(New York Times) Steven Erlanger and Fares Akram - Israel maintains a combat policy in which occupants of a building about to be bombed or shelled are given a brief warning in Arabic to evacuate. The Israelis have used such telephone calls and leaflets for years now, in a stated effort to reduce civilian casualties and avoid charges of indiscriminate killings or even of crimes against the rules of war. But often, as in a case in Khan Younis on Tuesday, people die in any case, because they ignore or defy the warnings, or try to leave after it is too late. The Israeli leaflets urged residents not to allow their houses to be used as cover for digging tunnels or smuggling weapons, and provided an email address and phone number for people to report on such activities around them, saying, "Don't stand idle as the terrorist elements use you."
2014-07-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive