While the legacy media has spent two years insisting Israel is not committing genocide, Israeli soldiers have spent that time making genocidal confessions.
When soldiers admit to war crimes openly, the society that created them no longer has the legitimacy to exist. It requires a complete overhaul. It must eject those who are responsible for the violent, arrogant, criminal element, that lead the country to disaster.
Ricky, you wrote that "By the IDF’s own estimates, 83% of Palestinian casualties are civilians", but there are good reasons to conclude they will be far higher -- such as 95%. Then again, those percentiles are, I presume, based on the officially reported death toll of around 70,000 Palestinian dead, while (per data and analyses consolidated and reported by Ralph Nader) more accurate estimates of the total number of Palestinian dead are more on the order of around 700,000 causalities.
.
Given, therefore, that Israel is not likely to be withholding any information it has on the deaths of Palestinian resistance fighters, it follows that the true percentiles for Palestinian civilian casualties must be well into the high 99%+ range.... To quote from "Murder by Starvation" and my other poems on Gaza, "How, by any score, is that a war?"
This is such a clear reflection of the supporters of Israel. If we've known for the past over two years, they've had access to this information too. But it's business as usual in this colonial, imperialist western world of ours, those at the top of it, and those who report the news and influence us in so many ways.
It seems to me you are omitting the most important factors that determine what International Law has to say on these issues. You seem fixated on these recent reports, which, although damning and worth talking about, still do not lay out the legality in its most simple and effective terms.
I asked Perplexity AIChatBot the relevant question, and here's what I got. I've also explored other, even more reputable sources, which agree, and I'm choosing this reference because the result is the shortest for your Comment section. I invite you to do your own research. I'm assuming you are aware of the many declarations and statements the UN, ICJ, and ICC official bodies have made on these issues, declaring that Israel's occupations of Gaza, the West Bank, E. Jerusalem, and the Golden Heights are beyond any shadow of a doubt illegal, over some 180 years now.
Query:
According to International Law, is it legal for a nation who is illegally occupying a territory to use violence in order to maintain that illegal occupation? Do the inhabitants of that illegally occupied region have the legal right to use violence against the violence being used by the illegal occupiers?
Response:
According to international law, it is not legal for a nation illegally occupying a territory to use violence to maintain that occupation. International law, particularly the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions, prohibits the acquisition and maintenance of territory through force. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter explicitly outlaws acquiring territory by force, and international humanitarian law (IHL) obliges occupying powers to protect civilian populations in occupied territories, not use violence against them except under strict police-like conditions and with respect for necessity and proportionality.[1][2][3]
The so-called "right to self-defense" does not generally apply to a state that is an occupying power, because it is already in control of the territory and must adhere to the regulations of military occupation. If an occupant uses military force to suppress resistance, especially against civilians or non-combatants, this can constitute a war crime under instruments like the Rome Statute.[2][3][4]
The inhabitants of an illegally occupied territory are recognized under international law as having a right to resist occupation, including through armed struggle, as long as their methods comply with IHL. This right is enshrined in numerous United Nations General Assembly resolutions which affirm the right of peoples under colonial and foreign domination to use "all available means," including armed struggle, to achieve self-determination. However, any violent resistance must target military rather than civilian targets to remain within legal and ethical bounds.[5][6][7]
In summary:
• An illegal occupant cannot legally use violence to maintain occupation; such violence may constitute war crimes.
• The occupied population has a legal right under international law to resist occupation—including by force—if done within IHL principles, especially the prohibition on targeting civilians.[6][2][5]
This is only the gist of it, and there are many other facts proving the illegality of Israel's actions. For instance, how many times have you heard the statement, "Israel has the right to defend itself"? This lie has been repeated for some 18 decades now. Or, are you aware of the fact that it's illegal to bomb the abode of a bona-fide Resistance Fighter when he is not actively in a violent state? Let alone to bomb a city block when families are asleep? Do you remember the legal actions of the "French Resistance" in killing the German soldiers who were violently engaged in killing the people they were illegally occupying? Why aren't Palestinians worth the same humanity as the French? {And there's more.)
I can prove all this to you, but I fear for my life. I'm hoping that my sharing info commonly available on the web will protect me. We all need to help each other in this deadly issue. So I beseech you, please erase this message after you have deleted it. If I can trust you, I'll send you more devastating data - facts, or "smoking guns" - You can keep it in your private files if they are safe from Big Brother. You can respond here, but please don't quote me on anything. Please talk only in general terms here. Yes, I'm paranoid, and if you knew what happened to me in the last month, you'd agree. God Speed.
the human psyche is prone to confess: memories of misdeeds corrode the strongest of convictions. the truth will out...
for all that gaza is uninhabitable, the majority of survivors are riddled with toxins from the bombardment, racked with psychological damage and probably suffering irreversible effects of malnutrition. i hope that there will be justice (not vengeance) but the cost is unbearable.
When soldiers admit to war crimes openly, the society that created them no longer has the legitimacy to exist. It requires a complete overhaul. It must eject those who are responsible for the violent, arrogant, criminal element, that lead the country to disaster.
Like all of us normal people this is going to make a lot of us angry as more evidence comes to light. But sadly we all know nothing is going to change
.
Ricky, you wrote that "By the IDF’s own estimates, 83% of Palestinian casualties are civilians", but there are good reasons to conclude they will be far higher -- such as 95%. Then again, those percentiles are, I presume, based on the officially reported death toll of around 70,000 Palestinian dead, while (per data and analyses consolidated and reported by Ralph Nader) more accurate estimates of the total number of Palestinian dead are more on the order of around 700,000 causalities.
.
