Post Mortem on Gaza
Nine months since the end of major fighting in Gaza, a dispute still rages over how and why so many civilians died - 1,563, according to the United Nations. Israel says it did everything possible to minimize civilian casualties and blames Hamas for deploying its fighters in populated areas. Hamas says that Israel attacked without restraint and even targeted civilians.
Recently the Israeli organization Breaking the Silence entered the debate. The group of former and current Israeli soldiers asked their comrades what they did and saw during last year's fighting. Its report, "This is How We Fought," presents 111 testimonies from more than 60 Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers and officers who served in ground, naval and air forces.
The soldiers and officers describe how Hamas fought from populated areas, including by launching rockets toward Israeli cities from near homes and schools. But they also highlight Israeli practices and policies that violated the laws of war and probably contributed to the high number of civilian deaths.
Two issues stand out. First, Israeli forces often assumed that once they had warned civilians to leave an area, the people who stayed behind were legitimate targets. The laws of war encourage armed forces to warn civilians of impending attacks, and the IDF frequently did so by dropping leaflets from aircraft, calling people by phone, and "roof knocking" - firing a small advance missile to warn people to leave. Such warnings can and do save civilian lives but armed forces cannot use them as an excuse to treat everyone who doesn't flee as a combatant.
