friday March 29, there have been numerous reports of civilian casualties. On April 3 alone, nineteen Palestinians were reported killed in military operations; it is not known how many of these may have been terrorists. There have been reports in Western newspapers of civilians being shot for violating the curfew order in place in the cities that the IDF has occupied. The distinction between military and civilian targets, and the requirement to avoid military operations that cause disproportionate harm to civilians, are fundamental principles of international law. They are embodied in Articles 48 and 51 of the first Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. (Israel has not signed the Additional Protocols, but they are generally regarded as binding customary law.) At mid-day on April 4, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that: two of their medical personnel in Ramallah had been thrown out of ambulances and beaten; the PRCS maternity hospital in Ramallah raided; the ambulance station in Nablus blocked by IDF tanks; an ambulance crushed by a tank in Bethlehem. The PRCS said that its ambulances were unable to move in Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, Jenin and Tulkarem, and that seven ambulances had been destroyed since March 29. Freedom of access for medical personnel is protected under Article 35 of the first Geneva Convention, among other regulations. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society also reported that the humanitarian situation in the cities where Israeli forces are operating was "approaching catastrophic proportions". They warned of "the destruction of road, water, electricity and telecommunications networks" and said that a "serious public health hazard" existed in Ramallah because of water shortages, destruction of city infrastructure, lack of access for medical care and interruption of garbage collection. A member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees was arrested on April 2 after a UNRWA team made a delivery of food and medicine to Ramallah hospital. Deliberate damage to civilian or civic property without military justification is forbidden under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, as well as Article 52 of the first Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. In addition, under Articles 55 and 56 of the fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power has the duty of ensuring adequate food and medical supplies, and protecting public health, in areas under occupation. News reports have spoken of Palestinian civilians being forced by Israeli soldiers to knock on doors and evacuate other Palestinian families. According to Article 51 of the fourth Geneva Convention, civilians cannot be compelled to do work "which would involve them in the obligation of taking part in military operations". On Sunday March 31 it was reported in several newspapers including the Washington Post and the Observer that five Palestinian fighters in Ramallah killed by IDF forces had wounds that suggested they may have been executed rather than fatally wounded during an exchange of fire. The execution of soldiers who are "hors de combat" is regarded as one of the most severe breaches of international humanitarian law; it is forbidden by Article 13 of the third Geneva Convention and Article 40 of the first Additional Protocol. On April 2, Reporters sans Frontieres said that at least eleven journalists had come under fire in Ramallah since the Israeli army declared it a "closed military zone" at the beginning of the siege. The IDF is attempting to prevent journalists gaining access to all areas where it is currently operating. Some correspondents have reported that they have been deliberately shot at to intimidate them and restrict their movement. On April 4, Israeli forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at a group of journalists outside Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah, and threatened them by pointing the barrel of a tank at them, according to several eyewitness accounts. Under Article 79 of the first Additional Protocol, journalists are entitled to the same protection as civilians and may not be deliberately targeted. There is no provision in the laws of war that forbids restrictions on journalists or human rights monitors, but Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which Israel has ratified) guarantees the "freedom to seek, receive and impart information". On April 4, Israeli forces continued to besiege Palestinian fighters and civilians who have taken refuge in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Palestinian gunmen sheltering inside the basilica said that the Israeli army had blown open a metal door leading to a church courtyard and fired inside. The Israeli authorities have said they will not launch an attack on the building, and that they are offering safe passage for civilians inside to leave. They allege that Palestinian officials are preventing the civilians from leaving the church. Religious buildings are protected under the 1899 Hague Conventions and Article 52 of the first Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. Collective punishments are forbidden under Article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention. In official statements, the Israeli government has maintained that the purpose of its military actions is to root out terrorists and destroy the infrastructure that they rely on. However, unnamed Israeli officials were quoted recently in the Washington Post as saying that the operations in Palestinian areas are also designed to "teach them a lesson" or re-establish Israel’s "strategic deterrence". If these are indeed the purposes of the military action, it would seem to qualify as collective punishment.Israel’s latest offensive followed a suicide attack against a Passover dinner at a hotel in Netanya that claimed 26 lives. Since March 28, a further 25 Israeli civilians (including two policemen) have been killed in terrorist attacks On Tuesday April 2, the Israeli Defence Forces released a document they said had been seized during a raid on the Ramallah office of Fuad Shubeiki, a senior Palestinian Authority official. The document, apparently sent to Shubeiki by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, demands to be reimbursed for the costs of suicide bomb attacks. On April 4, Israel released further documents suggesting that Yasser Arafat had directly authorized payments to people involved in the terrorist campaign as recently as January. Deliberate attacks on a civilian population are explicitly forbidden under Article 51 of the first Additional Protocol. Political leaders who authorize such actions can be held legally responsible for them.
The Crimes of War Project will be publishing an Expert Analysis on the latest situation in the Middle East shortly. Related chapters from Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know: Arab-Israeli
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