It sounds like the Israelis have never heard of nor adopted the concept of ROE (Rules Of Engagement).
As Wiki notes:
The ROE deal with four issues:
o When military force may be used,
o Where military force may be used,
o Against whom force should be used in the circumstances described above, and
o How military force should be used to achieve the desired ends.The ROE take two forms: Actions a military commander may take without consulting a higher authority, unless explicitly forbidden (sometimes called ‘command by negation’) and second, actions that may only be taken if explicitly ordered by a higher authority (sometimes called ‘positive command’). Also, in the event that there is a clear and present danger.
In addition to a typically large set of standing orders, military personnel will be given additional rules of engagement before performing any mission or military operation. These can cover circumstances such as how to retaliate after an attack, how to treat captured targets, which territories the soldier is bound to fight into, and how the force should be used during the operation.
The ROE are extremely important:
They provide a consistent, understandable and repeatable standard on how forces act. Typically they are carefully thought out in detail well in advance of an engagement and may cover a number of scenarios, with different rules for each.
They assist in the synchronization of political-diplomatic and military components of a strategy by allowing political commanders to better understand, forecast and tailor the actions of a force.
If the Israelis did have Rules Of Engagement, they might have been ignored or they might have been so simplistic that anything goes.
I’m guessing it is the latter based upon incidents such as the following as posted by Professor Jonathan Turley recently on his blog:
A tape recording of radio exchanges between soldiers shows what unfolded with Iman walked towards an army post. The soldiers at least 100 yards from any soldier and, while a bomb is always feared in such situations, no one described her as a threat. She was identified as a "girl of about 10" who was "scared to death." Worse yet, the soldiers describe her as heading east – away from the army post and toward the refugee camp when she was shot. Captain R had to leave the post and pursue the girl to shoot her and later "confirm the kill" after emptying his magazine into the child.
The tape played on Israeli television is chilling. When Iman is spotted a soldier radios: "It’s a little girl. She’s running defensively eastward."
Operations room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"
Watchtower: "A girl of about 10, she’s behind the embankment, scared to death."
A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.
The watchtower: "I think that one of the positions took her out."
The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.
Captain R: "I and another soldier…are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill…Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her…I also confirmed the kill. Over."
Doctors at Rafah’s hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.
The company commander goes out of his away to "clarif[y]" the standing orders and explain why the girl had to die: "This is commander. Anything that’s mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it’s a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over…"
Israeli Rules Of Engagement or not?
Civilians are fair targets for Israeli soldiers or not?
You be the judge.
I know what my lying eyes tell me!
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And further details from the original Guardian reporting:
It is tempting to call this madness, but, sadly, I’m afraid it’s just another example of the banality of evil. Thank you for this post.
Digg is open dearies.
Dugg. Thank you Laura.
We are in trouble. We just can’t stop killing ourselves and each other, and defining limits on this is Orwellian.
Their ROE seems to be simple; it is to execute any human that is not an Israeli.
Hey MadDog.
I think I got your ROE right here: 1 Samuel 15
The only difference between this and My Lai4 is the body count. Both are atrocities.
I get to be less and less of a supporter of Israel as time goes on. It seems that they learned the wrong lesson from the concentration camps.
hmmmmm – I think you are right, Tortoise. Guess I’d best not say more….
[edited by Mods] made out of gaza big concentration camp for the last decades and now they want to finished palestinians by massacre and all of this is generously paid by american taxpayer.THAT’S THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY in action!Americans must be proud of themselves
[Mod Note: Anger about this deplorable situation is understandable, but let’s tone down the hyperbole. Thanks]
Not in force the god and in the truth
Gaza is an open-air concentration camp with no way out,the exits are closed; nothing gets in either-things like water and electricity. The “Israelis”-keeping in mind there was no such nation before 1948-have been engaged in a land grab since that time. They also have a propaganda machine that keeps spewing out garbage about how everyone else is a threat to them. They are the strongest nation in the region courtesy of the US. We should stop sending them money and guns, situations like this are the result. The Palestinians are hugely outgunned, yet they are labeled “agressors” while their children are being gunned down by “commanders” (or whatever one calls a “captain” who kills a child in cold blood)who are part of a military machine we built.