Israel’s deadly Nuseirat raid violates international law: experts

The Israeli military raid on the Nuseirat camp, in which soldiers hid in an aid truck to rescue a handful of hostages and in the process killed more than 270 Palestinians, violates international laws, experts say.

Only four Israeli hostages were recovered in the June 8 raid in war-torn Gaza after Israeli forces struck the camp unexpectedly in the middle of the day, a decision which military spokesman Daniel Hagari told The Associated Press was intentional as it would be the "ultimate surprise."

Palestinians on the ground, as well as humanitarian organisations such as the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), reported that Israeli special forces had snuck into the densely populated camp in a humanitarian aid truck to carry out the shock attack.

"I think that this fact is rather unprecedented," Fabio Marcelli, research director at the Institute of International Legal Studies, an independent scientific body of the National Research Council of Italy, tells TRT World.

There may be instances of similar incidents during civil or local wars, says Marcelli, who has authored 14 books, and hundreds of articles in the field of international law and international relations. But in a large-scale war like the one unfolding in Gaza, it "is really unprecedented and very, very worrying to see such a violation of international humanitarian law [by Israel] disguising its agents as humanitarian workers."

"This is a repeated and unprecedented violation of principles of international humanitarian law because it destroys trust," he adds, saying, "The role of international humanitarian aid workers should be respected by every party.”

The Israeli military, he says, already faces accusations of killing humanitarian workers and bombing hospitals and ambulances.

The massacre carried out by Israeli soldiers while disguised as international humanitarian workers “is a very, very grave violation of international law” and undermines the credibility of relief groups who provide crucial services in war zones.

Even during the bloodiest of conflicts, warring sides allow ambulances and aid convoys to pass through.

Ardi Imseis, an associate professor and academic director of International Law Programs at Queen’s University, says the Israeli military's use of deceitful tactics, known in legal terms as perfidy, is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

“Perfidy is defined as acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to protection with intent to betray that confidence. This includes the feigning of civilian status as appears to have been done by Israel.”

In Netanyahu’s own interest

Research director Marcelli says Israel's deadly operation shows that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not serious about any ceasefire deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Many segments of the Israeli society, including the relatives of hostages, he says, have called for a ceasefire agreement that includes the permanent withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages, and a significant number of Palestinian detainees.

"So this perspective, of course, is not accepted by the [Israeli] government because this will bring the crime of its government to light," Marcelli says.

He says that Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing coalition partners, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, would withdraw their support for the government if a ceasefire is accepted.

On June 9, the day after the deadly raid in Nuseirat, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz announced leaving the Netanyahu government, accusing the prime minister of acting in his own political interests.

"So we can say that this operation didn't succeed politically," Marcelli says.

With four hostages extracted, Israel sees the operation as a success, although it raises the question of whether it can truly be successful considering more than 270 Palestinians, women and children among them, were killed in the process.

Professor of Theory of State and Law at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens, Dimitris Kaltsonis, tells TRT World, "The far-right government of Netanyahu is not interested in the release of the hostages. It is waging a war of genocide against the Palestinian people. It is in flagrant violation of international law."

With friends like these

Haaretz reported the US provided intelligence for Israel's Nuseirat camp deadly operation.

Saidatul Nadia Abd Aziz, associate professor at Malaysia's Taylor's University School of Law and Governance, wonders if the Israeli raid was really about rescuing the hostages while Washington continues to show its support for it.

"You cannot say it's because you wanted the hostages to go out. No," Nadia Adb Aziz tells TRT World, referring to the US and its assistance to Israel.

"At the same time, you wanted them to actually just demolish Gaza from the world. Seeing a big power who, we can say, is like the 'hero' of human rights, doing these kinds of stuff, it's very devastating and very frustrating," she says.

"I'm sorry that I've lost respect for all of these human rights fights that they have been doing all along. I think the whole world has come to their senses and logical mind to see that this is not even a war, this is genocide.”

Elif Durmuş, a postdoctoral researcher at Antwerp University who studies human rights, says inaction to hold Israel and those aiding it accountable for the crime would shatter trust in international law.

"One can easily say that international law right now faces a crisis, this is a make-or-break moment for international law," she says, adding that international bodies such as the UN do not possess their own military or law enforcement personnel.