Over the past decade, IDF military assaults against Gaza have grown progressively more vicious and brutal. Restrictions limiting damage to civilians, homes and non-military targets have been removed. Rules of engagement have grown looser so as to allow the slaughter of virtually anything that moved anywhere.
During Operation Protective Edge, Israel announced a new policy that was meant to further punish Hamas’ leadership for its role in organizing resistance to its siege. It would target the residential homes of the senior leadership not just of the military wing, but the political wing as well.
It was as part of this new tactic that the IAF and Shabak developed a plan to assassinate Muhammed Deif, the chief of Hamas’ military wing. Through the use of Palestinian informers, eighteen of whom were notoriously executed by Hamas during the war, Israeli intelligence determined that Deif was in his home on the night of August 19th. The IAF launched an F-16 with several especially powerful warheads that would each be dropped on separate parts of the home to guarantee its complete destruction.
As I reported here, at least two of the bombs did not detonate. Substantial damage was done to the home and Deif’s wife and two small children were murdered. Because of the devastation and the ‘certainty’ (which appears far less certain now) of intelligence operatives that Deif was inside, Israel announced he had been assassinated with 90% certainty. There was likely a celebration at Shin Bet HQ for finally getting the Palestinian ‘cat’ with nine lives (Israel had unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate him at least five times).
But it was not to be. Hamas assured the world that Deif was alive. It even released a statement by him. Even Israel’s leaders became more circumspect. They continued to believe he was dead, but made allowances for the possibility of failure.
Now Ben Caspit writes that Deif is indeed alive. Caspit, one of Israel’s populist right-wing columnists, offers, as is typical, no source for his claim. But it appears likely it’s from within the IDF or Shabak. This new report finally lays to rest the legend of Israeli omniscience in which its intelligence services luxuriate. Israel failed in this operation. It will never admit it failed. It will never explain why. The national security state doesn’t do such things. It owes no explanations to anyone, least of all citizens of the state itself. They’re taught to be quiet and obedient and told that they will know only what they need to know. This arrangement satisfies all because the citizens mistakenly believe that the generals know what is best for them and will do it–even if they don’t.
But even if the killing succeeded, as I’ve shreyed here for ages, Hamas would lose none of the power and ferocity of its resistance to Israeli aggression (remember who invaded Gaza…it wasn’t Hamas). In fact, as I’ve also pointed out, the level and quality of resistance could very well improve. After all, Israeli analysts have pointed out that the previous Hamas military leader, Ahmed Jabari, who himself was assassinated a year ago, was quite adept. But they noted that his successor, Deif, instilled an entirely new level of skill, innovation, and vigilance in Hamas’ defence of the homeland.
Let’s not leave this subject without expressing outrage that Israel didn’t hesitate to murder Deif’s innocent wife and two babies. What kind of nation achieves its objectives drowning in the blood of mothers and babies?
It’s in this context, that B’Tselem will publish its new report on the IDF’s deliberate targeted of Gazan homes, which were of no military significance. The title of the report, Black Flag, alludes to a judicial decision written by Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Halevi about the Kfar Qassem massacre. In describing what an illegal military order was, he wrote:
It flies like a black flag above the order, a warning to all saying: “Forbidden.” Not just a pro forma illegality, one hidden to all or the majority, not an illegality obvious only to those learned in the law. But a clear and flagrant violation, an illegality that is absolute and certain from the nature of the order itself. One which exposes the basic criminality of the order or the acts which the order commands. One that pricks the eye and outrages the heart, as long as the eye isn’t blind and the heart isn’t made of stone.
In 1957, when Halevi wrote of the Kafr Qassem incident, standards of morality were clearer. Israelis had a better sense of what was permitted and what was prohibited. Almost all knew such massacres were wrong and orders should be refused. But much water has flowed under that bridge. There is no more morality in war as far as Israel is concerned. There may still be some amidst the international community. It may yet hold Israel accountable. And this report may help do so.
‘Black flag’ has come to be an idiom which refers to operations known to be illegal. Though soldiers may refuse to obey such orders, they rarely do. They are done off the books and the standard norms of conduct are ignored. They are done out of revenge. By nature, there is no chain of command or written order. But those who conduct such operations are considered heroes. Not heroes in the sense of publicly celebrated. Because Israelis understand there are times when things much be done, but which must be done quietly so that the world will not take undue notice.
Unfortunately, Israel’s military history of full of such massacres: from Qibya to Kafr Kassem, to Nirim, to Horev the castrator. But the greatest Black Flag of them all is the Nakba itself. Though David Ben Gurion wrote voluminously before the establishment of the State about the necessity of expelling Palestinians from Israel; curiously, there is almost no written record during the 1948 War of plans relating to the indigenous population. Though 1-million were somehow ‘miraculously’ expelled, no one wrote an order to do it. It does remind one of the Nazis who, aside from the Wannsee Conference, similarly left no written record authorizing the Holocaust.
Returning to the issue of war crimes, B’Tselem is far too judicious to use such explicit language. But the language it does use is clear enough. Use of the term “black flag” clearly indicates B’Tselem believes IDF policy itself was flagrantly illegal, if not criminal. I am glad to see B’Tselem refusing to back off its commitment to basic human rights (as the New Israel Fund has done) despite the assaults against it by the Israeli right and Knesset.
