Israeli Prof. Dr. Neve Gordon, Lecturer in the International and Human Rights Law Department at Queen Mary University of London's Faculty of Law, evaluated the methods of legitimizing the war crimes committed by the terrorist Israeli army.
Gordon stated that direct or indirect attacks on civilians, civilian areas, patients, wounded, medical personnel and protected areas are generally considered war crimes, and said that Israel also committed a war crime by preventing access to electricity and water in Gaza.
Underlining that Israel's use of banned weapons in Gaza and targeting hospitals is a war crime, Gordon continued as follows:
"I think state militaries try to see themselves as moral. To be a moral army, you have to abide by the laws of war. What Israel is doing is interpreting its actions as indicating that they were carried out in accordance with the law of war and therefore claiming that this is moral. This is what Israel does to assert its moral claim. Israel also dehumanizes Palestinians by claiming that they are immoral. While Palestinians are presented as barbaric, primitive, people who do not understand the laws of war, who do not distinguish between civilians and warriors, and therefore immoral, it is claimed that Israel is trying to protect civilians. The truth is that Israel kills too many civilians, which reveals problems with Israel's claim to morality."
Gordon pointed out that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's statement "we are fighting against humanoid animals" is a clear example of the strategy of legitimizing the war crimes committed.
Gordon noted that the "rat" or "snake" comparisons made to Palestinians on Israeli social media accounts are an attempt to dehumanize them in order to legitimize the deaths of civilians.
Reminding that Israel has much more advanced weapons than the Palestinians, Gordon said, "In one sense, we are witnessing one of the most asymmetrical wars in history. We must work to force Western and international leaders to call for de-escalation and an end to violence rather than adding fuel to the fire by sending aircraft carriers to the region."