Israeli troops launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip on March 20, just two days after resuming aerial bombardments following a nearly two-month truce. The military action has been indiscriminate and led to over 17,000 civilian deaths. Tom Fletcher, the UK permanent representative to the UN, said that hundreds of children and other civilians have been killed in areas of high population density. Things escalated even more when Israel’s military just yesterday owned up to targeting ambulances, calling them “suspicious vehicles.”
The offensive in Gaza has faced intense criticism from many sides. Hamas has denounced the Israeli airstrikes as a “war crime.” In particular, they drew attention to a specific incident that took place in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah. Israeli soldiers continued to fire into international automobiles along the Egyptian border, felling one protestor and injuring many others. Those vehicles they determined to be operated by Hamas. The military said many Hamas terrorists were killed during the operation.
“Israeli airstrikes in densely populated areas have killed hundreds of children and other civilians.” – Tom Fletcher
The attack on ambulances has received a tremendous amount of attention. Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that a team of six rescuers from Tal al-Sultan went missing during an emergency response. The military subsequently found the body of the team leader. They verified that one ambulance and one firefighting vehicle were hit, as well as one Palestine Red Crescent Society vehicle, which was left as a pile of scrap metal.
“After an initial inquiry, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles … were ambulances and fire trucks.” – The military
“A deliberate and brutal massacre against civil defense and Palestinian Red Crescent teams in the city of Rafah.” – Basem Naim
This horrific incident has once again opened up discussions on the nature of military operations and their duty to protect humanitarian workers. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, charged that what Israel was carrying out was a “massacre” against first responders. By doing so, he called attention to the fact that attacking rescue workers is a clear violation of international humanitarian law. These atrocities violate the Geneva Conventions.
“The targeted killing of rescue workers – who are protected under international humanitarian law – constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva conventions and a war crime.” – Basem Naim
Israel’s military defended their actions by citing claims that terrorist organizations had been hijacking ambulances to carry out the kinds of operations. Yet, as Fletcher and others recently reminded us, the international community cannot stay silent on such violations, but must insist upon accountability and adherence to humanitarian principles.