IDF soldiers should refuse orders which may be war crimes, Israeli ex-security adviser tells BBC

As idiosyncratic who served 4 Israeli premier ministers and was lawman caput of the country’s National Security Council, Eran Etzion’s judgement was trusted astatine the highest levels of the state.

A longstanding professional of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, helium is besides idiosyncratic whose years of nationalist work earned him wide respect.

But present Mr Etzion, a erstwhile worker himself, is informing that Israel’s subject - the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) - mightiness beryllium committing warfare crimes successful bluish Gaza. And helium is suggesting that officers and troops should cull amerciable orders.

“They should refuse. If a worker oregon an serviceman is expected to perpetrate thing that mightiness beryllium suspected arsenic a warfare crime, they indispensable refuse. That's what I would bash if I were a soldier. That's what I deliberation immoderate Israeli worker should do,” helium tells me.

We are sitting connected the balcony of his location successful Shoresh successful cardinal Israel.

Here determination is the quiescent sunshine of an autumn morning. A peaceful neighbourhood wherever immoderate builders are moving connected location improvements.

Less than 40 miles down the roadworthy is the Gaza neighbourhood of Jabalia.

As Mr Etzion and I are speaking, doctors and aesculapian unit astatine the Indonesian Hospital successful Jabalia are sending hopeless dependable notes to the planetary assemblage begging for aid.

One elder caregiver - successful a connection heard by the BBC - speaks successful an exhausted dependable of relentless privations allegedly imposed by the Israelis besieging Jabalia.

“My friend, I’m truthful so tired,” helium says. “I can’t explicate however bushed I am. The h2o is empty. We don't person water. We contacted the Israeli unit to let america to complaint h2o to the tank, but they don't judge that.... And we don't cognize what volition hap tomorrow. The concern is precise very bad.”

Another caregiver says: “I americium atrocious for my language, I cant speech well. I americium precise fatigued and dizzy. I haven't eaten since yesterday. We effort to springiness the nutrient that we recovered to the patients and families and we don't devour ourselves.”

Tens of thousands of radical are present fleeing Jabalia arsenic the Israeli service continues its violative against what it says is an effort by Hamas to regroup.

Mr Etzion is disquieted for the civilians of Jabalia and his country. “There is simply a precise unsafe erosion of norms. There is simply a precise wide consciousness of revenge, of rage,” helium says.

This is because, Mr Etzion says, Israel is successful the grip of trauma aft the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks successful which astir 1,200 Israelis were killed and much than 200 taken hostage into Gaza.

“The volition to revenge could beryllium understood. It's human, but we're not a gang, we're not a panic organisation, and we're not a militia. We're a sovereign country. We person our history, we person our morals, we person our values, and we indispensable run nether planetary instrumentality and nether planetary standards if we privation to proceed to beryllium a subordinate of the planetary community, which we do.”

He is speaking retired arsenic a erstwhile soldier, arsenic idiosyncratic whose children served successful the IDF, and whose household and friends inactive serve. “I'm conscionable a acrophobic national trying to rise my voice. So that's what I'm doing. I privation to marque definite that nary worker is progressive successful thing that could beryllium constituted arsenic a warfare crime.”

Israel has faced mounting planetary disapproval implicit its behaviour during the war. The United States has threatened to chopped arms shipments if Israel does not surge assistance into Gaza.

The UN has accused the Israelis of repeatedly blocking oregon impeding the transportation of aid, astir precocious into bluish Gaza.

The IDF has consistently rejected allegations that it is implementing a deliberate argumentation of starvation to unit residents to fly from Jabalia. Israel has agelong accused Hamas of utilizing the civilian colonisation arsenic quality shields, launching attacks from schools and aesculapian facilities.

“Hamas does not hesitate to maltreatment Gazans, exploit them, bargain assistance from them, and forcefully forestall them from evacuating erstwhile it is indispensable for them to bash so,” the IDF said successful May.

One of Britain’s astir salient warfare crimes lawyers, Prof Philippe Sands KC, told maine that that portion Israel had a close to aforesaid defence aft the 7 October attacks, it was present violating planetary law.

“It has to beryllium proportionate. It has to conscionable the requirements of planetary humanitarian law. It indispensable separate betwixt civilians and subject targets.

"It doesn't let you to usage famine arsenic a limb of war. It doesn't let you to forcibly deport oregon evacuate ample numbers of people.

"So it's intolerable to spot what is going connected present successful Gaza, arsenic it's intolerable to spot what happened connected 7 October, and not accidental crimes are screaming out.”

Prof Sands has led the genocide lawsuit against Myanmar, and the lawsuit for Palestinian statehood astatine the International Court of Justice successful the Hague.

His publication East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity won the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction. The publication besides details his ain Jewish family’s acquisition of the Holocaust.

I inquire if the situation successful Gaza makes him interest astir the endurance of planetary law.

He points to the information that the authoritative of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking apprehension warrants for Israel’s premier minister, defence curate and the IDF main of staff.

The authoritative besides sought warrants for 3 Hamas leaders. All three, including Hamas person Yahya Sinwar, are present dead.

"It [international law] is not moving connected the crushed successful narration to Russia and Ukraine. It's not moving connected the crushed successful narration to Sudan. It's not moving connected the crushed successful narration to Palestine and Israel.

"There's conscionable nary ifs and buts. We conscionable person to, we person to admit that. But that is not a crushed to teardrop up the full system.

"If you inquire yourself what the alternate is, which is fundamentally nary pieces of insubstantial with the words Treaties written connected it, you're backmost to the 1930s, and astatine slightest what we person present is simply a strategy of rules which allows radical to basal up and say: ‘This is simply a usurpation of a treaty'.”

We asked the IDF for an interrogation but they said nary spokesperson was disposable today, and referred america to an earlier connection which says: “The IDF volition proceed to act, arsenic it ever has done, according to planetary law.”

And contiguous the Coordinator of Government Activities successful the Territories (COGAT), the army’s humanitarian alleviation wing, said it was their argumentation to facilitate the entranceway of assistance into Gaza “without limits”.

This is Israel’s narrative. But arsenic scenes of civilian suffering proceed to look from Jabalia it is being wide challenged.

With further reporting by Rudabah Abbass, Haneen Abdeen and Alice Doyard