War Crimes: Has Israel lost its way?

Some would argue that this is Israel’s way. So will it, and its leaders, have to face a war crimes tribunal?
Here are three specific reasons why the “war crimes” charge cannot be taken lightly:
Collective punishment: The entire 1.5 million people who live in the crowded Gaza Strip are being punished for the actions of a few militants.
Targeting civilians: The airstrikes were aimed at civilian areas in one of the most crowded stretches of land in the world, certainly the most densely populated area of the Middle East.
Disproportionate military response: The airstrikes have not only destroyed every police and security office of Gaza’s elected government, but have killed and injured hundreds of civilians; at least one strike reportedly hit groups of students attempting to find transportation home from the university.
Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz:
“Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni will stand at the forefront of the guilty. Two of them are candidates for prime minister, the third is a candidate for criminal indictment. It is inconceivable that they not be held to account for the bloodshed.”
Even Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal had an op-ed piece titled: Israel Is Committing War Crimes.
The Bush administration is to blame as well. Their non-engagement policy – to leave the Arabs and Israelis to work out issues on their own – has been a failure of leadership at the highest level. And Gaza is paying for it in blood.

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