uncle bernard

Well, like everyone on here I have a personality defect that leads me to post on internet forums. I have strong feelings on this topic and the one-sided, often gleeful, commentary on the death of thousands of children really upsets me and I feel compelled to post. I know it's a pointless battle. This entire sub-forum is a pointless battle of people shouting into the void. Why do we all do it? Who knows!

that's a civilian setting. it's a war crime. you literally posted the definition that proved my point lmao.

That's a reasonable counterargument, but I think it's dangerous. The answer could be hundreds. It could be zero. The only thing we do know is that in order to kill him *at that moment* it costs 7. When you open things up to that kind of speculation, people can justify all sorts of bad decisions. What if they see a terrorist in a crowd of 50 civilians? They could justify those 50 deaths by saying he would have killed more in the future, though they don't know that. And again, I stress the *at that moment* part. It's inconvenient for Israel, but they should wait for opportunities to strike that will result in minimal collateral damage. And to take a step back, it's time for this to end. They've destroyed almost all of Gaza. The danger presented by Hamas is far less than the danger Israel creates for itself in the region by continuing this slaughter.

In this hypothetical, you don't have this intel. A suspect you identified as a likely terrorist enters a house. You are not sure of his full identity. You know civilians are present. That's all you know. What's your decision? This is the crux of the issue and the scenario the IDF deals with everyday. Their answer is to prioritize eliminating terrorists over protecting civilians when those two things are in direct odds with one another. I think that is a criminal decision. What do you think? For a high profile example, look at the food workers truck bombing. Those trucks were identified and cleared for passage by the IDF. They were clearly marked to prevent misidentification. The IDF knew exactly who was in those trucks. During surveillance, the IDF believes they saw a suspected terrorist join the caravan. They, by their own report, were not 100% confident he was there. They chose to sacrifice the lives of those 7 civilians on the off chance that he was there. You can argue that they weren't the primary "target" of the strike, but the IDF decided to kill those people if it meant they *might* kill one terrorist in the process. That is fundamentally evil imo.

Which part of your question didn't I answer? I gave explanations for my no's and yes's. And answer mine. I'll make it straight forward. You are in control of the military. You locate a terrorist in a house. You know for certain that civilians are in the house too. Would you still strike the house?

it quite literally is!

yes, those buildings are a civilian setting. do you not understand what those words mean?

it says humans, not civilians. i appreciate you providing the specific language that proves my point.

Thank you for being honest and actually answering the question. We disagree profoundly on the answer, but I appreciate the guts to answer. Civilian casualties are inevitable in war, but those casualties should be *accidental.* They should occur when you make a mistake and are not aware of civilian presence. If you know they are present and still kill them, that's murder, even if they aren't the primary target.

So unless, there were no humans in the house, it was a war crime. And if there weren't, it's still a war crime because the indiscriminate destruction of civilian property is also a war crime.

No matter who is in the building, the use of white phosphorous is a war crime.

Answer the question. Should they strike the house?

If this is investigated an confirmed, will you condemn it?

It literally can be answered yes or no. I'll make it even easier for you. You are in control of the military. You locate a terrorist in a house. You know for certain that civilians are in the house too. Would you still strike the house?

No, and yes Hamas is getting what they deserve. And no, Israel *does* have a responsibility to save civilians. Collective punishment is a war crime. If you don't like that, take it up with the Geneva Convention. See how directly I answered your question? Now do mine. Israel locates a terrorist. He is in a house with civilians. Israel knows the civilians are present. Should Israel strike the house? Would you? Yes or no?