Given, therefore, that Israel is not likely to be withholding any information it has on the deaths of Palestinian resistance fighters, it follows that the true percentiles for Palestinian civilian casualties must be well into the high 99%+ range.... To quote from "Murder by Starvation" and my other poems on Gaza, "How, by any score, is that a war?"
.
Not a war, but a Genocide.
.
This is such a clear reflection of the supporters of Israel. If we've known for the past over two years, they've had access to this information too. But it's business as usual in this colonial, imperialist western world of ours, those at the top of it, and those who report the news and influence us in so many ways.
A sick society. A sick army. A sick leadership. And an even sicker world, especially the US, that has defended and normalised the 100% unacceptable
More on this from the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/10/israeli-soldiers-breaking-ranks-gaza-civilians-human-shields
Meanwhile, Trump calls on Herzog to pardon Netanyahu (although the charges have nothing to do with the genocide he ordered): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/12/key-netanyahu-aide-ron-dermer-quits-israel-strategic-affairs-minister
Two war criminals and terrorists are the best of friends!
For me this old news! I mean why are people shocked. IDF has been protected by the mainstream media always and forever
Thank you for sharing the truth that everyone else will deny. The evidence is in their face and they will still deny it, just like Trump.
Ricky,
It seems to me you are omitting the most important factors that determine what International Law has to say on these issues. You seem fixated on these recent reports, which, although damning and worth talking about, still do not lay out the legality in its most simple and effective terms.
I asked Perplexity AIChatBot the relevant question, and here's what I got. I've also explored other, even more reputable sources, which agree, and I'm choosing this reference because the result is the shortest for your Comment section. I invite you to do your own research. I'm assuming you are aware of the many declarations and statements the UN, ICJ, and ICC official bodies have made on these issues, declaring that Israel's occupations of Gaza, the West Bank, E. Jerusalem, and the Golden Heights are beyond any shadow of a doubt illegal, over some 180 years now.
Query:
According to International Law, is it legal for a nation who is illegally occupying a territory to use violence in order to maintain that illegal occupation? Do the inhabitants of that illegally occupied region have the legal right to use violence against the violence being used by the illegal occupiers?
Response:
According to international law, it is not legal for a nation illegally occupying a territory to use violence to maintain that occupation. International law, particularly the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions, prohibits the acquisition and maintenance of territory through force. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter explicitly outlaws acquiring territory by force, and international humanitarian law (IHL) obliges occupying powers to protect civilian populations in occupied territories, not use violence against them except under strict police-like conditions and with respect for necessity and proportionality.[1][2][3]
The so-called "right to self-defense" does not generally apply to a state that is an occupying power, because it is already in control of the territory and must adhere to the regulations of military occupation. If an occupant uses military force to suppress resistance, especially against civilians or non-combatants, this can constitute a war crime under instruments like the Rome Statute.[2][3][4]
The inhabitants of an illegally occupied territory are recognized under international law as having a right to resist occupation, including through armed struggle, as long as their methods comply with IHL. This right is enshrined in numerous United Nations General Assembly resolutions which affirm the right of peoples under colonial and foreign domination to use "all available means," including armed struggle, to achieve self-determination. However, any violent resistance must target military rather than civilian targets to remain within legal and ethical bounds.[5][6][7]
In summary:
• An illegal occupant cannot legally use violence to maintain occupation; such violence may constitute war crimes.
• The occupied population has a legal right under international law to resist occupation—including by force—if done within IHL principles, especially the prohibition on targeting civilians.[6][2][5]
References:
1. https://lieber.westpoint.edu/crimea-interrelationship-between-military-occupation-annexation/
2. https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2023/12/7-10-the-question-of-israels-right-to-self-defense-under-international-law/
3. https://jacobin.com/2021/05/israel-palestine-right-to-self-defense-justification-for-war-article-51-un-charter
4. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/
5. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/25/forum-how-can-palestinians-legally-fight-occupation
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_right_of_armed_resistance
7. https://docs.un.org/en/A/79/588
8. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/experts-hail-icj-declaration-illegality-israels-presence-occupied
9. https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule129
10. https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/israel-and-the-occupied-palestinian-territory/
- - - -
[End of Perplexity Response]
Rick,
This is only the gist of it, and there are many other facts proving the illegality of Israel's actions. For instance, how many times have you heard the statement, "Israel has the right to defend itself"? This lie has been repeated for some 18 decades now. Or, are you aware of the fact that it's illegal to bomb the abode of a bona-fide Resistance Fighter when he is not actively in a violent state? Let alone to bomb a city block when families are asleep? Do you remember the legal actions of the "French Resistance" in killing the German soldiers who were violently engaged in killing the people they were illegally occupying? Why aren't Palestinians worth the same humanity as the French? {And there's more.)
I can prove all this to you, but I fear for my life. I'm hoping that my sharing info commonly available on the web will protect me. We all need to help each other in this deadly issue. So I beseech you, please erase this message after you have deleted it. If I can trust you, I'll send you more devastating data - facts, or "smoking guns" - You can keep it in your private files if they are safe from Big Brother. You can respond here, but please don't quote me on anything. Please talk only in general terms here. Yes, I'm paranoid, and if you knew what happened to me in the last month, you'd agree. God Speed.
the human psyche is prone to confess: memories of misdeeds corrode the strongest of convictions. the truth will out...
for all that gaza is uninhabitable, the majority of survivors are riddled with toxins from the bombardment, racked with psychological damage and probably suffering irreversible effects of malnutrition. i hope that there will be justice (not vengeance) but the cost is unbearable.
What kind of justice are you proposing that is not "vengeance."?