THREAD: Was bombing in Jabalia in line with international law (IHL)? Or a war crime? Does the loss of civilians, even if high automatically mean war crimes? Let’s look at what IHL actually says not the media, UN or NGOs. This same analysis applies to future strikes as well. 1/
First is Geneva Protocol I Article 48 which is Basic Rule: “distinction” between civilians & military. IDF must “direct their operations only against military objectives.” Israel targeted a key Hamas base with commander many fighters weapons tunnels etc. So IDF complied here. 2/
But wait, civilians died? Israel probably even KNEW some would die. Isn’t that a war crime? No. Geneva allows civilian deaths even if known. It does not reward human shields & immunize Hamas per Article 28. Military targets are legal even knowing that civilians will die. 3/
Geneva Protocol I Article 51.7 emphasizes concept again. Civilians do not immunize military points “particularly in attempts to shield… from attacks.” Hamas’ base within/under Jabalia is itself a war crime under this article and the target was legal to strike under IHL. 4/
Protocol I Article 57.2.c requires Israel to give advance warning if "circumstances" "permit". Israel has warned civilians for weeks to move south away from battle zone ~90% have done so. IDF complied. Civilians staying still does not immunize military target from attack. 5/
Now the tougher subjective rule of war Article 51.5b the so-called “proportionality” doctrine even though the word itself does not appear in IHL. Was Jabalia strike excessive in relation in relation to military advantage? Here is the language and analysis next. 6/
Same concept found in Article 57.2b. Was Jabalia attack according to IDF knowledge “expected to cause” loss to civilians “excessive” to military advantage “anticipated”? Note that after the fact damage is less important to assessing war crime than what was “expected” upfront. 7/
This concept of "expected" harm means mistakes (like errant bombs) or not knowing in advance how many civilians were present does not mean war crime. When UK killed 86 children in error during WWII attack on Gestapo HQ it is not considered a war crime. 8/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation…
Proportionality is subjective. There are no civilian/combatant ratios as guidelines. Every situation is totally different & must take in all factors. Hamas leader promises "million" October 7 massacres so military need to kill Hamas terrorists is high. 9/
We also know that is Israel has robust legal experts embedded within IDF that reviews key strikes if not all. This is from The Economist. Those charging war crimes are not credible without detailed facts & analysis of each strike. 10/
So was civilian loss in Jabalia strike “excessive” relative to the “military advantage” Again without knowing precisely the loss of civilian life vs Hamas losses & importance of target, threat to IDF & Israel from this position it’s all speculation. 11/
One also needs to know what IDF “anticipated” would be civilian loss. Tunnel collapse brought down buildings they were not directly struck (see video). Was this anticipated? Did IDF know how many civilians were there? All this factors into assessment. 12/
Given this was a senior Hamas commander with ~50 terrorists also killed, several rocket launch posts, weapons production & tunnel shafts NOT destroying it could result in large IDF & Israel deaths. This certainly appears to be a legal strike, NOT a war crime. However… 13/
I/we should admit that to be 100% certain requires ALL the exact facts like casualty figures of each kind that NO ONE knows & may only be possible when IDF shares details & what it knew at the time. So when media & NGOs cry war crimes they have ZERO basis for claiming this. END
UN condemns Israel's strike in Jabalia but when official is asked about IHL that allows such strikes, all he says is "I don’t have the courage or the intellectual capacity to engage in a legal debate with you." !!
🧵IAGS lost credibility after railroading a Gaza “genocide” resolution with no debate and allowing ANYONE to be a voting member. More important: resolution itself is false led by its president Melanie O’Brien who discarded scholarship to libel Israel. 1/
The resolution could not muster any credible evidence of "special intent" to genocide, recycling the fake "human animals" line as core evidence. This is just the tip of iceberg on this sham resolution that debases all the "scholars" who voted for it. 3/
➡️Update on my membership to the the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS):
Yesterday I joined the organization as a “genocide scholar,” paid my dues, and quickly realized I had started a trend. It turns out literally anyone can join this body and vote on matters that make international headlines—like the resolution claiming Israel is committing genocide.
