Eloy,
I have to chuckle here.
I have heard of Hamas but not Islamic Resistance Movement/Palestine Islamic Jihad. You say they are all the same. Why complicate your posts by including all instead of the one that everyone is familiar with?
(COMMENT)
The Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are to different organizations but concentrated in the same area, the Gaza Strip. Both HAMAS and the PIJ have assets in the West Bank, as do other High Value Targets. I'll try to make it more clear for you in the future. I just did not want to be accused of talking down to you.
C31 was not mentioned in your post.
(COMMENT)
I did mention C3I to you in the context that HAMAS, PIJ and other Jihadist, Deadly Fedayeen, Hostile Insurgent, Radicalized Islamist, and Asymmetric Fighters have a portion dedicated to C3I. That makes Hostile C3I a type of HVT.
AP I, art. 51(5)(b) could be made simpler with a mention of the Geneva Conventions.
(COMMENT)
The
Article 51 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention (
having to do with compelling Protected Persons into labor of service) is completely different from the
Article 51 of Additional Protocol I (
having to do with a broad range of protections). They are simply not the same thing. And the are pro-Arab Palestinians who would capitalize on the opportunity to criticize me for the error.
If HoAP means what you say then apart from informers in the pay of Israelis this would describe all Palestinians.
(COMMENT)
In the set of "All Arab Palestinians" there are at least two subsets:
• Those that are not hostile.
• Those that are hostile.
I make a distinction between the two subsets and give the benefit of the doubt to some Arab Palestinians that they are reasonable and not hostile.
If the Israelis are murdering Hamas leaders then this is an illegal provocation likely to cause sme firecrackers into Israel which, in turn, gives the Israelis an excuse for full scale pulverizing defenseless Gaza civilian neighborhoods as a collective punishment and a message to other Arab neighbors. This is morally inexcusable.
(COMMENT)
Yes, well, of the defendants that were prosecuted and convicted of Major Crimes insist they are not guilty of the felonious activity.
('C'est la vie')
Both the HAMAS and the PIJ, as well as several other Palestinian Organizations, are designated terrorist organizations. The leadership of any organizations that open hostilities with Israel by means that, in any other nation, would be considered acts of war, are HVTs. Additionally, when these organizations operate inside the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including Jerusalem) :
§ Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life and invoke fear and chaos in the public;
- Appear to be intended
[*](i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
[*](ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
[*](iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping and murder, bombings, assaults and attacks on innocent civilians, hijackings and piracy, indiscriminate rocket fire, or activities solely intended to harm the Occupying Power, --- or conductiong espionage, or serious acts of sabotage against the military installations of the Occupying Power;
- Engage in Jihadism, Deadly Fedayeen Action, Hostile Insurgency Operations, Radicalized Islamic Behaviors, and Asymmetric Violence that has an origin the transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.
Any fugitive from justice for violations of the aforementioned, or any of the offenses elaborated in the
19 international legal instruments to prevent terrorist acts. When these HVTs are leaders that are involved in open conflict, then Customary International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Rules apply; to include the ones previously cited.
(See Posting #33 and #36, supra)
Any Day is a Good Day to Catch a Terrorist.
Most Respectfully,
R