An amazing magic trick by Israel. Now you see it…now you don’t.

Judge Goldstone wrote:

“Simply put, the laws of armed conflict apply no less to non-state actors
such as Hamas than they do to national armies. Ensuring that non-state
actors respect these principles, and are investigated when they fail to do
so, is one of the most significant challenges facing the law of armed
conflict. Only if all parties to armed conflicts are held to these standards
will we be able to protect civilians who, through no choice of their own,
are caught up in war.”

I wonder if Judge Goldstone would also agree that non-state actors have the right to defend their population against foreign occupation using proportional responses. If he does, I wonder as to what Judge Goldstone suggests a proportionate response from Hamas could look like? Because in my opinion offering to renew a ceasefire is quite a proportional response to caging in a civilian population under military occupation and causing the majority of children to become anemic. I wonder if he also agrees that international law protects civilians in non-state regions from foreign aggression. I’m also curious as to how Judge Goldstone’s opinion has changed on the legality of dropping white phosphorous on schools and hospital or on what the military purpose of destroying chickens and flour mills is. How has Judge Goldstone’s opinion on incinerating policemen at a graduation ceremony changed. Perhaps he feels that they are legitimate targets because they are within the Hamas organization. Would he then also agree that an IDF soldier sitting in a cafe is also a legitimate military target for a suicide bombing and that any Israeli civilians killed would be tragic but not “intentionally targeted as a matter of policy” by Hamas? Hamas is no angel, they receive NO sympathy from me. But they appear to be much more efficient than Israel at not killing civilians using makeshift rockets and suicide bombings even though Israel is using state of the art U.S weaponry. Perhaps Israel should get some pointers from Hamas on how to avoid civilian deaths. And as far as I know Hamas hasn’t prevented freedom of movement or the oportunity to have a future for Israeli civilians. Funny how opinions can change. It’s like magic.