A review of the ~600 membership list revealed that large numbers have no scholarly credentials at all. The group openly encourages “activists” and anyone interested to sign up. I found at least 80 members hailing from Iraq. Who voted for the Gaza genocide resolution? We don’t know—the ~100 votes were never disclosed. Could it have been dominated by this bloc? Hard to say.
But what happened next is telling: today the IAGS shut down its new membership page and, more importantly, removed its membership list from public view. Perhaps they no longer want the public to see who is really behind these votes, now that it’s been exposed.
Yes, there are some legitimate academics who are members. But when an organization with no standards, no transparency, and no accountability makes sweeping pronouncements about “genocide,” it isn’t scholarship—it’s politics masquerading as scholarship. And everyone deserves to know the difference. x.com/Aizenberg55/st…
Important article with comments by @DrSaraEBrown on the sham process by the IAGS. The moderator deleted dissenting listserv posts about the fake "Gaza genocide." jewishinsider.com/2025/09/intern…
@DrSaraEBrown Another interesting data point: Pre-10/7 the IAGS only had about 150 members. Suddenly they ballooned to 500+, recall this organization was formed in 1994.
📌I am now officially a “genocide scholar” as a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. I will uphold its mission to advance research & teaching on genocide and its prevention. See next link for my viral article exposing false claims of genocide in Gaza. 1/
I became a member too late to vote against the recent resolution calling Israel's action in Gaza a genocide (only 28% of total members voted yes). See my article below exposing the false claims:
I've been getting to know some of my fellow genocide scholars. Seems that Iraq is a center of knowledge in this field with 80 listed scholars of ~600 (13%). Remarkable, especially the Mahmood family with 5 scholars in the field. I wonder who voted for the Gaza resolution.
➡️IPC tested 15,700 kids for malnutrition in July and found 12%—below 15% famine threshold
😕Problematic. So what did they do?
➡️Use a smaller incomplete 7,100 sample showing 16%
✅Solved. Now UN can claim famine in Gaza!
Evidence & sources:
IPC used MUAC (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference) of kids to assess starvation where 15%=famine. But instead of using full July dataset they dishonestly used a smaller incomplete sample of 7,127 kids. Table 18 of report shows 16.4% in Gaza Governorate—just enough to declare famine. 2/
On Aug 8, the State of Palestine Nutrition Cluster released a LARGER dataset of 15,749 kids—same Gaza sites, same methods—showing 12% malnutrition, below famine. You don’t need a PhD to know a sample twice the size is more reliable—and that ignoring it is academic fraud. 3/
🧵+972 article claims Israel killed only 8,900 combatants branding all others civilians. But piece admits those are only NAMED fighters. The fact that Israel has identified so many by name is remarkable. Pretending this proves the IDF didn't kill 20,000+ combatants is absurd. 1/
The article of course elevates Hamas data as accurate, ignoring that it includes natural deaths, deaths caused by Hamas, child combatants and numerous other anomalies. It also falsely asserts Israel accepts the Hamas data even though Israel said it officially does not. 2/
As usual for +972, it elevates anonymous and unofficial IDF sources, but buries the official statements from identified sources that contradict their entire thesis. They make much that the first response by the IDF was vague, but then later specifically disputed the data. END
🧵The “200 journalists killed in Gaza” claim is FALSE. So far at least 30 — plus the recently killed Anas Al-Sharif — are confirmed combatants based on open sources & social media. Many more will be exposed. Hamas apologists ignore the evidence. Examples next: 1/
Example 1: Mohammed Nabil Al-Zaq — listed as a “journalist” killed in Nov 23 — was in fact a confirmed combatant with multiple photos showing him in military gear and confirmed terrorist group ties. 2/
Example 2: Yaqoub Al-Barash — listed as a “journalist” killed in Nov 23 — was in fact a confirmed combatant with multiple tributes as a “mujahid” and a poster with a fighter image with the comment “with every hand fighting.” 3/