Thread by @AkivaMCohen

This is both true and false. There's no proof that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza. But evidence is not the same as proof; evidence is "available facts which tend to support a conclusion." There's evidence sufficient to say "it's a war crime unless XYZ"

https://twitter.com/elderofziyon/status/1403003501165252621

@elderofziyon is correct, however, that the IDF has (1) claimed to be following the laws of war in their targeting decisions; (2) demonstrated significant attempts to minimize civilian casualties, warranting a level of trust that they are attempting to follow the laws of war; and

(3) proffered explanations that, if true, would mean that they did not commit war crimes. And we (the public) are simply not going to know for certain whether those explanations are true; revealing proof of those claims would threaten IDF sources and methods, so it won't happen.

That leaves me with two take-aways. First, your belief or disbelief of the IDF says more about your priors than it does about the available information on these particular strikes. If you believe the IDF, in general, is a brutal war machine with no concern for the laws of war,...

then "the IDF says there was a sufficient basis to target building X" isn't going to mean much to you. If - like me - you believe the IDF, in general, attempts to obey the laws of war, then it will.

And second, I think the best insight you're going to get into whether the IDF is being truthful is the reaction of Western governments that would have been privy, through intelligence sharing, to the intelligence underlying the strikes

That means the US, UK, Germany ... to me, their absolute silence after receiving information on the IDF strike on the Jala Tower says "whatever the basis for the strike that the IDF shared was convincing"

I mean, the alternative is that the UK, US, and Germany are suddenly reluctant to condemn attacks on journalists or civilians, and that does not fit with their historical behavior when Israel is at war. Take that FWIW