(res.) Maurice Hirsch
Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, Mar. 20. 2025
“The ICRC opinion, which ignored the actions of terrorists and was legally flawed, was rejected by almost everyone – except the terrorists and their sundry (including the UN) supporters.”
While many commentators may have overlooked the significance, the latest wave of U.S. strikes against the Houthis in Yemen was, in fact, an expression of clear U.S. support for a legal position long held by Israel. Describing the strikes, Al-Jazeera quoted an analyst who said, “The strikes in Sanaa targeted a residential neighbourhood known to house a lot of Houthi leaders.”
This statement raises the legal question of who can be targeted, under what circumstances, and in which location.
The Laws of War, predominantly designed to deal with wars between armies, generally distinguish between two main categories: Soldiers/combatants,1 who, while they enjoy the protections of the Third Geneva Convention (GCIII), are generally considered legitimate targets; and civilians, who enjoy the protections of the Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) and cannot be the subject of direct attack. The question that arises is what to do with civilians who take part in the hostilities – i.e., people who present themselves as innocents but are combatants.
The Laws of War define these people, who attempt to abuse their “civilian” status to conceal their true function, as “direct participants in hostilities” or DPHs. Under the Laws of War, DPHs are legitimate targets and do not enjoy the protection of the Third or Fourth Geneva Conventions.
Israel has been forced to deal with the question of targeting DPHs for decades.
As an intentional method of terror warfare, often referred to as asymmetric warfare, the Palestinian terrorist organizations, supported by the mechanisms of the United Nations and other actors, have intentionally tried to manipulate the Laws of War as a means to vilify Israel. Distorting reality, they refuse to recognize Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorists as “combatants” and simply declare that “Israel intentionally targets civilians.”…SOURCE