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In regard to the ground incursion of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military, I would like to know if it is stated somewhere in either international law, or in Israel law, or in the Geneva Convention, that members of the Israeli military, especially those in the IDF, have a legal right to shoot at anyone within the Gaza Strip that they suspect of being a member of Hamas.

Or in another way of looking at this, after this Israeli-Hamas war has ended, could a member(s) of the Israeli military face being court-martialed, or face being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), if it is proven that the military member(s) had shot at a citizen(s) of the Gaza Strip who was never a member of Hamas?

Does the Israeli military have a legal right to shoot at anyone within the Gaza Strip that they suspect of being a member of Hamas?

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It is never legal to shoot at someone just because they are a member of Hamas or any other organisation

That would be attempted murder under Israeli and international law.

In an armed conflict, it is permissible to use lethal force against enemy combatants, people who, lawfully or unlawfully, is engaged in hostilities for the other side.

An Israeli soldier who shot at someone “suspect of being a member of Hamas” but who is not an enemy combatant is guilty of a crime and subject to court-martial (unlikely as that might be). They are not liable to the ICC because Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

Dale M
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