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Itay Epshtain Profile picture
Mar 20 5 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Expose by @Haaretz this morning - #Israel's military uses #US Korean War (1950-1953) surplus ammunition in #Gaza, leading to indiscriminate and reckless targeting, in what could very well be a grave breach of international humanitarian law #IHL. Image
According to sources within #Israel's military, the expired ammunition and antiquated weapon systems (the M109 Howitzer, in service since 1963) led to a "sharp increase in the risk of misfire and targeting errors." Image
Customary #IHL rules dictate that a party to the conflict must take "all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of warfare with a view to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects."Image
Knowingly using these weapons -as #Israel does in #Gaza - offers no precaution in attack and may amount to wilful killing and causing of great suffering or serious injury to body or health, considered a grave breach of #IHL (Art. 147 GCIV) and codified as a war crime under @IntlCrimCourt statute.
The #Israeli decision to "economize" when using precision weapons - or indeed avoid using malfunctioning weapons whose precision and impact cannot be reasonably predicted - is an inversion of the @ICRC commentary on AP I Art 57(2)(a)(ii) which foresaw military commanders economize to prevent harm to civilians, not increase it. It is a testament to the marginality of legal advice - if any such responsible advice was given - to the decision of Israeli commanders in #Gaza.Image

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More from @EpshtainItay

Mar 5
Some aid into besieged #Gaza - through airdrops and (reportedly) amphibious vehicles departing Cyprus - is better than no aid to the intentionally starved population. But there are three normative and operational caveats: Image
1. The crude volume of humanitarian relief required - over 500 truckloads a day - cannot be matched by even the most extensive aerial and maritime operation. Nor does it resolve issues with prioritising distribution and ensuring a dignified and safe delivery.
2. #Israel obligated - as underscored by the #ICJ - to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance to #Palestinians, would not be absolved by the fact that its allies airdrop or land aid on Gaza's beaches. Israel, the occupying power, is alone responsible.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 28
#Israel inaugurated 'Road 749', running the 7 km width of #Gaza, south of Gaza City and intended as a permanent route for Israeli ground forces. Permeance designed to acquire occupied territory indefinitely. Image
Just north of Road 749 is what remains of the Karni Crossing, dismantled by Israel in 2011 when it was last operated. #Israel intends to use it as a log base from which aid will be provided to sympathetic "villagers associations" in #Gaza. Image
This idea dates back to 1974, when #Israel wanted to have #Palestinian appointees - subordinated to Israeli staff officers - manage civil life (including education, health and relief) in the West Bank and Gaza. Image
Read 5 tweets
Feb 24
How would #Israel justify to the International Court of Justice #ICJ - in a report due Monday - that it failed to comply with provisional measures ordering it to enable the provision of humanitarian relief, when trucks coming in went from 600+ a day (pre 7 October) to a handful? Image
It is not above erroneously claiming that protesters - encouraged to "cancel aid and fuel to Hamas," through a carnival held at Ashdod Port, Nitzana and Kerem Shalom Crossings - made it impossible to facilitate critical relief to #Gaza, as mandated by the Court. Image
To think that the @CIJ_ICJ would be convinced that #Israel could not disperse those blocking relief convoys to #Gaza is seriously delusional. Instead, it is "political theatre" in an attempt to mask the intentional starvation of #Palestinians. Image
Read 4 tweets
Feb 23
What do we learn from #Israel's leaked day-after document:
1. It's conducting a war of debilitation intended to annihilate government functions in #Gaza.
2. It intends to permanently acquire (read: annex) territory in Gaza under the guise of security needs.
3. It is determined to suppress all manifestations of #Palestinian self-determination, including political independence, territorial integrity and permanent sovereignty.Image
In 1974, the @UN defined the act of aggression. #Israel's current conduct in #Gaza and its stated intentions with respect to occupied #Palestinian territory rise to the level of a crime of aggression.
Image
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#Israel’s objective in Gaza has been framed, including by the Prime Minister of Israel, as a “fight until we achieve total victory,” which amounts to a 'war of debilitation,' characterized by the unlawful intent and attempt to bring the complete destruction and disintegration of all public life and institutions. Debellatio was a legal construct during a period when states were free to wage war for the purpose of territorial gain. However, in contemporary international law, that would be an act of aggression.Image
Read 4 tweets
Feb 21
Two significant developments this afternoon, in the first the #Israeli Parliament, with an overwhelming majority of 99 out of 120 members - from coalition and opposition parries - adopts the following:
1. Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the #Palestinians. A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.
2. Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would prevent any future peace settlement.Image
Addressing the plenary, #Netanyahu said: "I congratulate the members of the Knesset, including from the opposition, who voted with a huge majority in favor of my proposal that Israel oppose being unilaterally dictated to establish a Palestinian state. I don't remember many votes that the Knesset voted with a majority of 99 out of 120. The Knesset united with an overwhelming majority against the attempt to dictate to us the establishment of a Palestinian state,a dictate that will not only not bring peace but will endanger the State of Israel. The members of the House are united as the people are united in a way that has never been before. Today's vote sends a clear message to the international community."Image
In a second development, a climate of disregard towards international legal norms - and the negations of #Palestinians inalienable rights - leads #Israeli armed forces to commit war crimes, admits the Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi. Image
Read 10 tweets
Feb 17
BREAKING: Speaking at a presser this evening, #Israel's Netanyahu confirmed ground operations in #Rafah will coincide with the forcible transfer of already displaced #Palestinians. He did not divulge as to whether, but I suspect his former National Security Advisor and close confidant Meir Ben Shabbat has already mapped it out.Image
On 15 October 2023, exactly 4 months ago, his government-sponsored think tank identified two such locations: 1. the area east of #Rafah (once the location of the #Gaza airport, long destroyed by Israel) to which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians can be forced. Image
2. An area in northern Sinai, close to #Egypt's Rafah, to which Palestinians could be deported (where Egypt, the #US, and the #UN will provide humanitarian relief, suggest the authors of the policy paper). Image
Read 4 tweets

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