The Verity Courier
The Hamas Attack
By Ron Estes
9 October 2023
The
Hamas attack on Israel Saturday, 7 October, was the most serious attack
Israel has experienced in 50 years, but once Israel turns the full
strength of its armed forces against Hamas and its incursion, it is
going to have a catastrophic ending for Hamas, and the Gaza population.
It is a symbolic show of force by Hamas, that will not be effective in
freeing Gaza from the Israeli occupation of its territory and total
control of its resources.
Israel
legally still occupies Gaza, and as an occupying power it maintains a
blockade controlling goods entering and leaving Gaza, including food.
Legal reference to the question of occupation of Gaza is the Hague
Regulations (Hague IV,art.42). Under the terms of the Hague Regulations,
as an occupying power, Israel continues to exercise effective control
of Gaza borders including the sea and air space; Israel has also
reserved (and has exercised) the right to intervene militarily in Gaza
and continues to control Gaza’s infrastructure (water and electricity,
fuel, imports/exports, radio and TV frequencies, etc.) Israel is thus
bound by the responsibilities of an occupying power, and its blockade is
in violation of article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention, which declares
collective punishment of a civilian population a breach of the 4th
Convention. Breaches of the Convention are prosecutable as war crimes.
The
UN World Food Program contends the Gaza population, of 2 million,
requires 400 trucks a day of just food to meet basic international
nutrition standards. Israel has never met that requirement.
Consequently, 450,000 Gazans do not have access to clean water, 52% of
their children are anemic, and 80% of Gazans depend on the trickle of
International aid Israel permits to enter. The WHO reports not enough
IVs, nor enough bottles to store blood, and a shortage of anesthetics.
International
political, and aid observers contend that it is unprecedented for a
country to impose a blockade to prevent smuggling of weapons by
depriving a civilian population of adequate food.
Israel's
reaction to this attack will undoubtedly emphasize the illegality of
military aggression against its territory and population. And the Biden
administration is already on board to support and defend Israel. Both
nations will characterize the attack as a subversive operation by the
terrorist group, Hamas.
But, can Hamas be characterized as a terrorist organization?The
Palestinians have a legal right to resist their occupation by Israel.
That right comes from two documents: the 1960 Declaration on the
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and the
Fourth Geneva Convention and its subsequent protocols.
Taken
together, people have the right to “fight against colonial domination
and alien occupation in the exercise of their right to
self-determination.” Israel’s failures to abide by international law, as
a belligerent occupant, amounts to a fundamental denial of the right of
self-determination, and more generally of respect for the framework of
belligerent occupation — giving rise to a Palestinian right of
resistance.” Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian
human rights, a professor of international law at Princeton University.
Since
Palestinian territory is now a UN recognized sovereign state, it is
important to understand what role Hamas will play in the Palestinian
state future. We have a clue: In
a statement on December 1, 2010, Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh,
addressing a news conference said, “We accept a Palestinian state on the
borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital, the release of
Palestinian prisoners, and the resolution of the issue of
refugees,” referring to Israel having occupied the Palestinian
territories and East Jerusalem in 1967.
“Hamas
will respect the results (of a referendum) regardless of whether it
differs with its ideology and principles,” he said, provided it included
all Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the diaspora.
According
to news reports, over a thousand people have been killed in this
reckless Hamas assault. Despite its legal authority, bad judgement and
irresponsible decisions deserve retribution.
Ron Estes served 25 years as an Operations Officer in the CIA Clandestine Service.
