We learn that Israel is determined to change the boundaries of international law to essentially allow states to bomb civilians if they’re “terrorists”:
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his government on Tuesday to draw up proposals to amend the international laws of war after a damning UN report on its war in Gaza.
The security cabinet did not, however, discuss calls made by ministers for an internal investigation into the 22-day offensive at the turn of the year that killed some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, an official told AFP.
“The prime minister instructed the relevant government bodies to examine a worldwide campaign to amend the international laws of war to adapt them to the spread of global terrorism,” his office said in a statement.
I remember a recent conversation in Israel with the head of human rights group Gisha who said she was aware of Israeli officials increasingly pushing discussion at global law conferences to permit Israel more far liberal rules of engagement during war. This kind of lawfare being waged by Israel must be resisted in the strongest terms. It wants the ability to bomb civilians with impunity. The furore over the Gaza Goldstone report has challenged that slightly.