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UN Reports on IDF Response to Hamas Are Misguided

(The Hill) Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Kenneth Glueck and Col. Ian Corey - The UN report by its special commission on Israel's response to the mass demonstrations along its border with Gaza, which ignores systematic legal violations by Hamas, is misguided and poses serious concerns for the U.S. The IDF's rules of engagement are consistent with international law in regulating the use of force. The IDF operated in the context of approaching mass crowds that mixed unarmed protestors with armed operatives of enemy groups. In situations like these it is reasonable under international law for commanders on the scene to permit use of live ammunition. Accordingly, it was reasonable for the IDF to authorize lethal force against individuals identified as enemy belligerents, or any other individual posing an imminent threat to the lives of IDF personnel or Israeli civilians. Lethal force was used only as a last resort, and even that was aimed primarily at legs in an effort to produce non-lethal results. We appreciate how the challenge confronting Israel strongly resembles what the U.S. faces in its conflicts against Islamic State, the Taliban and others. Adversaries emboldened by the lack of censure for Hamas' illegal tactics are now more likely to employ similar strategies against U.S. forces. The writers, a former senior U.S. Marine Corps commander and a U.S. military lawyer, are members of JINSA's Hybrid Warfare Task Force.
2019-04-01 00:00:00
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