The questions over whether Israel is violating laws of war intensified last week after warplanes dropped at least two 2,000-pound bombs — among the largest in the country’s arsenal — on the Jabaliya neighborhood, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds, most from refugee families.
“Israel dropping several large bombs in the middle of a densely populated refugee camp was completely and predictably going to lead to a significant and disproportionate loss of civilian life and therefore a war crime,” Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch and a visiting professor at Princeton University, wrote online.
The Geneva Conventions, the widely accepted basis for international humanitarian law and codes of warfare, were adopted in 1949 with the aim of preventing governments from inflicting the level of mass casualties of World War II.
Israeli officials say they take extensive measures to protect civilians, including by dropping leaflets or making radio and television broadcasts and even phone calls urging residents to leave danger zones ahead of some attacks.
One benchmark that Israel considers relevant was introduced by a United Nations investigation of civilian deaths during the 1999 NATO bombing campaign over Kosovo, whose aim was to protect ethnic Albanians from attacks by Serbian forces.
Mr. Paul, the former State Department official, was a longtime employee in the agency’s political-military bureau, which handles weapons sales, until last month, when he resigned because of what he said was immoral U.S. support and lethal aid for Israel’s bombings in Gaza.
The original article contains 2,153 words, the summary contains 248 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The questions over whether Israel is violating laws of war intensified last week after warplanes dropped at least two 2,000-pound bombs — among the largest in the country’s arsenal — on the Jabaliya neighborhood, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds, most from refugee families.
“Israel dropping several large bombs in the middle of a densely populated refugee camp was completely and predictably going to lead to a significant and disproportionate loss of civilian life and therefore a war crime,” Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch and a visiting professor at Princeton University, wrote online.
The Geneva Conventions, the widely accepted basis for international humanitarian law and codes of warfare, were adopted in 1949 with the aim of preventing governments from inflicting the level of mass casualties of World War II.
Israeli officials say they take extensive measures to protect civilians, including by dropping leaflets or making radio and television broadcasts and even phone calls urging residents to leave danger zones ahead of some attacks.
One benchmark that Israel considers relevant was introduced by a United Nations investigation of civilian deaths during the 1999 NATO bombing campaign over Kosovo, whose aim was to protect ethnic Albanians from attacks by Serbian forces.
Mr. Paul, the former State Department official, was a longtime employee in the agency’s political-military bureau, which handles weapons sales, until last month, when he resigned because of what he said was immoral U.S. support and lethal aid for Israel’s bombings in Gaza.
The original article contains 2,153 words, the summary contains 248 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!