The destruction of Gaza’s housing infrastructure caused tens of thousands of refugees to flee. But they often had no place in which to take refuge since the public buildings were themselves destroyed or full of other refugees. This left thousands to fend for themselves in the streets or wherever else they might find safety. 600 Palestinians (one-quarter of the total fatalities) died directly as a result of this policy. The vast majority were civilians. The nature of these attacks was especially vicious because in targeting homes, often entire families were wiped out as a result.
Israel’s defense was that the homes were “command and control” centers for Hamas terrorists. If there were civilians inside the homes, the apologists reasoned they were human shields for the fighters inside. In order to eradicate the terrorists, the homes and any collateral civilian damage was justified.
This is how B’Tselem, in a letter written to Bibi Netanyahu accompanying the report’s release, responded:
“[With such a policy,] there are no restrictions whatsoever on Israeli action and whatever method it chooses to respond to Hamas operations is legitimate, no matter how horrifying the consequences. This interpretation is unreasonable, unlawful, and renders meaningless the principle that violations committed by one party do not release the other party from its obligations toward the civilian population and civilian objects.”
An important corollary to the wholesale assault on private homes was the deliberate targeting of the homes of Hamas leaders I mentioned above. Prior to Protective Edge, there was at least a tacit recognition that the families of Hamas leaders were not to blame for the actions of Hamas itself. So except in a few rare instances (Salah Shehadeh), homes in which there were civilians were not targeted. That all ended this summer. Now everyone is a target and everyone a victim as far as Israel is concerned.
As a result, Israel has lost the right to distinguish between it’s own civilian and military as legitimate targets. If the IDF treats civilians the same as a Hamas fighter, then there is no reason for the Palestinian resistance to make this distinction in its own attacks on Israeli Jews. Hasbarists, do not accuse me of justifying the slaughter of Israeli civilians. If you wish to find the cause of such tragedy you have only to look at the actions of the IDF this past summer in Gaza. Indiscriminate murder of civilians–that is Israel’s legacy.
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No wonder Israel fears exposure in the Hague. It knows that outside its borders there are values-not-shared.
The house that the IDF bombed in order to kill Mohamed al-Deif was not his house, but belonging to the al-Dalou family in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in the City of Gaza.
As people reading this blog know (if they remember) a house belonging to al-Dalou was already totally bombed out during the Israeli agression in November 2012 killing 10 persons from the same family (four brothers ans sisters aged 1-7, their parents, grandmother, aunt etc only one male was killed while the grand-father (the owner of the house) and his teenage son went to get food in their own grocery store.
At the time the IDF said they had killed a Hamas Commander, changing their version 2-3 times, and when the dead body of the only male killed (the son of the owner) was found three days later (and he happened to be a minor police officer) they suddenly claimed HE was the target which of course was a lie.
According to various sources this is exactly the same house that was bombed again on August 20 and I’m wondering if the IDF already in November 2012 targeted the house because of Mohamed al-Deif.
I can’t find any sources confirming 100% that this is actually the same house, the videos available from the second bombing are filmed at night and don’t show the surroundings. But it’s in the same neighbourhood and belong at least to the same extended family.
Sorry for not being clear but it just stuck me that maybe the 2012 bombing was targeting al-Deif too.
By the way, Mohamed al-Deif made a rare interview (only audio) during Protective-Massacre this summer and spoke about the tunnels into Israel proper. He said Hamas was not interested in killing civilians but only looking for military targets, that there was no victory in killing unarmed civilians but only in fighting ‘equals’ though I have no doubt: without the military superiority, man to man, the Israeli army wouldn’t stand a chance against Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.
Israel’s complete disregard for civilian life and its rudderless retaliations were again seen in recent events. Hezbollah killed, as known, in a precise operation two Israeli soldiers (as revenge for the recent killing of six Hezbollah operatives plus an Iranian general by Israel). What was Israel’s primary response? Shelling Lebanese border villages.
This is all not new of course. It happened before 1967. I have posted this video before but some hasbarists here might have missed it (it is in two parts):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLVoSdg_AE8
[comment deleted: Your comment is OFF-TOPIC. Not to mention that distorting history is not acceptable here. If you don’t know the real history of Israel’s wars I’m not about to teach you. We’ve gone over & over these issues before & I’m not going over them again here. Stay ON-TOPIC. Consider yourself warned.]
@ Ronan
Blahblahblah. The two guys who killed the Fogel-family were not fighters, but plain criminals.
If you don’t know what ‘fighting man to man’ means, maybe google can help you. And your crap about beheading people tells us more about you than about the Palestinian fighters. Maybe you should go back to Hasbara-courses or find another place to dump your Hamas-is-ISIS-spin.
The ‘center’ of the topic is simply that the entire conflict is a religious war & עם לבדד ישכון”
Brush up on your Yiddishkeit!
Like Dylan said ‘we are just taking back what is ours” and that can be supported by a myriad of sources from my tradition which I doubt you adhere to.
