Although Israeli sympathizers may contend that such IDF assaults and the resulting killings of civilians are justified in response to Palestinian suicide bombings, international law, as codified in the Geneva Conventions, states that intentional attacks on civilians are prohibited under any circumstance.
Palestinian suicide bombings are clearly war crimes, even though some Palestinians claim they are justified responses to Israeli massacres and the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. However, Israeli military assaults that systematically and purposefully kill civilians are also war crimes, regardless of their justification. Both are reprehensible and must be condemned.
Moreover, few independent observers accept Israeli claims that assaults on Palestinian civilian centers in the past two months are responses to suicide bombings. These operations began nearly a month after the January 5 suicide bomb that killed over 20 Israelis in Tel Aviv. The only other suicide bomb this year occured on March 5, long after the current Israeli campaign on Gaza was underway. Furthermore, in both the aforementioned cases, the suicide bombers came from the West Bank, not Gaza.
Palestinian suicide bombings are clearly war crimes, even though some Palestinians claim they are justified responses to Israeli massacres and the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. However, Israeli military assaults that systematically and purposefully kill civilians are also war crimes, regardless of their justification. Both are reprehensible and must be condemned.
Moreover, few independent observers accept Israeli claims that assaults on Palestinian civilian centers in the past two months are responses to suicide bombings. These operations began nearly a month after the January 5 suicide bomb that killed over 20 Israelis in Tel Aviv. The only other suicide bomb this year occured on March 5, long after the current Israeli campaign on Gaza was underway. Furthermore, in both the aforementioned cases, the suicide bombers came from the West Bank, not Gaza.