Israel Matzav

UNRWA and Red Cross providing housing for terrorists

Yet another Palestinian terrorist is now being guarded by human shields in Gaza. Wael Rajab received the call from the IDF today, and within ten minutes his house was surrounded by women and children acting as human shields to prevent the house from being destroyed. The IDF says that it has not yet decided how to deal with this, but it is considering sending in ground troops. Unless that means it is going to walk up to a house and remove the occupants unannounced, I'm not sure how this will get around the human shield problem. And in any event, it will be a much greater risk to IDF troops than bombing from the air. Remember Jenin? Lebanon this past summer?

For those who have forgotten, Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention provides

The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.

And as I noted in a post during the Lebanon war last summer, according to international law expert Yoram Dinstein:

Should civilian casualties ensue from an attempt to shield combatants or a military objective, the ultimate responsibility lies with the belligerent placing innocent civilians at risk.

Not that the world cares what the rules are when Israel is involved. We are always guilty.

But here is perhaps the most curious part of this whole story, and it is only peripherally connected to the idea of using civilians as human shields:

The demolition of the houses has created tremendous pressure on the Hamas-led government, which is being forced to find alternative housing for those who lost their homes.

The plight of the new "refugees" is amplified by the fact that most people in the Gaza Strip are afraid to host the fugitives and their families for fear that their houses would also be targeted by the IDF.

Most of the displaced families have sought shelter in tents supplied by UNRWA and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Isn't it nice to know that your tax and charity dollars are at work protecting terrorists from the wind and rain and cold (not that it has gotten that cold yet)?

In the meantime, eight more Kassams have rained down on the western Negev today and everyone is standing on line for the buses to Eilat.... Olmert, Peretz and Livni continue to fiddle and Israel is burning....

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:03 PM