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We get more clarity on the Israel-Hamas war
You cannot be pro-America and pro-Trump.
Follow this authorJennifer Rubin's opinions
FollowMost recently, the Israel Defense Forces’ daring operation that rescued four Israeli hostages held for more than eight months provided new context for the war. The hostages were rescued from ostensibly civilian apartment buildings. The Times of Israel reported, “At 11:00 a.m. the order was given to the Yamam and Shin Bet officers to raid two multistory buildings in Nuseirat, where Hamas was holding the hostages.” The report continued, “[Noa] Argamani was held by Hamas guards alone in the home of a Palestinian family, while the other three hostages were held at a separate home, also with guards. According to the IDF, Hamas pays such families to hold the hostages in their houses.” (Reports that one hostage was held in the home of an Al Jazeera journalist were “stridently denied” by the Qatari news network.) Civilians were killed during the raid, but the U.S. government has yet to confirm the number, nor do we know whether the dead included the hostage takers and minders.
The hostages’ location requires some rethinking of how we assess Israel’s conduct of the war and how to count and classify casualties.
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Hamas committed war crimes on Oct.7 by killing, raping and abducting civilians. It has continued to commit war crimes by holding civilians hostage and, again, by treating them inhumanely. And in making military targets of civilian homes by turning them into hostage cells, Hamas has again committed war crimes. Any civilian death is regrettable, but in this scenario, Hamas is solely responsible for the casualties resulting from the rescue mission.
The rescue certainly raises troubling questions about the degree to which civilians are aiding and abetting terrorists (either voluntarily or by force). To the extent civilians become participants — including hostage-holding — they lose the protection of international law. In evaluating whether Israeli’s actions comply with international law and in counting civilian casualties, we therefore must know whether and to what degree they have became combatants and adjuncts to the terrorists. Until we do, the civilian casualty figures are uninformative.
Finally, many news reports labeled a protest outside the White House last weekend as “pro-Palestinian” or “pro-Gaza.” Really? It included explicit tributes to Hamas and unabashed antisemitic messages. NBC News reported:
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“We don’t want no two state, we’re taking back ’48,” some protesters chanted, referring to the 1948 war that led to the establishment of the state of Israel.A group of protesters also yelled, “Say it loud, say it clear, we don’t want no Zionists here.” ...A handful of protesters wore green headbands that appeared to be similar to those worn by members of Hamas.One protester wearing the headband said that it was “Hamas’ one,” though the protester said he does not speak Arabic and was not sure what it said. When asked if he supported Hamas, the protester, who would not give his name, said that he “wouldn’t say supporter, I would say maybe sympathizer.” ...Multiple statues in Lafayette Square across from the White House were vandalized during the protest with spray paint, graffiti and painted red handprints. Protesters attached signs reading slogans such as “Hands off Rafah! Stop the genocide!” to statues. Some graffitied slogans such as “free Gaza,” “kill pigs” and “f--- pigs” on the statues.Social media posts showed demonstrators chanting, “Hezbollah, Hezbollah, kill another Zionist now.” Video circulated of marchers bearing a banner that read: “Jihad of Victory or Martyrdom.” Where is the condemnation from those claiming to pursue human rights for all and who deny antisemitic motivations? The bottom line: Israel has to answer for any noncompliance with international law and inadequate measures to shield civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid. However, lost in the shrieking at Biden and Israel is a recognition that Hamas sparked the war with a brutal attack, is responsible for civilians killed during the hostage rescue, and has committed a grave legal and moral wrong in erasing the line between civilians and combatants. Hamas wants more civilians to die. It’s incumbent on Israel’s harshest critics to dissociate themselves from........
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