In the debate about the Israeli army’s advance into the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, an international lawyer has called for a differentiated view. “A hospital is a civilian object under international humanitarian law, which means it is absolutely taboo for attacking soldiers to enter there. At the same time, it’s like this: a hospital can also be misused, and then things look different from a legal perspective,” said Christoph Safferling in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
“If it was only apparently a civilian object, but in reality it was used primarily for military purposes, then the Israeli military was absolutely justified in fighting it.” However, more than just guns had to be found, explained the director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy. “There should be evidence that much more took place in this hospital.”
These included military planning or that from there military operations said Safferling. “Only then does the hospital become a military object in the legal sense, and only then can it be fired upon. But even then only within the framework of proportionality.” This means that even if it were a military object, “it would still be a war crime if Israel accepted a disproportionate number of civilian casualties when shelling it.” The expert said he was surprised that the International Criminal Court had not intervened more aggressively. So far he has only been monitoring the situation. “Israel rejects this institution. Nevertheless, the lawyers in The Hague have jurisdiction over everything that happens in the Gaza Strip, including the Israeli soldiers there, and also everything that has to do with Palestinian nationals.”
Safferling highlighted: “There is one party to the conflict here that is at least trying to stick to the rules in a very, very difficult situation, namely Israel. On the other hand, we have a party to the conflict that is openly not trying to do this.” That’s why it’s such a difficult war. “If Hamas didn’t use human shields, they could be fought in a completely different way. Then there would certainly be a lot less suffering and victims among the civilian population in this war.”
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