Clare’s accusation of war crimes aimed at wrong target

Education Minister Jason Clare accuses Israel of breaching international law and committing war crimes in bombing hospitals and schools (“So just who is really in charge of our foreign policy?”, 11/10). Hospitals aren’t protected if they’re used for non-hospital military purposes. If they are used for acts harmful to the enemy such as directing terrorist forces or storing arms and munitions they change from protected objects to military targets.

The war crime is using a hospital as an arms depot or a command centre, as Hamas constantly does. Attacks on terror cells or terror bases inside hospitals in Gaza are always done only with the supervision of Israeli military legal advisers, with careful assessments of possible civilian casualties.

The Israel Defence Forces Military Advocate General’s office investigates any questionable incidents. Compare Clare’s response to that of the White House and State Department, which are conscious of this process and with rare exceptions don’t jump to conclusions. Some hospitals have been damaged in fighting when Hamas has launched attacks from them and the IDF responded in self-defence. This was the case with the al-Shifa hospital, where Israel took great care to leave it undamaged after clearing it in search of hostages. Then Hamas occupied it with a large battalion-size force and a fight ensued, with this force being eliminated.

In some cases, damage has occurred when fighting took place in proximity to hospitals, again because Hamas was compromising them. In at least one case the hospital was damaged by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfire.

Some hospitals have ceased to function due to loss of utility ser­vices and running out of diesel. Severe cases requiring sophisticated medical technical support are being evacuated to Israeli hospitals and elsewhere, as occurred before the war.

Anthony Bergin, Reid, ACT

The moral dilemma faced by federal and state members of parliament representing electorates with a large number of Muslim constituents is becoming increasingly apparent. Jason Clare is the latest Labor MP to condemn Israel for military retaliation for attacks on Israeli citizens. While the electorate expects its members to represent their particular interests, Australians as a whole also expect that parliamentarians will uphold the essential principles on which our nation was founded.

The right to self-defence is a basic premise in international law. While there are inevitable civilian casualties, the precision of Israeli demolition of Hezbollah munition stores in dense urban settings, seen clearly on recorded footage, is almost unprecedented. We are reaching a moment in history when we need to think critically about the nature of the struggles on the other side of the world.

Vicki Sanderson, Cremorne, NSW

Be it Labor’s immigration ineptitude, its energy debacle or its kowtowing to Beijing, the federal government has been bad enough. But its worst performance has been its equivocation on Israel. Led by Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Labor has chosen to compromise Australia’s support for Israel to boost the Muslim vote in crucial seats. It’s the kind of transactional politics that is beneath contempt. Education Minister Jason Clare is the latest Labor colleague to adopt these tactics. As Dennis Shanahan notes, Clare is “accusing Israel of breaching international law and committing war crimes in bombing hospitals and schools” – an outrageously false allegation against our ally Israel and the Middle East’s lone democracy. In contrast, Peter Dutton tells it like it is.

To cheers and a standing ovation at the Sydney October 7 memorial service, Dutton called out the evil terrorists Israel is up against, who not only perpetrate evil treatment of Jewish people but also “their own people by hiding bombs and building tunnels under hospitals, under schools and under residential buildings”. I know whose moral clarity I prefer to learn from. It ain’t Clare’s.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW

As most commentators now agree, Labor’s position is for purely domestic political purposes only. Education Minister Jason Clare’s proclamation that he thinks the bombing of schools and hospitals does not comply with international law should be tempered by the knowledge that he is not a practising lawyer.

Peter Tredenick, Laidley, Qld