[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

"parties to the conflict remain obliged under international humanitarian law
to take precautionary measures and not to target civilians or cause
excessive civilian injury or damage in relation to the anticipated concrete
and direct military advantage"

- It certainly would be a direct military advantage to destroy missiles
that could otherwise murder Israeli civilians.

Thus, while HRW then goes on in its press release to call on Israel to
essentially respect human shields. its own description of "international
humanitarian law" allows Israel to dispatch human shields to Paradise in
the course of detroying the missiles that they are shielding.]

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
OPT: Civilians Must Not Be Used to Shield Homes Against Military Attacks
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/22/isrlpa14652_txt.htm

(Jerusalem, November 22, 2006) - Palestinian armed groups must not endanger
Palestinian civilians by encouraging them to gather in and around suspected
militants' homes targeted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Human Rights
Watch said today.

Calling civilians to a location that the opposing side has identified for
attack is at worst human shielding, at best failing to take all feasible
precautions to protect civilians from the effects of attack. Both are
violations of international humanitarian law.

According to media reports, on Saturday the IDF warned Mohammedweil Baroud,
a commander in the Popular Resistance Committees, to leave his home in the
Jabaliya refugee camp as they planned to destroy it. Baroud reportedly
summoned neighbors and friends to protect his house, and a crowd of hundreds
of Palestinians gathered in, around, and on the roof of the house. The IDF
said that they called off the attack after they saw the large number of
civilians around the house. On Monday, the BBC also reported that the IDF
had warned Wael Rajab, an alleged Hamas member in Beit Lahiya, that that
they were preparing to attack his home, and that a call was later
broadcasted from local mosques for volunteers to protect the home.

"There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack,"
said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
"Whether or not the home is a legitimate military target, knowingly asking
civilians to stand in harm's way is unlawful."

Various media have reported that other Palestinian officials and armed
groups have voiced support for these tactics. In a visit to Baroud's house
on Sunday, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the Hamas-led Palestinian
Authority reportedly said: "We are so proud of this national stand. It's the
first stop toward protecting our homes ... so long as this strategy is in
the interest of our people, we support this strategy." A spokesman for the
Popular Resistance Committees was also quoted as saying: "We call upon all
the fighters to reject evacuating their houses, and we urge our people to
rush into threatened houses and make human shields."

"Prime Minister Haniyeh and other Palestinian leaders should be renouncing,
not embracing, the tactic of encouraging civilians to place themselves at
risk," said Whitson.

On November 3 the BBC also reported that Hamas radio broadcasted an appeal
to local women to go to a mosque to protect 15 alleged militants holed up
inside from Israeli forces surrounding the building. Many women went to the
mosque and reportedly two were killed and 10 more injured when Israeli
forces opened fire.

It is a war crime to seek to use the presence of civilians to render certain
points or areas immune from military operations or to direct the movement of
the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to
shield military objectives from attack. In the case where the object of
attack is not a legitimate military target, calling civilians to the scene
would still contravene the international humanitarian law imperative for
parties to the conflict to take all feasible precautions to protect
civilians from the effects of attack. In the event that such abuse takes
place, however, parties to the conflict remain obliged under international
humanitarian law to take precautionary measures and not to target civilians
or cause excessive civilian injury or damage in relation to the anticipated
concrete and direct military advantage.

In other words, while civilians placing themselves in the way of military
actions take on heightened risks, they cannot be considered legitimate
targets by the opposing force, and parties to the conflict should cancel or
suspend attacks where excessive civilian damage is anticipated. Human Rights
Watch said that the IDF had properly respected its obligations under
international humanitarian law in suspending the attack on the Baroud home
that would have caused substantial civilian harm.

Human Rights Watch, however, also reminded the IDF that even in the absence
of deliberately orchestrated measures to maximize a civilian presence near
its targets, any destruction of civilian property must be done strictly in
compliance with international humanitarian law. An ostensibly civilian
object such as a home can be the subject of attack only if it is being used
for military purposes at the relevant time and its destruction makes a
direct and immediate contribution to the fighting.

"The IDF should immediately explain what its military objective is in
targeting the homes that it has ordered to be vacated," said Whitson.

According to the Israeli human rights organization B'tselem, between July
and November 15 this year, the IDF destroyed 251 homes in Gaza, leaving 1577
people homeless. In 105 of these cases the IDF destroyed the home by
airstrike after warning the inhabitants to leave. While the IDF generally
claims that militants used those homes to store weapons, they have not
presented any concrete evidence in individual cases.

Human Rights Watch has also reported extensively on the coerced use of
Palestinian civilians during military operations, and documented the use of
Palestinian civilians as "human shields" and for military purposes during
the Israeli military operations in Jenin in 2002. The Israeli High Court
confirmed the illegality of using human shields in 2002.

As recently as July 2006, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups have
documented the IDF's forcible use of Palestinians as human shields in a well
publicized incident during military operations in Beit Hanoun. According to
the groups, the IDF blindfolded six civilians, including two minors, and
forced them to stand in front of soldiers who took over civilian homes
during a raid in northern Gaza.