Occupied Jerusalem An investigation by Haaretz newspaper revealed that the Israeli army deliberately set fire to hundreds of homes in the Gaza Strip, under orders issued by field military commanders, without obtaining approval and legal advice, in a measure that constitutes a violation of international conventions.
The revelation of these violations and irregularities comes at a time when the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued a decision obligating Israel to take measures and procedures to prevent acts and crimes of genocide, avoid targeting Palestinian civilians, and work to bring in the largest number of relief trucks and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The commander of one of the military forces in the Gaza Strip referred to the burning of houses. According to him, the buildings about which intelligence information was collected are burned, adding, “Maybe there was information about the owner of the house, or they found something there, and I do not know the exact reason for setting the house on fire.”
“Killing houses”
According to what the newspaper quoted three field officers in Gaza, setting fire to buildings has become a common method in military action, and one of the officers issued instructions to the soldiers after completing the military activity in one of the combat zones, “Evacuate your belongings from the house, and prepare it for the fire.” Another commander explained, “Until “The houses we were holed up in, we would set fire to as soon as we evacuated them and moved forward.”
According to Yaniv Kibbutz, the military correspondent for Haaretz newspaper, Yaniv Kibbutz, setting fire to homes and residential buildings “caused them to be damaged in a way that did not allow their owners to return to live in them. From an early stage of the war, the army worked to destroy the homes of Hamas activists and Gaza residents who participated in the surprise attack on October 7.” “.
The military correspondent explained that until last December, the Israeli army used engineering forces to blow up “suspicious” buildings using mines and explosives. In several cases, buildings were destroyed using engineering tools, saying that “setting fire to the homes of civilians who are not participating in the fighting solely for the purpose of punishment is prohibited according to the rules of international law.”
The same correspondent adds that the widespread destruction caused by the Israeli army to civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip led “to discussions in international academic circles about the possibility of blaming Israel and holding it responsible for destroying the living environment of the residents of Gaza, or what has become known as the killing of homes.”
According to Kibbutz, there is Israel’s fear that “talking about killing homes and implementing this as collective punishment of the civilian population will push the international community to take steps against Israel.”
He pointed out that the Israeli army realizes that setting fire to homes for the purpose of demolishing them may place the Israeli apparatus in serious challenges and problems with America, as well as before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which has already issued temporary orders against Israel.
Violations and more violations
The same proposal was adopted by international law specialist Dr. Yousef Jabareen, who believes that these violations against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip place Israel before judicial challenges, especially after the issuance of the Hague Court’s decision confirming that Israel’s legal duty to refrain from harming civilians has become governed by a special decision. The International Court, and not just a general commitment to international conventions.
In an interview with Manhattan Tribune Net, Jabareen attaches great importance to documenting all violations of the Israeli army against civilians in the Gaza Strip in order to continue procedures to prosecute Israel in international forums, pointing out that Israel is obligated to submit a comprehensive report to the International Court after about 3 weeks on the procedures it adopted in line with the court’s decision in all matters. Regarding the protection of Palestinian civilians.
The same spokesman explained that setting fire to Palestinian homes during military operations in the Gaza Strip is in addition to the war crimes committed by the Israeli army against Palestinian civilians, starting with displacement and forced displacement, as a result of raids, bombing and military operations, which caused the destruction of homes and various infrastructure projects that are considered basic components. for life.
Israeli writer Amir Ben David believes that the information he revealed regarding Israeli army forces setting fire to the homes of hundreds of Gazans in the Gaza Strip suggests that the army is adopting the military strategy known as “scorched earth,” a measure that is considered a violation of international conventions.
Ben David explained in an article published on the website “Zaman Yisrael” that Article 54 of the First Protocol to the Geneva Convention prohibits military forces from attacking, destroying, removing or converting facilities of a utility necessary for the survival of the civilian population.
It is likely that the “scorched earth” procedures and strategy will expose the Israeli government to more international diplomatic and legal challenges, in light of what was revealed that the Israeli army began setting fire to homes in the Gaza Strip, under the guidance of the commanders of the field and military forces, and without obtaining the necessary legal approval. .
Accordingly, the Israeli writer does not rule out that the army’s practices of burning homes in Gaza will be included at the top of the global agenda, especially in the wake of the International Court of Justice’s decision against Israel.
Burning phenomenon
The military correspondent for the Ynet website, affiliated with the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Yoav Zaytoun, reviewed how the idea of setting fire to homes in the Gaza Strip developed, which began as an initiative by some soldiers at the beginning of the ground incursion, as its publication was rejected by Israeli military censorship several times. .
What apparently began as an improvisation of soldiers in the field in the Shujaiya neighborhood, spread to other sectors and became a phenomenon. The military correspondent says, “The reason for this is the lack of explosives, and the presence of an unusual number of houses inside which the enemy is holed up. Some senior commanders ordered the soldiers to stop burning houses, but they did not comply with this order.”
In light of this situation on the ground, the Israeli army burned the homes of what it described as “terrorists” in the Gaza Strip, noting that during the last two months, and according to various testimonies, Israeli army soldiers set fire to hundreds of homes in the Strip during the war with Hamas.
Regarding the motives and justifications for the soldiers in the field to set fire to the homes of Gazans, Zaytoun says, “The soldiers saw with their own eyes the presence of armed men or weapons inside the homes that were supposed to be destroyed in light of operational need, but they did not have enough mines or explosive devices to blow them up, so the soldiers resorted to To set it on fire.”
