'Dear Girl, Get Out!': A Young Palestinian Escapes an Israeli Strike

[Violet_Crumble]

7. So, all was peace and love before October 7? No, it wasn't...

How can you support any group that's committing war crimes against innocent civilians? Or do atrocities against civilians only matter when the team yr not rooting for does it?

I shouldn't need to tell you about innocent civilians as you've been following this topic closely. But innocent civilians aren't just Israeli, but Palestinians. Do you know how sickening it is to see DUers rush to mourn IDF combatants* while not saying a word about any Palestinian civilians unless they came blame Hamas for it? That gives a strong impression that for some here Palestinian civilians aren't seen as human beings like Israelis are, but tools to be used when it suits the persons argument .

* A note on the meaning of combatants - when it comes to combatants, there's no such thing as 'they started it' as an argument. Combatants aren't protected the way civilians are. Here's some info...

In international armed conflicts (IAC), combatants are members of the armed forces of a party. The main feature of their status is that they have the right to directly participate in hostilities. Consequently, if they fall into enemy hands, they become prisoners of war who may not be punished for having directly participated in hostilities. In return, they may remain in captivity until the end of active hostilities. In non-international armed conflict (NIAC) the term, and therefore the status of, ‘combatant’ does not exist (see chapter relating to NIAC).

https://casebook.icrc.org/law/combatants-and-pows

You could try arguing it's not an international armed conflict, but I don't think that particular argument would hold much water.