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Since the start of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the UN Human Rights Council has identified "clear evidence" of war crimes by both Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces. A UN Commission to the Israel–Palestine conflict stated that there is "clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed in the latest explosion of violence in Israel and Gaza, and all those who have violated international law and targeted civilians must be held accountable." On 27 October, a spokesperson for the OHCHR called for an independent court to review potential war crimes committed by both sides. The International Criminal Court confirmed that its mandate to investigate alleged war crimes committed since June 2014 in the State of Palestine extends to the current conflict. By Hamas and allied militant groups Determining the applicability of laws of war to militant groups is a difficult question, as both the Council of Europe and International Committee of the Red Cross note that international law treats war and terrorism as separate legal categories. The Israeli, American, EU, UK, Japanese, and Canadian governments define Hamas as a terrorist group. However, some disagree with this characterization and claim Hamas are not terrorists. While the term "international law" pertains to states, it also applies to insurgent and terrorist armed forces. Even if an insurgency is deemed lawful — meaning it meets the criteria of "just cause", it must adhere to the principles of "just means". Regarding Hamas and its combatants, even if they have a presumptive right to fight against what they term as an "Israeli occupation," they must still abide by legal rules of "discrimination", "proportionality", and "military necessity". On 9 October 2023 Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas's apparent targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and taking of hostages amounted to war crimes. On 10 October 2023 the OHCHR stated the taking of hostages and use of human shields were war crimes. United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Türk noted that militant groups' "horrifying mass killings" were violations of international law. Massacres On 12 October, Jens David Ohlin argued Hamas's attacks potentially violated Articles 6-8 of the Rome Statute. Ohlin asserted the attacks might violate Article 6, if it could be proved the perpetrators had "genocidal intent". On 7 October, as his forces were massacring civilians, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, stated in a speech the intent of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, saying, "We want to liberate our land, our holy sites, our Al-Aqsa mosque, our prisoners." He concluded with the statement "To [the enemy], we have only one thing to say to you: get out of our land. Get out of our sight. Get out of our city of Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and our al-Aqsa mosque. We no longer wish to see you on this land. This land is ours, Al-Quds is ours, everything [here] is ours. You are strangers in this pure and blessed land. There is no place of safety for you." According to Ohlin, militant groups violated Article 7 if there was evidence the attacks had been part of an organized "plan or policy". Finally, Ohlin argued, the militant groups violated Article 8 by killing civilians. On 7 October, the militant groups massacred civilians. 260 were killed at the Re'im music festival, 112 at Be'eri, and 73 at Kfar Aza. Victims were reportedly subject to immolation, dismemberment, and beheading. On 15 October, a group of 100 Israeli and international law experts argued videos released on social media showed war crimes. In early December 2023, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan visited Israel in response to a request from a group representing families of victims of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. He said that the attacks against Israeli civilians on October 7 constituted some of the most serious international crimes that shock the conscience of humanity—crimes that the ICC was established to address. Khan emphasized the crimes were not random murders," and noted that Hamas "hunted down people" and that "children were kidnapped from their cots". He added that his office is willing to cooperate with Israel in investigating the events of October 7. At the Re'im music festival massacre, Hamas militants massacred 270 civilians, methodically shooting fleeing and hiding attendees, as well as taking hostages, in the largest terror attack against a concert in history. Witnesses reported that some of the women were raped. At the Be'eri massacre, approximately 70 Hamas militants massacred at least 130 people, approximately 10% of the population of Be'eri, including women, children, and infants. When inside the kibbutz they went house to house, shooting or capturing the residents. Hostage taking Hostage-taking is outlawed in non-international armed conflicts as per Article 1(b) of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law, and is recognized as a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Hostage-taking is defined as detaining a person with threats to harm them to compel a third party to act or abstain from acting as a condition for the hostage's safety. Hostages can be civilians or individuals not actively partaking in hostilities, including surrendered or detained armed forces members. During the Hamas attack approximately 200 people were taken hostage by militants. Hostages included women, children, elderly and even babies. Under the Geneva Convention, taking hostages is described as a "grave breach". In response to Israeli airstrikes on civilian residences, Hamas threatened on 13 October to execute a hostage every time Israel bombed a home without giving advance warning. Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch, asserted hostage-taking was a "heinous crime" with no justification. Amnesty International noted the militant groups' actions — including hostage-taking — "flagrantly violated international law". Perfidy Human shields The Israel Defense Forces allege that Hamas uses civilians as human shields. This allegation has received support from the UK, the US, Australia, and European Commission. Al Jazeera notes, "Israel has, however, not provided concrete proof for its allegations." The Israeli army further argued the militant groups' hostages were being used as human shields. Human Rights Watch noted that using hostages, or any other person held in custody, as human shields is illegal. On the counter side, Israeli Defense Forces have been accused of making no, or an inadequate distinction between Hamas forces and civilians. All combatants, including insurgents, are bound by the law of war. Louis René Beres has analyzed the placing of military assets amid Palestinian civilian populations, in previous anti-terror wars against Hamas, categorizing this as a clear and punishable crime under international law. The act of perfidy is described as a "grave breach" in Arti.... Discover the Dr Sam Gharbi popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Dr Sam Gharbi books.