Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, took to Twitter on Thursday to tackle accusations that Israel would be in violation of international law by enacting a siege on Gaza.
Goldfeder was tackling accusations from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Peter Beinart that Israel would violate international law and norms by enacting a siege.
He couches his argument largely in the Laws of Armed Conflict (LOAC), which are a series of regulations on armed conflict originating in the Geneva and Hague Conventions.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regularly publishes documents detailing the LOAC. The LOAC is also cited in both American and British military training manuals as part of the regulations soldiers must follow.
Three principles
“The central feature of the LOAC is to prevent unnecessary casualties and protect innocent civilians,” said Goldfeder. This is done “through the application of three fundamental principles: distinction, military necessity, and proportionality.”ICRC Headquarters (credit: DOROTHÉE BAUMANN)
He explained that distinction requires combatants and civilians to be clearly distinguished and that attacks must not be directed against civilians, only combatants.
“Hamas does not do that,” he said.
Then he cited a Lieber Insitute report that says, “There are no reliable reports that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have intentionally targeted civilians.” The Lieber Institute is part of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, colloquially known as West Point, the premier US military academy.
He clarifies by saying that it doesn’t mean Israel won’t respond to Hamas, nor does it mean that innocent lives won’t be lost.
Military necessity, Goldfeder said, permits “measures which are actually necessary to accomplish a legitimate military purpose and are not otherwise prohibited by international humanitarian law.”
He directly refuted any claims that blockades are illegal under international law citing from the ICRC casebook, which sets out a series of requirements for a legal blockade such as specifying a start date, geographic range, and finally allowing neutral ships to leave before it begins.
Goldfeder specified that there are humanitarian aspects of the law such as facilitating the passage of food and medicine by third parties, adding that “IF and only IF they can be reliably delivered without diversion to the enemy.”
He summed up the understanding of siege law as “Sieges are lawful unless deliberately aimed at starving the local population.”
Sieging Gaza is not illegal or ‘collective punishment’, says NJAC director (msn.com)