Tensions between Israel and Gaza Escalate
By: Summer Moukalled
On Sunday, May 4, conflicts between Israel and Gaza escalated. More than 600 rockets have been fired at Israel, and the Israeli army struck hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Strip.[1] Schools were cancelled across the south, and flare-ups are expected to continue in the coming days.[2] Hamas has told the press that the group decided to take steps against Israel because the “Israeli government has been slow in implementing understandings reached between the two parties.”[3]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “massive attacks against terrorist elements” in Gaza will continue.[4] The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out airstrikes on 200 militant targets in Gaza, including a mosque which the IDF says is used as a command and control center by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.[5] Israel also closed two border crossings between Israel and Gaza and the Gaza fishing zone.[6]
This is the first escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since the Israeli election in April.[7] During this time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to annexed parts of the West Bank as Israeli territory.[8] The West Bank is a territory between Israel and Jordan.[9]
In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[10] This area “has been controlled by Israel, but its status has been under debate.”[11] Palestinians argue that Israel’s control is illegal and want the West Bank to be part of a Palestinian state.[12] Many Israelis, however, believe that it is already part of the country.[13] Despite the fact that Israeli police are not authorized to operate in the West Bank, there are dozens of Israel police stations established in Area C.[14] These police officers patrol the area and issue fines to Palestinians who are caught committing violations.[15]
The Oslo Accords in the 1990s broke up the West Bank into three areas, A, B, and C – which left about 60 percent of the land under Israeli military control.[16] Area C is home to about 300,000 Palestinians.[17] The Israeli army has full control over the management of resources, planning, and construction, and Palestinian construction and development is strictly limited to less than one percent of the area.[18] Israeli settlements continue to be expanded in Area C, with up to 600,000 Israeli’s living in the occupied territory in violation of international law.[19] The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”[20] Israel maintains the position that it is not in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention since Israeli citizens were neither transferred nor deported to the territories, so they cannot be considered to have occupied the territory since there was no legally recognized sovereign prior.[21]
The current flare-up in violence is one of the most surges since the conflict of July and August 2014.[22] Since then, Palestinian militants have carried out sporadic strikes on Israel.[23] Under the international law of armed conflict, an attack by an army against a nation-state grants the nation-state the authority to disable specific military assets used to carry out the attacks but also to destroy those who carried it out.[24] Additionally, “a terrorist army cannot lawfully protect itself from destruction by blending in with civilian populations, fighting from civilian structures, or using civilians as human shields.”[25] This would require separating military and civilian facilities, using uniforms, and refraining from using people or objects to shield military objectives.[26] According to the National Review, Hamas has violated these commands by using civilian facilities for military purposes, blending in with the civilian population, and using civilians as human shields.[27]
The most recent surge of violence fueled calls for a rethinking of the longstanding policy of Israel’s blockade over the Gaza Strip.[28] The blockage has been imposed since 2007 with the goal of preventing Hamas from smuggling weapons into the territory.[29] Eitan Dangot, the former commander of COGAT, the Israeli defense body who is responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, says that Israel has no choice but to enforce the blockage because Hamas has refused to accept Israel as a state, and has refused to declare a long-term cease-fire.[30] Thus, Israel has stated that they maintain the right to the blockade in order to avert a humanitarian crisis.[31]
It is unclear what the long-term future holds, but as of now, Israel and Gaza have reached a ceasefire agreement.[32]
[1] Almog Ben Zirki, Jack Khoury, Yanic Kubovich, Noa Landau, and Josh Breiner, 3 Israelis Dead in Rocket Barrages, Israel Kills Key Hamas Operative, Haaretz, May 5, 2019, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/430-gaza-rockets-fired-at-israel-one-israeli-dead-six-palestinians-said-killed-1.7199036.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Andrew Carey, 600 Rockets fired from Gaza, Israel responds with airstrikes, CNN, May 5, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/05/middleeast/israel-airstrikes-gaza-rockets-intl/index.html.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Ben Sales, Netanyahu’s promise to annex the West Bank settlements, explained, Apr. 8, 2019, https://www.jta.org/2019/04/08/israel/netanyahus-promise-to-annex-the-west-bank-settlements-explained.
[9] Id.
[10] Jaclynn Ashly, Has Israel already annexed the West Bank?, Aljazeera, May 6, 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/israel-annexed-west-bank-190506160016495.html.
[11] Ben Sales, Netanyahu’s promise to annex the West Bank settlements, explained, Apr. 8, 2019, https://www.jta.org/2019/04/08/israel/netanyahus-promise-to-annex-the-west-bank-settlements-explained.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] Id.
[18] Id.
[19] Id.
[20] Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, art. 49, 21 Oct. 1950, 7 U.N.T.S. 287.
[21] Israel, the Conflict and Peace: Answers to frequently asked questions, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nov. 1, 2007, https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/israel-%20the%20conflict%20and%20peace-%20answers%20to%20frequen.aspx.
[22] Gaza Conflict: Rocket Barrage and Israeli strikes intensify, BBC News, May 5, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48167234.
[23] Id.
[24] David French, The Law of War Permits Israel to Destroy Hamas, National Review, May 6, 2019, https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/05/the-law-of-war-permits-israel-to-destroy-hamas/.
[25] Id.
[26] Id.
[27] Id.
[28] Josef Federman, After latest fighting, Israel’s Gaza blockage questioned, Fox News, May 6, 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/world/after-latest-fighting-israels-gaza-blockade-questioned.
[29] Id.
[30] Id.
[31] Id.
[32] Israel and Gaza reach ceasefire agreement amid tense calm, Aljazeera, May 6, 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/palestinians-truce-reached-israel-vowed-massive-strikes-190506022134617.html.
#SummerMoukalled #Israel #Gaza #Tension