An Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza has killed five people, including a Hamas political leader and Palestinian medics, Hamas has said, in an attack that Israel said had targeted a key figure in the militant group.
The Gaza health ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimise harm at the site.
Hamas said a member of its political office, Ismail Barhoum, had been killed.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the target was Barhoum. The military did not name the target, which it described only as “a key terrorist” in Hamas.
Who are the other 4+ people killed in this attack ON A HOSPITAL??
Dude, the target was a civilian, a non-combatant. Killing non-combatants is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions
Both Bardaweel and Barhoum were members of the 19-member Hamas decision-making body, the political office
Killing members of a government at war is something else than killing civilians.
They’re still civilians. Only enemy combatants can be killled under international law. Otherwise I assume that you’d be okay if Hamas planned a suicide bombing inside the Knesset? And also, even if he was a legal target, he enjoys the same protection as other wounded do if he’s being treated at a hospital.
The Knesset also contains people opposed to the war. I don’t see how such an attack would bring a military advantage.
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule8
In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose partial or total destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.
Killing Hamas civilian leaders in charge of internal security, meaning they also hunt Israeli spies, would bring an obvious military advantage.
Attacking the Israeli defense ministry or border police, the prime minister, or the cabinet could be justified as giving a military advantage.
Now, I’m not sure if civilian leadership of the armed forces count as combatants or not. However an attack should be covered by the above. IANAL of course.
Don’t get me wrong. Israel certainly commits war crimes, I’m not sure this was one.
