THE WAR CRIMES OF HEZBOLLAH

Ethics of War - Walter Reich
On the day an Israeli airstrike inadvertently killed some 28 civilians in the Lebanese town of Qana, a Berlin daily, Der Tagesspiegel, published an amazing letter that summarized the Hizballah strategy that resulted in those deaths. Dr. Mounir Herzallah wrote that he was a Shiite from southern Lebanon who had lived there until 2002. After the Israelis withdrew from the area in 2000, he recalled, Hizballah moved into his town, dug rocket depots in bunkers, and then built a school and a residence over those bunkers. "Laughing, a local sheikh explained to me that the Jews would lose in any event because the rockets would either be fired at them or, if they attacked the rocket depots, they would be condemned by world opinion on account of the dead civilians. These people do not care about the Lebanese population; they use them as shields and, once dead, as propaganda." (New York Sun)

Hizballah Leaders Must Be Tried for War Crimes - Emmanuel Gross
We have not yet heard the claim by Israel and other Western countries that, after an end to hostilities, Hizballah leaders must be called to account for war crimes committed against Israel. Hizballah has been intentionally firing missiles at Israel's civilian population. Missiles aimed at civilians meet the definition of war crime or a crime against humanity as defined by the 1949 Geneva Convention, as well as the International Criminal Court at The Hague that was established in 2000. I would have expected Israel and its allies to demand that the UN Security Council use its authority to instruct the International Criminal Court to investigate the responsibility of Hizballah leaders, with an eye on bringing them to trial, as was done to those responsible for attacks on civilians in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. (Ynet News)