That was a special police operation, IIRC, where IHL doesn’t apply. Of course Israelis also lose protection when they abuse protected signs like the Red Cross, red diamond, or Red Crescent. Interestingly enough the red Star of David (Magen David Adom) isn’t protected in the same way as the Red Crescent, because Islam dominated states voted against it.
Abusing ambulances to transport weapons or fighters is a common tactic among Palestinian militants. The OP refers to Lebanon and Hezbollah though.
That was a special police operation, IIRC, where IHL doesn’t apply.
Using military personnel in a military occupied country, is a “special police operation”, huh?. It sounds like just redefining things now. Like the special military operation of Putin which is totally not an invasion of a sovereign nation.
I looked up the event you’re probably referring to. It was in area A, so even if it was a police unit, these should be considered combatants and international conflict. Operating in area A is a breach of the Oslo accords for Israeli forces.
The squad executing the targeted killing of one militant in the hospital were clothed in different civilian clothes (men, women) as you can see in the video. Only a minority of them wore medical uniforms.
The article doesn’t say, but I remember reading somewhere that it was a border police operation.
I don’t think we can rely on your imperfect memory. As far as I’m concerned. this was a war crime, much worse than what IDF is complaining about in the OP since it was actually clear and not just “we killed them, therefore they were combatants” CYA.
An injured fighter is no longer a combatant and entitled to medical treatment like any other human being.
But by blowing up the ambulance so that only body parts can be found after, it can always be claimed that the patients were still healthy before being bombed.
Specific ambulances are only attacked if there’s intelligence like surveillance that says it’s being used to transport combatants or weapons. If all ambulances were systematically targeted, all ambulances would camouflage as civilian vehicles.
You are correct that persons hors de combat are protected.
Evidence in war zones is always difficult, especially when combatants don’t wear uniforms. You can easily make a combatant look like a civilian, by removing the weapons from the scene. Making civilians look like combatants just takes putting a weapon next to their body. Independent neutral investigators will rarely arrive at a scene before one of the belligerent forces.
What the IDF actually said:
Using ambulances to transport active combatants is a war crime and the vehicle loses its protection.
So it’s also a war crime when Israel treat IDF soldiers with your logic
The IDF literally masqueraded as medical personnel and assaulted a hospital while still in medical garb. Just saying…
That was a special police operation, IIRC, where IHL doesn’t apply. Of course Israelis also lose protection when they abuse protected signs like the Red Cross, red diamond, or Red Crescent. Interestingly enough the red Star of David (Magen David Adom) isn’t protected in the same way as the Red Crescent, because Islam dominated states voted against it.
Abusing ambulances to transport weapons or fighters is a common tactic among Palestinian militants. The OP refers to Lebanon and Hezbollah though.
Using military personnel in a military occupied country, is a “special police operation”, huh?. It sounds like just redefining things now. Like the special military operation of Putin which is totally not an invasion of a sovereign nation.
I looked up the event you’re probably referring to. It was in area A, so even if it was a police unit, these should be considered combatants and international conflict. Operating in area A is a breach of the Oslo accords for Israeli forces.
The squad executing the targeted killing of one militant in the hospital were clothed in different civilian clothes (men, women) as you can see in the video. Only a minority of them wore medical uniforms.
The article doesn’t say, but I remember reading somewhere that it was a border police operation. The IDF and Israeli police forces have special units that specialize in undercover work and blending in with the Palestinian Arab population.
One could argue that covert infiltration and targeted killing avoided civilian casualties that would have occurred using a uniformed frontal assault.
Under IHL these Israeli operatives would be classified as spies and not get protections reserved to prisoners of war.
I don’t think we can rely on your imperfect memory. As far as I’m concerned. this was a war crime, much worse than what IDF is complaining about in the OP since it was actually clear and not just “we killed them, therefore they were combatants” CYA.
Classic Guardian.
An injured fighter is no longer a combatant and entitled to medical treatment like any other human being.
But by blowing up the ambulance so that only body parts can be found after, it can always be claimed that the patients were still healthy before being bombed.
Specific ambulances are only attacked if there’s intelligence like surveillance that says it’s being used to transport combatants or weapons. If all ambulances were systematically targeted, all ambulances would camouflage as civilian vehicles.
You are correct that persons hors de combat are protected.
Evidence in war zones is always difficult, especially when combatants don’t wear uniforms. You can easily make a combatant look like a civilian, by removing the weapons from the scene. Making civilians look like combatants just takes putting a weapon next to their body. Independent neutral investigators will rarely arrive at a scene before one of the belligerent forces.