[Comment deleted: major comment rule violation. No one may say here that I reject the existence of the state of Israel. That is a fraudulent statement. Since you’ve already had another comment rejected today for Islamophobia, you’ve won the Zio-jackpot and will be moderated.]
@Ronan
’”67 … when numerous Arab armies attacked simultaneously”.
We won’t discuss it further but obviously there is something wrong with your view of Israeli history.
@Arie – ’48 and ’73 aren’t enough for “attacked simultaneously”? And I’m pretty sure in all other cases we were outnumbered!
@Deïr Yassin – the Israeli army isn’t made out of MASKED NINJAS. You will certainly find many Jihadists who can overcome IDF soldiers one on one, but that isn’t a war. In a real confrontation, organization vs organization (leaving civilians out of it) they won’t be much more than a road bumper. (I believe Richard called Israel somewhere the 4th most strong in the world).
@ Ariel:
I may’ve written that some years ago. But a survey I read recently ranked it 11th, which seems more reasonable than 4th. The latter ranking would be too generous.
@ Ariel: In 1948, Ben Gurion knew a declaration of statehood would provoke a war, which is what happened.
As for ’73, Sadat begged Golda to negotiate a deal in 71 ( I believe) & she turned him down flat. It was only after her rejection that he went the route of war. The 73 war happened because of Israeli rejectionism, which is the root of all evil as far as Israel is concerned.
@RS – this is very interesting, indeed. I found this article about it that I believe coming more from your side than mine. I don’t think it is very clear what did or what didn’t happen there. Regardless, it is an interesting piece of history.
“Ariel: In 1948, Ben Gurion knew a declaration of statehood would provoke a war, which is what happened.”
@RS-A very strange statement. What was Ben Gurion supposed to do? There was never a Palestinian govn’t and things could not have been left הפקר.
I am sure you know the talmudic statement:פסיק רישיה ולא ימות meaning you can’t expect to cut off the head of a living being and expect him to live. So needing to declare a govn’t for the sake of law and order and all the other services needed to run a state was an absolute necessity even if it would cause war. Otherwise everything would be helter skelter.
@ Ronan: That’s rich. Your argument that engaging in an act which commenced a war in which thousands died, a million residents were expelled, and women were raped was intended to “establish law and order.” By what standard is that establishing law & order?
[Comment deleted: Snooze. I can’t begin to tell you how boring are ancient Zio-history lessons. Read the comment rules on this subject. We’ve discussed precisely this issue scores of times. You are not going to regurgitate the same tired “lessons” offered by hasbarists before you.]
but your claim that BG’s decleration started the war simply dosent fit the facts.
@ eli: I think I prefer Judah Magnes view of this matter over yours. It’s what he himself said.
The Arab states said they would go to war if Israel declared statehood and it did. And a war followed immediately upon the declaration. Seems pretty clear to me.
@ Ronan
“we are just taking back what is ours” and that can be supported by a myriad of sources”
Self serving sources. No other country agrees that it is yours – not even the USA.
Italy doesn’t go after lost bits of the Roman Empire, Denmark not after the erstwhile “Danelaw” bits of Britain, Austria not after lost parts of the Donau monarchy etc.etc. In all these cases, particularly the two latter ones, these territories were lost much more recently than what you claim was yours.
[Comment deleted: Islamophobia is unacceptable here.]
There are not many people on this earth for whom reference to a “divine revelation” constitutes a right.
According to this Washington Post article this is even the case with the majority of American Jews:
“the reform and secular Jews who make up 65 percent of the U.S. Jewish population, sometimes joined by the 17 percent who identify with conservative Judaism. This group is more likely to worry about or criticize Israeli policies toward Palestinians. It’s less likely to claim an emotional attachment to Israel and less likely still to argue that the country was promised to Jews by God.”
Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/03/8-fascinating-trends-in-how-american-jews-think-about-israel/
Statistics do not mean much to those who adhere to the Torah. Most likely a good % of reform Jews are not even really Jewish according Jewish law.
In essence whether conscious or non-consciously the foundation of Zionism is from the Torah otherwise it might as well be in Uganda or out there near Siberia{I forget name of the place exactly} and being in the land of Israel would be meaningless.
I accept what you wrote for who you are however, as always, there are other opinions.
Ronan wrote:
” otherwise it might as well be in Uganda or out there near Siberia{I forget name of the place exactly} and being in the land of Israel would be meaningless.”
Herzl wrote:
“Shall we choose Palestine or Argentine? We shall take what is given us, and what is selected by Jewish public opinion. The Society will determine both these points.” (The Jewish State).
It is clear that Herzl’s leading idea was that of a Jewish state. Its locality was of secondary importance. After having talked in one short paragraph about the alternative, Argentinia or Palestine, he goes in great detail about the organisation of the new state, virtually without any reference to its particular place. At one stage he refers to “The Promised Land” but it is clear from the context that he doesn’t use that in a religious sense. “Promised” in the sense of “our future habitat”. When he talks, in the short paragraph I mentioned, about Palestine he doesn’t call it the “Promised Land”. He calls it “our ever-memorable historic home.”