The legal implications of the Israeli plan to conquer Gaza City and isolate up to 1 million Palestinians, may be a set-up for another political explosion in Israel. Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who heads the corps responsible for maintaining rule of law in the IDF, expressed concern that occupying additional territory and forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living there into a smaller area would increase international political and legal pressure on Israel, damaging the legitimacy that various countries have so far granted to the continuation of the war, Haaretz reported yesterday.
According to Tomer-Yerushalmi, occupying populated areas beyond roughly 75% of the Gaza Strip, territory already largely under IDF control, would place the responsibility for civilian administration on Israel. As a result, she said, Israel would have to ensure the welfare of the population under its control in areas such as humanitarian aid, food and water, education, healthcare, and infrastructure [all things UNRWA used to do until the Netanyahu government kicked it out—ed].
In addition, current and former senior officials in the Military Advocate General Corps, or MAG Corps, have raised concerns about the impact of clashes between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ministers and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on the conduct of the war in Gaza. According to them, ministers’ deliberate disregard for Baharav-Miara’s professional positions regarding the laws of war could call into question the legality of government decisions and lead to significant political and legal consequences.
