The Geneva convention was established to minimise atrocities in conflicts. Israeli settlements in Gaza are illegal and violate the Geneva convention. Legality of Israeli settlements Article 51 of the Geneva convention prohibits indiscriminate attacks on civilian population yet Israel attacked hospitals with children inside. Whether you agree or not that Hamas were present, children cannot be viewed as combatants.so when no care was taken to protect them, does this not constitute a violation? According to save the children, 1 in 50 children in Gaza had been killed or injured. This is a very high proportion and does not show care being taken to prevent such casualties and therefore constitutes a violation.
So my question is simply, do supporters of Israel no longer support our believe in the Geneva convention, did you never, or how do you reconcile Israeli breaches of the Geneva convention? For balance I should add “do you not believe such violations are occurring and if so how did you come to this position?”
Answers other than only "they have the right to go after Hamas " please. The issue is how they are going after Hamas, not whether they should or not.
EDIT: Title changed to remove ambiguity about supporting Israel vs supporting their actions
From a strategic standpoint, they have no choice. What Hamas is doing is by the book insurgent strategy, that’s been observed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to lesser extents in WW2 and Vietnam.
Commit an atrocity akin to 9/11 to provoke an enemy attack and hide your forces amongst the population. The initial victim (usa, and in this case, israel) must retaliate against such an atrocity, but their only strategic targets are civilian in nature (as all militants are using them as a meat shield).
Once civilian targets are struck Hamas makes pleas to the international community, for aid, sanctions or isolation of Israel. They pander to civilians, as they’ll die whether or not they join the insurgency. This balloons their numbers and combat strength.
On top of that, all forces begin engaging in brutal urban warfare with costly casualties for the enemy.
Israel (to their voters and population) can’t just “let” Hamas get away for the October attacks so they press their advance, civilians be damned. I believe Hamas are as responsible as Israel for civilian casualties and deaths.
No sides are truly right here, it’s merely a brutal dilemma. Not a problem, those have answers, but a dilemma with no good solutions. Potentially be overthrown by an outraged population or slaughter a bunch of civs. You know what all regimes will do.
I don’t agree with you throwing Hamas and IDF into the same category, but I appreciate your post because it helps me to understand the pro-IDF side better. So thanks.
If you want to look farther into the strategic and geopolitical side of the conflict, William spaniel has many great videos on it. He is impartial and holds a PHD in political science. He also authored books going over the Russian invasion of Ukraine