Thread by @Aizenberg55

🧵New HRW "report" claiming Israel committed crime of “forcible transfer” is a work of fantasy and fake law. HRW ridiculously claims Israel has no “military imperative” to evacuate Gazans by pretending IDF is not battling Hamas and has other options—but offers none. Analysis: 1/

First, HRW's entire 176-page analysis assumes Gaza is occupied thus Geneva Article 49 (below) applies to Israel’s evacuation actions—otherwise entire report falls apart. We’ll assume for this thread Gaza is occupied (it’s not); even so, Israel’s actions are still 100% legal. 2/

HRW’s thesis relies entirely on claiming Israel has no legitimate “military imperative” to evacuate Gazans—thus a crime. HRW does this by effectively pretending Hamas was/is not in active combat in Gaza, is not embedded in civilian areas & poses no threat to IDF or Israel. 3/

HRW claims presence of Hamas does not justify displacement of civilians, but does not explain why. HRW just claims IDF had other options but does not say what those are. Is it: 1) attacking Hamas with civilians in place? or 2) granting Hamas permanent immunity? HRW wants #2. 4/

Later in report HRW even says it is “impossible” to fully understand Israel’s strategy (so admitting entire report is based on fake analysis) but again declares presence of Hamas does not justify evacuating citizens. HRW offers no analysis or other option to defeat Hamas. 5/

In a total & deliberate erasure HRW omits Hamas: 500km of tunnels, non-stop rocket fire no nation on earth would tolerate, 1000s of buildings booby-trapped, Hamas dressed as civilian, combat from apartments & hospitals. Total removal to claim IDF has no “military imperative.” 6/

Not one section of report (all sections below) discusses Hamas, analyzes war, discusses other “options” for Israel, discusses option of not evacuating Gazans, assesses Hamas threat to Israel, consults military experts. Hamas is a total non-player in HRW’s fantasy narrative. 7/

HRW fabricates int’l law claiming Israel must “guarantee protection of displaced persons” & guarantee “safe areas.” But Geneva does not require this; the word "guarantee" is not even written in Article 49. It only says obligations required to "greatest practicable extent." 8/

In an active war zone, with many 1,000s of Hamas dressed as civilians in tunnels, IEDs & booby-trapping buildings, snipers, etc. causing >5,000 IDF casualties (5 killed in north Gaza last week), perfect evacuations are not "practicable." But HRW pretends Hamas does not exist. 9/

HRW deliberately makes no mention of Geneva Protocol I.58 which requires evacuation of civilians in combat zone. If Israel DID NOT evacuate Gazans it is 100% certain HRW would write report how Israel violated Article 58. For Israel it's a crime if you do, crime if you don’t. 10/

HRW demands perfection of Israel’s evacuation otherwise it’s criminal, devoting many pages to how orders were confusing, disabled people had trouble and many other hardships. Geneva again understands it's war: evacuations are to “extent feasible” as analysis below explains: 11/

HRW also claims Israel is unlawful by not allowing population to return after "threat is no longer present.” HRW ignores that Hamas remains a deadly threat all over Gaza, constantly returning to places IDF clears like north Gaza. HRW's "I don't see Hamas" fantasy continues. 12/

HRW devotes many pages to IDF attacks in humanitarian zones, thus claiming Israel's evacuations were not intended to move Gazans for their safety, but won't say why: Hamas embedded in these zones. Mohammed Deif was killed inside the Mawasi safe zone. No mention by HRW. 13/

Another core claim of HRW is that IDF attacked main evacuation routes, such as Salah al-Din Road. But the only evidence are news reports & Hamas statements where it’s not clear at all what happened – in fact evidence shows Hamas attacked the evacuees, but HRW omits this. 14/

HRW's fantasy of Hamas not existing is affirmed in “Recommendations” section. Israel must do just about everything. Hamas is free & clear, no obligations, no fault. They don’t even have to release hostages. They freely can attack Israel and promise publicly to do 10/7 again. 15/

HRW reveals true goal of report: dismantle Israel as a Jewish state in favor of a Palestinian state that enshrines Islam & Sharia law in its constitution (Remember: dozens of Muslim states OK; one Jewish not OK). HRW brings up fake “right” of return several times in report. 16/

Conclusion: This long report is another in an endless series of anti-Israel propaganda masking as "reports" and "research" by a formerly respected NGO. In HRW’s warped world view, Israel is solely responsible for the perfect well being of Gazans while Hamas has zero responsibility, zero fault. In fact, the report is an incredibly weaved fairy tale where Hamas does not exist. Other than a brief mention by HRW that they committed crimes on 10/7, Hamas is in the clear. Hamas can freely spend billions building a 30,000 strong military, firing rockets (even just a few days ago), attacking from tunnels, booby-trapping 1000s of buildings, holding & killing hostages, causing 5,000 IDF casualties (even yesterday an IDF soldier was killed in north Gaza where supposedly there is no justification to move civilians) and keep doing this now and in the future. Hamas can publicly boast that they will do 10/7 again, refuse to surrender, but to HRW, this is not relevant, not mentioned, not analyzed. Thus Israeli still cannot claim a "military imperative" to justify evacuating civilians. HRW claims instead that Israel has other "options," but does not say what these options are. There is no analysis of the war, and certainly no consultation with military experts (of course: none would agree with HRW). One can be sure that if Israel did not evacuate civilians they'd also be guilty of crimes, a 176-page report on how Israel violated Protocol I.58 and the horror of attacking Hamas without moving out civilians first. To HRW, the laws of war are written in such a way that Hamas has permanent immunity, and literally any action Israel takes is always criminal. END